Magic Industrial Age

Lloyd admitted that for a time after Lord Dorji fell by his sword, he was a little cocky.

Although on the surface, nothing seemed amiss—he remained diligent and courteous—arrogance had taken root in his bones.

This was actually quite normal; people often lose themselves in success and fail to see themselves clearly.

Some manage to restrain their arrogance, but those who can't will go mad.

They might even feel invincible, indulging in bombastic talk and seeking validation.

The slightest setback would trigger a tantrum, demanding a fight with someone.

That is the path to disaster!

Lloyd was considered good, but even he had to admit that for a while, he felt like the protagonist of a novel, expecting everyone to revolve around him!

Then, a letter summoned Oliveira away; another letter took Lilia, his two closest companions, away just like that.

This jolted him awake from his 'cocky' state, leaving him somewhat despondent.

The departure of Oliveira and Lilia made him 'lazy'; he was less enthusiastic about training, often daydreaming in class, appearing lost.

Despite being a man of two lives, his mental fortitude wasn't truly indestructible.

Fortunately, he had reached a limit in most of his skills, and his daily tasks mainly involved accumulating small increments of fighting spirit and magic power.

Moreover, with Lilia gone, Mila Greenman became available.

She moved back to 18 Lombardy Street, found a room, and settled in.

Then, she became Lloyd's full-time housekeeper.

From daily necessities to major tasks like accounting and financial transactions, everything was arranged by her.

It was her presence that kept Lloyd's life organized.

As for business matters, they were divided into two parts: one was the Raymond family's property.

This included the portion entrusted to him by Earl Raymond, comprising manors, lands, shops, perfume, and shares in the Chamshellie Mana Textile Factory.

These were systematically managed by Hoover, the butler.

Maruna was responsible for Lloyd's other business, the Leitninger Mana Machinery Factory.

Although Lloyd was somewhat disengaged, the acceptance of the mana hammer forging machine was increasing, leading to a surge in orders that kept them busy.

To this end, Douglas transferred ten more mage apprentices to work at the factory, bringing the total to a considerable thirty people.

In terms of talents proficient in mana machinery, this was not a small number, and it even sparked some criticism.

Rumors spread that Douglas Hill was controlling students, forcing them into employment, causing a stir in the mana machinery circle.

But Douglas Hill didn't care; his reputation was already bad, so more flies didn't bother him.

Besides, while the rumors were true, Lloyd was willing to spend money, offering high salaries and benefits!

Perhaps the magic apprentices initially agreed under Douglas's 'tyranny'.

However, once they arrived and received higher salaries than elsewhere, their reluctance naturally dissipated.

Unless they entered the Imperial civil service system, everyone had to earn a living, right?

Now that they could earn more guilders, they were naturally happy.

Furthermore, although Lloyd wasn't particularly involved, he used Deep Blue's 'data analysis module' to simplify and standardize the entire operation process.

As a result, the manufacturing of a mana hammer forging machine was divided into nine steps, each forming a department to create an assembly line as much as possible.

Including the quality control department, after-sales service department, procurement department, accounting department, and sales department,

the framework of the Leitninger Mana Machinery Factory was finally established, with a total of fourteen departments, putting the manufacturing of mana hammer forging machines on the right track.

Not only did the production cost of consumables decrease by another 20%, but efficiency also greatly improved, more than doubling.

Today, although the Leitninger Mana Machinery Factory is not the largest mana factory in Oakland, it is undeniably the most profitable!

Technical monopoly is like that; prices can be so high that you can only stare, and you have to hold your nose and accept it.

And Lloyd's deposits in the Seven Gods Bank finally started to rise, breaking through the peak, exceeding forty thousand guilders.

Moreover, Oliveira left, but Ang took his place, responsible for security.

Although Ang was overshadowed by Lloyd and seemed inconspicuous, upon closer inspection,

the boy had Oliveira's teachings, ample resources and nutritional supplements provided by Lloyd, considerable talent, and was sufficiently diligent due to being an orphan...

He had only been training for a little over a year and was already a second-tier Gale Swordsman, had entered meditation, and had decent marksmanship.

This strength was enough anywhere; as a guard, he was definitely qualified!

Led by him, the Brothers Gang took on the security work of all of Lloyd's property, occasionally clashing with some desperadoes.

After careful consideration, Lloyd even gave him the last bottle of 'Sacred Lava Heart Potion' and 'Secret Holy Skill Divine Sigh'.

These things were naturally rare treasures with no market price, but good things that could be put to practical use were truly good things.

As time passed, Lloyd gradually adapted to the days without Oliveira and Lilia; he still practiced hard, still attended classes to learn and accumulate knowledge, and still ran the factory, making a lot of money.

The only thing that dissatisfied him was that they had been gone for so long, yet they hadn't even sent a letter?

Okay, Lilia was on a ship, which was inconvenient, but Oliveira took the land route; couldn't he report that he was safe?

This made Lloyd very unhappy!

However, thinking about Oliveira holding a pen and writing a letter, Lloyd found the scene quite funny.

Of course, what made Lloyd even more unhappy was that not only had these two not written, but Miller hadn't either?

Although he wasn't present, Lloyd was very confident in his 'plan'.

Don't think that 'Soul-Stabilizing Spice' is uncommon; there are better meditation elixirs, but in terms of cost-effectiveness, none can compare.

With this Soul-Stabilizing Spice, the speed of entering meditation can be greatly accelerated, cultivating enough talents.

And as long as the talent keeps up, the speed of mana machinery development will be greatly accelerated.

Lloyd believed that this was an irresistible temptation for Hohenzollern III; with this breakthrough, what harm could there be in letting Miller try the so-called win-win model?

Originally, Lloyd was very confident, feeling that this move would solve any problem.

However, with Miller's news cut off, the unease in his heart was magnified bit by bit.

The so-called 'man proposes, Heaven disposes'; no matter how good the plan, who knows what unexpected situations might occur?

He even suspected that something had happened to Miller, or that he had been assassinated.

But he looked through the newspapers and didn't find any reports about it?

With the waves Miller had caused in the Imperial Capital, he was considered a celebrity, so if something really happened, the 'Imperial Political Report' couldn't not report it?

Feeling uneasy, Lloyd wrote several more letters, but they all disappeared without a trace.

This made the unease in Lloyd's heart reach its peak.

But with such a long distance separating them, he couldn't exert his strength.

He even admitted that for a moment, he had the impulse to go to the Imperial Capital, even if he died in a political struggle, he had to see the person alive or the body dead.

Of course, it was only for a moment, and he threw the thought out of his mind.

Just as he was struggling, one day, in the evening, the setting sun shone on the window, casting golden rays.

The door of 19 Lombardy Street was knocked.

Knock knock knock!

The rhythmic knocking seemed to show the good upbringing of the visitor.

"Who is it?"

Mrs. Cassidy's greeting was still loud; as she spoke, she had already walked to the door.

The old lady opened the door, saw the visitor, and was stunned for a moment before saying, "Lloyd, Lloyd, come quickly, someone is looking for you!"

In the training room, Lloyd, who was originally closing his eyes and concentrating, frowned slightly; he naturally didn't like being disturbed during his cultivation.

But he knew that Mrs. Cassidy was not senile; her calling him like this must have her own reasons.

So, the muscles of his cross-legged legs suddenly twitched, and he stood up as if floating.

He strode quickly, reaching the door in three or five steps.

He saw a blond young man standing there, tall and straight, with elegant movements, matched with that tailored suit, he really looked heroic.

Upon seeing Lloyd, he said nothing but offered a big smile, bright and sunny.

"Miller?"

"Haha, Lloyd, aren't you going to welcome me?"

"Why are you back? I sent you so many letters, why didn't you reply?

I thought something had happened to you, and you were just gone?

Wait..."

As he spoke, Lloyd had already stood in front of Miller; he seemed to have reacted, widened his eyes, and said, "You were doing it on purpose?

You're so bad, I almost went to the Imperial Capital, thinking of collecting your corpse for you!"

"Hehe, didn't I want to give you a surprise?"

"Are you sure this is a surprise, not a fright?"

"It's definitely a surprise."

"So, things worked out?"

"You took out the Soul-Stabilizing Spice, shouldn't you already know the result?"

"Haha, should I congratulate you?"

At this moment, Miller stepped forward and hugged Lloyd directly, saying, "I should thank you!"

"Lloyd, my friend, this time I really relied on you."

Lloyd hugged him tightly, almost suffocating Miller: "It's good that you know, remember, you owe me a huge favor."

"Of course, so, don't you want to see how many benefits I brought you?"

"Let's go, talk inside!"

I myself have a feeling of not being satisfied, I really want to add more!