"Wrapping up, wrapping up!"
Xia Yu watched the long queue in front of her gradually reach its end and excitedly put away her Vision.
"Let's go, let's go. It's finally done. I'm going to have a feast tonight!"
"Alright, Doctor Bailu," Swire patted her chest upon hearing this. "Leave it to me! I'll book the most expensive restaurant in Lungmen for you right now!"
"A high-end place, huh," Xia Yu looked over upon hearing this. "Booking it at the last minute right now... oh, you're from the Swire Family."
"No, with your reputation in Lungmen, Miss Bailu, as long as I mention your name, that restaurant will definitely make arrangements for you," Swire smiled.
She wasn't lying. The biggest news in Lungmen these days was the existence of the Divine Doctor. She could even cure Oripathy!
Swire figured that it was only because seven days was too short of a time; otherwise, people seeking treatment from various cities would have already burst the doors of Lungmen's hospitals.
Presumably, there were already many people on their way. After all, a thing like Oripathy... wouldn't spare you just because of your status or wealth.
"Alright, then I'll let you arrange it," Xia Yu waved her hand magnanimously. She didn't plan on cooking herself anyway, mainly because she was too tired.
Well, it wasn't that curing the illness was tiring. With Little Tarnished and the Mimic Tear handling that aspect, she wasn't exhausted from it. It was the slow process of transferring the piled-up supplies in Dusk's Painting Scroll—the ones swindled from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy—into the Gate of Babylon. That was no small project.
Primarily, she initially thought about sorting them... but halfway through, she completely gave up. Whatever happens, happens.
Heaven knew how they managed it. Those supplies were so mixed up. Xia Yu even found seeds labeled for the Earth Seed Vault and various books and materials for the Civilization Ember Project.
Yes, to prevent technological regression, they had even thoughtfully prepared physical books, complete with dictionaries... She didn't want to bother with any more sorting. When the time came, she would just dump everything out at once and let someone else worry about it.
Before long, she and Swire had arrived at the so-called most high-end restaurant.
Taifeng Lou, the name was quite familiar.
Swire familiarly stated her name, and the two were led into a private room.
"That idiot... ahem, it's really a pity for Chen Huijie and Lin Yühsia," she said with a beaming smile. "They still have to work overtime even now."
"So, is there something wrong with the brains of those Sarkaz?" Xia Yu tilted her head and asked. "I already said the treatment is free. Even if they don't trust Lungmen's reputation, they can at least see the many Infected I've cured these past few days, right?" Hearing this, Swire's expression stiffened.
"Heaven knows what those people are thinking," she sighed.
"Forget it, I'll go find them myself tomorrow," Xia Yu wagged her tail upon hearing this. "They won't get treated just because they say so? They really don't take me seriously!"
"By the way, how is the information I asked you to gather coming along?"
"The compiling is almost done," Swire said seriously upon hearing this. "The large and small factories of Lungmen across all industries have been compiled."
As she spoke, she pulled out a thick stack of documents from her bag. "From mechanical processing to daily necessities manufacturing, Lungmen's manufacturing industry is developing very rapidly."
"But it's not easy to find high-quality assets that can be quickly taken over," she said with a bitter face. "People aren't willing to let go of factories with good operating conditions, while factories with poor management... all have their own problems."
"Moreover, a hundred thousand Infected... cannot be settled by just one factory."
"Mm, I know," Xia Yu said while eating after hearing this. "I've also thought about it carefully these past few days. I'll probably still need to establish three companies."
"One for mechanical engineering, one for agricultural processing, and one for transnational transportation."
"Uh, this..." Swire was stunned upon hearing this. "It's somewhat beyond my expectations. With your status, shouldn't you be leaning toward medical pharmaceuticals?"
"Do you really not understand, or are you just pretending?" Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her upon hearing this. "Although I keep calling it medical skills, you shouldn't actually take it seriously, right?"
Hearing this, Swire smiled sheepishly.
"Then it's not medical skills, but Incantations," Xia Yu's voice was muffled. "I borrowed a Vision from Sister Furina, and coupled with the gift Sister Tarnished left me, I was able to replicate her Incantations."
"Incantations?" Swire carefully pondered the word upon hearing this. "Isn't this..."
"This isn't an incantation to a specific god," Xia Yu explained while eating. "It's an Incantation derived from the analysis and reconstruction of Golden Order Fundamentalism. You can just treat it as an Arts of a unique system."
"After Sister Tarnished left Terra, the Golden Order Incantations and Glintstone Sorcery lost their inheritance," she said in a muffled voice. "I'm not that pedantic of a person; as long as it can cure diseases, then it can be used."
"But... it can't be learned. Other than Sister Tarnished, there isn't even a single People of Gold left in this world. It can only be replicated like this, so I will absolutely not use these Incantations as medical skills to open some medical company. I will only use it to save people."
She raised her head and looked at Swire. "Ultimately, this is a lost technology that cannot be replicated. If it were treated as the ultimate answer to Oripathy, it would only become an obstacle to modern medicine."
"Even if it could bring you unimaginable benefits?" Swire couldn't help but ask upon hearing this.
"Benefits? What benefits?" Xia Yu asked in return. "Is it countless wealth, or unimaginable power?"
"No, you don't understand. We have never pursued so-called wealth and power. These things that can pile up into mountains with a slight wave of our hand are not our desires."
"Then what are you pursuing?" Swire asked subconsciously.
"Survival," Xia Yu glanced at her. "The survival of civilization."
"Uh, that sounds..." Swire didn't know what to say.
"Very hard to understand, right," Xia Yu shook her head upon hearing this. "Because you don't know the truth of this world at all."
"Of course, don't ask me either. I won't tell you, because knowing it will be completely useless other than keeping you awake at night."
"Let's get back to talking about opening these factories."
"Alright," although Swire was somewhat unwilling upon hearing this, she quickly got into the zone. "Regarding the several directions you want to get involved in, I've also made preparations here."
"Fusheng Machinery Factory. Don't let the dated name fool you; it can actually rank among the top twenty machinery manufacturing companies in Lungmen, primarily specializing in Mobile Platform construction."
"Originally, business was booming, but with the Yan's massive infrastructure construction coming to an end, Fusheng Machinery Factory's orders have also decreased year by year, losing its former glory. Coupled with the fact that the factory boss... not long after inheriting the factory a few years ago, he became addicted to gambling."
"A large portion of the massive family fortune was lost overnight. His father—the old man who had built the machinery factory from scratch—was literally angered to death when he found out. Now, the entire factory's morale is wavering, orders are dwindling, performance is worsening, and the capital chain has also developed problems due to the gambling."
"Recently, they even laid off a large number of people just to keep the company running."
Swire spoke with assurance, "For us, this is a very good choice. Although it's declining by the day, the various equipment in the factory are all ready-made. Furthermore, even though there were many layoffs, a lot of the experienced masters have stayed. That gambling addict might be scum, but his brain isn't stupid."
"But its problem is also very obvious: the market. In recent years, with the end of the massive infrastructure construction, the market for Mobile Platforms has gradually shrunk. Basically all related manufacturers are tightening their belts. It's precisely because of this that a high-quality asset like Fusheng Machinery Factory has remained untouched."
"Insiders are too busy fending for themselves, while outsiders look at the market gradually facing a harsh winter and flinch."
It had to be said that even though she came to be a police officer, she hadn't lost a single bit of the Swire Family's signature skills.
"There's no need to worry about the market," Xia Yu shook her head upon hearing this. "If the internal market of Yan is saturated, we'll just go look for a market outside."
"It's not that simple," Swire shook her head. "Regarding overseas market expansion, this aspect has always been the direction such enterprises strive for."
"But which of the neighboring countries can we intervene in? Rim Billiton's industry is equally developed. Why would they buy our goods? Compared to their local brands, buying from Lungmen incurs extra shipping costs."
"The same goes for Ursus. They are also a major industrial country, and they have internal protectionist policies and tariffs. Selling further away to Leithanien or Siracusa would have even fewer prospects."
Swire sighed and looked at Xia Yu.
"As for Higashi, it's already far from Lungmen to begin with. That's the private reserve of the major enterprises within Yan. It will be hard if we want to get a piece of the pie."
"First tell me about the agricultural product processing and logistics companies," Xia Yu was noncommittal upon hearing this.
"As for agricultural product processing... there's nothing ready-made like with machinery," Swire continued upon hearing this. "On one hand, there aren't many such enterprises in Lungmen to begin with. After all, Lungmen isn't an agricultural city. The bulk agricultural products here are all processed by other cities with locational advantages and then shipped over."
"So the commercial prospects in this aspect..." She could only shake her head.
"As for transnational logistics, there's nothing much to say about this. We just hire an experienced convoy first, and then slowly build it up. It just takes time."
"Commercial prospects? No, I never have to consider any commercial prospects," Xia Yu shook her head upon hearing this. "I don't care how much profit there is. As long as revenues and expenditures are balanced, and we don't suffer a loss, that's fine. Don't forget, our goal is to settle down these hundred thousand people!"
"This should have been the job of the Governor's Mansion, but that guy Wei Yenwu... hehe, I don't trust his character."
What else could Swire say after hearing this? She could only smile awkwardly.
"All those things you mentioned, for me, only boil down to one problem," Xia Yu put down her chopsticks and looked up at her. "There's no market, right?"
"Mm, this is the biggest problem," Swire sighed upon hearing this. "Miss Bailu, I'll tell you the truth, don't get angry."
"All of the above can be overcome, but there's one more thing. Your company is made up entirely of the Infected, so those would be goods produced by the Infected."
"Mechanical processing is still fine, but agricultural products... you should know the general public's attitude toward the Infected."