"Sss... hah..." Tang Mo comfortably enjoyed the smell of the cigarette, looking down at the development report about Black Dragon Island.
There were now over 6,000 immigrants on the island, and if he worked harder, the total population might rise above 10,000 in a few days.
Currently, these people still almost entirely relied on food transported from Brunas harbor, but they would soon be self-sufficient by next year.
After all, Black Dragon Island was extremely fertile, and developing it was like mining a goldmine. Tang Mo could even roughly calculate that the island could easily support a population of a million.
A road was being constructed on Black Dragon Island, with Roger hoping to connect the newly discovered harbor with the small town he had built upon landing.
Meanwhile, the oil refinery had started production, refining petroleum day and night, turning it into the chemical raw materials and gasoline that Tang Mo needed.
All these were good news, and with each passing day, Tang Mo's initial accumulation began to grow more substantial.
He had stockpiled a considerable amount of gasoline on Black Dragon Island and did the same in Brunas. This laid a good foundation for his future car manufacturing.
In short, everything was developing well for Tang Mo.
A knock on the door interrupted Tang Mo's thoughts. He looked up and instructed with a cigarette in hand, "Come in!"
Li'ao entered from outside, the old man looking quite hale. After all, his Silver Fox Tavern had never been so glorious since the day it was established.
Now, his subordinates were practically running rampant throughout the entire Leite Kingdom, with their influence in Suthers being second to none.
The construction of the intelligence network had far exceeded Tang Mo's expectations, and even in King City of Suthers, Great Tang Group's telegraph machines had begun to be used.
Currently, these devices were not for sale; except for Miss Alice of Northern Ridge who managed to buy two units through personal connections, the rest were all operated by Silver Fox Company.
Sending a telegraph from Suthers to somewhere within Leite Kingdom was charged one gold coin per character—a sky-high price indeed.
But... the users didn't mind the charges at all, and the service was even in such high demand. Not only were the higher-ups of both countries frequently using telegraphs for communication, but some wealthy merchants also used this device to liaise with their branches or subordinates.
However, everyone knew that although the telegraph could provide fast communication to distant places, for Silver Fox Group, there was no such thing as confidentiality.
Aside from some pre-arranged codes, the content sent through the telegraph was transparent, which made Silver Fox Company exceptionally powerful at gathering intelligence.
Any valuable intelligence would be brought back to Brunas for consolidation, then sorted by specialized personnel, and filed for storage.
Now, in the intelligence room of Great Tang Group in Brunas, specifically, over 300 women from Silver Fox Company were managing this task.
They were all women, bound by contracts stricter than indenture agreements, almost never leaving the factory in a month. They organized the documents gathered here, bound them into volumes, and placed them on the tall shelves.
Whenever someone made a request, they could quickly find everything related, sending the relevant parts to those in need.
"The last time I entrusted you with a task... you let my kingdom fall," the young orc said, wiping the Shireck Flintlock Gun in his hand, without looking up.
His words, though light, instantly reddened the faces of several restless Guards and officers and silenced their clamor.
Then, he continued, "Stop calling me Your Majesty. Our kingdom has perished. Until we reconquer it, there is no 'Your Majesty'."
"But..." Several orc officers and guards were about to speak, but for a moment they seemed unsure of what to say.
"I don't mean to blame you... I know you are all loyal subjects." This former prince of the now-extinct Gales Kingdom soothed his subordinates, "I just... can't contain my own anger... Those who made us lose our homeland, they all must pay!"
"Yes, Your Majesty! They all must pay the price!" Several guards and officers echoed immediately.
"However, our current situation is not good," the prince looked in the direction of the door with a worried expression and asked, "You must have noticed that we seem to be under surveillance."
His intuition was sharp, but even though he had been cautious, he had not found concrete evidence that they were being watched.
Yet, it seemed like everyone around them was watchful, judging them with ill intent, monitoring their every move.
Thus, he spoke with a hint of depression, expressing his concern, "I don't know who is watching us, but indeed, someone is. If they harbor ill intentions, we could be in great danger."
"There aren't many orcs around here; it's normal for us to be watched," an orc officer consoled his master.
"Perhaps, but we can't be too optimistic. Gentlemen, we cannot afford any mistakes now," The prince sighed and nodded.
The rest of the guards and officers looked at him, with a few asking, "So, Your Majesty, what should we do?"
Tucking the flintlock gun at his waist, the prince replied, "The plan remains unchanged. Since we've already found out where that bastard who sells weapons to the Poplar Kingdom has his factory... we move tonight!"
"Yes!" Everyone answered in unison, their voices subdued.
After looking at each person, the prince instructed everyone, "Remember! Each of your lives is precious! I can no longer bear the loss of any more loyal subjects of the Gales Kingdom. So, no matter what, you must preserve your life! Understand?"
"Under... understood..." the orcs hesitated, responding sparsely to their master's instruction.
Once again, with a stern tone, the prince pressed, "Do you understand?!"
"Understood!" This time, everyone answered resolutely.
"Very well!" The prince nodded in satisfaction, "Go prepare some food; we'll wait for those who went to scout for information to return..."
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I owe you all an additional update.