Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but Reborn company logos flashed around every corner of every street. He especially didn't expect to see this in the Dwarven Kingdom, infamous for their disdain for humans. Yet, now, they were parading the very name of the man who made all of this possible: Michael.
And as they continued their journey further inwards, Jimmy and the merchants were led into the Kings region and the other territories that were connected to the railway system.
It was clear that the railway system had just finished construction all over the Kings region, evidenced by all the amazed and longing expressions of the people the train passed through.
They cheered and awed whenever Jimmy peeked out of his window.
He even saw people waving the very flag of the Reborn company in the air as if they were welcoming the arrival of someone nothing less than a king! It was truly absurd.
Usually, Jimmy would only see this type of behavior from royal territories with an actual king, but even then, their fervor for one person was very forced, as if their praise was nothing more than a necessity.
But from what he could see with the general atmosphere in all the territories they went through in the Kings region, everyone was genuinely happy with the Reborn company.
It was crazy for him that a simple company would be able to spread its influence all over a region with such positive reactions.
People welcomed the Reborn products, choosing to use them in their daily lives. Be it shirts, stores, toys, or even food—everything had the Reborn company name on it.
"How do you create so many products?! I thought you guys only sold chocolate and cookies…"
Michael shrugged. "It's all thanks to my citizens, of course. We have a lot of factories and production facilities in our nation. I'll give you a tour of them later."
After gaining a lot of money and influence in the Kings region, Michael decided to expand the selection of products in their company. It didn't matter if he didn't invent them, he would create an entirely new design or an innovative way of producing them much faster than anyone else.
If Michael wanted to have a sense of monopoly over the Kings region, then he would have to fulfill all the needs and wants of the citizens there. Food, materials, jewels, clothes, and everything else: Michael wanted the Reborn company to produce it.
Thankfully, the Nation of Reborn had expanded a lot to accommodate all of this workload. It also helped that they had unique powers to help increase productivity such as the Mithril Artifacts as well as the Musician buffs.
Once Michael explained this to Jimmy and the chocolate merchants, they couldn't help but be stunned into silence once again.
Not even the Vanderbilt business had this kind of influence and reach in the Queens region.
It felt like the whole entirety of the Kings region was under Michael's hands. That was the impression they got from touring every territory connected to the railway.
After a few days of consecutive surprises, Michael finally gave them one last bombshell: the Nation of Reborn.
Although Michael had been talking about the Nation of Reborn quite frequently during their travels, Jimmy regarded it as nothing special, thinking that it was just a small headquarters for their company.
After all, most companies in the Golden 500 had their own 'country', which was just a place where all their employees gathered in one place.
But once they reached the so-called Land of Paradise, they couldn't help but stop and marvel at the enormity of their nation.
Even the most normal of houses here looked even better than the mansions and castles of royals in the Queens region. Not only that, but the level of advancement in this place was something only seen in fantasy books.
Automobiles were a lot more widespread, with the roads being filled to the brim with cars moving from one location to the next at relatively fast speeds.
And even though Michael explained to them about 'electricity', they still couldn't figure out how it was able to power a mini 'sun' in each and every home in the nation or how a metal box was able to produce winter cold air out of nowhere.
After touring the commercial area of the nation, Michael led them to their production center located further out into the desert.
Jimmy and the merchants saw large rectangular buildings lined up in the desert, reaching out into the very horizon.
"This is our factory, where all of our products are being made. It ranges from food processing, metallurgy, or clothing," Michael explained.
"What are we looking at here?" Jimmy asked, still unable to wrap his head around the immensity of operations in this place.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at the Industrial Revolution!"
Michael used the techniques and plans of the modern era from his previous life to make production as efficient as possible.
Of course, it couldn't be helped that there would be some smoke leaking out into the skies.
There were voluminous amounts of white smoke coming out of the vents and rising towards the large cloud in the sky. But instead of polluting the air, a strange cumulonimbus cloud seemed to suck up all this smoke, making itself grow a little bit bigger each time.
"I'm already feeling more mana from the cloud…" Michael commented. He was incredibly thankful that he discovered this mutated cloud that ate smoke and released elemental mana.
If not for these, then he wouldn't be so brazen in his construction of so many factories.
"So, what do you guys think about my nation as a whole?" he asked Jimmy.
The rookie journalist shook his head in disbelief. "Not even the most eloquent of reporters would be able to describe everything about the Reborn company. If I tried, I am sure that it would only be a pale illustration of the real thing.
And even then, I am not sure that anyone would even believe anything I write."