After constructing the Golden Road, Michael fulfilled his promise to guide the Duke and his wife on a tour of the Kings region and the Nation of Reborn.
Using the customized automobile that Michael gave to the Duke, they embarked on a few days' journey to Neo Orcus. The Duke saw first-hand how amazing it felt to drive almost 100 kilometers per hour on the flat Golden Road.
Upon arriving, the pair couldn't believe the sophistication, the order, and the quality of life in Neo Orcus. This town was previously known for being abandoned and almost buried in the ground.
Yet, what they saw was something that could only be described in fantasy books.
There, they came into contact with electricity and trains.
"Amazing," the Duke uttered, completely bewitched by Neo Orcus.
He saw a vision of an entirely new Angora City, one with automobiles running through the streets stopped only by stoplights to let pedestrians through.
He saw a vision of buildings lit up by tiny stars in the night.
He saw the future.
The Duke immediately expressed his interest in creating a railway system for Angora City, while his wife requested to have air conditioners available in their castle.
"Let's talk business after you finish the tour," Michael said to them. After all, they only saw a glimpse of what was to come.
They hadn't seen the Nation of Reborn yet.
So, they embarked on the train leading to the Kings region. Of course, they stopped by the Dwarven Kingdom where the Duke got to meet its King, which seemed to have made him into a blubbering fool. He was too flustered to meet someone that was notoriously known to be hard to meet.
"Michael, you weren't there to celebrate your birthday so I drank twice as much in your honor!" Biru said while gulping another cup of beer.
"Thanks, I guess."
The Dwarven King soon left after being forced by his men to finish some paperworks.
"YOU ARE CLOSE WITH THE DWARVES?!"
"I thought you knew," Michael shrugged.
After the Duke calmed down and explained to Michael how unprecedented this was, they continued on their tour to the Kings region and onto the Parched Lands.
Finally, the Duke and his wife stepped foot onto the Nation of Reborn.
He gave them a day to explore by themselves.
After that, Michael met with them in their hotel room in one of the Satyr's Inn Tree House.
"So, what do you think?"
Duke Stelman and his wife looked at Michael with crazed eyes.
"WE WANT TO STAY HERE FOREVER!"
…
…
…
Michael returned back to Angora City with a massive headache. After experiencing the comfort and extravagant lifestyle in the Nation of Reborn, the Duke refused to go back to his so-called 'bidet-less bathroom' in his castle.
This was quite a common occurrence with tourists in their nation, but Michael didn't think it would affect even a Duke, who had a literal city under his name.
'Just manage the city for me' he said. Doesn't he know how unusual this is, giving the keys to his city to a total stranger?
He decided to let the Duke take a well deserved vacation in the Parched Lands until he became a little bit more reasonable.
Back in his bed, Michael summoned two shadows in front of him.
"How's the reception to the Golden Road?" Michael asked the two Shadow Orc leaders, Narito and Sasuki.
"It's been tremendous, boss. A lot of merchants and ordinary people are travelling down the road in droves. We had to implement a rule on the road to keep the carriages on the right lane while the automobiles were on the left lane," Narito reported.
"That's good thinking," Michael complimented them, which Narito reciprocated by smacking his chest and biceps loudly.
"BU TO TO! I thank thee for your appreciation, boss."
Sasuki bit his lips and stood up. "Our taxi service in the City is doing well too, boss. In fact, we had to increase the capacity of our Reborn buses to accommodate the demand."
As expected, the rental Reborn automobiles was the most popular service in the city. After all, this was the chance that they could see how fast a car travelled from the inside, making automobiles a lot more popular as a result.
"I have already ordered a large batch of automobiles to be delivered here in anticipation, so we were able to lessen the queue in the taxis," Sasuki said proudly.
"You too, Sasuki. Good job."
"RA TA TA! I am honored by your appreciation!" Sasuki said, with his quills thrumming.
Michael was satisfied with the positive reaction of Angora City to the Reborn innovative 'products'. They were a lot more receptive to the strange automobiles than he thought.
"What about the other companies in the city? What are their opinions of all of this?"
Because of the sudden boom of Reborn products in the city, almost all the revenue stream was pouring into Michael's pockets alone. His Department Store was bringing in products at a faster rate and at an even cheaper price. Not a lot of companies could compete.
"As expected, their sales and profits are down," said Narito. "However, they know better than to antagonize us. Instead, they are using this chance to purchase concrete and automobiles for their own companies."
Michael nodded. "That's smart of them."
He wasn't planning on monopolizing the entire market. He was simply showing to the other companies how efficient his automobiles were in transporting goods. And coupled with concrete, it was a recipe for success, which was something they can try and replicate.
"Also sir, the royals in the castle are becoming a lot more uneasy with the prolonged absence of the Duke."
Michael sighed. He didn't think the Duke would cause such trouble.
"Ignore them. The duke will return soon. Do you have anything else to report?"
The two Shadow Orcs nodded. "Lately, there have been more and more visitors entering Angora City of late. We found out that they are people from the big companies in the nearby territories."
"They must have read the newspaper by now," he guessed.
"That is right, boss," Narito agreed. "Our Shadow Orcs in the other territories are all reporting that the news of our sponsorship in Angora is spreading to a lot of networks."
"And they are sending in their feelers to find out more about us. The common sentiment among them is that they are doubtful as to how an unranked company suddenly jumped to #450 in the world and even ended up sponsoring a capital city."
Michael expected this. "That's fine. Let them."
"We have also used this chance to send out our Shadow Orcs into infiltration missions into those companies. They send out spies, we latch out shadows to them, and they lead us right to their company," said Narito.
"Hmm…tell me if you find out that any of them is an heir or successor from a conglomerate."
The two Shadow Orcs nodded.
After finding out where the GodForge pieces were located, Michael decided to become a lot more proactive in finding those conglomerate subsidiaries like the HammerStone company.
Of course, it would be a lie if he said he didn't want to obtain their GodForge piece for himself.