A couple of days later, the Golden Road expansion to the Westward of Angora City went smoothly underway. The end goal would be reaching the isolated territories there named the Grafted Cluster. These were a collection of small settlements, towns, and villages numbering in the double digits.
There wasn't a centralized government that controlled these territories like how the Duke controlled Angora City, but they did have their own local government that kept everything in check.
"So that means that we can construct the Golden Road there without needing any permission?" Michael asked Yuna.
"That's right. The citizens of these people would love nothing more than to have a viable road for them to traverse," she answered clearly. "They have actually submitted a formal request to our family to ask for some assistance to this matter, but you know how it is, without the proper funding, these road projects could never be accomplished."
Luckily for them, Michael was in no shortage of gold at the moment. Construction of such a long road may cost a lot of money, but he knew that it would all pay off in the end, just like how business boomed once Angora City became connected to the Kings region.
"Sheina, how's the progress?"
The white-scaled Dragonborn laid down the papers on the table for Michael to see.
"We are about 67% of the way there, Lord Michael. It will probably take less than a week before we reach the first settlement."
They had people working day and night to complete the Golden Road project, made possible through employing talented prospects from the Kings region and Angora City combined!
"So Yuna, those territories in the Grafted Cluster, is there anything I need to prepare?"
Yuna nodded. "There are two major companies located in the Grafted Cluster: Barcus Inc. and Bulren Inc which are ranked #487 and #486 respectively.
They are both managed by a pair of twins who treat each other more as rivals rather than siblings. They used to have a very good relationship, but one of them branched off and created a new company that rivaled the original one.
Now, they are both competing to try and outdo each other in the Golden 500 ranking."
Michael was kind of surprised to see that a company ranked in the 400s would be located in such a remote part of the Queens region. This meant that they were miles and miles better than the HammerStone company itself.
I guess that's not a good comparison. The HammerStone company borrowed the Stone-Cold 6 from the Hephaestus conglomerate that's why they were a little bit more powerful than usual.
"Fudge, are you there?"
Immediately, a violet slime jumped out of his shadows and landed onto his head. Fudge looked around the room and saw Yuna, immediately diving towards her, completely ignoring Michael.
"Who's a good ninja?" Yuna said, patting Fudge.
"I am hehehehe…"
"Ahem…Fudge."
It was only after he coughed a second time did Fudge finally look back at Michael and saluted towards him.
"At your service, Master!"
"Did the Shadow Orcs find anything about the Bastard Bandits?" he asked casually.
"Not yet, Master. Those scammers are still in their cave hideout and preparing their stuff. Luckily, we already have Shadow Orcs being spread to all their members. It won't be long before we have them all under surveillance."
Michael nodded, satisfied with the awesome work that the Shadow Orcs were doing.
"Since the Shadow Orcs are busy, then I'd like you to personally find out more about these two new companies, Barcus Inc. and Bulren Inc."
Fudge somersaulted out of Yuna's arms and did a superhero landing. "As you wish, master! I shall send in my clones to infiltrate their operations and find out what they're hiding in their basements!"
"...don't go too overboard…" he warned Fudge, but the slime was already gone.
…
…
…
In the very heart of the Grafted Cluster was a small town that was completely divided into two. On one side, the architecture and style of the buildings and structures were made completely out of wood and vines, making for a very earthy and natural vibe to the town.
But on the opposite side of that was an entirely different style made out of stone and marble. The architecture was blocky and geometric, which was a complete tonal shift from the natural and curvy style of the opposite side.
This was where the headquarters of Barcus Inc. and Bulren Inc. was located. This was where the two brothers created their companies and built it from the ground up before they clashed and split against each other.
Right now, a Rebornian messenger stood at the very gates of this town and looked curiously at the contrasting architecture and style of the territory.
Beneath his feet was his shadow cast from the sun already at its zenith. Strangely, his shadow seemed to flicker and move unnaturally even though the source of light remained static.
"Boss Fudge, I have arrived at the town. I shall now send the letter to the local government here," the messenger whispered to himself.
And strangely, his shadow moved up and down, as if nodding.
The messenger then entered the town and asked for the directions until he reached the mayor's house. He introduced himself as a Reborn representative here to deliver news from Michael himself.
The mayor didn't appear himself, but the letter was successfully delivered, making the messenger's job complete.
He quickly got on his horse and rode off back to Angora City.
But strangely enough, his shadow seemed to have been left behind in the mayor's house.
It slithered through the guards in the front, bypassing the heavy metal doors through the small slits underneath it. Reaching inside, the shadow attached itself to a butler who walked up the winding stairs into the master bedroom.
"Mayor," the butler said, knocking on the door. "There is a letter here for you addressed from the Reborn company."
The mayor, a man with quite a large gut from eating good food, opened the door and took the letter from the butler before sitting back down at his desk.
He looked at the red wax seal with a distinct 'R' symbol on the front.
"This is the real deal," he muttered.
But before he could open the letter, his door suddenly burst wide open as two tall, lanky men with vastly different clothes yet extremely similar faces came walking towards the mayor.
"Barcus…Bulren…I was just about to call for you," the mayor said.
Barcus raised his sharp chin and put his hands on his clothes made entirely out of leaves and vines. "I heard something interesting came knocking at your door. Reborn? The #450th ranked company in the world. I would like to see what they have to say."
But before Barcus could walk forward and snatch the letter out of the mayor's hand, Bulren got in the way.
"Hold your horses there, brother. I would like to see it first," he said, crossing his arms and showing off his armor made out of heavy stones.
The Mayor looked flustered as he once again became caught up in the siblings' rivalry.
"Either way, mayor. Don't get too caught up in what the contents of that letter will say. I don't believe that a no-name company could reach that rank so fast. There's gotta be some kind of conspiracy going on," Barcus said, slamming his fist on the table.
This made Bulren smile. "That, I will agree with you, brother."