Lord of Industrialization

The weather in Milan in summer was quite hot. The salon was held in the tea room. The air conditioner in the corner was blowing cold air, and a phonograph was playing light music.

Anita's salon invited more than ten guests, including Frederick, Baron Pioli from the Golden City and Baron Gresco from the Bohemian region.

Pioli and Gresco were both favorites to win the real sword competition. They were both in their early twenties, handsome, and quite popular in Milan.

"Principal!" Gresco stood up and saluted respectfully after seeing Frederick. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Frederick looked at him for a long time, remembered, and said, "You are Freddy from Omite College. I remember you. You performed very well in the debate that day."

Many people only use their first names instead of their last names when they study, and Gresco is one of them.

Gresco was excited all of a sudden and said immediately, "I didn't expect the principal to remember things from so long ago."

The two found a place to sit down, and the maid brought them cold happy water.

Frederick took a sip of cold drink and asked him curiously: "You should have graduated for several years, how have you been these years, why did you come here?"

Gresco answered in detail: "After graduation, I worked in a heavy machinery factory for three years. After my father died in a hunting accident, I returned home to inherit the family business."

"I stayed at home for two years and felt very boring. No one wanted to play football with me."

"Not long ago, an old classmate wrote to say that she was going to the south with the United Fruit Company to find opportunities. I threw the affairs of the territory to the manager and came to see if there were any opportunities in the south."

"When I passed by here, I found that a competition was going to be held, so I came to play."

Frederick nodded. Many young landowners felt uncomfortable after returning to their hometowns after seeing the prosperity outside, and many people finally came to live in the city.

"It's good to play." Frederick said, "Anyway, you are unlikely to win the championship, so just adjust your mentality and show your level."

Gresco was stunned for a moment, a little unconvinced, but believed in the principal's vision.

He asked, "Who do you think will be the champion?"

Frederick just smiled and said, "You will know when you play against them. The feeling of despair cannot be described in words."

Gresco was a little curious, which aroused his desire to win.

They talked in the northern language, which the locals could not understand.

At this time, someone joined their conversation.

Pioli looked confident and polite, and greeted Frederick and Gresco in the Pulan language common among the nobles.

He asked Gresco, "What do you think of the strength of the warriors of our Kingdom of Sardinia?"

They just finished the top 64 yesterday, and the top 32 will be held tomorrow. The real game has just begun.

Gresco replied, "The swordsmanship of the warriors here is like an umbrella in defense, which has given me a lot of inspiration."

Pioli sounded very useful, and the Kingdom of Sardinia is famous for its strong swordsmanship defense.

He asked Frederick again, "I heard that you bet a high amount on the two players in the game?"

The dealer spread the word that Grand Duke Wessen bet a total of tens of thousands of gold coins on the two players.

But the dealer didn't say who it was, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble and to heat up the atmosphere.

Pioli thought it was probably himself, after all, he was the most likely to win among the contestants, and Gresco, who was second, was also possible.

So he wanted to confirm with Frederick whether it was him.

Frederick smiled and said, "I heard that the winner can get part of the prize money. One night I met a gangster, and a contestant saved me, so I decided to help him."

Gresco almost rolled his eyes when he heard it. What kind of gangster could be so strong that it would threaten him? If he had that ability, he could either join the mercenary army or participate in a martial arts competition, which would bring more benefits than robbing people in the middle of the night.

After Frederick finished speaking, he stopped talking and took a sip of the happy water that had lost a lot of gas.

Pioli waited for a long time but nothing happened, and asked expectantly, "What about the other one?"

He expected Frederick to say his name.

Frederick said, "It's the strongest one among all the contestants."

And then there was nothing else, and it was as good as nothing.

Gresco was also a little curious. Frederick was definitely not talking about him, but Pioli's strength was not much different from his, so it shouldn't be him.

Who could it be?

Gresco recalled all the contestants he had seen, and did not find anyone who was ahead by a large margin.

He became excited. There must be one of those contestants who was very strong and had done well in the previous selection and elimination games, so no one else could see it.

Pioli wanted to ask more questions, but then Anita and Gianni came to the tea room hand in hand, and the salon officially began.

The theme of today's salon was literature. Frederick only knew a little and agreed casually.

Gresco soon became the protagonist of the salon.

The romantic poetry and short stories popular in his hometown were a bit absurd and bizarre, and this exotic style was the most attractive.

After the salon, there was a sumptuous dinner. After eating and drinking, Frederick did not attend the next dance, but walked back.

Aleppo asked Frederick, "Aren't you going to take a car?"

Frederick shook his head and said, "No, I want to walk around."

Aleppo asked again, "Won't you get lost if you don't let us follow you?"

Frederick said seriously, "No."

Aleppo had no choice but to let him do it.

"By the way," Frederick said, "give me some change."

A serious nobleman didn't carry money, and servants carried it.

Although it was dark now, the city was very lively. The streets in the city center were brightly lit, and there were many tourists and artists performing on the streets.

There were three street performers playing ping-pong there, and the impractical and gorgeous swordsmanship attracted cheers from the onlookers.

Frederick watched for a while. These people had real kung fu, but not many, and they were old and injured, so they could only perform on the streets.

He threw a silver coin into the cash box and went to see the next one.

Next to them were two brothers performing acrobatics. The elder brother's head was on the younger brother's abdomen, and the younger brother opened his arms and legs and turned as fast as the propeller of a helicopter. He also had colorful cloth strips tied on his arms and legs, which looked pretty good.

Frederick threw another silver coin, and when he turned to leave, someone put the sole of his foot under his sole.

"Ouch!" The girl who was stepped on was a sweet and lovely girl with a bitter face, looking quite cute.

Frederick asked: "Did it hurt you?"

The girl replied: "My feet hurt!"

As the girl said this, she looked like she couldn't stand up, and her whole body leaned against Frederick, accidentally touching some parts of his body.

Frederick supported her and said: "Shall I take you home?"

The girl nodded shyly, pointed to the alley in front and said: "My home is over there."

Frederick helped her into the alley and turned a corner. It was pitch black around.

Just then, several burly men with daggers and machetes surrounded them. The girl pulled out a dagger from somewhere and put it against Frederick's neck.

Frederick sneered. He knew it would be like this when the girl deliberately touched his purse just now.

Needless to say, what happened next was that when Frederick saw them again, they were smashing stones at the railway.

When Frederick walked out of the alley, he found someone standing at the entrance in a daze. He smiled and asked, "Miss, I think we have met somewhere before?"