Chapter 220 04.0219: "Look what I found?"

Slightly intoxicated by alcohol, Horatio began to do some calculations in his mind.

The reward for a labor informant, no matter how small, would be at least a hundred dollars.

But if you take into account the huge base of informants, which is tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, the hundreds of dollars for ordinary information, or the thousands of dollars for high-quality intelligence, plus the remuneration of the middlemen, the monthly expenses accumulate layer by layer and are not a small amount.

For an underground intelligence network that is not a formal organization, cannot be publicly disclosed, and cannot apply for funding through the formal procedures of the Ministry of the Interior due to confidentiality requirements, it should not receive any official funding support.

Fortunately, the imminent funding problem had been alleviated to a certain extent due to the personal funding of Lieutenant General Hood.

Lt. Gen. Alexander Hood paid most of the bill out of his own pocket in the form of donations from his anti-poverty foundation.

The remaining gap will be covered by the revenue from the newly opened pharmaceutical factory of the Labor Gang, which is enough to maintain the normal operation of the capital chain.

Not to mention that after Brigadier General Peru took office as chief, he provided a huge sum of money to Horatio's intelligence network in private.

He even planned to transfer all the huge bounty he received from yesterday's void battle to the Military Intelligence Command to cover the financial expenses after it was transferred from the Navy Department in the future.

This also indirectly reflects that under the "theoretical budget amount" calculated by the bureaucrats of the Ministry of the Interior, the allocations to various departments are actually completely insufficient.

This is despite the fact that senior naval captains and commanders, who are not short of money, disdain to engage in corruption.

This was also the reason why Horatio was worried that the Special Operations Division had no money.

For those departments with serious corruption, the funds, which were already lower than the actual needs, have been continuously reduced in the process of being distributed layer by layer since they were allocated.

By the time the money actually reaches the department's accounts, only a pitiful amount of department funds is left, which is probably too little to allow the executive units under the department to maintain normal operations.

This difficult financial situation made the already snail-like operation of the empire's administration even more sluggish.

After all, for many imperial bureaucrats, they entered this system just to suck blood and nutrients from the tentacles of Leviathan for themselves and their families like blood-sucking worms during their lifetime, rather than really burning themselves to serve the future of the empire and mankind until death.

They naively believed that the empire's territory was so vast and its system was so huge that the blood they drew at this tiny node was just a drop in the bucket, but they ignored the fact that others thought the same way.

As the number of parasites increased and hundreds of billions of them absorbed nutrients from this majestic tree, little did they know that they had already planted the seeds of destruction for mankind. Today, the tree is already terminally ill and it is too late to save it.

Thinking of this, Horatio couldn't help but think that if the human empire was eventually destroyed, it would be all their own fault.

In short, Blackwing Club will have to be self-reliant in the future and cannot always rely on others to pay for it.

Just like the assassination of Lieutenant General Hood, when the financier was in trouble or disappeared, the Black Wing Society almost collapsed due to the broken capital chain, fortunately his successor was Brigadier General Peru.

But what if the commodore and I set sail? Even if I can arrange for the next sponsor, what about the next one?

He planned to talk to Deacon Jonathan about the Black Wing Society's subsequent development plans, prospects, and funding issues.

Horatio walked out the door, but Yin Shuyao didn't notice him coming out. She was still concentrating on sorting out the account books of the Black Wing Society at hand.

He looked at the girl's extremely serious and careful expression and chuckled, a trace of drunken breath coming out of his nose, then he stepped onto the stairs and walked towards the second floor.

This building actually has a secret passage leading to the underground structure. He asked Yin Shuyao to keep the box connected to the secret passage empty and no longer use it to receive guests.

This will also allow the members of the Black Wing Society to have some rest space here, where they can smoke or drink some wine.

He walked forward. The corridor was very noisy.

The sound seemed to come from the innermost box. It sounded like a group of young people who were drunk and were talking, laughing and singing loudly.

[What a carefree and noisy bunch of young people.]
He didn't think much about it and walked into the box next door.

As soon as I pushed the door open, a strong smell of cigarette smoke hit me in the face.

Deacon Jonathan and two other Black Wing members who had followed Horatio since the original owner became successful were smoking and talking in the lounge.

"Boss." Seeing the big guy coming, the three of them immediately stood up and greeted the boss.

"How is the pharmaceutical factory doing now?"

"It's being upgraded. We cleared a piece of land as you requested. But why is there a cage?"

"It's for the 'medicinal herbs'. Later, someone from the Mechanicus will come and tell everyone to be more careful. Everyone must be respectful to these people."

"Yes, boss."

Horatio also talked to them about the industrial upgrading of the pharmaceutical factory and the supply of materials to the navy.

Although the revenue and profit are not yet enough to fully support the entire intelligence network, after a wave of "generous" upgrades by the Mechanicus, the pharmaceutical factory will be able to start producing some drugs that require technical strength in terms of equipment.

If only I could get the recipe.

Well, the recipe...

"That's not a problem." Horatio assured them confidently. After chatting for a while, he was ready to leave. Before leaving, he reminded them: "By the way, if you encounter news about illegal printing houses, keep your eyes open. This is very important." "Don't worry, boss."

Horatio nodded and closed the door.

"They must be overthrown! The uprising will succeed!"

As the door clicked shut, one of the noisy young people drinking next door shouted something like this.

When the word "rebellion" reached Horatio's ears, his originally lazy eyes suddenly widened, and his pupils flashed with a cold light, as cold as a hawk that found its prey.

He approached the door cautiously and eavesdropped on the conversation inside.

"It's time to liberate people from the oppression of the Guild Alliance government. Even if it's not a citizen army, at least a qualified and responsible government should come to power!"

"That's right! The Guild Alliance is going too far! Look at those skinny starving people on the streets. What's the point of donating to the poor? After all the money is spent, they still can't find a job and have to starve. In the end, it still doesn't solve the fundamental problem!"

Horatio analyzed their conversation, which seemed to be a gathering of opponents of the Guild Alliance.

He quietly pushed the door open a crack and peeked into the room.

There were quite a lot of wine bottles scattered all over the table.

Glancing over.

They were a group of young men in their twenties, all dressed respectably. From their drunken conversation, one could tell that they were very well educated. Even when they were drunk and talking nonsense, their words were still precise and articulate.

However, considering their age, social status, and the fact that their "loud conspiracy" was full of loopholes, they didn't seem like people who could put it into practice.

The young man in the box was unaware that he had been eavesdropped on by an Imperial Navy officer.

Their conversation deepened as they drank more alcohol.

"So, my friends, the citizens are waiting for us."

Enjolras, who had a mixed-race face, clenched his fist and said, "Although our families are closely connected to the Guild Alliance, we are different from those vampires."

He turned to look at a young man who was drinking with a mysterious smile on his face and said, "Grantaire, say something. Wasn't it you who brought us together in the first place?"

"No problem, Enjolras. Friends, the day is coming when hope and light will descend on this planet. The Guild Alliance is declining, and the Imperial Navy is also overwhelmed by recent events. Everything on this planet seems to tell us that the time for uprising has come.

We must be ready to drive out those demons who are riding high and sucking blood from people!"

"Great!" The other young people shouted excitedly, followed by a thunderous applause and cheers.

Horatio saw all this through the gap.

When he heard a few names, he was surprised to find that these people had the same names as those in "Les Miserables".

And this Grantaire seems a little too optimistic. In the original book, he was a dull guy, but this one... seems to have some ideas?

Just as Horatio was thinking about this wonderful reproduction of the famous novel's plot.

Through his peripheral vision, he suddenly realized that someone was approaching not far away and was staring at him.

He turned around and found Yin Shuyao standing behind him with dishes in her hands.

She looked at him with slightly shocked eyes, and when he turned around and noticed her, her body froze and she couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Horatio narrowed his eyes and noticed something strange about her.

She seemed calm on the surface.

But Horatio, who had received professional training in psychology and micro-movements, discovered that the girl's pupils were dilated and had a slight tremor.

He looked into her eyes and walked towards her without saying a word.

The girl took a step back involuntarily, but immediately stopped and forced herself to face him.

"Sir, what a coincidence! When did you come up? I thought you had left!" Yin Shuyao immediately put on a familiar business smile and asked with a smile.

It was the first time he saw her smile so absent-mindedly.

"How could I leave without paying?" Horatio smiled and asked:
"You look nervous. Are those people at the table inside acquaintances of yours?"

His words were like a thunderclap, falling on the girl in front of him.

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(End of this chapter)