"Mr. Wayne, I saw news about you in the newspaper and learned that you are currently in Richmond. The 'machine gun' you mentioned before has been improved, and I'd like to invite you to visit the factory and give your comments."
While the Agents and staff were mostly done cleaning and were about to have an early dinner, Alex Brook unexpectedly came to visit.
The man looked quite miserable at the moment, with injuries on his face and bandages wrapped from his neck down into his clothes. If the man in the community who was struck by lightning before hadn't died, his recovery period would probably be similar to Alex Brook's current state.
This made Wayne very curious, and he couldn't help but ask Alex Brook what he had experienced during this time.
The answer was simpler than expected: "After the rate of fire was increased, our prototype quickly blew up, damaging two units in total. I'm actually lucky; the closest technicians and an operator died from vital organ impact by fragments—after that, I had the slaves from my home operate it."
Liam, who had met Alex Brook at the Police Station and brought him over, couldn't help but ask at this point, "Won't that pose a safety hazard?"
At this moment, the original bar tables in the restaurant had been pushed together. Aside from those still busy, most of the remaining people were gathered around, waiting for dinner. Even Alex Brook's coachman had taken a seat at the table.
Seeing a group of Agents all turn their attention to him, Alex Brook smiled and waved his hand, "No need to worry. We'll have people with guns watching the slaves from behind; nothing will happen."
Although this was inherently problematic, it wasn't the kind of "safety hazard" Liam was referring to...
Wayne slightly shifted his focus, "Have you found the reason for the blow-up?"
Who would dare use something that could blow itself up if you were unlucky during normal use?!
Alex Brook turned his body back, "That's one of the reasons I want to invite Mr. Wayne to guide us. Preliminary analysis of the fragments suggests it's likely related to barrel overheating, but it might also simply be a bullet issue. After all, the probability of bullets blowing up still exists; just two days ago, a gentleman died because his pistol blew up, according to the newspaper."
Ah, this...
Theoretically, steel does lose strength when heated and might not withstand chamber pressure. This is relatively easy to solve; thickening the barrel might work—if it can be machined—but the idea of bullets exploding made Wayne feel a bit uneasy.
It's better to be cautious when buying ammunition in the future and try to choose products from manufacturers with good quality control...
As for guns and ammunition found, it's better to sell them if possible...
Moreover, the machine gun, which hadn't even been fully developed, already had a market. It was said that a few days ago, someone had seen the improved design blueprints and thought it was better than the initial volley version, and they were already interested in pre-ordering it.
They also said that while the physical object of that model looked powerful, its principle was actually less scientific than the new version.
However, Alex Brook's evaluation of the trial dishes at the restaurant was quite good. After learning the price, he even thought such a large plate was very affordable.
Unfortunately, this guy isn't short on money, so his evaluation can only be taken with a grain of salt. The actual effect will only be clear once the renovations are complete and the restaurant opens.
After all, some dishes still "need improvement," and they certainly won't always sell sausages directly bought from the butcher shop.
...
After dinner and seeing off the guest, everyone could relax a bit tonight.
However, going out for entertainment was still not encouraged for the time being. The previously burned temporary base was rented, but now this really counted as "their own home."
The Detective Agency, at present, if not directly offending Senator Walter, then at least potentially offending some people within the local intelligence organization. It was not yet a time of "calm."
The bar—ah, no, the restaurant—was not yet open. Aside from the Agents on duty who needed to guard, the remaining Agents could play cards, read newspapers, or look at pictorials.
Willie was still pulling Liam to sort through the remaining evidence and files, while the Owl followed him around like a ground-dwelling chicken.
It was only when Wayne was feeding the Peregrine Falcon that he noticed, "Why does this guy seem to have been following you all day today?"
Willie thought for a moment, "Mr. Doug followed you to the Indigenous people community to provide support earlier. When the temporary base caught fire, it was trapped in the room, and I only rescued it after remembering. It might have been scared."
...Such a thing actually happened.
Wayne stroked the round-faced fat chicken a couple of times. "Do you know the pain of not being able to fly now? Our dinner for tomorrow is decided: we'll have Connal make oven-baked chicken then—I don't know if it's related to his Hunter Association background, but this guy's cooking skills are actually pretty good, and he doesn't mind getting his hands dirty."
And what Ryan was doing with the others looked even more off. Three people sat at a dining table, transforming unwanted chairs into wooden sticks and wrapping bandages around them.
In academic terms, this should probably be called a "sap"...
Ryan proactively explained, "I heard from the 'manager' and Molly that the bar's previous poor business was related to a property acquisition company. Some people always came to cause trouble and affect business. The original property owner might have been so angry that he eventually mortgaged the place to Mr. Russell, deliberately preventing the other party from succeeding. Now that the bar has become a restaurant, perhaps they will still come."
No wonder those two looked strange when they came back to apply for the job. Despite being afraid of corpses, they were even more willing to join after seeing them.
After asking about the situation, Wayne felt it was safer to say, "Self-defense is fine, but try not to cause extra trouble. After that, still call the Police Station when necessary."
"Yes!"
Wayne actually felt that there might be more gossip to uncover here later. Ryan didn't even call the former bar manager by his name, but he was already calling that girl by her name.
Tsk tsk tsk,
I didn't expect you, kid, to be a freckle-lover too.
Hmm... Many burger buns in modern society are baked with sesame or oats sprinkled on top. Is it the same principle?
I'll have Chef Parker try to improve it later.
The restaurant is now only slightly better than "bare walls." After temporarily buying some bedding, most of the Agents had to sleep on the floor in the first-floor hall at night.
The partners and more senior Agents had slightly better treatment... they could sleep on the floor in a few small rooms on the second floor.
Doug cleared a space by the window and was teaching "Chameleon" how to care for the pigeons and crows, while the Parrot watched from a nearby perch.
Lina, perhaps inspired by Wayne, was currently designing the signboard for her future grand hotel. Last night's spoils were still piled nearby, not yet rushed for distribution, while Inessa cared for her bolt-action rifle, occasionally looking up to offer comments.
Wayne came over to participate in the discussion about dividing the spoils. After all, the shelf life of extraordinary materials is generally not long, and the fact that even Inessa didn't mention it indicated that these might not "evaporate" much, so there was no need to rush for a while.
By the way, Wayne also planned to point fingers and criticize Lina's design. Looking at the disassembled large gun in Inessa's hand, he also really wanted to complain about why there was "meat" inside the gun body.
But the main point was...
Holy cow, Wayne had almost overlooked the main point earlier.
Wasn't the "honeycomb volley version" machine gun that Alex Brook initially created deemed impractical by Wayne after the experiment and directly moved to the Detective Agency's headquarters? It should usually be covered up.
Someone saw the "physical object" of that thing, felt it looked powerful, and even found Brook's factory to understand its working principle.
Doesn't this mean that someone is monitoring the headquarters and also studying its "firepower configuration"?!
Lina immediately jumped up after hearing this, "Emma! And that slate fragment and death Whistle are also in the safe!"
Wayne was slightly stunned after hearing this.
So that's it. I now know which of the Detective Agency's current collections are most valuable in Lina's eyes.
You see, McKen Reeves's "Big-Eyed Octopus" doesn't even deserve a name among them.
