"A few dozen warehouses for storage and processing, a facility to produce and maintain the equipment and tools needed for optimal extractions, a general management facility, a recruitment and training facility, even housing sectors to provide basic housing requirements for long-term deployments..." Rui murmured with widened eyes and a surprised tone. 'He wasn't kidding when he said the Carnil Mafia is investing a lot in these operations.'
Rui wasn't an expert on narcotic drug rings, but he was relatively certain that such expenditure was not normal. This level of expenditure was approaching industry standards for legal substances that were also high in demand.
However, the fact that the Carnil Mafia was able to sustain and had decided it was worth sustaining this meant that the sheer mark-ups at which they sold their products were extremely high, it was probably a lucrative enough business to justify such expenses.
'It's not just the profits, but moreso normalizing and building demand for the product, putting pressure to decriminalize it, which would make it easier to do decriminalize if they do win the Kandrian Throne War and instate their prince.' Rui mused, narrowing his eyes.
He didn't like the idea of drugs spreading in the Kandrian Empire. The impoverished were always the most vulnerable to drug epidemics, and he came from a background that was originally impoverished and was not far from that economic class. This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
That meant that they were particularly susceptible to falling victim to such substances. And once they did, it would be extremely difficult for them to come out of it.
The one thing that truly grated on him was how vulnerable adolescents were to the substance. The Quarrier Orphanage housed many children and adolescents and Rui would be particularly enraged if they fell victim to these narcotics due to the Carnil Mafia's shenanigans.
As far as he was concerned, that was plenty of reason to annihilate these operations. So much so that completing his commission payments may very well become his secondary motivation.
Furthermore, this also awakened him to the dangers of the Kandrian Throne War. The many powerful forces that had been in play were willing to do anything to get to the throne, even if the people of the empire were harmed in the process. He recalled what he had heard about the princess that had been foiled by the Beggar's Sect and her authoritarian communistic political agenda.
Rui had been born in an era when the Soviet Union was still in power back in his previous life, and he had a low opinion of them despite his apathy and abstinence from delving into politics.
If the Beggar's Sect felt the need to sabotage her, then she almost certainly was a threat to the stability and harmony of the common man.
"Huff..." Rui heaved a sigh, narrowing his eyes. 'I may have underestimated how much of a problem this annoying throne war could become. The orphanage may not be as safe from it as I'd once hoped.'
If that was the case, Rui may not be able to avoid partaking in it. Even if it was limited to supporting the most palatable prince and political faction, it was better than nothing. Martial Seniors had reached a stage where their impact on military and political capital could be felt, especially if they were strong and talented.
However, these were matters to be considered after he returned to the Kandrian Empire as he hoped to. He had much more immediate concerns and priorities like taking out the Carnil Mafia's operations and getting the intelligence he needed to eliminate Chairman Deacon.
He turned his attention back to the reports that the Beggar's Sect had provided him, skimming through them. The net annual product produced by the Carnil operations was measured in sheer tons rather than kilograms, which showed the scale of the operations set up by the Carnil Mafia.
'Considering how much each gram sells for, they must be making billions. This is the kind of operation that would normally be protected by Martial Masters...however...'
In this case, deploying Martial Masters was something that could not be done due to the Hypnomaster. Furthermore, deploying the notorious Sage Aggragor was also impossible due to far greater priorities. That was the only reason such an expensive and important set of operations was being guarded only by Martial Seniors.
'However, the Martial Seniors that have been deployed by the underworld are highly competent,' Rui narrowed his eyes as he arrived at the most important parts of the report; the security measures.
His eyes lit up with interest. 'As expected...high-grade Martial Seniors.'
There were a total of ten Martial Seniors deployed by the Carnil Mafia, out of which three were grade twelve or above. Rui read through the intelligence gathered on them.
This was the first time he had actually seen graded Martial Seniors. it felt odd to see grades higher than grade ten since grade ten had been firmly set in his mind at the peak, seeing grade twelve Martial Artists was quite strange.
However, their power was real. Each of them was a Martial Senior whose age had already hit the triple digits. One of them was even three hundred years old, which was very old for Martial Seniors.
The fact that he had been stuck in the Senior Realm for so long meant that he was having extreme trouble creating a system of thought that could elevate his combat prowess greatly. It could also mean that the man had a non-existent affinity for the Master Realm and was simply too rigid to make a change.
'Not everyone can spend nearly every second of every day for four years simply thinking endlessly for the sake of cultivating an affinity for the Master Realm and discovering an additional dimension to their Martial Path, evolving it,' Rui mused as he thought of Ieyasu, when he saw how slow people progressed and how weak they were, he was able to appreciate the sheer genius of someone like Ieyasu.