Blackstone Code Chapter 495: New

“I recruited about thirteen hundred people this ti…” Asel still felt a headache ntioning it, since Lynch’s demands were much higher, but after careful selection, this was all he could gather.

For example, those who were too thin were rejected because they were generally unhealthy and couldn’t do physical labor, becoming a burden.

If they got sick, he’d have to pay for treatnt, and if they died at the factory, it would cause trouble.

After the recent unrest, Nagaryll had indeed changed sowhat and beca more sensitive on certain issues.

For instance, troublemakers were also not accepted. Nagaryll still had its share of hooligans. Every society has good and bad people.

These troublemakers wouldn’t work seriously; they only wanted free food, wages, and to extort other workers.

Recruiting such people would bring chaos to the entire factory.

Asel didn’t count these minor problems in his recruitnt, which is why he ended up with just over thirteen hundred workers—all strong, healthy young n.

Each looked vigorous and physically strong, capable workers.

Lynch nodded without comnt and asked about the real purpose behind sending him to recruit, “How’s the publicity working?”

Asel’s expression was strange but he nodded. “Overall, it’s good. So recruits ca on their own, not just those present at the site.”

He couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, how did you co up with the idea? Printing those words on the clothes and half-selling, half-giving them away?”

Before Lynch arrived in Nagaryll, there was already a small family workshop plan in Sabin City.

The mayor had asked businessn to co up with plans to improve employnt and help struggling families. Compared to others’ donations, Lynch gave them actual work.

He bought large quantities of raw materials and machines cheaply from bankrupt factories, rented the machines to families in need, and extended almost free credit on raw materials for production according to his instructions.

For every piece of clothing produced, after deducting the cost of materials, Lynch only paid these families a small fee—ranging from a few cents to a couple of Sol.

It looked like charity, but the machines had depreciation and rental fees, so Lynch’s real cost was even lower than it seed.

These cheap clothes, once piled high and mocked as a failed investnt to please the mayor, were now more than just popular in Nagaryll—they appeared in Allia and even farther regions.

Their secret was low price. In Nagaryll, a slightly used piece of clothing cost about 300 Valier, but these quality items from the Federation sold for less than 200 Valier, and even people with so money were happy to buy them.

The words printed on the clothes—like Blackstone Capital, Blackstone Fund, Blackstone Security, and similar company nas—were not seen as flaws locally.

So even believed those labels proved the clothes were from the Federation and of good quality. Wearing such clothes beca a trend.

With Asel actively recruiting workers and news about Lynch and Blackstone frequently appearing in newspapers, people gradually accepted Lynch and his company.

When word spread that Blackstone was hiring, those wearing various Blackstone-branded clothes appeared before Asel, eager to contribute to Lynch’s cause.

Asel admired Lynch so much words couldn’t describe it. Anything difficult or unlikely to succeed was effortlessly achieved by Lynch.

Lynch didn’t find it magical—just simple repetition to deepen impressions.

When soone enters a place and first notices a pattern or text the designer wants them to see, every subsequent step reveals the sa image.

They may not consciously realize the effect—from no attention to familiarity to curiosity—and by the ti they leave, they already have a strong initial impression.

Repeated exposure then strengthens this concept until people instinctively trust certain patterns or words.

This is an example of the re exposure effect, reinforced through associative learning.

Lynch didn’t have Asel handle this but entrusted Sabin City’s municipal governnt to coordinate directly with the Magulana governor, showing friendly international relations. Freight costs ca from the Federation treasury, so Lynch paid nothing extra.

By this calculation, these clothes were a highly profitable product—just unnoticed by most.

Lynch wouldn’t boast about this small trick. Smiling, he moved past what should have been Asel’s praise and returned to work matters.

“The cent plant must start soon. We can initially use others’ raw materials. We need to fix the city’s roads quickly—I don’t want delays!”

“Nagaryll lacks everything except people. If everyone lays one ter of pavent daily, with enough workers, we can finish in one day.”

“That’s why we’re here. Also, tell the workers we plan to select so hardworking, capable ones to receive advanced training in the Federation.”

“When they return, their wages will at least double, though their base salary and rank won’t change—this is extra!”

Lynch trusted Asel, who had decent managerial skills and was local—an advantage that made him hard to replace quickly.

After discussing future plans a while longer, Asel stood to leave.

The recent unrest had made the country hard to understand; he needed to work harder to keep up.

Asel returned ho after a long absence. He ca back just today.

He found it hard to describe his feelings toward his family. At first, he resented them deeply for their tyrannical and cruel acts, but now his hatred had lessened.

At ho, he was greeted by his older brother’s wife, her expression odd. Soon his father and brother appeared, their faces serious—if that’s what it was.

He didn’t know, but he sensed sothing was wrong.

After everyone sat, his father spoke first: “She’s pregnant…”

Asel was stunned, then looked down at the woman kneeling beside him holding a fruit tray. He found it… unbelievable.

Just one night. He couldn’t hold back, but still…

He quickly looked at his brother, who bluntly said, “I haven’t been with her recently, so we want to know what you plan to do.”

“We heard in the Federation a man can only have one wife, so we need your opinion.”

As a man, not particularly strong-willed, Asel’s first thought was to deny being the cause of his brother’s wife’s pregnancy—but he quickly dismissed that thought.

In Nagaryll, if a woman becos pregnant by soone outside her family, she will be publicly beaten to death—this is a power granted by the gods.

As long as he didn’t admit it now, the woman would soon lose her life. This consequence was unbearable for Asel and would beco an unshakable shadow over him forever.

In a daze, he recalled that night—the tenderness he had never felt before arriving in such a way.

His wife in the Federation weighed twice as much as he did; that was no tenderness, but cruel abuse followed by malicious mockery.

Unlike that night—his first ti feeling surrounded and embraced by warmth.

“I might be staying here for a long ti, so…” He turned his head to the woman, “Let the child be born.”

His father and brother both nodded slightly, then his father said, “From today on, she will be considered your wife.”

As a Nagaryll native, Asel found their customs hard to accept. He had spent too long in the Federation, growing up under its advanced social culture and education. Instinctively, he disliked such traditions.

But he accepted it. He didn’t want his selfishness to cause a woman and her child—his own child—to be taken from the world. That wouldn’t be fair.

He also felt a faint excitent—he was going to be a father, sothing he had never experienced.

His real wife was too overweight, making pregnancy too risky; doctors told them they would probably never have children. He was desperate then, but now, it seed everything was coming back.

He reached out and gently touched the woman’s hair, feeling an unexpected calm.

With a child, the family would be complete.