Although the report described some thorny issues, the Empire's situation in the Second Sanctuary was not actually as troublesome as it seemed.
The reason was simple: Neverwinter, the jewel of the Northern Land, was now completely under the Empire's control.
Standing at the window and looking at the brightly lit streets outside, Lawrence could hardly believe it. As the Intelligence Department's representative in the Second Sanctuary, he was responsible for gathering intelligence and running the Imperial Department Store's trade operations here. After all, Li Wei could not stay here every day. Before leaving, however, Li Wei had assigned Lawrence a task.
He had told Lawrence, "Take control of all of Neverwinter."
As an intelligence operative, Lawrence was no stranger to such work. In his view, it involved little more than bribing nobles, conducting espionage, gathering information, and the like. But he had never expected Li Wei to give him a task like this. Control all of Neverwinter? Even with an entire intelligence team at his disposal, he only had twenty people. How was he supposed to control the whole city?
He had seen the soldiers here, too. Some were incredibly powerful, even capable of cutting through a tree with a single stroke of their swords-were they really human?
Even with a gun, he probably could not handle someone like that.
But Li Wei had offered no further explanation. He had simply handed him a notebook.
"Follow these instructions, then keep detailed records and submit reports."
To Lawrence's surprise, the notebook contained neither a list of people to bribe nor targets with compromising secrets. Instead, it contained-
An entire business plan.
Yes, a business plan.
Although Lawrence was puzzled, he had followed the instructions in the notebook.
The Imperial Department Store's arrival had left many shops in Neverwinter's commercial district facing