Wolf

After the meeting, Kronos followed Professor Portland to Kask Wolf's office.

"Kronos, this Mr. Kask is also a graduate of Backlund University. He's one of my few friends in politics, and it was because of his recommendation that I was able to become the rector of Backlund Technical University."

Only in private did Portland explain his relationship with Kask to Kronos.

But Kronos was trying hard to recall this person, because he was sure the name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had heard it before.

Portland noticed that Kronos seemed a bit distracted, so he patted him on the shoulder. "What's wrong? What are you thinking about?"

Kronos then snapped out of his reverie and said, "I don't know why, but Mr. Kask's name sounds familiar, though I can't quite place where I've heard it before."

Just then, Kask spoke up, "You probably haven't heard of my name, but you've probably heard of my surname."

Kask's reminder brought Kronos back to reality, and he blurted out, "Earl Wolf?"

Kask smiled and nodded, while Portland added, "Earl Wolf is Kask's younger brother. After Kask made a name for himself in the education field, he voluntarily relinquished his inheritance rights, allowing his brother to inherit the title. Otherwise, he would be Earl Wolf now."

Earl Wolf is one of the nobles who appears quite frequently in the original work, but he is only mentioned briefly and not described in much detail.

Kronos had only heard it once from Philip, which is why it felt strangely familiar, yet he couldn't recall where it came from.

Earl Wolf was also a key figure in the Conservative Party; apart from the Duke Negan and the Earl Levett, no other nobleman could clearly control him.

In the original story, Earl Wolf faced financial difficulties due to the repeal of the Corn Laws, and sold 840,000 acres of land for 290,000 Pound Sterling.

None of this Information was important to Kronos. The most important thing was that Earl Wolf possessed a Mask brought from the Eggers Family Mausoleum, and this Mask was suspected to belong to Mr. Azik. An item that a Death Consul of Death had carried with him for so long must have considerable power.

So when Kronos thought of this Information, a little scheme began to take hold.

Although the description states that the basic function of this Mask is the Faceless's ability to change his appearance.

However, if a high-ranking expert carries it with them for a long time, even an ordinary item can become Beyonder Item. Therefore, this Mask is still very valuable, and may even be worth as much as a Demigod- level item.

Everyone says, "I'm definitely making friends with you because of your girlfriend!" Now, Kronos is saying, "I'm definitely making friends with you because of your family's Mask!"

"No wonder. Your name sounded familiar to me. It wasn't just because of Earl Wolf; I've heard your own name before, when Duke Negan and the Prime Minister were chatting." Kronos smiled "kindly."

If it were just about family, Kask would have heard that kind of talk countless times, but Kronos's explanation actually caught Kask's attention.

"Really? What did His Duke and the Prime Minister say about me?" Kask asked curiously.

Kronos scratched his head, looking embarrassed, and said, "I don't know either. I just happened to run into Philip once, and we were talking about some nobleman worth cultivating."

This is definitely false; it's purely something Kronos made up. But Kronos isn't worried at all because the Conservative Party nobles basically follow the Duke Negan's lead, so Earl Wolf naturally belongs to the same camp as the Duke Negan.

Kask, being an educator, should have some integrity, but he still cared a bit about such a powerful figure whose word could determine his status.

"Professor Kronos, are you on good terms with the Negan?"

"Actually, that's all. I met Duke Negan because he invited Professor Portland to join the Ironclad Project. I met him a few times after that, but we didn't have much interaction. However, I have a good relationship with his son Philip."

After hearing Kronos's words, Kask turned to look at Portland, in order to verify the truth of Kronos's statement.

Portland knew Kronos quite well, so he sensed something was off. Kronos seemed to be deliberately talking about things that Kask was interested in, but since it was all true, he nodded.

Kask is already considered independent of the Wolf Family, a status permitted by the family. Therefore, he needs to manage and strive for many things on his own. Suddenly encountering such a high-quality "connection," he naturally wants to make good use of it.

What happened next had nothing to do with Portland.

When two people want to connect, their conversation flows incredibly smoothly, perfectly matching each other's interests.

Besides the deliberate small talk, Kronos also secretly let slip some "inside Message," claiming it was something he'd heard from someone else, but which was actually Kronos's deduction based on the current situation and what would happen next.

Kask wasn't someone easily fooled; you'd need something real to actually get the Mask from him.

Having spent so much time in the government, Kask could easily tell with a little judgment that Kronos's Message was very likely to be true, thus increasing his trust in him.

The two chatted until it gradually got dark, and only after Portland reminded him did Kronos take his leave.

"What's going on with you? It feels like you have some ulterior motive," Portland said to Kronos after leaving the Higher Education Committee.

"Well, if one day Mr. Kask asks you what my hobbies are, just tell him I'm very interested in the history of the Fourth Epoch, especially the worship of Death Consul."

Portland said seriously, "I can help you, but I want to know your purpose. Kask is also my friend, and I can't let him get hurt!"

Kronos laughed, "Professor Portland, you're overthinking it. My only goal is a piece from Earl Wolf's collection, a personal item of a High Sequence powerhouse, which is simply sealed away."

"The Message I gave Mr. Kask was all true and wouldn't harm him. Besides, that artifact was of no use to them, so I wanted to get my hands on it through this method."

After hearing Kronos's explanation, Portland was relieved. "Okay, I understand. I can help you with this."

The following day, under Kronos's decision, the Ansel Company began acquiring large quantities of land around the Walter Factory. Whether it was residential houses or Factory, all were brought under Kronos's Kronos thanks to the large amount of Pound Sterling he had spent.

With the acquisition of the land, construction of the Scientific Research Base began, Kronos planned to create a landmark complex in the Saint George District of Backlund.

At the very least, we need to ensure that when people see this, they can immediately recall the name of the Argel Family.

This approach also subtly increases the family's influence, Kronos believes that the Royal Family can tolerate this kind of influence that doesn't involve politics or military affairs.

After all, they are considered "people of the past," so they wouldn't understand the importance of this kind of influence.

Once the Argel Family gains a strong and influential position in areas such as the economy and people's livelihood, even if there are no Demigod or Beyonder in the family, the Augustus Family will not act rashly.

This influence is different from that of the Negan. Although the Negan has been deeply involved in politics for centuries, most of their power dissipates instantly once their leader dies.

(This can be referenced in relation to the assassination of Duke Negan later on.)

Because political and military influence is generally based on the power of a person in a high position, once that person falls from grace, their power collapses instantly.

However, what Kronos is after now is a collective influence. Even if the Marquis Argel dies one day, or even if Cronus himself dies, the influence of the Argel Family will not be greatly affected.

The Royal Family could certainly forcibly remove these influences, for example, by killing all members of the Argel Family Argel Family, seizing their property, and demolishing the Research Center.

However, compared to peaceful coexistence, these drastic measures will suffer a lot of backlash. Although the nobles have their own factions, the nobles are still a whole. No matter how powerful the Royal Family is, it still needs these nobles to help manage the country.

Any unreasonable and forceful measures are not very effective. The Royal Family can use them on the Argel Family, and they can also use them on the Negan, Levett Family, and Wolf Family. Therefore, it will definitely provoke resistance from the nobles. You can't just kill all the families.

So Kronos wanted to do this, so that the family's businesses would no longer remain hidden in the background, but would gradually integrate into the lives of the people, so that if the Royal Family wanted to take action one day, they would have to consider the impact.

Backlund Technical University is a good starting point. Now, Kronos plans to use the Scientific Research Base as a foundation to gradually integrate all of the Argel Family's resources and mechanical industries into the entire industrial chain of the Scientific Research Base.

Of course, when it comes to business, Kronos is just a half-baked amateur. This is all the idea he can come up with. The rest will have to wait for Marquis Argel to return from his "vacation." The capable should do more, after all!