Chapter 317 - 317. Innovation Is The Key
After the auction, there was a small lunch party. It was held indoors in a separate hall, away from all the visitors. They didn't really want the people to see them eat and be unable to join.
Magnus and Ragnar just ate and left silently. They didn't need to spend the entire day with them. However, while coming out of the zoo, they saw a boy, about 15 years old, selling some T-shirts. All of them had Magnus' face on them.
"How much for this?" He asked.
"Just a ..." The boy froze as soon as he saw him. He looked left and right.
"Don't think about running, friend. Tell me, do you have the authorisation to sell merchandise with my name and face on it?" He inquired.
"A... ummm... dad told me this is all fine when he was drawing them." the boy nervously said.
Magnus' eyes widened and he took one of the T-shirts from the stack. "HOLY MOLY..."
Ragnar did the same, "BLOODY HELL... Your father drew all these?"
The boy nodded, "Umm... Yes... he used to work at an art gallery and made people replicas of whatever art they wanted right in front of them. But he was fired due to the gallery being closed."
Magnus was surprised. Each T-shirt was hand-painted, and all of them were near-identical to his face. The talent was just too damn high. "Come with me and take us to your home. We will talk to your dad."
Soon, the boy found himself sitting between Magnus and Ragnar inside the big Rolls Royce. There they found out about the boy's history. His father lost the job, now did this to help them make money. The boy had a brother one year older and a sister two years younger. His mother was a waitress at a restaurant. By selling T-shirts on weekends, they made money for paying school fees, while his mum helped pay for the food.
Such conditions were really common in the current United Kingdom, as the economy was down, businesses had shut down. Although it was getting better, the damage had already been done.
Soon, they arrived at a small apartment building in a not very kind area of the city. A police car was parked outside, from it came out Tom, in his police uniform.
Seeing him, the boy, named Leo, was scared. But Magnus assured him, "Don't worry, I know him. He's not here to catch anyone."
He walked to Tom, "Hah, looking smart in uniform, new Assistant commissioner."
Tom chuckled, "Well, thanks to you and some others, me and my team have been solving cases like it's a cakewalk. But, I mainly run my own department, called SIGMA, Special Investigative Group for Metropolitan Area. We handle most of the overly violent, urgent or unsolvable cases. There are only supposed to be 4 Assistant commissioners, yet I'm the 5th one. Anyway, why did you call me here?"
"Well, this boy's father is a really good artist. I want you to recommend him as the official suspect photo artist. I also had something else to talk about with you. Let's get this over with first."
...
Half an hour later, Magnus and Tom sat in the car. Tom had already offered the job to the father of Leo.
"Why did you go to such lengths for just one man?" Ragnar asked him.
"Hah, it's a long game. Leo has two more siblings. All of them marry someday, have kids and grandkids. They just met me, the future King, and got their dad offered a job. Do you think they will not proudly tell their coming generations about this incident again and again? I have just now won the loyalty and admiration of at least 30 people with this small act. I'm not even counting the countless friends they will tell." Magnus revealed his game plan. That random act of kindness can go a long way.
"Damn, I'm not even gonna ask from now on." Ragnar was just awestruck. Tom as well.
"So, what did you need to talk about, Magnus?" Tom inquired.
"Tom, get ready for a big job. Next year, most likely, Zimbabwe will become a part of the United Kingdom, mainly England. After that, we will need to fill a lot of positions there. I will be sending you as the special head of Internal Security. Your job will be to make sure the police does its work with no corruption, our appointed officials don't do corruption or be racist to the aboriginals. Those people will be as British as any of us from then on. I want them to happily be with us.
"After this assignment, you will have enough clout to directly enter the cabinet of the Prime Minister, whoever sits in the seat at that time does not matter," Magnus ordered him.
This was a huge responsibility. Zimbabwe was bigger than the United Kingdom. It was also uncharted territory. But thankfully, Zimbabwe had even less population than the current London. Tom had the experience of London, so he hoped it wouldn't be too hard.
"I will start thoroughly reading about Zimbabwe's people, culture, religion and geography. I will do my best." He promised.
Magnus had confidence in him, "I know, that's why I selected you."
Tom was pretty legendary at this point. He, from the simple rank of a newly recruited patrol officer, rose through the ranks to reach such heights. People admired him, he was the crush of the newspapers.
...
Magnus had other things too, but they didn't require his direct involvement. He just advised the Prime Minister to force Parliament to allow the current House of Commons chamber to be expanded. The queen also advised it. But most couldn't understand why. Only a few knew that they would soon be getting a few more MPs and it would get crowded.
Whoever will be in charge of the building will most likely give the contract to Emrys Construction anyway. The company was now a big name in the country, responsible for the creation of the Channel Canal and many other projects. However, Emrys Construction was more active outside the UK.
Anyway, after ending his meeting with Tom, Magnus left alone for Adam's locomotive plant. All that was needed now was to buy a locomotive company, incorporate Adam's design and start production. Even Bobby was asked to come, as Magnus also had one idea he wanted to tell Adam and Bobby, to see if it could be implemented. It was for the new Saharan land he was trying to buy.
Ragnar went home with the car as he had work to do. He was still trying to make new potions to help himself in using magic, as well as make himself stronger.
...
The huge warehouse was full of noise and activity. Though thankfully the office made for Adam and the administrative staff was soundproofed. They didn't do much manufacturing here, most of the items were prebuilt in Futuretek Industries' various workshops. Only the main engine designed by Adam was manufactured here and then assembled into the locomotive frame.
Adam had just come from his office, so he was still in his military uniform. Meanwhile, Bobby was in a plain T-shirt and shorts. Nobody would say he was a super-rich CEO if they saw him like this.
"Dad, why did you not say no to mum for going to charity?" Magnus asked.
"I did... but do you think Grace listens to anyone?" Adam sighed.
Magnus had to agree, this was indeed Grace they were talking about. She can be stubborn at times. "*sigh* Don't worry, I and Ragar went there in her place. Anyway, let's sit and talk."
Magnus cast a charm to make the conversation private and started. "Well, how's the company going, Bobby?"
"We're too big now. I don't even know all the things we're doing. We're in consumer electronics, computers and now even Defence. I'm also interested in space, knowing we don't really have a successful space programme. Maybe one day we can send a ship to the moon." Bobby dreamily said.
He continued, "Anyway, I just make sure that there are no spies, thanks to your agreement papers, I get notified anytime there is a leak. Other than this, I just make sure my employees, especially the researchers, are happy and I keep on bringing new talents. I just give them the freedom to develop whatever they want in the particular field I have told them to.
"Out of the 10 things developed, 9 get rejected but that one item helps me make millions, if lucky, billions. But even those 9 are not wasted, as they are also innovations and their technology is later used to make something else later. Our largest revenue stream, for now, is computers and mobiles. Innovation is our key."
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