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Chapter 1071: Surprises and Accidents

According to the regulations governing stockbrokers, client information was strictly confidential. The words Charles Montes had just uttered were enough to land him in prison.

Tyler Graby, however, waved his hand dismissively. "It’s hardly surprising. You must have seen Mr. Sandel’s mansion on Bond Street. Buying a place like that certainly costs a fortune."

"Six thousand pounds sterling. That was the transaction price for the house. I looked into it," Montes replied, glancing around once more before continuing. "But it doesn’t stop there. I was drinking with Mr. McCartney recently—you know, the senior trader at Lloyd’s Bank—and I overheard him mention that Mr. Sandel used his company shares as collateral to take out a loan of over ten thousand pounds sterling."

"That’s very strange. Sandel has no use for that much money. He’s been single his whole life; he doesn’t even have a mistress."

"Isn’t Lady Damien his mis—"

"No, she isn’t. Trust me," Montes said with absolute certainty. He knew this because the woman had been involved with him for over a year.

Hearing this, Graby couldn’t help but frown.

Just then, a middle-aged man with a short beard stepped out of the coffee house. Catching sight of the two, he immediately waved. "Charles, Taylor, the Boulton-Watt Company is announcing the latest progress on the Engine180 this afternoon. Do you want to go together?"

The Boulton-Watt Company had been the focal point of the London stock market for the past six months, and every broker was keeping a close eye on their news.

He turned back and patted his old friend on the shoulder. "Charles, you might be being a bit too cautious. Look, Boulton-Watt’s new product will be on the market soon. That’s a hundred-and-eighty-horsepower monster. It’s bound to send their stock price soaring even higher."

Montes hesitated, wondering if he really had been mistaken. If Boulton-Watt’s business was struggling, why would they continue to invest so heavily in developing new steam engine models?

He was pulled into the carriage by Graby. After a bumpy thirty-minute ride, they arrived at the experimental center that Boulton-Watt had constructed at the end of last year.

The three were led into a spacious hall capable of holding hundreds of people. Over a hundred journalists, officials, and industry professionals had already gathered there.

After a short wait, Boulton appeared before the crowd with a wide smile on his face.

He began with a few brief pleasantries before gesturing toward the workshop on the eastern side. "Today is a day that will go down in history—"

"We have achieved a major breakthrough with our Engine180!"

"Our chief technician, Mr. Sandel, believes it will be ready for formal production in four months at the most."

"Now, I will let Mr. Sandel provide you with a detailed explanation."

A middle-aged man dressed as a technician walked over and whispered something into Boulton's ear.

Boulton immediately waved to the journalists. "Sandel is currently performing an extremely important technical adjustment. You know how he is—once he starts working, he forgets everything else."

"Please be patient for a moment. In ten minutes, he’ll—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a cataclysmic roar erupted from the eastern workshop. It sounded as if a dozen cannons had all discharged at once, the force of it causing a sharp, stabbing pain in the eardrums of everyone in the hall.

Boulton’s expression froze instantly. He rushed to the window and saw that the doors and windows of the nearby experimental workshop had been completely shattered. Massive clouds of white steam were billowing out from the wreckage.

"What happened?!"

A dozen seconds later, a pale-faced technician came running over, shouting to Boulton, "It’s terrible! The Engine180's boiler just exploded! Mr. Sandel and Mr. Rice are severely injured..."

Boulton’s head throbbed. He turned and waved the journalists away. "That’s all for today. Everyone, please leave." He then burst through the door, running toward the experimental workshop like a madman.

The journalists were hardly willing to leave. They pushed aside the Boulton-Watt employees trying to block them and swarmed toward the site of the explosion.

Montes and Graby exchanged a look and followed closely behind the crowd.

Rounding the office building, Montes immediately saw the workshop walls leaning outward from the force of the massive blast.

Over a dozen technicians and workers were gathered in a chaotic mess on the open ground outside. Some were screaming for help, while others were panic-stricken, crossing themselves in prayer.

Montes’s view was obstructed by the journalists, but soon, several men emerged from the crowd carrying two stretchers.

Montes’s eyelids flickered at the horrific sight of the two men on the stretchers. They were covered in blood, yet the skin on their faces had turned a ghastly, unnatural white from the scalding steam. The thinner man in the back had his left arm twisted at an angle no normal human could achieve; the bone was clearly shattered.

Boulton caught up to the stretchers, glancing frantically at the injured men before grabbing a man in a black coat by the arm. "Dr. Brusque, how is Mr. Sandel?" he whispered urgently.

The doctor pushed his hand away and sighed. "To be honest, it’s very grim. I will do everything I can to save his life, but for the rest... we must leave it in the hands of the Lord."

Sandel and the technician named Rice were carried into the company’s infirmary. Since receiving that eight-hundred-thousand-pound investment, the company had been fully equipped with facilities like a cafeteria, a tea room, and a medical suite.

Dr. Brusque immediately locked the infirmary door and began the emergency treatment with his assistants.

Outside the workshop, journalists surrounded the technicians and workers, firing off questions in a confused clamor. Boulton stood frozen to the spot, having forgotten all about stopping them.

From the mess of descriptions, Montes quickly pieced together what had happened. Sandel had been conducting the first full-pressure test of the Engine180. The machine had been running for about ten minutes when the pressure relief valve malfunctioned. Violating safety protocols, Sandel had entered the workshop directly to inspect the fault. The moment he opened the inner safety door, the steam engine exploded.

Sandel and Rice, who was closest to him, were blown back by the blast. Others sustained varying degrees of injury, but because they hadn't entered the room, their wounds were not as severe.

Montes quietly approached the experimental workshop. By now, the steam had dissipated. Inside, he could see the base of the black cast-iron boiler—over three meters high and a meter thick—had been blown open into a bell shape. The surrounding metal pipes and connecting rods were twisted into a chaotic mess, while the wooden tables and chairs had been reduced to splinters scattered across the floor.

The sheer violence of the explosion was evident.

He swallowed hard, a single thought dominating his mind: Boulton-Watt’s stock price was finished.

Inside the infirmary on the south side, Dr. Brusque ordered his assistants to draw all the curtains. After carefully checking to ensure there were no gaps, he waved to the "unconscious" Sandel and Rice. "Everything went smoothly. There are no outsiders now; you can get up and rest."