chapter 180 part 1
Chapter 179: Superman's Voice Actor
2023-05-02 Author: Yue Shang Xintou
"Sir, perhaps you should take a look at this..."
New York, Manroland's New York agency.
The agent, Langge, took the newspaper handed to him by a worker. Looking at the exquisite serialized content inside, he couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise.
"This printing quality!"
Manroland had a long history in printing press manufacturing. Since the first automatic letterpress printing machine appeared in 1845, Manroland had also begun its development.
Manroland played a pivotal role in the development of the rotary press. Whether the early printing presses powered by steam boilers and engines or the new rotary printing presses currently on the market, all were, in fact, Manroland's creations.
Currently, nearly one-third of the printing presses used in the entire New York market were produced by Manroland or its partner manufacturers.
This included the color rotary printing press previously used by Colin Press, which also came from a Manroland partner.
And Langge, who was half-German, was Manroland's current New York agent.
He was responsible for expanding the New York market for Manroland and promoting the new rotary presses.
However, due to the onset of The Great Depression, not only America but the entire world was severely affected by the economic crisis.
This included Manroland's home country of Germany. As an industrially-oriented nation, the decline in exports naturally led to a sharp decrease in domestic consumption. Manroland's printing press sales also showed a significant downward trend. According to Langge's sources, the Manroland head office in Augsburg was already planning a new round of layoffs to cut expenses.
And agents like Langge seemed to be on that layoff list.
The impact of the overall environment led Manroland to start abandoning some of its less profitable partnership channels, and the American market, a disaster zone of The Great Depression, seemed to have become one of the first targets for Manroland to give up.
Ever since receiving this news, Langge had been mired in anxiety. It wasn't that he hadn't tried to sell rotary presses.
But under the shock of The Great Depression, all factories were desperately cutting costs, using the cheapest paper and ink for printing.
Langge hadn't successfully sold a single rotary printing press for over a month.
"Get me another newspaper, now!"
Taking a deep breath, Langge looked at the beautifully printed *The Messenger Newspaper* in his hand and hurriedly said to the worker.
In just a short while, Langge had a copy of the latest issue of the *World Daily News* in his hands.
Lowering his head to examine the differences between the two newspapers and placing them side-by-side, Langge could more intuitively feel the advanced printing technology used by *The Messenger Newspaper*.
To have become Manroland's New York agent, Langge naturally had his unique strengths.
He was originally a repairman for rotary printing presses in a factory and had an extremely deep understanding of printing technology. It was precisely this foundation that allowed Langge to get in touch with Manroland and successfully become their agent in New York.
If it weren't for The Great Depression, he might have—no, he definitely would have been better off than he was now.
Damn The Great Depression. Damn Hoover.
After silently cursing the current state of affairs in his heart, Langge returned his gaze to the two newspapers in his hands.
The *World Daily News* was currently the newspaper with the largest circulation in New York, but in terms of printing quality, it formed a stark contrast with the other paper, *The Messenger Newspaper*. This difference might not be very obvious in the text, but it became quite clear when it came to the serialized comic.
Looking at the bleeding lines and monochrome colors of the characters in the *World Daily News* versus the vibrant, sharply colored characters in *The Messenger Newspaper*, not just an agent like Langge with ample experience in printing technology, but even an ordinary person could see the difference at a glance.
"So, how did *The Messenger Newspaper* achieve this?"
Considering the newspaper's circulation, Langge could feel the importance behind this even more acutely.
"According to the newsboys, it seems the boss of *The Messenger Newspaper* adopted a brand-new printing technology."
The worker didn't know the specific details and could only relay the information he had heard from the newsboys to Langge.
"A brand-new printing technology?"
Langge knew that the description 'brand-new' might be an exaggeration. After all, with the development of printing technology to this day, all printing presses were manufactured by modifying and upgrading existing foundations.
But whether it was an exaggeration or not, it was a fact that *The Messenger Newspaper* had mastered a new printing process. This process was even a mature technology, capable of being applied to the printing and publishing of newspapers.
"Mail these two newspapers to Augsburg immediately!"
Thinking of this, Langge shouted without much hesitation.
...
[Power - Super-Precognition (Black Iron)]
[Power Description: Superman possesses a miraculous sensory ability, allowing him to predict the location of a disaster before it occurs within a ten-kilometer radius.]
At the Messenger Newspaper, with the serialization of the new issue of *Superman*, Colin unsurprisingly unlocked a new power.
Powers unlocked for the first time were generally at the [Black Iron] level. Only by continuously appearing in the ongoing serialized story would they be upgraded to the [Bronze] level.
As for why the [Freeze Breath] power was [Bronze] from the moment it appeared, it was because this power itself was something that emerged after the [Super Breath] level increased, and [Super Breath] was one of the powers Colin had unlocked long ago.
He closed his eyes and felt the effect of the new power.