Iron Powder and Spellcaster

Three hours after the assassination at the pier, the air in the two-story building of Hailan City's General Administration of Customs seemed to solidify.

Robert Hurd, the chief administrator of Hailan City Customs, now feels like he has a splitting headache.

A trestle was sunk at his dock and there were several more bodies in his morgue, but these were not the most difficult problems. The toughest problem now is that his cell is filled with Army officers.

The big boss's face was clouded, and the staff below were naturally trembling.

From the highest-ranking assistant to the lowest-ranking scribe, all the customs clerks in the General Administration buried their heads as much as possible in the files on the table, not even daring to take a breath.

In Hurd's office, several department heads under the Chief Administrative Officer had solemn expressions on their faces. They were all just smoking cigarettes and no one spoke a word.

The office of the top customs official was filled with smoke, as if a thick fog had descended.

Earlier, still in this office, after Hurd listened to the reports from the department heads on the explosion at the pier a few hours ago, he began to feel a pulsing pain somewhere in his head that was not palpable. , the blood vessels in the temples began to bulge.

Now, seeing that all the department chiefs under him were keeping silent and pretending to be dead, Hurd couldn't help but secretly sigh that none of these losers were reliable. He stood up and opened the window behind him.

The fresh sea breeze cleared away the second-hand smoke in the office. Hurd cheered up and asked the customs directors in a deep voice: "Does anyone have any information that they would like to add?"

The deathly silence that answered him.

Seeing that no one spoke, Hurd frowned and continued: "Let me sum it up. There was a fight at the pier this afternoon. A trestle was blown into pieces. Several people died. Not only that, but a batch of Army officers were involved.”

"That's basically what we know about the situation, right? The top priority now is how to deal with those detained Army personnel, and we must come up with a solution as soon as possible." Hurd leaned on the chair and tapped lightly with his fingers. Looking at the table, he suddenly sneered: "Is that major general in the army still clamoring to kill us?"

"Uh... yes." The director of the Anti-Smuggling Department nodded cautiously, and the army officers were invited into the cells originally used to hold smugglers, which are now under his control: "General Layton is resting in my office now. ...But I think if we continue to hold his people captive, he might really come to the headquarters with a sword."

"Let him come!" Hurd slapped the table hard, causing the cups, ink bottles and other small objects on the table to jump an inch high: "Isn't the customs still afraid of him?"

"Of course you are not afraid if you are afraid. We will definitely not suffer in a head-to-head confrontation." The director of the Anti-Smuggling Department wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a wry smile: "But we can't keep people from the Army in the prison of the Anti-Smuggling Department, right? It's not fair to say that the customs are really unreasonable. I think it's better to let them go. The Army people seem to be very cooperative with our investigation. They are all officers with names on the Army roster. Even if they are let out, It won’t disappear, just invite back whoever you need to assist in the investigation.”

"Let go, to put it lightly. If it was the Army who bombed the pier, and you let them go today, how could they let us take them back again? If you ask me, they must be interrogated one by one. It is not clear what happened today. No one can leave after this!" Upon hearing that the Director of the Anti-Smuggling Department was about to release him, the Director of the Taxation Department jumped out.

He firmly disagreed with the proposal of the Director of Anti-Smuggling. The two never dealt with each other and were always at odds with each other.

"Then it's up to you to interrogate! You've been interrogating all afternoon. Have you found anything useful? Aren't you still clueless when you ask questions?" The director of the Anti-Smuggling Department was aroused and retorted unceremoniously.

"What a bullshit trial! If you just ask nicely, what can you ask? These bastards must have something they are not telling." The director of the tax department blushed and shouted loudly: "Director-General, let me be punished! You just need to nod, and I'll go and execute him now, and I'll keep these army bastards from spitting out everything they know."

"Torture? Do you want to fight with the Army?" the head of the anti-smuggling department roared and jumped up.

"Boom!" With a loud noise, Hurd punched the oak tabletop and cracked it: "Shut up!"

The director of the two customs offices, who was under one person and over a hundred people, closed his mouth and sat back in his chair angrily.

Hurd's head hurt now.

----Dividing line----

"Hey! What about you! How long are you going to lock us up? Why are your customs locking us up? Let us go!" Andre grabbed the cell railing and yelled at the two guards, one fat and one thin, at the door. He kicked the cell door angrily, and a pound of ash fell from the cell wall.

"Master officer, it's not us who are locking you up." The thin guard smiled and said in a flattering tone: "Please don't embarrass us both. We are just making a living. Why are we locking you up? You know? Whatever the class leader asks us to do, then we have to do it."

"If you don't know, just call those who know!"

"The bosses are not here now, and we are the only two in this prison. How about I get you some water?"

"I drink you..."

"Forget it, Andre, come and sit down." Seeing that the thin man was guarding him slickly, Winters didn't want to see Andre being teased with words, so he called out to Andre softly.

Andre snorted coldly, and he also realized that although the thin man in front of him was polite, he was a guy who couldn't get rid of water. He walked straight back to Winters, lay down on the ground, closed his eyes, and grabbed two handfuls of straw as pillows.

Winters was now sitting cross-legged on the ground, shirtless, and Bud was examining the area on his back where the man in black robes had hit him with the butt of his gun.

A piece of knowledge that goes against common sense must be mentioned here: Even in the future when humans begin to use lightweight polymers to make firearms, firearms will still be heavier than cold weapons; the lightest unloaded assault rifle weighs five kilograms, and Winter Si's long sword only weighed three pounds; let alone this era where wooden butts were still used.

So these days, the musket is basically a hammer when used backwards. Many arquebusiers do not even like to draw their swords when they are involved in hand-to-hand combat, but prefer to hit people with their rifle butts.

Winters' back didn't hurt much when the man in black robe hit him with the gun butt, but now it started to hurt a little.

"These assassins are so cruel." Bard smacked his lips and sighed, while tentatively pressing the bruised area with his fingers: "Does it hurt if I press with this force?"

"Can it not hurt? It hurts even if you get hit." Winters said with a wry smile.

"I mean, does the bone hurt?"

"It's okay, it hurts a little, but I can bear it."

"That's okay, the bones shouldn't be broken. It's probably because you struggled with him and he couldn't exert force." Bud speculated on the situation at that time and gave the doctor's advice: "Even if the bones are really broken at this location There is no other way but to rest. No matter what, just take care of it for a month and don’t mess around."

"That bastard is so shameless. He actually secretly wore a breastplate under his robe." Winters became angrier and angrier as he thought about it, and he raged incompetently: "If I also wear plate armor, can he hurt me?"

Bud helped Winters, whose back hurt just by raising his arms, put his clothes back on, and said casually: "Really? I feel that those men in black robes are also very powerful in swordsmanship."

This sentence also touched the heart of Winters. Winters recalled the process of fighting with the assassin and said seriously: "It is indeed very powerful. The man in black robe who hit me with the butt of the gun controlled the distance very accurately. Moreover, The center of gravity of their swords is on the sword grid, and the rotation is extremely flexible. If it is a real one-on-one battle, I should not be his opponent, I am afraid that I have to let Ike come to win steadily."

"I estimate that I can't find a few swordsmen who are better than the master in the whole bay." Bud said with a smile.

"Haha, it was just a game. We are people who have seen blood after all. If he really risked his life, Ike may not be able to beat us now." Thinking of Ike, Winters put on a smile on his face, He said enthusiastically: "My current understanding of swordsmanship has reached a new level. If I also carry a short gun like the man in black robe...then I won't be afraid of facing Ike. Well, one might It’s not enough, bringing two will be safer.”

"Then did you see clearly how he managed to fire the musket without using a match rope?" Bud never figured this out.

"I didn't see it clearly. There must be a special design." Winters shook his head. He came into close contact with the black-robed man's musket and confirmed that there was no match rope attached to the gun, but he could not see the specific structure clearly.

However, Winters remembered how he subdued the man in black robes on the trestle, and said happily: "The man in black robes brought a special fire gun and was kicked to death by me. If his accomplices don't come to save him, I will I can still catch him alive. When I get out of here, I will put iron plates on the tips of my boots, and next time I will kick his jaw to pieces."

He boasted rather proudly: "I feel more and more that the battle experience with the pirates is very important. Ike may not be able to deal with the two of us now."

"What kind of actual combat experience is just that I have developed some killing skills." Bud did not feel as proud as Winters. He sighed bitterly: "I can't imagine what it would be like if my father and mother learned that I killed someone. What people would be like.”

This sentence touched Winters. What would happen if his family learned how many lives he had on his hands? His pride melted instantly.

Winters comforted Bud dryly: "We have been studying in the military academy for so many years. Isn't this just what we learned? Well, there is nothing we can do about it. Don't think too much about it. Just like Andre said. , 'use yourself as a tool', it will feel better."

At this time, a voice of surprise and joy suddenly came from the other end of the cell, "Major is awake! Wake up!"

A few hours ago, Winters and Major Moritz jumped into the sea to escape the explosion, but Winters didn't remember that he couldn't swim until he choked on the water.

When he panicked, kicked his limbs wildly, and was on the verge of drowning, a pair of strong arms grabbed him from behind and dragged him to the water.

Even now when he recalled the feeling of drowning in the water, Winters couldn't help but tremble all over.

Winters originally thought that the major had saved him, but when he was dragged to the shore, he discovered that it was not the major who saved him, but his old classmate Benway.

What about the major? There was no sign of the major on the sea surface. It turned out that the major couldn’t swim either!

Benwei didn't have time to exchange greetings with Winters before he plunged into the water again.

After a while, I saw him floating to the surface with the major in his arms.

The major, who had just been dragged back to the shore, was not even breathing. The dock workers grabbed their throats and sniffed their noses, and used all the means they could think of to pull the major back from the underworld.

But after the major briefly regained consciousness and breathing, he fell into a coma again.

Then the Army Warrant Officers were surrounded by customs guards who came after hearing the noise. The Warrant Officers who didn't understand what they were doing faced off against the Customs Guards who didn't know what they were doing even more.

After consultation, Major General Leighton ordered the warrant officers to "go to Customs with dignity and cooperate with the investigation." So the warrant officers were politely "invited" into the cell of the Anti-Smuggling Division without being searched, carrying their luggage.

Major Moritz was supposed to follow Major General Leighton to the office of the Director of Anti-Smuggling to "rest", but the major was still in a coma, so he stayed in the cell under the care of the warrant officers.

The major who had just woken up was very weak. His eyes were barely open, his mouth was half-open, and his lips were trembling slightly.

"Water, get water quickly." The classmate who was supporting the major quickly called for help.

The thin guard hurriedly poured a glass of water, and the warrant officers passed it from hand to hand to the person in front of the major. Everyone hurriedly helped the major to sit down and carefully fed the major water.

The water dripped into the major's mouth little by little, and the warrant officers all let out a sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the stone in my heart fell to the ground, the major vomited out all the water he gave him.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Winters was also stunned when he saw the water he fed and spit it out again.

But when he looked at the major's haggard face, he seemed to have a flash of inspiration in his mind, and he suddenly understood what was going on.

The major wants a drink!

Winters yelled at the two guards: "Wine! Bring the wine! No water! Bring the wine!"

"Master, where can I get you some wine at this time?" The guard said helplessly: "I don't even have any wine to drink, can't you just drink water?"

"(Expletive)! If you can't get it, go to your boss!" Seeing that the traitor dared to play tricks on him at this time, Winters was furious. He shouted: "Bring me some wine! Or I'll kill you!" "

The two guards turned pale with fright, and the guard quickly left the cell.

He soon returned, bringing with him Major General Leighton and the cell leader.

The cell door creaked open, and Major General Leighton walked up to Major Moritz. He was relieved to see that the major had regained consciousness.

The warrant officers poured the wine brought by the major general into glasses and fed it to Major Moritz little by little.

This time the major didn't spit it out again. His throat moved up and down, obviously drinking.

Winters felt that there seemed to be a bit of relief on the major's face, tears seemed to be rolling in his eyes, and his complexion became much better.

The major drank a large glass of red wine before signaling to the students that there was no need to feed him anymore.

Major General Leighton saw that Major Moritz's condition was obviously much better after a glass of wine, so he asked with concern: "Major Moritz, how are you feeling now? Can you speak?"

Unexpectedly, the major turned a deaf ear to Major General Leighton's words and ignored Major General Leighton at all. The major general's face suddenly became a little angry.

Winters sadly explained to Major General Leighton:

"General, the Major is deaf."