Mystery: The arrival of the new Black Emperor

The wandering magician Merlin Hermes, or to put it simply, Klein who gave himself an identity again, let the audience in the square look at his empty top hat.

Then he touched it with his magic wand, and a little rabbit popped out of the hat in a daze.

Several children who were watching cheered for this magic.

Klein gave the little rabbits to some little girls and asked the little girls to feed them well.

The seven or eight-year-old little girl's eyes were filled with shock and joy: "Mr. Magician, how do you know that I have always wanted a little white rabbit?"

"Because besides being able to do magic, I can also make your wishes come true." Klein smiled and said to the children around him, "Do you have any wishes?"

A little boy plucked up the courage and said, "I...I want candy."

"This is a wish that is easily fulfilled." Klein pretended to wave his magic wand: "Child, touch your pocket."

The little boy put his hand into his pocket and immediately said excitedly: "Candy!"

He immediately took out a piece of candy, opened the wrapping paper and put the piece of candy at the end, enjoying the delicious taste in his mouth with a satisfied look on his face.

Seeing that this wandering magician could really make wishes come true, other children came over to tell him their wishes.

Children's wishes are relatively easy to come true. Some want a nice hat, some want a cream cake, and some want a nice hairpin.

Their wishes came true one by one, which surprised the people watching the magic show! He applauded many times and marveled at the magician's performance.

Finally, a little boy timidly said: "Mr. Magician, I would like to see my father, is it okay?"

Klein did not agree immediately, but asked with a smile: "Where is your father?"

"My father went to fight in the Northern Continent!" the little boy said proudly, but then he felt a little disappointed: "He was the first batch of soldiers to go to Backlund. He has been there for more than a month and only sent one to his family. letter."

"Let me find out where your father is." Klein said while using the little boy to divine his father's location.

For Klein, it would be easy as long as he is not dead: "Ah, I found him. My child, please tell me your wish again?"

The little boy hurriedly said: "I want to see my father!"

Klein snapped his fingers with his right hand, and a sleeping soldier with a gun and a helmet covering his face appeared in front of the little boy.

"Oh~" the adult audience around them exclaimed.

The little boy already recognized it: "Dad!"

The resting soldier was shocked, and tears were streaming down his face when he took off his helmet: "Oh my God, I must be dreaming, Blake, let me take a look, you seem to have grown taller again."

The little boy known as Blake threw himself into the soldier's arms and asked with a tearful voice: "Dad, when will you come back?"

"I may have to stay for a while longer." The soldier touched his son's head: "Until we defeat our enemies."

Blake asked again: "Can't you save it for later? Mom and I miss you very much!"

The soldier's eyes suddenly became determined: "No, child. If we defeat the enemy here, we can prevent the enemy from attacking our home! You and your mother will be safe."

The officers told them the significance of this battle over and over again, and also explained to them the current international situation, so they knew very well why they were fighting.

This is a war to prevent the great powers from spreading the war to the South Balam Principality again. As long as the enemies are defeated in the northern continent, they will not have the strength to attack the South Balam Principality.

Blake asked worriedly: "Is the Backlund police still so cruel?"

The family immigrated from the East Side of Backlund, and Blake was deeply impressed by the ferocity of the police there.

The soldier pointed to the red rectangular badge on his chest: "With this symbol of the South Balam Principality here, the police will not dare to approach us!"

At this time, a middle-aged man among the onlookers asked: "Soldier, is the battle on the front line going well?"

The soldier stood up with his son in his arms and said with a smile: "We beat the Intis people severely some time ago, hahaha, you didn't see them running away!"

Someone else asked: "Is it daytime in the Northern Continent now? You guys seem to be resting?"

"Yes." The soldier smiled: "We just attacked the Intis camp last night."

"The time is almost up." Klein smiled at this time: "Let the father and son say a few more words."

The soldier asked about Blake's study status and his mother's work status before they said goodbye reluctantly.

The little boy Blake looked at the direction where his father's voice disappeared and was stunned for a long time. He felt that what he had just experienced was like a dream.

At this time, some adults onlookers also came forward and asked Klein: "Can all wishes come true?"

"Only some simple wishes can be realized." Klein smiled: "And it's time for today's performance."

After speaking, Klein bowed slightly to everyone, put on his hat and left.

People around me applauded: "You are the best magician I have ever seen!"

"Good luck, magician!"

Klein waved goodbye to them, then found a hotel to stay in, preparing to go to the night market to taste the delicious snacks there.

Not long after I checked in, there was a knock on the door: "Police checking the room."

Klein smiled: "Are you very alert?"

Opening the door, there were three young men in police uniforms outside. The leader of the police, the superintendent, smiled and said: "Welcome, Angelou, can we go in and chat?"

"Of course." Klein invited them in.

After closing the door, the young superintendent said: "Okay, let's not beat around the bush, Angelou welcomes extraordinary people from all over the world.

"But there is a prerequisite: you must register with us, and you must report to us when you leave. If you plan to live here permanently, you need to report your status to us every two weeks."

The superintendent spread his hands: "This is for everyone's benefit. If you show signs of losing control, we will help you find a way. It is better than you dying quietly in a dark corner and hurting others."

Klein looked at the official Beyonders who were very wary of him, and suddenly felt a very familiar feeling. He smiled and said, "Okay, I will register, and I will notify you when I leave here."

The superintendent breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "Let me tell you, after seeing your magic show, I know that you are a kind gentleman."

At this time, one of the police officers came forward and took out the registration form: "Name."

"Merlin Hermes."

"way."

"Soothsayer."

"sequence."

"Sequence 7."

The police officer smiled and said: "I remembered, this sequence is called 'Magician', no wonder your performance is so wonderful."

The police officers then told Klein about the process of going to them to report the situation. The two parties agreed to meet at a small warehouse in the suburbs, which was an official base for the Beyonders.

Finally, Klein was given a temporary residence permit and explained to him that this permit could only be used in the Angelou region. If he went to other places, he would need to apply for another temporary residence permit.

And this certificate can only enjoy some of the rights of citizens.

When they were leaving, the superintendent said again: "Oh, by the way, the "Regulations on the Management of Unofficial Extraordinary Persons" were just issued some time ago. If we need your extraordinary abilities, we will pay you. Help me,

"Don't worry, we won't ask you for missions that are too dangerous.

“And if we work together more than ten times, you’ll also get the chance to join us.”

Klein smiled and said, "This is really a very humane policy."

It is estimated that in the near future, many wild Beyonders will flock to the South Balam Principality. Many wild Beyonders dream of becoming informants for official Beyonders, but they dare not take the initiative to contact official Beyonders.

The South Balam Principality's policy towards wild Extraordinaries will definitely allow the official Extraordinary Organization to obtain a large number of "temporary workers".

After sending away the official Beyonders, Klein secretly nodded to this. He deliberately performed the wish-making ability in the square just to see the reaction ability of the South Balam Principality.

It looks pretty good now, and the social atmosphere seems to be very relaxed, but the police and official Beyonders have always been vigilant.

In the evening, Klein went to the food street to taste delicious food. Looking at the obviously oriental-style buildings here, he suddenly had the illusion of traveling to a certain scenic spot in China.

The snacks here have both the food style of this world and the oriental specialty snacks in Klein's impression.

And Klein noticed that the security here is very good.

While having dinner in Backlund at night, he could feel more than one thief and villain observing him in the corner, judging whether it was easy to succeed.

In a colony, it is easy to encounter pirates yelling at each other or fighting while having a meal.

Here in Angelou, eating is just eating, and there will be almost no interference from security issues.

Klein ate from one end of the food court to the other, and finally went to a bar not far away for a beer to quench his thirst.

The bar here is similar to Backlund's bar. Everyone is drinking and laughing loudly, but there is no smell of foot odor and sweat stains.

After listening to the chat among the drinkers, Klein found out the reason. It turned out that after the weather got warmer, the Principality of South Balam promulgated the "Sanitary Management Regulations", requiring each citizen to bathe no less than twice a week. Men's beards and hair were There are requirements for length. If it exceeds the requirements, it must be cut off.

If regulations are not followed, they will lose the opportunity to work in public places.

For this reason, Angelou City is equipped with a large number of public bathrooms, and you can wash for 5 cents for an hour, except in winter, when a lot of hot water is needed.

When it came to the currency of the South Balam Principality, Klein was a little dumbfounded. Hobert completely copied the currency system of the AD era, which was divided into three types: cents, hairs, and yuan.

The official exchange rate is that 1 cent is approximately equal to a quarter of a penny, 1 cent is approximately equal to two and one-half pence, and 1 yuan is approximately equal to 2 soles and 1 penny.

The face values ​​of banknotes are 2 cents, 5 cents, 2 cents, 5 cents, 1 yuan, 2 yuan, 5 yuan and 10 yuan, and the coins are 1 cent, 1 cent, 5 cents and 1 yuan.

Because they are all decimal, they are very popular. Unlike the gold pound, 12 pence is equal to 1 suler and 20 suler is equal to 1 pound, which is very troublesome to calculate.

Klein listened to the drinkers lamenting that everything was fine here, but there were too many rules. Urination and defecation were not allowed in the corners of the city. If caught, not only would the streets have to be cleaned for a week, but they would also be fined.

Klein wholeheartedly agrees with this. The streets in Backlund that are cleaned by sanitation workers are better, but the streets in the East District are simply miserable. They seem to be a collection of garbage dumps and public toilets.

Another thing that drinkers talk about is that there are no almshouses in the South Balam Principality, only orphanages.

Because ordinary people have almost no chance of going bankrupt. Although drinkers like these all work in the city, when immigrants came, the principality government allocated land according to the family's population.

Except when farming is busy, the crops in the fields are taken care of by the elderly, wives and children, and young and middle-aged people come to the city to look for opportunities to make money.

Even if you can no longer live in the city, you can still go back to the countryside, where you can at least have a place to have food and clothing.

This made Klein sigh in his heart: In fact, it is not difficult to solve the problem of homeless people, but it is very difficult for Rune, because these simple methods will harm the interests of the nobles.

After drinking a glass of beer, Klein came to the lively streets. There are many job opportunities in this newly built city, enough for these young adults to earn some money.

This reminded him of the migrant workers who came to work in the city. The difference was that the people who immigrated from Backlund were used to spending money as soon as they had money, while the migrant workers in Klein's impression were very frugal.

From such small things, it can be seen that the people of Backlund have been living in a life without hope and a future for a long time.

There are many public entertainment facilities in Angelou at night, and Klein also saw public dance halls, billiard halls, etc.

These sports are basically exclusive to gentlemen in Backlund, but here they are open to everyone, there are no barriers to entry, and the fees are very reasonable.

Regarding these constructions, Klein felt that Hobert had good intentions. He used dancing, singing and playing billiards for entertainment to consume people's remaining energy, which must be of great help to public security.

But the premise is that citizens can basically afford these things.

Klein has been staying in Angelou for a few days. According to his plan, he planned to visit the industrial area in the north and the city of Asunciation.

But the delicious food here really made him unwilling to leave.

When Klein was about to leave, he suddenly noticed that there were far fewer people in the city. After asking around, he found out that the busy farming season had arrived.

So Klein simply went to the surrounding countryside to take a look. Outside the city, golden wheat was everywhere, and people were sweating in the wheat fields to welcome the joy of harvest.

On the vast plain, a person is very small, but when there are people everywhere in the wheat field, it looks very spectacular.

Klein walked along the road and went deeper and deeper into the countryside. He noticed that the ears of wheat here were very large and very plump.

Regarding this, he had heard from Hobert that this year's harvest in the South Balam Principality was twice that of previous years. However, from the harvest to the first half of next year, almost nothing was harvested no matter what was planted.

"Hey, the one over there in the cape!"

While Klein was standing on the side of the road thinking wildly, he suddenly heard someone calling him.

Looking towards the place where the call was coming, Klein saw a middle-aged man dressed as a farmer: "Are you calling me?"

"Of course I'm calling you." The other party asked, "Which village are you from?"

"I...I am a wandering magician." Klein replied as he had done a few days ago.

Unexpectedly, the young man shook his head and said: "Poor young man."

Klein was slightly startled: You, do you have any misunderstanding?

"Help our village harvest wheat." The middle-aged man added, "After harvesting the wheat, I will use grain to offset your wages.

"It should be finished tomorrow. You will have room and board at my house for the next two days."

Klein was about to explain: "I..."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about." The middle-aged man said while putting the sickle into Klein's hand: "Most people in the village have been homeless and know that it's uncomfortable to be homeless."

Klein was dragged to the field in a daze.

At this time, the middle-aged man said again: "Your clothes are not suitable, Elena, go home and bring me another piece of clothes."

"No need," Klein said, "How about this? If you make a wish to me, just say that you hope that the harvest of food in the fields will be completed, and I will fulfill your wish."

The middle-aged man smiled and said: "You are really humorous. Go ahead and you will have enough bread and tubes in a while!"

Klein was just about to make a wish to himself, but after seeing the smiling faces of the people in the fields and hearing their laughter, he suddenly felt that if the wheat was harvested immediately, it would be more like depriving them of their happiness.

So Klein picked up the sickle and silently cut the wheat.

The middle-aged man shouted: "Take advantage of the nice weather! Work harder!"

At this time, you are afraid of rain or wind. Once it rains, the wheat will sprout easily, which is not conducive to storage.

Once there is strong wind, wheat will easily fall over, which will not only make harvesting more difficult, but some wheat grains will also be easily scattered on the ground.

Although the officials above have said that it will be sunny in the next few days, the middle-aged people still seem to be a little worried. The harvest will not be completed until the crops are collected in their own granaries.

During lunch, Klein learned that this middle-aged man turned out to be the village chief, and many young people in the village had joined the army, so there was a shortage of labor force.

Now the entire South Balam Principality is busy. There is a shortage of labor in the village and they have to find their own solutions. The wandering Klein is equivalent to the labor force sent to the door by himself.

As the village chief said just now, there are enough bread tubes, and there is also sauerkraut made from pickled cabbage.

As we chatted, we talked about the past. The village chief immigrated from Backlund. When he was young, his family also had some farmland, but the price of food fell sharply before, so he had to sell the farmland and move to the city. work to earn a living.

But with the outbreak of the war, he quickly lost his job and his family became homeless.

Now he is very glad that he chose to come to the South Balam Principality, otherwise he and his family would have starved to death on the streets of Backlund like those wanderers.

Most of the people in the village have similar experiences to the village chief. The difference is that the village chief has taught himself to read and write and can write a few common words.

Just in time for the town government to open a training class, he went to study for more than ten days during the slack period. At this time, the newly captured Highland County needed a large number of grassroots cadres. The original village chief was transferred to Highland County, so he Became the village chief.

According to him, the village chief next door is a freshly graduated college student and is quite hard-working, but he doesn’t seem to know much about crops.

However, this will not cause trouble, because the town government has clear regulations on what to harvest and when to work. They only need to organize labor according to the documents issued by the town government.

These senior intellectual village chiefs come to the grassroots level to learn about agricultural labor. As long as there are vacancies at the top, they will be the first group to be added to the town government.

Speaking of this, Klein asked: "Do you think this is fair?"

"What's unfair?" The village chief said with a smile: "I have studied for so many years, why should I spend my whole life harvesting wheat here? That's unfair."

The village chief looked at his teenage daughter Elena: "It would be great if I could have a place to spend the rest of my life. It would be great if she can go to college in the future."

Klein smiled and said, "Your wish will come true."

"Okay, it's time to work." The village chief stood up again and continued to harvest under the scorching sun.

In the next few days, Klein not only helped cut the wheat, but also helped with the field work and collected all the grain.

After completing the harvest, everyone lit a bonfire and celebrated.

In front of the bonfire, Klein performed a magic trick for everyone, which attracted everyone's applause. Even people from neighboring villages came to watch the performance.

After the celebration was over, the village chief told Klein: "You are indeed a magician and should not be buried here. I will take you to the town government tomorrow to see if I can help you find an opportunity there."

"Thank you." Klein thanked him sincerely.

But that night, He left without saying goodbye.

The next day, the village chief found a note on Klein's pillow, which read: Performance and loneliness are the fate of a magician.

At the same time, a letter from Klein appeared in the mailbox of the official Beyonder station in Angelou City, telling them that he had left Angelou.

He wrote in the letter: Yesterday, I suddenly thought of something. Happiness is happiness. There is no need to use magic or wish-fulfillment methods to deliberately create happiness. What is truly beautiful is not that your wishes come true, but that you face a bright future with your wishes in mind.

After bidding farewell to the city of Angelou, Klein headed north, first visiting the huge industrial area, where all factory machines were running at full power, supplying a variety of industrial products to the entire Southern Balam Principality.

Further north, there is a huge agricultural base, but this agricultural base is different from other places in that it is operated by an agricultural company directly under the government.

In other words, although the South Balam Principality does not collect agricultural taxes, they are not short of food. The food in such a large land is the principal's income.

Further north, we came to Asuncion City. The city was still very empty, but the suburbs of the city were very lively.

The harvest here is about a week earlier than that in the San Nosay area, and it has already entered into major construction.

The first step is to organize manpower according to the town level. First, under the guidance of professionals, build brick ovens, then cut wood, bake wood, etc.

The next step is to renovate all the buildings in the entire town. The above requirement is that every building in the town must have the architectural style of Angelou, and those who are unwilling to remodel must be forced to do so.

Under this semi-military management state, weights and measures, clothing, language, etc. were unified.

Klein couldn't help but vomit in his heart: Is Hobert going to be Qin Shihuang?

After observing in Asun for a few days, Klein was going to Lanagua Port to see the church built for him.

At this moment, he received the news that Backlund's outer defense line had fallen.