Our family is in decline

"This Michelle's father was quite trusted by the emperor and gave him such an important position, but he did this kind of thing."

When Disma heard these words, he knew that he had no respect for the emperor, but he had a simple disdain for disloyal behavior such as corruption and bribery.

"You are wrong, this position is not a good place." Lance smiled and shook his head slowly. Disma was still too young.

This position seems to be rich in oil and water, but it is actually an offending position, because there are many small tricks to get food.

The price offered by this empire is the bait for fishing. The first few times it may give you money is a bit sweet, and then it will slowly increase a few times.

At this time, if you don't supply the goods, the previous investment will be gone. You will have to pay for the supply yourself. The longer it is delayed, the more fatal it will be. In the end, you will be directly locked up, and you can only pay for it yourself.

Didn't you see that Jean transported so much food, and even drained Owendo for it, but ended up needing to rob to maintain the situation?

He was pretty good, with a hug on his lap and a consolation prize of a knighthood.

It can be said that if you want to get food in this position, you have to offend people, but this can still maintain the logistics situation.

If there is a problem with food and the army fails, it will be the same as Cao Cao's grain officer - I will use your head to calm the morale of the army.

When the time comes, if greed continues and the houses are ransacked, won’t all the money go into the emperor’s pocket?

As a close minister of the emperor, he did have power, otherwise he would not have been able to develop such a crazy character as Michel and be able to cultivate a luxurious bodyguard.

But anyone who knows a little bit about politics can see that they are just chess pieces that the emperor can throw away easily.

He also works for political balance, hiding behind to support one faction and fighting another, and is good at playing politics. However, the current stalemate in the war situation is enough to show...

"This emperor still has something, but not much."

Lance joked with a smile, and without any further explanation, he gave instructions to Disma.

"But we still have to be careful, our operation is about to begin."

…………

Ovendo, River Quay.

This was once the busiest place in Ovendo. The ships traveling down the river to Totnes brought countless wealth for cargo transfer, warehousing, or replenishment of supplies, and fed countless people. Someone who knows a lot.

It may be due to the impact of war, or it may be due to chaos, the safety of merchant ships cannot be guaranteed, or it may be the overall price inflation driven by high food prices that has lost commercial value.

Anyway, today's wharves have completely lost the prosperity brought by the waterway. A large number of sailors and porters who made a living by this are unemployed. In addition, this environment soon spawned gangs of all sizes, further oppressing the living space of ordinary people.

The area controlled by the gang was filled with suffocating despair.

At this time, it was in a house in the area controlled by the Shark Gang.

There were some fierce-looking guys gathered in the hall, with venom on their faces, but now they all showed unspeakable depression.

The reason is very simple. A gang that has recently emerged continues to expand its power. Several areas below the Shark Gang are occupied by them, and many people have died. This makes everyone present feel the pressure.

But for these gangsters, this kind of thing is nothing. The gangs that still exist today have experienced fighting and are victors.

What really made them feel the pressure was that the guys from the Sailor Gang were able to give ordinary people a bite to eat, causing more and more people to sneak away.

Gangs only benefit from controlling the population. If all the people are gone, do they need gang members to do the work?

This was even more intolerable to them than grabbing territory, and several small bosses immediately started clamoring.

"Those guys from the Sailor Gang have bullied us. If we back down, there will be nothing left."

"Damn it! Fight with them!"

"that is……"

At this moment, someone suddenly raised his hand and slapped the tabletop, making a loud noise.

"Shut the hell up!"

The hall became quiet for a while, but everyone's eyes were on the person who slapped the table.

This man, who is slightly thin but has a sinister face, is also the leader here, nicknamed Shark.

I heard that when he was a child, he was a fishmonger who killed fish. When he got older, he got into a dispute with a gangster who asked him to collect money. He went on a rampage and killed people. Then he gathered other fishmongers who were bullied and broke out with a sharp fish-killing knife. gained fame.

Because he was ridiculed by others as a fish killer, he simply changed his name to the Shark Gang, which is an old local gang.

He is not stupid if he can get by with a sharp knife. The expansion of the Sailor Gang is unreasonable at all. It is absolutely impossible without support.

He's not afraid of what's on the surface, but what's behind his back.

But what the people below are saying is equally reasonable. If they retreat again, they will really have nothing.

"We will definitely fight, but we have to join forces with other gangs. This guy puts a lot of pressure on others."

He has made a decision and brought everyone together. Even if there is a problem, it is not just him who is unlucky.

But someone made a choice faster than him, and suddenly there was a loud noise outside, as well as panicked screams.

At this time, a younger brother rushed in and shouted loudly.

"The boss is in trouble! People from the Sailor Gang outside are coming to kill him!"

This sound shocked everyone on the field to stand up. Although they were shouting just now, the younger brothers below were there to kill people, and they didn't have to go on stage.

Now that the fight is coming, they have to take action even if they don't want to.

"What are you afraid of? Who of us sitting here today doesn't have a few lives on his hands?" The leader pulled out the sharp knife from his waist without any hesitation. Although he was considered the leader of the gang, he still liked the feel of the fish-killing knife. .

But it's not over yet. As the leader, he knows how to motivate his younger brother, and then added, "As long as you hold on, you will be rewarded. When the time comes, I will kill anyone who wants the territory captured by the counterattack!"

The ferocious look awakened the courage of the little bosses, and the painted pie made those little bosses scream.

"Yes! Who is afraid of whom?"

"Kill them!"

"..."

At this point, they had no choice but to shout and rush out.

The leader who was the first to take out the knife and shouted the loudest was lagging behind them. He couldn't help but sneer at the performance of the smaller leaders.

But at this moment, the boy who just rushed in to report suddenly pulled out his gun and pointed it at the leader.

"boom!"

A gunshot hit the chest directly, killing the leader suddenly. At the same time, a group of people with sailor turbans tied on their heads and holding sailor swords rushed in from the outside without hesitation.

Those little bosses who were not too prepared were hacked to death with random knives as soon as they walked out. The group was wiped out almost instantly. Only one of them raised his hands and shouted, "I am one of our own!"

It was obvious that this little leader had been bribed. He leaked the news about today's senior meeting of the Shark Gang, brought people in at the same time, and killed them all immediately.

Vic, who was wearing a sailor's turban, hacked the last one to death with a knife, and then led the traitor to identify the seriously injured and dying leader.

"Is it him?"

"Yes, he is the leader of the Shark Gang."

After hearing this, Vic cut off the head without saying a word, and walked out carrying the head with a ferocious face.

"Come and follow me out to persuade me to surrender."

This was simply an order, but the man had just seen the leader being beheaded, so he didn't dare to refuse at all, so he quickly followed out.

Without the middle and high-level leaders, it was difficult for the Shark Gang to organize a resistance. Seeing the leader's head destroyed their last will to resist.

"Everyone get down!"

"Surrender without killing!"

Those who were just acting as a feint attack also took the opportunity to kill and completely controlled the Shark Gang's territory.

After the battle, Vic casually threw away the ferocious head, looked at the spy who was following him, and said comforting words.

"Don't worry. I keep my word. Your family is safe. Now go and help comfort them. When it's over and you get the money, you can take them out of here."

"Thank you!" The man naturally did not dare to say anything more and quickly agreed and turned around to leave this place of right and wrong.

If an old gang like the Shark Gang, which has been accumulated for many years, really wants to fight head-on, it will suffer huge losses, so Vic cleverly planned to destroy the Shark Gang.

Now the Shark Gang is gone, but what’s next?

He looked at the somewhat chaotic situation and fell into deep thought.

During this time, he continued to expand and rectify the refugees. After annexing the shark gang, he was already the largest in the entire dock.

At the same time, there were also some big shots in the city who were contacting him. The attitude of those people was still unruly, as if they wanted him to be treated like a dog with contempt.

Fortunately, these are troubled times, otherwise he would have been suppressed long ago.

At this time, someone approached, and after a few whispers, Vic found someone to explain to someone, and then disappeared.

When he appeared again, he had already changed his clothes and entered the suburban manor through a secret passage.

After walking out of the passage, he went directly to the study room that he had visited countless times before, and Walter seemed to be waiting for him.

"What happened to calling me here in such a hurry?"

"Gene is dead."

"It's so good." Vic sat down with a smile, "Do you really think this road is so easy?"

"But he died in Hamlet." Walter added, which made Vic become a little more serious.

Then the two sides communicated about this issue. In fact, they knew much less information. At least part of the plot in which the barbarians were involved was missing. They only knew that Jean snatched food all the way to Hamlet's head, and then it was gone.

"How dare you steal Hamlet, this guy..." Vic laughed angrily.

But Vic also realized why Walter was anxious to call him over, because this incident still affected their original plan.

"What do you think, sir?"

"Michelle's disappearance will definitely attract some people's attention. Your Majesty, please let us act normally now. I will annex the Jean Business Group and take the opportunity to reach into the city. You continue to control the port gangs. When the time comes, the two of us will cooperate to take down Owendo." .”

"Ah?" Vic was a little confused. Shouldn't he be more honest at this time?

"This matter has nothing to do with us. It's the nobles in the city who are responsible for the bad luck. At this time, they have no time to care about us. They can do whatever they need to do, as long as they don't take the last step."

"We'll talk about this later. I'm out of food, so I'll give you some support first."

"Your kid never left empty-handed when I came to him. He either asked for money or food." Walter complained helplessly, but still agreed, "Everything is ready..."

Busy dealing with the matters behind the reception of the Shark Gang, Vic hurriedly left after getting the things, leaving Walter alone in the study, deep in thought.

This thing is also quite magical to him.

At the beginning, old Jean coveted his Totnes channels and wanted to annex the business group while he was missing.

Unexpectedly, everything is now reversed.

Jean "disappeared", and it was his turn to annex Jean's business group, and at the same time take over the channel he spent a lot of money to build.

Yes, as a businessman, he attaches great importance to channels and knows their value.

So he made a suggestion to Lance, which was to take over the Jean business group and at the same time take over the channel for trading with the imperial army.

It's not that he didn't see through this trap like Lance did, but the autumn harvest is around the corner and the price of grain is bound to drop, so it's better to make a profit from the old grain first.

What's more important is that the price of selling agricultural and sideline products such as dried fish to the army is definitely more expensive than transporting them to Totnes, because Totnes does not lack these things, but the new nobility based in the city lacks them.

At the same time, you can use this channel to try to let Vic contact the outside world, select a few people to contact, or provide support, which can be regarded as putting an eye on the empire.

It can only be said that ginger is still wiser. Walter has even considered this matter in more detail than Lance. Now he is waiting for the lord's nod.

Jean can keep this matter secret for a few days, so he must prepare to control Jean's business group as soon as possible.

Suddenly he started to get busy.

…………

Preparations for the operation are coming to an end. The supplies that need to be transported have been stockpiled at the outpost. The personnel have taken two days off. Now they have gradually returned to the team and started daily training.

But everyone could feel something happening, because the army began to mobilize frequently. For the purpose of drills, a large number of soldiers gathered at the outpost.

At this time, many people gathered in the combat hall of the outpost, not only the core members, but also middle-level people such as the captain and deputy captain of the army, and Lance stood under the unfolded map.

It can be seen that this is a map of the area around the outpost. Cultists harass them every day, and the outpost will also send troops to suppress the bandits.

Although not much has been gained, most of the surrounding terrain and environment have been explored, and part of the road has also been cleared.

The second map was naturally a map seized from the cult saint, with several entrances to the beast's cave marked on it.

At the same time, there is a third map of the cave that Lance drew based on the previous times he led his team deep into the cave.

It can be said that these three maps correspond to each other, directly showing the secrets of this land from the upper, middle and lower levels.

"There are eight cave exits in the entire area. We must seize them as soon as possible and control them..." (End of Chapter)