Pastor's Tantra

The secret passage may sound mysterious, but it is actually not that rare.

After all, the purpose of its construction is to be used by people.

Aiwass took Lulu and Sherlock into an abandoned warehouse not far from the Pelican Bar that had previously stored stones but was now full of dust and gravel.

Coming out of the back door of the warehouse, you can see a slightly desolate and decadent wasteland.

There is no one here. A creek formed by sewage and stagnant water blocked their progress. The other side of the creek is filled with various domestic garbage and bushes, which have become faded and rotten after repeated exposure to wind and rain.

But when Aiwass saw it, he was relieved, as if he had found his target, he crossed the creek without hesitation, and then walked towards the garbage beach on the opposite side.

"Continue to walk forward from here and climb over this big slope."

"……I see."

Sherlock, who barely managed to jump over without getting his shoes dirty, followed Aiwass and murmured in a low voice: "Use images of sewage and garbage that make people feel 'abandoned' and 'at the end'. It makes people subconsciously think that there is no road here. It is not a very clever hiding method, but it is enough for ordinary people."

"Because this is indeed not a high-level secret passage, and it is not considered man-made."

Aiwass walked at the front and led the way, while turning back slightly to explain: "It leads to a chemical plant that was abandoned twenty years ago.

"About seven or eight years ago, this secret passage was discovered and occupied by a group of young boys from the Lloyd District. They are now the 'Sweater Brotherhood' and a gang of stranglers."

"...The Strangler Party, isn't it the name of a gang?"

Lulu, who was holding up her skirt and barely able to follow Aiwass, asked doubtfully: "I thought that was the biggest gang in Lloyd District."

"That's not the case. The Stranglers are indeed gang members, but that doesn't mean they have a common gang called the 'Stranglers'."

The person who answered her question was the newsboy Sherlock: "Any gang member who kills and robs by 'strangling' is called a strangler. It is precisely those small gangs who make money in this way."

"What about the biggest gang?"

"It must be Lloyd's. There's only one Lloyd's in Lloyd's."

Aiwass replied: "Prince Lloyd founded more than two hundred years ago when he was still a businessman, and the 'Lloyd's Society' still exists today. It was a large-scale company that sold insurance, loan sharking, ocean intelligence, and business insider information. The Lodge. In a sense, they're the only legal gang in Avalon."

"...Isn't loan sharking illegal? Why is there legal loan sharking?"

"Because they do not charge excess interest on the surface. Instead, they charge interest by selling Lloyd's Weekly at a very high price that is far beyond what normal people can afford."

Having said this, Aiwass glanced at Lulu helplessly: "My dear, you don't think the price of buying a weekly newspaper for five red candles is normal, do you?

"That's a weekly newspaper. This means that most of the news on it is old news that has been reported by other newspapers - there is a saying in the journalism industry that 'the newspaper in the morning is useless paper in the evening'. Although it is a bit extreme... but anyway , weekly newspapers should be cheaper than daily newspapers.”

The newsboy Aiwass met at the door of the Pelican Bar was the "newsboy" raised by Lloyd's Club.

At that time, Haina felt something was wrong with the price of Lloyd's Weekly. But she failed to understand to whom Lloyd's Weekly was being sold. Aiwass didn't want to explain to her either.

With her straightforward nature, it would be better not to know this kind of thing.

Haina thought the people buying newspapers would be sailors, fishermen and laborers... How could they afford such money?

Even if they did, they would only buy meat and beer.

The tired and poor people at the bottom cannot afford to buy newspapers. They only get free news from bars.

Little Sherlock on the side sighed, and in a low voice patiently explained to the inexperienced Princess the convolutions involved: "Anyone who borrows money from Lloyd's in the Lloyd's District must regularly purchase a designated share of "Lloyd's". Weekly newspaper as extra interest. When the loan collector comes to inspect, he will check the number of copies of the newspaper held by the borrower and cut off a corner of the newspaper as acceptance.

"The same goes for the inside information they sell. Factory owners or company directors will order a large number of Lloyd's Weekly newspapers directly from Lloyd's. And the people who deliver the newspapers will bring the messages with them.

"They also have the business of investigating designated targets, and they once invited me. As far as I know, some private detectives will accept their employment. When Lloyd's submits the investigated personal information, it also uses a designated share. Lloyd's Weekly makes the payment."

“…Is it because newspapers pay taxes?”

Hearing this, Lulu immediately reacted: "So the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Taxation will protect them?"

Although this was the first time she heard about this method of gray trading through newspapers, she immediately realized the cleverness of this approach.

This means that Lloyd's society discloses all its income and financial statements to the kingdom and actively pays a large sum of protection fees.

Since they collected money without arresting them, it means that this behavior is allowed.

It is indeed an organization cultivated by Prince Lloyd.

Although she lacks a lot of experience, Princess Isabel's brain is very good.

Moreover, she came into contact with a very high level of intellectuals, so she also developed a good political sense:

"The reason why they use 'newspapers' to collect money is because Lloyd's expresses its respect for the 'authoritarian way'? Even if they originate from the power left by Prince Lloyd, if they really offend the Round Table Hall, they will There will be trouble.

"But if they are conducting loan transactions in the form of selling newspapers, it means that they will pay tax on 'interest' as a kind of net income... because they do not want to offend the Supervision Bureau, so compared with those who are almost bound to evade taxes, businessmen, their tax payment behavior will be more positive and stable."

Isabel heard the Minister of Taxation complain countless times about the problem of not being able to collect taxes.

He has repeatedly asked the Inspectorate to dispatch tax inspectors to companies that may have engaged in tax evasion. Every time, a long and terrifying list was brought out - longer than Isabel's hair, and when she held it in her hand, the other end wanted to hang on the ground.

——Isabel clearly realized that if Lloyd's tax payment behavior was active enough, large in amount, and very stable, then they would indeed be protected.

The fact that they can obtain the distribution rights of "Glass Steps Newspaper" has already stated the opinion of the Round Table Hall towards them.

The newsboy nodded: "Because of this, the Supervisory Office will not send anyone to take care of them. In addition, they spontaneously maintain civil order in Lloyd District, so the Supervisory Office can only turn a blind eye to them."

"After all, it is a legal association that practices the [authoritarian way] and also respects the [authoritarian way] that exists further upstream. In a sense, they are not actually an association, but can be regarded as a means Dirty big company.

"So they will not engage in 'strangling', which may lead to investigations. But their squeeze on the profit margins of other gangs will cause other societies to continue to choose to send members to carry out 'strangling', 'robbery or theft', 'Kidnapping', 'assassination' and other illegal means to obtain funds.

"And this will make them vulnerable to investigation and arrest by the Supervisory Bureau. This further reduces the living space of other associations."

"--not only that."

Finally, Aiwass, who saw the back door of the abandoned chemical plant from a distance, breathed a sigh of relief and added casually: "In fact, after those strangler gangs sneak attacked and killed passers-by and took away all their belongings, they still sold their stolen goods through Lloyd's. Society. And some commissions such as assassinations or thefts were also issued by Lloyd's Society.

"So I just said, there's only one biggest gang in Lloyd's, and that's the Lloyd's."

"...Is there still such a thing?"

Hearing this, even Sherlock was surprised.

But when he thought about it carefully, it seemed reasonable. No matter how legal Lloyd's is, it is still a gang organization with dirty hands rather than a serious industrial company.

But Sherlock could never find out the evidence of their crime...

Perhaps it wasn't just that the evidence was destroyed by the Inspectorate.

Perhaps from the beginning, there was no such evidence. Because they no longer need to do that kind of thing in person.

Sherlock carefully looked at the "fox" dressed as a priest, and for the first time he began to doubt his true identity.

He seemed to be familiar with Lloyd District and knew this secret passage. Even some knowledge of Lloyd's secrets...

——Is the "Fox" not a student at the school, but a gang member? Or is it simply an informant of an organization that has infiltrated the church, or is it a renegade pastor?

Thinking of this, Sherlock asked tentatively: "Mr. Fox...if I investigate the 'Sweater Brotherhood', will it cause trouble to you?"

"If so, I think I'll be lenient. As a token of my gratitude for helping me during the ceremony."

Hearing this, Aiwass paused.

He turned back to look at the newsboy, the corners of his mouth raised slightly.

"Since I will tell it in front of you, I am not afraid of you investigating. After investigating the 'Bone Sculpture', let's arrest the Sweater Brotherhood... This can be regarded as eliminating harm for the people. Don't think that the Sweater Brotherhood is a small organization. , no one will have less than five lives on their hands.

"From what I've heard through the grapevine... they may be connected to the group behind the Pelican Bar."

——In fact, it’s more than that.

The reason Aiwass remembers this secret passage is because it is a mainline copy.

I have forgotten all the pre-plot, but Aiwass is convinced that the "Sweater Brotherhood" must be related to the Noble Red Society. Because the members of the Sweater Brotherhood who appeared in this dungeon not only had their bodies greatly strengthened and their minds violently raged by the demonologist's rituals, but they also raised a large number of demon dogs made from corpses.

That copy is quite disgusting.

Not only is it long and winding, it’s easy to get lost if you don’t know the way. Moreover, there are all kinds of garbage, quagmire, and sewage on the ground that affect the movement. There are also a large number of demon dogs that will ambush around the corner, activate when the first person passes by, and then suddenly rush up and start biting the second person.

Not only are these demon dogs wearing scrap iron armor with sharp edges and a lot of meat, but they also deal high damage, and they also have a chain of hatred - after being beaten, they will start shouting dogs frantically, and other dogs on patrol will start shouting when they hear it. Come.

Compared to the BOSS whose mechanism is not complicated, the mobs in this copy are much more annoying.

Aiwass didn't want to type this book again. Just thinking about being pounced on and bitten by those half-human, half-human tin mad dogs fed on human flesh made him feel a little numb.

It's better to let Sherlock take them away in advance.

Also give Sherlock something to do, don't let him stare at the things behind the Pelican Bar. Otherwise, "that lord" might think that his letter fell into Sherlock's hands, and vigilantly begin to destroy evidence and silence him.

If "that lord" destroys evidence faster than Aiwass, it will be difficult for him to investigate.

Although the identity of the "fox" remains a mystery, for the suspicious and intelligent Sherlock, the casual clues provided by the fox encountered during the dream ritual are more worthy of investigation than the clues deliberately sent by someone in reality.

Because he will doubt the latter's motives and try to reason backward from a higher level - this cannot be said to be wrong. Aiwass was afraid that he would notice his motives, so he had to "accidentally" give him information through "accidental encounters".

——Aiwass knows Sherlock, he is indeed such a person.