Pastor's Tantra

Accompanied by the long sound of sirens, the police department car parked far outside the boundary of Pilotti Manor.

But unlike the situation at the Dove Opera House, this time the police department did not bring their security fortress "cordon" directly to the door. Just a few old convertibles belching black smoke and making noise like tractors. Several experienced police officers gathered outside the barrier, constantly asking for support.

Two streets away, four "warning vehicles" completely blocked the intersection.

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On one of the "cordons", a policewoman who looked to be in her early twenties asked the senior who was leading her in confusion: "Are we just waiting here? But in this position... we There’s no way to keep an eye on them?”

It just blocks the intersection from a distance, which may be useful for ordinary extraordinary people committing crimes, but it has no meaning at all for high-level extraordinary people. Even if the street is completely blocked, it is not very difficult to climb over the wall or teleport...

"It does not matter."

The strong police officer, who looked to be in his fifties and had a beard, said in a leisurely manner without any nervousness: "Obviously we can't handle this kind of thing - do you want to ask the seventh agency of the General Administration to dispatch?"

"why not?"

The young policewoman asked back: "They can solve it - even if they are fifth-level criminals, they should be able to successfully arrest and bring them to justice!"

Hearing this, the middle-aged police officer and the policeman next to him laughed.

They looked at the girl with some nostalgia, their eyes full of kindness, just like looking at their own past.

"Ha...even so."

Her senior patted her shoulder heavily: "We still can't move. This is Piloti Manor, as you know. He is the son of Hong Xiang."

"Alphonse von Pilotti, of course I know him!"

The young policewoman replied without hesitation, her voice even a little urgent: "But because of this, shouldn't we find out something quickly and give an explanation to Mr. Peng Bonazi!"

It is obvious that among the younger generation of girls, Alphonse's popularity and reputation are quite high - even this young policewoman has a strong impression of Alphonse.

"Precisely because this matter involves Hong Xiang, we cannot act rashly."

In the end, it was the senior policeman who gave the answer: "Those who dare to attack Hong Xiang directly... are just those few. If we really want to fight to the end this time, we must of course stand on the side of the Count of Leipzig. ——After all, we are paid by him. The police salary in Leipzig is twice as high as that of police officers elsewhere in Star Antimony, second only to the capital... And the most important thing is that the salary is never in arrears.

"But the Earl of Leipzig is also a senior member of the society and someone close to the Red Prime Minister. Who knows which side the Earl will be on this time? How can we act privately if the Earl doesn't give us orders?"

"——Taking a step back, if both sides have no intention of fighting to the end this time, if we take action... we will be thrown out as the culprits and take the blame in the end."

"...Where do all these ideas come from?"

The newly graduated policewoman didn't have that much sense of justice, so she understood immediately, but her mind was still a little confused: "Why do you all seem to know...?"

"Because it's been like this ever since."

Someone replied: "This is not the first time there has been a dispute - this time it was between the Red Prime Minister and the Society, and last time it was the Association and the Society. The Society always likes to provoke others, but they do have the confidence... There will always be trouble going forward. Other conflicts. Even the Ziggurat occasionally causes trouble."

"Whoever takes action will take the blame. Even if no one does anything and something goes wrong, the final impact will not be too great - because big troubles are not something we can solve in the first place."

The middle-aged policeman patted the young policewoman who was younger than his daughter and concluded: "So if you can't move, don't move."

"In other words... doesn't it actually matter who the murderer is?" The young policewoman seemed to understand.

"It's also important...but work and money are more important, kid. If you leave Leipzig and go to other places...forget it, for your safety, it's better not to go."

The middle-aged policeman patted her shoulder and sighed: "In my hometown, people who have lost their jobs sit at the door of the almshouse to receive bread and salt. They can fill the whole street, and the volunteers in the almshouse work from early in the morning. There is no room for rest at night... The workhouse even has to apply for security from the police station to prevent homeless people from robbing the kitchen. The 'kitchen defender' may even be the only person with a salary in the entire street."

"——It's all those damn goblins who canceled the order!"

A younger policeman shouted angrily.

The middle-aged policeman pointed at him and said: "Look, Jack - this is an example. Come on, Jack, tell our good girl about it."

"Hey, how many times have I told you..."

Jack shook his head irritably, but still told the story seriously: "My father used to open a brick factory, and the business was not big but not bad. Until those damn goblin businessmen - they are a bunch of damn liars! They should be Peel it off and send it to the ziggurat to make sandwiches!”

Star Antimony’s high-strength bricks are considered a specialty. Through cooperation with the Wang Li Alchemy Association, the special alchemy potion obtained can increase the strength of the fired bricks to a higher level than concrete bricks, and the formula of this potion is kept confidential by the association.

The Wangli Alchemy Association is not like those weak alchemists who protect their formulas by registering patents. They use a more straightforward approach - they work directly with killer organizations and police departments, and anyone who dares to try to pirate or crack will be dealt with directly.

Policeman Jack continued: "Those scammers paid a high deposit and urged my father to speed up production. They said they were paving roads and building houses in the southern continent and needed a large amount of high-strength bricks. Because they promised that they would have enough bricks later. orders... So my father took the deposit to expand the factory and hired a large number of employees with high salaries - at that time, it was possible to recruit people only with high salaries, because everywhere was competing for people.

"In order to expand, we needed more funds. So we took a loan from the bank run by the goblin merchants. My brother also stopped going to college because his family's business was booming. He dropped out of school and went back to help his father Let's start a business together... The business did prosper for a few years, so I was able to study all the way to university, and then transferred here to Leipzig after graduation. Fortunately, I was not interested in doing business. I finished university, became a transcendent, and held my power in In his own hands!

"Because it was only those few years - business was good, so we continued to expand year after year. But five years later, when the first phase of the contract expired, those cunning goblins said that because their demand dropped and the market The technology has improved, so we have to reduce the purchase amount. But damn, ours is obviously the best brick factory in the area, but we are the only ones selling the most conscientious solid bricks!”

"...Is there a possibility," the young policewoman couldn't help but ask, "What those money-grubbing goblins want are hollow bricks? After all, the hollow bricks are enough after they have been strengthened..."

"Who knows - but in short, my father begged hard to keep 80% of the order volume. But the price was a 10% reduction in the purchase price. This fatal 10% greatly reduced profits, and we had to produce more bricks. In order to maintain the loan. At this time, those damn goblins sent us a batch of new machines... These new machines are regarded as interest-free loans, and we can use them to produce high-strength bricks with higher efficiency.

"But it's only been two years. Starting from the end of last year, we discovered that other people also had this new machine. As a result, damn - at the beginning of this year, those goblins directly paid liquidated damages and forcibly terminated The second phase of cooperation!

"——But with these liquidated damages, I can't even repay the loan I borrowed from them! My father wants to get rid of all those bricks quickly... After all, they are worthless if they are piled up, and the warehouse also costs money. , Workers also need money. Loans for machines, and the alchemists’ share...

"But there are so many bricks on the market that no one is taking them. The price of the few that can be sold has dropped to less than one-tenth - even ordinary bricks are more expensive than this! Everyone is constantly lowering prices Price, but still no one accepted it.

"Until the end, we couldn't pay wages, the family factory went bankrupt, my father was killed, and my brother committed suicide... At this time, there was still no one to deal with the mountains of bricks, and they could only be given to the workers to pay off debts. . But how many bricks can be carried away? The manager of the warehouse even has to pay for someone to deal with these bricks... because they are too strong, neither machines nor low-level transcendents can deal with them. ”

Jack sighed: "Did you know? There are only more than two thousand people in our town, and the population is not even as large as a street in Leipzig. And these bricks that no one wants are piled on the roadside and on the streets. , cannot be broken or trampled. Some people pick them up and build houses, but the houses have no meaning... When reinforced bricks are rampant, the houses are worthless at all.

"And those damn goblins, what they bought from Star Antimony was far more than just bricks. What they withdrew was the order, and what they wanted was our lives!"

"Understand?"

The middle-aged police officer patted the female police officer on the shoulder with a serious expression: "Listen to me... If you still want to stay in the 'warning line' instead of going to the White Dove Opera House, it's best not to worry about anything. You can Living in Leipzig is already a blessing. At least our economy here does not depend on supplying goods to goblins... Although prices have tripled in one year, wages have also risen with it. "

"...You are lucky to be able to enter the White Dove Opera House. The Ziggurat and the Society are always out of stock... In this era, living people are the best hard currency."

Someone else added faintly: "After all, the Count of Leipzig gave me enough money - the Count is a truly good person."

Everyone nodded in agreement, obviously deeply agreeing.

There is a joke in hell: Why is the Alchemy Association the poorest? Why has the Alchemist become the weakest party among the several forces in Star Antimony?

A very simple truth... is that their alchemical materials must be obtained from botanists, and the development of alchemy and the promotion of alchemists require a large amount of alchemical materials.

But the other companies are much simpler - they just need to get "people".

In this era, the price of "people" will inevitably become lower and lower. Although supply exceeds demand now, it will be hard to say in a while.

"... Is the Count a good man? Why?"

The policewoman obviously hated the White Pigeon Opera House, so she frowned and asked: "Other people are also buying their lives, and he is also buying his life. What is the difference between buying lives and buying lives? After entering the White Pigeon Opera House, won't you die in the end?"

"Because the price is higher. You have a better family background, Liz, so you don't know... When people are really desperate, no matter how much money they are given, they will eventually sell what they should sell. The only difference is that it is one person in the family or the whole family who is sold.

"Even if the Count gives less money, those poor people will still be desperate - they can only choose between going to the opera house or a worse future, but he is willing to pay off their debts... When he can buy these poor people with less money, he actively chooses to give more money. This is a completely unnecessary "loss-making" business. "

"... I think this is actually a kind of hypocrisy. "

The policewoman called Liz still frowned: "Because he is just selling his reputation. Although he bought at a high price, his profit was also high, so he actually did not lose money in the end. And there are more people who turned to him for this reason... I don't think there is any need to be worse than bad. If it is really so bad, it is better to go to Iris."

"Iris is not that good, everyone is about the same. Besides, hypocrisy is at least better than pure evil..."

The middle-aged policeman sighed: "I would rather have more big men who are willing to be hypocritical."

In a place where everyone does not hide their sins, people will even fanatically worship the hypocrites they know well.

-Because in this case, perhaps more people will be willing to do this for the sake of profit.

But at this time, another young policeman raised a question: "I have listened for a long time... But, in the final analysis, shouldn't this be the fault of those goblins?

"Why didn't anyone go to liquidate those goblins? Is it because we can't beat them?

"Those banks are all opened by goblins, right? If we take the banks over, won't these people have money? "

When he said this, everyone fell silent.

It wasn't that he said something wrong, but that others really didn't understand why they didn't do this.

"Maybe the people above have their own ideas."

Finally, the middle-aged police officer ended the topic with these words.

However, today's conversation still planted a seed in the hearts of everyone present.

-Is there no one in the entire Star Antimony who can stand up and lead them?

Is there no better choice than Count Leipzig?

"I think..."

The oldest police officer present said slowly: "Anyway, in the end, the church will not ignore us. They can't just watch the Star Antimony collapse like this, right?

"Don't forget... His Majesty the Pope is a human being now.

"-Pope Mercy."

He said slowly.