Today, he received the news that their battalion would be arriving at the town of Ramosa in front of Entil in half a month. The war had dragged on for long enough. The military had issued a strict order to take down Entil in half a month and completely destroy Shalor's strength.
In the evening, he called Hans over. After giving some instructions, Hans left with a group of soldiers.
Giza was like a ghost town late at night, gloomy and gloomy. There were dilapidated houses and collapsed buildings everywhere. Only the faint sound of people walking through the streets proved that there were still people alive in the town.
Hagan had been living a good life recently. He didn't expect his wife to be able to get close to a big shot, and his status had risen along with it. He used to be a tavern owner. He didn't know much about other things, but he was good at reading people's expressions. He had long seen Shalor's defeat and turned to the Faustians. However, he didn't have any barriers. It was normal for Faustians to kick him down the road. But not now. Hagan was full of confidence.
Hagan walked drunkenly on the side of the road in Giza. He was going to his lover's house. Although the war had destroyed everything, it wasn't bad for him. At least, he was better off than others. The road at night was always bumpy. Hagan had already tripped once. He continued to walk while cursing, kicking some of the beggars and refugees around him.
Suddenly, a shadow bumped into him. "Are you f * cking blind?!" Hagan cursed angrily, but there was no sound after that. The moonlight shone over, revealing the shadow's majestic body. Hans, who was holding a dagger, looked at Hagan, who was lying on the ground with a knife in his throat.
"Heh..." Hagan's eyes widened. He pointed at the shadow and wanted to say something, but in the end, he turned his head and stopped breathing.
A group of people appeared behind the shadow and quickly cleaned up the scene. Finally, the shadow and the group of people disappeared in the night, leaving only a headless body.
The beggars and refugees slowly gathered together. After observing that there was no danger around, they rushed forward and snatched the few clothes on the body.
A beggar took out a coin from somewhere on the body with a smile, but it was quickly snatched away by another beggar who was stronger. After the fight, there was nothing left on the ground. The half of the body was kicked to some corner by the crowd.
In a certain basement in Giza, dozens of sallow and emaciated people gathered here to keep themselves warm. There was only a small pile of firewood burning on the ground, and most of the people around were only wearing one or two thin pieces of coarse cloth. There were men and women, old and young.
This was what Hans and the others saw when they arrived. They had seen this kind of thing many times, so they didn't feel much about it.
Many of the people here seemed to recognize them. They stood up in surprise, but most of them were afraid and hesitant. A skinny middle-aged man stood up. He seemed to be the leader here.
Hans did not bother with their nonsense. With a toss of his hand, he tossed Hagan's head. "You'll be in charge of this town's underground world from now on, but you'll have to pay 20% more than before. Otherwise, he'll be a role model!"
The middle-aged man seemed to have not digested the information he had just received. He said in shock, "Sir, he's not angry with us anymore?"
"As long as you do well, we won't do anything to you. In short, you have to show us some results, or else … "Hans threatened coldly.
The middle-aged man was shocked and immediately replied, "Definitely 20% more than Hagan."
Hans snorted coldly and led his men away without saying anything else.
Seeing that they had all left, the middle-aged man sat down dejectedly as if his body had been hollowed out. "Big Brother, we're rich this time," the subordinates around him said excitedly. The elderly and women also smiled. Only the children looked at the adults in confusion.
The middle-aged man was the group of people who robbed Suzanne's tavern. After being taught a lesson by Locke and the others, they had a bad life. Later, when Locke became a platoon jarl, more people wanted to find fault with them.
The middle-aged man used to be a small businessman and had some brains. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become the leader of this group. He had always hoped to lead them to a good life, even if his methods were dishonorable.
The refugees here all came from the same town. Shalor had lost the war, and bandits ran rampant in the country. They had no choice but to flee here. The middle-aged man had no choice but to rob. At that time, only Suzanne's Green Palm was still open.
It was also at that time that he provoked Locke. During those days, several elderly and children starved to death. It couldn't be helped. This was how they lived, and he didn't dare to vent his anger on Locke. Now that there was a chance to live a better life, even if they were gangsters, they couldn't care less. Even if it was an opportunity given by their enemies, they couldn't give up.
The middle-aged man planned to work hard and not end up like Hagan.
After the soldiers stopped patrolling Farlans, the city finally quieted down. Some Shalorians began to walk on the streets, but they were still cowering, as if they couldn't forget the arrogance of the Faustian soldiers when the city was breached.
The Faustian soldiers wouldn't do anything out of line to ordinary Shalorian civilians because there was no need to.
Locke and Suzanne walked in Farlans, enjoying the atmosphere of a foreign town. Suzanne had never been to a big city like Farlans before, so she was even more curious about it than Locke. However, at this time, the streets weren't bustling. The few shops were run by Locke's and Cashel's caravans, and they only sold food.
These shops accepted everything, including jewellery, coins, weapons and armour picked up on the battlefield, in exchange for food. There was only one kind of food called coal cake. This kind of food was black with charcoal particles on the surface, so it was called coal cake. If chestnut cake was made from the husks of grains, then coal cake was made from the bottom of the pot from which the chestnut cake was made. Even rats wouldn't be interested in it, but at this time, the Shalorians were scrambling for it.
Locke had eaten coal cake before. It made his throat dry and bitter, and he would get a stomachache if he ate too much. It wasn't nutritious at all, and if he ate it for a few days in a row, his limbs would become weak. Chestnut cake could sometimes be used as horse food, but coal cake was absolutely out of the question, unless you wanted the horses in the army to be weak and unable to move.
The Shalorians weren't fools, but they had no choice, especially city people like them. In the countryside like Giza, people could still find food in the fields and woods, but in the city, apart from a few fruit trees in the yard, you wouldn't be able to find any food.
Most of the merchants selling coal cakes knew Locke, so they smiled at him as a form of greeting. Coincidentally, one of the people in charge of Baron Cashel's shop was Sean, who Locke had a drink with the other day.
"Brother Locke, how did you find the time to come here?" Sean was teaching a refugee a lesson. He must've fainted from hunger and snatched food.
Locke was indeed a strange platoon jarl. Other platoon jarls usually trained or had fun in their own quarters, or went to the baron's or another platoon jarl's place. Only Locke seemed to have nothing to do. All day long, he was either hanging out with the low-ranking soldiers on the streets or wandering around aimlessly.
In Jersson's words, "Locke is still young and hasn't adapted to the life of a platoon jarl yet."
In Solon's words, "Locke likes the bustle."
But Yoshk was the most accurate when he said, "Locke is using his own ability to develop." His words were so strange that not many people understood what he meant.
Locke had been away from home all year round, rolling around in a pile of corpses at the age of fourteen. He wanted to live a good life more than anyone else, and he wanted to enjoy it more than anyone else. But years of being helpless had given him a deep sense of anxiety. He wanted to develop himself as much as he could.
The other platoon jarls chose to climb higher, to rope in those of the same rank, and to cling to those of a higher rank. Although Locke understood these things, he hadn't been exposed to them much in the past, so he wasn't used to it yet. But he wasn't discouraged, and chose another path.
He believed that those who could become platoon jarls now wouldn't be too miserable in the future. They were useless to him now, but what about in the future? Never deny anyone's value.
That was why he got along well with platoon jarls who weren't from his platoon. He even had a good relationship with a few platoon jarls under Baron Cashel. That was why he chose to join the underworld of Giza, which no one in their battalion thought highly of. Although he could give them less money now, what about in the future? Giza was a major transportation route, and he didn't believe that the town couldn't develop.
"I came out to have a look," said Locke as he put his arm around Suzanne's waist.
"Is this your sister-in-law? You have a good eye, Brother Locke. " Sean then shouted to a caravan worker behind him, "Darke, where's the silver bracelet you received yesterday? Give it to her. "
A quick-witted worker ran out of the caravan and handed it to Locke respectfully. After fiddling with it for a while, he gave it to Suzanne, who couldn't contain her excitement anymore. It was her first piece of jewelry, and also her most precious one.
To be honest, it was indeed a fine piece. It was better than the other jewelry she found in Kobi's box the other day. Locke patted Sean's shoulder.
Suzanne had long been envious of the jewelry of Glace and the others who lived in the same courtyard as her. The sapphire on Glace's neck and the gold bracelet on Laffey's wrist were so exquisite in her eyes.
Suzanne happily played with the bracelet in her hand, and Locke wondered if he'd mistreated her. Locke thought of the bracelet and earrings he got from the trafficker the other day. He'd planned to give them to his sister in the future. If Suzanne liked them, he'd give them to her first.
Since Suzanne already had a bracelet, Locke took out the pair of earrings and handed them to her.
"Do you like them?" Locke placed the earrings in Suzanne's hand.
If the silver bracelet was the symbol of nobility, then this pair of earrings was the symbol of royalty. The elegant curvature and the exquisite diamonds formed this pair of exquisite earrings.
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