"Did you hear? A group of Miria refugees have fled to Barrel Town. ”

"Didn't those Imperial guys seal off the tunnels?"

"I've heard that they've crossed the Dibia Mountains. ”

"Impossible!"

"It seems like there's a secret passage. ”

"I think there's a problem here, maybe there is no secret passage at all, in fact, the empire deliberately let these people over!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Don't forget that there seems to be a plague in Miria City right now, so if some Miria people fled to our side, could it be that those guys in the empire deliberately let the people infected with the plague come over, so that we can also be infected by the plague. ”

"I'm afraid those big guys have thought of this, I heard Jason from the delivery man say that the Kingdom Army has sealed off Barrel Town, and now some doctors are being sent to check for the plague. ”

"Why don't you just kill them, isn't it much easier?"

"I've heard that some of those people are from some big families. ”

"Oh~~!"

......

In the old upper tavern, the group of porters drinking cheap sour fruit wine and chatting about the latest hot topics is their only entertainment during their rest, and they need to relax and regain their strength as soon as possible until the next whistle blows and the train enters the station.

Located north of Lanxi, Button Town is named after Button Town because it was a small town centered on a button factory opened by several merchants. However, now the button factories have been relocated to other places, and most of the land in the town has been built into cargo holds, and almost all the workers in the original factories have become porters at the railway station.

The change of Button Town began with the surprise attack on Miria City by the French Imperial Army half a year ago, and the United Kingdom built fortifications in the Dibia Mountains to resist the southern invasion of the Imperial Army, but Lanxi was too far away from the front line and could not support the front line in time if there was an accident, so the United Kingdom transformed several towns north of Lanxi and near the Dibia Mountains into paramilitary towns to support the front line.

For example, the nearby town of Musizi has been transformed into a recruit training base, Bison Town has been transformed into an equipment repair center, and Button Town has become a supply center because of its geographical advantage of being located at the intersection of several railroads.

At first, the people of Button Town were very dissatisfied with the transformation of the town, in their opinion, their status as workers was much higher than that of porters, and the work of porters was much more tiring than that of button workers, and if it wasn't for the lack of savings on hand, the townspeople would have already left.

However, with the completion of several new railways and the opening of new railway stations, the number of trains coming and going increased, a large number of supplies were transported here and distributed centrally, and the town, which was originally somewhat desolate, also became prosperous. The town's industrialized residents soon realized the benefits of the town's renovation, with rising housing prices being one of them, the arrival of a large number of new residents making it possible to collect rents in previously vacant rooms, and the button factory workers who had become porters found themselves working a little more tired, but earning more than ten times as much money as before, and the original resentment and dissatisfaction were gone.

It's just that prosperity brings not only money, but also chaos, and the worst crime in the town used to be just a fight in a tavern, but now in less than a month, there have been four homicides in the town, which makes the people of the town a little unable to adapt to it, and many people have decided to move out when they have earned enough money.

Some people can leave if they want to, but some people want to leave but can't, and Peter the old upper, the owner of the Old Upper Tavern, is one such unlucky guy.

Old Shoe Upper was a former soldier in the United Kingdom, but he had to be discharged from the army because of a leg injury and disability, but he was taken care of by his former comrades-in-arms, got a place in the royal government, and was assigned to work as a stationmaster at the old railway station in Button Town.

In the past, the old railway station was not as good as now, there was only a freight train passing through here in almost two days, and only a special train from the button factory stopped here in three days to load goods, so being a stationmaster at such a railway station could only get a little civil servant salary, and there could be no extra oil and water.

It wasn't until the renovation of Button Town that the old train station began to expand and a few new tracks were added, and the old Upper felt that the train station was going to flourish, and his pocket, the stationmaster, should also be fattened.

It's a pity that before the old upper could think about how to use the position of stationmaster to make money, his position as stationmaster was replaced by another person, and all he got was a decent amount of compensation.

The old Shoe Upper was a clever man, and instead of going after the stationmaster's position, he took the compensation money, borrowed a sum of money from the bank, and opened a tavern near the train station, specializing in supplying some cheap sour wine that the porters could afford.

Because of its location, the fact that you don't have to stay far from the train station when you take a break, the low price of alcohol, and the fact that you have enough food to fill your stomach throughout the day made the old shoe tavern quickly become a favorite resting place for porters and nearby civilians.

Originally, the old Upper thought that he could rely on this tavern to live a peaceful life, but he never thought that more than a month ago, a secret department under the command of the royal government found him, recruited him into the department, and made his tavern an intelligence station, and also specially equipped with three low-level intelligence officers, responsible for assisting him in collecting intelligence.

The old shoe boss himself didn't want to be such an intelligence station leader, but in the face of the strength of the royal government, he had nothing to do, but thanks to his status as the station chief, he knew some secret things that ordinary people didn't know, and these things could even save his life at some times.

For example, in the sealed warehouses built in the town, there are actually no materials at all, and all the materials are camouflaged.

In the eyes of the United Kingdom military, if the French Imperial Army is ready to officially attack the defense line of the Dibia Mountains, it will inevitably send airships to fly over the Dibia Mountains first, and directly destroy the material distribution towns supporting the front line like attacking Miria City, so the Kingdom deliberately set up a fake material center in Button Town to attract the attention of the Empire, and the real material center is actually elsewhere.

Although the old Shoe Upper was very unhappy with the Royal Government's approach of putting the residents of Button Town in danger, he also knew that he could not do anything, because the three low-level intelligence officers were nominally his subordinates, but in fact they also had hidden spy. As long as he revealed a little dissatisfaction, maybe what he was waiting for that day was a dagger that cut his throat.

The old Shoe Upper couldn't use his information to help the civilians in the town, and all he could do was use his foresight to save himself, so he paid special attention to the various messages that the porters and civilians in the tavern talked about, because in these messages there might be some signs of war.

At the same time, he also kept an eye out for some new faces, because he knew that if the Empire were to attack, it would definitely send spies to investigate Button Town in advance, and once it was determined that this was the center of supplies, a series of devastating strikes would be launched.

Some of the rumors circulating in Button Town in the past two days seem to ordinary people to be just some after-dinner conversations, but in the eyes of the old upper, these rumors are the signs before the war. Because if the secret passage that can allow ordinary people to cross the Dibia Mountains is true, then it means that there is a fatal hole in the defensive front of the United Kingdom, and the Imperial army can bypass the defense line of the Dibia Mountains and directly attack the Lanxi area, and the nominal material center Button Town is naturally the primary target of the Imperial military.

For this reason, the suspicious old Shoe Upper spent this time keeping an eye on the new faces who had just appeared in the town, eavesdropping on their conversations, and this practice really led him to discover a few spies, but these spies were not from the Empire, but some mysterious forces that he didn't know about.

Today was no different for the old uppers, standing at the counter instead of the bartender who had stayed behind last night, pouring a glass of sour fruit wine for the night shift porters who had just left work, and eavesdropping on the whining and gossip of the rumors.

After two batches of porters who were drinking, a tall figure who had just walked in from outside the door attracted the attention of the old upper, and also made the old upper vigilant.

"A soldier, certainly a professional soldier. The old upper was quick to make a judgment in his heart.

Although the old shoe upper has average intelligence gathering and sorting ability, but his vision is very good, and his long begging career as a child has given him the ability to judge a person's identity and occupation from his behavior, and this ability he has never told anyone.

The tall figure who came in, whether it was the posture of walking or the temperament on his body, made the old shoe upper think of the soldier for the first time, and then he habitually guessed whether it would be a spy sent by the imperial army.

The reason why the old upper did not think of the United Kingdom soldiers was that in the United Kingdom, except for disabled soldiers like him, all other soldiers were recruited by the United Kingdom, even free mercenaries and caravan guards who had been trained as sergeants. After a little training, these soldiers were arranged in some key areas on the outskirts of the Black Forest, in case the French Imperial army relied on the special barrier of the Black Forest to play a surprise attack.

At a time when there are no current professional soldiers in the United Kingdom, it is doubtful that this professional soldier in shabby clothes to hide his identity suddenly appears in such an important material center town as Buttontown.

At the same time as the suspicion was born in his heart, the old upper also tapped the code with his fingers, informing the other intelligence officers in the tavern to pay attention to the strong man in front of him.

It's just that to the surprise of the old shoemaker, after the strong man entered the tavern, he walked directly to the bar, and then put a Kingdom Golden Flange with a new British hairstyle on the table, and said: "Bring me a glass of wine, by the way, some food, and I'll inquire about the rest." ”

The old upper took the golden flange, brought a glass of ordinary wine and a white bread package, and then asked casually, "What do you want to ask?"

The strong man took a sip of the wine and asked while eating the bread set, "When is the train here to Port Lyon?"

"To Lyon?" Hearing a question that was completely different from what he had in mind, the old upper was stunned, but quickly returned to normal, and said: "If you want to go to Lyon, it is best to go to the central station of Lancy, where there is a special train to Lyon, three times a day, or you can take a boat." There are no dedicated passenger trains to Lyon in Buttontown, only freight cars. ”

"It's okay to take a van. The strong man took out another gold flange and put it on the table, explaining: "I heard that the central station in Lanxi is affected by the wartime system, so buying tickets requires a certificate issued by the royal government, and it may take some time for ordinary people to get the certificate." I go to Lyon sometimes and don't have so much time to waste, so it's okay to go by freight train. ”

The old upper was silent for a moment, took the golden flange, then took out a coaster, wrote a few words on it, handed it to the strong man, and said: "There is an empty train to Lyon this afternoon, you can go to the train station to find Bucktooth Bailey, give this to him, he should be able to help you get on the train, but the price is not cheap." ”

"Thank you. The strong man took the coaster, put it in his pocket, quickly ate the set meal and the ale in front of him, and then turned and walked out of the tavern.

"Looks like another fool scared by the Empire!" said an intelligence officer disguised as a tavern attendant as he walked over to the old upper and narrated it.

In the past few months, the number of people who have been frightened by the offensive of the French Empire has been innumerable, and many of them have secretly transferred their possessions, and then, in various disguises, have fled the United Kingdom and taken refuge in foreign countries.

At first, the United Kingdom also attached great importance to this matter, and even issued a series of wartime decrees with prohibitive overtones, but they soon found that this could not effectively prevent those who wanted to leave from leaving, but would only cause some trouble to those who did not want to leave, so many temporary wartime decrees were abolished, leaving only a small number of targeted decrees.

It was clear that the intelligence officer had mistaken the strong man for a cowardly deserter, and thought in his heart that the old shoe had just made some fuss.

The old Upper did not accept the judgment of his subordinate, and still did what he thought, and ordered: "Send someone to follow him, contact the railroad side, and the Lyon side, and keep an eye on him until he leaves the United Kingdom." ”

Seeing the old shoe upper make such a decision, the intelligence officer couldn't help but whisper: "You are crazy, waste manpower......"

Before he finished speaking, the old upper said to the intelligence officer with a cold face: "Don't forget, I am the person in charge here, you just need to listen to my orders." ”

"Of course, you're the head, and you have the final say. Even if the intelligence officer disdains the old upper in his heart, he still does not dare to resist in the face of the relationship between superiors and subordinates in the system, and honestly follows the instructions of the old upper.

Seeing that his subordinates were suppressed, the old shoe upper also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, although he insisted on asking to monitor the strong man, but in fact, his judgment of the strong man's behavior was no different from his own subordinates, and he also thought that the other party was not a spy, but an ordinary person who wanted to leave here one by one. It's just that his instincts tell him that this person is a little weird, so he will make the decision to monitor, and it is none of his business whether his proposal will be carried out or not.