On October 22, 1723, in the city of Sassnia, the important handicraft town of the Valstad Empire.

A gentleman dressed fashionably and with a frivolous and arrogant demeanor swaggered out of the luxurious restaurant,

Due to his long-term immersion in the sound of dogs and horses, and the lack of necessary exercise, he has gained weight several times in the past few years, and he is a little stumbling when he walks.

This person was the minister of the kingdom of Solan, Sir Hacantham Yanutran.

In recent years, in order to avoid war, the Valstad Empire has adopted a comprehensive appeasement policy, and its attitude towards the Solan Kingdom can be described as low-sound, except for the resolute and uncompromising on the issue of dealing with spies, in almost all other foreign affairs, it has made varying degrees of concessions to the Solan Kingdom.

Compared with the huge Solan Kingdom like a giant beast, the Valstad Empire is completely inferior in terms of land area, economic aggregate, population, army, and grain production.

In the face of the world's largest superpower in terms of comprehensive national strength, even the always domineering Empress Valsta had to bow her head and submit to softness, and this situation has lasted for several years.

Sir Khacansom, as the minister personally sent by King Solan, was the plenipotentiary of King Louis Lafalette I of Solan himself.

As a result, Sir Hacansom lived a merry life in the Valstad Empire, and he was invited to be the chief guest of honour at countless lavish salon banquets, each of which lived in the most luxurious days, surrounded by money and beautiful women.

After a long period of attention, preferential treatment began to make him get carried away, and his style of life became extremely corrupt and degenerate.

At noon, he was invited by a local nobleman in the city of Sassnia to dine at the most luxurious restaurant in the city, in fact, he wanted to refuse the invitation, but he was attracted by the charm of a certain noble sister, and still gave face to the scene.

At the end of the meal, feeling a little tired, he declined the invitation to watch a play with the local nobles, and wanted to walk for a while to refresh himself before returning to the embassy in his luxury carriage.

Four heavily armed Valstadi men followed behind him, serving as guards.

He was accompanied by a young diplomat from the Kingdom of Solan, and the two walked side by side, with a bulging belly full of food and wine, and their faces were full of smugness as they picked their teeth.

The diplomat said, "Lord Qincha, it's really fun to go to the banquet with you!" Those Valstads bow down in front of you, like a bunch of gamblers who owe usury to meet their creditors! I'm afraid that something wrong will upset you! ”

Sir Hacansom, the Chancellor, laughed triumphantly, and his face trembled uncontrollably:

"Hahaha! That's right, man! Those guys are very smart, they know how to understand current affairs, and they know that offending us is equivalent to offending the most powerful country in the world, so they will not hesitate to compete for favor. ”

An obscene expression appeared on the diplomat's face:

"Hehe, that tall blonde girl at the noon banquet is really a sign! The figure was so bumpy that I could barely take my eyes off her. ”

The minister patted the other party on the shoulder: "Young man! Promising! It seems that the two of us have similar tastes to women.

It was because I fell in love with this blonde girl that I didn't refuse her father's invitation to the party.

I didn't bother to listen to the old man's endless complaints, half of them just wanted to use my influence to fight for more territory for themselves, if it weren't for his daughter's face, I wouldn't have bothered to deal with him! ”

The diplomat was drunk and became more open-mouthed:

"Lord Chincha, I can see that old fellow is a ghostly miser! He was willing to pay anything to compete with his relatives for the property.

If you tactfully ask him for more, such as spending the night with his daughter, the old guy will not hesitate to say yes! ”

"Hahaha! Of course, in this country, we can do whatever we want, and those Valstayans can only swallow their anger.

It's ridiculous, these guys are still called a fighting nation by people all over the world, I think they should change their nickname and call them the angry bag nation! ”

The two put their arms on each other's shoulders and laughed.

When the four Valstad soldiers who followed behind heard these words in their ears, their teeth itched with hatred, and the blood in their bones was ignited.

They were all thinking about the same thing, and that was to raise their bayonets and stab the two presumptuous bastard gringos in front of them.

But they knew their tasks and missions, so they could only forcibly hold back their anger and swallow their anger and follow behind to be angry.

This is a microcosm of the current diplomatic situation, and the Valstad Empire has no dignity in the face of formidable adversaries.

Meanwhile, in a dark alley in the city of Sassnia, a black market is underway;

A middle-aged man dressed in the costume of an ordinary citizen is holding a delicate crossbow and scrutinizing it.

The vendor who sold the illegal weapon was struggling to sell his wares:

"Sir, are you troubled? Have an enemy you want to get rid of? Or do you have a need for self-defense? ”

The middle-aged man smiled indifferently: "I have my own reasons, I need a convenient device that can take people's lives." ”

The black marketeers rubbed their hands diligently:

"Hehe, there are many people in this world who don't deserve to live, especially if you offend a good guy like you, if you want to eradicate dissidents, then you have found the right person! Try the new products we launched at the beginning of the year!

The one you're holding is a specially modified miniature crossbow made of gold-core wood, cut from the tropical forests of the south, and is absolutely durable.

There are also parts processing from the artisan city of Tajiavi, assembly from the city of Santa Casrella, and carvings from Verona, the capital of the arts, which are simply flawless, right? ”

The middle-aged man raised his crossbow and tried the feel: "Well, the workmanship is really good, what price does it sell?" ”

The merchant raised his finger with a hippie smile: "It's not expensive!" Eight thousand universal banknotes, or two imperial gold shields. ”

The middle-aged man frowned: "Two golden shields? What the fuck are you kidding? With this money, I can buy several flintlock pistols! Then he handed the crossbow back to the merchant and wanted to leave.

The merchant hurried to catch up and grab his customer:

"Sir! Wait a minute! My crossbow is definitely much better than a firearm!

It is difficult to reload with a gun, loud and easy to mute, but my crossbow is easy to use and has a stable firing mechanism, all of which are important for the user.

There are expensive reasons, and it's definitely worth spending a little more money to make yourself less troublesome! And the price is negotiable. ”

The middle-aged man stopped, took the crossbow again, and said, "I'll give out at most one gold coin!" ”

The merchant stretched out two fingers: "One gold coin, plus two thousand universal banknotes, this is the lowest price."

If you buy now, I'll also give you an additional bag of matching steel arrows, as well as two bottles of the Killer Guild's secret summer poison.

In addition, I will privately extend the warranty period of your hand crossbow for an additional six months. ”

The middle-aged man smiled: "Oh, it seems that I am a lucky guy?" ”

The merchant put on a sincere expression: "Sir, the reason why I have given you such a favor is because a decent enemy like you is my enemy. ”

"I'll really make a deal, well, fill my crossbow with poisoned arrows, and I'll pay you cash."

"Thank you for your patronage! This is for you! When you use it, just put down the safety device and pull the trigger! ”

When the merchant saw that his customer had taken out the gold shield and paper money in his pocket, he realized that the customer had spent all the cash on his body and was already penniless.

"Sir...... I'll leave you some notes for a ride in the rental carriage......"

The middle-aged man stuffed the loaded crossbow into the inner pocket of his jacket and waved his hand:

"Thank you for your concern, I'm going to use your product soon, so it doesn't matter if I run out of money in one go."

The black marketeer was confused, looking at the back of the customer who was quickly moving away, and a bad blessing appeared in his heart

Sure enough, just a few moments later, two gunshots rang out on the street, followed by a cacophony of human voices.

Someone screamed, "An assassin has killed someone!" ”

The black marketeer crept to the vicinity of the incident and found the street crowded with people, four tall soldiers holding guns on guard, wisps of green smoke coming from the muzzle of the gun, apparently having just fired.

A luxurious carriage was parked horizontally in the middle of the road, and in the open carriage sat two richly dressed gentlemen.

The young gentleman was sweating profusely and seemed frightened by what had just happened, while the other was leaning back on the back of his seat with his eyes closed, his neck tilted to one side, and he seemed unconscious.

Lying on the sidewalk was a middle-aged man in a blue coat, who had just bought a crossbow from him, who had been shot with two bloody holes in his chest, and the blood was still flowing, apparently he had just been shot and died.

The black marketeers quickly realized what was happening.

He quickly turned away, disappearing into the crowd,

In the palm of his right hand, he still clutched the heavy gold shield coin he had just received.

At this moment, his whole body was already soaked with sweat.