Old Bernard rang the silver bell at the head of the bed, and a moment later Gerry the butler and two maids walked in. While the maid was changing old Bernard's clothes, Gerry handed the mayor a copy of the town's financial statements for the quarter. As can be seen from the report, the income of Yoqi Town has increased again in the last quarter. More than 70% of the income can be paid, which is undoubtedly a heavy burden for the town.

And the remaining thirty percent, in addition to the financial budget of the town itself, there is not much left.

As a result, the town of Yoqi is prosperous on the surface, but in reality, the inhabitants of the town are not much better off than those who are wandering in the wilderness. The property they owned was just a house that they didn't know when it would be repossessed by the Papal Chamber.

Sauron has a saying, "Whatever I see, I am the owner." It means that everywhere he can see is his property, as for the rest of the people, from the officials and nobles, down to the merchants and residents. All they had in their dwellings had been "lent" to them by Sauron for the time being.

The taxes in the Papal Room are heavy, breathlessly heavy. The same is true of the common people, even the mayor of the town like Old Bernard.

The only thing that can really be enjoyed is the handful of people in the Pope's Chamber.

Handing the report to the butler, Old Bernard sighed lightly. Gerry said in a low voice: "Mayor Town, I just received a notice from the Papal Hall yesterday to readjust the tax rate......

"Has the tax rate gone down?"

Gerry smiled bitterly: "What's the matter, the notice states that from next year, the original tax rate will have to be increased by another 5 percentage points." ”

"5 percent!" Old Bernard shouted excitedly, "if this continues, everyone will not be happy." In that case, it would be better to let the pirates come over. While those damned aristocratic lords were drinking wine and eating barbecue, our people were starving and freezing!"

The butler hurriedly persuaded: "Mr. Berner, don't say it. It's not a good thing to get this out. ”

"What are you afraid of, it's a big deal to die. Anyway, if we continue like this, maybe we won't survive next winter. Old Bernard's tone grew lower, but Zuihou still let out a soft sigh.

It's annoying to pay heavy taxes, but what can they do with the Papal Chamber? As long as the Papal Chamber is still there, they will have to survive in the cramped crevices of existence.

"Let's go, have breakfast together, and see how Blue Bridge and Masson are doing. Old Bernard patted the butler on the shoulder and waved the maid down first.

As Gerry accompanied Mayor Mare to the living room, he smiled and said, "Not everything is bad, at least Levi and Senna should have been happy for the past two days." ”

“weishenme？”

"Last night both of them had a hotel charter, and the money in one night alone exceeded nearly a hundred gold coins, and when I saw them in the morning, they were still smiling from ear to ear. Gerry shook his head, envious.

Both Rivi and Senna each have an inn in town, which has been available since the beginning of winter. Not to mention them, the tourists in the town have become very scarce, and judging from the situation in the past half a month, the tourists are almost extinct. So suddenly there are tourists who need to charter a venue, and they still charter two hotels, which means that there are a lot of people, at least nearly 100 people. Old Bernard couldn't help but wonder how there were so many travelers at this time.

"After breakfast, let's go have a look. ”

Hearing the mayor say this, Gerry chuckled, "The mayor is going to collect a little tax from them?"

"Then their mother-in-law must be arguing in the mayor's office every day. Old Bernard smiled.

At the same time, Zero opened the curtains, causing Leah and Cinderella on the bed to frown and turn over to sleep again. Zero walked out wearing a thin coat, and in the restaurant of the hotel, Su and Haiwei were eating breakfast. It's breakfast, just a few slices of unburnt bread and boiling hot water, but it's good food for this hotel.

After Zero decided to attack Rock City, after gathering the Trident and his right-hand men, a total of about 100 people left Cage and arrived in Jockey City last night after nearly a week. Zero directly chartered two adjoining hotels as a base for everyone, and it is only about 70 kilometers from here to the city of rocks. If the march at full speed takes less than an hour to arrive, so for now, Zero is not in a hurry.

Seeing him come down, Haiwei moved a chair and beckoned to him, "Head, come over for breakfast." ”

Zero was not polite and squeezed into their table. At this time, the wolf king Kaiton and Berrion also came, except for Kaede, who was transferred to Rome City to protect the Pope, the core combat force under his command was basically all assembled.

Biting down a piece of bread, Su said, "Chief, isn't it too conspicuous for us to swagger in like this?" As long as you are not blind, you know that we are not a so-called caravan. ”

Zero smiled, he did charter two hotels in the name of the caravan last night. But in fact, there was no caravan like them, wrapped in hooded cloaks, and all of them were murderous.

"As long as they have money to make, they won't care. I had a little talk with the innkeeper last night, and the man named Senna had vomited a lot of bitterness at me. Sure enough, as rumored, the Papal Office has raised the tax rate on the territory extremely high, and it has been tightly pressed to the basic living line of the common people. And listening to Senna's tone, it seems that taxes only go up but not down, and they are all angry. Zero took a sip of water and said, "In such a situation, if there are suddenly dozens of more gold coins coming in, and we don't cause any trouble, I don't think he will be bored." After all, we live in this hotel, and if something happens, he can't get out of it as the boss. ”

Haiwei was already lively, and after stuffing a piece of bread into her mouth and swallowing it, she said, "Boss, let's talk about interesting things." Yeliu didn't sleep last night and went for a walk in the city of rocks, and brought back the details of the other party's city defense. What do you say we are going to do, if it's an assassination, I won't go, just let Yeliu go. ”

As she spoke, her face suddenly changed, and she grabbed a glass of water in front of Ye Liu, and then she breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had swallowed it just now.

"Assassination? I don't think that's necessary. Zero dipped his finger in the water and drew a rectangle on the table to represent the city of rocks, and said in the direction of the city gate: "Orlan brought a news by the way when he came, it is said that Sauron has transferred all the remaining captains of the Knights of the Holy Seal back to Rome in order to study how to deal with us. So now that Rock City only has a regular army, and there is no high-level presence on it, we don't need to use any assassination at all. ”

He drew an arrow pointing to the gate in the direction of the gate: "With our strength, it is okay to push it flat." Their gates are not called the Wall of Sighs, but I think it's a fitting name. Only this time, it was for Sauron to sigh for it. ”

After speaking, he smiled faintly. There is no high fighting spirit, there is only strong self-confidence.

A short man suddenly came running, he was Senna, the owner of the inn. Senna ran to Zero's side and whispered in his ear, "Oh no, Mayor Berner has come over and said he wants to see you." ”

Senna opened a hotel, what kind of people have never been seen. People like Zero and the people he brought with him knew at a glance that it wasn't a caravan, but Zero said they would only stay for one night, so Senna and Levi were bold enough to take them. Unexpectedly, before they left, the mayor came.

Old Bernard was a good talker, but that didn't mean he was blind. Even Senna could see that zero was not easy for them, and how could old Bernard not see it. The mayor is usually a kind man, but he really doesn't have anything to say about the townspeople. But after all, he has a different position, Senna can pretend not to know, and Old Bernard may not be like this. And once this matter is broken, in case they are unknown people, their two hotels will be implicated.

Zero said unhurriedly, "Please prepare a quiet room for me, and I will personally entertain this mayor." ”

Senna suddenly cast a solemn gaze at him.

Zero smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to him." If I had thought about it, you wouldn't have survived today. ”

Senna glanced at the others again, nodded at them, and went down to make arrangements.

"Eat, I'll meet this guest. Then, let's go. Zero stood up and walked away.

A moment later, in Senna's arranged room, Zero saw Old Bernard and Gerry, the butler. In addition to them, there were several soldiers, and the soldiers stood behind the mayor and looked at Zero with ill will.

Zero smiled, stretched out his hand and said, "Dear Mayor Bernard, please take care of us when we meet for the first time." ”

Old Bernard smiled, shook hands with Zero, and said, "Well, I heard that you are businessmen." But I'm wondering, the road is not going to work this season, I don't know what you are doing?"

"The business we do is very special, so I beg my pardon for not being able to say it here. If Mr. Mayor wants to know, please leave it alone, and I can only tell Mr. Berner. ”

Butler Gerry couldn't help but say, "Is there anything you can't say in front of everyone, unless...... You're doing shady business. ”

"Oh?" said Zero lightly, "This gentleman's guess is really interesting. ”

Old Bernard then said, "Gerry, you and the others go out first, and I want to have a good talk with this gentleman." ”

Gerry's face changed, and he wanted to say something, but the mayor stopped him, so he had to beckon the soldiers to leave the room. Only then did old Bernard say, "If you have anything to say now, you can say it." ”

But when the two shook hands just now, Zero used his tail finger to write a word in the palm of Old Berner's palm, which was a killing word. He also released a faint jet of energy from his fingertips, but it was like a sharp knife that slightly cut a little bit of old Bernard's flesh and skin, letting the mayor know that he was not an ordinary person. In this era, as long as you are not a fool, you know that the capable are powerful existences, and the few soldiers brought by the old Bernard alone are not the opponents of the capable at all.

What's more, if Zero is a capable person, then how can the other people living in the hotel now be ordinary people. This was undoubtedly the most obvious threat signal to Old Bernard, so the mayor cooperated with him and sent the others away.

After standing farther away for a moment, he spread his hands and said, "As you can see, I am a businessman. But there's another layer of identity......"

For some reason, Old Bernard suddenly felt a pound of heartbeat, and he almost told Zero to stop talking, but in the end curiosity prevailed. He said, "Please speak." ”

"My name is Zero ......"

Old Berna's pupils narrowed suddenly, a name he seemed to have heard somewhere.

"Cage City and even Canon Fortress are now my territory, and I am ...... The leader of the Poseidon Order. That's who I am. Zero said in a flat tone, as if he was saying something insignificant.

But his words kept echoing in old Bernard's ears like thunder.

Zero......

The leader of the Poseidon Order......

Old Bernard only felt that the world was spinning for a while, and Shijie seemed to have only two colors left, black and white. Zero's figure flickered flickering flickering farther and nearer, which made him feel a little sick and uncomfortable. The mayor gasped violently, and it wasn't until a moment later that he smiled bitterly, "If I knew the answer was like this, I wouldn't want to know." Hey......"

"It's nothing, you'll find out sooner or later. Zero said.

Old Bernard gritted his teeth and said, "So you are here for the City of Rocks, is your army just outside the town?"

"No, in fact, there are only two hotels. ”

Old Bernard showed a complicated expression, Zuihou shook his head and said, "You must be crazy." Well, now that you tell me these secrets, are you ready to kill people? I just beg you to spare the others, after all, they don't know the truth. ”

Zero looked at him with interest and said, "Mayor Marew is indeed a responsible person, which Senna kept emphasizing to me last night. But this time you guessed wrong, I didn't mean to kill you. I just want you to grant a request. ”

"What request?"

"After I conquered the City of Rocks, you helped me convince Lambbridge and Masson to accept my stewardship. To be honest, I don't want to do senseless killings, but I don't mind reciprocating if anyone objects. Zero added, "But I don't think you will refuse, because my welfare is much better than that of Sauron." ”

"I heard that Sauron asks you to pay seventy percent of your taxes every quarter, and I'm just the opposite of him, only thirty percent, what do you think?"

"It's tempting, but how can you guarantee it?"

"Cage City. Zero smiled and said, "If you don't believe me, you can send someone to take a look." I don't need you to pay too many taxes, I need your loyalty. Besides, Sauron is not a man to follow, is he? The mayor should know that in the recent oracle published by His Highness Paul in the city of Rome, Sauron is listed as a god-sent figure. ”

"Can such a person become your faith?"

Old Bernard was speechless for a while, he knew that what he used was a heart-attacking tactic. Rome in the Western Continent is a theocratic state, and Pope Paul has recently won the name of the Son, and he has spoken out about Sauron's crimes in the name of God, so it is clear that Sauron has been classified as the opposite of God. Such a ruler, naturally, is not a haode follower. But the problem is that Sauron is still the real leader of the city of Rome, and even old Bernard is not willing to follow him, but he can't show it too much.

Otherwise, what awaits him is the twisting table.

"It's okay, you don't have to answer me now. Zero patted him on the shoulder and said, "In an hour or so, we'll leave town for Rock City." If you don't get the news of the destruction of the city tomorrow, you don't have to pay attention to it. It's just that if I break through the White City, I hope the mayor can do me a little favor. ”

"You've said so, can I still refuse?" said Old Bernard, shaking his head and smiling bitterly.

Zero's conditions were already very generous, and he did not let Old Bernard agree immediately, but gave him a chance to wait and see. Zero: If you fail, you don't have to talk about it. But if he succeeds, he will not dare to hold back old Bernard with ten dares.

Thinking about the character who can conquer the City of Rock with only a hundred people, there is no other choice but to cooperate with him obediently.

After Zero left, Old Bernard was about to stand up, but sat back in his chair with weak legs. At this time, he found that he was in a cold sweat, his legs and stomach were trembling, and he shook his head and smiled: "I am really old." ”

As Zero said, an hour later, his people had disappeared into the town. Standing on a bell tower in the town, watching the hundred people walk along the road to the Rock City not far away, Old Bernard had mixed feelings. Now even he couldn't tell which side he hoped to win.

It was almost noon, and the guard Haring stood in the third guard tower of the Rock City, and after routinely surveying the surroundings of the city with a telescope, he reported the words "everything is normal" to the control center on the walkie-talkie.

In fact, since the beginning of winter, the army of the Rock City has been under martial law to prevent pirates from the south from attacking at any time. But most soldiers, including people like Haring, thought it was impossible, and anyone with a modicum of common sense knew that on a winter march, radiant snow alone would kill an army soldier.

And it has been quiet since this time, which confirms everyone's thoughts. Not only the soldiers thought so, but even the interim commander Maiga thought so. It's just that the soldiers can't hide in their warm mansions like the commanders and enjoy the food and wine, and they still have to wear radiation protection suits on the walls of the White City on this cold morning.

This is not a pleasant job, the walls of the White City are sixty meters high, which is almost the height of a tall building. Imagine standing on the roof of a 60-meter-high building, the howling cold wind is enough to freeze people's souls. Harlem was fine, his post was mainly in the watchtower, after all, he was an observer rather than a fireman, which made him glad that he had always had a good relationship with the captain, otherwise he would have to be on duty in the cold wind like everyone else.

He yawned, and from the watchtower, the bloodstained road was silvery-white, and the radiant snow on both sides of the road decorated Shijie with a silver-white patch. If you look at it for a long time, it will even affect people's shili. But at this moment, Haring casually glanced down the road below, as if to see something moving.

At first, he thought it was some kind of small animal, and lazily took the telescope to look over, only to see that it was a group of travelers. There were about 100 people, all wearing windproof cloaks and covering their heads and faces.

It's just that Harlem wonders, how can there still be caravans this season?