Chapter 237: Fighting with Tigers
After seeing off the night watchmen, Phoenix stayed alone in the hotel living room for half an hour.
During this period, even the family knights and close secretaries stayed outside the door and did not go in to disturb her.
Phoenix is weighing the pros and cons of working closely with Charlie Rex, the current Lord of Innadri, and the Nightmare Butcher behind Charlie Rex.
Among the five earls of the Rhine Kingdom, the Odysseus family is not the weakest, but it is also not one of the two strongest ones. The Odysseus family must maintain good and close relations with the two families in the same situation to avoid having its territory and business encroached upon by the two strongest families.
Being coveted is not a pleasant situation. Odysseus' grandfather and great-grandfather were both worried about this.
The elder brother and younger brother enjoyed the superior status of being born in the earl's family. Only Phoenix, who was born a woman, could understand his father's anxiety and therefore gained his father's attention and trust.
At that time, Phoenix did not understand the complicated undercurrents in the upper class of the kingdom, but she knew very well what it felt like to be coveted - when she was just a teenage girl, there were always incompetent and confident bastards who unreasonably believed that they could obtain the property and power of the Austin family by conquering her, the daughter of the Odysseus family, and put on some clumsy and ridiculous stupid performances in front of her, and arrogantly believed that she did not even have the wisdom to see through their despicable intentions.
The Odysseus family is eager to change their situation and has been preparing for it for a long time.
Charlie Rex has excellent governance skills, which is the evaluation made by Phoenix after quietly observing the operation of City Hall for several days.
But Charles Rex was not a good leader. He failed to convince the local nobles of Innadri to work for him.
To some extent, Charlie Rex was even in opposition to the local nobles - he failed to get involved in Innadelli's pillar industries, whether it was because he was excluded from the core interest circle of the local nobles, or he was so confident that he did not need to get involved in this part of the interests, which only proved his lack of leadership ability.
If Phoenix still thought that Charlie Rex should not be so eager to cooperate with Nightmare Butcher before coming to Innadri for investigation, then after the field investigation, Phoenix's idea has changed: Without the strong support of Nightmare Butcher , Charlie Rex is not qualified to rise to a high position.
After shifting the target of observation from Charlie Rex to the Nightmare Butcher behind him...Phoenix's observation plan suddenly became difficult.
This black magician who only stays in the city lord's mansion every day and rarely goes out is impossible to observe!
Even the clerks and operators of the city hall could not even sense the existence of the mastermind behind Innadri's shocking changes - he basically did not appear in people's field of vision!
Phoenix even sent people to Westram to interview the locals, but the result was... even the people of Westram were quite confused about the special existence of the Nightmare Butcher.
Although it is hard to believe, the fact is that in the area of Innadri, the Nightmare Butcher has almost no presence.
Even though the undead he summoned were running all over the streets , and even though the "Tarantan products" of unknown origin he produced were flowing into thousands of households, people still had no impression of him.
This made Phoenix very conflicted... After all, he had only heard the testimony of his younger brother Parker and the explanation from the Gold Coin Church, neither of which could give Phoenix a clear understanding of this legendary black magician.
For example, at this moment, Phoenix needs to think repeatedly when making a judgment - does the Nightmare Butcher really not know that the vampire bounty from sixty years ago is outdated, or is he doing it on purpose?
As for the former, not really.
Judging from the request for cooperation that Nightmare Butcher once made to his brother Parker, he really doesn't seem like an old-fashioned person who doesn't understand the changes in the world.
As for the latter... there are many more problems if you think about it more carefully.
Did he deliberately let the Gold Coin Church have the idea of "taking advantage", so that Bishop Li Gene would get used to using his undead without knowing it, and make Bishop Gene more and more involved with his undead, getting deeper and deeper into it?
Will the advantage that Bishop Li Gene has gained now become a bargaining chip for the Nightmare Butcher to coerce Bishop Gene in the future?
The Church of Gold's preference for money is well known to the world. As long as the price is right, they are even willing to send night watchmen to polish the shoes of nobles.
The Nightmare Butcher obviously did not have enough financial resources to force the Gold Coin Church to bow down, otherwise he would not have robbed the local gray industries before conquering a city.
Using the method of "giving concessions" to put a bridle around the neck of the Gold Coin Church is no less effective than throwing money at it... At least from what Phoenix has observed so far, the local church has unknowingly accepted the undead that should not appear in human cities, and will take the initiative to find the Nightmare Butcher to hire the undead to solve problems.
"As expected, you are the one whose legend spread before I was born."
Phoenix exhaled softly and picked up the tea that had already cooled.
The Nightmare Butcher showed an attitude of cooperation and communication, did not ask for too much, and was even willing to give up some benefits. Given the nature of the Gold Coin Church, it was not surprising that they would hold their noses and make deals with him.
So for the Odysseus family, is the Nightmare Butcher a tradeable person?
Phoenix held the teacup in his hand and turned it gently.
She is not afraid to work with tigers. Ever since her father, Count Odysseus, decided to give her a chance to see if she could show talents more valuable than being a tool for marriage, Phoenix has never lacked beasts in her environment.
The only question is how big the appetite of the legendary tiger, the Nightmare Butcher, is.
"Perhaps...it's time to meet this legendary figure."
Phoenix closed his eyes and then opened them suddenly.
Even if it is an evil dragon... as long as it is beneficial to the long-standing goals of the Odysseus family, she will not lack the courage to associate with it!
"Does the little girl from Odysseus finally want to come see me?"
In the City Lord's Mansion, Yang Qiu, who was interrupted in his meditation, couldn't help but laugh when he heard the news brought by Charlie Rex himself.
"...I thought you would refuse." Rex said strangely.
"If it's Master Parker, a well-protected greenhouse flower, then there's really no need to meet again. The last time we met, this young master had already played out his value." Yang Qiu teased Rex with a smile, "As for Phoenix... I know she makes you uncomfortable. Few men can calmly accept that kind of scrutiny of measuring a person's value, especially when the other party is a young lady of marriageable age. It would make a young man like you feel offended, right?"
"Why do you bring this up with me again? I don't dislike anyone. She is a guest, and I'm not that petty." Rex defended himself with a sheepish look on his face.
"This kind of explanation that makes things worse is really nostalgic. More than two hundred years ago, I also had a period of excessive self-esteem like you." Yang Qiu chuckled, "Well, Rex, we should be happy that the Odysseus family not only sent a face-saving person like Master Parker, but also a practical person like Phoenix. Didn't you notice that she has some of Zhao Zhenzhen's temperament, although it's just a little bit, and the essence is far apart, but that's not the problem of this lady, it's just the difference caused by different world views and growth experiences."
Rex's body trembled, and his attitude immediately became serious...
Yang Qiu, who accidentally traveled to this world in the autumn more than 300 years ago, was indeed a little arrogant at first, thinking that he was standing on the shoulders of civilized giants and looking down on the world of lower dimensions. However, it was the long and difficult struggle for survival that wore away these bad habits that would have led him to death - the price of looking down on the "natives" is losing his life, and he only has one life.
Earth civilization was not superior to that of other worlds from the beginning. The period during which our Earth ancestors, who had created writing but were still ignorant, struggled in the dark ages without leaving any historical records was probably longer than contemporary Earthlings imagine.
Rex in front of Yang Qiu, who was originally just a "demented bat brother" waiting to die in the Sorenson Mountains, has grown amazingly after Yang Qiu rudely changed his life trajectory and pushed him to the position of puppet lord to receive national team education for more than half a year.
"So... she's not being disdainful or finding fault, nor is she just trying to gather intelligence. What she's doing is measuring Innadri's value as... a deep cooperative ally?" After thinking about it seriously, Rex gave his answer.
"Yes, Zhao Zhenzhen may not have told you yet, or she may have told you, but you didn't care... She judged that the Odysseus family had the intention to start a war, and had been preparing for it for quite some time." Yang Qiu was still very happy to see that the tools were getting better and better, and said with a smile, "No domestic magazines or newspapers have ever published relevant reports, and Adela III, who has frequent contact with the capital, has never received relevant information, which shows that the Odysseus family has kept this matter secret. So before confirming whether Innadri is worth cooperating with, Phoenix, who came to visit on behalf of the Odysseus family, certainly would not reveal his intentions."
"But the Odysseus family sent her, which means that the Odysseus family has the inclination to form an alliance with us. We are their top priority." Rex reacted and said quickly, "No, if we hadn't suddenly risen, the Odysseus family would have chosen the Bartles family as an alliance, and cooperating with the Bartles family would be much easier than cooperating with us. As long as Count Odysseus is willing to support Adela III in his bid for the title, Adela III will do his utmost to assist!"
"Their family needs the combat power of the Bartles family's city defense forces, and our undead defeated the city defense forces, so Phoenix brings her family knights to the city hall every day just to observe our undead!"
Yang Qiu nodded and said with a smile: "So what do you think, do we need to accept the olive branch extended by the Odysseus family?"
Rex knew that Yang was testing him. He thought seriously for a while before he said cautiously, "I think...it depends on who the enemy of the Odysseus family is. If the Odysseus family starts a war against the lords in the Rhine Kingdom, then we should not get involved. This will expose us to the eyes of all the major forces in the country, which is not a good thing for us, because Nadeli needs more time to develop, and it is not advisable to become the imaginary enemy of a certain force too early."
Yang Qiu smiled approvingly and nodded again.
In fact, Innadili's development route does not require any complicated political struggles. With the national team involved in building a cadre team and sending talents to build infrastructure, it can develop steadily and steadily - push forward - and develop in an infinite cycle.
All Yang Qiu needs to do is to protect this alien regime which is still in its infancy and prevent it from making enemies too early or attracting overly powerful enemies... Otherwise, how could he tolerate those nobles staying in the same city with him and breathing the same fresh air?
Hanging them on the city gates for public display is the best fate for those fat-headed guys.
But not using dirty tricks does not mean that you don't understand dirty tricks.
The best way to protect children from harm is not to deprive them of proper sex education but to allow them to see abortion and aphrodisiac ads all over the streets. Similarly, the best way to protect a young regime from dying is not to make people within the regime ignorant of conspiracies and intrigues.
Even a pure idealist like Rex has learned to weigh the pros and cons, which is enough to prove that the national team's work is effective.
When Phoenix formally visited Yang Qiu at the City Lord's Mansion, Yang Qiu asked Rex to accompany him so that he could see with his own eyes how this daughter of a great noble and a mature local politician would perform in formal occasions.
So... Rex saw with his own eyes a beautiful woman who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, radiant and glamorous, and dressed like a socialite on the cover of a fashion magazine in the royal capital.
"Good day, Mr. Yang, you look younger than I thought." Phoenix, with bright red lips, covered half of her face with a delicate little fan, and smiled at Yang Qiu implicitly, like a shy noble lady meeting an outstanding gentleman who makes her heart beat fast.
Rex: “…”
He suddenly felt that women were more suitable for being politicians... The Iron Lady who ran to the City Hall every day in riding clothes could become a lady in an instant!
