Chapter 40: Brave Jin
"Anyway...you are from the Bennett family."
Yang Qiu pointed his finger at the man who made the accusation, paused, and then pointed at the fat man with a gloomy and uncertain expression, "And you are from the Eugene family."
Yang Qiu seemed to remember something and smiled, "Speaking of the last name Eugene, I think of someone. The last time I passed by the town of Cameron, there was a little girl named Rebecca Eugene who left a deep impression on me."
The fat man's face changed: "This... This is my great-grandmother's name."
"Oh, what a coincidence." Yang Qiu raised his eyebrows, "It seems that Rebecca has achieved her wish."
The fat man from Eugene's family suddenly froze in expression.
The two men from the Bennett family also looked strange...
"It seems that a lot of stories have happened in this town." Yang Qiu didn't want to delve into it. He sat back on the sofa and waved his hand to lift the restrictions on these people. "Sit down, gentlemen."
The three men looked at each other, stretched their arms and legs, and each pulled a chair to sit down... Not to mention that Yang Qiu was sitting on the sofa, the guy lying on the other end of the sofa with his hands covered in blood below the elbows also made them lack the courage to go over.
"I'll be frank. I need to recruit a group of people who have a hard life here and have nothing but their lives." Yang Qiu said bluntly, "Your family is in charge of the local weaving household union. You should know best where to find such people."
The three men from the two families were stunned.
"Mr. Yang..., I don't quite understand what you mean..." The man from the Bennett family mustered up the courage to speak, "If possible, could you explain it in more detail?"
"Then let me put it another way..." Yang Qiu said even more bluntly, "I know more about the Weavers' Guild of Kamor than you do. Four hundred years ago, it is said that the steam ships of the Kenya Empire conquered the Endless Sea and brought back cotton seeds from the outer continent. These 'man-eating' cotton seeds were then brought to the Principality of Shiga by the caravan."
"The gentlemen of Camere thought this was a great opportunity to increase their wealth and consolidate their family status. They used various means to seize the land of the free people, concentrated it to grow cotton, and drove the farmers to their own plantations to become cotton farmers. After all, cotton is not as easy to depreciate as food. If it is left for a year or two, it will become stale, infested with insects, rotten, and moldy, and it cannot be sold at a good price."
"But soon, the gentlemen found that it was not cost-effective to turn all the farmers into cotton farmers. Except for the picking period, there was no need for so many farmers in the cotton fields. So they came up with a solution to the problem - they cooperated with those cotton farmers who were more obedient, instructing them to lead the peasants in protest and demand so-called freedom. After a few "peaceful, non-violent, and less intense" conflicts, the gentlemen "backed down" and liberated all the cotton farmers and gave them the status of freemen."
"The family leading the 'protest' naturally formed a union, 'united' the scattered freemen, and negotiated with the gentlemen..."
At this point, Yang Qiu couldn't help laughing: "In short... at the end of this farce, the free people won. Not only did they gain the status of free townspeople, they also 'forced' the gentlemen to give in and pay them to work, turning them from traditional farmers in the Principality of Shiga into craftsmen with easier work and higher status."
Both the fat man from Eugene's family and the two men from the Bentet family were sweating profusely after hearing this...
As for the thugs who had not been released and were still standing there unable to move, their faces were filled with astonishment...
"The last time I came to Cameron, there was only one Weavers' Guild, which belonged to Rebecca Eugene's husband. This time, the Weavers' Guild has been divided into two, and there is one more, Bennett, which I have never heard of. It seems that the competition within the Weavers' Guild has been quite fierce in recent years."
Yang Qiu smiled and said, "The real gentlemen who are riding on the heads of the local people of Kamoer are hiding behind the scenes, and you gang leaders who can eat meat... Sorry, the union leaders have become the most hated "reactionaries" in Kamoer, so there must be many people who are ignorant and have offended you. Leave these people to me. This is what I mean. Is it clear enough?"
Half an hour later, Descartes Eugene, with bloody hands, was wrapped in a cloak and sent back to Eugene's mansion by loyal thugs.
Yang Qiu was not wrong. The nature of the Weavers' Union in Cameron was indeed similar to the British gangs after World War I, and was a kind of "local family business."
Of course, compared to the British gangs, the lives of the leaders of the Weavers' Union are a little easier. They don't have to fight with other gangs for territory, nor do they have to worry about being stabbed by gypsies... As long as their family is big enough and there are enough adult males in the family, they can fight bravely and fiercely to seize control of the union in the early stage, and in the later stage they can recruit younger brothers to do things for them, and they don't have to suffer much.
The risk is less, but the benefits are not worse than those of the British gangs. The tens of thousands of weavers in the town and the workers employed in various cotton plantations have to pay tribute to them if they want to get work. Because of their merits in "disciplining the lower classes", the truly respectable people in the town will give them some rewards from time to time...
The Eugene family has been living a good life since great-grandmother Rebecca Eugene killed her husband and led her brothers and uncles to seize control of the union a hundred years ago.
Although the Bennett family, who had "rebelled" with Rebecca at the time, took away many union members at the time to start their own business and took away nearly half of the profits, it was enough for the Eugene family to continue to grow over the past hundred years. Not only did they build houses that were not inferior to those of the respectable people on Main Street, they also ran businesses such as taverns, casinos, and racetracks.
This family is considered to be the most powerful in the local area. Descartes, a backbone figure of the young and middle-aged generation, had his hands crippled when he returned from negotiations. Naturally, this caused great indignation among the Eugene family.
When Descartes' cousin, the fat Harvey, ran home wiping the cold sweat from his face, he saw the women in the family crying together, and his uncles and brothers were angrily gathering people to attack the Bennett family.
"Stop it! Stop it!" Fatty Harvey was almost scared to death. He quickly asked his trusted henchmen to close the main door of the mansion. He rushed forward and hugged the excited uncle. "It wasn't the Bennett family who did it. Believe me! We negotiated in our own casino. It was all our people! The Bennett family couldn't do it!"
"Harvey! What the hell is going on!" The angry uncle pushed the fat man Harvey away and shouted, "You are with Descartes, how could you let Descartes get into such a situation!"
Fatty Harvey trembled and said, "Uncle, do you still remember the black magician Yang that my great-grandmother mentioned?"
The emotional uncle yelled, "What black magician?!"
"Dark Mage Yang, the Nightmare Butcher!" Fatty Harvey shouted, "When I was a kid, there was a wanted poster for him on the sheriff's bulletin board, with a bounty of 90,000 gold coins!"
The noisy men and the crying women suddenly became quiet.
"My great-grandmother once pointed to the wanted poster on the bulletin board and told me that she had seen this black magician when she was young." Fatty Harvey panted and said ferociously, "This black magician wanted by many countries invaded Sir Hans's mansion the last time he came to Camor. In front of the Sir's family and many guests attending the cocktail party, he broke the Sir's hands and feet, kidnapped the mayor's youngest son, and hung the young master on the city wall for three days. He also drove a baron naked onto the street and forced him to run wildly around the town on horseback. My great-grandmother said that it was because this black magician tormented those respectable people on Main Street that she had the opportunity to seize the union for the Eugene family!"
Life in a small town is quite dull and boring. Any rare rumors can be passed on orally for years. When Yang Qiu made a big fuss in Camor Town, the things he did on the main street would naturally be remembered by the old people in the town for a lifetime.
Descartes' father, the fat man Harvey's uncle, had of course heard these legendary stories. The contemporary patriarch of the Eugene family, who had lost his mind due to his beloved son's disability, was so frightened by Harvey's words that he broke out in a cold sweat and said in astonishment: "What are you talking about - wait! What do you mean by the 'last' time this black magician came to Camor?!"
Fatty Harvey swallowed his saliva and trembled as he said, "Jimmy from the Bennett family wanted to use his sister's matter to force our family to give up the casino on East Street. When we were arguing, this, this black magician suddenly appeared... On the grounds that 'he could not tolerate young boys and girls being violated', he personally abolished Descartes..."
Everyone in Eugene's room was stunned.
"Goddess of Prosperity!" Descartes' mother, the aunt of the fat man Harvey, pressed her hands on her chest and screamed in panic, "Doesn't the Nightmare Butcher only target those people on the main street? Why is he so cruel to our Descartes?!"
Descartes' wife couldn't help but say, "It was obviously the Bennett's cousin who seduced Descartes. Why should Descartes suffer the consequences?"
"That's right!" Another Eugene woman said, "That bitch can't control her own ties, what does it have to do with others?"
"Enough!" The head of the Eugene family stopped the women and grabbed the fat man Hal's arm with cold sweat on his forehead. "Tell me, Harvey, what does this black magician want to do?!"
Harvey quickly told Yang Qiu about his request... Of course, he consciously avoided mentioning the disgraceful origins of the Weavers' Union.
"He only gave us five hours to choose people as quickly as possible." Harvey swallowed and said nervously, "If we can't provide him with a satisfactory number of people... he claimed that he would take away all the members of our family and the Bennett family!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone who had been angry about Descartes' experience shuddered.
"Give it to him! Find someone to give it to him!" Harvey's aunt screamed at her husband, "Send this plague away!"
"Watch your wording!" The head of the Eugene family roared angrily.
In a small town in the East like Camor, you can only see traveling magicians once every few years or even decades.
Most of these magicians do not interact much with the locals. Only a few of them will chat with the locals, drink, and talk about their travel experiences. After resting for a day or two to replenish food and water, they will leave.
Of course, it is not uncommon to see people like the black magician Yang who take action because they are dissatisfied with certain unfair events... but most of them just teach those who bully others a lesson and give some loose change to the poor and suffering people.
There has never been anyone like Yang, who turned the entire town upside down and frightened the respectable people on the main street. So much so that decades later, when the black magician Yang was given the nickname "Nightmare Butcher" and was wanted by many countries, his wanted poster was hung on the sheriff's bulletin board for many years.
The rumors about this nightmare butcher were still talked about by people in the town until Eugene's grandmother passed away... For example, the rumors brought by a cotton merchant, that he dragged a cardinal of the Church of the Fiery Sun to the Civic Square to mate with a bear, and that he killed a prince of a certain country with a hammer, etc., were horrifying rumors that were widely circulated at the time.
Anyway…it was confirmed that this guy was indeed the “nightmare butcher”, and local mafia families like the Eugene family would never have the slightest desire to resist. Almost all of their members went out to forcibly gather together all the oribati who usually refused to obey the rules, or those who had almost all of their strong laborers died and only orphans and elderly people were left…
While the Eugene family and the Bennett family were sweating profusely as they were trying to recruit people, the culprit of everything, the black magician Yang, who was hated and feared, appeared at the home of Viscount Lynn, the "best man" in Camel who had more say than the mayor.
He was very formal and particular and asked a newsboy to deliver the visiting card to him first. Then he arrived half an hour later and did not forget to bring gifts for the Viscount's family. This was very much in line with the rules of the nobles in this world and was not at all presumptuous.
As for what the current Viscount Lin En would feel after receiving the visiting card... Yang Qiu didn't care.
In short, when he came, Viscount Lynn politely came to receive him personally with his wife and prepared a whole pot of sweet tea, which magicians liked.
Well...it is tea , mainly rose and chrysanthemum.
In the reception room of Viscount Lynn's mansion, which is built in the garden and has walls made of high-purity glass, Yang Qiu put down his teacup and nodded to the Viscount's family with a smile: "The last time I came here, the owner was still Crofts Lynn. This time, I can only see this old friend in oil paintings. It really makes me sigh that time flies."
"I'm glad you still remember my great-grandfather." Viscount Lynn smiled with a touch of sadness, and his every move was very elegant and relaxed, not even a hint of panic could be seen...
Viscount Lin En's wife, a lady of good family background and good upbringing, also smiled and nodded slightly, as if she was very grateful to Yang Qiu for remembering their family's elders.
Since they were pretending so well, Yang Qiu pretended not to notice the couple's nervousness at all. After a few meaningless pleasantries, he said, "I came here this time to take away some poor people who have a hard time making a living in the town. After I leave, the people from the Inquisition of the Fiery Sun Church should hear about it and come here. At that time, the Viscount does not need to be embarrassed and can just tell them where I am going."
Viscount Lin En's face froze, and the mask of a respectable man almost broke: "This, this...Mr. Yang?"
"Don't be nervous. I have no intention of testing you." Yang Qiu smiled and waved his hand. "I've been entangled with these crazy people for many years. I'm tired of it. It's time to end it."
Mr. and Mrs. Lin both lowered their heads and drank their tea... The person in front of them actually openly called others a lunatic, and they had to cover it up quickly or they would be unable to continue pretending.
"In addition, I hope that the Viscount will inform me of my whereabouts five days after I leave." Yang Qiu said with a smile, "We must first settle the poor people I took away."
"Uh...hmm." Viscount Lin En couldn't respond directly, nor did he dare to refuse, so he could only deal with it with a vague "hmm".
"If so, I won't bother you anymore." Yang Qiu picked up the staff on the table, stood up, and nodded slightly. "I hope the two young masters will like the gifts I brought."
Lin En and his wife quickly stood up to see them off...
After politely sending the plague away and closing the door, this most respectable couple in Camor town immediately ran madly to the entertainment room where their son was.
"Polly! Throw that thing away--ah!"
Seeing that their son had already opened the gift Yang Qiu had given him and was curiously playing with a strange object, the couple's legs went weak.
"Goddess of Prosperity! Polly, how can you open the gifts given by the evil black magician!" Mrs. Lynn rushed in and tried to snatch the toys.
"No, Mom, this is my gift." Polly quickly dodged with the toy.
"Listen to me, baby, give it to me and mom will buy you a better one." Mrs. Lynn was anxious.
The child certainly couldn't resist the adults. Under the "siege" of the couple and the maid, the toy was taken away soon, and the child was so angry that he burst into tears.
The Lynns had no time to coax the child. They ordered the servants to burn the toys and asked the male servant to watch over their son. Then they hurriedly changed their clothes and went out to discuss with other families how to deal with this great crisis in Camer...
The souvenir Yang Qiu brought was a Transformer Autobot produced by a Chinese toy OEM factory, which was suspected of plagiarizing Transformers. The servant was reluctant to burn it and secretly hid it...
Yang Qiu, who made others feel as if they were facing a great enemy just because he went to someone's house for a cup of tea, had no sense of being a disaster. After leaving the Viscount's house, he used the branding matrix to set up a secret triggering task for Ji Tang who was online...
Ji Tang had just finished his first soldier mission and was heading to the town hall to hand in his mission and receive "baptism".
With him were two other friends, Yang Ying and Tang Jia.
Girls are more keen on playing games in a group. Yang Ying and Tang Jia, who completed the job change in friendship a few days earlier than Ji Tang, accompanied Ji Tang throughout the mission, saving him a lot of trouble - the warrior's job change is simpler than the magic, walker, and knight. They just need to form a team to participate in the spider's nest to kill monsters and obtain twenty spider venom sacs and turn them in.
As the three of them were jogging and discussing the operational details of close combat against spider monsters (actually it was mainly Ji Tang teaching the two girls), a zombie NPC who was squatting quietly on the side of the road and usually did not give players any tasks, suddenly raised his rotten arm and greeted them.
The three of them stopped suddenly and looked at the zombie NPC at the same time - only NPCs that can issue tasks will take the initiative to strike up a conversation with players when they approach. This NPC that never pays attention to players is taking action, which obviously means he is going to issue a task!
The zombie NPC named "Hugh Porter" slowly raised his head, and his gray eyes stayed on Ji Tang: "Hey, compatriot, I have wanted to say a few words to you for a long time. Your temperament always reminds me of someone."
“A hidden mission!” Tang Jia yelled with her signature loud voice, scaring Ji Tang and Yang Ying so much that they couldn’t help but move away from her. She then excitedly pulled Ji Tang’s arm forward, “Hurry up and interact with it, and take over the mission!”
Ji Tang reluctantly slapped her claws away and stood in front of the zombie NPC.
The skeletons controlled by players can run around the streets, and it seems that it is not uncommon for zombie NPCs to talk and move... Anyway, Ji Tang is young, and he was a normal young man born in the 1990s before joining the army, so he has a strong ability to accept things: "Hello, Xiu, who do you think of?"
The zombie NPC was silent for a while. When Ji Tang was wondering if he had said the right key words, it spoke again: "His name is... Jin. We call him Brave Jin. He is a Camoran and loves to sing. Back then... when we served in the Border Guard together, he always mentioned his hometown..."
Before Ji Tang could finish listening to what the slow-talking zombie NPC had to say, his task panel suddenly popped up:
"You were passing the third block as usual when Hugh Porter stopped you."
"Triggers the hidden mission "Brave Jin", do you want to accept it?"
"This mission is a prerequisite for a dynamic plot mission, please consider it carefully."
"It is indeed a hidden mission. It can also activate dynamic story missions." Ji Tang happily told his two friends what was displayed on the panel and quickly accepted the mission.
Just like when I first received the breakthrough mission, a "side mission" column was immediately refreshed on Ji Tang's task panel, and the "Brave Jin" mission appeared in the column.
Ji Tang took over the task, and Zombie Hugh Porter's speech speed became a little faster: "Jin is a brave and smart man. He can always easily solve the troubles that others can't handle. But when we called him 'Brave Jin', he didn't show any joy, but just smiled bitterly."
"Then one day, when we were having a little rum together on our day off, Kim finally told us the reason..."
"In his hometown, Kamoer, something happened that made him extremely angry but he was powerless. The land of his ancestors was taken away, and the person who took away their land suddenly became a kind-hearted person who gave people jobs and food."
"When Jin was born, his elders couldn't even tell where the land that once belonged to their family was."
"His mother sat in a dim room weaving cloth all year round. Her hands were covered with wounds and her eyesight was getting worse. His sisters had to learn how to spin and weave cloth when they were six or seven years old. Their life trajectory was no different from his mother's."
"Boys like King were fighting and arguing over who could plant cotton in the fields that once belonged to them..."
Although it was just a "plot" spoken by an NPC, the three players still frowned when they heard it.
Hugh Porter, who was always talking, had not finished his dialogue. He sighed for a long time and then continued, "A year before we came to Tarantan, Jin asked for leave to return to his hometown. Before leaving, Jin told me privately that he would persuade his family to leave Camor Town. Even if they joined the pioneer group, they would see more hope than staying there."
"After that, I never saw Jin again."
