Chapter 467: This Birdman is Good at Making Trouble
Zefa kept his word. After the king left, he continued to lead people to help build roads and houses, and compensation was also verified and distributed.
According to his plan, he will stay here for a few days. In addition to the follow-up work, it will also take some time for the wounded to recover.
It just so happens that Zefa can use this opportunity to let the new recruits interact more with civilians. Among the civilians, there are good people, bad people, and people who are neither good nor bad but like to take advantage of others whenever they get the chance. How to get along with these people is also an important skill.
As a soldier , it is necessary to know what you are fighting for, and it is also necessary to understand that in addition to the battlefield, you may face other difficulties and even dangers.
Zhang Daye and the others joined in the fun for a while, and then went off to wander around.
Before the king left, Zhang Da also went to the accompanying guards to ask for a pass. Seeing that the king had a sour face but did not object, the guards issued one for them. Now the Amber Travel Group can travel in this country legally and reasonably.
There was not much time left today, so after Zhang Daye and the others checked the injuries of Ain and the other marines, they took a quick walk around the port town and spent some money.
As a port town, it has convenient transportation and developed business, but because of this, it is often attacked by pirates, so the lives of ordinary people can only be said to be passable.
For the merchants in the town, it is rare to find such generous big customers as Amber Travel Group. This afternoon, they are tired but happy.
At night, everyone completed their training, and the flag monsters who went out to inquire about the news also came back one after another to report the situation.
According to their survey, the people in this country are not rich, but they are not rich not because their output is not enough, but because they have to pay too much heavenly gold. After paying it, most families can only barely make ends meet.
Take a family of three living downstream of the small river that runs through the town. They run a dairy farm and deliver milk to the town every day. However, they don’t have much savings with their income. The couple even plans to hand over the ranch to their daughter when she grows up, and they will find jobs at a nearby naval base.
By the way, the daughter of this family is called Moda. She looks a little younger than Vivi. She is the girl who later rescued Ace from the river, knocked down more than 50 million pirates with one stick under the effect of the Encouragement Fruit, and was finally taken away by Sabo to join the Revolutionary Army.
"You have gathered detailed information, but is there something wrong with the amount of this Heavenly Gold?" Speaking of selling milk, Zhang Da also thought of the little girl Mu Ke who delivered milk to them every day in the Sabaody Archipelago. Her family was doing a similar business, but they lived a good life. In terms of living standards, 59GR was considered quite high, and they were not as poor as Moda's family. There must be something wrong with the Heavenly Gold in this country.
Vivi raised her hand and answered quickly, "The amount of Sky Gold here is much higher than in Alabasta."
"I think I know the reason," said Sui Feng Er. "I heard someone use interesting terms when referring to the Heavenly Gold: 'The Heavenly Gold given to the Celestial Dragons and the King.'"
This is interesting. Logically, the kings of various countries only collect money on behalf of the Celestial Dragons, but this king obviously made a lot of money from the difference.
Judging from the pomp of his each trip and the public's private reputation, this king did not have the courage to enjoy the treatment of the Celestial Dragons without authorization, but he still had the courage to make money by using the name of the Celestial Dragons, and not only that, it was a huge amount.
In fact, except for kings like Vivi's father Cobra who truly care about their people, most of the other member states do this. Although they as kings can adjust taxes, the title of Celestial Dragons is much more effective than any tax law.
There are many countries that evade taxes, but thanks to the unremitting efforts of the World Government over the past 800 years, there is really only one person in the member countries who dares not to pay the tax.
As long as the amount of gold in the sky is quietly raised a little, the country's annual tax gap can be easily plugged. It is faster and more convenient than collecting taxes, and it can also enrich the king's private treasury.
As for what will happen to the people after doing this, it depends on the conscience and brains of the kings of each country.
"Why is this happening?" After everyone analyzed the situation, Weiwei found it hard to accept. "Don't they care about what will happen to the people? They're not even concerned about inflating the amount of Tianshang Gold without authorization?"
"In the eyes of many kings, the people are just money bags; they can take whatever they want." Zhang Da also said, "As for the inflated amount of Heavenly Gold, that's even less of a problem. The Tianlong people only care about whether there's enough money. They don't care if they collect any taxes along the way."
"Besides, if the king was smart, he would have come up with a different reason when collecting the money. After all, they can always come up with a set of rules and explain it however they want. If the people below misunderstood and thought it was gold from heaven, it can't be blamed on the king."
"That's too much." Weiwei sympathized with the civilians of these countries, but she didn't know what she could do. Could she persuade the kings?
"One of the reasons your father asked you to come with us was probably to see more of this kind of thing," Zhang Da also said. "He wanted you to know how difficult life would be for the people if the king acted recklessly. Remember not to learn from those people."
"Yeah." Weiwei nodded.
Today was another day of explaining things to the children. Teacher Zhang Daye was satisfied and continued to ask, "I understand most of this. What about the king and the palace?"
Sui Feng Er said, "The king is in his thirties and has only one daughter, who is about the same age as Weiwei. His two most capable subordinates are Lancel, the captain of the king's army, and Nihalombai, the minister of state. Lancel is alright, as he is solely focused on protecting the people from pirates. Nihalombai is a perfect helper in the king's wealth accumulation, but he seems to have his own selfish motives."
"As for the security of the palace, there's not much to say. It looks tight to ordinary people, but to us, it's no different from a sieve. The security is even worse than that of Weiwei's palace. After taking a walk around, I even know what underwear the king wore to bed today."
"Ugh..." Weiwei pouted in dissatisfaction, but she couldn't refute it. She knew that if they wanted, they could even sneak in, draw a little turtle on her father's face, and leave safely. The guards in the palace... it's okay if they didn't notice. Anyone who did would have to lie down.
"Eh~ pervert!" Perona said with disgust.
"Disgusting." Xia Lulu showed a look of contempt.
Wendy and Weiwei held each other's hands and took two steps back, away from Suifenger.
"I'm not interested in the king's underwear." Zhang Da also said, "Anyway, sneaking into the palace is much easier than you think, right?"
"Yes, it's especially easy for us." Sui Feng Er nodded and then asked, "Want revenge? Should we sneak in and put a sack on him and beat him up? Or draw flowers on his face every night? Or how about shaving his hair and beard completely?"
"That's too good of a deal for him. I suddenly want to make a big move." Zhang Da also wondered if it would be interesting if the king woke up to find a new king. Besides, with a reliable king, people here would also live better. He glanced at Weiwei, thinking, maybe he should take care of Weiwei's sympathy and teach her a lesson?
Ye Yan said, "Hey, Mr. Ye, you don't really want to kill the king, do you?"
"No, I just wanted to give him a little surprise." Zhang Da also said to Sui Feng Er, "Let's go and carefully investigate the details of Lanser and Nihalonbai tomorrow."
…
The next day, there were a few more naval cadets helping residents repair their houses. Their injuries had recovered a lot and they could at least do some simple work.
Zhang Daye and the others continued to wander around as if nothing had happened. Zhang Daye had taken Wendy to visit Lancel, using healing magic to speed up his recovery. He figured starting tomorrow, he'd be able to lead a team to help the residents.
The king was not idle either. As soon as he returned yesterday, he ordered his ministers to collect information about the Amber Tour Group, wanting to study how to deal with these people who brought him shame.
The documents were delivered to him today, and the king became more and more shocked the more he read them. There were so many impressive battle records, so many strange and bizarre abilities... He thought about it and felt that if he gathered all his forces to fight them, he would not be able to bear the consequences.
Furthermore, the king saw information indicating that the Amber Tour Group had acquaintances with several naval commanders, including a Grand Admiral, a naval hero, and the current three admirals. Furthermore, they had previously interacted with various departments of the World Government, including the King of Alabasta, the Mayor of Water Seven, and close acquaintances with Hawkeye and Jinbe, two of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Morgans, the president of the Seikei newspaper, was also quite impressed with them and even sent someone to interview them.
There are also rumors that CP5's previous boss offended them, causing the entire department to collapse, and they rejected the invitation of the Five Elders to become the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and have been safe and sound until now.
The king was almost dumbfounded. Is this a tour group?
There are people from both the black and white worlds, and they are all big shots. Is there a Celestial Dragon hiding in this small tour group?
This background seems even more powerful than that of the king of a member country. It's no exaggeration to say that he has connections everywhere. How can you tell me that this group of people is just an ordinary tour group? And they are suffering in the training camp with a bunch of new recruits?
The king fell into his chair. It was impossible for him to use his connections to cause trouble for them. It was hard to say who would put pressure on whom at that time.
But he couldn't let it go like this, so the king ordered: "The execution of those pirates will be held at noon today!"
To be honest, these pirates are the culprits who caused his disgrace. He should kill those he can afford to offend first.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Minister of State Nihalombai immediately accepted the order, and then asked with a discerning look, "Are you troubled by this group? Do you want to recruit them, or do you want to..." He used his hand as a knife and made a chopping motion.
"Recruit them? Humph!" The king snorted coldly. No matter how he looked at it, that group of people didn't seem like those who could be easily controlled. They didn't even respect the king. Even if he used the ultimate weapon of recruitment - the promise of noble status, it would probably not be attractive to them. Besides, wouldn't it be an eyesore to have that group of people under his nose?
Nihalombai understood the king's meaning and said with a smile, "Then you won't have to worry about this in a few days."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because I accidentally learned a piece of information that is not convenient to write down in the document." Nihalon said mysteriously, "I heard that there is a big man in the underworld who has been putting a reward on their heads, and the reward is constantly rising. The total reward for all of them is almost comparable to that of one of the Four Emperors!"
"They were hiding in the Marine Headquarters a while ago, so they were fine. But recently, they seem to be staying here. Also, the news of the capture of Xu Hai, one of the Eight Warriors and a remnant of the Five Peaks Pirates, spread yesterday. Soon, someone will know the whereabouts of the Amber Tour Group!"
"Even more coincidentally, the marines in the harbor haven't recovered from their injuries yet, leaving the Amber Tour Group isolated and helpless this time! By the time the killer who's after their bounty arrives..."
The king smiled knowingly. "So what if he's a special person? So what if he has a powerful background? The bounty of the underworld doesn't matter to me! You deserve it for being so rude to me!"
Thinking of the Amber Tour Group being beheaded, the king smiled, but at the same time, he was horrified. "Will someone put a bounty on me? I had a big fight with that guy from the Irusia Kingdom at the last World Conference. Will he secretly put a bounty on me?"
He had never paid much attention to the so-called underground world before, but now that he thought about it, the king always felt like there was a sword hanging over his head.
"No, they never offer royal bounties. It seems to be some kind of rule," Nihalombai consoled him. "Besides, your Majesty's palace is guarded by the most elite soldiers in the country. No one can break in quietly!"
The king felt relieved upon hearing this. The palace was perfectly safe. He nodded with satisfaction and said, "Yes, that's right. But just in case, we should double the guards."
"yes."
…
"Huh? Why are there so many more guards today?" Sui Feng'er, who had quietly infiltrated the palace once again, scratched his head and wondered, "Did they discover I sneaked in yesterday?"
He had come to investigate Nihalombai. Jin Erpeng had told him that Nihalombai wasn't home today, so Suifenger planned to check inside the palace. The sudden increase in guards must have been a sly affair, so he decided to proceed with caution and first investigate what was happening inside.
At the same time, the news that Xu Hai, one of the Eight Warriors, was arrested in the Kingdom of Lulucia has spread all over the world through newspapers. Although his arrest was entirely the credit of Zefa alone, Morgans didn't know whether he was deliberately disgusting the navy or wanted to take advantage of the popularity of the Amber Tour Group after a long time, so he specifically mentioned in the news that the Amber Tour Group was also present.
Many people thought that Xu Hai was arrested together with Zefa by the Amber Travel Group, but Morgans was forced to write in the news that he was arrested by the navy.
Zhang Da was also amused by his outrageous actions. This idiot is really good at making trouble.
