Chapter 90 Rex presides over town affairs
Twenty minutes later.
Yang Qiu stared at the "newly dressed" Rex for a few seconds... and then looked away silently.
Rex himself didn't react. The waitress Mia asked to help Rex deal with the two people was so nervous that her face turned pale.
"Don't be nervous. I don't blame you." Yang Qiu nodded to the two ladies, "Mia, send the two ladies back to rest."
"Okay, Mr. Lord." Mia quickly lifted her skirt and squatted down.
Yang Qiu and the other three ladies walked out of the room...then they burst into loud laughter.
Rex: “…”
"Sorry." Yang Qiu suppressed his laughter and said, "Go wash the stuff off your face and hands. This is really... too funny."
Rex walked into the bathroom with a blank expression on his face...
The world's "upper-class aesthetics" is still in the first stage after the advent of the industrial age.
In other words...the wealthy people who live a life of luxury value the pale and fragile look that would fall down at the slightest breeze.
Yang Qiu asked two former high-class waitresses to dress Rex up like an aristocrat. They tried their best to paint Rex's hands, face and neck white, combed his hair with water until it was sleek and shiny, and also decorated it with forehead ornaments. They really did their best.
Unfortunately, Rex was not the canary youth who was suitable for this style of painting. Although his facial features were quite standard, his skin was dark and rough, and his beard was even thicker than Yang Qiu who had been on the run for sixty years. His body was even more sturdy. After shaving his beard and smearing it white, he looked like a clown about to perform on stage...
The former boss of "Elegant Dream" decorated his office very simply and elegantly. If not for the strange torture instruments behind the secret door of the cabinet, no one would know that the owner of this office is a pervert who would be considered lenient even if he was executed by dog.
Yang Qiu occupied the former boss's high-backed armchair, drank the high-end black tea in his cabinet, and ate the high-end snacks in his storage room. After finishing the meal, he still looked disgusted: "This is too sweet, so greasy."
Inspector Lowell didn't touch it at all... He felt uncomfortable even entering this building which was originally a brothel, and now sitting on the leather sofa felt like sitting on pins and needles.
"Relax, my friend. Westham did nothing wrong. The houses and courtyards built on this street have no responsibility. The ones who are wrong are the people who use these buildings incorrectly." Yang Qiu took a sip of tea to cover the sweet taste in his mouth and said calmly, "As long as the people who did wrong are dealt with and no one is allowed to use these buildings incorrectly, then this place will not be a place to hide filth, but just a simple residence."
Lowell didn't want to listen to him talking about this, and said coldly: "Are you still sticking to your original plan? I don't have any problem with Rex, but compared to the pampered aristocrats, Rex is more like an explorer."
"I think so too." Yang Qiu actually agreed. "In that case, let's change the character of Rex. He is a self-reliant and extremely ambitious illegitimate son of a noble. He disdains to scheme and lick the soles of his noble father's shoes and beg for charity like other illegitimate brothers. Instead, he is a super genius who travels and makes a name for himself at a young age. He is the most dazzling rising star of Viscount Rex's family... What do you think?"
Rowell: “…”
Lowell wanted to sneer, "Have you spent the past three hundred years studying scams?" But he was worried that the guy would argue with him about the definition of scams and liars, so he simply kept his mouth shut.
Rex washed off his exaggerated makeup powder and came out of the bathroom wetly. He heard Yang Qiu ask him: "Rex, how was your geography in school? How many places did you go before running to the Sorenson Mountains?"
Rex: “Uh…”
Mia sent the two waitresses who originally belonged to "Elegant Dream" back to their assigned rooms. When they entered the room, others gathered around them nervously: "How is it? Are you in trouble?"
"Did they say what they would do with us?"
One of them covered his chest and let out a long breath: "...Fortunately, the spellcaster called the Lord is very, very kind."
Another said: "No, Miss Mia just told us not to think about anything and to have a good rest."
"How could they not think of anything?" The person waiting for news said with a sad face, "With so many of us, how much food do we need to eat every day? Are they just feeding us for nothing?"
"Didn't Miss Mia say anything else?"
"Forget it. I don't think Miss Mia has much status among them. Her words may not count for anything."
"But... Mr. Rex said that he won't let us do... what we did before." The lady who had been out said weakly.
The lady who raised the objection couldn't help but sneer and turned to look at the others: "Do you believe this?"
The six ladies who had been talking at once fell silent at the same time.
"Then, what can we do?" A younger lady sobbed, "Even if we want to escape, there's nowhere to go..."
The ladies looked at each other in silence for a moment before quietly dispersing and sitting back on the beds made temporarily with chairs and stools .
"Just live one day at a time." An elderly lady said hoarsely, "We don't have a future anyway, so why should we think so far ahead?"
Outside the door, Mia, who did not leave immediately, sighed silently.
"It's just like Rex said...providing food won't make everyone feel at ease." Mia thought worriedly and left quietly.
In the quiet corridor, faint sobbing sounds seemed to be heard from every room Mia passed by.
There was no wailing, no heart-wrenching sobbing, just the slightest sobbing, as if she was afraid of being discovered.
This cautiousness of not even daring to disturb others by crying to vent emotions made Mia, who was walking alone in the corridor, feel even more depressed.
After going downstairs and no longer hearing those subtle noises, Mia actually felt a sense of relief.
"Mr. Rex?" Mia asked in surprise when she saw Rex coming out of the corridor on the first floor, "Aren't you with Mr. Lord and the others?"
A subtle look of embarrassment appeared on Rex's face: "Uh... Yang seems to have thought of another way, so I don't need to go."
Mia: “Huh…?”
"Let's not talk about this. We have other tasks." Rex quickly changed the subject. "There was originally a very strong male thug here. He did not collude with his accomplices and instead protected the ladies. Do you remember where he was assigned?"
Mia certainly had an impression of the man named Ben. He was the strongest man among all the people blessed by Tarantan. She quickly said, "I know him. He is with the orcs."
He was not forced to take fattening drugs to ruin his body. Although he was covered with whip marks, he was still a threat to others. Such a person certainly could not be put together with human male prostitutes. At least Mia would not feel at ease. When allocating rooms, she arranged Ben on the floor where Osrian and the others lived, and gave Ben a single room.
Rex and Mia came to the floor where the orcs lived, visited Osrian first, and then went to find Ben.
Ban was sitting alone on the floor covered with a thin quilt, daydreaming.
From early morning till now, everything that happened made this strong man who had been a nightclub thug for nine years look confused...
The dead occupied the entire street, laying out his boss, his colleagues, and the customers he had once flattered like pigs on the street. Ben, who saw all this from the window, would have thought he was dreaming if he hadn't pinched his thigh to feel pain.
Too – exaggerated!
Westham does indeed rarely receive aristocratic guests. After all, it is too remote and those respectable people may not be willing to travel far and wide for a moment of pleasure, but Westham still has quite a few distinguished guests!
Merchants with aristocratic backgrounds, officials from Innadri, and relatives with connections to the nobility are all very common in Westham!
No one else knows, his boss Garcia Green is the white glove of a Viscount, and the middle-level officials of Innadelli have to be polite when they see him.
But even so many people of status were tied up like pigs and thrown on the street!
Ben also saw his boss Green...the guy's clothes were covered in blood and his face was so swollen that he could hardly recognize him!
Hearing footsteps coming towards the storage room where he lived, Ben, who was in a trance, suddenly woke up and stood up quickly.
None of the rooms were locked, but no one dared to leave the room and move around... After all, there were too many undead spirits outside. Even the most arrogant and domineering people could not be willful when faced with those moving skeletons that would make people terrified even in broad daylight.
With a "click", the person who turned the doorknob and pushed the door open came in... Ben was deeply impressed. He was the man who smashed .
He is very young and doesn't look big, but he is very strong, with an aura that goes beyond his age. When he is close to people, he can overwhelm those with higher inspiration.
Ban, who had once been a trainee soldier but was unable to pursue a professional career due to his family circumstances, could tell with his eyes and feelings that the man in front of him was a very strong and terrifying warrior, and his muscles instinctively tensed up.
As Ben studied Rex, Rex studied him.
The man with many bloodstains on his clothes had a similar build to Anthony, with a face full of flesh, but he did not have the murderous aura. Judging from the defensive posture he instinctively adopted, he seemed to have received some training, but it should be only at the entry level - his muscles were trained in a mess, and were useless except for intimidating civilians.
Mia followed Rex in and was startled by the tense atmosphere of their silent gaze. She quickly broke the silence: "Hello, Ben, this is Mr. Rex. Mr. Rex, Ben is a good man. When we came in, a lady named Sibel kept explaining for Ben. She said that Ben is different from those other people. She was able to survive thanks to Ben's protection. Some other ladies said the same thing."
Rex tilted his head and smiled reassuringly at Mia, then held out his hand to Ben: "Charlie Rex."
Ben felt the heavy momentum coming at him disappear instantly, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He reached out and shook hands with Rick: "Ban." After a pause, he added, "My mother was a laundry woman who was raped after getting drunk. I don't know who my father is."
Others gave their full names, and Ben didn't want the great warrior to think he was hiding something.
Rex nodded without offering any rude words of sympathy.
Everyone lives with wounds that are invisible to others. For most people who insist on their own path, it is an offense to rashly give sympathy.
"We are from Tarantan, and we serve the Lord of Tarantan, the black magician Yang." Rex said straight to the point, "Yang is working on resolving the ownership issue of the Westram territory. If nothing unexpected happens, this land will belong to Yang soon, and the people here will become subjects of Tarantan."
class:"……"
Ben had no idea how to react in order to avoid angering this great warrior who was talking in his sleep seriously...
By the way, when did the Great Wasteland next door also have a lord? !
Rex smiled and said, "I know this is unbelievable, but this is not what we need to worry about. The problem now is that we need to get Westham back to normal operation and not let the townspeople of Westham worry about where to get their next meal of bread."
After hearing this, Ben dared to relax his tense facial muscles a little and showed a look of surprise.
In the feudal dynasty era, there was a saying in China that "the poor are good at literature and the rich are good at martial arts." The meaning of "rich and martial arts" is very simple and easy to understand. If someone wants to have a strong body, his family must have a certain economic condition.
This principle also applies in this world. If you want to become a professional strongman, you cannot be born in poverty, otherwise you will be like Ban himself, no matter how talented you are, you will have to give up your dream halfway.
Rex was a great warrior at such a young age, so his family background could not be low. Ben couldn't help but be surprised that such a person with a good family background knew that ordinary townspeople could not afford a day's surplus food at home and that people would starve if the town was not restored to operation as soon as possible.
Ben didn't agree that Westram would change owners so easily, but he didn't want this town to be thrown into chaos after living in it for nine years. He cheered himself up and said, "Mr. Rex, what can I do?"
Rex was very satisfied with the genuine reaction of this nightclub thug with a unique style after hearing about the restoration of order in the town. He smiled and said, "First, change into something that won't scare people, and follow me."
Taking Ben, who had changed into a coat, to the first floor, Rex went to his former boss Garcia Green's office. Rex pulled out a heavy snakeskin bag from under the table, opened the bag, and took out copper coins...
The undead were only interested in gold coins (actually Yang Qiu only collected gold coins). The original waiters did not dare to bring anything too conspicuous or heavy, so they secretly divided up the silver coins, silverware, and some small art and decorations of the bosses and customers of their own stores. When Rex went to gather the waiters, he collected them based on the principle of not wasting, and got tens of thousands of copper coins. He couldn't even carry them, and had to use a tricycle to haul them...
These copper coins are crudely made and far inferior to the exquisite copper coins (game coins) recognized by the undead, but they are currency after all.
Rex took out thousands of rough copper coins in one breath and piled them on the table. He said to Ben, "You and Mia ask the residents here and next door if they need to purchase anything. Ask them to select some representatives to take the money and knock on the shops run by the townspeople to buy things."
class:"??"
Rex said to Mia, "In a town like this, there should be villagers coming into the town to sell vegetables. Remember to go to the town gate and buy some more vegetables."
"Okay." Mia nodded.
Rex patted Ben who looked confused and said, "Go, protect our Mia. Don't let her get hurt, otherwise the undead will go crazy."
"Yes, Mr. Rex." Ben responded immediately with a cold sweat.
Rex was not trying to scare him. If Mia died, all the undead would lose 100 reputation points. Given the undead's crazy obsession with reputation, Rex himself couldn't imagine what these lunatics would do - otherwise he wouldn't have gone through such a big detour and asked Ben, a former thug whose character was recognized by the guests, to be Mia's bodyguard.
Even with Ben, a familiar figure, showing up, the waiters were still wary, and many of them refused to leave the room, using the excuse that they did not need to buy anything. Mia and Ben went to both settlement points, and the only ones willing to go out with them were the Orcs Osrian and Lika, and the human boy Brooke.
There was no other way, Rex had to find a few undead (casual players) who were willing to do trivial tasks, and assign them tasks to assist Mia in purchasing... If they didn't buy a few tricycles of things, the townspeople would probably find it hard to believe that these outside forces had the intention to stay here and restore order.
Rex, who was standing at the door to see off the purchasing team that included the Skeletons, left on four tricycles. He turned around and looked at the two buildings that were still quiet despite the hundreds of people living there.
When the skeletons occupied the streets, many townspeople living in the residential areas in the north and east of the town bravely hid in the alleys and peeked.
When Hal and his men took the "prisoners of war" to the militia headquarters, many townspeople leaned against the windows and door cracks to peek in.
The prosperity of the main street in the town really supports half of the town. The family-run hotels, small restaurants, and grocery and snack shops sold by locals all rely on those cash-strapped pleasure seekers or grooms and servants to take care of their business.
Not to mention that most of the Centaurs' "fallen" militia, many of whom came from townspeople's families... The people of this town were definitely not very welcoming to these outsiders.
But Rex still has the confidence to restore order in the town, and firmly believes that it is only a matter of time before he gains the trust of the townspeople.
Yang was somewhat dissatisfied with his inability to play the role of "a respectable illegitimate son of a noble" well, and had to use some means to coerce Supervisor Lowell into playing him... But Yang still had high hopes for him, and when he ordered him to stay and preside over the town, he told him that after screening the militia, some of them could be restored to freedom.
Of course, this doesn't mean releasing the people directly, but reorganizing them into a new security team and letting them accept the leadership of the new Lord of Westerham. Not doing business in the red-light district doesn't mean that Yang will give up the economy of Westerham. It will not be a problem for the new town hall to pay the militiamen who obey the new lord a generous salary that is sufficient to support their families.
Rex has been hanging around at the bottom of society since he was sixteen. He knows very well what the common people at the bottom want. As long as they can live a normal life and have bread for every meal, the people at the bottom don't really care who the ruler is.
What really worries Rex are the hundreds of former entertainment industry practitioners housed in the two majestic buildings behind him.
The Chinese have the "warning" that "cousins are heartless", and there is a similar saying in this world: "Women in the entertainment industry are not trustworthy."
No matter how pure and innocent a girl (or boy) is, once she (he) has rolled around in a brothel, her (his) words are of no value at all.
Why is this happening?
The reason is simple...people who have to make a living in such situations live a lie every day.
When they are deceived, no one knows their pain because they are the lowest of the lowest. Even if they do not remain silent, even if they shout loudly, no one will hear their confessions.
Clients will never admit how many lies they have told to prostitutes or how many times they have trampled on their hearts and dignity. Even if they are asked about it, a simple phrase "it was just a casual affair" is enough to cover up and beautify their ugly faces.
If a prostitute were to lose his sight and be cheated by a prostitute, he would angrily repeat and roar hundreds of times, "No one in the prostitute's house speaks the truth," letting everyone know how angry he is after being cheated...
Every day when you open your eyes, you have to face the clients of prostitutes, a group of despicable, dirty, ugly and vulgar people in human society. And you also ask these women (men) who have rolled around in the pleasure quarters to open their hearts to trust the promises of others and accept the kindness of others frankly... This is too naive.
Rex is a bit idealistic, but he is not naive.
A naive person would not be able to keep the only "father-son relationship buyout fee" in his hand after losing his patron like he did, and carefully improve his own strength to a level that others could not catch up with.
"Yang allowed them to keep the property they had obtained. Having money in hand was the main reason why these people did not violently resist our arrangements."
Rex looked at the two quiet buildings quietly, thinking silently in his heart.
"But just having money in hand doesn't really make them feel at ease. Especially for the human race... the fattening agent is too harmful to the body. They don't even have the most basic ability to protect themselves, and a half-grown child can snatch their money. Of course they will be anxious and uneasy."
"We must find a way out for them... Let them build up the confidence that they can survive with their own hands without selling their bodies. Only then can we make them believe that they can return to a normal life."
Rex was thinking about something as he walked into the former "Elegant Dream" courtyard and checked the tricycles parked against the wall one by one.
When leaving the Exile Town, Yang asked him to find a place to sell the goods in the dozens of tricycles and exchange them for gold coins to take back.
Now that Yang has obtained so many gold coins, he probably has no shortage of money and has even forgotten to ask him about these goods... But Rex still plans to sell these things.
Brightly colored, exquisitely patterned, thick and fine fabrics (actually just clearance curtain fabrics at a few dollars per meter), sets of alloy tableware (that is, stainless steel...), boxes of soft towels (wholesale price two dollars each), various plastic tableware, plastic tube shoes, soaps, toothbrushes, etc., etc. ... All of these are daily necessities that will immediately cause a frenzy once they are put on display at the market and price tags are hung.
"A market is when there are buyers and sellers. To sell such popular goods, you need someone who can hold his own." Rex sorted out some of the goods, filled four tricycles with his own hands, and called Hal through the mental matrix.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Hal, who was assigned to the militia to guard the prisoners, came over with a gloomy face like a creditor.
"What?" Hal said angrily.
This guy does have emotions... Rex thought silently.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Yang was indeed very rude to them. He guarded against these people as if they were perverts and did not allow them to get within three meters of the people living in the resettlement site. Regardless of whether Hal and the others had that intention originally, they would definitely be furious to be treated like this.
Saying sorry in his heart, Rex raised his hand and pointed at the four cars that were pulled out separately: "Yang asked me to find a way to restore the vitality of this town. You come and help pull these goods to the town market to sell them, Hal."
Hal: “…”
Hal, who was so angry that he was fuming, glared at Rex fiercely and brutally, with one sentence clearly written on his face: If I couldn't beat you, you would be a corpse now!
