Volume 2: Empire Chapter 60 Return to Saint Lun City
Rachel looked at Luke without saying a word. Although she didn't know much about Raging Waves City, the name of Meteorite had already spread all over the world. You can't trust a person like this completely, otherwise you won't even know you've been sold out.
You can form a free army...
"How can you make me trust you? If your goal is to round us up and destroy us, then we are falling into your trap by accepting your funding."
Luke had no interest in talking about ideals with Rachel, he just wanted an excuse to form a city militia for Raging Waves.
"Sincerity needs to be proven by actions, and trust needs time to be strengthened. You don't trust me, which is a warning a person should have, but you can't give up such a good opportunity just because of doubt.
In fact, you don't need to gather the liberals from other places to form a free army, because the momentum and scale are too large, which will attract the empire's encirclement and suppression. You now have fifteen people, and you should be able to raise a free army of a hundred people.
The Kama Mountains in the north of Nutao City have complex terrain, connecting many imperial cities from east to west, and there are also many important transportation routes..."
As he spoke, Luke took out a topographic map of the Kama Mountains.
The Kama Mountains stretch from east to west, with towering peaks. Steamships need to plan their routes properly if they want to pass safely. There are also many bandit groups in the mountains. Although they are not large in scale, large caravans are often attacked.
At this time, there were many bandit camps marked on the map spread out on the table.
Rachel came closer curiously and listened to Luke's explanation.
Luke pointed at the bandit camp and continued, "Recently, bandit activities in the Kama Mountains have been rampant. Road transport, rail transport, and even air transport have been attacked by them, causing huge losses.
The City of Raging Waves cannot cross the border to wipe them out, and the cities involved are also deliberately condoning and shielding them. I am funding you not only to support your beliefs, but also to ask you to help eliminate these bandit gangs."
Luke's explanation dispelled much of Rachel's doubts.
She and her companions traveled around giving speeches and learned that the prosperity and wealth of Raging Waves City made many imperial cities jealous. These imperial cities did not dare to rob Raging Waves City openly, but some greedy officials and noble gentry would collude with bandits to rob Raging Waves City's goods.
To be honest, Rachel and her companions also robbed the caravan of Raging Waves City.
Rachel could still accept this reason.
"Governor, do you want us to protect the safety of your trade route?"
"This is a win-win situation. Raging Waves City is very important to me, and it is also very important to you who will be in power in the future. Only by protecting it well can a country that has experienced war quickly recover its national strength.
With my intelligence and material support, those bandits are no match for you. If you get the bandits' treasures, you can buy more materials from me to expand the Freedom Army.
Only by commanding an army can you seize opportunities when they arise."
Rachel listened to Luke's words and looked at the map more and more eagerly .
Now that the Golden Shield Empire is strong, there are very few places where the Free Army can survive and develop, which is why the liberals can only stay at propaganda. The Kama Mountains are one of the few areas that the imperial army cannot fully control. If the Free Army can really survive in the Kama Mountains, with the support of the City of Raging Tides, the Free Army can grow little by little.
When the time is right, the powerful Freedom Army will be able to quickly rush out of the Kama Mountains and occupy nearby cities.
At that time, the City of Nutao announced that it would join the Free Army, and the Free Army had the power to capture the entire empire.
Rachel, who was dreaming of a bright future, was a little excited: "Okay, Governor, let's go to the Kama Mountains!"
"Very good, this is the spirit of sacrifice that a freedom fighter should have."
Luke praises Rachel and her companions, and then talks about where they started the uprising and their development path after entering the Kama Mountains.
Rachel was extremely surprised. She could sense that fighting in the Kama Mountains was not a spur-of-the-moment decision of the Meteorite Governor. The tactics he talked about were the tactics of the bandit group, but at the strategic level, they were beyond the reach of the bandit group. This was a completely new war model, and a great war book could be written based on it.
Rachel's heart was even more passionate. With the guidance of a great wise man like Meteor, there was no need to worry that the light of freedom would not shine on this land!
Luke racked his brains to squeeze out the little bit of guerrilla warfare ink in his stomach and let Rachel, who was almost a fangirl, leave the office.
With Luke's special arrangement, funds, supplies and weapons were quickly in place, and the spirited liberal young people drove trucks and left Raging Waves City singing.
Sparks have already been spilled.
As long as Rachel and her people launched an uprising and raised the banner of the Free Army in the Kama Mountains, the City of Raging Tide would have a reason to form a small-scale militia.
Then he would command the Free Army to attack the trade routes and nearby cities. Since the Imperial Army was unable to enter the Kama Mountains to suppress the bandits due to its diversion to the war on the southern front, Nutao City could use the boiling frog method and find excuses to expand the size of the militia little by little.
Luke was going back to Saint-Lun City, so he handed over the task of cooperating with the Free Army to Viscount Iscolan.
Viscount Eskolan first asked worriedly: "What if the Free Army loses control?"
Luke looked at Iscolan, his eyes showing the demeanor of being in control of everything: "Out of control? What do you think the so-called freedom they believe in is in front of the City of Raging Tides?"
“Worthless!”
"Empty faith can only grow in poor places, while spiritual and material abundance can create new faith. If the Free Army cannot be influenced by the faith formed by Raging Waves City, then it will have no room to survive within the faith radiation circle of Raging Waves City.
The out-of-control Free Army is a group of thieves, and the bigger they are, the faster they will die."
Viscount Iscolan nodded thoughtfully.
Under the governance of Governor Meteorite, the current Raging Waves City has become a spiritual sanctuary for many people. The vigorous economic vitality and the quality of life far exceeding that of other places have given the citizens of Raging Waves a strong sense of superiority and pride.
A new belief is sprouting and growing in this city, and it is precisely because of the existence of this belief that the slogans of liberals here sound like a clown's performance.
In the future, as the economic system of Nutao City expands, the beliefs formed by Nutao City will also radiate outward, and the first area covered will definitely be the nearby Kama Mountains.
Liberals advocate free competition, so naturally whoever has money is right. Nutao City will use liberal methods to destroy what they believe in.
At that time...loss of control did not exist.
If they don't obey and cut off the Free Army's supplies, they will be trapped and die in the mountains.
After thinking this through, Viscount Iscolan looked at Luke and said respectfully, "I know what to do... Governor, the Empire is lucky to have you."
"We are lucky to be born in this era. If there is any movement from Rachel, you can organize the militia. I will let Lambert provide you with soldiers. The first batch will be 300 people, and they will be arranged to patrol the northern mining area."
The Nutao City Secret Service Special Forces are divided into two parts. A small part is located at No. 102, Organ Street, in the central city. It is supervised by Thomas who stayed behind in the Secret Service and is responsible for the normal work of the Secret Service. The members of this special team are mainly regular spies assigned by the Secret Service Headquarters, doing their professional work.
The headquarters of the Secret Service Rangers of Fury City is located in the former castle of the Mad Axe. All the recruited gang members are concentrated here and managed by Lambert. This group of imperial spies is large in number and only loyal to Luke. After Shelley's training, they have become a paramilitary unit.
This time, we will form a militia of Nutao City and bring a group of special forces spies over to form combat effectiveness. If we add heavy equipment and supplies, we can reach the combat effectiveness of the regular army.
In Luke's idea, the headquarters of the Secret Service Rangers in Nutao City was responsible for training soldiers, and the soldiers were mainly recruited from the Cape District. First, the militia support was set up, and then soldiers were recruited from other districts to ensure the loyalty of this team.
If the militia needs to be expanded, it must be transferred from the rangers to keep this army firmly under control in one's own hands.
When the militia of Nutao City reaches a size of 10,000 and cooperates with the anti-smuggling fleet, once the situation changes, the Imperial Navy of Nutao City will be trapped.
At this point, the city militia of Nutao City has taken shape, and Princess Dai'er's coming-of-age ball is getting closer.
Luke had to attend this ball. And before attending, he also needed to meet several court officials. So after attending the launching ceremony of the Outer Unit-01 full metal battleship, Luke boarded the airship to the imperial capital.
After arriving in the imperial capital, Luke did not go to Copper Mulberry Avenue first, but quietly entered Tulip Manor through the secret channel of the Secret Intelligence Bureau.
In a secret room, Luke met Agatha.
When Agatha met him, she said expressionlessly and in a somewhat unhappy tone: "I really didn't expect you to be so energetic. While stirring up conflicts among various parties in the court, you also did such a big thing in the lower city under my nose.
Is there anything you need to explain to me?
Mr. Luke!"
"Let me drink some water first. I was so busy after leaving Raging Waves City that I didn't even have time to drink some water." Luke sat down on the chair next to Agatha, poured himself a cup of tea and drank it in one gulp, then said, "Your Highness only now knows about my actions in the Lower City. The Secret Intelligence Bureau's supervision of the Lower City is very flawed!"
Luke's ridicule made Agatha's expression change again.
The lower city area of Saint Lun City expanded very quickly, and the chaos and disorder made it an intelligence black hole.
Fights and vendettas made the efficiency of the Secret Service in developing informants here very low. Many informants either disappeared with money or died suddenly. Then the attack on Princess Dai'er and the subsequent court struggles made the Secret Service focus all its attention on the Upper City and the Imperial City. As a result, when the Secret Service finally had some energy to pay attention to the Lower City, it found that the Lower City had changed in such a short time!
It all started with a businessman ...Mr. Luke.
In the following period of time, as long as the Empire does not strongly interfere with Mr. Luke's investment plan in the downtown area, this huge slum next to the imperial capital will fall into his hands.
Agatha didn't know at first that Mr. Luke was the meteorite until she heard that Mr. Luke's wife's name was Jasmine.
Knowing that Luke was the pseudonym of Meteor, Agatha became even more uneasy.
This is the imperial capital, not the Raging Waves City, and the lower city area is already another cape area.
"What do you want to do!" Agatha asked Luke.
Luke smiled and replied, "Help the downtown area develop its economy and help the poor people there get rid of poverty."
Agatha said, "Do you think I will believe it? What is the first generation of mysterious substance mixture? What is your purpose in forming the Polaris Mercenary Group?"
Luke replied: "The first generation of mysterious substance mixture is a special secret technique developed by Miss Qingkong. The special structure of the sewage reservoir in the lower city can produce the materials needed for the first generation of mysterious substance mixture.
With Miss Clear Sky's permission, I selflessly gave the formula of the first generation of the mysterious substance mixture to the residents of the downtown area, allowing them to turn waste into treasure and improve their lives.
As for the Polaris Mercenary Group... The Lookout is willing to pay a high price to hire mercenaries, and I just acted as an intermediary to help the residents of the Lower City find a way to make money."
Agatha could not refute that Meteorite had indeed sent out the formula for the first generation of the mysterious substance mixture and had not interfered with the production of the mixture potion; and Lookout had indeed been hiring mercenaries at high prices.
“Meteor, I think our relationship allows us to have a certain level of trust and be able to share things with each other honestly.
You should know the importance of the Lower Town to the Imperial Capital. If I want, I can stop all your investments in the Lower Town. I will never allow an uncontrollable and powerful force to stand by the Imperial Capital. "
Facing Agatha's threat, Luke poured himself another cup of tea and said, "The Lower Town is a slum planned by Saint Lun City. The original Lower Town existed for a very long time, but its size has always been within a controllable range. The rapid growth of the Lower Town has only happened in the past thirty years. It took about ten years to double its area for the first time, and then it took another ten years to double its area for the second time.
In the next ten years, the area of the downtown area doubled twice. Now the area of the downtown area is sixteen times that of thirty years ago, and it is still growing at a very fast rate.
Your Highness, you do not allow an uncontrollable and powerful force to exist next to the imperial capital, so can you control the lower city now? When the lower city surges to a level that the imperial capital cannot bear, and the empire is in crisis, can the city wall stop millions of hungry people? "
Luke gave Agatha a difficult question.
The rapid expansion of slums is something that no country has ever encountered in this era. Without experience in dealing with it, every city is troubled by the expansion of slums around them, but there is no place to accommodate them, so they can only allocate some resources as much as possible to keep them from starving to death.
Everyone knows that this is a time bomb, and that they can only be safe if they have resources to survive. But once the situation becomes unstable and prices rise, it will inevitably lead to a crisis.
The lower city area next to Saint Lun City is the largest slum in the empire, and the current situation in the empire is full of crises.
Agatha looked at Luke and asked, "Is this your solution?"
"This is my solution. Let the lower city of Saint Lun City enter the supply chain of Raging Wave City, while at the same time the industries in the lower city will not compete with the heavy industries in Saint Lun City.
I am confident that I can use the economic vitality of Raging Waves City to boost the lower city area of Saint Lun City, so that the residents of the lower city area will have a stable income, and it may even become a source of tax revenue for the imperial capital that is no less than other industries.
Your Highness, are you still going to stop me from investing in the Lower Town?"
