Volume 2: Empire Chapter 9 Buying Intelligence
Luke and Dale "colluded" overnight, and in the morning Dale finally couldn't help but fall asleep on the table. At this time, Kuai Tui came in with an invitation, he lowered his footsteps and handed the invitation to Luke.
"Sir, this is the invitation that Melken just sent. He invites you to his house for a dinner at noon. He says... he wants to discuss a business with you.
There are a lot more people watching around our house. Do you want me to find some people to escort the princess back to the palace?"
Luke glanced at the sleeping Dai'er, opened the invitation and read the contents, then said to Kuaitui: "Princess Dai'er will stay with us for a while. Here she is called Molixiang, and she is my wife, don't make any mistake."
After hearing what Luke said, Kuaitui was shocked: "Sir, let her stay here! Princess Dai'er is missing, and Saint Lun City will definitely search for her throughout the city. And there will be a huge earthquake in the palace... We should escort Princess Dai'er back safely as soon as possible."
"Things are not as simple as you think. I have been in the capital for such a long time, and the palace is like a pool of stagnant water. His Majesty wants to use Princess Dai'er to lure me, and is not in a hurry for me to express my opinion. The eldest princess is also very patient. Everyone is holding back, waiting for the right opportunity.
Princess Daier is here because she was assassinated. Someone wants to use her to stir up a court struggle, break the current deadlock, and force some people to take a step forward. "
When he heard that Princess Dai'er had ended up here because she had been assassinated, Kuai Tui was even more shocked.
"Who would assassinate the princess?"
"I want to know, too. Anyway, if we send Princess Dai'er back to the palace, she will most likely be assassinated again. And if we send her back, we will also be affected by the palace turmoil.
My idea is to protect Princess Dale first and wait and see what changes her disappearance will cause. Only when the stagnant waters of the palace are stirred up, the big fish hiding at the bottom of the water may swim out. "
"I understand, sir. I will obey you in everything."
"Don't worry, nothing will go wrong if you're careful." Luke stood up, took off his hat and coat from the coat rack, and said to the fast legs, "You stay here to protect the lady. I'll go out and find out what's going on outside."
The fast-legged man asked, "Sir, is it okay for you to go out alone? Or should I go out and get some information? I'm very familiar with this place."
Luke put on his gloves and walked out the door, and saw the thugs who were monitoring his house. He pretended not to see them and said to the fast legs: "I'm just going to a nearby bar to have a drink and will be back soon. You clean all the rooms. The mouse yesterday scared my wife so much that she wanted to stay in a hotel in the upper city overnight.
If my wife sees mice in the house again, I will fire you."
"Yes, sir. I will catch all the mice in the house."
Luke put on his hat , took the cane handed to him by the fast legs, and walked forward like a gentleman of status.
Some of the thugs who were monitoring nearby stayed here to continue monitoring, while the others went to keep an eye on Luke.
Luke crossed a street and came to a bar.
It was morning, and the bar was deserted, with only two drunk people lying on the table. The bartender was arranging the bottles on the wine cabinet, and the waiters were cleaning the bar.
On the second floor of the bar, a woman dressed coquettishly was leaning on the railing and smoking. When Luke walked in, she stared at him intently with a smile on her face as if she had seen her prey.
Luke found an empty table and sat down. The gangsters who followed him came in. When they saw that the bar was so empty, they knew they were too rash. But leaving like this would arouse suspicion, so they could only find a table and sit down, and each ordered a glass of the cheapest beer.
The waiter came to Luke's side. Luke's neat and formal clothes made him ask respectfully: "Sir, what can I do for you?"
"A glass of pine wine and a steak. Don't give me anything from the garbage dump. I can tell the difference." Luke put a silver ticket on the table. "And by the way, find someone to answer a few questions for me."
When the waiter saw the silver certificate, his eyes lit up.
But before he could pick up the silver note, a hand quickly took it away, and then a woman sat down opposite Luke.
The woman was very seductive. She held a cigarette in one hand and put the silver note in front of her nose with the other hand. She inhaled the smell of money with enjoyment, then stuffed the silver note into the cleavage of her chest and waved the waiter away: "Go and prepare breakfast for Mr. Luke. Use the best goods from the upper city."
The waiter could only prepare wine and food with regret.
The woman looked at Luke with a seductive look.
"Mr. Luke is indeed a businessman from Raging Waves City. He is generous and gives tips directly in silver notes. I don't know what kind of information you want to ask. I, Alice, charge the most reasonable price. If you give more, you can come to my room and enjoy the most professional intelligence service."
Alice blew a smoke ring at Luke and reached out to touch Luke's hand on the table.
Luke took his hand back: "I dare not enter Miss Alice's room. If my wife knew about it, my life would be over."
"Mr. Luke is married? What a pity..." Alice still did not give up seducing Luke: "But this does not seem to affect our discussion of intelligence transactions."
"My situation is somewhat special. My wife's father is a wealthy businessman in Nutao City. Everything I have now is obtained thanks to my wife. If she knew that I was having an affair outside, I would become the poor boy I used to be.
Miss Alice will definitely not be interested in me at that time."
Alice suddenly realized: "You are a winner in life."
"Being a winner in life requires giving up some freedom, and I also need to prove my ability to my father-in-law. I want to find a new way to open up a trade route in the lower city of Saint-Lun. This is a challenge. If I succeed, I can obtain ownership of a large factory... and enjoy life from then on."
"This is indeed a big challenge." Alice stopped in time. Catching this prey requires a little patience and not chasing too closely: "I grew up here since I was a child, and I really can't think of anything here that can make a lot of money.
But I believe in your wisdom, is there anything I can help you with?"
After fooling Alice, Luke asked, "Last night, I saw a lot of warning magic flares being set off in the direction of the upper city. Something must have happened there. But I have to go to the upper city to handle a business today. I wonder if I will run into any trouble.
Someone told me that this place is well-informed, so I came to give it a try. "
Luke took out two silver notes and placed them on the table.
Alice reached out and grabbed it. "My people are still asking for the details. What we can be sure of now is that it's not the Upper City that's in trouble, it's the Imperial City. Now the walls of the entire Saint Lun City are full of royal knights, palace guards, and imperial spies.
Many people were arrested for no reason.
If it is not urgent, I advise you not to go uptown. When I have the latest news, I will send someone to tell you immediately. "
This information was within Luke's expectations, so it was not his main purpose for coming here.
Luke took out two more silver notes and placed them on the table. "Those people have been following me since I left home. Who are they?"
Alice took the money and looked back at the guys drinking beer: "It's Melken's people. Melken is relatively well-behaved in the downtown area. How did you offend him?"
"I just arrived in the downtown area and have only met Malken once. How could I possibly offend him? Do you know why?"
Alice took a puff of her cigarette and Luke placed two silver notes on the table.
"Last night, Meldan lost a shipment from Uptown. What it was, I don't know, but Meldan was very, very angry. Did you offend him about this shipment?"
Alice didn't take the money, but stared at Luke, observing his expression.
"Of course not! If I want something, I can just buy it from him. Do I need to steal it?"
"It's great to have money!" Alice took the money away and said, "Anyway, since Melken has set his sights on you, you'd better have nothing to do with his goods. Is there anything else you want to ask?"
"Yes, I want to know the specific situation of several factories around the sewage reservoir. My father-in-law said that the more channels for collecting intelligence, the more advantages we can have in business negotiations and earn the greatest profits.
I would like to hire you as my intelligence consultant in the Lower City of Saint-Lun."
Alice smiled brightly. She flicked away the cigarette butt and extended her hand to Luke: "It's a pleasure to serve you, Mr. Luke. I will do my best to provide you with the latest, most accurate and most confidential information."
Luke reached out his hand and shook Alice's.
Alice is the owner of the Alice Bar. She sells alcohol, food, information, pimps, headhunters, brokers, smugglers... whatever makes money.
Alice's extensive network of contacts and her good looks allowed her to get along well in the downtown area of Saint Lun City, and all the bigwigs would give her some face.
Luke spent a little money to win over Alice, which was equivalent to having an intelligent spy in the downtown area. And as a player, Luke knew that Alice was a woman who would do anything for money... as long as the money satisfied her.
"My first mission for you is to teach those guys a lesson. They followed me so blatantly, which shows that they don't take me seriously." Luke slapped a gold ticket on the table.
In a flash, the gold ticket was in Alice's hands.
Her eyes narrowed with laughter: "Boss Luke, I will help you teach them a lesson..."
Alice stood up and walked away wiggling her hips, and the waiter brought the wine and steak that Luke had ordered.
Before Luke could make the first cut, a group of strong men rushed in from outside and carried the hooligans out without saying a word. Then miserable screams came from outside the door, as if it was music played specifically for Luke's meal.
Luke ate and drank while listening to the screams outside.
I couldn't help but sigh in my heart: the consumption level in the lower city of Saint Lun City is so low. A few silver coupons can get so much important information, and a gold coupon can cripple so many people.
In Nutao City, even in the Cape District, this amount of money is definitely not enough.
Money is really the boss here!
After Luke had eaten and drunk his fill, he said goodbye to Alice and left the bar. Outside the bar, the hooligans had been beaten to a bloody pulp, without even the strength to cry out.
The strong men who beat people did not leave. When they saw Luke coming out, they immediately saluted respectfully: "Mr. Luke... Miss Alice asked us to protect you back."
"No need..." Luke took out a handful of Reichsmarks and said, "You did a great job. I am very satisfied. This money is a reward for you. Please thank Miss Alice for me."
The fierce-looking men immediately changed their expressions after receiving the money: "Thank you, Mr. Luke, thank you, Mr. Luke... If you have anything in the future, please let us know."
"Okay, bye!"
The strong men bowed and saw Luke off.
After Luke walked away, they couldn't help but sigh: "Miss Alice asked us to wait here for Mr. Luke to come out, saying that there would be benefits, and it turned out that there really were benefits.
You're really a big businessman from Nutao City, and you're giving so much money for beating up a few people!"
"And Miss Alice also said that we don't have to pay the bar's commission for the benefits Mr. Luke gave us. It all belongs to us!"
"Miss Alice will get more benefits from Mr. Luke."
"What nonsense! Do you still want to take business from Miss Alice in the future? Let's go back and divide the money. Let's go around Mr. Luke's house more often in the future..."
"clear!"
"Let's go, let's go."
The strong men left, and before leaving they did not forget to kick the thugs a few more times.
Luke got the information he wanted from Alice.
Saint Lun City was sealed off, and the news of Princess Dai'er's assassination was also blocked. It is estimated that the palace did not know that Dai'er escaped on her own, and believed that she was kidnapped or died somewhere.
Princess Dale's assassination and disappearance will soon cause great unrest in the palace. Now we just need to wait and see how things develop and observe the game between the various parties.
Here is Malken...
He also concealed the Shadow Parasite Meta-iteration Body. After all, it was the most advanced contraband, and it was taken out of the city when something happened in the Imperial City last night. He didn't have the courage to look for it openly, so he could only search secretly within a controllable range.
It would be of no benefit to Melkan to make a big fuss. Considering his status, there would be no danger if he attended the lunch banquet properly.
I wonder if Dale has memorized what she should recite. She cannot reveal her identity as a princess, nor can she reveal that she is related to the escaped shadow parasite meta-iteration.
Thinking about how her IQ fluctuates and how she can be silly or stupid... it really makes me worried!
Luke returned home and woke up Dai'er who was sleeping soundly.
He asked Dai'er to wash her face and eat, and then, like a teacher supervising primary school students to recite a text, he asked her to recite the entire information summarized yesterday.
The fast runners who were doing the housework were so scared that they didn't even dare to breathe.
This is the princess of the empire!
How could you treat her like this...
The chief inspector is so awesome. Even the ministers of the imperial cabinet have to be respectful when they see the princess. He has actually trained the princess of the empire into being obedient.
Dale stood in front of Luke, half asleep and swaying, answering . If she answered incorrectly, she had to recite it ten times...
"Why were your clothes wet last night?"
"I was scared by a mouse. It stared at me with its little eyes at the head of my bed... I have never lived in such a shabby house. My husband Luke and I had a big fight. I wanted to stay in a hotel uptown, but I got lost and fell into the water..."
