Chapter 89.1: Male Mother
Over 1,800 living, breathing men were chucked on the street, baking in the scorching sun, several hundred sex workers in various brothels awaiting resettlement, and more than 6,000 harmless-looking Weisshem natives hiding in their respective homes…
Anyone else would probably find themselves paralyzed by such a messy situation, but for Yang Qiu, this wasn't really a problem.
First, he gave out the prestige and copper coin rewards to appease the 200 husky-like players that had been waiting impatiently.
Next, Yang Qiu opened up "Lord Yang's Recycling Function" and used the game coins he had made back in China to exchange for the several kilograms of gold and jewelry the players had plundered.
While he was beaming with joy, players were equally ecstatic. Some casual players even sold their copper coin earnings on the spot to whales and earned a small sum.
Yang Qiu, who had instantly become rich, quickly issued a series of quests to make full use of this group of hyperactive players.
First was an assisting quest. Players that received this quest would form a team to assist Rex and Mia in gathering all the sex workers scattered across the brothels in Elegant Dreams and Gold Coast. The players had to ensure the NPCs and their belongings weren't harmed during this process.
The second was a manual labor quest. Players who accepted this quest would form a team to assist Hal, Tuttle, and Jerome in sorting out the captives that were strewn on the street. Those with ransom value would be picked out and imprisoned in the basement of Lover Club, while those without any (militiamen were worthless) would be locked up in the former militia headquarters for future… re-education through labor.
Rex had a benevolent heart, while Hal, the leader of the former bandits, was a ruthless person. These two tasks gave them room to display their strengths.
And, of course, treasure expert Finley wouldn't be idle; the third quest was for him. He would lead a team of top players to sweep through the streets, finding and capturing any militia that had previously slipped through their net.
Finley, who had a rough and violent appearance, actually had the best sense among the former bandits. Such a job of identifying dangerous people from the crowd was most suitable for him.
As soon as these three big quests were issued, the players who had been idling in the streets started to get active. Players that had wandered outside the town also rushed back, afraid of being left behind.
While Lowell wasn't aware of the imprint matrix's existence (no matter how much the former bandits hated Yang Qiu, they could not tell others that they had been tricked and incorporated into the imprint matrix—it was a matter of saving their dignity), he had been secretly observing and asking around Exile Town but only vaguely got the impression that the undead were enthusiastic about carrying out tasks.
This time, Lowell personally witnessed that Yang Qiu hadn't said anything rousing or gathered the undead for a mobilization meeting. He had merely given some instructions to the few young individuals under him, and the undead took the initiative to rush over from all directions to help them. Once more, Lowell felt his entire worldview greatly shaken.
How does he control so many undead this flawlessly? Clearly… these undead have never shown much respect toward him!
Lowell just couldn't understand no matter how hard he thought about it.
After gaining a certain understanding of the Taranthan undead, Lowell, who already had some knowledge about the dark arts, naturally thought that the Taranthan undead were mid or high-level beings from a certain demonic dimension realm. As they had made a certain contract with Yang, they could be projected into the material plane as weak undead—this explained why the Tarantan undead had relatively high intelligence, equivalent to that of a great demon, and had no respect for Yang, their "master." (Lowell had seen on multiple occasions players barging into the Town Hall to submit quests or ask for instructions.)
Lowell didn't think that the undead were so actively participating in this expedition quest because of Yang's will. Rather, it was more likely colluding with the undead that bordered between madness and rationality, chaos and order.
When the undead set off, he was even worried that these undead would be led astray by the former bandits…
But now, Lowell wavered in this belief.
He realized that his previous conclusion was off the mark. Regardless of whether these undead with suspect origins would show respect to Yang, their summoner, there was no doubt that Yang had the means to control and use these undead at will.
Inspector Lowell silently glanced at Yang, who was now giving instructions to a civilian woman named Mia. In his heart, the danger level of this fellow increased several times over.
This fellow is bound to bring calamity to the people around Taranthan!
After giving Mia some instructions, Yang Qiu released her, then beckoned Lowell to follow him before striding confidently in the direction of Weisshem's town hall.
When the undead attacked Weisshem, the nearly seventy-year-old mayor was having a fun time at Lovers Club, having been invited over by several merchants. At present, he was left on the street getting sunburnt.
When the first string players stormed the town hall, which consisted of a small two-story building with a large courtyard, only two guards, a gatekeeper, and four clerks were inside.
Well… these people representing the local feudal power were also out baking on the streets.
Black mage Yang Qiu brazenly entered the local seat of power of this Rhine Kingdom town through the front gate. Apart from nearby residents peeking nervously through cracks and corners, there wasn't anyone to obstruct him.
After observing the terrain, Yang Qiu chose the courtyard of the town hall as the spot for the players' teleportation point. He checked the seal matrix to see which players didn't have a quest on hand and issued them a quest of digging a pit (a grave where players' remains would be stored when logging out).
Next, Yang Qiu began a thorough search of Weisshem's town hall.
Because the arrival of the undead had been abrupt, the furnishings, property, tax reports, and correspondence documents between the town and the superior municipality of Indahl were remarkably well-preserved in the town hall.
Yang Qiu took a tour of the offices of the mayor and clerks and obtained important documents, including the population registers for the town and the 23 surrounding villages, head tax and land tax revenue tables, as well as the militia roster.
On top of that, he found a large box of the mayor's private letters…
"No wonder merchant caravans passing through the Sorenson Mountains are so enthusiastic about trafficking people here. Those who provide fresh merchandise to Weisshem's 'special industry' actually obtain tax exemptions in the Weisshem's area… It's truly a lucrative business, don't you think so, revered inspector?"
Yang Qiu chuckled while casually flipping through the mayor's private letters. "The tolls paid by caravans are considered standard commercial taxes and need to be remitted to the royal treasury, whereas Weisshem's 'special industry' is tax-free. The political contributions made by the proprietors of brothels are considered clean personal income for the mayor… Heh, it's no wonder this mayor has been able to hold his position for 40 years; he's quite the clever man."
Regardless of how the outside mocked the Rhine Kingdom's lack of morality, the Rhine throne still had standards. There would never be the term "legitimized flesh trade" on official documents.
But even if it wasn't acknowledged in writing, it didn't mean that the flesh trade didn't exist within Rhine's borders. It still remained active in secret—the authorities not taxing it was the equivalent of the Rhine Kingdom never acknowledging the legitimacy of the flesh trade.
Of course, this didn't mean that operating brothels and sordid establishments was without additional costs. For example, the form of political contributions handed over to the Weisshem mayor, which were shared with certain officials in the Indahl city hall in a not-so-legal way, was equal to or even higher than regular business taxes.
Yang's frank sarcasm made Inspector Lowell somewhat embarrassed. This kind of unspoken rule in a pseudo-civilized society wasn't just unique to the Rhine Kingdom. Similar practices existed in the Duchy of Shiga, just that the latter was even more closed off and didn't openly welcome visitors like Weisshem did.
Lowell gritted his teeth and broached the subject. "We both know what you're planning, don't we?" he said uneasily. "But these accusations of the mayor using his administrative privileges to favor the local brothel owners… They won't serve as a strong enough excuse to achieve your goal."
Yang Qiu didn't just dispatch forces to search for local militia that had evaded capture but also ransacked the town hall and got his hands on the most important population register. Lowell's few centuries of existence would be a waste if wasn't able to fathom what this black mage was up to—it was beyond clear that this black mage had set his sights on Weisshem!
Yang's plan was indeed feasible. Lowell could even envision the next steps:
Weisshem was essentially under Yang's control now, and next he would find a down-and-out local noble from the Rhine Kingdom and support this individual to become the new authority of Weisshem. As long as the same annual taxes to the throne were paid, the Rhine Kingdom wouldn't care if a remote town had a change of leadership.
Of course, while the throne might turn a blind eye—unless Yang Qiu could find a sufficiently painful Achilles' heel to force Indahl's city hall to acknowledge the change of leadership—the latter would surely meddle.
"Indeed, such commonly seen proof of power abuse might not be a potent enough bargaining chip." Yang Qiu nodded in agreement with Lowell's assessment and handed over a parchment scroll containing a list of transactions written on it. "So, what do you think about this?"
Inspector Lowell took the scroll, but as soon as glanced at it, his expression turned cold.
This was a list of transactions involving the sellers—the mayor of Weisshem and Baron Marcus, the true owner of this land residing in the affluent district of Indahl, with the Indahl city lord acting as a middleman—and certain young nobilities of the Rhine Kingdom as the buyers.
And the merchandise on this list were bones.
Human and orc bones.
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