Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 496: Hurry and show it off to school

As Xiahou Yan approached the entrance of the "Real Bernabeu" club, he saw the orc security guard standing at the door of the club.

This sturdy and strong green-skinned orc, who looks like Dwayne Johnson, is not wearing the uniform of the Glorious Federation. Instead, he is wearing a light leather armor that is sewn by civilians and is somewhat tight. A shiny dagger without sheath is inserted on his belt.

This somewhat sloppy attire meant that this orc security guard was not a federal soldier from a certain division, but a mercenary hired by the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce to maintain order in society.

Xiahou Yan slightly turned sideways, hiding his figure in the shadow of an open-air stall, then took out a pair of semi-circular glasses that he had prepared long ago and put them on his face meticulously and straight.

He smoothed his black hair hard, pressing it into an exquisite 3:7 split, and finally took off his cape, revealing the gold-thread vest and white shirt he was wearing underneath.

Almost in an instant, Mr. Xiahou, who originally looked like a stowaway, transformed himself into an anthropologist with a handsome face like Leonardo Dicaprio, well-mannered, humble and polite. Compared with the previous domineering arrogance of the Lord of Frost Maple Ridge, it was as if the species had been replaced.

Xiahou Yan put away his cloak, picked up his backpack, and walked towards the entrance of the club with elegant and restrained steps.

The orc security guard at the door also noticed the human wearing glasses at the first moment.

"Hello." The orc security guard greeted in a hoarse voice, but his tone was not very friendly. "Are you here to participate in the trade show? Please show me your invitation."

"Hello, I'm Professor Kirian Andropov from the Hermetic Society." Xia Houyan took out a pre-prepared business card from his bosom and handed it to the orc security guard, smiling amiably, "I've made an appointment with Branch President Yulia Minetoska to come over and take a look at the equipment drawings."

Julia Minetoska—this was the name he had inquired about before. She was the president of the northern branch of the Wave Chamber of Commerce and the person in charge of the Chamber of Commerce in Thorn City.

"Have you made an appointment with the president of the Minatoska branch?" The orc security guard scratched his bald head, "But I didn't receive it..."

"So Yulia forgot to tell you?" Xiahou Yan showed a slightly surprised expression, but then changed it into an understanding and tolerant smile, "It's okay, noble people tend to forget things. So, please go and inform the president of the Minatoska branch that Professor Kirian Andropov of the Hermetic Society is here."

The orc security guard said "oh" but did not move. He looked at the bustling crowd outside the exhibition venue with a tangled expression, looking very distressed.

  Xiahou Yan certainly knew what was going on in this guy's not-so-bright head:

The order the security guard received from the Wave Chamber of Commerce must have been to guard the door and check the invitations of every guest entering. But if he went in to inform the branch president of the visit of "Professor Kirian Andropov", the door would be unguarded for a few minutes.

  ——What if someone sneaks into the venue while he is away?

This is undoubtedly a difficult problem to solve for the orc security guards.

Xiahou Yan stared at the constipated expression of the orc security guard and said with "sudden enlightenment":

"Ah, you can't leave, can you? Well, young man, don't bother moving. I'll go find Branch President Yulia Minetoska myself."

Should we say that the humble scholarly demeanor of a certain unscrupulous lord was too deceptive, or that the stupid orc security guard was really unwilling to neglect the distinguished guest of the Minatoska branch president—

——In short, the big green guy hesitated for a moment, then moved aside and gave the door to Xiahou Yan.

Mr. Xiahou - or "Professor Andropov" - nodded gratefully to the orc security guard, reached out and pushed open the door and walked in.

In fact, with Xiahou Yan's current magical attainments, casting an invisibility spell is enough to sneak into the venue unnoticed. How can a group of mortals stop the footsteps of a high-level magician?

However, he thought, if he could sneak into the trade show with a fake identity that could be shown to others, why not do it?

He was sure that the senior scholars of the famous academic group "Hermes Society" were widely respected by all the tribes in Haiwen and could easily gain everyone's trust, so he chose his disguise identity:

Even the name "Kilian Andropov" was not completely fabricated, but a real person on the mainland - the real Professor Andropov was actually an old man who taught biology at the Southern United College. Xiahou Yan once had a few drinks with this old man at the Phoenix Bar.

After successfully passing the invitation check at the door, Xia Houyan walked through a porch and into the club lobby.

Then, he was slightly shocked by the grand scene before him.

The grand central hall of the Real Bernabéu Club was occupied by rows of weapon display booths, wooden display boards with instructions and drawings, and several steel behemoths with bared fangs and claws. The crystal chandelier on the ceiling of the hall emitted tiny golden rays of light, which fell on the steel armor of the Flesh and Blood Chariot like stars, appearing strange and sad.

Just behind the weapons display booths stood arms dealers in tuxedos and top hats. They stared at any potential customer approaching the booth with their wolf-like emerald eyes, as hungry as real estate agents who had not yet reached their sales targets at the end of the year.

The guests invited to the trade fair wandered among the weapon stalls, picking up a crossbow, a sword, or a shield from time to time, and admiringly admired them.

Among these invited guests, the vast majority were orcs in military uniforms, that is, federal military personnel, but Xiahou Yan also saw quite a few sub-orcs, elves, and goblins who clearly looked like mercenary leaders, local gang members, and weapon craftsmen.

There were four rows of weapon stalls, arranged in order along the rectangular club hall. At the end of the hall, the stage that was originally used for dancers to dance and singers to sing had been set up as a redwood lecture platform by the "Inspur" Chamber of Commerce. There was no one behind the stage yet, only the spinning magic crystal ball above the head, which was working hard to create a luxurious atmosphere of decadence.

If the stalls outside the club built by local vendors still had a dirty and chaotic atmosphere, then the main exhibition venue inside the club was indeed well-organized and grand, like a proper exhibition.

Especially considering that Thorn City is now almost an isolated city, the Wave Chamber of Commerce is indeed quite capable of organizing the "God-given Blade" trade fair like this. You know, in Xiahou Yan's memory, the import and export fair held along Route 66 in the Soul-Splitting Land was actually no bigger than this in the early years.

Just as Xiahou Yan was secretly shocked, he suddenly found a familiar figure in the corner of the venue.

... Baron Alexius was leaning against the wall of the lobby of the "Royal Bernabeu" club. He took a deep puff of his cigar and then exhaled a cloud of smoke, as if he wanted to hide his distressed expression behind the clouds.

He just couldn't understand why the goddess of fate always let bad luck befall him.

When he first took over the "Inferno" Chamber of Commerce, he led his caravan through the Arcane Spire defense line with great confidence, wanting to make a big splash in the trade between the two countries. However, not long after he set out on the road, he was blackmailed by scammers from the Grand Duchy of Houston at a rest area beside Highway 66.

Fortunately, His Excellency Duke Elliot Igor extended a helping hand in time and helped him sell a batch of goods in the town of Left Bank as travel expenses. Otherwise, he didn't know how he, the newly appointed president of the Chamber of Commerce, would face his employees.

After that, Baron Alexius led the Hellfire Chamber of Commerce to travel back and forth between the Demon Realm, the Soul-Splitting Land, and the Empire. Although he did not lose money, for some reason he did not make much profit. By the standards of a businessman, it was really a failure.

Everything turned around a year and a half ago, in the middle of the 995th year of the Imperial Calendar.

  Just as Baron Alexius was arranging his convoy in Qiuyue City in the Demon Realm and preparing to set out for the Empire again, he suddenly met the second noble person in his life besides Duke Elliot Igor:

The seventh prince of the Gowther court, His Highness Michael Gowther.

  The demon prince took the initiative to find Baron Alexius and asked the "Infernal Fire" Chamber of Commerce to help him sneak into the empire. When they entered the Soul-Splitting Land, Michael Gowther told them the goal of his trip - a bigger plan:

He wants to realize the secret trade between the Royal Court of Gowther and Frost Maple Ridge in the Soul-Splitting Land!

  Prince Gowther even suggested that Alexius's "Inferno" Chamber of Commerce could become the white glove on this smuggling route and the agent connecting the Gowther Royal Court and Frost Maple Ridge!

With such an opportunity in front of him, if Alexius doesn't agree, he will be the stupidest demon in the world!

As the two met Miss Katharina Igor together at Phoenix Tower and signed a trade treaty, the "Infernal Fire" Chamber of Commerce also plunged into this official smuggling - uh, "foreign trade" business in full swing, earning a lot of real money.

Thus, with the start of secret trade between the two places, the originally tepid "Indecent Fire" Chamber of Commerce suddenly became the hottest new business star in the border area between the Empire and the Demon Realm, and even had the potential to dominate the area!

Alexius thought he was a late bloomer in business, and was about to continue to advance along the road to success paved by Prince Michael Gowther and Lord Elliot Igor...

...and then he fell hard.

The incident started at the beginning of this year, when Baron Alexius, who was happily counting money at the headquarters of the Hellfire Chamber of Commerce, suddenly received a secret letter from Prince Michael Gowther.

  In the letter, Prince Michael mentioned to Alexius a phenomenon he had recently noticed:

Michael Gowther and the "Inferno" Chamber of Commerce have been working hard to open up the connection between the Demons and the Soul-Splitting Land, trying to find ways to improve relations with Frost Maple Ridge and hope to profit from it.

However, the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce, which dominated the eastern market of Demon Realm, seemed to have chosen another path.

In the Sixth War, the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce did not place its bets on the Empire and Frost Maple Ridge, but instead judged that the Glorious Federation and the Orcs would win in the end.

Therefore, led by Julia Minetoska, the president of the northern branch of the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce, this group of Eastern demon merchants have actually been providing military supplies and equipment to the federal army, becoming a major pillar of the federal army's logistics.

The reason why Inspur dared to act so aggressively is that it had its own support:

Through a series of investigations, Prince Michael Gowther discovered that the manipulator secretly supporting the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce was actually the fourth prince of the demon clan, Raphael Gowther. Prince Raphael was considered to be a member of the pro-Federation and pro-Orc faction among the demon clan's high-level officials, and had always been at odds with Prince Michael, who was optimistic about Frost Maple Ridge.

Considering that Prince Raphael was his rival for the throne and political enemy, Prince Michael asked Baron Alexius and the "Inferno" Chamber of Commerce to see if they could think of a way to deal a slight blow to "The Wave" and the Raphael faction behind it in the commercial dimension.

Alexius would of course do his best to help his benefactor since he had been entrusted with the task.

He immediately decided to personally lead a team of mercenaries to the "Wave" headquarters, in order to find ways to disrupt the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce's trade operations in the direction of the Federation, and at the same time to settle accounts with Branch President Julia Minetoska face to face.

  The reason why Alexios was so active in this matter was actually a little selfish:

Many years ago, when Julia Minetoska was only sixteen or seventeen years old and not yet an adult, this noble lady born in the east of the Demon Realm had already become famous for her beauty and wisdom, and became a big star sought after by everyone in the Demon Realm.

At that time, noble suitors from all over the Demon Realm came to the door of the Minetoska family in an endless stream. Even if they did not hope to win the favor of Miss Julia, they still wanted to see her beauty.

Baron Alexius was one of these suitors at the time.

Unfortunately, like other suitors, Baron Alexius was rejected without even meeting Miss Julia Minetoska.

This incident left a huge psychological shadow on Alexius, who was young and confident at the time.

Later, Miss Yulia Minetoska did not marry, have children like ordinary demon noble ladies, but boldly set foot in the demon business world, struggled all the way, and was successfully elected as the president of the northern branch of the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce as a woman, and she is only 24 years old this year.

This is undoubtedly a great achievement and inspirational story that belongs only to Julia Minetowska.

Of course, Baron Alexius now believes that he is no longer the same as before.

Alexios, who controls the trade channels between the Gowther Royal Court and the Empire, is no longer the impoverished nobleman whose family has fallen into poverty. He is no longer the fool who was locked out by the Minetosca family and had to swallow his anger and leave in despair!

Therefore, he had to meet with Julia Minetowska and let this arrogant noble lady see with her own eyes what an expensive potential stock she had missed out on back then!

So what if he is just the president of a small northern branch of "Wave"?

I am now the famous president of the "Inferno" guild, the most trusted servant of the honorable Duke Elliot Igor of Frost Maple Ridge, and the commercial monopolist and king of trade in the Arcane Spire area!

Don't bully young poor!