our family is gone

Chapter 722 The Danger of Supernatural Beings

Audrey was also speechless. If that person had not taken action just now, she would have been torn to pieces by the monster.

But she didn't expect that the man would turn into a devil-like monster in the blink of an eye. The terrifying power she displayed easily tore the monster apart, and of course saved herself from the violent pollution.

She should have been happy after being rescued twice in a row, but she felt that the devil was staring at her after the monster died, and his eyes were full of madness.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

An inexplicable piano sound was heard, and the demon that had been taking action suddenly wailed as if it had been severely injured. It held its head with both hands and shook it, and its struggle was obvious, as if something was fighting in its brain.

The sound of the piano continued, and even Audrey was attracted to it. She saw a person dressed as a clown walking out of the darkness.

His movements were not like normal walking, but had a unique rhythm. He was holding a lute in his arms and plucking it. The cheerful and clear sound came from his hands.

Even Audrey, who was close to collapse under the high pressure, calmed down a lot after hearing the piano, and the person who was specifically targeted also regained his sanity and control of his body to the sound of the piano.

Just as the transformation was swift, so was the transformation back to human. The bones were deformed, the muscles atrophied, and the lava-like red faded, but these were not obvious in the dim light.

It was the darkness that obscured the horrific scene, and only a few people and the man who had turned into a human again could be seen.

The pain of twisting his flesh and bones didn't even allow him to show much, because the pain he had experienced was much greater than this. Facing the wary and uneasy eyes of others, he was only left with helplessness and depression.

At this time another person rushed out. It was Boudica, who was covered in blood. The rage on her face had not yet subsided. The blood dripping from the axe blade proved that this was not the only place in the city where unrest was happening.

In fact, Boudica had just teamed up with the Joker to deal with an evil fallen being on the other side and rushed over here. There were other people in the city who were also fighting against those crazy superhumans, and many of them stood up.

Of course, there were also a large number of troops entering, and they all had murderous looks on their faces. The thick smell of gunpowder lingering around them already explained something.

Unlike the police who can only stop monsters with their flesh and blood, these troops are equipped with heavy weapons, and can throw bombs and Molotov cocktails to directly use physical methods to resolve the out-of-control supernatural forces.

At the same time, Greendale, who was far away in the new town ahead, also returned here with the help of Alvis. The appearance of high-end combat power directly suppressed the possible chaos.

Hamlet seemed to have stabilized the situation when extreme darkness came, but the price he paid was also high. Even if the count was not completed, the known casualties alone exceeded a hundred.

Most of these were caused by out-of-control extraordinary people. It is no wonder that the church has been basically ruthlessly suppressing these retail investors, because they are truly unstable and may cause disasters once they get out of control.

How much will humanity have to pay to survive in this world?
…………

Ovindo.

After the chaos of the Food Wars was quelled, the place is recovering at a slow but steady pace.

It cannot be called prosperity, but a stable situation in this world is a rare thing for ordinary people.

The destroyed cities, the chaotic refugees, the unemployed workers, and the starving people all began to recover.

People are like weeds. Even if they are cut off, as long as they have roots and sunlight, they will still grow again.

The dock, which had been almost stagnant and controlled by gangs, was restored due to Vic's cleansing, and commercial activities began to flow.

Transactions with the Empire and caravans traveling to and from the surrounding areas usually have to come to Owendo for help, which makes Owendo look a lot better.

And now a caravan from Bastia appeared here, led by Vic. The experience of these days made him more calm, but he showed the materialism and greed of a businessman.

"You guys take care of these, I'm going to talk about business."

The first thing he did after entering the city of Owendo was to have fun, which made his subordinates very dissatisfied, but they had no choice but to agree.

Although the Earl gave support to Vic, many of those backbone members were the Earl's men, and the key positions were naturally controlled by the Earl. It is conceivable whether the old man trusts him or not.

He just wanted to gain the "relationship" created by Vic. It's just a title, but he doesn't have much real power.

Vic knew very well that it was impossible for the Earl to get a piece of the Count's pie. When the Earl gained control of those relationships, he would kick him out.

But Vic didn't care. He did his thing and I did mine. Now we were using the Earl's money to eat, drink and have fun with all kinds of people, calling it socializing.

In fact, the intelligence information is handed over openly. Vic needs to send the collected information back to Hamlet through Walter, and Hamlet's orders also need to go through him.

"What good stuff have you received recently?"

"You can get as much goods as you have money. How much money did you bring this time?"

Walter had never discussed this kind of business before, so he just asked for the lowest price.

"So, brother has made a fortune."

Vic teased Watt's calm demeanor, but he also told him the financial situation of this caravan.

"This time it's still those mountain products..."

Most of Bastia is wild and mountainous. The fields are not very fertile and the grain production is barely enough to support itself.

When we controlled the mountains in the past, we also cooperated with those barbarian tribes. We had more goods of various kinds, and even extraordinary accessories made by those barbarians. But now it’s not so good. All we can produce are a lot of mountain products such as herbs and furs.

But this thing is very useful to Hamlet. After all, the medical research and medicine making in the sanatorium require a lot of herbs. Although he has his own medicine field, no one would think it is too much.

The main thing is that now that the waterway is open, we can also make some money by acting as a middleman and selling to Totnes.

As for furs, they are even more needed because winter is coming, and countless people will die without enough clothes to keep warm.

Walter also comes from a business family. Although he is the governor of Owendo, he has not lost his basics and knows the value of these things very well.

"At most I will give you one hundred spears, thirty pieces of standard breastplates, and two sets of full knight armor."

More than ten truckloads of goods were exchanged for these. After saying this, Walter saw that Vic was a little hesitant and couldn't help but tease him, "What? Can't eat it?"

"Stop talking. That old guy is not as generous as the lord. He didn't treat me well when he brought back the knight armor last time."

The reason I say this is that these things all have soul rings, and people can die, so the armor that is stripped off from them will naturally not be intact.

Even though the situation is chaotic now, the Earl is still a little unhappy about buying several sets of damaged armor at a high price.

"What? Still want a discount from me?" "My suggestion is to give him another 20%. Anyway, this thing is easy to sell. It's just us who don't sell horses. Otherwise, he would be willing to pay a higher price."

Walter was also surprised to hear that. The price of this batch of goods was already much higher than the market price, but Vic still added more. His greedy look was like that of a businessman.

However, he had no objection to this, after all, the entire meal was paid for by the Earl.

"He still wants a horse? Let him ask our Lord for it."

Walter joked that the lord didn't care about armor because now both muskets and cannons could easily tear apart the knights' armor.

But horses represent mobility. The more of them the better. How could we be willing to give them to outsiders?

The reason why Hamlet's cavalry was able to expand so quickly was because Water took the opportunity to get access to the logistics of the imperial army.

With this line, he was able to get all kinds of military equipment. The equipment stripped from the dead was nothing. He only needed to do some tricks to declare the equipment as damaged after a simple repair.

There are even a lot of new and unused equipment, including armor and weapons, but they are not sold to the count.

It would be hard to say if the war continued, but now that the stalemate has ended and there is no major war, it is easier to take action. After all, everyone has to live, and living costs money.

The war horses were also obtained in a similar way.

The more sophisticated ones would replace the military horses with the slow horses that pulled the carts, and the people would take the extra money.

Those who are even more daring don't even bother with any equipment. They just cook the books and as long as the accounts are settled, they are very bold.

Although the emperor of the empire had just dealt with a senior logistics official, it was precisely because of this that the newcomer was able to take advantage of the investigation to settle the accounts and put all the deficits on the dead, since the dead couldn't speak anyway.

In troubled times, as long as money can pave the way, these people will not dare to sell anything, not to mention that Watt is now holding supplies such as food.

The soldiers only complained about the old and damaged weapons and the lack of war horses, but if they had no food, it would be a big problem.

Even if those people didn't do it for money, they would have to trade with Watt for food, not to mention that they could get a share. If they didn't take advantage of the opportunity to make some money now, they would have nothing to gain later when the situation was unclear.

It is as outrageous as when Hamlet was in decline, the new ship he launched was not for the navy but sold to pirates.

Because the pirates got money from the ancestors, the navy's funding was cut. Why would those quartermasters care about the soldiers on the front line when they can make money?

The logistics bureaucrats also have something to say:

The soldiers on the front line only need to devote themselves to the battlefield, obey orders, and fight hard to kill the enemy, but the people in the rear have a lot of things to consider.

The two men finalized the deal amidst the teasing of those people. Looking at their casual attitude, one could tell that they didn't care about these things at all. After all, those were just a cover for their identities.

"What's going on over there?"

"He is restless. The earl is quite powerful. He has been using the eagles and the Knights to attack the nobles. Several of them have been killed. He has also promoted some members of the Knights. It seems that he is training his eldest son..."

Previously, the Earl wanted to use the mountain barbarians to train his troops, and also to create an excuse for the barbarian invasion so as not to get involved in the fight between the Empire and the rebels.

However, there had not been large-scale battles for many years, and various problems had arisen unexpectedly, including the corruption of military equipment and the fragility of the serf soldiers. The coalition forces suffered major losses when faced with the barbarian mercenaries who were familiar with the imperial army.

Fortunately, the Knights still had combat effectiveness, and the Mountain Barbarians themselves had problems, otherwise he would be in even greater trouble.

Because someone has to take the blame for the failure of the war, not to mention that Alvin directly destroyed an entire order of knights in Hamlet, and paying money to ransom them is a huge disgrace.

The Count's authority in ruling Bastia was also declining, and the doubts and opposition of some nobles became more obvious.

These nobles all have caravans as their white gloves to make money. Now you start a war and cut off the trade routes, which means you are destroying everyone's jobs.

Not to mention that you are enjoying being a noble, and suddenly you have to go to the battlefield again. Why the hell don't you go? It's not you who will die.
That is to say, Bastia was conquered by the Count, and his many years of rule brought him considerable prestige, otherwise the resistance would have been more intense.

However, the Earl's methods were also ruthless. Although he did not know why the barbarian coalition retreated, he took the opportunity to use the corruption of military equipment to drag many people into the water.

Kill a few of those who stand out, and then let Bruce promote those knights without fiefs to build a team. Anyway, beat some and recruit some, just like training those nobles like dogs.

Walter knew about this news because it had been going on for some time, and what Vic said next was the key point.

"Also, our spies finally found out about the chaos in the mountains and understood the real reason why the barbarian coalition forces retreated.

According to the intelligence collected, the Count has sensed the weakness of the mountains and is now preparing to launch a real war..."

Hamlet had already learned about the situation in the mountains from Boslake, who had escaped from the mountains. Vic and the others knew about the beast disease even earlier than the Earl.

After the barbarian coalition retreated, the Earl's spies began to look for ways to enter the mountains and finally obtained relevant information.

The count considered this to be a good opportunity, because the big gap in armaments had been filled during this period, so at least there were still some spears left.

At the same time, internal affairs were also handled with a tough approach, not to mention that the new recruits who crawled out of the pile of dead bodies also had a certain level of combat effectiveness after this period of training.

For the Earl, the internal conflicts were eased, and he prepared to take the opportunity to launch a counterattack and further strike against the barbarians.

The reason is simple: before the first heavy snow comes, they take advantage of the spread of the beast disease to further disrupt the mountains.

Without enough supplies from the looting to survive the winter, when the snow covered the mountains, the mighty force of nature would inflict heavy losses on the barbarians.

In this way, we can wait until the spring of next year to launch a real war and completely eliminate those guys who have been hungry for a whole winter.

Now Walter understood that Vic felt that the Count would have to accept any higher price because he was ready to take action.

There's just something wrong here...

"Do you think he really did it for those barbarians?"

Facing Walter's doubts, Vic smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I think the Earl wants to kill those nobles instead of the barbarians."

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