The car was driving on a bumpy road. Due to years of disrepair, the originally flat road in Bunas was covered with patches. The wheels of the car would make different sounds when they pressed against such patches.
"This place is much shabbier than when we left." The man was sitting in the back seat of the luxury car, looking through the car window at the poor people crowding outside the port waiting to get in and earn their hard-earned money.
These poor people are making a living on the docks. Some of them specialize in helping unload fishing boats, so that they can be paid with some copper coins, and they can also pick up some dead fish that others don't want and take them home; some of them specialize in unloading small cargo ships. Coolies earn a small amount of money to survive based on how much they unload.
When they saw the port gate open, they immediately wanted to surround it. However, they were soon dispersed by the guards and could only watch helplessly from behind the barbed wire as a luxury car drove out.
Some people recognize this kind of car, because the mayor of Bunas has such a car, and the sheriff and tax collector here seem to have similar cars.
"Haha, when we left, where could we see so many poor people?" The man driving the car fiddled with the steering wheel with one hand and said with a smile without looking back.
In Bunas at that time, even the beggars on the streets were filled with pride. As long as they had a little strength, they could make a living in Bunas. At that time, this place was the paradise of this world, and something called hope could be seen in every corner.
"It's okay, I'll be back sooner or later." The man in the back row seemed to be saying something insignificant.
"Aren't you back already?" The driver continued to smile harmlessly.
"Haha." The man in the back row said nothing more. He just looked out the window, looking at the neon billboards in the streets and alleys, most of which were no longer lit.
This place is really decayed, decayed beyond recognition. Just on the dock just now, he used a pitiful bribe to make the officials of Lanes crawl at his feet like slaves.
The other side's soldiers didn't even dare to come forward to check him, nor did they search his body. He had a pistol with a silencer in his arms, and the tax collector helped stuff his luggage into the trunk of the car.
There was a battery and a small telegraph machine in the heavy suitcase, and the outer packaging was not even removed.
When stuffing the heavy suitcase into the trunk of the car, the tax officer subconsciously asked what was so heavy.
At that time, the man answered honestly that it was the radio. After hearing this, the tax collector smiled and shook his head and said how could it be possible, without any intention of opening it for inspection.
Sometimes things are so miraculous. Because the tax collector of Lanes took the benefit of 5 gold coins, he became deaf and blind and could no longer detect any violations of law and discipline.
On the dock, the crane carefully unloaded the luxury cars onto the dock one by one. A group of the most experienced dock workers were busy here.
These cars were all coveted by the high-ranking nobles of the Lions Empire, and they were all brand-name products from the Tang Empire.
Just one Rolls-Royce Phantom is enough to buy the lives of fifty or even a hundred stevedores, so workers are not allowed to use the vehicles here easily.
The specially hired driver was waiting aside, watching these carefully packed cars that had traveled across the ocean land gently.
The paint surface of each car is as smooth and shiny as a mirror, and the silver wheels and black body highlight the nobility of these vehicles.
The goddess of victory with her wings spread out on the front of the car is a feast for the eyes. The tax collector standing beside the car holding a leather bag full of money swallowed his saliva involuntarily.
He has been busy here for half his life before he can afford such a car: this is still an official like him, an official who can get many benefits. If it were anyone else, he would probably never come across something like this in his lifetime.
Everything seemed so natural. When the tax collector turned around and walked towards a docked transport ship from the Poplar Kingdom, the expression on his face returned to normal.
He walked to the ship, which seemed to have a tonnage of no more than 5,000 tons, with his hands behind his back. He took the document from the hand of a nodding elf, and asked in a long tone with full official authority: "What's on the ship?" ah?"
"My lord...my lord...this ship belongs to Earl Gordon..." As he said this, the pointed-eared elf put a few silver coins into the tax collector's hand.
This is the common price in this world, and it is also a normal way of paying bribes. If a tax official can collect dozens of gold coins in bribes a day, then it is estimated that all the people working here are relatives of the emperor.
After weighing the silver coins a few times with his hands, the tax collector turned his head to look at the ship parked on the pier and nodded: "Go up and check to see if there are any contraband... Be gentle with your hands and feet, don't touch it." Ruined Sir Gordon's goods."
After hearing the chief's instructions, the guards knew what to do: the other party gave them money, so they couldn't do too much. If you encounter something good, you can take a little, but not too much.
After saying hello, several guards carrying guns walked up the gangway, but the guards on the pier on the other side didn't even dare to approach the gangway.
They were even afraid that if they walked over and damaged an imported Rolls-Royce, their job might be over.
There was no way, because of the war, luxury goods from the Tang Kingdom were cut off for almost a whole year. The nobles of the Eastern Continent were almost going crazy waiting with eager eyes.
Now that the supply has finally been restored, these luxury cars, watches, and women's bags that have been delivered... which ones are not going to be delivered to the hands of famous aristocrats?
What's more... this ship belongs to the Tang Dynasty! That was the ship of a super powerful empire that had just won victory over a dozen empires!
Maybe it really turned into a diplomatic dispute. A little soldier like me couldn't withstand the raging anger of those high-level figures in the country.
You said that the Tang Dynasty’s special envoy complained to Lions I, saying that a soldier on the bunas port dock hit the Tang Empire in the face. What would be the outcome? If you think about it with your kneecaps, this soldier will die instantly and everyone will know, right?
Just kidding, there is no need for Lions I to take action at that time. Lord Conard, the tax collector of Burnas, will bury the whole family of this soldier, and then report that he has not been found, ignore his affairs, and shirk his own responsibility. All clean.
Therefore, these soldiers and officials who were making a living on the docks extorted money from other countries' ships, and loved and feared the ships of the Tang Empire.
I love it because the people in the Tang Dynasty are very reasonable, they know how to give bribes, they give back a lot, and they are very polite. I'm afraid it's because they really don't dare to offend the people of the Tang Empire, because their emperor is also afraid of the Tang Empire...
The car coming out of the pier stopped at the entrance of the Silver Fox Tavern. The man in the back pushed open the door, got out of the car and walked into this ordinary tavern that had been open here for a long time.
The neon light at the door no longer flickered, but the room was still clean. The young man behind the counter seemed to have been wiping the wine glasses. He glanced up at the man who walked in, and then continued busy with his own business.
"Don't even say welcome...it doesn't look like business is going well?" The man walked to the bar and sat down on a high stool: "Bring me a martini. Shake it well, don't stir it."
Seeing the dandelion ring on the man's ring finger, the young bartender sighed helplessly: "This code is useless..."
"I heard it was your Majesty." The man slapped the cigarette case on the table and interrupted the young bartender's act of seeking death: "Your Majesty invented a way to drink wine. Later, our boss was standing where you were. The one on it... he thought it was very... very elegant, so he put it to use."
"You don't need to explain in such detail. I know I was wrong. I'm a bitch..." The young man sighed helplessly. When he heard that His Majesty said it, he knew that he had almost tricked himself to death.
"I brought you the latest telegraph machine." The man pointed to the car parked outside the door behind him: "Are you sure it's okay for me to come here so blatantly?"
"What's the problem?" The young man curled his lips: "Don't underestimate our infiltration power here, no one... can catch the Silver Fox."
"Don't be careless, we are engaged in intelligence work." The man took out a pistol with a silencer from his arms, put it on the table and pushed it to the young man: "This is also the latest model. The sound is very soft and very good."
"If you shoot at night, no one can hear the gunshot?" The young man's eyes lit up, thinking that the pistol in front of him was the legendary assassination weapon.
"Are you crazy? People in the whole building can hear the shooting in the middle of the night." The man looked shocked. He really didn't realize that the young man behind the counter was a ruthless person who had killed people.
"..." The young man also did not expect that this newly delivered weapon was not as advanced as imagined: "Then what is the difference between it and an ordinary pistol?"
"If you kill someone in the middle of the night with an ordinary pistol, people in the whole street can hear it..." The man put the magazine next to the pistol: "Don't do anything random..."
"Understood." The young man held down the pistol on the counter with some disappointment. He was about to put it away and go back to find some time to study it, when the sound of the bell at the door attracted his attention.
A girl about twenty years old walked into the bar, looking a little nervous. She looked at the two men near the bar nervously, and subconsciously tightened her cloak.
The driver of the car parked at the door came in right after the girl. He had his hands in his pockets. He saw the young bartender behind the bar making a downward gesture twice before taking his hands out of his clothes.
