"Ahaha, hero..."
Mance smiled disapprovingly and said:
"Am I too old to keep up with the trend? I thought that to be a hero, at least I had to rush into a fire to save people. Now the standard has been lowered to just being able to steal pineapples?"
"What if they gave the stolen pineapples to the poor, just like the legendary thief Shrike did." Ed said.
"Shrike" is one of the most famous thieves in legends in Lyria, active about five hundred years ago. No one knows his true identity, but the most widely circulated theory is that he was once a ranger who was expelled from the team because he spared a poor poacher.
After that, the poor people of Lyria would occasionally see a man wearing a silver-gray hooded cloak riding a horse through the night, carrying a hard long bow made of white oak, and with black war paint around his eyes. Pattern.
When passing by this mysterious silver-robed guest, the poor people would often be overjoyed to notice the shining golden coins left next to the horse's hoof prints.
According to legend, shrikes would sneak into the houses of wealthy nobles and evil gentry, steal or directly rob property, and distribute it to the poor. For those who have committed unpardonable crimes and are lawless, the shrike will drag them out and hang them on the trees on the roadside to warn the world——
This is why he is called "The Shrike". Also known as the "butcher bird," this bird pierces its prey on tree branches to dry and store food.
One of the most famous achievements is that of "Count Schuler of Feldwey", a bully lord entrenched in a remote northern earldom who does evil all day long and preys on the common people. The Shrike took advantage of the darkness to eliminate the guards and knights in the castle, dragged Count Schuler out of his sleep, and hung him from a tree next to the crossroads.
When the count's knights were fully equipped and galloping on the road, searching for signs of the shrike, the people along the way were willing to risk their lives and point out the wrong direction to protect the shrike.
It is precisely because of this extremely radical but still sense of justice that the Grand Thief Shrike has a very high reputation and influence among the working people. Almost every bard will hum a few verses about him and bring legends about him to all parts of the world.
"Distribute it to civilians? I don't know the situation here as well as the two teachers, but from my point of view, people living in this area need equal value more than pineapples that are expensive but can't solve the problem of food and clothing. bread and sausages to feed more people in the family. Even sending money directly will help much more than handing out pineapples.”
Angelica adjusted the brim of her hat and carefully organized her words.
"You have a point, Angelica. After all, no one can solve their lunch problem by eating five kilograms of pineapple."
Ed nodded, rubbed his palms and put the deposition book aside.
After all, he had tasted this stuff not long ago. If he ate half of it in one go, his tongue would be numb, let alone eating it.
"Officer Mance, are you there?"
Knock knock knock, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in Reed," Mance called through the door.
"We've been getting a lot of reports of people going door-to-door across the East End handing out pineapples."
A short, thin, freckled young man whom Mance called Reed came in and adjusted the baggy police hat that didn't quite fit him.
"Could it be that these sneaky organizations are spreading faith through fruits like pineapples, or simply spreading some kind of plague? Ed, you should know something about this, right? Is it possible?"
Mance's expression changed when he heard this. He muttered to himself for a while, and then looked at Ed eagerly.
"That's right, Officer Mance...can I continue, Teacher Waikolo?"
Angelica looked at Ed inquiringly, and after seeing Ed nod, she continued:
"The man-made disease produced by the 'Plague' secret text will dissipate after the extraordinary properties are exhausted, and it is difficult to cause large-scale infection. Moreover, even if there is a way to make food contagious, from the perspective of the opponent, I think we should give priority to contaminating the barn , food factories, water sources and other sources of infection that are more likely to spread, instead of inefficiently distributing them one by one. So you don’t have to worry too much.”
oh? It turns out that the effect of the "Plague" secret text will dissipate after the extraordinaryness is exhausted. I really didn’t know this happened, and I learned something new...
Ed nodded with satisfaction, looked at Angelica, and pretended to be very pleased.
"Then what should we do now? How about we quickly mobilize manpower to stop them? We may not have enough manpower now. I have to quickly contact the police stations in other areas to request additional support..."
As Mance spoke, he hurriedly opened the drawer and searched for the code book, but was gently held down by Ed:
"No, Mance, I think it's better not to alert the enemy."
Since the other party dares to do things in the East District so blatantly, based on his previous crime-committing style, he must have some back-ups. Sending people to arrest him in such a big way will probably be fruitless.
"The pineapples have been distributed now, and many people may have finished eating them by the time the police arrive. Even if the other party is really planning something wrong, it may be too late to stop them now."
"Then shall we just watch?" Mance asked puzzledly.
"Yes, just watch." Ed said with certainty, "Don't do anything about this for now. Angelica and I will go there in disguise. Angelica, you should have something else Take it regularly?"
"Yes. Considering that there might be such a mission, I specially prepared a set of clothes in the common style of the East District when I came here."
"That's great. You go back and change into regular clothes immediately. We'll set off on time in 40 minutes."
"clear."
"Then Reid, please mark the location of all the areas where the alarm was received on this map." Ed took the complete map of the East District from the cork board nearby and spread it on the table:
"...Come on, let's see what tricks they are doing."
