Chapter 743 Confidence

Old Bernard shook the silver bell at the head of the bed, and a moment later, the housekeeper and two maids came in. When the maid changed old Bernard's clothes, Gerry handed a quarterly financial statement of the town to the mayor. It can be seen from the report that the revenue of Joqi Town rose again in the last quarter. However, more than 70% of the income has to be paid, which is undoubtedly a heavy burden for the town.

The remaining 30%, except for the financial budget of the town itself, is not much.

Therefore, Yoqi Town is prosperous on the surface, but in fact, the residents of the town live a much better life than those who live in the wilderness. The early property they owned is just a house that I don't know when it will be taken back by the Pope's Hall at any time.

Sauron has a saying that everyone I see is my owner. It means that all the places he can see are his property. As for other people, from officials and nobles to merchant residents. What they used for their residence was temporarily "lent" to them by Sauron.

The taxes in the Pontifical Council are so heavy that people can't breathe. The same is true for civilians, even mayors like Bernard Sr.

Only the high group of people in the Pope's Hall can really enjoy it.

Handing the report to the housekeeper, old Bernard sighed. Gerry whispered, "Mayo, I just received a notice from the Pope's Office to readjust the tax rate yesterday..."

"Has the tax rate dropped?"

Gri smiled bitterly and said, "No, the notice states that from next year, the original tax rate will have to be increased by another 5 percentage points."

"5 percentage points!" Old Bernard roared excitedly, "If it goes on like this, everyone will be happy. In this case, it's better to let the pirates call. When those damn noble men were drinking wine and eating barbecue, our people were starving and freezing!"

The housekeeper quickly persuaded, "Mr. Bernard, stop it. It's not a good thing to spread this out.

"What are you afraid of? It's a big deal. Anyway, if it goes on like this, maybe we won't be able to live next winter. Old Bernard's tone gradually lowered, and finally turned into a sigh.

The heavy tax is annoying, but what can they do if they are attached to the Pope's Hall? As long as the papal hall is still there for one day, they will have to survive in the narrow gap of breathing.

"Let's have breakfast together and see how Bluebridge and Mason are doing." Old Bernard patted the housekeeper on the shoulder and waved his hand to let the maid go down first.

Gri accompanied the mayor to the living room and said with a smile, "Not everything is bad. At least Livi and Senna should be very happy these two days."

"Why?"

"Last night, both of them's hotels were chartered by people. Nearly 100 gold coins were entered overnight. When I saw them in the morning, they still laughed so much." Gerry shook his head and said with great envy.

Rivi and Senna have each opened a hotel in the town, but since the beginning of winter. Not to mention them, the tourists in the town have become very rare, and from the situation in the past half month, the tourists have almost disappeared. Therefore, there suddenly appeared passengers who needed to charter, and they also chartered two hotels, which showed that the number was quite large, at least nearly 100 people. Old Bernard can't help but wonder why there are so many passengers at this time.

"Let's go and have a look after breakfast."

Hearing what the mayor said, Gerry smiled and said, "Is the mayor going to charge them a little tax?"

"Then their mother-in-law has to quarrel in the mayor's office every day." Old Bernard smiled.

At this same time, Ling opened the curtains, making **'s two daughters, Lia and Cindera frown and turn over to sleep again. Ling came out in a thin coat. In the hotel restaurant, Su and Haiwei were eating breakfast. It is said to be breakfast, that is, a few slices of bread without burnt bread and boiling hot water, but it is already good food for this hotel.

After zero decided to attack the city of rock, after gathering tridents and powerful generals, a total of about 100 people left Kage and arrived in the city of Yoch last night after nearly a week. Zero directly chartered two adjacent hotels as a place to stay for everyone, and it is only about 70 kilometers from here to the City of Rock. If the army travels at full speed in less than an hour, so now, Zero is not in a hurry.

Seeing him come down, Haiwei moved a chair and greeted him, "Head, come here for breakfast."

Zero is not polite and squeezed into their table. At this time, the Wolf King Cayton and Berian also came. Except for the maple who was transferred to Rome to protect the Pope, his core combat strength was basically all.

He bit off a piece of bread and said, "Head, isn't it too conspicuous for us to swagger in like this? As long as we are not blind, we know that we will not be a so-called caravan.

With zero smile, he did charter two hotels in the name of the caravan last night. But in fact, there is a caravan wrapped in a hooded cloak like them, and they are all murderous.

"As long as they make money, they won't care. Last night, I talked to the hotel owner for a while, and the man named Sennar vomited a lot of bitterness to me. Sure enough, as rumored, the Papal Hall has adjusted the tax rate on the territory very high and has been tightly pressed to the basic lifeline of civilians. And listening to Sennar's tone, it seems that the tax only rises and does not fall, and they are all very resentful. Ling took a sip of clear water and said, "In this situation, if dozens of gold coins are suddenly added, and we don't cause any trouble, I don't think he will make fun of himself. After all, we live in this hotel, and in case something happens as the boss, he can't get rid of it.

Haiwei has been lively for a long time. After stuffing a piece of bread into her mouth and swallowing it, she said, "Head, let's talk about interesting things. Ye Liu didn't sleep last night and went for a walk in the Rock City, and brought back the details of the other party's city defense. What do you think we should do? If it's an assassination, I won't go. Just let Ye Liu go.

As she said, her face suddenly changed, and a glass of water in front of Liu was poured down. Then she breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that she had just swallowed.

Assassination? I don't think it's necessary." He drew a square shape on the table with water, and said a little in the direction of the gate, "When Oran came, he brought a message. It is said that Sauron has transferred all the remaining leaders of the Knights of the Holy Seal back to Rome in order to study how to deal with us. So now there is only one regular army in the Rock City, and there is no need for us to use any assassination.

He drew an arrow pointing to the gate in the direction of the gate: "With our strength, we can push it flat. Their gate is not a wall of sighs, but I think the name is very appropriate. But this time, it's time for Solon to sigh for it.

After saying that, he smiled faintly. There is no high fighting spirit, only strong self-confidence.

A short man suddenly ran over. He was Senna, the owner of the hotel. Senna ran to Zero and whispered in his ear, "No, Mayor Bernard came over and said he wanted to see you."

I haven't seen anyone who opened a hotel. Like Zero and the people he brought knew at a glance that they were not a caravan, but Zero said that they only lived for one night, so Senna and Levi dared to accept them. Unexpectedly, the mayor came before they left.

Old Bernard is a good talker, but that doesn't mean he is blind. Even Senna can see that zero is not simple, and how can old Bernard not see it? The mayor is usually a kind person, and he really has nothing to say to the residents of the town. But after all, he has a different position. Senna can pretend not to know, and old Bernard may not be like this. And once this is broken, in case they are unknown people, both hotels will be implicated.

Zero said slowly, "Please prepare a quiet room for me, and I will entertain the town mayor in person."

Senna suddenly cast a solemn look at him.

Ling smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to him. If I wanted to, you would not have lived today."

Senner looked at those people again, and finally nodded and went down to arrange.

"You eat, I'll meet this guest. Then, let's go." Zero stood up and left.

A moment later, in the room arranged by Senna, Ling saw old Bernard and the housekeeper Grieg. In addition to them, there were several soldiers who stood behind the mayor and looked at Zero maliciously.

With zero smile, he stretched out his hand and said, "Dear Mayor Bernard, please take care of me when we meet for the first time."

Old Bernard smiled and shook hands with Zero and said, "Well, I heard that you are businessmen. But I'm very confused. There is no road in this season. I don't know what kind of business you do?

"Our business is very special, so please forgive me for being frank here. If Mr. Mayor wants to know, please back off. I can only sue Mr. Bernard alone.

The housekeeper couldn't help saying, "There is something that can't be said in front of everyone, unless... what you have done is a shady business."

"Oh?" Ling said lightly, "This gentleman's guess is really interesting."

Old Bernard said at this time, "Gri, you go out with others first. I want to have a good talk with this gentleman."

Gri's face changed. He wanted to say something but was stopped by the mayor, so he had to greet the soldiers to leave the room. At this time, old Bernard said, "What do you have to say now?"

But when the two shook hands just now, the petty tail finger wrote a word in old Bernard's palm, which was a killing word. He also released a faint energy jet from his fingertips, but slightly cut old Bernard's skin like a sharp knife to let the mayor know that he was not an ordinary person. In this era, as long as you are not a fool, you will know that the capable are powerful, and the few soldiers brought by Bernard old are not the opponents of the capable at all.

What's more, if Zero is a capable person, how can other people living in the hotel now be ordinary people? This was undoubtedly the most obvious threat signal for Bernard the Elder, so the mayor cooperated with his words to send the others away.

After standing a little farther, he spread out his hand and said, "As you can see, I'm a businessman. But there is another layer of identity..."

For some reason, old Bernard suddenly felt a burst of heartbeat, and he almost let Zero go on, but in the end, curiosity prevailed. He said, "Please speak."

"My name is Zero..."

Old Bernard's pupils suddenly narrowed, and he seemed to have heard the name somewhere.

"Cage City and even the Cannon Fortress are now my territory. I am the leader of the Sea God Regiment. This is my other identity." He said in a plain tone, as if he were talking about a trivial thing.

But his words kept echoing in old Bernard's ears like thunder.

Zero......

The leader of the Nepun...

Old Bernard only felt a whirlwind, and there seemed to be only two colors left in the world. Zero's figure fluctuated, which made him feel a little disgusted and uncomfortable. The mayor gasped violently, and it was not until a moment later that he smiled bitterly, "If I had known the answer, I wouldn't have known. Hey..."

"It's nothing. Anyway, you will know sooner or later." Zero said.

Old Bernard gritted his teeth and said, "So you came here for the City of Rock? Is your army outside the town?

"No, in fact, there are only two hotels."

Old Bernard showed a complicated expression and finally shook his head and said, "You must be crazy. Do people dare to attack White City just by this? Well, now that you tell me these secrets, are you ready to kill people? I just want you to let others go. After all, they don't know the truth.

Zero looked at him with great interest and said, "The mayor is indeed a responsible person, which Senner has been stressing to me last night. But this time you guessed wrong. I'm not going to kill you. I just want you to make a request.

"What request?"

"After I hit the Rock City, you helped me persuade Bluebridge and Mason to accept my management. To be honest, I don't want to kill needlessly, but if someone opposes it, I don't mind repaying it. Zero said again, "But I don't think you will refuse, because my welfare is much better than that of Pesolon."

"I heard that Sauron requires you to pay 70% of the tax every quarter. I happen to be the opposite of him. As long as 30%, what do you think?"

"It's very powerful, but how can you guarantee it?"

"Cage City." Zero smiled and said, "If you don't believe it, you can send someone to have a look." I don't need you to pay too much tax. What I need is your loyalty. Besides, Sauron is not a person worth following, is he? The mayor should know that in the recent Rome, in the divine metaphor published by His Royal Highness Paul, Sauron was listed as a divine figure.

"Can such a person become your faith?"

Old Bernard was speechless for a moment. He knew that the use was offensive tactics. Rome in the western continent is a theocracy, and Pope Paul has recently won the name of the Son. He has told Sauron's crimes in the name of God, which is obviously divided into the opposite of God. Such a ruler is naturally not a good follower. But the problem is that Sauron is still the real leader of Rome. Even Bernard Sr. is unwilling to follow him, but he can't show it too much.

Otherwise, what awaits him is the winch.

"It doesn't matter. You don't have to answer me now." Zero patted him on the shoulder and said, "In another hour or so, we will leave the town for the Rock City. If you don't get the news of the broken city tomorrow, you don't have to pay attention to it. It's just that if I break through Baicheng, I hope the mayor can do me a little favor.

"You said that, can I still refuse?" Old Bernard shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Zero's conditions were already very generous. He did not let old Bernard agree immediately, but gave him a wait-and-see opportunity. Zero, if you fail, you don't need to talk about anything. But if he succeeds, he will not dare to hold him back if he has ten times.

Thinking about the characters who can beat the Rock City with just a hundred people, there is no choice but to cooperate with him obediently.

After Zero left, old Bernard was about to stand up, but his legs softened back to the chair. At this time, he found himself sweating coldly, and his legs and stomach kept trembling. He shook his head and laughed: "I'm really old."

As Zero said, an hour later, his people had disappeared into the town. Standing on a clock tower in the town and looking at 100 people along the road to the rocky city not far away, old Bernard was in a complicated mood. Now even he is not sure which side he wants to win.

Near noon, Harlem, the guard, stood in the No. 3 sentry tower of the Rock City, routinely looked at the surrounding environment of the city with binoculars, and reported the words "all is normal" to the control center with a walkie-talkie.

In fact, since the beginning of winter, the army of the Rock City has received martial law orders to prevent pirates from attacking at any time. But most soldiers, including people like Harlem, think that this is impossible at all. As long as there is some common sense, they know that when marching in winter, radiation snow alone will kill army soldiers.

And it has been calm during this period, which confirms everyone's idea. Not only the soldiers think so, but also the interim commander Maga. However, the soldiers can't hide in their warm mansions like commanders and enjoy delicious food and wine. On this cold morning, they still have to wear radiation-proof clothes on the walls of the White City.

This is not a pleasant job. The wall of White City is 60 meters high, which is simply the height of a tall building. Imagine standing on the rooftop of a 60-meter-high building, and the roaring cold wind is enough to freeze people's souls. Harlem is not bad. His position is mainly in the sentry tower. After all, he is an observer rather than a fireman, which makes him glad that he has always had a good relationship with the captain, otherwise he would have to be on duty in the cold wind like others.

He yawned and looked from the sentry tower. The blood-stained road was silvery white, and the radiation snow on both sides of the road decorated the world silvery white. If you look at it for a long time, it will even affect people's eyesight. But at this time, Harlem inadvertently looked down the road and seemed to see something moving.

At first, he thought it was a small animal. He looked at it lazily with a telescope, but saw that it was a team of travelers. There were about a hundred people, all wearing windbreakers and covering their faces.

It's just that Harlem is surprised. How can there be a caravan coming this season?