Six men carrying bulging backpacks got off the ocean-going smuggling ship that had just docked. After walking around on the dock, they reluctantly walked towards the three-story stone building called the customs house. This is a must-pass checkpoint for all smugglers arriving at the Port of Kaubichus in Tierheim Region.
"Name" The customs officer in blue and black uniforms looked at the six tough men in front of him. It was obvious that he judged that this was another group of smugglers who came to purchase goods from overseas autonomous territories.
"My name is Grua Ferdi, and they are all my companions. His name is Modani Giarasuo," the leader of the big man introduced himself and his companions' names to the customs officials in front of him with a smile on his face.
It's just that the customs officials were not interested in their self-introductions. They lowered their heads and registered the names of the first Hanbao in a form, and then continued to ask: "Where are you from and what is the name of the ship you boarded?"
"We are from Crusuya, coming on the Silver Cod." The big man at the head replied.
Crusuya is the abbreviation of the colony of the Kingdom of Resnia in the southern region of Farea continent on the Nubisian continent. Crusuya colony was developed relatively early among the colonies on the west coast, covering an area of about three to four It is as big as Tiersim State and is home to nearly three million Resnians. It produces high-quality sheep wool and ostrich skins, and is rich in timber and mineral resources.
Hearing that the six big men in front of them came from Crusuya on the Silver Cod, the customs officials further confirmed their identities as smugglers. Instead of asking questions, he quickly recorded the answers of the big man on the form, and then handed the completed form to a colleague next to him. The colleague copied the contents of the form onto another form paper, took out the customs seal and stamped the names on the two forms, and then handed the copied form paper back to the first person. custom officals.
After checking that the content copied on the form was correct with what he had registered, the first customs official signed his name on it and stamped it. Then he handed the form in his hand to the big man in front of him:
"The customs clearance fee is one riaso per person. Keep this form well. You can use it to prove your identity when the patrol police interrogate you. In addition, this form is valid for three months. If it expires, your affairs will It has not been completed yet, and you need to apply for an extension at the local patrol department and civil affairs office. However, the procedures will be more complicated and the cost will be higher at that time."
The leading man took out a silver coin from his pocket and put it on the table respectfully: "Thank you, no need to look for it."
"Wait a minute." The customs officer checked the silver coins, then asked his colleague to type a receipt. He opened the drawer, put the silver coins in, and then counted out four banknotes and put them on the table: "This is what I found. "Take the money back. We are customs officers of the Dominion, not waiters in the tavern. We don't need your tip. Giving us a tip is an insult to our status."
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. Then thank you again." The big man at the head nodded sheepishly to express his apology. He reached out and picked up the banknotes on the table and looked at them curiously. There are two banknotes in total, three of them are dark silver, with the large characters of "one riaso" on them. There was only one bronze note marked Five Sunars.
"The low-denomination banknotes issued by our overseas dominions can be used as universal metal currency. If you meet a merchant in any state of the dominion who refuses to accept your banknotes, congratulations, you will make a fortune immediately. As long as there is evidence to prove that he refuses to use the dominion If you conduct transactions with this kind of banknotes issued by you, you will be able to get one-tenth of the defendant businessman's property. It is a pity that the Dominion has not found such a fool businessman until now."
The customs official, who was very leisurely at this time, joked about the big man in front of him. He had seen countless smugglers who were hesitant when they saw banknotes for the first time. However, most of the smugglers who took these banknotes into their arms had the idea of taking them home as souvenirs if they could no longer be used. Anyway, the printing was very beautiful and the value was not expensive.
But later, after the Dominion discovered the convenience of using these banknotes, these smugglers would go to the Overseas Minsheng Bank to exchange some banknotes and keep them with them, and were unwilling to exchange them again when they returned. It is said that these banknotes are now commonly used in the colonies of various countries on the West Coast, and the colonies there also lack low-denomination metal currencies.
The leading man put the four banknotes in his hand back into his pocket, nodded again to the customs officer, and turned around to take his companions away. Perhaps his politeness impressed the customs officer. He shouted at the back of the big man: "I'll give you a piece of advice. It's best to leave your weapons in the hotel and don't take them with you. Our overseas autonomous territories are very safe and orderly. If If you carry weapons on the streets, you will easily become the focus of the patrol police."
The leading man quickly turned around and thanked him repeatedly before leaving the customs with his companions.
"What a joke are we not to bring weapons? If we encounter the enemy or that despicable woman, wouldn't we be like toothless hunting dogs? What can we use to deal with the enemy and that woman?" A stout man next to the leader of the big man whispered dissatisfiedly. complained.
"You are the only one who talks too much." The leading man glared angrily at the stout man who complained: "That customs official is right. If the order here is good, it will be more conspicuous for us to take weapons on the streets. Don't forget the misery of the third team. Encounter. In Laziode, they were treated as robbing horse bandits by the local garrison, and a fierce gun battle broke out. In the end, they all died heroically on the street because they ran out of ammunition. Isn't this a profound lesson
Our top priority now is to first find the whereabouts of that despicable woman. She has been out of our sight for nearly half a month. In Farea Continent and the West Coast Colony, she has been dealing with us for two or three years. We swore a blood oath that we must kill her to avenge our Majesty. Unless we all die, we will go to the ends of the earth to find her and kill her."
The leader's face became ferocious as he spoke. He would never forget that bloody night. They just thought that His Majesty wanted to have a night with that beautiful woman. In order to avoid suspicion, they deliberately relaxed their personal guards and kept a wider distance. As a result, that despicable woman was found. But he took advantage of the opportunity and assassinated His Majesty. Only then did the guards realize that the woman was actually a well-hidden magician, and they were easily able to escape from the encirclement by her.
This is the biggest dereliction of duty of these personal guards from the kingdom's special department. No one will forgive the fault of these people. Because they were originally members of the kingdom's special department that dealt with those magicians, but it was their negligence that led to His Majesty's assassination. Just as many angry officers said to the guards kneeling in front of His Majesty's soul: "Why are you trashes still alive? If I were you, I would have committed suicide in shame."
It's not that they don't want to commit suicide, but they want to find that despicable woman and the conspirators who instigated her to assassinate His Majesty, and bring her head and theirs back to His Majesty's tomb for a memorial ceremony before committing suicide. It's just that the woman was too cunning. They spent two or three years fighting that woman several times, but they never got what they wanted. On the contrary, more than half of the more than 40 people who were chasing this woman were lost due to various accidents, and now there are only about 20 people left.
"Boss, don't get excited yet." The round-faced man next to the leader of the big man, who looked kind and approachable, advised: "That despicable woman couldn't hide in the Farea continent, so we chased her to the west coast of the Nubisia continent. Although we have suffered a lot of losses in the past two years, we have forced her to have nowhere to hide, and she had to flee overseas to be brought under the direct jurisdiction. This should be the last place she can hide. Once we find her, she will have nowhere to hide. But if she escapes, we will definitely catch her and find out the truth behind the assassination of His Majesty and the instigator."
The leading man took a deep breath, slowly calmed down, and the look on his face became calm again: "Thank you, Egg, it's my fault. You know, as long as I think of that night and your Majesty's The body is right in front of me, and I can't control my emotions. Now let's find a place to stay. You go and mark it for our companions behind.
By the way, Egg, I remember that there used to be lurking spies arranged by our special department in the overseas territories. I don’t know if they are still there. You can take two people to try and see if we can still contact them. I don’t know if they have been taken back by the kingdom’s current special department. If we can contact them, maybe they can help us a lot.”
The round-faced man nodded: "Okay, when we find a place to live, I will take someone to check it out. Head, look at the patrol policemen over there. They have been staring at us. If we weren't standing at the customs gate, they would They might just come to us, so it’s better to find a place to settle down first.”
"It's okay, it's up to me." The big man in the lead had regained his shrewd nature and walked towards the patrol policemen across the street with a smile on his face, holding the form handed to him by the customs officer in his hand. When he arrived in front of the patrol officers, he gave a half-bow, then handed the forms in his hands to the patrol policemen to look at, talked with a smile, and then waved goodbye to the patrol policemen.
"Hey, boss, how did you do it? Those patrolmen ignored us." The round-faced man asked in surprise.
The big man at the head sighed: "This place is really safe as the customs official said. Those patrol policemen paid attention to us because the large backpacks we carried behind us looked like weapons. It's clear. I just handed this form to them for review and said it was our first time here, but they didn't take it seriously. They just warned us not to carry long-range and heavy weapons in the city to avoid being rushed by the patrol police in the event of a dispute. "accidental injury"
"So it's okay to carry short weapons?" the round-faced man asked.
The leader nodded: "You can carry swords and knives, but don't carry muskets and crossbows with you. Look, we are registered as smugglers on this form. No one carries muskets and crossbows on the ship." I agree, but if you carry these weapons in the city, you will easily be misunderstood as having evil intentions. Just remember this when you go out and take a sword with you for self-defense. There is no need to bring all your special muskets."
"We understand." The five big men around him nodded.
"Okay, let's call a carriage." The leading man said: "Just now, two patrolmen recommended the Red Stone Flower Tavern in Nancheng, saying that the food there is delicious, the maids are cute and considerate, the service is attentive, and the prices are relatively affordable. Let's just Let’s go and stay at the Red Stone Flower Tavern and wait there for the arrival of our subsequent companions.”
The round-faced man led two companions out of the Red Stone Flower Tavern, called a carriage and drove towards the city gate. When they got near the city gate, they got off the carriage and paid the fare, and started to circle around the houses in that area. Half an hour later, he finally found two intersecting triangles on the bluestone foundation of a shop along the street. This picture looks like a naughty boy's drawing on the surface of the stone, but if you look closely, you can find that this picture is carved on the bluestone.
"Let's go to the store to see if he is the contact person we are looking for." The round-faced man entered the store with his two companions, and they came out after about ten minutes. It was obvious that whether it was the owner of the store or None of the clerks in the store were the contacts they were looking for.
"We asked around here and said that we were interested in this shop and wanted to find out where the owner lives." The only result was that they found out that the shop was rented and that the owner did not live here. It seemed that he was here. There is another residence in the city.
In the evening, a round-faced man and two companions appeared in an alley in Xicheng. They looked at a small door inside and knocked on it.
"Who is it?" came a voice from inside.
"Excuse me, does Mr. McBroom live here?" the round-faced man asked.
The sound inside suddenly disappeared. After a while, there was the sound of rapid footsteps, the small door was opened, and an old man in his fifties came out of the door. He looked at the round-faced man and the other three people suspiciously: "Mai." Mr. Brome doesn't live here, but his cousin Mr. Dumblerius and his family do."
The round-faced man laughed: "Then Mr. Dumblerius also has a younger brother named Kenriak, who is the steward of Viscount Murillot in the royal capital?"
The old man breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes, he lives in the Baron's Baiqiu Mountain Castle. You are delivering a letter to him, right? Then come in first and then talk about it."
The three round-faced men entered the small door. Inside was a large courtyard and a two-story, three-bay bluestone brick building.
The old man closed the door and looked back at the three round-faced men: "You are the special department from the royal capital that has been reorganized."
The round-faced man shook his head with difficulty, and the old man suddenly became alert: "Then who are you, and how do you know this secret order from ten years ago?"
"We, we haven't returned to the capital for several years, and we don't know what's going on in the capital now." The round-faced man took out a dark iron plate from his arms and handed it to the old man: "This is our identity certificate. There are two of them too, we are members of the SWAT team.”
The old man was very knowledgeable. He could tell the origins of the three men with round faces just by looking at the iron plates: "You are just reserve members of the special service team. Official special service members all have silver number plates. What big thing happens that requires the reserve members of the special service team to join the team?" Everyone needs to be dispatched.”
"Let's talk inside the house. We've been looking for you all afternoon. We're exhausted. Get us some water." The round-faced man asked tiredly and curiously: "Why can a lurking spy like you leave?" The contact point moved here. Is the magician who you were monitoring dead?"
The old man led the three people into the house and sighed: "I don't know whether he is dead or not. The problem is that I don't know where the magician I want to monitor has gone. A few years ago, the ash disaster on Shigros Island occurred in the overseas territories. The Tower Mage came to assassinate several generals in the war zone. Subsequently, the war zone carried out a large-scale purge in all the directly-administered territories, and all the reclusive magicians were arrested and taken away.
The magician I was ordered to monitor was no exception, and he never came back. I once used my neighbor's name to report to the patrol team that he was missing, but I was scolded and told that it was a war zone secret and I was not allowed to pry around. If I continue to investigate, I'm worried that I will be arrested. So I wrote a report and sent it back to the capital, but there was no reply from the capital.
Then the civil war broke out in the kingdom, and the kingdom's mainland and overseas territories were cut off. A few years later, even this overseas territory has declared autonomy. My house next to the city gate was favored by someone who was wealthy and powerful, so I had no choice but to rent it to them as a shop. You are the first group of people to come and contact us using the secret connection order from the special department ten years ago. I thought you were from the royal capital and wanted to rewire the wiring here and arrange for spies to come."
The round-faced man felt a little disappointed: "When Prince Hansback escaped from the royal capital, more than half of the people in the special department chose to follow the prince. Later, the prince made a surprise attack on the royal capital from the sea and regained control of the royal capital. , we discovered that the kingdom’s special department was almost gone. The remaining people were either working as bodyguards for powerful people or were scattered and missing. Things in the warehouse were looted, and we don’t know who did it.
During the civil war, we suffered a lot of casualties, and we lost many of them trying to protect the eldest prince from being assassinated. Later, the eldest prince ascended the throne in the royal capital, and our special department had less than 60 people. Later, His Majesty was defeated and evacuated Bailu City, returning to the newly occupied territory. Then he was assassinated. From then to now, we only have about twenty pieces left. "
"Then what do you want to do when you come to me this time? Don't tell us that you want to assassinate several generals in this autonomous military region. That is simply not something you can do. I don't want to get involved in such a thing." The old man said with a look on his face Said defensively.
"No." The round-faced man shook his head and took out a small portrait from his arms: "Although these generals from overseas territories have also betrayed our Majesty, we have no intention of causing trouble for them. We This time I came here to find the woman in the portrait. She should have arrived here half a month ago, and her current whereabouts are unknown.
She is the murderer of His Majesty, and we have been looking for her for three years. She has been on the run from us all the way from the west coast to here in the Dominion. We must find her and kill her to avenge His Majesty. By the way, she also has a little black dog with her."
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