Odick made a call, but no one answered.
"Maybe the meeting was muted..." Odyk gave his guess as he ran.
Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao did not speak, and ran after them.
…
City Lord's Mansion, Noble Council Hall.
A long table was placed in the center, with the luxuriously dressed city lord Xu Liyan at the top, and three people sitting on each side.
These are the seven great nobles and council members at the top of Weed City, but since Hulde, the focus of power has shifted to the City Hall and the City Defense Army, and there is a certain force in the "First City" that controls these two departments. The supported city lords gradually emptied the council of nobles.
But in the current critical situation, even if Hulde were to die again, he would not dare to ignore the opinions of the other six great nobles.
They have private soldiers, manors, population, and various resource reserves. If they take advantage of the chaos and gather the wanderers in the wilderness, it will be enough to change the Weed City.
At this time, in the council hall, there were only two guards behind every great noble, even the city lord Xu Liyan.
This is a rule that has been gradually "developed" after the establishment of the council, after repeated frictions, repeated leaks, repeated coups, and bloodshed events:
You can only bring up to two bodyguards when entering the meeting room.
Likewise, great nobles and bodyguards can carry weapons, but they cannot be exposed.
The Weed City's regulation on weapons originated from the council.
-At that time, the leaders of various armed groups should not be allowed to lead the guards with weapons. They must be afraid of being attacked, worried that the city lord will suddenly drop his cup, and dozens or hundreds of gunmen will rush in and shoot. If you let them bring them, They have confidence in their hearts, and they are all characters who have experienced troubled times and blood at gunpoint. If they don't agree, a small battle may break out on the spot, involving other people.
Therefore, they can only let them put the guards outside, and only bring a certain number of bodyguards in to discuss matters. At the same time, the weapons must be hidden and cannot be seen, that is, they must be placed in a place that is not convenient for them to use. In this way, If they want to blow the head of a political enemy with a gun, there will be a buffer, allowing the neutral person to stop and let him calm down. In addition, they will also worry about whether the position of their guns is not good enough. If you pull a few seconds slower than the other party, even more than ten seconds, the fun will be great, it is better to be peaceful, just quarrel without guns.
As a set, similar gatherings have strict inspection of explosives, lest anyone sacrifice a happy family.
At this time, Xu Liyan's left side was Jing Nian, a mechanical monk in a robe, and his right side was his assistant Uncle Liu, who happened to be a martial artist.
Of course, it doesn't mean that Uncle Liu has no fighting ability.
When he was young, armed with two spears, he killed many enemies who wanted to break through Weed City and those who made a bloody coup.
However, now that he is older and less angry, he has found that he has a greater talent in handling political affairs, so his mantra has become "everyone should value harmony".
Xu Liyan looked around, did not use official or formal language, but said with a smile:
"Uncles and uncles, you should have seen what it looks like outside."
Seeing that his posture was very low, Zhao Zhengqi, the master of Zhao's house, touched the beard under his chin and said:
"City Lord, if you have anything to say, this is everyone's weed city, and there are people who are unwilling to contribute?"
Zhao Zhengqi is over fifty years old, and his beard is a little gray. In the generally thin gray soil, he is impressively fat.
One of the bodyguards behind him is a dead man raised by himself, and the other is his eldest son in his early thirties, mainly bringing familiarity with the style and process of the noble council.
Everyone's Weed City... Xu Liyan sneered to himself and said sincerely:
"There are many casualties now, and the manpower is very tight. The wilderness wanderers may break through the defense line of the municipal building at any time and rush into North Street. I also hope that all uncles and uncles will send out the private army in their respective mansions, form a team, and fight a counter-charge. Try to break up the wilderness wanderers and drive them out of the city before they really organize."
Zhao Zhengqi glanced at Merrich, his son's in-law, and asked him to speak first.
The Merridge family is of the Red River race, but after several generations of intermarriage, he also has obvious characteristics of the gray people, with softer facial features and not so large pores.
He has yellow hair and blue eyes, heavier nasolabial lines, and he always speaks slowly, as if the sky is falling and it is no big deal:
"City Lord, it's no problem to send private troops, Weed City belongs to everyone, can we just sit back and ignore it
"As long as you leave us the manpower to protect the mansion, the rest can be arranged by you.
"It's just that our people are not regular troops, they are trained to protect the mansion and protect the manor. Letting them fight counter-charges is not only difficult, but also may not have good results.
"How about this, let our people replace the city defense army and your guards, guard the North Bridge and the municipal building, and let the replaced regular troops do counter-charges?"
Because Xu Liyan speaks the grayish language, Murrich uses the same language, and his words are well-spoken and skillful, and he has done a lot of hard work at first glance.
As soon as Merrich's voice fell, Zhao Zhengqi and other noble members immediately agreed, saying that was the truth.
The veins on Xu Liyan's forehead jumped, and the hands holding both sides of the chair unconsciously tightened.
After receiving Uncle Liu's "harmony is the most precious" look, he squeezed out a smile and said:
"I can understand the concerns of your uncles and uncles. I also plan to select a group of uninjured personnel from the city defense army and the guards to form a separate team for counter-charge, but this number may not be enough. Choose some from the military."
After looking at each other, Zhao Zhengqi nodded first:
"Okay, just do it."
The other aristocrats did not bother with this issue anymore.
This is because they have their own interests in East Street, West Street and South Street. Not the actual owners of certain warehouses, hotel owners, grain shop owners, and major shareholders of nightclubs are all eager to solve those wild homeless people as soon as possible. , so that the damage to your property is less serious.
After conveying this decision and making it officially effective, Xu Liyan turned to the second topic:
"Uncles and uncles, the riots should subside soon, we have to discuss how to deal with the aftermath.
"Beyond North Street, I don't know how many civilians were killed and robbed. The next winter will be very difficult. I am willing to take the lead and donate some food to help them so that they can survive until the situation improves. Well, medical supplies will also be donated. Some, there must be a lot of people injured, and they may not have the money to pay."
As soon as Xu Liyan finished speaking, Zhao Zhengqi shook his head like a rattle:
"We don't have any food left.
"Besides, in just one morning, how much food can be lost in the city? If they are frugal, it will not be a problem to survive the winter."
What a joke, this is not their own "property", why should they be rescued
"Yeah." Merrich echoed, "What does it matter if some civilians die? We have enough slaves anyway."
"That's right, if you dare to make trouble, you will be driven out to be a wanderer in the wilderness." Zhang Wenxin, another aristocratic councilor, followed up and expressed his opinion, "When the situation stabilizes, as long as we have food for sale here, some people will come to live in Weed City, make up for it. Manpower gap."
Listening to their objections, Xu Liyan raised his hand and rubbed his forehead, only to feel his head buzzing.
He reluctantly maintained his demeanor and analyzed it powerfully:
"Considering that the soldiers' families live outside North Street, if they defect, then we can only escape to Primal City."
Zhao Zhengqi laughed and said:
"City Lord, don't worry, the family members of our private army are all in the manor."
But the city defense army is not... Xu Liyan only felt that the blue veins on his forehead jumped more and more violently.
Among the different objections of several other noble members, not only was his mind buzzing, but an illusory voice also seemed to be shouting in his ears:
"Blow them up!
"Blow them up!"
Xu Liyan's eyes gradually became a little dazed, he put his head in one hand, reached into his pocket with the other, and took out a small black remote control.
"Blow them up!
"Blow them up!"
The devil's roar kept echoing in his ears, making his breathing gradually heavier.
At this moment, the door of the noble council was opened.
A guard shouted inside:
"City Lord, Mr. Odik has an urgent matter to see you!"
Jiang Baimian at the door had excellent eyesight, and at a glance, he found that Xu Liyan's eyes were wrong.
It was dazed and crazy.
"Quick!" As she reminded Odick, she immediately pulled out her pistol and fired a shot at the crystal chandelier above the long table in the nobility council hall.
When Shang Jianyao drew his gun, he turned around and helped Jiang Baimian hold his back.
Bang and clatter sounded at the same time, and a large number of glass fragments fell.
The noble members present, except for Xu Liyan, were not too young, and had experienced some wars and riots. They were very sensitive to the sound of gunfire and responded immediately.
The slow-talking Murridge slid down and hid at the bottom of the table. The fat Zhao Zhengqi leaned on his waist, quickly jumped out of his seat, pulled his eldest son, and rushed to the corner...
Their bodyguards pulled out their guns, found their positions, and aimed at the door.
This gunshot also startled Xu Liyan, who was at the top, and made him wake up a little from the devil's roar, and his movements stopped.
But this little sobriety was soon overwhelmed again, Xu Liyan swept his eyes red, and was about to press the remote control in his hand.
At this moment, his eyelids suddenly became heavier, and he instantly lost consciousness, leaning back on the back of the chair, as if falling into a deep sleep.
Odick seized the short gap created by Jiang Baimian, and tumbled one by one, which has narrowed the distance between himself and Xu Liyan enough to use "forced sleep"!
Then, he saw the black and thick barrel.
This was "stretched out" from the hands of the mechanical monk Jing Nian.
"The city owner was hypnotized by the 'priest', and he will perish with the people here!" Odick quickly shouted out his guess.
This sentence stopped the counterattack of the bodyguards and the guards outside the room abruptly, and confronted Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao.
The mechanical monk Jing Nian continued to aim at Odick, stretched out his metal arm, and forcibly tore off Xu Liyan's coat.
The condition of the city owner was immediately revealed.
He had several loops of explosives tied around his waist, all high-performance products from the Orange Company.
Once this explosion, not only the people in the noble council room will not be spared, but even the next door and the next door will be destroyed.
The only possible survivor at the scene was the mechanical monk, Zen Master Jing Nian.