Chapter 129: Fierce Sand Escort Bureau

Lin Manzhi chuckled lightly and shook her head.

Mo Lie still has quite a charismatic personality; so quickly he won the former leader of the Iron Claw Gang to trust and follow him, and he also raised a force of more than twenty thousand warriors in the chaotic, unruly Xicheng Qu.

At this development speed, conquering the whole Kuangsha City in the future will be faster than what the original book wrote.

Fine, with Mo Lie expanding his power, she must also quickly open up the money‑making business.

As for the name… let's call it the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau, after all Kuangsha City will eventually fall into Mo Lie's hands, so the bureau might as well be called that.

Lin Manzhi works very quickly; that afternoon she took Ning Tie to work.

Ning Tie selected formidable male beasts to become escort masters for the bureau; while Ning Tie was gathering the team, she chose a shop on the busiest commercial street of Xicheng Qu.

The shop was taken over from the former Xicheng leader Xiang Sa; it is large, occupying a three‑story building with a courtyard on the side of the commercial street.

According to the Beastfolk following nearby, previously this shop was used by Xiang Sa for various jewelry, ornaments, and fabrics.

Now the shop's goods have been transferred to her warehouse, and the shop is currently empty.

Lin Manzhi walked around the shop; the first floor has a high ceiling that can accommodate various beast‑type clients, the two upper floors are divided into five separate rooms for private negotiations and can also be used for her escort masters to rest, and the courtyard behind is planked, suitable for temporarily storing clients' cargo.

She was very satisfied with the layout and location here.

The next day, she went to meet Ning Tie and the selected escort masters; Ning Tie had already obeyed her and first told them about the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau.

Now, Lin Manzhi gave Ning Tie the detailed information about the bureau that she had written on exotic beast skin paper last night to read, and then trained the hundred selected escort masters.

When the Beastfolk heard that the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau was working for the leader, they saw the current situation in Xicheng and were especially eager to make a name for themselves so they could gain Mo Lie's favor.

Lin Manzhi sat inside the house, listening to Ning Tie speak outside, while the male beasts in the courtyard were all radiant with spirit.

The bureau takes on clients and does not allow harm to the clients or their cargo? Then, then we'll just obey the bureau; is this to build the bureau's reputation?

Then, Lin Manzhi also pre‑assigned positions—Chief Escort Head, Deputy Escort Head, escort masters, guard hands, accountant, outpost, logistics—and each month paid a basic salary in Beast Coin according to these ranks.

Correspondingly, those who performed poorly or harbored ulterior motives would be punished: the lightest penalty was to be expelled from the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau, the harshest could be hunted down by Xicheng Qu.

The male beasts in the courtyard cared more about the treatment they had just heard regarding punishment!

The highest salary, the Chief Escort Head, receives ten gold coins; the lowest salary still gets two gold coins, not counting the bonuses awarded after each escort mission based on profit.

Wow! Everyone's eyes lit up, eager to go find a merchant caravan now and take up a sword‑bearing post.

Lin Manzhi glanced at the expression of the male beasts outside; with money hanging in front, none of the Beastfolk among them refused to become escort masters.

Everything went smoothly; Lin Manzhi waved her hand and had uniform medals custom‑made for the Fierce Sand escort masters.

The medal's base is a shield‑shaped iron plate forged from black iron, centered with a deep‑blue crystal, its edges wrapped in hand‑drawn totems, and a pattern of three sharp claw marks crossed with the visage of a majestic male leopard.

When Ning Tie received the medal, he immediately threaded an exotic beast skin rope through the tooth‑shaped clasp on the plate's edge and eagerly pinned it to his chest.

"First Deputy Escort Head! My central crystal is blue! The Deputy Escort Heads are light‑blue, the others are black!" Ning Tie puffed out his chest, lightly touching the medal on his chest that represented the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau, and felt an inexplicable surge of pride.

Lin Manzhi told Ning Tie to distribute the medals to everyone and to hang the completed wooden signboard reading 'Fierce Sand Escort Bureau' at the shop's entrance.

Seeing that everything in the shop was ready, Lin Manzhi had someone bring out the custom‑made copper gongs and hand them to Ning Tie, instructing him to split them among several teams to continuously beat the gongs along the streets of Xicheng Qu to publicize the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau and its opening time.

Such promotion is essential; the various merchant caravans coming and going will know what the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau does. The shop is on the commercial street of Xicheng Qu, opening the day after tomorrow; anyone needing guards to protect their cargo should hurry and come find us.

Lin Manzhi also arranged at the shop entrance, custom‑making ten Fierce Sand Escort Bureau flags planted on stones, facing the wind; on the black background, the golden 'Fierce Sand Escort Bureau' unfurled in the yellow sand, flapping noisily.

It attracted countless Beastfolk to stop and watch; the leaders of merchant caravans hauling goods sneered inwardly, wondering which trickster came up with this deceitful scheme to lure them in.

This shop called the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau is downright brazen; looking at the ferocious male beasts inside, their eyes glowing green at the roadside, they must be after people's goods—it's a shady shop!

When the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau opens, you must stay away.

A few days of promotion made almost all Beastfolk in Kuangsha City aware that a Fierce Sand Escort Bureau had opened in Xicheng Qu.

As long as you pay enough, you can hire formidable guards; lately they've been shouting the laugh‑inducing slogan, 'Unless the desert swallows me, the escort will surely arrive.'

Now the reputation has spread; they say the shop opened today, yet there isn't a single customer inside, and even passing Beastfolk, frightened upon seeing the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau, immediately take a detour.

When Jia Jian in Central City received the news, he smiled.

Heh, do all little miscellaneous beasts really have a money‑making mind?

Jia Jian lounged on the plush sofa of the luxurious living room, while two beautiful females knelt at his side, gently waving fans made of shark silk fashioned like banana leaves, bringing a breeze scented with female pheromone.

Jia Jian, with a contented expression, squinted his eyes and lightly tapped his fingers on his own knee.

Creating such a stir in Xicheng Qu, he didn't believe it had nothing to do with that mysterious new leader.

These days, others couldn't get any news about the new leader of Xicheng Qu; the subordinates they sent out returned not only without information but all turned into mute corpses.

Ha ha, one might have thought the new leader of Xicheng Qu was a master of tactics, yet even they make such foolish, stupid decisions.

What kind of place is Kuangsha City? It's a den of bandits and thieves!

A merchant caravan that can reach here already maintains a loyal guard force of considerable strength, so how could they possibly come here seeking a group of unfamiliar guards?

Even if they needed to, they'd look for guards in the territories of other lords surrounding Kuangsha City.

At first glance it's a trap, or perhaps the other side never intended long‑term development, merely luring the wealth of small caravans from other districts—snatching whatever they can, hoping to amass riches quickly?

... Xicheng Qu must be so short of money to even adopt this shabby method!

After all, Xicheng Qu has just gone through a major internal conflict, Jia Jian leisurely thought, and additionally instructed his subordinates to sell this speculation as news about Xicheng Qu to the leaders of three other districts.