Chapter 140: Support

The news that the Three Great Gangs would no longer collect protection fees spread from ten to a hundred, from a hundred to a thousand, and very quickly throughout Luolong County; at first, the common people in Luolong County could not believe this news was true.

When the common people saw the gang members who used to collect protection fees on the streets really not collecting them and slinking away, they cheered and jumped for joy in excitement.

The common people in the city had been oppressed by the Three Great Gangs for many years; wherever there is oppression, there is resistance. At first, the common people had resisted, but they were suppressed with iron-blooded force by the powerful Three Great Gangs. In the conflicts, many common people died; these painful experiences, when spoken of, were all blood and tears.

The common people carried the corpses of their loved ones to the government office to report the crimes, begging the County Magistrate to uphold justice, but unfortunately, every time it was like a stone sinking into the sea, and nothing ever came of it.

The County Magistrate wanted to keep his official hat secure and dared not manage the Three Great Gangs at all. Precisely because of this, the Three Great Gangs became increasingly unscrupulous, exploiting the people by every possible means; the common people were helpless and could only endure it in silence.

The common people in Luolong County did not expect that under Meng Yifan's order, the Three Great Gangs would actually stop collecting protection fees. This news made the common people deeply grateful to Meng Yifan, and one after another, they identified with Meng Yifan's rule from the bottom of their hearts.

Meng Yifan and his son continued walking toward Wanxiang Tower. Along the way, common people kept bowing to the father and son, offering a basketful of words of gratitude, which made both men of the Meng family feel a bit embarrassed.

Meng Dayong was grinning from ear to ear; it had to be said, this feeling of being supported by the people was quite good.

Meng Yifan had the Three Great Gangs abolish the collection of protection fees precisely to win the hearts of the common people in the city. It seemed the effect was quite good. He took a look at his Game Panel; it showed that the number of subjects loyal to him was soaring rapidly, which made him unable to help but laugh out loud.

Meng Yifan held the Luolong County Great Seal; the more subjects loyal to him, the more Spiritual Power he could mobilize, and the stronger the combat power he could exert.

Not letting the Three Great Gangs collect protection fees could suppress the Three Great Gangs, help the common people, and enhance his own strength—this was a good deed that killed three birds with one stone, and Meng Yifan was naturally willing to do it.

Just now, during the standoff, Meng Yifan had also thought about going to war directly with the Three Great Gangs. The reason he gave up on opening fire in the end was, on one hand, that he did not want his soldiers to suffer heavy casualties, and on the other hand, it was the food crisis within Luolong County.

More than thirty thousand common people lived inside and outside Luolong County. According to the intelligence Meng Yifan had investigated, apart from the Warehouse controlled by Meng Yifan, the rest of the food was controlled by the Three Great Gangs.

The most critical point was that the Three Great Gangs were powerful and had the ability to transport food from other cities to Luolong County.

If Meng Yifan directly wiped out the Three Great Gangs, the food crisis in Luolong County would soon erupt, so Meng Yifan had to be extremely cautious about how to deal with the Three Great Gangs; he could not wipe them all out.

"How should I get food?" Meng Yifan was somewhat distressed. The area around Luolong County was originally a grain-producing region, but unfortunately, after three years of severe drought, coupled with the ravages of Demon Beasts, the land had become barren and many fields had been abandoned. Now, the food in Luolong County, besides the food in the Warehouse, mainly relied on being transported from other cities.

Outside Luolong County, there were Demon Beasts everywhere, as well as many bandits and robbers who occupied the mountains as kings. Ordinary merchants dared not go into business at all. At such a time, those who still dared to do business and the forces that sold food all possessed formidable power.

"The food crisis is not easy to solve." Meng Yifan was somewhat distressed. He had also thought about forming his own caravan to go to other cities to buy food.

But not to mention that his own strength was limited, if he were to pull troops away to buy food, the strength to guard Luolong County would be greatly discounted. Moreover, Meng Yifan was a rebel; with his status, even if he had money, he might not necessarily be able to buy food.

Meng Yifan shook his head and decided not to worry about food for the time being. The current plan was to first improve his own strength; as long as his strength was strong, there would always be a way to solve the food crisis.

…………

Jiang Tian returned to the Crocodile Gang's lair in a rage. Today, he felt he had lost all face. He had been repeatedly slapped in the face by Meng Yifan; even though it was Meng Yifan who killed the Crocodile Gang's men, he still had to apologize in public—it was truly too much.

Jiang Tian had roamed the pugilistic world for so long; it had always been him bullying others, and he had never been bullied like this before. He could not swallow this insult.

Just at this moment, a beauty dressed in red with a graceful figure walked over with tears in her eyes and cried, "Master, you must avenge Dajiao; he died so miserably."

"Slap!" Jiang Tian was already in a fit of anger and was feeling annoyed; hearing this woman's crying made his anger flare up even more. He slapped the beauty across the face, sending her spinning several times until she landed on her bottom on the ground.

The beauty's originally flawless white face instantly swelled up high. This beauty was named Xiong Cuilan, and she was Xiong Dajiao's biological older sister.

Jiang Tian had always pampered her, and she never expected that he would actually slap her today. Xiong Cuilan looked at Jiang Tian in disbelief, crying with tears streaming down her face, "You dead ghost, you actually dared to hit me! I don't want to live anymore, wuwu..."

"Get out, get out, hurry up and get out of here for me! If you want to die, go hit a wall outside yourself; don't come and bother me. If it weren't for that bastard Xiong Dajiao provoking Meng Yifan, how could I have been so embarrassed today?" Jiang Tian roared.

Xiong Cuilan looked at the roaring Jiang Tian, completely stunned. She dared not cry out loud anymore and could only cover her mouth, weeping silently as she left the place.

Seeing Xiong Cuilan's back, Jiang Tian also felt terrible inside. He had many women, but only Xiong Cuilan had given birth to a son for him, so Xiong Cuilan was very important in Jiang Tian's heart. The two had always had a good relationship and had almost never quarreled, let alone him hitting her.

This time, Jiang Tian was burning with rage and slapped Xiong Cuilan, and he felt some regret in his heart. However, Jiang Tian could not be bothered to coax the beauty now; he had to consider how to deal with Meng Yifan.

"No, I cannot let that brat Meng Yifan be so arrogant." Thinking of this, Jiang Tian got up and walked toward the underground hall of the Wuyou Gang. He wanted to discuss with Long Guxing how to deal with that group of rebels led by Meng Yifan.

Soon, in the underground hall, the heads of the Three Great Gangs gathered together once again.

Jiang Tian slammed the table and stood up, saying viciously, "Long Laoda, you don't know, that group of unruly people in the city, knowing that we aren't collecting protection fees anymore, are all grateful to that little brat Meng Yifan. Some people are even calling Meng Yifan a 'Blue Sky Magistrate' who makes decisions for the people. It's truly infuriating to watch! You tell me, when have the three of us brothers ever suffered this kind of insult?"

"If you ask me, don't worry about so much; just go to war directly with Meng Yifan. Meng Yifan and his men have many firearms and are good at positional warfare; we'll be at a disadvantage if we fight head-on. We should utilize our advantage of having many experts, take advantage of the night, and directly launch a sneak attack on Meng Yifan's troops. Once those nine hundred-plus soldiers are wiped out, let's see how Meng Yifan can still be arrogant."