Chapter 120: Someone Is Missing

「Are you working out every day lately? 」

In the Modern World, Su Tongtong lightly stroked Lin Dao's firm chest.

「I feel like you're stronger than before. 」

「Really? 」Lin Dao said doubtfully.

He himself didn't feel anything special.

It was just that his muscles were gradually becoming more defined, his endurance greater, and his strength somewhat increased.

「Maybe~」

Thinking it over carefully, Lin Dao wasn't sure if he was「busy lately? 」

He was indeed busy, constantly shuttling between different spaces, even calculating his sleep at night.

Su Tongtong shifted position in his arms, 「How much longer do I have to stay at the Company? 」

「By next Autumn Harvest. Autumn should be about right. 」

Once the Autumn Harvest came, he could completely free up his hands.

Having satisfied the most basic and largest-scale need of Grain, Lin Dao could truly relieve his work pressure.

At least by then, he wouldn't need to travel all over the Modern World purchasing various crops.

Holding two different spaces, Lin Dao's eyes no longer held the place of that domineering CEO.

What he saw now was greater.

Purely out of inertia, once the time was ripe he would casually settle him.

In Su Tongtong's eyes, however, Lin Dao had undergone earth-shaking changes.

No longer carrying that unwilling-to-lose spirit, striving to prove himself.

The current Lin Dao exuded a full aura of confidence.

And, a coldness that even made her feel a bit afraid.

She had never encountered desperadoes, so naturally she wouldn't know this was actually Killing Intent.

「In two days. 」Lin Dao gently patted her shoulder, 「I'm going on a business trip to South Africa, will you go? 」

Su Tongtong immediately thought of the hotel with long worms in the toilet.

Xiaoyi's face turned pale with fright, shaking her head repeatedly, 「No, no, never again. 」

She had feared these long worms since childhood, and as an adult feared them to a life-threatening degree, to the point where even imagining them made her tremble.

「It's fine, it's fine. 」Lin Dao comforted her, 「Then I'll go by myself. 」

Coming to South Africa again, after exiting the Airport, Lin Dao headed straight for his Shell Company.

His Shell Company here included the abandoned Gold Mine and the Import Export Trading Company.

Several local Employees did nothing all day, only getting busy for a while when they received a phone call.

The main work was keeping accounts and making tables.

Lin Dao arrived at the Company, first checked the accounts, then gave everyone a bonus and let them take a holiday.

The Employees cheered as they left, preparing to find a place to revel.

The only one left behind was the Company's Manager, the shrewd Enzo.

His full name was too long, the kind that made you trip over your tongue when saying it.

Usually they called him Enzo.

As for the shrewd Enzo, that was his nickname.

Tossing over a Leaf, looking at the thin black man before him, Lin Dao got straight to the point, 「Enzo, I want to get some self-defense weapons. 」

This country's public order was chaotic; as long as money could be made, anything could become a commodity.

Weapons were no exception.

「Boss. 」

Enzo skillfully lit the Leaf and nodded respectfully, 「You've come to the right person for this. 」

「For personal use, or commodity-level trade? 」

Lin Dao said with interest, 「Personal use. 」

Enzo's face showed disappointment.

If it were commodity-level trade, he would earn a large intermediary income.

「One Beretta, for close-quarters self-defense. 」

「One Uzi, for heavy firepower within a small range. 」

「One Remington M700, for, uh, hunting. 」

Enzo could become the Shell Company's Manager because he was a local Biao Tou She with a strong relationship network.

Otherwise, why would a good thing like a white-collar salary fall to him?

「No problem. 」Enzo nodded immediately, 「Boss, don't worry, I have a very good relationship with the Animal Park Chain Store, these are no problem. 」

「As for the Gun License, I'll help solve it too. 」

「I have a shop I often go to, the kind with a shooting range. 」

「I'll get a Shooting Range Membership for the Boss, you can go practice anytime. 」

Lin Dao gave a Satisfied Nod.

A Biao Tou She is a Biao Tou She.

For him, a foreigner, some things were very troublesome, but for a Biao Tou She, they could be easily solved.

Lin Dao took out a stack of banknotes and handed them over, 「As soon as possible. 」

「Boss. 」Enzo skillfully took the banknotes, pinching them with his fingers to roughly know the value, 「Please trust my ability. 」

The next day at noon, Lin Dao was already standing on the shooting range, accompanied by two professional staff members, beginning shooting training.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Used up the bullets, following the prescribed steps to engage the safety, both hands leaving the weapon.

Lin Dao shook his hands vigorously.

This thing called truth, to get the hang of it, isn't as simple as imagined.

Long-term training is indispensable.

Lin Dao's purpose in messing with these weapons is also very simple: to protect himself.

Chongzhen Spacetime is different from Yonghe Spacetime; by the late Ming, firearms had already undergone tremendous development.

Both firelocks and artillery exist, with tremendous lethality.

Like in Yonghe Spacetime, driving a car to ram and charge isn't very suitable.

Plus, there's a lack of effective protective forces around him.

At this time, the role of advanced weapons becomes prominent.

Rested for a bit, Lin Dao started training again.

The so-called Divine Archer isn't actually that exaggerated.

Unless truly gifted by nature, the vast majority of people are fed into it through massive amounts of training, using bullets.

Lin Dao doesn't believe he's gifted by nature — at least in shooting, in using Truth, he has no exceptional talent — so he can only improve himself through training.

For several consecutive days, he was busy training on the shooting range.

This time he'll stay in South Africa for a period of time.

Obtaining Truth, practicing Truth is just incidental work.

More importantly, under the guise of a mine, to get a batch of chemical products.

Lin Dao doesn't believe that in Chongzhen Spacetime, training refugees for a period of time would enable them to face off against wandering bandits, Court Retainers, Guan Ning Iron Cavalry, and the Wild Boar Skin elites.

Those guys are all veterans who've been on the battlefield many times; their technical-tactical abilities and battlefield minds are extremely outstanding.

Refugees trained for a few months can beat them?

Even if they can beat them, they'll inevitably suffer severe losses.

These refugees who attend night school every day cannot be lost in vain on the battlefield.

Ming Dynasty refugees are different from the Beggar Army.

The Beggar Army fights year-round; those who survive all have experience.

Eat their fill, equipped with excellent equipment, and they can take to the battlefield to decide the outcome.

But the late Ming refugees are really just refugees.

Walking all shaking, refugees who might become roadside corpses at any moment.

For this, Lin Dao's response strategy is to upgrade their weapons.

Large-scale equipping of firelocks and artillery.

Using the weapon generational advantage to crush the enemy army.

The corresponding smelting and manufacturing equipment, as well as the crucially important gunpowder raw materials, have long since been loaded on ships and are about to arrive at South Africa's ports.

Distant mountains dyed by rosy clouds, sunset dusk.

This day's practice ended, Lin Dao returned to his rented house.

He had little interest in the local food, and set off for Chongzhen Spacetime.

"Master~~~"

Seeing Lin Dao come out, Dong Xiaowan, who had been waiting for a long time, happily stepped forward: "The meal is already prepared."

"Mm."

Arriving at the Flower Hall and sitting down, the round table was already filled with plates.

Dong Xiaowan's culinary skill is truly beyond reproach.

The dishes are not only beautiful but also taste very good.

Especially after Lin Dao provided many seasonings brought from the Modern World, it became even more delicious.

As for Chen Yuanyuan, who lacks this culinary skill, she can only act as a maid, helping serve rice and arrange dishes.

Lin Dao always eats very fast, wolfing down his food until full, then setting down the soup bowl in his hand.

Chen Yuanyuan at his side timely handed over a warm towel.

On this side, Dong Xiaowan even directly wiped for him.

"No wonder so many people like to transmigrate back to the ancient world."

Beautiful girls actively serving — this kind of thing in the Modern World is something the vast majority of people can't enjoy.

Especially those earning a few thousand a month, who can't even bear to pay for overtime — they can only dream of returning to the ancient world.

"Master."

Chen Yuanyuan cleared the table, while Dong Xiaowan spoke of a matter.

"A child is missing from the Prefecture."

These words made Lin Dao startled: "What?"

"It's Qiu Chan's little sister; this morning while following her mother out to shop, she got lost."

Previously at the Slave Market, Dong Xiaowan and Chen Yuanyuan each selected ten maids, bringing their whole families to reside in this Prefecture.

Qiu Chan and such are the new names they gave.

Their families also work in the Prefecture; Qiu Chan's mother is responsible for purchasing melons, fruits, and vegetables.

Unexpectedly, this morning when going out to shop, she brought along her only five-or-six-year-old little daughter, but she was kidnapped by someone.

After hearing the whole story, Lin Dao frowned slightly. "Have you reported it to the officials?"

"It has been reported."

Dong Xiaowan's expression was difficult. "But the officials~ My Lord, in these times, unless a powerful eunuch's household submits a xunzhang, otherwise~"

Otherwise they just record it for you; whether it can be found again, that would have to wait until the Year of the Monkey and the Month of the Horse.

Lin Dao, who had been practicing spear for a long time and originally planned to rest, raised a hand and rubbed his brow.

"Dispatch people to find the city foxes and temple rats' officials and bring them over."

After more than an hour, a certain street boss from the nearby streets came before Lin Dao.

Hearing Lin Dao speak a few sentences, the street boss immediately understood. "My Lord, this matter must be the work of those beggar children."

"All kidnapping children incidents within Jinling City are done by beggar children; they have nothing to do with us."

They mainly engage in targeted kidnapping; the kidnapping children on the main streets are the beggars' scope of work.

The street boss further provided intelligence. "If it's the Dongjie Vegetable Market, it must be the work of that gang of beggar children by the Pearl Bridge."

Lin Dao felt a slight blockage in his heart. "I'll put up silver; can you exterminate all the beggars in Jinling City?"

The street boss was first surprised and delighted, then his face showed difficulty.

"My Lord." He softly responded. "The beggar children in this Jinling City all have background connections."

"Their Beggar Chiefs all have Powerful Figures behind them."

"The beggar children in the city number no less than ten thousand; if a big commotion really arises, that would be a major affair."

"Besides, even if they really were all exterminated, before long, new beggar children would appear again."

Wanting to beg for food in Jinling City, how could it be that easy.

Those without background connections behind them have long since starved to death.

To thoroughly eradicate them, one must first exterminate the background connections behind them.

"What is your name?" Lin Dao suddenly asked. "Where are you from?"

The street boss was overjoyed, thinking he had been noticed by a Noble, and hurriedly replied. "This lowly one is Jin You Tian, from Jiujiang Prefecture."

Lin Dao nodded, and instructed Dong Xiaowan. "Pay him five hundred taels of silver."

The street boss was overjoyed beyond expectation, easily earning the huge sum of five hundred taels of silver; Lin the Proprietor truly was as generous as the rumors said~

Lin Dao's words were not yet finished.

"Take the silver and go back to your hometown; this is my advice to you."

End of Chapter