Chapter 281: with translation of chapter title

No matter how you put it, we're still newcomers, yet we now have to directly face the Inner City's most powerful Business Union; the players, though excited, still know their limits.

So although their aim was to confront and question, they didn't resort to violence right away; they observed propriety before force, letting the various factions of the Inner City see the Pioneers' demeanor.

The specifics are……

They put up a haphazard bunch of banners outside the Business Union headquarters' walls and set up several magic trumpets with amplification spells.

In the protest team, they were either kuaiban masters or veteran rappers, all skilled at freestyle, constantly throwing out lotus-flower-drop style insults.

They first used clear, concise, and catchy language to explain today's purpose of surrounding the Business Union headquarters, lest the other side get the first word and spout nonsense.

Then they used the shortest, easiest-to-remember catchphrase, so everyone who heard it could immediately learn to recite the Union's charges, and couldn't forget it even if they wanted to.

Before they even finished, seven or eight kids had already learned the song, jumping up and down, ready to show off the new children's song they'd learned to their pals.

Their attacks seemed flamboyant and arrogant, but their wording was actually extremely meticulous—there wasn't a single dirty word—yet their aggressiveness was very high, and their thrusts precisely targeted the Business Union, each strike hitting their weakest chest, wasting no damage.

Damn it, too bullying!

He put on his clothes, drove away his female companion. With Suo La's status and position, how could he possibly swallow this insult!?

After all, what kind of person am I, Grandpa? I'm an old Sunshine City Black Flag veteran—look, my heart is as black as if it's been smoked!

You stinking outsiders, coming to our Sunshine City to beg for food! Today we must take down this bunch of barbaric Easterners, we must slap their faces!

Before he could even speak, others were already urging the enforcers to act quickly, to swiftly drive out this bunch of clueless Easterners from the Inner City, preferably kicking them out of Sunshine City altogether.

But as previously stated, the players' verbal output is especially disciplined: when they curse profiteers, they curse only profiteers; even if theoretically they're the same group, they never mention any issues with the enforcers, absolutely avoiding splash damage to others.

Thus the tax enforcers watching around weren't angry at all; instead they all grinned, completely just there to eat melons and watch the show.

—Roundaboutly cursing this bunch of dead profiteers who can't even bear children, right? No matter who curses, our enforcers today must get a kick out of it!

They marveled at how eloquent these Easterners were with their words, while quietly memorizing the lyrics, thinking that if they later used this rhythm in a tavern drink-off, they'd surely win.

Moreover, although the Easterners are newcomers, the underworld forces that have been uprooted from the Outer City couldn't even let them fight to their heart's content; their true strength is unfathomable, so it's really unwise to clash with them over such a trivial verbal win‑lose.

Don't wait until Sunshine City really runs into some big trouble, while you yourself get seriously injured fighting the Easterners—then the only unlucky one will be you.

It's better to stay steady; those old fogies were just given a roundabout greeting to their whole family, right? I really can't hold my breath—I need to practice!

Of course, although there's no strict hierarchy between enforcers and merchants, there definitely is a cooperative relationship, so we ought to give those surface‑level brothers a little face.

So they didn't utter those petty grudges; instead they used a more glorious excuse.

Sir, they're not even standing within the premises of our Business Union building, and they haven't used violence—they've only spoken a few words; we really have no need, nor the ability, to interfere with them.

Right, free trade—this is the best arrangement; don't arbitrarily interfere with their natural course. Suo La, old sir, you're correct, aren't you?

How about this: if you're really in a hurry, you can go find our department head; as long as the big sister nods, we'll immediately mobilize the full force, guarantee mission completion—how's that?

Looking at these old slickers spouting nonsense before them, the old foxes in the association were so angry their whiskers turned white.

During the previous period of chaos, when force was needed to steady our footing, these enforcers were saying one thing and doing another, yet everyone could turn a blind eye.

But now they've come knocking on our door, and they're the association's dedicated guards—yet they still find excuses to shirk duty!

Watching his own little brothers come to him with red eyes to file a complaint, the furious Suo La outright turned into a desk‑clearing master, using his gloved hand to fling everything on the office desk onto the floor.

—It's just that last month's reward was a bit short, right? With the castle's situation so tough lately, you guys need to shed some more blood for me to make money—can't you show some understanding for Grandpa's difficulties?

He trembled all over, leaning on the desk and taking big breaths for a while before calming his breath and sitting again, speaking in a low voice.

Paper and pen.

The merchants looked at each other, "Didn't you sweep all the paper and pens onto the floor? Where are we supposed to go find…"

Paper and pen!

This bunch of white‑haired old foxes didn't dare delay any longer; they could only hurry and bend over, like hens foraging, to scrape together something writable for their old leader.

Suo La spread out a white sheet, wrote a letter, and on the envelope carefully wrote 'To the Tax Department Head Ke Li Si Ting, personal opening', then had his trusted messenger rush it to the enforcers' office as fast as possible.

But not long after the messenger hurried off, their inner anger still not faded, they saw him return in a rush with a few bodyguards.

Although the distance between them really isn't far, your return speed is surely too fast—could it be…

Suppressing his urge to let his blood pressure spike, Suo La steadied his voice as best he could and asked.

How come you're back so fast—what did Ke Li Si Ting say?

The messenger stood still for three seconds, then suddenly gave an embarrassed smile.

She… she isn't here.

To be able to let this old fox Suo La confidently employ him at a critical moment, this messenger naturally isn't an ordinary nobody.

In fact, after setting out he gave the enforcers no time to react, directly launching a surprise strike on their base.

When he knocked open the department head's office door and looked inside, the huge space was hung all over with frost.

Because the one sitting here wasn't Ke Li Si Ting, but her deputy, the Shuang Ju Ren.

Where is she?

She isn't here.

Where did she go?

She said she has nothing to declare.

Although the messenger couldn't see it, he was sure his expression at that moment was absolutely splendid.

But no matter how splendid, he still had to figure out how to settle things, so he steeled himself, mustered all his patience, and continued asking.

Then, as her deputy, could you lead the enforcers to help us drive off this bunch of offending Easterners?

The Shuang Ju Ren gave a slight smile, frost descending between his brows.

Sorry, I made a small mistake earlier and am still under punishment, having been stripped of much authority, so for this matter my word doesn't count right now—why don't you wait a bit? When the department head returns she'll surely act immediately…

Bang!

Although Suo La really couldn't listen anymore, this wasn't the sound of him slamming the table—it was the thud of a little old man dropping dead from rage on the spot.

Shifting blame three ways, four ways, wildly passing the buck, dodging left and right—these are all phrases from our Business Union, how did these country bumpkins learn them!?

Seeing his old comrade just die like that, the remaining old-timers also felt the rabbit‑death‑fox‑sorrow, bursting into tears on the spot.

"Bolin, oh my old Bolin, how could you say it's gone and it's gone... waa waa waa... we agreed, his grain shop is mine."

"Oh dear, old brother is gone, I'm heartbroken... then I want the tavern, that tavern actually has my two-share stake?"

"Little brother, this time you really cried, you really can't bear it... his second granddaughter, I've actually liked her for a long time; how about I take over her clothing shop as well?"

While crying and talking, they ate their companion's corpse at the fastest speed, then brought the topic back into focus.

——If the handlers are unwilling to act, how should the Easterners blockaded outside be properly dealt with?

But for them, the most important thing about this matter is actually not the latter part before their eyes, but the violent system of the handlers exposed in the incident, which is already on the verge of losing control.

Not only Suo La, many people inside the association know that Ke Li Si Ting's small movements have been more frequent lately.

She, who has always been rough and dull, as if her head is all muscle, suddenly turned into a horse, regaining the social activity of an Inner City upper-class.

But if we say she is trying to pursue the Divine Chosen, it could still be explained as a simple spring-heart flutter, wanting to trick him while he's young, to have a bout of old horse eating tender grass,

And she is privately close with some well-known adventurers, even having contacts with the mountain folk mercenaries, which is really somewhat out of line.

Suo La knows this is an ungrateful hound that will eventually turn on its master, but she didn't expect it to happen at this extremely special moment.

Heibai died, my most precious knife was inexplicably broken, my public card suite suffered a significant blow; if I want to continue operating, I must rely on Ke Li Si Ting's existence.

"You need me," perhaps this is why she can be so arrogant today, even too lazy to show her face, is her confidence...

Holding a pen in her hand, Suo La's joints gradually turned white, her face alternating between bright and dark, and finally she slammed the pen onto the table.

"Those Easterners came here just to watch us make a fool of ourselves, and meanwhile extort some money."

"Perfect, isn't Old Bolin dead? Take a portion of his property as compensation and hush money, first let this matter pass."

If it were just now, this bunch of old foxes would surely rush to advise out of righteous indignation, stopping Suo La from such embarrassing behavior of surrendering before even fighting.

It's not because they have any backbone, but if we really have to pay compensation, I'd definitely have to chip in myself, which pains me.

But now all the losses are being paid by Old Bolin, so I guess I have no losses to speak of—what a great deal!

As for the Easterners who inexplicably ran to Sunshine City and surrendered, what should I do with this old face of mine...

Rip~ snap!

You want this, right? It's just face, come on, name your price, how much to sell it to you!

Ke Li Si Ting's matter still needs long-term planning, so this crisis was thus satisfactorily resolved.

The merchants all left the office satisfied, pondering how to cook the 'Bolin meat' they'd received to make it more tasty.

Upon hearing that the Business Union had surrendered, actively cut ties with Heibai, and was willing to compensate the White Wolf family for their losses in this incident, the players were all bewildered.

No, we were all ready with guns in hand, follow me to kill Suo La and seize the building as our worst-case plan—how did you just open the door and surrender?

Even after getting this large sum of gold coins in hand, they felt somewhat disillusioned; the players modestly deferred to each other before carrying their boxes out of the Inner City.

Along the way they didn't return triumphant and proud; instead they carried a bit of regret for unfulfilled ambitions and unachieved deeds, feeling dejected.

Even until the next morning, there were still players posting complaints on the forum.

——Oh dear, why didn't it come to a fight? This sum of money is too easily gotten; seriously, buddy, next time spend another arm?

But after everyone left, Suo La, who remained alone in the office, silently picked up the pen again, twirling it between her fingertips.

Ke Li Si Ting, Fein, Tenis… plus that suspicious goddess Fu, and this most hateful Divine Chosen…

After a moment's contemplation, he suddenly stood up, walked toward the nearby bookshelf—just like in every important person's office, there would be a hidden door here.

However, what lay beyond his hidden door was not a dirty, bloody experiment chamber, but a series of exquisite, lovely storage compartments.

For those foolish merchants, Ke Li Si Ting this terrifying war machine might be hard to deal with.

But for me, this roundabout, still childishly like a centaur, is actually easy to solve,

Suo La's fingers glided over one box and glass container after another, finally stopping at the prettiest crystal jar.

Inside the jar is a heart that isn't particularly large, even quite delicate, but watching that faint shadow sway, it is actually beating slowly.

After looking at it dreamily for a while, Suo La took off her glove, revealing her hand slashed full of bloody gaps.

She pulled out a silver-plated gold-handled dagger, without hesitation added another wound to it, and let the crimson blood flow in.

Upon receiving the fresh blood, the heart sped up like a thirsty person, and Suo La could feel the mysterious affinity between them growing stronger.

Just a little bit more, just a tiny bit more…

He silently revealed a smile, the upward curve of his mouth becoming increasingly exaggerated.

It's fine; the most harmless-looking person in a crowd is often the most dangerous.

Wait until they fight to the death, the final victor limping along, thinking they're the ultimate winner—then we'll just sneak in…