Chapter 88: Count Farion's Speculation!

"No need to doubt, serfs. With our great my lord present, the Scorpion Bandit Gang is nothing!"

"Look at these banners! They were cut from the flagpoles of the Scorpion Bandit Gang's main nest!"

Knight Mi Gen raised another banner, black with a red scorpion.

This was the banner the Scorpion Boss carried during every raid, holding a meaning similar to a commander's standard.

The scorpion on it was originally white, but the Scorpion Boss had specially corroded it with fresh blood, dyeing it into a red scorpion to display his cruelty and ferocity.

"It really is the Scorpion Banner! And there are even more Scorpion Banners on that carriage. The Scorpion Boss is truly dead!"

"Haha, the Scorpion Boss was really killed by our my lord!"

"Does this mean we never have to fear the Scorpion Bandits again?"

"That's right. The Scorpion Bandit Gang has been destroyed; we never have to fear the Scorpion Bandit Gang again!"

The serfs finally came to their senses.

Actually, it wasn't that they didn't believe it just now; mainly, this news was too shocking, and they hadn't had time to recover yet.

"Cheer! People of Storm Territory, the Scorpion Bandit Gang is hereby erased from this world!"

"Long live my lord!"

"Thank you, great my lord!"

"Long live my lord..."

Iron Wolf City.

Inside a luxurious manor in the noble district of the eastern city.

"My lord Count, bad news!"

"What's wrong? Why the panic?"

"My lord Count, the Scorpion Boss has been killed!"

"Besides that, the Viscountess has returned as well, bringing back the Scorpion Boss's corpse and the living second-in-command, Sage."

"Who did it? Did the Kingdom Army really intervene? As the Border Commander of Iron Wolf City, didn't Woven send someone to notify the Scorpion Boss immediately upon receiving the news?"

Count Farion frowned deeply.

Besides the Wild Wolf Brotherhood, the Scorpion Bandit Gang was also a gang he funded.

However, unlike the gangs and thugs within the Kingdom, maintaining the long-term stability of the Scorpion Bandit Gang was beyond what he, a single honorary noble, could support.

Therefore, Woven, the Commander of Iron Wolf City, was also one of the pillars of the Scorpion Bandit Gang.

He, Farion, provided the money, while Woven provided the equipment and advance warnings about encirclement operations.

In many previous Kingdom border anti-bandit campaigns, other bandit gangs were either killed or injured, yet the Scorpion Bandit Gang always escaped harm; the reason lay here.

This time, they targeted the Violet Family, which had lost its pillar.

They ordered the Scorpion Bandit Gang to kidnap the Viscountess, demanding ransom first before killing her.

Of course, this was only part of the plan.

Their true target was also the Violet Family's crystal mine.

Once the Viscountess died and the Violet Family fell apart, the land would be reclaimed by the Kingdom; at that time, they could seize the crystal mine by taking advantage of the situation.

With his father, who served as a Cabinet Official in Eagle City, this matter would basically face no difficulty.

Originally, they thought the plan was foolproof, but a few days ago, the Violet Family's steward came to Iron Wolf City, stating that the kidnappers were the Scorpion Bandit Gang.

Although an accident occurred, it had not reached a point of being uncontrollable.

As long as Woven sent someone to notify them in advance and deliberately slowed down the border army's speed in encircling them, the Scorpion Boss could escape.

But unexpectedly, news now arrived that the Scorpion Boss had been killed and the Viscountess had returned.

His first reaction was that something had gone wrong with Woven and that the Kingdom Army had intervened.

After all, the Violet Family alone certainly could not have defeated the Scorpion Bandit Gang.

"My lord Count, Commander Woven said he is also confused. He deliberately slowed the army's speed, so before they even reached the border, the Violet Viscountess had already returned safely!"

"When asked about the Viscountess's situation, she only said that the Violet Family's own vassal army annihilated the Scorpion Bandit Gang!"

"Damn it!"

Count Farion slammed the table in anger.

"My lord Count, what should we do now? That Viscountess still has a living witness!"

"That witness doesn't know us, but he knows about the traitor within the Violet Family whom we bribed. Arrange personnel immediately to eliminate the person we bribed; it must be cleaned up thoroughly!"

"Yes, my lord Count!"

The subordinate hurriedly left, while Count Farion remained burning with rage.

For this past month, he felt his luck had truly turned against him.

First, that bitch Rose escaped, taking the Wild Wolf Boss with her to be killed at the border; the murderer has not been found even now.

The subsequent plan against the Violet Family, which he thought was foolproof, had inexplicably encountered another twist.

"Could it be that someone is deliberately opposing me?"

Count Farion's eyes flickered uncertainly; he could only speculate in this direction.

And he speculated whether it was other competitors in Iron Wolf City, never thinking it could be some completely unrelated minor lord.

【Ding! Daily Intelligence System refreshed...】

【Intelligence One: Located at the southernmost end of Storm Territory, sixty li outside the coastline, there is an island with an area equivalent to three Volcano Islands.】

On that island lives a group of Tier Two magical beasts, Black Gold Goats. They have bred and thrived on this island for countless years, with a population reaching over one hundred and sixty.】

【Intelligence Two: Located fifteen li east of the Black Gold Goat Island, there lies a beautiful coral reef.】

However, for sea vessels, these islets and reefs that do not break the surface are actually extremely dangerous death zones.

At this moment, a sea vessel that has been submerged for who knows how many years lies quietly at the edge of that islet, with only a mast less than two meters tall protruding above the water.

And the cargo and Sea God's Food on this sea vessel have already vanished.

Only in the captain's cabin, inside an exquisite iron box, remains an extremely precious magical item... a Spatial Ring!

【Intel Three: This morning, Baron Mil's fiefdom will welcome a "Second-Hand Caravan," a merchant group specializing in buying second-hand goods from the kingdom's interior to sell at the border.

The caravan has second-hand long swords, leather armor, and plate armor in abundance; more importantly, it also carries second-hand magic potions, magical items, and magic scrolls, and so on.

Of course, second-hand leather armor and long swords have visible and tangible value, truly a good method for border lords to save costs!

But potions, magical items, and magic scrolls—those are usually nine scams out of ten; the merchants of the Second-Hand Caravan make a huge profit by relying on these second-hand magical objects.

It is not that these magical items are fake; in reality, they are not much different from counterfeits.

Yet for minor nobles who love to take advantage of small bargains, it is very easy to fall for the trap.

Of course, nothing in the world is absolute; within this Second-Hand Caravan, there is a third-tier magic scroll capable of casting "Fire Serpent Swarm Dance."

By a stroke of luck, the second-hand merchant obtained a large batch of expired magic scrolls from a down-and-out noble, but only this one had not expired; on its scroll base, a fire serpent mark has been deliberately placed as a distinction.

The second-hand merchant does not know the truth, so he will sell it at an extremely low price.

Originally worth three hundred gold coins, now it costs only ten gold coins!】