Chapter 2015: The City of Wealth and Matters of Wealth

"I don't need to relay this sentence back. That Highness sent me here this time partly for my own affairs, and partly to assist you in resolving the trouble with that batch of goods as quickly as possible."

He looked at the woman before him:

"It cannot be delayed any longer."

"I understand. Miss Princess let us assist you; regardless of any orders, we must obey you."

Although this was a highly unusual order, Lei Qianya's subordinates were very willing to execute it. Xia De could only say that her leadership was indeed first-class.

Although the "Princess Trading Partners" had many subordinates, very few of them fully knew Lei Qianya's identity. There were three people who could directly contact Tobesk. Besides this fierce-looking woman who resembled a pirate, Miss Anne Bonny, there were also William Kidd and George Robert.

The former was a legitimate merchant, around forty years old, the oldest of the three. The latter was in his early thirties, a baron, though he was one of those down-and-out nobles who had lost his family property and fief.

Miss Anne Bonny was responsible for handling private matters, Mr. William Kidd was responsible for commodity procurement, the nominal operation of the small fleet, and creating fake accounts, while Baron George Robert was responsible for managing the relationships in Moon Bay City. The three had a clear division of labor, and coupled with the fact that they kept a considerable number of thugs, although the trading company was not famous, it was considered a force in the eyes of the underworld in the dock area of Moon Bay City.

That afternoon, all three met with Xia De. After confirming Xia De's identity, they all expressed that they could obey any order from Xia De.

The conversation location was thus moved to the study at the very top of the three-story building. Xia De wanted to understand which link Lei Qianya's batch of goods was stuck in:

"The news received from His Highness's side is not very detailed. I must emphasize that I am not the kind of guy who likes to kill, but if the trouble this time can be eliminated by just solving one or two key figures, that would be for the best."

When taking his seat, Xia De stated his code of conduct, and then, amidst the different expressions of the three, he apologized embarrassedly:

"I might have some strange smell on me, please forgive me. It's not that I'm unhygienic, it's the smell of a corpse. You don't need to keep me for a meal later; I want to go and clean myself up first."

In short, although Xia De, who had come from afar, hadn't done anything yet, he had already left an impression of being a "ruthless person" in the eyes of the three from the trading company.

As for the three ships of goods of Lei Qianya that could not leave the port, they were currently still in a detained state. The bottom of the ships used those special alloys to pass as ordinary metal as ballast, while the goods nominally transported were grain.

Currently, there was no embargo on grain between the two countries, and there were not a few merchants who had ideas about reselling grain after seeing the special weather this summer. Therefore, the detention of the "Princess Trading Partners'" goods was not for political reasons.

"There are three reasons why our ships cannot depart."

"The Karsenrik Customs Department believes that the three ships of grain have quarantine issues; the Port Authority under the Moon Bay City Council believes that our ships have exceeded their annual maintenance limit and need to undergo safety inspections again before they can leave the port; the Dock Office in the dock area believes that we are in arrears with the 'Dock Public Maintenance Fee' that everyone has to pay, and they won't let us pass until we pay this money in full."

"Customs, the Port Authority, and the Dock Office? How did you offend so many people?"

Xia De asked the three curiously. The three looked at each other, and the down-and-out noble Mr. George Robert, who was responsible for managing relationships, explained:

"The quarantine issue of the Customs Department is just an excuse. They are actually suspecting that we are spies, spies from MI6. However, it's just a suspicion, so they detained our ships for the time being and will only let our fleet leave after the investigation is over. This matter is the most troublesome; it is difficult for me to directly manage the Grey Gloves."

This was actually wronging them; Lei Qianya was just doing some small business, and she had nothing to do with MI6. Of course, with Xia De sitting here now, in fact, there was a connection.

"The matter with the Port Authority is because we snatched the business of the Eddington family last year. You know the Eddington family, right?"

"I know, one of the seven glorious families of Moon Bay, like Hawthorne and Belindel, is a family that currently still controls the City Council. So, the Eddington family can influence the Moon Bay Port Authority, which is why they said your ships need to undergo safety inspections again?"

Xia De asked, and the merchant William Kidd nodded helplessly:

"That's right. Safety inspection is actually a small matter; if they want to check, we don't mind. But the Port Authority keeps refusing to send people to do this. We have sent people to ask, and every time they say they are short-handed, or that they are still waiting for the inspection documents to be stamped, asking us to wait for a period of time. I am very familiar with the Port Authority's way of doing things; this is simply deliberate delay, and we have no reason to refuse."

"What about that Dock Office?"

Xia De asked again, so Baron George Robert continued to introduce:

"The Dock Office is responsible for managing and coordinating matters related to port operations, such as cargo storage management, coordination of ships entering and leaving the port, port usage fees, etc. We originally got along very well with the Port Office, but in the spring of this year, our people had a shootout with another group on the dock. That group is called the 'Black Hand Gang', a legitimate dock gang, and also the glove of the Hawthorne family. Yes, that Hawthorne family."

"You have been operating on the dock for many years, don't you even know this?"

Xia De frowned slightly, and Baron Robert hurriedly explained:

"We actually know, but this kind of small-scale shootout is very common and has happened before. The big shots above won't easily interfere with dock matters because of such small things. It's just that I don't know what happened this time; the Hawthorne family let the Dock Office target us after that. Such targeting should just be a casual remark by a big shot, but when stacked with the other two things, it became a troublesome matter."

"The Grey Gloves influenced the Customs, the Eddington family who snatched the business directed the Port Authority, and the Hawthorne family who also controls the gang can influence the Dock Office..."

Xia De summarized, feeling that a brand-new city was indeed different from other places. Most of the things in the City of Wealth were related to wealth; just by getting slightly involved in these troublesome matters, one could already glimpse the style of a corner of the entire city:

"The matter with the Customs is actually the simplest."

He said to the three, and then explained slightly:

"I have acquaintances in MI6; it should be no problem to let them help."

The three immediately expressed that they understood, probably thinking that MI6 could do some things within the Grey Gloves. But Xia De actually wanted to go to MI6, then ask how to contact the local Grey Gloves agents, and then use the identity of "Grey Hawk" to find a way to clear the trading company of suspicion.

Margaret had given him complete identity verification documents; the only problem was that Xia De could not directly go to the door and say, don't let the agents trouble the "Princess Trading Partners".

"I don't have any clues about the Eddington family for the time being. Baron Robert, I have to rely on you to smooth out the relationship again."

He said again, and Mr. George Robert nodded:

"I understand, this is my job in the first place."

"As for the Hawthorne family and the Dock Office... just as you said, if it's just an ordinary shootout, those big shots couldn't easily target small forces like us. What exactly happened at that time? Why did you have a shootout?"

Miss Anne Bonny recalled:

"That was a very ordinary thing. Their subordinates and our subordinates had an unpleasantness while playing cards when drinking in a tavern, and then they came to us to collect protection fees. Of course we didn't give it, otherwise we wouldn't be able to mix in the Moon Bay dock."

"That night, we brought more than twenty people, and they also had more than twenty people. We negotiated in the warehouse. The negotiation didn't go well, so we started fighting. But it wasn't shooting, just cold weapon fighting. One person on their side had his head cracked, and one person on our side had his right leg crippled... This is actually a small matter. Everyone tacitly didn't shoot, and in the end, no one died. After the incident, even the police were not alarmed."

It seems that the local martial spirit is very abundant.

"Then was there anything different from the past at that time?"

Xia De asked again, and Miss Bonny thought for a while:

"We won that night. According to the rules, we caught a few people and let them pay the ransom, and then everyone sat together to drink, and this matter was over. But later it was rumored that among the few people we caught, someone was doing things for a big shot, seemingly looking for something. But because they were caught by us, some things were delayed, which made the local big shot unhappy... Is this related? This is just a rumor."

"Let me investigate first."

Xia De made up his mind:

"I will solve the matter of the Customs and the Grey Gloves, and I will go to check the situation with the Hawthorne family and the Dock Office. Leave the rest to you. Miss Princess is waiting for our good news."

"Yes, sir."

"In addition, I still have some private matters that need your help."

He briefly explained that he wanted to find someone in the lower city area centered on Herring Street, and emphasized that it must not be too conspicuous. Miss Bonny also promised Xia De that she would arrange for people to do it; her subordinates were capable of this job.

"Also, have you encountered any strange corpses locally recently?"

Xia De asked again; he hadn't forgotten the matter with Mr. Bernhardt and the coroner:

"Corpses with missing heads, or corpses with all their blood drained."

"Murder cases with missing heads are a very famous topic in the city recently, but we haven't encountered them. I heard that the corpses were all found in the city area, and they haven't appeared on the dock yet. As for being drained of all blood... I haven't heard of it. Is this an urban legend?"

Xia De nodded. After informing the three that some letters addressed to him would be sent here, he bid them farewell. The sun was setting, and the day was coming to an end. He did not stay here to continue experiencing the prosperity of the City of Wealth, but threw the crystal shoe in the alley and returned to his warm home. ===== CHAPTER 2016 =====