Chapter Eleven: The Return of the Yellow Earth

  A few days later, without knowing where it started, some small rumors suddenly spread among the residents of Haddington. The content of the rumor was also strange, and it was about the unreasonable demands that Mr. Pester had made on Charlotte when he came to Haddington before.

  In addition, another rumor has also sparked people's interest. Although this rumor did not explicitly state it, it subtly pointed to the previous banditry incident and directly implicated the Lavierte Federation.

  It should have been absurd at first, but due to the irresponsible rumors and the mysterious content, it actually sparked people's interest.

  For several days in a row, residents have been speculating about the authenticity of this rumor in private, and all sorts of gossip and rumors related to it have emerged. At one time, there were those who analyzed it deeply, those who vowed to believe it, and those who sneered at it with their noses upturned. However, regardless of whether they believed it or not, the majority of people were unknowingly influenced by it.

  While Haitong Securities did not restrict the spread of these rumors nor make any explanation, it adopted a subtle default attitude.

  Within a few days, rumors about the Laveite Federation's bullying and unreasonable suppression of Haidinton spread wildly, with some hot-headed residents of Haidinton even shouting out extreme slogans against the Laveite Federation.

  At last, more and more people demanded an explanation from Charlotte.

  When the time was ripe, Charlotte gathered all the inhabitants of the city in the central square to explain the various events that had occurred over the past few days.

  The words of the declaration were carefully rehearsed in advance, extremely sentimental, and what Charlotte said was all true, with conclusive evidence. The emotions of the residents were quickly stirred up, especially when they heard that the mastermind behind the robbery that almost led to Haiding's collapse was actually the Lavi Federation.

  "Mayor Depero, Lambert, and Vanning have been missing for a long time. Is this also related to the Ravi Federation?" asked a resident at this time.

  "Right, the three of them were deceived by Pastor and attempted to start a rebellion, selling out Haddington to Laviotte. Because the plot was exposed, Vanning killed himself, Lambert was arrested and imprisoned, and Depreo escaped from Haddington, now whereabouts unknown."

  "What?!"

  It was the first time they had heard of this matter, and the residents were shocked, all discussing it.

  According to Freddy's idea, it was time to bring out Lambert and show him off to the residents to prove the authenticity. If necessary, hang him on the spot to stimulate the emotions of the masses, which is also possible.

  Charlotte rejected this on the spot, after all, Lambert was a figure with a face in Haidington and had made some contributions to the development of Haidington over the past few decades. He could be killed but not humiliated, she hoped to leave the old man with his last dignity.

  However, even if they didn't do this, the reaction of the residents at this time was already sufficient.

  "I've said it before, but no one believed me. My cousin is a guard and he saw Lord Fan Ning commit suicide with his own eyes that night," a resident loudly told the people around him.

  "The Ravit Federation has gone too far this time, resorting to such despicable means." More residents were outraged by Paiste's conspiracy.

  Because Freddie had already done a lot of preparatory work with rumors, the impression that "Lavite Federation is not a good thing" had long been planted in the hearts of the residents. At this time, the fact that the three committee members were plotting a rebellion was like a fuse, finally thoroughly arousing the emotions of the residents.

  Thinking of the various evil deeds of the Lavi Federation; thinking that due to their conspiracy, Haidington was ravaged by bandits for a whole year, losing his job, and his wife and children were left with little food and clothing; thinking that after finally waiting for the rescue of the Lovell Chamber of Commerce, the federation actually asked them to leave...

  The residents were indignant beyond compare, and finally someone shouted: "We absolutely cannot yield!"

  "We can't let Haiding fall into those guys' hands!"

  "Get out of the Lavi Federation!"

  ……

  Once the crowd's emotions were stirred up, they quickly formed an unstoppable torrent. For a time, the residents' shouts on the square rose and fell in waves, with everyone indignant at the tyranny and arrogance of the Ravi Federation, everything was proceeding perfectly according to Freddy's plan.

  However, unlike others who wore their hearts on their sleeves, the mastermind behind this play stood quietly in the shadows of a corner, like an outcast who didn't fit in with others, coldly observing the surging crowd below.

  Charlotte exchanged a glance with Raymond and exclaimed loudly: "That's right, we've had enough of being oppressed by others in Headington. Now, we're going to decide our own destiny!"

  "The Lowell Chamber of Commerce has promised to support us with all their might from now on. We'll show those guys in the Ravette Federation that even without them, our Haidington can still thrive!"

  Javier then stepped out in a timely manner, making guarantees to the residents. Seeing that even if they fell out with the Ravet Federation, they still had a strong backing, the last bit of worry finally disappeared.

  At this time, Morini standing beside Charlotte sighed: "Haidington has finally come to this point. This was originally just a quiet little town, and we should have been living a peaceful life, why did it become like this?"

  "Because we have no other choice."

  Morini couldn't help but glance at Raymond, saying in a low voice: "Mayor, forgive me for speaking bluntly, but I feel that he's been secretly manipulating things this time. Especially that guy named Freddy, he's really terrifying, the whole town is being led by the nose by him, and the purpose of these people is probably..."

  "Mr. Morrel," Charlotte interrupted, "I understand all you say, and I have not been inattentive to Mr. Raymond either; but from the moment when Vanning killed himself, my mind was made up."

  "It's not that Haidington wants to take this path, but the Lavierte Federation doesn't give us a choice. We either become pawns to be manipulated at will or rise up in resistance. There is no third way. At least, with Raymond and his people, they still care about Haidington, and by cooperating with them, we can at least live with dignity without worrying about being sacrificed for no reason someday."

  Morin said: "You're right. It's just that the residents made this choice because they trusted us, hopefully we are correct."

  "Mr. Morini, you're wrong," Charlotte shook her head. "This isn't just our responsibility; the prosperity and decline of Haidington is closely related to every single resident. If we choose to let the Lavierte Federation do as they please, it won't just be us who suffer, but everyone below us as well. So, they will all take responsibility for today's choice."

  "In the future, we will definitely face more twists and turns, but at least this time we made a choice for our own dignity, we defended our own home!"

  At this point, Charlotte's eyes shot out with determination.

  Can't help but say, Pastor thought that relying solely on threats could make her surrender, really underestimating this woman.

  Charlotte took over as mayor at the most critical moment in Haidington, and made a decisive decision to seek help from Reed when there was no other way out. She then boldly accepted Raymond's party. In retrospect, these actions show that she has the tenacity and decisiveness that most men can't match.

  It can be said that it was precisely the arrogance of the Lavierte Federation that led to its complete abandonment by Haidington.

  Having smoothly obtained the support of the city residents, Charlotte immediately issued a statement in the name of Haidington to announce its withdrawal from the Lavi Federation and severely condemned the various actions of the Lavi Federation before.

  This statement was like a heavy bombshell in every town of the Lavierte Federation, causing public outrage.

  Strictly speaking, the Lavi Federation is not a country but rather a loose alliance organization composed of various towns. What controls these towns, apart from interests, are the treaties signed when they first joined the alliance.

  Typical businessmen, even forming a country is like signing a contract, isn't it?

  In short, this also means that according to the covenant, when a town under the banner of Lavieth wants to, it can completely leave the federation and become independent, and the federation cannot pursue it.

  Raymond had asked Charlotte if Lavierte would really not pursue this behavior in the towns under its flag. Because no matter how you look at it, it's unbelievable that Lavierte wouldn't completely lose its restraining power over its members.

  Charlotte's response was that if it were one of the six major cities in the core circle, or other important manufacturing or raw material source cities, then of course they wouldn't be allowed to become independent, after all the people in the central council weren't fools.

  And as for a remote and insignificant peripheral town like Haidington, it's better to let it go. Merchants never do business at a loss, the cost of sending troops is not a small sum, and getting a bad reputation for "not following the alliance" is even more unacceptable.

  Hence, if Haidingtown were independent, Lavi might use every means to harass them, but would never include sending troops to attack.

  It's time to talk about the composition of the Ravite Trade Federation.

  Broadly speaking, if you put aside the layout of the version tree and study it carefully, you can find that Laviet is an organization with a circle wrapped around another circle, layered on top of each other.

  The central circle is composed of six major cities, known as the "Core Six Cities" of the Lavi Federation. The entire federation radiates outward from these six cities.

  These six major cities are the most important part of the Lavi Federation, whether it is economic strength, city scale or influence, they are all first-class. Among them, the largest city Sonari is the largest and richest economic center on the entire Veronika continent, managing the central parliament of the entire Lavi Federation, which is located here.

  And surrounding these six cities, the next circle is the indispensable raw material production area or manufacturing city of Lavierte, such as the city of Tren, which produces the best quality magic crystal mines, the most famous handicraft center Vika; The famous port of Bertoni and so on. These cities are also an important part of Lavierte.

  Beyond that, there are the big and small commercial towns. They are either rich or have a best-selling specialty product, or they have convenient transportation. In short, these cities rely on Lavierte, using its trade routes and connections to expand their own business, while Lavierte collects huge taxes from them, and neither can do without the other.

  Then further out, there are some less important towns. These towns are either too small or too weak, and often rely on more advanced towns to survive, and their status in the federation is not very good. Haidington belongs to this circle, and it is also a particularly remote one.

  So, Lavinia's infatuation with the unremarkable Haddington is really puzzling.

  However, it has been a long time since any town in the Ravit Federation declared independence, so Haidington's move still caused great concern.

  Especially Charlotte's various accusations against Lavey, which are quite different from the good image that Lavey has always maintained, have had a significant impact on many small towns in the outer suburbs.

  However, unexpectedly, in response to Haidington's betrayal and various accusations, the Lavierte side did not respond. The Central Parliament located in Sonali was even more surprisingly silent, and it is unknown whether they were unwilling to argue or had nothing to say.

  The other side's unexpected calmness also left Raymond and others puzzled. But in any case, this was a good thing for them, so while Lavinia had not yet made her move, Haidington hastened to make various preparations.

  With Raymond's investment and Haidinton's own funds, various industries in the city began to resume operations, with all sorts of products being loaded onto merchant ships traveling between Haidinton and Mana Island. The docks outside the city were also hastening their construction, preparing for more merchant ships.

  At the same time, although they knew that Ravierte was unlikely to take action, the guards and the defense team intensified their training. Everyone, including Harlot, the deputy captain, was driven by Rudz to cry out in suffering. In order to be prepared for any eventuality, Raymond reluctantly took out a large sum of money and purchased a full set of equipment from the Lovell Chamber of Commerce to arm the guards.

  Due to being too busy, even Ramon and others had forgotten about the threat of Lavierte for a while.

  But of course they wouldn't let them off, so one day...

  "What's up, De Pedro?"

  Looking at the latest news, Raymond was stunned.

  A month ago, DePero suddenly appeared in Sonari as a refugee from Haidnton, denouncing to the Central Parliament Charlotte's collusion with Raymond, who was doing whatever he wanted in Haidnton and even brought in the Lovell Chamber of Commerce's various evil deeds.

  He said that he was forced to flee after his resistance failed. Now Haidinton has become the domain of Charlotte, a dictator, and the residents of the city are suffering miserably, as if they were living in hell, so he asked the Federation of Ravit to take charge and save the people of Haidinton from the brink of disaster.

  However, the Central Council tactfully stated that Huddington had issued a declaration of independence and was now beyond their control.

  Depero was not willing to give up, and every day he went to the Central Council to beg bitterly, several times even fainting from heartbreak. Finally, the big businessmen of the Central Council were moved, saying that although the Lavierte Federation could do nothing, they decided to privately sponsor Depero out of a sense of justice, allowing him to go and save his hometown.

  Within a few days, De Péro received an enormous amount of donations. He then began to recruit soldiers and the mercenaries' guild surprisingly cooperated, with large numbers of mercenaries joining De Péro's ranks. He declared that he would recruit two thousand warriors to retake Haidingtown.

  "Where did this news come from?" Raymond hastily asked.

  "Charlotte said: 'It was Mr. Derick, the mayor of Auston, who secretly passed it on to us.'"

  Although Haidinton has withdrawn from the Lavi Federation, and Auston is strictly forbidden to do business with them, the two towns have a good relationship after all. Moreover, many small towns sympathize with Haidinton's experience, so Auston still maintains contact with Haidinton in private and continues to secretly provide them with food.

  The news about the Lavi Federation that Haidington has now is what Auston secretly passed on to Haidington after collecting information from traveling merchants and messages released by Lavi.

  "What refugees, this is just a play directed by Ravite himself." After reading the news on the paper, Raymond hummed: "No wonder Depelo was nowhere to be found, it turned out he had run to Sonali."

  Freddie, however, nodded in approval and said: "This move is quite brilliant. The Ravite Federation cannot take action itself, but Depro has a legitimate reason to raise an army on his own and come back for revenge. This way, no one can say anything. Although everyone knows that this clown is backed by those merchants from Ravite."

  "At first letting Depero escape was a big mistake."

  "This is a month-old message. Counting the time it took for De Phero to recruit mercenaries, they will probably arrive in Haidington within half a month at the latest."

  "A fortnight?" Charlotte exclaimed, "The enemy has a full 2,000 men, while Haddington's garrison is less than 200 strong. Add Mr. Raymond's bodyguard and we have only about 300 troops in all - what can be done?"

  "And this time it's different from those mobs of robbers, we're facing trained mercenaries, the situation is really not optimistic." Shawn's face also looked very unsightly.

  300 against 2000, and the 300 are poorly equipped soldiers with poor training, while the 2000 are professional mercenaries. Even if gods came to fight, they would still lose this battle.

  They thought they only needed to deal with Ravite's schemes, but the other side used a "proxy war" tactic, immediately stunning everyone who was originally optimistic. Half a month later, 2000 troops arrived at the city gate, and with the terrain of Haicheng Dinton being indefensible, as well as having only 300 soldiers, what could they use to counter the enemy?

  Even Raymond felt at a loss for what to do at this moment.

  "What if we were to recruit soldiers in the city right now?" Morini suggested at this time.

  Rud said without thinking: "This is meaningless. Without weapons and equipment, plus no time for training at all, this is equivalent to letting a group of unarmed civilians go to their deaths."

  "Only half a month's time left, unless a new army emerges, otherwise... wait."

  Suddenly, Raymond seemed to have thought of something: "Since the other side is hiring mercenaries, then we can also hire people to help us."

  "Where are we going to hire people?" Charlotte hesitated: "The Mercenary Guild is controlled by Lavite, and they will never help us."

  Raymond shook his head and said, "Of course, it's impossible to find them. But if it doesn't work here, why not try somewhere else?"

  "Where? Ah... you mean Lowell Commercial Association!"

  "Right, the Lovell Guild will definitely not want Haidington to fall into the hands of the Lavi Federation. They'll certainly be willing to help. Half a month's time is enough for them to find a mercenary troop from that side."

  Time was of the essence, so Charlotte immediately sent for Javier. Upon learning of the situation, Javier became very anxious as well.

  "Mercenaries? How convenient." Javier thought for a moment, then clapped his hands together and said: "Last time I returned to Mana Island for my debriefing, I happened to run into a mercenary troop that has an extremely good relationship with our guild, who were resting on the island at the time. They should still be there now."

  "I'll personally go to the island and explain the situation to Mr. Reed, I'm sure we can get them."

  "How many men does that mercenary company have?"

  Javier said: "About 600 people, but this mercenary group is very famous and has extremely strong combat power, which can be reassuring."

  "Six hundred men? Even with our own troops, that's only nine hundred in total. It's still too few. Can we hire another mercenary group?" Morini asked anxiously.

  "It's difficult, half a month is not enough time to go to the mainland of Mojina to hire people, and Manas Island is at sea, with very few mercenaries visiting. That mercenary group happened to have just completed an escort mission for a large fleet of merchant ships in the area, so they were resting on the island."

  "Let's just hire someone first and talk about it later, we'll figure out the rest." Raymond said.

  Javier nodded and was about to leave when Charlotte suddenly called out to him: "Mr. Javier."

  "Anything else?" Javier turned his head curiously.

  "As for the reward for that mercenary group, it's probably going to be a bit difficult..." Charlotte said, hesitating.

  A 600-man mercenary corps, and it's a war mission, the hiring fee will not be low. This time is to help Haidington defend against the enemy, so they should pay for it, but with Haidington's current situation, it's impossible to get this money out.

  Javier was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "So that's how it is. Never mind, things are urgent, let's talk about the reward after defeating the enemy."

  He said so, naturally it was Lovell's Commercial Association that paid first.

  "I didn't expect you to be so generous," Charlotte couldn't help but say, "How can this be?"

  "Please, don't be polite," Javier waved his hand. "Lord Reed has instructed me to give you the greatest support possible. Isn't this exactly when we need to help each other? Or would you rather watch as Haidington is occupied?"

  "The situation is stronger than the people," Charlotte hesitated for a moment, then bowed her head deeply: "So, I represent all the residents of Haidington here to express our gratitude to you."

  "There's no time to lose," Javier said, and hastily bid farewell and left.

  "This mustn't get out before the mercenaries arrive, or it'll cause unnecessary panic." Ramon said after Javier left.

  Charlotte nodded: "I'll take care of this."

  She then turned to Shawn and said: "Captain Shawn, from now on, the Guardian Squad will be under the full command of Mr. Raymond."

  Sean agreed without hesitation, he had fought with Raymond before and naturally would not have any objections.

  After another round of discussion, the worried crowd ended this meeting. As they left, Raymond called out: "Freddy, Rutz, Shawn, you guys come with me."