Chapter Sixty: Repairing the City Gate

  The thick city gate was like paper under Zennard's fist, and with just one punch, it immediately shattered into four or five pieces!

  The loud rumbling sound of the city gate collapsing was particularly jarring in the early morning calm, and immediately attracted a team of guards.

  There were thirty guardsmen, armed with long spears and dressed in gray cloth uniforms, all bearing the emblem of crossed swords on their left breast pockets, apparently members of Larry Brown's militia.

  In the Tudor dynasty, a castle without a lord would have a high constable appointed, and if there was a lord but he wasn't present, a deputy constable would be appointed by the lord. Only in special cases like that of Coventry Castle would the king appoint one.

  The deputy city master cannot form a city guard, but can form 10,000 militia to assist in daily defense work. Other main defense work is the responsibility of nearby garrisons.

  As the main defense of Chrysanthemum City, it should be the responsibility of the Cheetah Legion, and the 30,000 militia built by Larry Brown has far exceeded his highest building index! Such an act is a capital offense punishable by extermination of the entire family in the Tudor dynasty!

  However, the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and since Larry Brown was a right-hand man, some of this information Mercedes VII may not have known about, even if he did know, he could only turn a blind eye.

  The militia is not a regular army, after all. In terms of discipline, strength and momentum, they are not comparable to the regular army. However, the thirty militiamen who have now surrounded us are exceptionally ferocious, tall and strong, and are not much different from the regular army!

  If they weren't talking about this group of people led by Li Xie!

  Watching the thirty militiamen closing in, Li Xie's guards all revealed bloodthirsty eyes, they were the real regular army! And having followed Li Xie for a long time, it was too comfortable, just needing some fun!

  They were unexpectedly excited and fearless, which made all thirty guards tremble with fear.

  They originally wanted to see who was blind enough to destroy the city gate, thinking of beating them up to show off their power. Now, it's clear that a lamb has entered a pack of wolves!

  "Who are you?" Thirty militiamen had just rushed out but then retreated back inside the city gate, with their leader timidly asking.

  Kano stepped out and shouted: "Go tell Larry Brown, the evil duke has arrived, call him out to kneel down! You think you're something, don't you? Just wait, I'll beat him so badly he won't be able to get back on his horse!"

  Hahaha...

  A burst of laughter came from inside the city gate, and a group of people walked out immediately. The leader was wearing a golden brocade robe with a gold double sword crossed emblem on his chest. Looking at his white hair and smooth red skin, it's clear that he's old but living a very comfortable life!

  Around the leader were about a dozen people dressed in luxurious attire, who appeared to be nobles. Behind them stood over a hundred militiamen, looking fierce and intimidating!

  "I, Deputy City Lord of Chrysanthemum City, Earl Brown Larry, pay my respects to Duke Li Xie." Larry Brown walked up to within ten meters of Li Xie and bowed deeply.

  The nobles on both sides also reported their family names and paid homage.

  Li Ye's face wore a smile, but he didn't respond, his mind was secretly calculating how to deal with these people!

  The city gate was broken for just a moment, and these people came out, obviously waiting on the sidelines to watch the show!

  Such boring tricks will only make Li Xie more disgusted with them!

  "Please don't blame me, sir. Lately, bandits and robbers have been rampant, and the North Gate is usually only open at 10 o'clock. I didn't expect you to arrive before 10 o'clock, and I hurried over as quickly as possible, but I still couldn't greet you in time." Larry Brown bowed again, his face full of apology.

  "It's like that, no harm done. Just... " Li Xie smiled and said: "The gate of this duke's castle was destroyed, it must be repaired! Who will repair it? Hmm... This duke has always been clear about rewards and punishments, whoever destroys the gate should be the one to repair it, right? My deputy castle owner."

  "Larry Brown smiled and said: 'It's all up to you, sir.'"

  "Hmm... So, my deputy city master, you say, whose responsibility is it that the city gate was breached?" Li Xie asked again.

  Larry Brown still smiled: "It's the duty of the lower officials, it's the fault of the lower officials for being late, which led to the destruction of the city gate. Moreover, the city gate of Chrysanthemum City should be repaired by the lower officials!"

  Wow! So this city is yours? It seems that if I don't take a layer off you, I'll be letting the Party and the people down!

  Li Xie wore a gentle and amiable smile: "Alright, since Marquis Brown has taken on this responsibility, I, the public, cannot let you down. The city gate will be handed over to you for repair! However, this is my city, and the money for repairing the city gate must be kept by me before I can rest assured. What do you say, my deputy city master?"

  Larry Brown smiled slightly and thought to himself: Isn't that just asking for money? Indeed, as the saying goes, "Money can kill!" But it's just money! No big deal! He then said: "Of course, I will definitely send the money for repairing the city gate to the Duke!"

  "No, no, no…… you don't understand!" Li Xie said: "The matter of repairing the city gate can be done slowly, but this money, I want to see it now! As the saying goes, bad news doesn't spread far, good news travels a thousand miles. You must have all heard of my reputation for loving wealth, haven't you? Do you know that if I don't see gold coins, I like to kill people?"

  Lary Brown narrowed his eyes, indeed a figure who dared to kill on the imperial court! He smiled: "Your Excellency, how much money is needed to repair this city gate?"

  Li Xie's mouth curved up on the right side: "Not much, just 100 million yuan, I think the wooden door is not luxurious enough, we need to build a golden gate, 100 million should be enough!"

  Ten million gold coins?!

  Larry Brown's eyebrows jumped up, and before he could speak, someone next to him sneered, "One hundred million gold coins? Is the Evil Duke born of thieves?"

  Li Xie's gaze shifted over, his hands clasped in a fist: "What should I call you? Didn't catch it just now."

  "Vice Baron Hausen, Herman, on patrol duty!" Herman said coldly, looking at him with a somewhat disdainful expression. Apparently, his information was not as up-to-date as that of Larry Brown or the higher-ups in Chrysanthemum City, and he only knew that Li Xie was a duke, without knowing who Li Xie really was!

  "It's actually the Patrol Officer... " Li Xie smiled and said: "Fan Di, someone has slandered this official as a bandit. According to the law, how should they be dealt with?"

  "Sir, according to..."

  "Die!" Vandy Sell hadn't even finished speaking when Zaynarde gave Li Xie the most concise reply!

  "Oh, it seems our Zain is quite familiar with the law. Then let's execute our patrol officer on the spot! Vandy, take action!" Li Xie's tone was so calm, and the smile on his face was so harmless!

  Li Xie's personality and past experiences don't seem to match with his willingness to kill people so easily, it seems like there is something influencing him that he himself hasn't realized! The real Li Xie hadn't even killed an animal before!

  Vandy Zeal was still hesitating, according to the law, it's just a matter of punishing him with a fine and an apology, not a capital offense! As he hesitated, Zernard took advantage of the situation and rushed ahead of him. Seeing the dust rising from his feet, he made a swift move and appeared before the patrol officer. Under the shocked gaze of the crowd, he grabbed the patrol officer's throat and twisted it with force. A loud crack was heard, and the poor patrol officer's neck was broken!

  Waiting for him to collapse to the ground, Zaynarde had already returned to Li Xie's side and coldly said: "Kill him, let me do it!"

  At this time, Larry Brown was just recovering from his shock, looking at Li Xie in horror, instinctively taking a step back!

  Talk about killing people, then kill people!

  What can you do with such a person?

  Only two people stood on the spot, one was Larry Brown, and the other was a man with an ordinary face but sharp eyes standing beside Larry Brown, who seemed to be Larsenberg, the eighth-level summoner in the militia mentioned by Reddy Gagga. Perhaps only an eighth-level summoner could be so calm!

  Larry Brown's face was gloomy, his eyes gleaming with a hint of thought: this person is indeed as rumored, killing people at the drop of a hat! And yet, beside him, there wasn't just Vandy Zell, but also that tattooed man! Should I continue with the original plan or reassess? No! He must be trying to intimidate and establish his authority! If I show fear and submit now, he'll have the upper hand, and those nobles in Chrysanthemum City will likely turn to follow him too! Absolutely not! Yes, he's definitely killing to establish his power, but he won't go on a massive slaughter, he's greedy and wouldn't want a deserted city!

  At this, Larry Brown chuckled: "The great man is awe-inspiring, the lower official is convinced! This person has slandered the great man and should be put to death. Since he's dead, let him die then. Come, take away the corpse!"

  As he spoke, Larry Brown took out a crystal card from the space ring and continued: "Sir, this is ten million, please accept it, sir, for the repair of the city gate."

  Huh? So calm?

  Li Xie was slightly surprised and took another look at the black crystal card in Larry Brown's hand, which was a top-level crystal card with a storage limit of 10 million gold coins. This guy casually pulled it out, it seems that Larry Brown's gains in Chrysanthemum City far exceeded Li Xie's imagination!

  Thus, Li Xie had a new plan and smiled: "The Duke suddenly has a new idea, this 10 million gold coins will be temporarily left with you! How about this, it's almost noon, the Duke hasn't eaten yet, go and invite all the big and small nobles in the city to hold a welcoming banquet for the Duke, at that time, return these 10 million to the Duke, how is it?"

  Larry Brown's smile grew even brighter as he listened, thinking to himself: I knew it! This guy is greedy enough! Hmph, a banquet? Isn't that just an excuse to swindle all the nobles in town?! Good! I was worried you wouldn't be greedy enough! If you weren't greedy, I wouldn't have a way to deal with you!

  "I apologize, sir." Larry Brown bowed again: "I'm busy with official business and need to prepare for the handover of documents. It seems I won't have time at noon, but I've arranged a dinner party tonight at 8 o'clock. I'll be waiting for you at the City Lord's Mansion."

  "Dinner party? Fine!" Li Xie didn't care either way.

  "My subordinate has something to attend to, I'll take my leave first. Please excuse me, sir." With a wave of his hand, Larry Brown's people all retreated into the city, not even leaving one person behind to entertain Li Xie!