The gangsters were well prepared, and the ransom conditions listed were simply exorbitant, and they also involved Neo's personal belongings, that is, the priceless package of treasures brought up from the underground. If not for a large part of it, Neo would have seen it.
It is used as operating funds for the Storm Team or even a larger plan, and it was not mentioned to Miriam. I am afraid that what the gangster proposed at this moment is not as simple as 5 pieces of Abyssal Crystals.
"It is impossible for us to accept these demands." After Neo struggled to read the documents thrown on the ground, he refused without much thought.
The young woman snorted, "Are you saying that the purpose of your visit this time is to tell us personally that we can deal with Miriam as we please?" She was saying the word 'handle', and she paused and pronounced it for a long time, which was enough.
Let no one imagine what the word means.
"I came here with a pragmatic attitude, looking for a solution to the problem that is acceptable to both parties. We are willing to pay the price, but if the price is that all of us will starve to death, freeze to death, or in the future,
There is no hope of rebuilding our homes, so I must say that it is beyond the scope of my decision-making authority. Our team has fallen apart in the process of preparing the ransom, and it will become inevitable that we cannot collect the ransom."
The young woman waved her hand and said, "You don't have to complain to me. I'm not interested in that. I'm just asking you whether you should do it or not!"
Neo said calmly: "You misunderstood. I am not complaining, but clarifying the facts that have to be said, such as the treasure. I can make the decision for your Lordship's share, and I can also make my own share, but Miss Strode's
But there was no way around it. Miss Slode led a team to seek help in the Refuge Valley and had already taken away the treasures. After all, she needed to help the people of Mashua and find out the whereabouts of her father."
"Besides, we don't have that many gold coins to pay. The lords of the Erdrit Territory may indeed be richer, but that was before the invasion of darkness. The sudden plunder has already looted most of the property. Even if there are some reasons,
He habitually hid without being discovered, and later used most of it to win over the people during his eastward migration. Baron Bafas's wealth is indeed famous far and wide, but his various notoriety is equally famous, even more so.
And, let alone 50,000 gold coins, even 5,000 would probably be very difficult. Otherwise, his sister, who was married to Baron Aventus of Sylfanis, would not have poured tea for a concubine just to make a living.
water"
"There is also food. We are not migrating in the true sense, but fleeing. The main reason why we are still alive is that we have some human and animal meat as a base. In order to stabilize people's hearts and allow everyone to persevere more, we have been increasing our food stocks.
It’s a lie. To tell you the truth, the food required in this data is more than five times the actual amount we have. Even if we don’t eat or drink from tomorrow and contribute all the food including human and animal meat, it will still be
Far away..."
"That's enough!" The young woman interrupted Neo's narration rudely and kicked Neo hard on the forehead. "I said, I'm not here to listen to your complaints. Instead of bargaining with me here, it's better to go back.
Discuss with your people how to meet our conditions.”
Neo's anger was also uncontrollable, and he shouted: "There must be a limit to what you ask for. What can we do to meet the conditions you set? Do you think we are the fucking Grand Duke Enspas's luxury cruise group? Or do you accept it?"
Bai Tiao, do you allow us to repay the debt someday?"
The young woman came up and kicked her a few more times, scolding: "Stop showing off in front of me. It's useless to cry and pretend to be pitiful. I repeat what I said before for the last time. Either you comply with the conditions we set out, or you break up the vote!"
Neo's eyes seemed to be burning when he looked at the young woman. The young woman looked at her with disdain without fear, "Humph, looks can't kill. If you want to complain, just blame Miriam for being stupid, or maybe you are not enough."
Tough luck!”
Suddenly, Neo's expression calmed down, and he regained his previous calmness. He took a long breath and said slowly: "Okay, if you win, I will go back to discuss with the Lord and prepare the ransom."
The young woman curled her lips and said proudly: "Hey! You are such a bitch. You have to be beaten before you compromise." As she said that, the young woman pinched her lower lip with her hand, pursed her lips and whistled, "Big eyes, let this bitch man do it again."
Enjoy, enjoy the packhorse ride that relaxes your muscles and invigorates your blood! Huh? Why are you here?"
The person who came in was not a gangster, nor the fishy-eyes guy who was obviously the leader, but an old man with gray beard and hair and a slightly stooped back. This old man was wearing a starched white cotton coat.
The veins and roots are visible, and they are as dry as chicken feet, but the eagle-headed staff in hand is made of black iron, 1.6 meters long, and as thick as a chicken egg, and it looks quite heavy.
The old man walked forward and said solemnly: "How about if I don't come? Do you think your plan is successful? In fact, you just established an enemy who will never stop fighting."
The young woman reacted immediately and turned to look at Neo coldly, "Let's see who kills whom first. I will kill him now and let those people change negotiators. I don't believe they have the courage to disobey."
!”
The old man brushed his beard and said leisurely: "This is not a good idea. Since we are doing a dangerous business, we can't have any kind heart to control their lifeline, and we are not afraid that they will not cooperate."
The young woman nodded, turned around and approached Neo, and said at the same time: "You're a little sergeant of level 4, you're just showing off, and you're talking nonsense to me, you stinky slave!" After that, she pulled out a sharp dagger from her waist and pressed it on Neo.
On Ao's neck, "With a slight stroke, blood will spurt out, and you will die within 5 minutes? Do you have any last words?"
Neo was filled with indignation, veins popped up on his forehead, and he roared while transforming: "I*%￥&you bunch of bastards&￥#, %￥% like you, deserve to freeze and starve for the rest of their lives, and not have a good death..."
"
The young woman and the old man were scolded, but they were not angry. Instead, they looked at each other and smiled. The young woman turned back and patted Neo's dusty face with the blade, and said in a long and playful voice: "Neo...
Humph, I thought you were so amazing, but you were just like this. You finally got angry? Did you know that you had to transform? But it was useless. We already knew you clearly. The rope used was special and you couldn't transform.
Break free and if you don't realize it, if I really want to kill you, is your transformation meaningless?" After saying that, the young woman snorted contemptuously and said to herself: "A werewolf, what are we doing to this?
This guy’s intelligence is really impressive.”
The old man changed his old demeanor, smiled and shrugged, "Maybe we have overlooked one thing, women in love are blind."
The young woman nodded in agreement and then said to Neo in an old-fashioned way: "Young man, I'm not trying to hit you, but at your level, what kind of career do you want to achieve, cross the barriers of social morality, and officially marry a young lady from a noble family?
It's better not to dream. Haha, okay, let's get back to the subject. This is our ransom demand. Neither you nor your master has the qualifications to refuse. Go back and prepare. I hope you will have some brains. Everything is under our control. Play.
There is a price to pay for tricks!”
Neo looked angrily and gasped as he looked at the new document. This one was fairly reliable, but it was also ruthless enough. He almost plundered all the supplies for the migration team. Once he agreed, the migration team would only have 5 days left.
The rations cannot be obtained within the time limit, and everyone will be hungry. As for the future development, it is even more worrying. Cash and treasure will become part of the ransom. Xavier may only have to sell the land or rely on the bank in the future.
The savings were used to revitalize the Mammeris family and Turres, which were in a worse state than when they left Cropp.
"Let me meet Miriam" Neo made his final request
"No, you can choose not to cooperate if I refuse." Although the young woman is not as expressive as before, and her tone is very plain, she has a decisive flavor, and Neo can feel that determination.
"Then what if we know that Miriam is fine and can indeed return safely after paying the ransom?"
The young woman twitched the corner of her mouth, "You can only choose to believe us, or not cooperate." Then she laughed, "How about it? Isn't it annoying again, haha"
"Yes, I was very angry and never thought that it would be my own compatriots who would push us to death in the end."
The young woman said indifferently: "This is a society where individuals cannibalize people. You country bumpkins living in a blessed land are too ignorant. Besides, you don't have to cry for poverty. The Holy See will send people here, and the principality will win over you."
, your people will be settled soon, and by the way, there is also that god, if it doesn’t work, you can pray for him to show up again and bring you some rice and noodles, haha..."
If you don’t believe it, it’s okay if you don’t have faith. Insulting and contemptuous of other people’s beliefs is a worse thing for believers than insulting your wife, children, and parents.
Neo didn't say anything else. If he had some sympathy for these gangsters who lived a miserable life before because of his own background and experience, then after this series of intrigues and dialogues, he finally had that little sympathy.
It was also worn away. What Neo thought of was this sentence: Poor people must be hateful.
The world is bleak, the fate is unfair, and the misfortune is miserable. It is indeed worthy of sympathy and pity. However, if you do not try to make progress, your mentality is distorted, you make it worse, and pass the misery onto other ordinary people. This is what is hateful. If you say it is fighting against the government, fighting against those who once oppressed you.
Even if you fight with nobles or rich people, you can barely gain a reputation for robbing the rich and giving to the poor. But now? What Neo sees is taking advantage of people's kindness, deceiving the simple, squeezing the poor, and letting other civilians live and die.
own people, and then come up with the theory of cannibalism in a high-sounding way
"Well, since you are so committed and fully prepared, then be prepared to take high risks. After all, your business is a huge profit..." Neo thought silently, and those warm things were completely removed from his mind.
He really wanted to use violence against the people who were already living in misery, but in this incident, at least this woman made him believe in this truth: not all those who are rich are unkind, and not all poor people are innocent and kind.
of
How did he go there in the first place? How can he come back now? After a few hours of bumps, Neo returned to the place where the migration team was stationed. At this time, it was already around 4 o'clock. Do not go long for more than 2 hours before night falls.
The fishy-eyed gangster leader bared his yellow teeth and said goodbye: "Stick your butt, move fast, your little beauty is very eye-catching, many of our brothers have never played the game of the noble family.
Woman, maybe tonight..." Seeing Neo's clenched fists, he smiled with bubble eyes and said: "What? Are you still here? With your brain capacity, you still dare to pretend to be a hero and justice? Put that first
Let’s get back to our seats after we are all shaken up!” After saying that, he walked leisurely towards the distance with a circular step. After walking a little, he turned back and said: “Tomorrow morning, the ransom must be ready. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being unjust!”
Yubaoyan left with a group of gangsters. Sylfanis was crisscrossed with ravines, but above it was a flat river. It was desolate and unobstructed. They didn't worry about being followed at all.
Neo returned to the temporary camp angrily and went straight to the kiln with a sullen face. Soon after, the clerks and the heads of the escorts summoned them into the kiln. After a while, these people came out of the house in a hurry.
All of them had solemn expressions, scolding their men and starting to count supplies and prepare vehicles...
The people in the migration team were talking a lot, and there were many people who were sighing. Everyone knew that in order to redeem Miriam this time, the migration team was afraid that it would go bankrupt. The good hopes that had slowly gathered along the way, after this blow,
It's a lot bleaker, and everyone is worried about what to do in the future!
"Barit, throw another cup." In the tent next to the earthen kiln where Xavier lives, Neo looks calm as he prepares his weapons.
Bang! The smashing sound of a ceramic cup being thrown by Barritt could be heard clearly from a distance outside the tent.
"Boss, you really don't need us to go together this time?" Dick was scratching his head.
"Don't worry about fighting. There are plenty of opportunities. If you have time, think about those enemy-killing techniques. Don't worry about power. If you lack the power to control, you are just a fool like a demonizer if you have power. They are useless when it comes to skilled people!
"
"Oh..." Dick sat down angrily. He also knew that there was a huge gap between him and the real players in the team. When Neo guided and evaluated the strength of the team members, strength was the most important thing. Spirituality was the top priority.
Attitude, skills, methods... these all come before strength. Neo's slogan is: "Make the bucket first, and then think about adding water!"
"Boss, what do you think of my disguise?" It was Maher who spoke. His figure is very close to Neo. This time he was the one to pretend to be Neo. To Neo's surprise, Maher was not only good at imitating
, his makeup skills are also very good. After some cleaning, he looks about 7 points similar to him, mainly because of the difference in his eyes. However, the fake Neo played by Maher mainly shows up in the dark. This
This degree of similarity is enough to cope with
"Yes, very good. Your specialty is very promising. Let's see who in our team has the qualifications in this area. Bring half of the apprentices out, and also do more research on your own. If you need help from me or everyone, just ask
"
"Well, okay" Maher responded happily, and then squeaked a little, "This is the most important part of facial makeup..."
Neo nodded, "I know what you mean, good breathability, good color, light and thin. We really can't get such materials now, but we can find a substitute, human skin!"
Maher said yes, "I'm also worried that there are some taboos in doing this, hehe."
"There are no taboos. Any of our enemies can have thin skin. I can bring back a few tonight!" Neo said with murderous intent.
"Oh, it's best to use a human head. It can save the trouble of an accurate mold. It can be used when making a mask and adding more or less filling from the inside."
"Understood" Neo said and put the last flying knife coated with juice into a special pocket on the leather armor. This juice does not have the function of poison or paralysis. It only stains the flying knife and cannot reflect it.
Tonight, it will be a clear moonlit night
"Barit, find out the spies. The members of the escort are also suspects."
"Yes!" Barritt responded and asked, "Should we do it immediately after we find out, or should we let him live a little better?"
"Just start working, don't worry about me"
"Understood!"……
When night falls, Neo has arrived in the valley where the gangsters are hiding. Without the water barrier provided by the semen chain, Neo can also use rubber tights to achieve a similar purpose of concealing his presence. Although the gangsters have hounds,
The threat to Neo is not high. As for the clever detours before, it is a joke in itself.
Neo did not enter the valley. It was indeed here that he was "warmly entertained" by the gangsters during the day, but Miriam was not here.
Neo had thought of this arrangement early on, and he had already made the worst plan, which was to wait until the bandits at the migration team's camp