Jiang Wu sneered, "You know they're desperate, that's why they're fighting like this! You're charging them 40% tax, aren't you afraid they'll haunt you even in their afterlife!"

The man, not expecting the topic to return to this point, said with a mournful face, "Brother, I'm just a small fry. I'm just following orders. Besides, by collecting taxes, we can ensure that their harvest won't be stolen by other forces and that their goods can be successfully acquired."

Jiang Wu asked calmly, "Who is the power behind you?"

The man felt his heart pounding and carefully replied, "It's the Song family."

Jiang Wu asked instinctively, "Song Yi?"

The man nodded quickly and said, "Yes."

Jiang Wu sneered inwardly. This Song Yi looks respectable, but I never expected him to be involved in this kind of blood business!

Jiang Wu glanced at the few women who were wary of him and sighed inwardly.

Perhaps they now see themselves as the bad guys.

As the man said, although the Song family collects taxes from them, they can keep more than half of their gains and ensure that their goods are safely acquired.

In such a dog-eat-dog world, that is a kind of security.

"Get up." Jiang Wu glanced at the man who was still kneeling on the ground.

The man stood up cautiously and said with an awkward smile, "Is there anything else you need?"

Jiang Wu casually asked, "How much rice can these people who risk their lives by the river exchange for on average each day?"

The man thought carefully for a moment and then cautiously replied, "About a pound or so, depending on luck. Sometimes I'm lucky and can get two pounds."

Jiang Wu glanced at the dozen or so large snails on the ground, each weighing at least several kilograms, frowned, and asked, "Didn't you say that one kilogram of snails could be exchanged for three kilograms of rice? How come it only amounts to a little over one kilogram of rice in the end?"

The man followed Jiang Wu's gaze to the snails on the ground, then, remembering something, cautiously said, "Brother, don't be fooled by the size of these snails. Actually, once you remove the shells and innards, there's not much meat. Besides, they're divided among the entire team, which consists of dozens of people."

Jiang Wu narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "When you say one jin of snails, do you mean snail meat? One jin of snail meat is only worth three jin of rice?"

The man felt the chill in those words, and his whole body went cold. He said tremblingly, "Brother, I'm just a small fry. This purchase price wasn't set by me; it was set by several powerful groups together..."

"Do we have to exchange these things we found for yours?"

The man nodded stiffly, his voice trembling, "Well... of course, they're from our organization after all... since they came, we'll protect them... they're like temporary workers we hired..."

"Brother Wu, we've caught a kid trying to evade taxes! What do you think, should we break his leg or what...?"

A burly man walked over triumphantly, holding two large snails in his hand.

Two men followed behind him, dragging a thin, ragged, and filthy boy.

The boy was about 1.6 meters tall, very thin, with medium-length hair that looked like it had been chewed by a dog, and he also had a stutter.

As soon as he got close, a strong stench hit him.

Jiang Wu frowned slightly.

How many days has it been since he last showered?

And, did you poop or pee in your pants?

Jiang Wu looked at the man who had been speaking the whole time with a half-smile, and sneered, "Your surname is Wu? A nobody?"

When the man surnamed Wu heard his younger brother call him "Brother Wu," he knew he was in trouble.

This terrified him so much that his face turned deathly pale, and he prepared to kneel down again.

Jiang Wu said calmly, "Don't kneel. I didn't expect I underestimated you."

Worried that his new underlings might not know what was going on, the man surnamed Wu quickly shouted, "You lot, why don't you come and pay your respects to the new human leader at the lakeside camp!"

The three men, who had been looking completely bewildered, were all startled.

They couldn't care less about continuing to hold onto the little boy, and immediately shouted in unison, "Hello, Big Brother New Human!"

The man surnamed Wu chuckled and said, "Brother, I'm just the leader of a small force. I'm only able to have a few dozen underlings because the Song family thinks highly of me. I've been working for the Song family all along."

Jiang Wu sneered, "I hate being lied to the most. Those who lied to me before are all buried in the ground now. Do they want to live or die?"

The man surnamed Wu knew how powerful the lakeside camp was; it was a force that had stormed into the base by force.

Several major forces were helpless against it, suffering hundreds of casualties and heavy losses, and even had to compensate the other party.

How could I possibly provoke such a force?

Moreover.

The man surnamed Wu also knew that the person in front of him was unfathomable.

After all, the new human girl who had just attacked him was now clinging to his arm like a well-behaved child.

Gritting his teeth, the man surnamed Wu shouted, "Brother, my name is Wu Chongshan, and I want to live! What are your orders?"

Jiang Wu said calmly, "Relax. I don't need you to work directly for me, nor am I asking you to be a spy. Just continue to supervise tax collection. However, I also need you to collect data on those who dare to risk their lives by the lake. Also, don't go around telling anyone about what happened today. If you anger me, the Song family behind you will definitely not be able to protect you."

Wu Chongshan nodded quickly.

Now that things have come to this point, if you still don't agree, you might really be buried alive.

At that moment, strange shouts came from the lakeside again.

Jiang Wu glanced back at the people who were still struggling by the lake, and several more large birds flapped and swooped down to grab them.

It seems that only one person died in this wave.

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