No one is absent

Having resolved this series of urgent matters, Mason could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The construction of the territory is going on in an orderly manner. The church has been notified, and the Noble Association has the Luo family to help gather information. As long as Ron comes back, Oreius can go up and find out about the twelve families and the twelve gods.

The planning plan was also handed over to Violet, which included all the marketing plans and design drawings in his memory from his previous life, which were about the Black Forest Tavern and the Chamber of Commerce. He ticked off the plans in his mind one by one and looked downstairs.

Bai Jingjing sat by the window of the clothing store with a cup of hot tea in his hand. Perhaps due to the influence of profiteers, he now likes to wear a mask more and more. If it were normal, people like him would definitely be regarded as suspicious. But in Partington today, there are many people like him.

The only benefit of Partington's mutation was that Bai was able to go out on the street. The conspicuous mask could not completely hide his mutant features. Most people just took a quick look and then walked away, as if they were avoiding something. No one chose to attack him.

Whether one admits it or not, for better or worse, the Speaker's actions did change something.

Bai watched this scene in silence until he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He turned around and saw his figure sunk deep in the large armchair, looking particularly lonely.

Mason looked at the street outside the window and suddenly made an invitation: "Would you like to walk around the street with me?"

This may seem strange.

Bai actually didn't visit Partington very often. The consequences of the experiment were tragic. He was forced to be separated from ordinary people and even became a target for elimination. Even if he took control of the Black Forest Tavern, he could only move around the black area at most to avoid trouble caused by his identity being exposed.

The sky in Partington today is gray, and it feels like it is about to rain. From time to time, you can see workers repairing buildings and building materials piled up on the street corners, which form a sharp contrast with the magnificent buildings next to them, and even more incongruous and bleak.

Bai stared at the dark clouds and suddenly spoke: "The weather is always like this where I was born. It snows all year round in the north, and there are rarely sunny days. On days when it doesn't snow, the sky is gray."

"I don't like weather like that. My parents died the night before it was going to snow."

Mason couldn't help but look at his expression. Bai's tone was very calm, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

"When the master died, the sky in Partington was also gray and all you could see was black fog."

"......"

At this moment, Mason's conscience pangs.

He had to admit that although the profiteer was only one of his golden fingers, saving Bai was just a coincidence, and tearing up the card was also a last resort. But when he heard Bai say this, he had a complicated feeling in his heart.

In fact, you don't need to feel so guilty. I saved you because the timing was right. I never thought that you would be deified. You don't have to be trapped in that day. There is still a long way to go in the future.

He wanted to comfort Bai in this way, but he was no longer a profiteer.

Fate always produces a variety of choices. It is certainly worthwhile to use a false life to protect these living people, but when facing their guilt, Mason sometimes still feels complicated.

He is not that noble, he is just an ordinary person who wants to protect the people around him in his own way.

Playing different vests, getting to know people who would never meet, and deriving stories belonging to the characters and these people. They will never know who is hiding behind the vests, but when Mason sees them, he will still feel that we have known each other for a long time.

So Mason just sighed softly and said, "The profiteers would like you to live well."

The white-haired boy tilted his head when he heard the voice. The boy next to him was not very old, but his expression was very gentle, with a maturity that did not match his age. This was a very strange feeling, and the words handsome or beautiful could not be used to describe this face. After searching his brain for a long time, he finally found a suitable description.

"If I hadn't known that we had never met before, I would have thought you were a friend I met in the North."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I am in your eyes. Many people look at me with awe, contempt, and need, but your eyes always have goodness for me."

Bai said, "It's just like the snow in the north."

"I thought you hated snow."

"No northerner hates snow. It haunts them wherever they go."

Give him peace, give him sorrow.

The Age of Black Mist was full of suffering, but the snow would always unconditionally embrace the people of the North, whether they were living beings or cold corpses.

The other person was like the snow in the north. Perhaps even he himself did not realize how gentle his eyes were when he looked at him.

Gentle and tolerant, with genuine concern, like an elder seeing his younger generation coming back exhausted, reaching out to brush the dust off his shoulders.

Bai Qing couldn't help but think, if he returns to his hometown one day. The moment he set foot in the north, he saw the familiar snow falling quietly, just like the first snow he saw with his parents when he was a child. Maybe he felt the same way.

It was amazing how he felt safe from a child who was almost his own age.

Mason couldn't help laughing. He patted the other man on the head and said, "You must have done well in literature."

Otherwise, how could one utter such flowery sentences?

The white-haired boy lowered his eyes and didn't say the rest of the words. He asked, "Where are you going next?"

"I'll go back to Xinzhen. I'm needed there. Bai, I'll give you two choices."

Bai listened in silence. He knew that Mason's identity was not simple, otherwise the profiteer would not insist on choosing that small town as the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce. Even if he did not know the other party's background before, after staying in Partington for so long, Bai who controlled the Black Forest Tavern was no longer the simple boy who was bent on revenge.

The speaker stopped walking and turned to look at him. His warm eyes were gentle and calm.

"You can come back with me, or you can stay in Partington."

Bai didn't think twice: "I choose the latter."

Mason smiled helplessly, perhaps because Bai was the one he rescued personally and he always felt like he was treating a child.

"Listen to me before you think about it. If you choose to leave with me, the Merchants Guild will temporarily be led by Violet, and the intelligence department will go underground, becoming a true Chamber of Commerce until New Town has the energy to return to Partington. This will slow down the development of the Chamber of Commerce, but you will be safer. Neither the merchants nor I want anything to happen to you."

"If you choose to stay in Partington, you will be doomed to face many difficulties and fight for power with the church and the noble association. The profiteers can no longer help you. But if necessary, you can go to Oreius and Canaan. Choosing this path will be difficult, and you may die."

"I will stay in Partington. This is the hard work of my master. I will protect this place."

The flax-haired boy sighed softly and placed his hand on Shiro's shoulder. His warm eyes seemed to be filled with stars.

"I understand what you mean, Bai. The profiteer did leave valuable wealth in Partington, but it was not the Chamber of Commerce, but you who witnessed his life."

"As long as you are alive, no matter what you face, you can solve it. There is no need to rush. We will succeed."

Bai couldn't help but be stunned. After a while, he nodded silently, and his expression became softer.

"...I understand. I won't act impulsively."

"I believe you." Since Bai made the decision consciously, Mason naturally had no reason to object. He took out a thick envelope from his pocket and handed it to the boy.

"This is the plan I wrote in advance. You can refer to the suggestions in it to build the Chamber of Commerce. Remember, safety first. I will have someone send you some things later."

Bai Zhen took the envelope carefully, not taking Mason's last words seriously. He had been in Newtown for so long, and even Mason's personal protective equipment before leaving Partington was given by him. How much wealth did he have? Partington was definitely more prosperous than Newtown.

No matter what, the other party's advice made him feel warm. Bai carefully put away the envelope.

"When are you leaving?"

"Just for a few days, when the reward from the western nobles arrives. Partington doesn't need an ordinary bloodline person without even a title, but the new town needs a manager, and I have to go back to see how the spring plowing is going."

"I will give you a group of good people. You take them back and set up an intelligence base in the Chamber of Commerce in the new town. Once they develop, they can unite with the intelligence organization here at the Black Forest Tavern to form a complete intelligence chain."

This is of course an exaggeration. The Black Forest Tavern was able to quickly control the intelligence network in and around Partington because the profiteers defeated the intelligence dealers and controlled their souls. How easy is it to build an intelligence network from scratch?

The reason Bai said this was simply because he was worried that Mason would reject him, so he was just looking for a reason to get him in.

Mason couldn't help feeling like a grown-up kid, and he gladly accepted the other party's kindness.

"I have to go back to the Luo family soon. If you have anything, please tell me immediately. You know how to contact me, right?"

"Um."

"I saw a store opened by the Chamber of Commerce in the west before. It's too expensive to buy intelligence there. Can you give me some free privileges? I've thought about it. I can also open VIP cards. They are divided into low-level, medium-level and high-level. Different levels can get a certain amount of intelligence for free to encourage buyers to spend."

"I will go back and research it, and I will also inform my subordinates about the expenses."

"Remember to discuss things with Violet when you encounter them. She and you are both subordinates of the unscrupulous businessman and will not harm you."

"I know Violet is a good person."

They were like a pair of ordinary friends, whispering about all the topics they could think of. Discussing the future of the Chamber of Commerce, complaining about trivial matters, Mason talked, Bai listened. They walked straight ahead along Partington Road.

Finally, Mason smiled and said, "It's spring now, and the forest near the town of Nail has just sprouted and is full of flowers."

"The weather in the south is very sunny and it rarely snows. So when the edelweiss blooms, come back and spend next winter with us. By then, you will definitely see the winter sunshine."

Bai listened quietly, and the familiar town reappeared in front of him. The noisy goods in the Chamber of Commerce, the sweaty townspeople, the nobles who came to ask him if he wanted to have lunch with them at noon, the reliable and silent blond knight, and the black-robed merchant who appeared and disappeared mysteriously and gave him a new life.

At this moment, living in the prosperous Partington, he suddenly missed the time he spent in the new town.

Now, he can control enough bloodline people to destroy the whole new town with just a wave of his hand. Every day, he hears the awe and admiration of others. There are as many people who want to buy intelligence from the owner of the Black Forest Tavern as the mud at the bottom of the river. But what Bai misses most is the edelweiss flowers he saw in the snow in the south. Everyone raised their wooden cups filled with beer and laughed to celebrate the arrival of the Edelweiss Festival.

It was at this moment that he suddenly understood what the profiteer's last words meant. Mason was a trustworthy lord, New Town was a good place, and most importantly, as long as he was there, he would have a place to go back to.

If every northerner has an ice field in his heart, then Newtown and the people living there are the snow in his dreams. This must be the most precious treasure that the master wants to leave for him.

Then the white-haired boy also smiled slightly.

He said, "Okay, let's go see the edelweiss together then, and no one will be absent."