Chapter 238 Tired
The uprising in the Kasa Strait reached a stalemate. Both the pirates and the seamen's unions agreed to fire first at the navy. Having suffered an inexplicable loss, the local navy simply retreated to the harbor, hunkering down, desperately strengthening their defenses while awaiting imperial rescue.
The Seamen's Union, having won a decisive victory, successfully seized control of the waterway. The leader immediately declared that the strait would remain closed to navigation until the local navy issued a bronze seal granting passage. The Kasa Strait, known for its high throughput, had hundreds of merchant ships trapped at the entrance over the course of several days.
On the vast ocean, a day wasted is a day's worth of money, not to mention the constant harassment from exiled pirates. The wealthy merchants behind the cargo ships soon began to suffer, and they united to put pressure on the local garrison: either resolve the riots quickly and return to normalcy - or give up the license.
Privately, however, some merchant ships began to approach the seamen's union, asking what "toll" they would collect from passing ships if the union were to take control of the Kasa Strait. After receiving a figure far lower than the official figure, public sentiment began to grow restless.
"I suppose this is also your masterpiece, Mr. Ghost." Ben Raj, the president of the Wheatear Association, poured a cup of tea for the man with a smile and winked slyly at the black-haired young man. "That boy Ask isn't that cunning."
The praised professor calmly lowered his head and drank his tea. The other party was also a cunning old man - at first glance, he looked like an honest and simple old farmer, and his words were very kind, but it was this seemingly simple and honest old man who saw the essence of the problem at a glance.
"If this stalemate continues, it could easily last three to five days, perhaps even ten or half a month—but the navy will eventually recover." The old man shook his head. "To me, achieving such a huge victory is nothing short of a miracle. But how long will luck favor these poor people? When do you plan to lend them a helping hand?"
The People's Army stationed in Port Morris has not yet been dispatched.
"How long this miracle can last depends not only on the people of the Kasa Strait, or on Port Morris," the black-haired young man lowered his eyes and slowly blew away the steam floating on the teacup, "but also on you."
A glimmer of light flashed in the old man's cloudy eyes: "Me?"
But Nova suddenly changed the subject: "The fertile fields of the Batalha Plateau are clearly incredibly fertile, more than enough to feed everyone in the area and still have some left over, yet hunger and poverty still haven't spared this God-given 'land of plenty.'"
His voice gradually grew cold and slow. "As I traveled along, I saw countless emaciated people, looking like starving corpses. The funny thing is, the children on their backs were starving to death, while their parents were toiling in the fields."
"—and you know it all too well. Who stole the last grain of wheat from the poor peasants' granaries, and who took the food from the children's plates?"
“…”
"Of course, these topics are a bit too grand and vague right now." The black-haired young man smiled slightly, but it was more like a twitch of his lips. "Simply put, the Wheat Ear Association wants a reliable, safe... and truly 'legal' waterway that won't be arbitrarily levied with layers of navigation taxes?"
He deliberately emphasized the word "legal", apparently implying that he was well aware of the not-so-"legal" transactions between the Casa Strait Seamen's Union and the Batalha Highlands Wheatear Association.
Ben Raj stared at the young man for a while, then suddenly burst into laughter, patting him on the shoulder as he laughed.
An ambitious and daring young man.
It was obvious that Port Morris was more eager for support from the outside world, but he made it sound as if the Wheat Ear Association had gained a huge benefit. However, what the other party said really hit him right in the heart - in the following time, the professor began to clearly feel that the old president was more kind and frank to him.
After several collaborations were initially finalized, the other party warmly invited him to stay in Harvest Town for a few more days, and with the help of Ben Raj, he successfully met Ms. Watson, who happened to pass by Harvest Town.
The elegant lady was extremely surprised by this, but she had an important schedule next, so they just shook hands and had a brief conversation. Then Ms. Watson invited him to visit the southern area of Batalia Highlands where the Twelve Spinning Wheel Alliance was located to discuss in detail.
After Ms. Watson left, the professor slowly exhaled. He took off his glasses and rubbed his brow wearily. A day had already passed, the sun was setting, and an orange-yellow light enveloped the earth. As he wiped his glasses and walked out, he almost bumped into someone. Fortunately, Azucar, who was casting a confusion spell beside him, grabbed his shoulder.
The somewhat reckless girl looked very familiar. When she saw him, her eyes widened in surprise: "Sir, it's you! What a coincidence!"
Nova glanced at her, and when he saw the new corner of the clothes she was holding in her arms, he nodded in understanding: "It seems you have passed the interview. Congratulations."
"This is all thanks to your generosity." Lina scratched her cheek shyly, "Otherwise, I would have been embarrassed in front of Ms. Watson."
Seeing those smoky gray eyes staring at her calmly, Lina felt inexplicably nervous - perhaps because the other party was a handsome gentleman. She stammered and didn't even know what she was saying: "Ah, did I forget to introduce myself - I, my name is Lina Bourne!"
"Hello, Miss Bourne." The other party nodded slowly, but seemed to have no intention of introducing herself.
"Oh, right!" The girl seemed to suddenly remember something and frantically pulled out a small cloth bag from her pocket that was obviously homemade and embroidered with a half-opened iris. She nervously handed it to the professor, "This is the money left over from buying clothes. I'll give it back to you!"
The professor glanced at her and was about to refuse, but he heard someone whisper in his ear, which made him tremble instinctively: "Take it."
The black-haired young man was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously reached out and let the small and exquisite coin fall into his palm.
The girl kept looking back before leaving, as if expecting him to say something, but Nova's entire attention was focused on the seemingly ordinary purse. He didn't think the savior would bother with a few copper coins, so it only meant that there was something unusual going on.
Azuka said quietly, "She has a great affection for you."
If you continue to get in touch with each other, maybe other different emotions will develop.
"...What?" The professor, lost in thought, reacted a little slowly. "Oh, you mean Miss Bowen—because in her opinion, I helped her save an important interview, so it's normal for her to have a good impression of me."
He asked with interest, "But what does this have to do with the purse?"
Azuka glanced at him, picked up the coin bag from the man's palm with two fingers, and then the exquisite little cloth bag suddenly began to burn without fire.
But there seemed to be something else besides this, something cold and creepy. An extremely strange black smoke suddenly emerged, and there seemed to be faint flashes of spells on the surface of the twisted and deformed cloth, making a crackling sound that was almost breaking.
"Curse." The savior whispered, and he exerted a little force with his fingers. In an instant, the cloth with the spell attached to it turned into powder in his palm, and it flew away with the wind when he loosened his fingers.
The blond youth took out a handkerchief and slowly wiped his palms, his voice growing colder. "It's a very vicious curse that will gradually absorb the vitality of those who touch it. Those cursed will gradually become weaker, but no symptoms can be found."
This kind of thing could not have been made by an ordinary girl, nor could it be used against an ordinary girl - from the first contact with Lina Bourne to the second meeting, it was only less than three days, and the caster found the opportunity, which was obviously a long-planned one.
Nova frowned: "Where is Lina Bourne?"
"I have removed the curse from her."
So the professor who was almost cursed became calm, and even stared at the other person's hand which was slightly stained with dust with interest - then his hand was taken away, the gloves were torn off, and the fingers that had touched the cursed object were carefully wiped one by one.
The black-haired young man slowly raised his eyebrows: "I obviously wore gloves."
Mysophobia should not be this kind of mysophobia.
"To be precise, I'm dispelling the magic that's trying to attach itself to you. This kind of thing can't be protected against with just a layer of gloves." Azuka said calmly.
Nova glanced at him coldly: "I didn't see you holding Miss Bourne's hand just now."
Apparently, no physical contact is required to dispel the curse.
The other man sighed softly, and taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he nonchalantly kissed the back of his enemy's hand. "I'm sorry, sir. But any stranger who tries to approach you right now might have bad intentions. I have to be more vigilant."
"...Okay, you're right." The black-haired young man suddenly stared at him seriously, reflecting on himself seriously: "I have problems too. I should be more cautious."
If the other party had not been vigilant, even if the original intention of contacting Lina Bourne was just to try to collect intelligence, coupled with moral reasons, it would have almost implicated innocent people.
Jolini Batman saw his face and knew his true identity. Since he had released the other party back to the royal court, the danger he was in would naturally be a little greater - but it was almost the same. There were so many people who hated him, and even more who wanted his life. He got used to assassinations after encountering them so many times.
"Those guys will definitely try to start with the Brody family." The professor sneered darkly, "Never overestimate the enemy's bottom line."
Starting with friends and family - regardless of whether they are friends and family recognized by the target himself, has always been one of the most despicable but most effective means since ancient times.
The black-haired young man's face, which always looked extremely pale, rarely showed a hint of imperceptible fatigue.
Azuka couldn't help but touch his old enemy's neck soothingly. The other party glanced at him, suddenly reached out and hugged him actively, buried his face in his shoulder and rubbed it hard.
"...Don't worry about me." Nova exhaled slowly, and he seemed to have regained his composure: "I'm already prepared."
No matter which aspect.
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