"It was indeed very effective. It was as if he had predicted that I would make a move. And whether Dara could live or die depended entirely on when I made my move."
"I don't think so. He probably calculated that someone else would make a move, not that you would. City Lord, have you finally decided to help him?"
The city lord of Jinling spread his hands.
"What else can we do? Are there already few people who know about this? Do we have to wait until the whole of Jinling City knows that Dala is abusing his power and blatantly seizing property? Or do we have to wait until everyone is criticizing the city lord for not disciplining his subordinates and allowing the army to oppress the people?"
"If the city lord had acted sooner, Dara might have survived."
The city lord of Jinling laughed and said somewhat innocently.
"I was just mesmerized by that epic gold ore."
"Pah! I think you're just trying to curry favor with them, planning to give them Dara's head as a big gift!"
Upon hearing this, the city lord of Jinling City didn't seem to care, and instead let out another leisurely sigh.
"Dara should be grateful that he's still alive."
It’s over!
This was the first thought that came to Dara, the leader of the guards, when he saw the huge crowds around him.
Meanwhile, the other party, a level 13 one-star citizen of Jinling City, an adventurer named Lord of Hell, took a sip of the healing potion in his hand and gave him a cold look.
That look in his eyes was like looking at a dead person.
"The Royal Guard is enforcing the law; all unauthorized personnel must make way!"
Here they come; the forces in Jinling City that dared to intervene in this matter have finally made their move.
Jiang Hao breathed a sigh of relief.
A loud voice rang out in the shipyard square. Jiang Hao turned his head and saw a commotion on the high-rise building in the western military forging area. Ten guards dressed in white armor and wearing bright red cloaks rode tall horses across the drawbridge between the military forging area and the shipyard. They then rushed down the horse path on the west side of the shipyard, from high to low, to the center of the square at lightning speed.
Eight guards dismounted swiftly and decisively. Two of them strode to their leader, grabbed his arms, twisted them behind his back, and kicked him in the back of the knees, firmly pinning Dara to the ground. The other six guards surrounded Dara, drew their broadswords with a snap, and turned to guard against any potential riots on the outskirts.
The guards moved in perfect unison, each exuding a powerful killing intent forged only on the battlefield.
The guard leader knelt on the ground, cold sweat pouring down his face.
Wow, I thought the guard leader was arrogant enough, but I didn't expect someone to be even more arrogant than him? Whose subordinate is this, so brave?
Then a guard shouted loudly from horseback.
"The judgment of the City Lord of Jinling City is hereby proclaimed. Dala, the leader of the guards, you have oppressed the people and acted with utter disregard for justice. You publicly assaulted the head of the Black Dragon Hall, forcing the people to hand over money and goods, intending to plunder them. Your greed is insatiable; you have distorted the truth and maliciously misinterpreted Articles 13 and 11 of the Jinling Law to satisfy your own selfish desires. You knowingly violated the law, unworthy of being a subject. You treat the lives of the people like dirt, disregard the purpose of Jinling City in protecting its people, and wantonly trample on the laws of Jinling City. Your crimes deserve to be punished by slow slicing. However, considering your meritorious service in protecting the city during its founding, this City Lord hereby sentences you to beheading."
The city lord of Jinling? It was actually him who made the move?
Jiang Hao was somewhat puzzled. Logically speaking, after such an incident, at most the guard leader would be detained and then slowly interrogated to find out the reason for the incident.
But now the city lord has actually handed down a verdict, sentencing him to death?
Moreover, every charge he listed was based on evidence, as if he had witnessed it firsthand.
Jiang Hao scanned his surroundings, trying to find the figure of the city lord of Jinling City, but the area was densely packed with people, making it impossible to see who the city lord was.
The once noisy square was now completely silent.
After reading the verdict, the guard leaped off his horse and drew a sword from his waist.
As Dara struggled to shout, the guard bent down and put his mouth close to Dara's ear.
Jiang Hao could only see the guard's mouth moving through the gap between the guards, but he couldn't hear what he was saying at all.
A moment later, the guard swiftly brought down his knife, and Dara's blood spurted far away, splashing onto the pile of gold ore. Then Dara's head rolled off, rolling a long way on the scale.
Holy crap, they just... just killed him outright?
What kind of person is the Lord of Jinling City? For a moment, Jiang Hao was completely baffled.
The fact that the guard leader was arrogant and domineering and arbitrarily oppressed the people shows that the security situation in Jinling City, or rather the official system, was more or less tainted by a gray area.
But now, the city lord of Jinling City seems to be a just and upright official who enforces the law impartially. Jinling City appears to be a peaceful and stable place where every household can leave their doors unlocked at night.
Jiang Hao tried to find some clues on Old Wang's face, or on the faces of the other guards, but he failed.
The moment the guards raised Dara's head, the entire square fell silent.
A moment later, someone took the lead and shouted something.
"Long live the Lord of Jinling City!"
Long live Nanjing!
Jiang Hao found the scene a bit melodramatic. Through the gaps between the guards, Jiang Hao saw one of the guards pull a money pouch from Dara's pocket. The guard weighed it in his hand; Jiang Hao saw that the pouch was bulging and heavy, estimating it contained at least 20 gold coins. Surrounded by guards and several tall horses, almost no one could see what was happening. Jiang Hao had assumed the guard would put the pouch in his own pocket. Unexpectedly, the man squeezed out and handed the pouch to Old Wang.
Old Wang was trembling and dared not take it. The man grabbed Old Wang's hand and slapped the money bag into his hand.
"Take this. Dara is dead. Consider this your medical expenses."
"Sir, sir, this is unacceptable! How could this old man dare to accept your medical expenses?"
"Just take it. Don't worry, no one will make things difficult for you. If you need anything, you can come directly to the military affairs hall to find me."
Finally, a few scattered people around began to shout "Long live!" A moment later, the entire square, and all the onlookers around it, were shouting "Long live!" at the top of their lungs.
"Long live the Lord of Jinling City!"
Long live Nanjing!
......
Feeling the enthusiasm of the people around him and hearing the orderly, deafening shouts, Jiang Hao suddenly felt that this game was not just about fighting monsters and leveling up, but also had a little bit of human touch.
The guard who had executed Dara waved his right hand, and eight guards immediately scattered and surrounded the scales. Then the guard walked up to Jiang Hao.
"You must be the customer in this transaction. Please bring out all the gold ore immediately for weighing. The city lord has instructed us to guard this Black Dragon Palace transaction until it is over."
Jiang Hao hesitated, unsure of the Jinling City Lord's intentions.
The guard grinned, looking quite magnanimous.
"There's no need to worry. The Black Dragon Palace in Jinling City is a business established through cooperation between Jinling City and the Black Dragon Empire. The city lord would never ruin his own business."
Jiang Hao cast a questioning look at Lao Wang, who quickly nodded.
"Don't worry, sir, the facts are indeed as this soldier said."
Jiang Hao finally felt relieved and took all the gold ore out of his backpack. A flash of gold appeared on the scale, and with a clang, a 3-meter-high mountain of gold ore had appeared on his side. Countless gold ore pieces, some the size of goose eggs and others the size of washbasins, were present, not to mention the countless gold ore pieces of all sizes filling even the crevices between the rocks. They gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.
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