"Can you make the decision?" asked Woolley.

"If not, I won't talk to you about this," Niels replied.

"Why me and not my next one? I think if you could be more serious, killing me wouldn't be difficult." Wu Lai said with a smile.

Niels shook his head. "Maybe it won't be too difficult, but I personally think that would be too stupid. Although Connor is suspicious now, he doesn't have any solid evidence yet. If you die too, wouldn't that be the same as admitting it to him directly? By then, I'm afraid there won't be any room for maneuver."

"You told me all this, aren't you afraid...that this will become solid evidence?" Wu Lai asked.

"You won't. You don't know what satisfaction is. Also, you have great desires for money and power." Niels's eyes fell on Woolley's face. "I have analyzed you. In just a few years, you have grabbed a lot of wealth and accumulated a good network of contacts. If you have no interest in the two things I just mentioned, you should still be running a mill in Seneca City. Also, you are good at collecting beauties. Although the women you hunt are of different identities, they are all beauties, aren't they?"

"I guess so. Okay, you're right. As long as you give me enough, I'm willing to do it." Wu Lai nodded. Nils' proposal was very good. If it went well, Wu Lai could play both sides between the Duncan family and Chief Connor. He could ensure the smooth progress of his career while paralyzing these two giants, or even make them serve him.

Of course, the point about beauty is an absolute misunderstanding of him, but there are indeed many beautiful women around Wu Lai.

"Great, let me show my sincerity first." Niels smiled and took out a black nameplate from his arms. When he handed it to Wu Lai, a look of reluctance flashed across his face. "This is the black flag badge of the Duncan family. There are eight of them in total. Only the core members of the Duncan family can own it. With it, you can mobilize all the manpower and material resources of the Duncan family in the Assyrian territory, including the Duncan family's private army."

Niels hesitated slightly when saying the last sentence, but he finally said it because he felt that only in this way could it ensure sufficient appeal to Woolley.

Wu Lai didn't answer. Instead, he frowned and looked at me for a few seconds, then slowly shook his head: "Niels, what you said is very interesting, and your conditions are very tempting, but I still have two questions. One is your identity, and the other is that since you have shown such great sincerity, I should also give you something in return, right?"

Nils laughed, then suddenly started coughing without warning. After finally stopping, he raised his head and waved his hand: "I'm very sorry, it's my old problem. Your second question shows that you don't doubt the first question at all, but I'm still very interested in proving this point. It's too far away to verify in a short time, but right here in the city of Lovington, you can prove it any way you want, as long as you can think of it, I will do it, but don't make it too complicated."

"Now that you mention it, I have an idea..." Wu Lai raised his eyebrows and was about to speak when he was stopped by Nils with a smile.

"Don't be so anxious. Let me talk about the second one first." Niels waved his hand to stop him, and then continued, "Your crossbows, big and small, are invincible in attacking cities and capturing strongholds, but they cannot be completely copied. I analyzed it. First, you have made some restrictions on some of the parts. If you forcibly remove them, they will be destroyed. Second, the metal used to cast the crossbows is different. So, if you have no objection, you can take any one of these crossbows as your sincerity, drawings, and metal ratios."

Not bad, he even knows about alloys. Wu Lai looked at Niels with a hint of approval, but since he said so, he must have tried many times. To say "it is impossible to completely copy" means that it is very close to "complete copy". In this case, it is not bad to use a secret that is about to be cracked as a show of sincerity.

Let's mass produce them. Maybe they will all be mine in the future. Wu Lai thought about it and smiled: "I am happy to use the design drawings and metal formula of the crossbow as my sincerity, but before that, I want you to do something for me..."

"You go ahead." Nils raised his hand and made a gesture of invitation.

…

Shortly after the meeting on the second day, Woolley took the black flag badge handed to him by Nils, because Nils had done what he wanted him to do, even though it looked like a farce - this morning, when George, Job and other controllers of Lovington set out from the governor's residence to attend a meeting at the venue four miles away, they did not take a carriage. Instead, a large group of officials and attendants walked through the streets in a mighty manner, almost dumbfounding the citizens who saw this scene...

George, who was walking in the front of the "official team" at that time, was so embarrassed that he felt ashamed. But there was nothing he could do. The request to walk was made by Nils, the "imperial envoy". Not only did he come in the middle of the night to make this boring request, but he was also very domineering when he made it. He showed the black flag badge and only made the request without any explanation.

"You must do it. There must be no mistakes." Nils' expression at that time was so cold, coupled with his unique face, it looked so ferocious in George's eyes.

George could not refuse. Being in the Duncan family camp, he knew what the black flag badge meant and guessed that Nils must have special needs to do this. However, understanding was one thing, obedience was another, but it was too difficult to execute. Job and several other senior officials volunteered to travel with him. When lower-level officials and grassroots servants saw them like this, they dared not ride in the carriage. So, the "strange sight" that attracted the citizens to watch, talk and point fingers appeared.

George felt embarrassed because he, the "first man in Lovington", was the one who was talked about and pointed at the most.

What made him even more embarrassed was that he actually met Wu Lai halfway. Although this kid didn't say anything except nodding as he rode past them on his tall horse, George could see that this kid's face was full of mockery and ridicule.

See how I deal with you. George continued to walk forward with his head held high, concentrating on maintaining his elegance and nobility, while he said to Wu Lai in his heart.

If I had known Nils was so useful, I would have let you crawl, Woolley said to George in his heart.

…

"Keep it carefully. The function of the black flag badge is no secret, only its holder. Don't use it lightly, because if used improperly, the family will take it back. Also, remember to keep it confidential. Once someone you know gets to know, our plan will fail." Nils warned. Although he had the right to make the decision on the alliance with Wu Lai, he had not discussed it with the family after all. Although it was an emergency, the risk was not small. However, Nils was willing to take the gamble.

"Don't worry." Wu Lai nodded, took out the drawings and alloy formula that he had prepared long ago and handed them to Niels, "This is what you want."

Nils' eyes lit up, and he quickly took it and read it carefully. He nodded repeatedly while reading, and said to himself: "Sure enough...Sure enough..."

After successfully getting what he wanted, Nils was in a good mood and became more talkative. Wu Lai saw that his chatterbox nature began to show again, so he quickly found an excuse to leave: "Oh, Nils, I really want to have a good chat with you, but, you know, George and the others are about to start attacking, I have to prepare for defense, for example, go see if Henry is still there?"

"Of course he's still here." Niels laughed and said, "You arranged three people to watch him, and I arranged three people to watch him too. Where can he run to?"

"You like to do good deeds. Why? Do you feel pity for Madam Manqi?" Wu Lai asked, thinking that Nils's men were not bad at all, as they were able to discover his two secret sentries.

"I'm helping you. Henry is just a little bug, but he knows more than you think, such as the strongholds, numbers, and contact information of the big and small bandits. I think you can be of great use. With the scenes you've created in Salt Marsh Town, I don't believe you don't want to kill those bandits." Niels said, "Go ahead, no one will stop you now."

"So you have been plotting against me for a long time." Wu Lai laughed and waved goodbye.

In the evening, Wu Lai walked out of the camp slowly and got on the carriage under the watchful eyes of several observers. Then, with a crack of the whip, the carriage drove towards the main road.

Several observers quickly boarded the carriage waiting nearby and followed.

"Let's make a few more circles later." Wu Lai looked back from the window and said to the driver.

"Great!" the driver replied cheerfully.

"Turn left, I'll find a place to get off." Wu Lai glanced behind the car again. About ten steps ahead, turning left was a large alley, and next to the alley were a row of pubs and grocery stores. With the speed of the tracker's car, Wu Lai could easily sneak into a pub before the tracker was out of his blind spot.

A moment later, Wu Lai stood calmly in a corner of a tavern, taking the wine from the bartender while keeping an eye on the outside of the tavern. As soon as he got the glass, he saw two carriages that were following him passing by one after another. He smiled slightly, took out a silver coin and threw it to the bartender, then casually placed the glass on the table beside him...

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

Shortly after nightfall, a carriage turned into an alley. Wu Lai in the carriage leaned against the wall and fell asleep.

"Master, we're here." The young man Daishan who was driving called out in a soft voice.

"I know." Wu Lai suddenly woke up, wiped his face fiercely, opened the car curtain, took a look, and got up to get out of the car.

There is an inconspicuous door in the alley that leads to the backyard of Mrs. Manqi's house, which is Wu Lai's destination.

At this moment, Madam Manqi was sitting on a stone bench in the backyard, resting her chin on her hand, looking at the moon in the sky.

Henry, who was "borrowed" from Woolley a few days ago, was playing with the children in the room. Mrs. Manqi was originally with them, but for some reason, the happier the children laughed, the sadder she felt.

All along, Mrs. Manqi felt that she was extremely lucky to be favored by Henry, although even her family didn't know that she was Henry's woman.

Henry not only gave her a rich life, but also allowed her family to live a stable life. Therefore, Mrs. Manqi was willing to give birth to and raise children for Henry, and stayed peacefully in the small house bought by Henry, waiting for a meeting with him that might only come once every few months.

Life alone in the empty room was certainly not easy for the young girl, but she was not afraid because Henry told her that if she waited a few more years, he would be able to live with her and the children legitimately.

She believed what Henry said, because Henry's real wife was already quite old. In addition, Henry would often bring her a lot of gold coins and jewelry, asking her to keep them, saying that they were the family's future support.

She carefully collected these gold coins and jewels, and looked at them every few days, but she was never willing to spend them, even though Henry said, "You can spend as much as you want."

She just waited and looked forward to it, because she felt that happiness would be closer and closer to her.

But just a few days ago, her dream was suddenly shattered. First, a man came to her with Henry's identity bronze medal and seal and asked her to take her child to a place.

She went there, and then she saw a young man who looked only eighteen or nineteen years old. When he spoke to her, he always had a faint smile on his face, but his aura made her inexplicably afraid, because she had a very strange feeling that this man in front of her seemed to have the power to decide life and death...

He really had the power over life and death, because he held Henry's life in his hands - this was what Henry had told her himself.

She begged him, but he said, "You go back first, let's think about it, any rash action will make things worse."

She understood what he meant, and then, she pretended nothing had happened and left with the children. Then, a strange-looking man found her and the first thing he asked her was, "Do you want Henry to come back to you safely?"

She nodded vigorously.

Then, the strange-looking man smiled...