When Loli rushed back to the Green Building excitedly and saw Wu Lai for the first time, she almost froze, because Wu Lai was sitting alone in front of the window, with a look of fatigue on his face, his brows furrowed, his eyes staring straight out the window, and he didn't even notice that she came in.

Seeing this, Loli quickly waved away Klee who was about to remind Wu Lai.

After standing quietly behind Wu Lai for a while, Loli couldn't help but speak: "Wu Lai..."

Wu Lai's body suddenly shook, but he didn't turn back, letting Loli wait for a long time. Then he sighed heavily and turned his head to look at Loli's face: "Helen is gone. With her personality, she wouldn't play such a joke on me. But why does she hate me?"

Loli shook her head gently. She really couldn't answer Wu Lai's question.

After hesitating for a long time, Loli suddenly smiled and took his arm as she did before: "I have good news for you. I settled the accounts a few days ago. From the day you went to Salt Marsh Town to the day we settled the accounts, we made a total of 815,166 gold coins. How is it? Are you happy?"

In response to her, she let out another heavy sigh...

The next morning, Wu Lai went to the Monte family's mansion in Assyria. Lini was his mentor and his support for him was selfless. It was reasonable and logical that the Monte family should be the first place Wu Lai should visit after returning to Assyria.

But what surprised Wu Lai was that the Monte family actually shut him out - the doorman went to report enthusiastically at first, but after a while he ran back with a stern face and told Wu Lai that the head of the family asked him to tell Wu Lai that the Monte family would stop cooperating with Wu Lai within ten days, and they would go their separate ways and never have any contact with each other again.

What's going on? Wu Lai muttered as he walked back, thinking, last night Lori said that the poker sales in cooperation with the Monte family were going well, why did this happen today? Just as he was thinking, someone suddenly called his name from behind. Wu Lai turned his head and saw a trace of surprise in his eyes. The person who called him was Rini's adopted son David Monte, but he looked very different from before - Wu Lai clearly remembered that when he first met David, David was so elegant, calm and polite, with heroic spirit and confidence between his eyebrows, but David at this time was wrapped in an old robe, looking haggard, with several bruises on his cheeks and forehead, and two cuts on the corners of his mouth. Although he was just chasing in small steps, he was already out of breath and obviously very weak.

Wu Lai rushed over to support him and said, "David? What happened to you?"

As soon as David said the word "I", tears began to fall.

"Let's go home first." Wu Lai said.

It was not until he sat down in the living room of the Green Building that David's emotions finally stabilized. Wu Lai took the cup of water from the maid and handed it to David. He then sat down on a chair beside him and asked, "How did you become like this?"

David sighed and slowly explained the whole story - he was Liny's adopted son, and had always been highly valued by Liny. Not only did he openly manage Liny's idle business, but secretly, Liny would also assign some family matters to him, and Liny trusted him more than his own clansmen, thus arousing the jealousy of many people in the Monte family.

This time when Lini died, the new head of the family, after the funeral, expelled David from the Monte family in a strange way on the grounds that David failed to protect him. He also took away his surname and property. This move was tantamount to kicking David out of the citizen circle.

"Lord Wu Lai, I am a commoner now. Once the news spreads, those who used to be on good terms with me naturally don't want to pay attention to me. I thought to myself that you are the only one I can trust and rely on in all of Assyria. When you come back, I will come to you for help. However, I don't have the courage to come to the Green Building, so I stay near the Monte family and wait for you to come back." After David said this, his eyes were filled with tears again.

Wu Lai nodded gently and said, "Okay, it was the right decision to wait for me to come back. It's okay. Just calm down. Are you hungry?"

David's face turned red and he nodded involuntarily. He was tired, cold and hungry now. Even the clothes and boots he wore when he was kicked out of the Monte family had been exchanged for food. Fortunately, Wu Lai came back. If it was a few days later, David would have become a starving corpse on the roadside.

"Prepare the food and wine immediately, the sooner the better." Wu Lai instructed the maid standing beside him, and then said to David, "After eating, you should take a shower, change clothes, and have a good sleep. I need to go to Chief Connor later and will be back in the evening. Then we can discuss the future, okay?"

David nodded gratefully, feeling quite emotional. When Lini was alive, he told him that Wu Lai was a man of affection and righteousness, and that by supporting and befriending him, he could, on the one hand, discover talents for Assyria, and on the other hand, become a strong aid to the Monte family in the future. He did not expect that the Monte family would actually shut Wu Lai out, while he himself was given asylum.

"By the way, Monte's new head said that you failed to protect him well. So, were you by his side when the teacher died?" Wu Lai asked.

David nodded: "Beside him, I guess, because my godfather's tent was next to mine, but we were in our own tents at the time."

"Do you remember what happened then?" asked Woolley.

"Of course I remember..." David immediately told the story of how Rini was assassinated.

As he listened, Wu Lai slowly frowned.

…

"Look, the afternoon sunshine is so beautiful." Connor pointed out the window with a smile, "Wuli, seeing you come back makes me feel happy just like seeing the sunshine."

"Chief Connor is making fun of me again." Wu Lai waved his hands quickly, "How can I compare to the sunshine?"

"You've done a great job in lowering the salt price. I've been thinking about how to reward you these days. Tell me, what kind of reward do you want?" Connor asked.

"Of course it's the best one that you, Chief Connor, have at hand." Wu Lai laughed and said, it was obviously not his style to refuse benefits.

"Okay, I'll think about it." Connor nodded. "By the way, when can we take over Salt Marsh Town?"

Wu Lai shrugged and said, "Chief Connor, you are so anxious. I have only been in Salt Marsh Town for a few days, and you have already taken it in. Do I have the ability to do that?"

"I can be sure of what others don't have, but you do. I've read all your reports and you've done a good job. You've got money, power, people's hearts, and reputation. No one can match you." Connor said with a smile.

"Since you trust me so much, please do me a small favor first?" Wu Lai said with a smile.

Chief Connor laughed out loud after hearing this: "Wu Lai, don't play this trick in front of me. A small favor? When have you ever asked for help and it was a small favor?"

Wu Lai also laughed, and said as he laughed: "Then I will take it as your agreement, that's it..."

After listening for a while, Connor's face became solemn. Wu Lai had known that he would be like this, so he did not stop and continued to talk. After a while, Connor's brows slowly relaxed, and the corners of his mouth raised a little smile...

When Wu Lai finished speaking, Connor looked at him with admiration in his eyes: "Okay, Wu Lai, I will definitely help you!"

When they came out of Connor's mansion, it was already late, so Wu Lai gave up the idea of ​​going anywhere else and went straight back to the Green Building.

As soon as he entered the yard, Ke Li came up to him and said, "Master, you are back."

Wu Lai nodded and asked as he walked into the building, "Did David get enough rest?"

"I've rested and am waiting for you in the living room." Klee replied...

When Wu Lai walked into the living room, David was sketching something with a pen and paper. When he saw Wu Lai come in, he stopped and stood up.

"What are you busy with?" Wu Lai asked with a smile.

David did not answer, but walked straight forward. When he was still two or three steps away, he knelt down in front of Wu Lai with a plop.

"David, what are you doing?" Wu Lai was quite surprised and quickly reached out to support him.

Unexpectedly, David refused to get up. He raised his head and said, "David is now a commoner, but I feel that I can still be of use, so I beg you to take me in and serve me as your son."

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

Serving and following as a son? Isn't this a joke? ! Wu Lai shook his head and said, "David, you get up first. I know you are a capable person, and I believe that you can fully demonstrate your abilities here. But you have to know that in my heart, I always regard you as a friend. So, just pretend that you didn't say anything just now. Let's just get along as friends, okay?"

"Lord Wu Lai, I am very touched by your words. I also know that you sincerely regard me as a friend, but I have made up my mind to serve and follow you. And only in this way can I serve you better, so I beg you to fulfill my wish." David said.

"Why?" Wu Lai frowned.

David glanced around and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

When Klee saw this, he understood what was going on and immediately took his maid and left.

"Let's sit down and talk." Wu Lai supported him again.

"No, please wait until I finish." David said, "In the southernmost part of the Assyrian territory, there is a town called Polang Town. It is more than 370 miles from Polang Town to the sea. There is a huge island with cliffs on all sides and only one gap for entry and exit. It is more than 130 miles to circle the island. There are mountains and valleys on the island, as well as freshwater streams. There are many birds and animals and it is spring all year round. Most importantly, this island is rich in black iron ore..."

"In the past three or four years, I have completed the exploration under the arrangement of Lini's godfather. Lini's godfather said some time ago that this island is a good place. He is ready to discuss with you to build this island into a private territory. It can be a support for everyone and also a good retreat."

"This can be considered as the last wish of Lini's adoptive father, and it will also be of great benefit to you, so I am willing to become your adopted son and build this private territory for you."

Wu Lai now understood why David did this. There were private territories and fiefs in the Assyrian territory. Those who made great contributions to Assyria could receive the highest level of reward agreed upon by the three giants, the Temple, the Senate, and the Supreme Council - fiefs. And this fief was a private territory, which was freely ruled by its lord. Assyria no longer had any constraints on it. In a sense, it could be called a kingdom, although the concept of a kingdom had not yet been mentioned on this continent.

However, fiefdom is not the only private territory. There are two other ways to obtain private territory - war and development.

Acquiring it through war is undoubtedly the most difficult, because according to Assyrian laws and customs, you can only seize it from areas outside Assyria, such as the Hurrian territory, and in the process of seizing, you can only use your own strength, and the garrison and defense after seizing is also your own business, so basically no one does this.

It is relatively easier to develop. For example, the development of islands that David just mentioned is in line with Assyrian practice, because overseas areas do not belong to Assyria.

Of course, development requires a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. In addition to these, a harsh condition is stipulated - this private land cannot be transferred, and can only be owned by the leader of the development and his family. The leader of the development cannot be a figurehead, but must personally participate in the development.

In other words, leaving aside the necessary materials, financial resources and manpower, David can only become a member of the Wulaiglindo family and participate in the whole process, so that Wulai can obtain ownership of the island after the successful development.

The difficulty of development is certainly not limited to this. The symbolic standard of successful development is to have one thousand households or eight thousand people migrate to the developed area to achieve a self-sufficient life - this was set by the three giants to avoid the phenomenon of building a ship and going out to sea, and then seeing an island, going up to the island and pointing at it and claiming that they own it privately.

"How long will it take you to complete it?" Wu Lai asked after thinking for a while.

"The number of people and households can be migrated, or it can be achieved by granting freedom to slaves. Self-sufficiency is not difficult to achieve. As long as there are sufficient financial and material resources, I am confident that the development can be completed within four years." David replied.

"How much does it cost every year?" Wu Lai asked again.

"One hundred and fifty thousand gold coins," David replied.

After thinking for a while, Wu Lai nodded: "Okay, I promise you everything."

"Thank you, godfather!" David was delighted and bowed down.

"Although I will feel embarrassed for a while, I have to admit that this is the only way." Wu Lai smiled and helped David up. It sounds a bit exaggerated that he has adopted a son who is several years older than himself when he is under 20 years old, but it is also the norm in the Assyrian territory. No matter what the purpose is, there are always people who like to do this.

After nightfall the next day, Wu Lai walked into the Duncan family's mansion in Assyria and waited in a small hall for a whole meal before he met Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan's first impression on Wu Lai was not beyond Wu Lai's imagination—he was a vigorous old man, with his back straight, exuding an aura of having been in a high position for a long time, and his gaze was always filled with a sense of scrutiny...

Qi Yuan walked in, Wu Lai stood up, smiled slightly, and bowed: "Greetings to Chief Qi Yuan."

"Humph." Qi Yuan glared and swung his sleeves fiercely, "Wuliglindo! You are so brave!"