Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 308

"Besides, with your strength, you probably have a lot of decent fellow disciples in Seris. No matter what, he wouldn't dare to ignore you."

The person in front of me has the strength of the fifth rank. In the Kingdom of Fas, he is at the bottom of the fifth rank, which is still among the top fifty or sixty magicians. Seris has a large population, with a total population of over 100 million, which is five or six times that of the Kingdom of Fas. By any calculation, he is more than three hundredth among the superhumans in Seris. Who would not care about such a person?

To be honest, Ronan found it somewhat unbelievable that he would come to be a henchman.

Back then, Chu Ronan had also encountered a fifth-tier thug in the New World, but that person had a grudge against Dinia, was a member of the "Dinia Victims Club," and wasn't quite mentally stable. Moreover, the people who hired him were those two counts, who would be princes in Seris. Could this so-called "King" have that kind of influence? If he did, would he need to resort to such low-level tactics?

Moreover, based on Ronan's understanding of Seris in this world, Seris despises foreigners from the bottom of his heart and would never send any high-ranking officials to negotiate with them.

The man in the net sneered, "Ha, you foreigner are quite the smooth talker, just like those treacherous ministers."

Pfft, Astrid couldn't help but laugh. Her respected father was none other than the number one traitor in the Western Continent.

The other women, some who understood and some who only half understood, all laughed. They found it funny whenever Ronan was being insulted.

Just as the atmosphere suddenly became cheerful, a loud bang was heard, and a burst of magic power exploded, sending Liu Menglong flying with an invisible force.

The ship crashed into the deck railing and came to a stop. Liu Menglong nearly fell into the sea. He pressed one hand to his chest and checked himself over. Although he was unharmed, he was still shaken.

Ronan just smiled dismissively and looked at the man in the net; it was he who had just delivered that blow.

“I told you, with your cultivation level, you should be a big shot in Seris. Even if you don’t look down on everyone, you should at least have some arrogance. You should be quite surprised to be taken down by a foreign woman. You’re far too calm. Besides, someone like you, when your plan fails, should either be furious and unable to accept it, or remain silent and observe from the shadows. Why are you here cursing and talking to me? This is really not right.”

"Clearly, the moment you were captured, you had a plan in mind: to find an opportunity to ambush and kill Brother Liu. Once he's dead, everything will be easier. What trouble can those small fry on the ship cause even if they go back? I'm afraid someone in the court will file a complaint against me."

Ronan said.

In this era, only officials can overthrow one other official. If Liu Menglong were to die, his powerful backers in the court would not go to great lengths to overturn the case of a dead man and cause trouble with another group. They would most likely do their best to protect his wife and children and then use this as an opportunity to make some deals with the other side. That's how it is with officials.

“However, even if you act normally, I will still put a layer of armor on him. After all, you are very strong. Even if I am careless, your move will not be able to kill him instantly, and he will not die.”

Ronan added.

This time, the man in the net remained silent, his face cold.

Ronan then arranged for the others to be released and allowed them to return on his own boat, detaining only the fifth-tier man.

Ronan then briefly outlined the plan for dealing with the man.

His plan was that Elena and Astrid would first use "Moon's Guidance" to drain his magic. Then, Ashley and Grand, both skilled in torture, would break his arms and legs. After that, Dinia would plant parasitic mushrooms on him to ensure that his magic was always at its lowest level. Finally, Faith, who could arrange for puppets to monitor him 24/7, would be responsible for guarding him to ensure that even if he had any unknown trump cards, they could catch up with him the moment he broke away.

The man only heard Ronan, this foreign devil, talking in gibberish to a group of foreign women, and had no idea what they were trying to do.

He quickly understood, because as soon as the two blonde women walked over and reached out, he felt his internal energy rapidly draining away.

Ronan was right. He had a trump card. As a practitioner of Seris, he could use both magic, which is divine magic, and supernatural martial arts, which is supernatural transformation. And as a scholar, magic was his specialty.

But no matter what his specialty is, if his internal energy is depleted, he won't be able to use it at all. Originally, he planned to wait until only one or two people were watching him before using his trump card to escape, but in this situation, he has no choice but to use it.

"Stone Condensation." The words were so powerful that everyone around froze in shock.

"Flying Smoke." He himself transformed into smoke and broke free from the net.

"Transform into water." It then transformed into a water arrow, shooting out and entering the sea.

Dinia was the quickest to break free of petrification; this non-continuous sealing method was practically useless against her.

Next are Ashley and Isabel, both of whom are, in a sense, instantaneous spatial magic users.

Ronan then activated his petrification technique as well. His petrification was only regular when it was activated, meaning it was guaranteed to hit. However, once hit, it depended on the strength of the person affected. Ronan, a sixth-level cultivator, was only trapped for half a second.

Two minutes later, the man was caught and brought back. Dinia can teleport continuously, so unless the opponent has a way to split into multiple parts in an instant and lock onto the main body, there is no way for them to escape.

This time, Dinia took matters into his own hands, extracting both his life force and magic power.

At this moment, Liu Menglong's petrification had just been lifted, while his followers and several members of the Tianfang Sect remained petrified.

It seems that although Liu Menglong is only at the third level, he is quite skilled. If he weren't, he definitely wouldn't have been able to escape this move.

Soon, the man was rendered useless, his arms and legs were broken, and he was implanted with parasitic mushrooms and handed over to Faith for safekeeping.

Ambrina brought out some food and drinks to treat everyone.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Liu Menglong introduced himself and the others.

Liu Menglong himself was the Guangdong Coastal Defense Patrol Inspector. However, the Coastal Defense Patrol Office had two inspectors, one civil and one military. He was the civil one, and his job was not to investigate smuggling or patrol, but to collect customs duties. Although he was only an eighth-rank official with a lot of superiors, he had considerable real power, a lot of lucrative opportunities, and a promising future.

Wang Fang, also known as Lord Wang, was not in the same system as him. He was the Director of Finance in the Eastern India Military Command, which was the second-in-command. Since there were no military governors in this dynasty, the top official in the overseas military command was the Defense Commissioner in charge of the army, and the second-in-command was the Director of Finance in charge of the money, who was several ranks higher than him and was a sixth-rank official.

Chapter 710 Each with their own identity, if reasoning doesn't work, then physics does; not like an official.

The man who was caught twice by Dinia was named Fan Hong. He was an official, but not an official. He was an official because he held a military rank, the same as Wang Fang, the chief envoy in this negotiation, and was a sixth-rank military officer. He was not an official because his position was only temporary and would be revoked after the operation was over.

David forbids the overseas headquarters from recruiting and promoting officials on their own, but who would come all the way here to work for you if there's no benefit to be gained?

Generally speaking, although such temporary positions are terminated after the task is completed, you will be given a military officer position and a low-ranking title afterward. These positions and titles are not real positions and do not grant fiefs, but they have many hidden privileges. If you have the ability and connections, you can work your way up and get promoted to a sixth-rank official position.

However, Fan Hong did not intend to take that route; he was simply there to help. As a scholar with a fifth-level cultivation, his status was far more prestigious than that of a sixth-rank official. He belonged to the local elite and gentry. Whoever was appointed as an official in the county where his family lived would have his name on the "protective talisman" when the county magistrate opened it. Not to mention a marquis, even a high-ranking official would have to give him some face.

The other people on the ship were divided into two groups. Some of the Seres were Liu Menglong's personal guards and bodyguards, whose loyalty was beyond doubt. The other group consisted of government officials and his subordinates. In this day and age, how could you collect taxes without some violent law enforcement personnel under your command? These people were essentially brought onto the ship, and they had no chance to betray him even if they wanted to.

In addition, there were the people from the Tianfang Sect, all from Malaysia. Both merchant ships belonged to them, and their leader had some connections with Liu Menglong. It just so happened that they ran into each other. It can only be said that Liu Menglong was really lucky.

After Liu Menglong finished introducing his side, he looked at Ronan.

He was genuinely curious about Ronan and his group. The white-haired woman had captured Fan Hong with ease; such strength was rare even in Seris. More importantly, Ronan himself, along with the other women, were all formidable opponents, and frankly, they were all stronger than him.

It's simply outrageous.

Ronan said his wife is a high-ranking French noblewoman. How high-ranking is that? In Seres, even a high-ranking official might not have someone with that kind of status. To put it bluntly, even the emperor can't just casually order someone of Dinia's power to act like Ronan did. He would have to be polite and even ask her repeatedly.

Liu Menglong felt that Ronan and his group didn't seem like nobles, but rather an independent force led by Dinia, a Western magician, who had come to the East for some unknown purpose.

Liu Menglong has already introduced himself, so it's naturally Ronan's turn.

“Brother Liu, it’s not convenient to disclose the identities of our group,” Ronan said. “I can only say that my wife is a high-ranking noblewoman, I am a son-in-law, and the others are servants working for my wife.”

Ronan didn't mention their names either, because by combining the names of this group of people, one could easily find out who they were by asking a few Westerners.

If their identities were made public, all the Westerners in the East would flock to them with invitations, and Ronan and his companions wouldn't have to do anything else but attend banquets every day.

"However, I can make it clear that our destination is somewhere in India, and we will go to your Seris afterward."

"I'll help you this time, firstly to establish a good relationship, and secondly to make it easier for you to enter Seris later."

Ronan added.

Seris is very strict about foreigners entering the country. With this incident, at least Ronan and his group should have no problem entering Guangzhou. As for what happens next, they can figure that out later.

"Can you really persuade those foreigners to testify for me?" Liu Menglong asked, still somewhat incredulous.

“Ha, if logic doesn’t work, we’ll talk about physics,” Ronan laughed.

"Physics?" Liu Menglong was taken aback.

Ambrina raised her little fist and shook it. "This is it."

"Uh..." Liu Menglong was so embarrassed that he couldn't speak for a moment. "I know that you Westerners have rules, just like in China. People with high cultivation levels don't act rashly."

Ronan laughed, “That was in a public setting. High-ranking mages are not allowed to get involved in the war, nor are they allowed to carry out assassinations. But we’re just discussing things privately, not killing anyone. Alright, let’s not talk about that anymore. Anyway, we’ll take care of it. Besides, it would be dangerous for you to go back now, Brother Liu. Why don’t you come with us to India, and once things are settled, you can bring the witnesses back with you.”

"Then I'll leave it to Brother Luo," Liu Menglong said. In any case, his safety was absolutely guaranteed while he was with Ronan. However, he didn't place all his hopes on Ronan. When he returned to India, he would try to contact the pro-peace faction in the West.

The matter was settled.

The next day, Ronan, Ambrina, and Dinia set off for India to find the person in charge of the Kingdom of Fas in the western India and ask him to find a way to complete the formalities in advance so that Ronan's fleet could enter. Otherwise, his dozen or so triangular sailing ships, several small boats, and Caterpillar's airship might attract unnecessary trouble once they approached the harbor.

In the sky, Dinia flew alone on a floating shield, while Ronan carried Ambrina behind him.

"Ronan, you mean that Liu something-or-other, his wife isn't really Yingqi, is she?" Ambrina asked.

“Most likely,” Ronan said.

Ambrina nodded, then became serious. "He doesn't seem like a tax official to me. He speaks rather dull-wittedly, like a child who is still in school. I think he's probably faking it. We need to be careful."

“Not necessarily. The tax officials in Seris are not like the tax officials in our country, who are all cunning as foxes and fierce as wolves,” Ronan said.

“If they’re not cunning and ruthless, how can we collect taxes? Don’t think that the people of Seris aren’t troublemakers; everyone who makes a living by the sea is a troublemaker,” Ambrina said. She had a deep understanding of this. In the Kingdom of Phos, the capital city had the most troublemakers, followed by the coastal areas. Tax evasion and even violent resistance to taxes were practically a part of their lives.

She believed that all crows were black, and she didn't believe the Seres people were any different.

“Officials and clerks in Seris are different. Officials are political officials, and they may not be responsible for actual affairs,” Ronan explained.

"That would be like being completely manipulated by the people below, just like you manipulated Didi," Ambrina exclaimed.

"Anli, keep your voice down," Ronan pleaded in a low voice.

Ahead, Dinia said coldly, "I heard you."

Ronan chuckled twice. "Haha, that's all in the past. Now, how could I possibly outsmart you? Right, Didi?"

"Don't give me that crap," Dinia replied dismissively.

Ambrina chuckled smugly, then became serious again. "In any case, we still need to be wary of this person. By the way, we should ask him about the negotiation process. After all, he is a Seresian, and he is not one of us."

“Of course,” Ronan replied. How could he not be wary of someone he had just met? Besides, was everything Liu Menglong said the truth? It was all just his side of the story.

They were already close to India, and the three of them were flying very fast. Before long, they could see the coastline.

Chapter 711 Still shaken, it's simply outrageous, I never expected this.

Late at night, in the cabin of the merchant ship, Liu Menglong, unable to sleep, sat at the stern and once again couldn't help but recall the experiences of the past few days.

Initially, the negotiations were suspended because they couldn't reach an agreement. Wang Fang said he was going to find someone and left. Before leaving, he explained his whereabouts to everyone. Afterwards, the other officials in the negotiation team agreed to go out for a walk together, but Liu Menglong did not go.

If his old servant hadn't come to report that Fan Hong was missing, he wouldn't have changed locations and left a fake body there. However, at the time, he never thought that Wang Fang would dare to attack him. He only felt that the other party probably wanted to set a trap for him. So, when he heard that Fan Hong rushed into his residence shouting that he was "colluding with foreign barbarians and plotting to kill the envoy," he was terrified and hurriedly ran away with the people around him.

Having finally escaped, Liu Menglong thought he was safe and was relieved. But suddenly a group of pirates appeared and entangled them. They couldn't do anything to these pirates, which turned Liu Menglong from great joy to great sorrow. He was almost in despair. But at this moment of despair, Ronan and his group suddenly arrived and rescued him. They also dealt with Fan Hong who was chasing after them and even said they could help him resolve this crisis.

In that short day, his heart was in turmoil, sometimes soaring to the heavens and sometimes plummeting to the depths of despair; how could he possibly sleep?

"Sigh." Liu Menglong couldn't help but sigh.

Just then, his old servant returned.

Liu Menglong placed his hand on the ship's railing, looking at the sea, and asked, "Old Zhuo, how is it?"

Liu Menglong was extremely curious about Ronan and his group, but he didn't want to ask or investigate them directly. So he sent his old servant to observe the others and see if he could find any clues.

Old Master Zhuo was the person he trusted most. In his youth, he lacked natural talent and failed to become a scholar or warrior by the age of thirty. Of course, his lack of talent was relative to geniuses; in reality, as a superhuman, he was already stronger than 99% of people. At the age of thirty-three, he became a clerk in the county government and lived a life of comfort and ease. Who would have thought that in middle age he would suffer a great tragedy, being ambushed and captured along with his entire family in a secret room by his enemies. In despair, he awakened his "supernatural power," transforming into a flying squirrel and successfully escaping.

Unfortunately, by the time he returned with his men, his family had already been murdered, and the bandits had escaped. The county magistrate said he had to wait for a divine reply before he could lead his men to search across counties. It was the county magistrate of the neighboring county, Liu Menglong's father, who helped him, allowing him to take revenge.

After that, feeling disheartened, he resigned from his official post and, to repay the kindness, simply became a servant in the Liu family. Although he was called a servant, there was no contract; he remained a law-abiding citizen and could leave whenever he wanted. A few years later, Liu Menglong's father introduced him to a marriage. He could be said to have watched Liu Menglong grow up, and Liu Menglong always respectfully addressed him as Elder Zhuo.

"Incredible. Among the people on those dozen or so ships, several hundred are warriors, but their auras are strange. In addition, their bodies are also quite strong, no less than those who have mastered the basics of cultivation," Elder Zhuo replied.

"Really?" Liu Menglong couldn't help but believe Elder Zhuo, but it was just too unbelievable, so he asked the question subconsciously.

David had about 100,000 people with supernatural powers, but the number of scholars and warriors among them was only a little over 20,000. Many of them were in the wild, and his brother Luo had several hundred under his command.

To put it bluntly, David could have hundreds of scholars and warriors at his disposal at any time. No one but the emperor could match him; no other regional governor had such a level of authority.

Old Master Zhuo added, "There's another strange thing. Although I don't understand their language, I can tell that the language these people use to communicate with each other is different from the language Mr. Luo and his female relatives used during the day. Moreover, it's not the language of those countries either."

When Zhuo Lao followed Liu Menglong in Guangzhou, he had a lot of contact with foreigners and could speak a few words of various foreign languages, and could distinguish the differences between them.

This made Liu Menglong even more puzzled. They even spoke different languages? But upon closer inspection, it made sense. Ronan claimed to be from France in the West. As far as he knew, France was the largest country in the West with a large population, but there were only a few thousand full-rank magicians, equivalent to scholars and warriors. If he were to take away a few hundred people at once, wouldn't that instantly remove one-tenth of the country's full-rank magicians?

But here's the question: who are these people?

“Actually, sir, you can think of it in a positive light. With such military power, they can do whatever they want here. It wouldn’t be difficult for those foreigners to prove your innocence,” said Old Master Zhuo.

Liu Menglong nodded in agreement. Indeed, with such a group of people, plus Ronan and his female relatives, they could really do whatever they wanted in the West Indies. No single Western country had a military strength that surpassed theirs.

Dinia, in particular, sensed Fan Hong's ship without even a trace, which was simply superhuman. In just a few words, she captured Fan Hong's entire ship and returned to this side. Few people could match her speed.

"Sigh, Brother Luo said he's going to David again, that's the real trouble," Liu Menglong sighed.

"What will happen in the future is still the most important thing right now: to prove your innocence. Just like Mr. Luo said, you might even be able to turn things around and gain merit," said Old Master Zhuo. He felt that Young Master Liu was thinking too far ahead. Whether Ronan, this foreigner, would be detrimental to David was not something he should be worrying about right now.

"To gain merit? Difficult," Liu Menglong said. "As you have seen, the higher-ups did not give clear instructions for this negotiation, but instead told the negotiation team to act according to circumstances. How absurd is that? And this absurdity is because the struggle in the court over whether the overseas military headquarters should be financially independent has become so intense that even His Majesty cannot easily make a decision. If I gain merit, wouldn't that be slapping those 'pro-war faction' in the face?"

Liu Menglong said helplessly.

Politics is something that normal people can't handle.

Old Master Zhuo suddenly remembered something, “Speaking of which, Mr. Yu should be arriving soon.” Mr. Yu was a good friend of Liu Menglong’s father-in-law and also Liu Menglong’s teacher. He had a level six cultivation and lived in seclusion. He was one of the few people at this level who did not focus on reaching the top but instead devoted themselves to worldly affairs.

Liu Menglong got his official position through his connections, and he also played a role in Liu Menglong becoming the deputy envoy.

"I must have been out of my mind, I forgot to tell them about the teacher." Liu Menglong slapped his forehead. "No, the teacher should have arrived a long time ago."

The reason he felt safe as long as he wasn't caught immediately was because he had already controlled his clone to notify his teacher, who was not far from him, when he realized something was wrong with Wang Fang.

“I arrived yesterday.” A voice suddenly appeared. Liu Menglong turned around and saw a middle-aged man with a three-pronged beard, phoenix eyes, rosy and fair skin, and wearing a plain white robe. It was his teacher, Yu Daoheng.

Liu Menglong greeted him affectionately, "Teacher."