Everyone's Responsibility to Combat Organized Crime

Chapter 174 Everyone's Responsibility to Combat Organized Crime (Part 2)

Richard and Isabella were, after all, outsiders.

To eradicate organized crime in Tieyuan City, we need more than just strength; we also need sufficient local intelligence support.

Therefore, they left the inner city palace and instead found Tom and Jerry, and with their help, found a group of soldiers gathered in a house.

Before entering, Jerry explained to everyone, "These soldiers were originally adventurers in the city. After being conscripted by the former Duke Gunther, they spent all their savings to buy potions and equipment, hoping to make up for their expenses with bounties after the war."

"Right now, we haven't received any bounty, but we've each lost an arm or a leg."

"They had no choice but to gather in this house. The owner of the house was burned to death by the dragon fire, which at least gave them a free place to shelter from the rain."

Richard nodded and then pushed open the door.

The first thing you smell is the stench of rotting corpses.

He resisted the urge to fan himself and focused intently on the room.

Inside the small room, a dozen or so people lay sprawled out, most of them wrapped in red and yellow burlap bandages.

Who are you?

Inside the room, a middle-aged man with slightly minor injuries also saw the group and straightened up to ask a question.

"It's me, old mercenary Jerry. I've come to see you with a barrel of fine wine and a few friends."

Jerry stepped forward and quietly explained the group's origins to the middle-aged man. He then introduced the man to Richard and the others, saying, "His name is Bob. He's the leader of this group, a true Iron Abyss native. He knows every single crack in the brickwork here like the back of his hand."

Richard was delighted to hear this and turned to ask a question.

But Bob's response was quite negative.

"Who are you going to take down? Smugglers? The Mafia? Are you out of your minds? Damn it, if you want to die, go die yourself, don't drag me into this!"

Richard raised an eyebrow and reassured the other party, "Don't worry, we're not going to our deaths. We have enough strength—"

"You think you're so tough? What good is being tough? All of us could have fought back then, but now we're all stuck here!"

Bob interrupted Richard, snatched the flask from Jerry's hand, and cursed, "The people you're dealing with are all ruthless and have close ties with the big shots in town. No matter how strong you are, what can you do to them?"

"Dreaming of being an emperor? Does he think he's the emperor?"

"As for the idea of ​​using their money to pay us—ha, I'd be a dog to believe that!"

Tsk, he's a guy who's hard to persuade.

How about we just use a charm spell?

Just as Richard hesitated, Isabella, who was always wearing a hood, stepped forward from behind.

She removed her hood, revealing her beautiful and somewhat sacred face.

Bob froze as his sun-kissed blond hair swayed in the breeze.

Among the wounded soldiers nearby, one immediately recognized Isabella: "Princess! She's the princess of that empire!"

Isabella nodded to the man, then flicked her fingers to cast a healing spell, instantly healing most of his minor injuries.

Then she turned to Bob and said gently, “The Emperor himself cannot come here, but his daughter can.”

"As a paladin and princess, I assure you that we are not sending you to your death. On the contrary, we are confident that we can wipe out the evil in this city and return the bounty you deserve!"

"But before that, I need to gain your trust—please believe me!"

Bob swallowed hard.

He couldn't believe that a noble princess would actually come to him, a man who was both dirty and smelly.

A princess who could have been dancing day and night in the palace actually cared about his meager reward.

After hesitating for about ten seconds, he knelt down on one knee before Isabella.

"At your service, Your Highness."

Richard, who was watching from the sidelines, pursed his lips.

It feels like I've watched another episode of "Kangxi's Private Visits".

Well, although they are both highly charismatic, in some situations, the poet's words are not as effective as those of a paladin-princess.

Honestly, it's all those colleagues who can't resist the sight of a mother dragon that have ruined the reputation of us poets!

cough cough.

A few minutes later.

Isabella successfully gained the trust of the wounded soldiers and helped them heal their injuries, except for limb loss.

Bob then chose two people who still had legs as his deputies, and the three of them together became the guides for the group.

Through their narration, the group learned about the entire chain of the black market in Iron Abyss City—much of which they had previously learned from other sources, but now they had received more detailed confirmation.

After that, everyone started matching teammates.

This includes Amelie, the three siblings Pegoti, Richard, and Grace, who has a keen sense for trouble and inexplicably came over without being asked.

And eighty Night's Watch knights, including Robert and Clara.

The group got ready and headed to a warehouse on the west side of the city.

Ostensibly used for storing timber, this place is actually a smuggling black market created through a collaboration between the local mafia and nobles like Gareth.

A large number of shady transactions take place there every day.

At the same time, it also stored many contraband items, such as various poisons, slaves of dubious origin, corpses dug up from the graveyard, and ironware such as iron swords, helmets, and pots.

Logically speaking, the last few pieces of ironware shouldn't be considered illegal—if their buyers weren't orcs from the southwestern swamps.

Yes, many of the weapons in the hands of the orcs who surrounded Iron Abyss City were sold by Iron Abyss City itself!

In a sense, it's like iron ore returning home for a visit.

present.

"Who...who are you? Are you from the city defense team?"

Such a large-scale operation naturally alerted the black market guards, who called for about a dozen people to block the entrance to the warehouse.

For ordinary, righteous citizens, this lineup is enough to deter them.

But for everyone at this moment, this was far from enough.

As the one who proposed the plan, Richard walked at the head of the group, took out a warrant that Isabella had just written, the ink still wet, and shouted, "Make way! In the name of the Imperial Family, we are searching this warehouse!"

The guards looked at each other, but none of them made a move.

Someone else shouted, "What, what joke? Searching this place? Do you know where you are? Do you know who's behind this? Using the royal name, huh? I think you're just a bunch of reckless, unruly soldiers! If you know what's good for you, get out of here and don't mess with people you shouldn't be messing with!"

The guard who was speaking was initially somewhat intimidated by the number of Richard's men, but as he spoke, he seemed to think of the powerful backer behind him, and he became confident again.

His companions also drew their weapons and brandished them menacingly at Richard.

"So, you're saying you're not going to cooperate?"

Richard, too lazy to explain, smiled narrowed his eyes, donned the Aegis of Champions, and then—

Boom!

He unleashed a shattering sonic wave directly at the heads of the guards!

Taking this as a signal, Isabella beside her also drew her sword and directed the group to split into three groups and launch an attack on the warehouse!

"what!"

"How dare you!"

"No, don't kill me! I surrender!"

Faced with such a fierce charge, most of the guards immediately knelt down and surrendered.

However, a few chose to put up a stubborn resistance.

There's not much to say about this.

Both Richard and Isabella decisively chose to kill, and as the bodies fell one by one, blood gradually filled the streets.

After getting past the guards, the group rushed into the warehouse.

This place is somewhat similar to Phoenix back then, as a fairly large underground space has been excavated here.

With more space comes more people, and with more people comes more people determined to put up a stubborn resistance.

After all, some things are simply too shameful to be seen in the light of day, so as long as there is even a glimmer of hope, there will be people willing to fight tooth and nail for them.

This scene gives off a strange sense of déjà vu, like someone spraying insecticide into a cockroach nest.

"Brothers, I have lots of money, please let me go!"

"You filthy thing, accept your punishment!"

"Dream on! Go to hell!"

In an instant, everyone was engulfed in a fierce battle.

Richard, however, wandered among them and, with his keen eye, discovered two strange people.

One of them was a level 3 warlock, and his race was just an ordinary human; he looked unremarkable.

But a dragonborn bodyguard of level 8 was following closely behind him!

That's strange. Is he some big shot in the Mafia? Or one of Gareth's confidants?

Richard decided to stop the man, immediately using his 20 points of agility to run up to them, pull out his lute, and begin to play a psychedelic tune.

Because he wanted to capture him alive, he didn't use any killing moves right away.

However, although he can now easily challenge opponents of higher levels, an 8th-level Dragonborn is no simple character.

Especially in terms of magic resistance.

The large creature with the reddish-brown lizard head shook its head and soon broke free from the illusion. Then it opened its mouth wide, about to spew dragonfire at Richard.

Richard dodged and quickly circled behind the Dragonborn.

Seeing that the spell was not working, he drew his sword and, with the triple enhancement of swift movements, powerful strikes, and swordsmanship genius, unleashed a flurry of attacks on the dragonborn's hands and feet!

The fierce and ruthless sword blade instantly tore through the dragonborn's scales, leaving deep, bone-revealing wounds on his hands and feet!

"roar!"

The Dragonborn cried out in pain and turned to retaliate, but at that moment he unexpectedly met Richard's gaze and froze.

He inexplicably sensed an aura emanating from Richard that compelled him to respect him.

Previously, he had only encountered this situation when facing his dragon master.

What... what's going on?

Could this poet be a dragon? Impossible, he looks like a human no matter how you look at him.

Or perhaps, he was in close contact with the dragon every day, to the point that he absorbed its aura? No, impossible. That kind of enviable blissful life is nothing but a fantasy tale of third-rate poets; how could it possibly come true?

A complex mix of emotions flickered in the Dragonborn's eyes.

This slowed his movements for a moment.

Richard seized the opportunity and immediately slashed several more times, completely slicing the Dragonborn into a baguette.

He clapped his hands in satisfaction and turned to subdue the warlock protected by the dragonborn, only to be surprised to find that the other party raised his hand to cast a spell, shooting a stream of acid at his seriously injured and fallen dragonborn companion!

"Ugh!"

The dragonborn screamed in agony as his own people corroded away his last vestiges of health.

This unexpected turn of events left Richard momentarily stunned.

The sorcerer seized the opportunity to pull out a pill from his robes and stuff it into his mouth. The next second, he was poisoned to death next to his dragonborn companion.

Richard remained silent.

What are the identities of these two people?

Why would they rather die than be caught?

Damn it, retreating orcs, strange ruins, and these two suicide enthusiasts—why are all the things I encounter in Iron Abyss City so bizarre!

The poet couldn't think of an answer for a moment.

I could only memorize the names I just saw with my Eye of Insight, intending to ask Isabella to help investigate them later.

Then, seeing that the fighting around him was gradually subsiding, he retreated to a corner and brought up his own control panel.

However, he was largely credited for the death of the Dragonborn, which allowed him to finally level up!

Your bard level has been increased to 9.

[The richness of the gift packs has been increased; in the future, you can obtain Tier 5 spells and Tier 5 combat skills from the gift packs.]

Your all attributes have increased by 1 point, and you have gained 1 free attribute point.

[You have learned the Tier 5 combat skill: Steel Wind Slash. You can wield the weapon used for casting spells, disappear from your spot, and unleash a whirlwind of slashes on up to 5 targets within a range of up to 10 meters, dealing massive force field damage. Afterwards, you can teleport to any target within a 2-meter radius.]

Remarks:

"Slash! So satisfying!" — A hardcore Steel Wind Slash addict

This time it's a powerful attack skill.

It also comes with a teleportation effect, so it can be said to be able to fight and run away at the same time.

Richard was very satisfied with his gains and even considered trying it out on the spot to see if it was really that great.

Unfortunately, there were hardly any enemies left in the arena, so he had no choice but to give up and take one last look at the panel—

Name: Richard Targaryen

Race: Human

[Profession: Bard Iv9 (Experience 445/540)]

[Attributes: Strength 19 (+1), Agility 21, Constitution 19, Intelligence 16, Perception 17, Charisma 22]

[Standard Skills: Performance (Proficient), Persuasion, Elvish, Thief's Slang, Stream Rock Smash (Proficient), Rose Sword Technique]

Extraordinary Skills - Spells:

Harsh Words (Tier 0), Light Spell (Tier 0), Repair Spell (Tier 0), Magical Trick (Tier 0), Charm Spell (Tier 1), Maniacal Laughter Spell (Tier 1), Repose Spell (Tier 1), Inspirational Spell (Tier 1), Feather Fall Spell (Tier 1)

Tier 1, Requiem (Tier 2), Vajra Shield (Tier 2), Shattering Sonic Wave (Tier 2), Silver Light Whisper (Tier 2), Scorching Metal (Tier 2), Echo (Tier 2), Guardian Rune (Tier 3), Summon Horde (Tier 3), Dispel Magic (Tier 3), Spring Rain Song (Tier 3), Phantom Assassin (Tier 4), Psychedelic Melody (Tier 4), Compulsion (Tier 4), Arcane Insect (Tier 4)

[Extraordinary Skills - Combat Techniques: Wild Slash (Tier 1), Charged Heavy Strike (Tier 2), Power of the Fountain (Tier 2), Vortex Power (Tier 3), Steel Wind Slash (Tier 5)]

[Talents: Enhanced Dark Vision, Beast Intuition, Luck, Robust Physique, Interspecies Affinity, Rear Eyes]

Specialties: Eye of Insight, Battlefield Spellcasting, Turbulent Movement, Athlete, Powerful Spells, Swordsmanship Prodigy, Spell Conservation

[Titles: Fearless Man, Rogue, Robin Star]

Free attribute points: 3

Richard isn't sure yet whether the slashing attack is satisfying.

But the current interface really makes him feel good.

Unfortunately, he had important matters to attend to and couldn't immerse himself in it too much.

Not far away, Isabella had already taken control of the entire area.

The princess, covered in blood, stood in the center of the arena, leaning on her sword hilt, with at least a dozen corpses lying at her feet.

The remaining criminals around her were all kneeling on the ground, none of them daring to meet her gaze.

She turned her head slightly, smiled and waved at Richard, just like an ordinary little girl who had caught a butterfly and was calling for her playmate.

Richard immediately closed the panel and walked over —