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Chapter 206: Meeting? Usurpation!
Chapter 206: Meeting? Usurpation!
It seemed... that this was indeed the case?
After listening to Lyon's analysis and interrogation, the bandits who had been bowing in confusion, unsure if they truly opposed the leader, finally came to a complete "awakening."
That's right! It's exactly like this!
Although I didn't understand it as clearly as Little Bavin, who could directly explain the reason, I had a vague sense that something was amiss, which was why I felt that Nathan was unsuitable as the leader.
No wonder, no wonder I suddenly bowed to Little Bavin earlier. It turned out that although I couldn't explain the reason, I had already started to think this way in my heart...
"You... you mustn't be fooled by him!"
Noticing the gradually changing expressions of the people in the room and their subtle shift in attitude towards the other side, the middle-aged man, sensing that the "tide had turned," exclaimed anxiously:
"Think carefully! How old is Little Bavin this year? And apart from attending a few years of community school when he was young, he hasn't studied since he was thirteen or fourteen. How could he possibly know so much?
Use your brains! Could those words just now have come from someone who only attended three to five years of community school? I suspect he's not even Little Bavin!"
?!?!?!
After hearing the middle-aged man's reminder, the bandits in the room couldn't help but change their expressions, and they vaguely realized that "Little Bavin" was indeed suspicious.
Several bandits who were more familiar with Little Bavin's family situation, having moved around the valley more often, gave him even more suspicious looks.
Nathan's words... were not entirely wrong.
Putting aside the fact that Little Bavin was said to be silent and reclusive, why did he suddenly become so eloquent? With his community school education, it was impossible for him to improvise and present such a clear situation analysis, let alone the subsequent layered and aggressive cross-examination.
...
It seemed that things had been rushed indeed, but it didn't matter!
Sensing the suspicious gazes from the bandits, Lyon narrowed his eyes slightly and sighed softly, his eyes filled with disappointment. "Your Excellency Nathan, you still don't understand where you went wrong.
You think that by questioning my identity and forcing me to be an impostor, you can solve the problem of me daring to question you, and then you can become the correct leader again?
To be honest, I even feel sorry for you, as you don't even understand who your true opponent is!"
After this pretentious speech, Lyon brought the focus of the conversation back to himself. He sat back in his chair and, under everyone's gaze, continued to buy time calmly. "Your Excellency Nathan, before I give you the answer, can you please tell me what the first textbook the community school gives to a six-year-old child is?"
"Why are you bringing this up?"
Caught off guard by Lyon's strange question, the middle-aged man quickly recovered and decided not to let Lyon lead the conversation. He interrupted, "We are discussing your identity right now! It has nothing to do with community school textbooks! Don't try to divert the topic with this!"
"I am answering your question!"
Lyon quickly took back control of the conversation, speaking rapidly. "If you've forgotten, let me remind you! The first set of textbooks in community school is about reading, writing, and pronunciation, and the material used to teach children to recognize words is the history of the kingdom over the past three hundred years!
The first sentence that all the children in the kingdom learn when mastering reading and writing is about how the kingdom was born. Do you still remember what that sentence says?"
"Of course, I remember!"
The middle-aged man struggled to regain control of the conversation. "But that sentence has nothing to do with the current situation..."
"It does!"
With the help of the Elite Performer ability, Lyon's voice boomed with authority as he recited seriously: "With the support of the nobles, citizens, factory owners, and merchants, the royal family drove out the previous rulers and absorbed the scattered city-states that could not bear the plunder of other kingdoms.
This is the first sentence that most people learn!"
"So what does this have to do with the current situation..."
"It means that it wasn't the royal family that established the kingdom and then gained support; it was only after gaining the support of various forces that the current royal family successfully established the kingdom! Even children know this!"
After explaining the sentence, Lyon looked at the stunned middle-aged man and shook his head. "If you truly intend to save this country, what you should do is demonstrate the changes you can bring and make more forces willing to support you, instead of launching random attacks and making everyone fear or even antagonize you!"
"You make it sound so easy!"
Feeling anxious due to Lyon's words, the middle-aged man gritted his teeth and argued, "We are bandits! Those who join us are either impoverished and disabled veterans, bankrupt civilians, or oppressed workers who can't make a living.
What value can these people provide? Why would those forces support us? Instead of indulging in baseless daydreams, it's better to do as I say and first..."
"This is the biggest difference between us."
Interrupting the middle-aged man's argument again, Lyon shook his head and said sincerely, "Your Excellency Nathan, I'm not sure about your background, but I understand one thing...
Even though you founded the bandit gang, deep down, you look down on us and don't believe we have any value!"
Damn!
Hearing Lyon's words, the middle-aged man, realizing his slip of the tongue, quickly tried to make up for it. "This is not about looking down on people! I'm stating facts! No matter if it's the nobles, merchants, or parliament, no one will support us!"
"Have you ever thought about why those people won't support us?
"I felt a slight tremor from the Magic Mirror in my embrace, and a dog's paw patted my stomach, signaling that Senior Emma was almost here. With newfound confidence, Lyon began to speak, "Because under your leadership, we're just a bunch of aimless ghosts, burning everything in our path. We've never even opened our mouths under the sun to voice what we truly desire! Or to put it more bluntly, it's because you've never truly valued us and have never tried to uncover our worth. In your hands, the rogue gang is merely a weapon to launch attacks, so it's no wonder we receive no support!"
As Lyon spoke, he secretly touched the Black Sheep's horn, peering into the souls of the rogue gang members.
Annoyance, resentment, doubt...
Perfect!
After his deliberate incitement, the rogues were growing increasingly dissatisfied with Middle-aged Joshua. Once Senior Emma arrived, if Middle-aged Joshua tried to recruit them, they might not even follow him!
"Your Highness, Nathan!" Lyon began, having spent just over a meal's worth of time since entering the conference room, successfully pushing the rogues to the brink of disbandment. He continued, pouring oil on the fire, "Over the years, there are thousands of injured veterans who had to retire just in the vicinity of the Capital City. There are also tens of thousands of workers laboring for over ten hours a day under the risk of being crushed by machines, yet their wages are barely enough to support their families. Not to mention the countless small workshops going bankrupt due to the impact of large factories, farmers forced to work on noble estates after their lands were occupied and food prices squeezed, and impoverished citizens struggling to find stable employment.
Do you know how many of them there are in total?"
"I... I'm not sure..."
"You couldn't possibly know! Because you've never valued us, you're not even bothered to pay attention to their plight, so how could you know about such matters?"
"..."
Facing the middle-aged man who was at a loss for words, Lyon, who also didn't know the exact number, stood up slowly, his expression serious. "There are so many people living in pain, yearning for change. If you truly see them and lend a helping hand, if just a tenth, or even a hundredth of them start to identify with us, no one will dare to ignore our opinions!
If you do this, the Royal Family, even if they don't support us, will not arrest us. The nobles, even if they don't support us, will not dare to bully us further. The merchants and factory owners, even if they don't support us, will not despise or even antagonize us!"
"..."
"Once we start speaking out under the sun, and the citizens and workers see the hope of change in us, this first force will gradually gravitate towards us!
And with this genuine fulcrum, we can do so much more!"
"The Royal Family wants to balance the power of the nobles, to restrain the ever-growing merchant class. The Parliament aims to limit the power of the Royal Family and the nobles, to regulate the commercial activities of the merchant guilds. The nobles seek more power and a share in the commercial pie. The merchants want to break free from constraints, establish laws that favor commerce, and prevent being crushed by other factions..."
After briefly outlining the basic demands of the various factions in the kingdom, Lyon continued, calculating the time of Senior Emma's arrival while painting a grand picture, "To gain support, we must first establish our worth! Once we become a true force, we'll become an essential counterweight in the power struggle between these factions. By influencing the balance, we can demand concessions from those we support.
The factory owners, seeking to avoid being exploited by the Royal Family and the nobles, must offer better wages to ordinary people. The Royal Family, wanting to suppress the old nobles with the support of citizens and workers, needs to provide more protection through legislation.
And if the Parliament wants the support of the citizens, they must not only push for the passage of relevant laws but also offer seats in the Parliament..."
At this point, Lyon paused briefly, gauging the enraptured expressions of the rogue gang members in the room. He raised his voice slightly, "Everyone, once those who follow us truly experience the benefits we bring, and more people see that someone is speaking up for them, more and more will join our cause!
When we become truly powerful, on par with the Royal Family, the nobles, the Parliament, and the merchant guilds, we can even force other factions to concede to us!"
"By then, the nobles, fearing complete suppression, will have to appease us! The merchants and factory owners, worried about boycotts and bankruptcy, will have no choice but to treat us favorably!
As our seats in Parliament increase, the Prime Minister will have to consider our opinions when issuing policies! The Royal Family, when making important decisions, will even have to consult us first! And that's not the end of it!"
It... it's not over yet?
We've already gone this far, and there's still someone even more formidable ahead of us?
Hearing that this wasn't the end, the rogue gang members in the room were truly at their limits. Each one of them breathed heavily, clenching their fists, their eyes fixed on the seemingly radiant "Little Bavin" as if it were glowing, eager to hear how much more extreme the gang could become in the future.
For those truly experienced in governance, this grand scheme was like an empty pie. With just a little taste, they could tell the filling wasn't substantial.
After all, while this plan wasn't entirely impossible, it was definitely more plausible than a madman's dream, but its feasibility was still quite limited.
Just the challenge of uniting everyone and preventing them from being swayed and divided was already insurmountable, let alone dealing with the backlash and possible alliances of other forces. If these issues couldn't be resolved, they would likely be dragged into endless bickering.
But for these gang members, most of whom had only attended community school, and some who had barely received any education at all, this stack of seemingly brilliant plans was enough to make them dizzy with excitement.
As for the concerns of being swayed, divided, or facing backlash...
Haha, after all these years of hiding in this valley eight hundred miles away from the capital, where we could bump into a tiger while peeing, could things get any worse?
It's over! It's completely over!
Looking at the gang members who were all staring at Lyon with fervent eyes, not a single one paying attention to him, the middle-aged man felt a chill run down his spine.
The Water Bottle Director react? He was right about everything! This person, who might be Little Bavin, is truly dangerous beyond measure.
After all these years of careful planning, he had finally gathered a force strong enough to attack the Dock Tower. But in less than thirty minutes, this person had destroyed everything.
He had not only destroyed the gang but also ruined the man's plan to attack the Dock Tower, conceal the kingdom's mineral resources, and ultimately, prevent war.
It's over! From now on, everything is over!
The middle-aged man clenched his teeth and glared at "Little Bavin" across from him, regretting not killing him last night when he noticed all six pointers moving. He even allowed him to attend this meeting! I was so stupid!
As "Little Bavin" stood up under the expectant gazes of the crowd, as if he had more to say, the middle-aged man took a deep breath and slowly stood up as well.
"Your Excellency Nathan?"
Noticing his movement, Lyon's eyebrows raised slightly, and he paused his speech to look at him, asking, "Do you have something to add?"
"Yes."
The middle-aged man nodded slowly and opened his mouth to speak. "I was thinking, if only I had..."
Before he could finish, the door behind Lyon creaked open, causing Lyon's heart to skip a beat. He turned around, and...
"Bang!"
A silver-white threaded nail shot out from Lyon's chest and disappeared into the empty doorway.
But it didn't end there. Before Lyon could turn his head back, the middle-aged man, filled with hatred, pulled the trigger repeatedly, firing seven shots in rapid succession, turning Lyon's back into a mangled mess of flesh and blood!
"Ah?"
"Little Bavin?!"
"Nathan!!!!!"
"What I wanted to say was, if only I had done this from the start!"
After emptying the magazine into Lyon's back, killing him, the middle-aged man turned to face the gang members who had betrayed him. With anger still in his eyes, he tossed the nail gun aside and pointed at the gang members, laughing coldly, "And you fools! Do you really think you can succeed just by following his plan?"
"Haha, I don't deny that Little Bavin has the ability to do what he said. After all, he only needed one meal to make you betray me. In that aspect, he's truly skilled.
But do those nobles and merchants need to outwit Little Bavin like I did? They just need to spend a little money, hire a desperate person, and have them shoot me... Bang!"
The middle-aged man made a shooting gesture and laughed coldly, "Wake up! I'm the only one who can save the kingdom!
No matter how wonderful Little Bavin's path seems, his useless ability to make people bow can't protect him. If he dies, everything will be just an empty dream... Why... Why aren't you dead yet?"
"Sorry... Pft!"
Lyon spat out the salty blood from his mouth, touched the healing wound on his chest, straightened his clothes, and turned to face the gang members, whose minds were almost shutting down. He offered them an embarrassed smile.
"I just realized that my ability isn't just making people bow; it seems I also have an ability to survive."
(End of Chapter)
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