Chapter 31
Order and Taxation
“Boss, in this battle, 31 members of the Blood Crime Mercenary Group were killed, 11 were seriously injured and 243 were captured. There were also some members of the mercenary group who took advantage of the chaos to escape. The tribal warriors have the gift of regeneration and there were no casualties.”
Hearing Maku Gu’s report, Ning Shi nodded. “Clean up the scene, burn up all the bodies and distribute the captives to the tribal warriors as subordinates.”
“Don’t account for the treasures at the mercenary group’s base, no one will dare to touch them. Tell the warriors to stay alert. Gru’s reinforcements are coming soon.”
Ning Shi’s words were very effective. Just after Maku Gu set up a bonfire and burned the corpses on the street, the battle legion from the Brad Bloodline Chamber of Commerce finally arrived.
Compared to the random troops of the Blood Crime Mercenary Group, the Brad Bloodline Chamber of Commerce’s battle legion was very organised.
They had golden helmets on their heads, wore golden armor and sat on golden-haired three-eyed lions.
Three-eyed lions were intermediate magical beasts that lived in groups. Under the taming of humans, they cooperated very well. 200 lions walked over in neat steps.
The golden light was overbearing and the momentum was majestic.
This legion was the trump card of the Brad Bloodline Chamber of Commerce. It was the symbol of the Ryan family of the Brad royal family, the Wild Lion Knights.
Although there were only 200 of them, their momentum was indomitable. They were full of the strength of a king.
The leader was the vice president of the Brad Bloodline Chamber of Commerce, Obul. He was in the lead and the three-eyed lion he was sitting on was bigger than the others.
His lion’s body was five meters long and its standing height was more than two meters. It was extremely majestic.
Ning Shi was not scared. He stood calmly on the spot, quietly watching Obul flaunt the strength of the Wild Lion Knights.
When Obul arrived at the scene, he saw more than 500 barbarians who were so strong that they did not look like human beings. The Blood Crime Mercenary Group had long been defeated and their bodies were starting to burn in the flames.
He had already started cursing in his heart.
“D*mn it, I brought too few people. If I had known earlier, I would have brought all 1000 knights here. Just 200 knights would definitely not be able to defeat these ferocious barbarians.”
There were many lunatics in Duohuang. Many battle maniacs did not care who you were or what your background was. Even if you were from the Brad Chamber of Commerce, the lunatics would still kill you.
Obul did not want to die for no reason.
However, he could not turn around and leave without saying a word.
If he did that, how would the Wild Lion Knights maintain their dignity? When he returned, President Hilker would definitely fly into a rage.
For a moment, Obul froze.
The sun shone on the golden armor, shining brightly. This was Obul’s favorite weather in the past. The Wild Lion Knights under the sun were cool and dashing, always causing countless ladies to scream.
But at this moment, they were too conspicuous. Obul felt Ning Shi’s gaze.
He asked unwillingly, his voice a little dry.
“I am Obul, the vice president of the Brad Bloodline Chamber of Commerce. Who are you? Why did you attack an ally of the Brad Bloodline Chamber of Commerce for no reason?”
The golden armor on his entire body was really eye-piercing. This aesthetic was too boorish. Ning Shi could not bear to look at it, so he narrowed his eyes and said.
“I am Ning Shi, the Blood Crime Mercenary Group was hunting down my brothers. I am here to uphold justice. Why, does Vice President Obul have any objections?”
Following Ning Shi’s question, the five hundred extreme barbarians held their weapons in their hands and glared fiercely at Obul. Just by standing together, these barbarians gave off an oppressive aura, not to mention that their weapons were covered in blood.
Obul immediately felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles. He wanted to say something fierce, but in the end, he swallowed it back.
“Duohuang seems to be chaotic, but there is also a hidden balance. If you do this, the Duohuang Chamber of Commerce will not ignore it.”
After saying these words, Obul led his men and left.
The scene that happened here was witnessed by the merchants of Blood Crime Street. These merchants knew that the ruler of Blood Crime Street was about to change.
The merchants were neither surprised nor afraid. In Duohuang, it was common for the ruler of the streets to change.
After chasing away the reinforcements from Brad Bloodline Chamber of Commerce, Ning Shi completely occupied the street. He checked the system notification.
[Level 28 bloodline warrior Gru killed, experience points +10,000.]
Was the system encouraging him to kill people? Right now, an intermediate magical beast only gave 100 experience points, but killing Gru gave him 10,000 experience points.
[Main Storyline Mission 1 completed: Occupy a piece of territory, experience points +100,000. Rewarded a copy of the extreme body forging method.]
[Extreme body forging method: A body forging method that continuously surpasses the limits of the human body. Long-term use can effectively increase the physique. Note: After the physique exceeds 30 points, this body forging method is ineffective.]
The extreme body forging method was useless to Ning Shi, but Ning Shi was about to become the principal. He was worried that he had nothing to teach, but fortunately, the system rewarded him with the body forging method.
The game system seemed to be adapting to Ning Shi’s needs.
Looking at the extreme barbarians clumsily counting their belongings, the corner of Ning Shi’s mouth twitched. God was fair. By giving the extreme barbarians a strong body, he had appropriately lowered their intelligence.
Their mental strength, which was more than 10 points, was mainly a combination of willpower and resistance. In terms of intelligence, it was really to the extent of catching a chicken.
“Maku Gu, gather the captives in front of me. I’ll see if there are any talents.”
The barbarians were unreliable in managing the streets. Ning Shi had to find some talents in internal affairs.
Ning Shi tried to select among the captives. These captives were good at fighting and Gru was not interested in managing the streets. Of course, he did not have any talents under him.
After selecting for a long time, he finally found a pair of siblings, Amy and Elon.
[Insight Target: Amy. Spiritual power comparison: 16/19. Basic information can be explored.]
Character: Amy
Physique: 12 (20)
Spiritual Power: 19 (30)
Appearance: 7 (pretty and humble)
Family Background: 6 (Kambia family branch)
Bloodline: Green jade vine (Level 4 / Potential: 9 stars)
Profession: Bloodline warrior Level 18
Skills: Green vine whip Level 5, psychedelic spell Level 4
Talent: Learning (gold)
Achievements: None
This was the first time Ning Shi had met someone with a stronger spiritual power than himself and she even had a gold learning talent.
This pair of siblings should be from the Kambia family branch.
The Kambia family was a Duke family in the southeast part of the Brad Empire. This family had a long history and they were proficient in the evolution and transition of vine-type bloodlines. There were a lot of people in the side branches of the family.
Ning Shi didn’t waste any time and directly forced the siblings to sign the servant contract.
“The two of you will be in charge of the management of the internal affairs from now on. Take the extreme barbarians and clear the resources first. When things settle down, recruit a few smart people to help you.”
“Roger that, Boss!”
With the addition of Amy and her brother, everything became more organized.
The meeting hall of the mercenary base was cleaned first. Ning Shi was invited to sit at the first seat in the hall. His subordinate even poured a cup of sweet and sour fruit wine for him.
Getting internal affairs talents were necessary. If the extreme barbarians were to continue counting their resources, Ning Shi would probably have to stand outside.
The mercenary base occupied a large area and had many rooms. It was easy to accommodate three to five hundred people.
Ning Shi planned to let some of the warriors and their families stay here. As for the rest, he would give them money and let them earn their own living.
He could take care of the extreme wilderness tribe to a certain extent, but he could not feed them like pigs. The rewards for the warriors also had to be differentiated.
“Boss, the inventory is complete. A total of 112,230 gold coins, 271 intermediate magic cores, 1211 beginner magic cores, 311 sets of various weapons, 321 sets of armor, two boxes of gemstones and jewellery, and a total of 11 real estate deeds, including the Blood Crime Arena and the Blood Crime Casino.”
Gru had been ruling Blood Crime Street for two years and had accumulated a lot of wealth.
Ning Shi nodded in satisfaction, he said, “There are more than 3000 people in the extreme wilderness tribe. Each of them will be given 10 gold coins to settle down. The tribal warriors participating in this battle will be given 5 gold coins each. Those who kill will be given an additional 10 gold coins.”
“The tribal warriors will be given priority to own the armor and weapons. If they don’t fit, find a blacksmith to melt them down and remake them. The standard to equip them with the full set of equipment will be based on Magis. Each tribal warrior will be given a set of equipment.”
Money came and went quickly. It cost more than 50,000 gold coins to pay off the settlement fees and the equipment of the tribal warriors.
“Amy, make a public announcement. I want to establish order in Blood Crime Street. From now on, no private fights are allowed in Blood Crime Street. Those who do business here will be protected by the extreme battle group.”
“As the price of protection, 5% of the merchant’s transaction amount will be turned over to the extreme battle group as tax.”
A hint of surprise flashed across Amy’s delicate face. She couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, no one ever collects taxes in Duohuang. If you do this, all the chambers of commerce will denounce you.”
“To the public, we will not call it taxation but refer to it as collecting protection fee.”
“The difficulty of collecting taxes is too great. Not only will the chambers of commerce boycott us, but we won’t be able to control the transaction amount of the merchants. There’s no evidence for the tax collection.”
As a civilized citizen, Ning Shi could no longer tolerate the chaos and sin of Duohuang. It had a strategic location but had always been in a state of chaos because of the deliberate misdeeds of the three empires. As a result, it had not truly developed as a city.
Now that he had control of a street, he naturally had to act boldly and decisively.
“Whatever I tell you to do, you just have to carry it out. I will transfer 200 tribal warriors to you to form a guard team. If you encounter anyone who fights or causes trouble on the street, kill them without mercy.”
“As for the tax issue, you can calculate the prices of the goods sold on the street. We will issue a market guide price. In Blood Crime Street, the goods must be sold according to the guide price. The fluctuation cannot exceed 20%. We will levy the tax according to the guide price.”
It can be done like this? What a genius idea.
Amy was convinced by the market guide price set by Ning Shi. She bowed and left.
When she worked for Gru, the Blood Crime Mercenary Group only knew how to fight and kill. Amy was proficient in psychedelic skills and relied on her brain. She was very weak in direct combat.
The siblings were marginalized in the mercenary group. Not only did they not receive respect, but they also didn’t get any benefits.
They hadn’t expected that after the mercenary group was defeated by the extreme battle group and they became captives, the two of them would witness a new era.
Amy liked the feeling of being in a high position and planning the development of an entire street. She could decide the fate of the merchants on the street with just a few strokes of her pen.
She and her brother were obsessed with their work.
Soon, notices were drawn up and posted in prominent locations on the street.