Chapter 296 Negotiation Skills, Window Theory
So things go back to the original question, who took 008 from Ince Zangwill and arranged his death?
Regarding this question, Leonard once asked the old man, and the answer he got was, be careful about the audience, so he believed that the new owner of 008 should be a high-sequence expert who passed through the audience.
But he certainly couldn't directly tell the Eye of the Goddess in front of him such an answer now, lest other connected questions arise.
When Leonard saw that Ms. Illya had not spoken for the time being, he silently moved his gaze to the car window. Because the sky had just dawned, there were still a few stars in the starry sky where the crimson moon had dispersed.
The steam train kept heading towards South Wales, and Leonard naturally thought of Hastur, who came here to be a lord. If he had free time, he could also go to Hastur's castle.
A few days later, the steam train came to the platform in South Wales, and the group chose to change to a carriage.
According to Debi Augustus, who bought the ticket for Ince Zangwill, he suddenly encountered Ince Zangwill on the way to the steam train, and all his attendants were killed. Guang, only when he heard Ince Zangwill whispering about Backlund, and wittily offered to buy Ince Zangwill a ticket to Backlund, did he finally survive.
Based on Debi Augustus's description, they found the place where he first came into contact with Inz Zangwill.
More than half a month has passed since that encounter, and the traces left here have long been washed away by the rain.
Anyway, Leonard couldn't find any clues about Ince Zangwill from here.
But Ms. Illya, known as the Eye of the Goddess, was able to find relevant clues and lead everyone deep into the jungle.
Leonard was filled with admiration in his heart. He really deserves to have the eyes of a goddess. No wonder people often say that there is only a wrong name, not a wrong nickname.
The eyes of the goddess are the eyes of the goddess, observing the world on behalf of the gods.
…
In the Puning Port Hotel, Alfred Hall received two letters from Backlund, one from Earl Hall and one from Audrey.
He first read Earl Hall's letter, which expressed joy for him to return to the Kingdom of Loen and affirmed his desire to make great achievements, but wanted him to return to Backlund to stay for a while.
There was silence for a while, and then he opened Audrey's letter again.
The letter did not have such a depressing style, but only the taste of gossip. At the end of the letter, it was mentioned that a young earl named Hastur Campbell would assist the Archduke of Southwell in managing coastal defense issues in the future.
Alfred Hall thought for a moment and wrote a reply to his sister first. As for Earl Hall's reply, he had not yet thought about it.
…
In the study room of the castle, Hastur finally waited for the pressure from Backlund to South Wales, and also waited for a letter from Audrey.
Early this morning, the Archduke of Southwell invited him to discuss issues related to coastal defense.
This was a signal that the Archduke of Southwell would give up part of his coastal defense rights.
Hastur's current appetite is not too big. Of the eight main ports in South Wales, if he can get three of them first, it will be a good start.
"Miss Audrey's second brother intends to stay in South Wales and make great achievements... It depends on his own performance."
Hastur had no idea of reaching out to Alfred.
After he finished writing the letter back to Audrey, he took Azshara with him, followed by four attendants, and took a carriage to the villa of the Grand Duke of Southwell.
This is a very troublesome journey. After all, his castle is relatively remote. After settling the matter with Archduke Southwell, he will temporarily stay in the port to live. Puning Port is a pretty good choice.
Facing Hastur's arrival, the Grand Duke of Southwell treated him with the same warm hospitality as last time, and even deliberately mentioned the pair of sisters sent out in his words.
Hasta smiled and said: "They are very adaptable to the job of cleaning the house in the castle."
"..."
The face of the Grand Duke of Southwell became much gloomier. The delicate flowers he spent so much effort to cultivate were meant to be kept at the bedside, rather than to do some vulgar chores like cleaning the room.
"They are also good at pruning flowers and branches. After another year or two of training, they should be qualified for the position of gardeners."
The Archduke of South Wales took a deep breath, stopped discussing this topic with Hastur, and took the initiative to mention South Wales' coastal defense issues.
When the Archduke of Southwell tentatively asked Hastur what he thought about coastal defense, Hastur suddenly stood up from his seat and gave an impassioned speech.
From the rectification of the navy to the offensive tendencies of the Southern Continent, we then talked about the international situation.
This made the Grand Duke of Southwell and many of the accompanying nobles feel stunned for a moment.
"Ahem."
The Archduke of Southwell cleared his throat and interrupted Hastur's tirade.
His head couldn't remember so much content. He almost fell asleep after listening to it just now. After scanning around, it was basically the same for other nobles. Some of them had already closed their eyes slightly and started to doze off.
Archduke Southwell waved his hand and asked Hastur to sit down first, and then said: "What you said is very good. The issue of coastal defense must also be taken seriously. Let's go to Hughes Port to try it first and see the actual results. ”
Port Hughes is one of the eight major ports, but it is located in the northeast of South Wales. It is the northernmost port, and it is also the port with the least developed economy and the least oil and water.
Hasta immediately rejected the arrangement of the Grand Duke of Southwell, saying that he wanted to unify the coastal defense of the entire Southwell County, and the eight important ports were indispensable.
Such a big appetite made the fat on the Grand Duke of Southwell's face tremble. This was no longer giving up a little interest, but cutting his flesh with a knife.
Of course, he could not agree to such a condition, and deliberately said: "You have just come here not long ago, and you are not familiar with the situation here. It is better to wait until later to slowly take over other ports."
The accompanying nobles also echoed what the Grand Duke of Southwell said.
Hasta glanced at them and spoke calmly: "Herce Port is the northernmost port, with a permanent garrison of 1,500 people, including 800 navy personnel, 4 medium-sized warships, and 12 small warships."
"Hake Port is a port located below the port of Hughes, with a slightly more developed economy. It has a permanent garrison of 1,200 people, including 600 navy personnel, 3 medium-sized warships, and 10 small warships"
...
"Pnin Port, the southernmost large port, is the most important hub connecting Southwell County and the southern continent. It has a permanent garrison of 3,200 people and a navy of 1,800 people. It has 1 large warship, 8 medium-sized warships, and 25 small warships..."
Hasta slowly told the information sent by Caius, which was equivalent to slapping the Grand Duke of Southwell in public.
The Grand Duke of Southwell stared at Hasta in astonishment. In the intelligence sent back, this Earl Hasta Campbell stayed in the castle most of the time. How could he know so much about the information of these ports?
Even so, he couldn't just hand over all the coastal defense lines to Hastur.
After a fierce and tense debate... after bargaining, Hastur finally slowly opened his mouth.
First, it was reduced from eight ports to six ports, then to four ports divided equally, and finally took a step back and only asked for three ports.
This was a result that both parties were very satisfied with. It seemed that Hastur had given Grand Duke Nanwell a lot of face, and he kept retreating, and even the nobles who acted as lobbyists were embarrassed to say anything.
Sure enough, the window theory is applicable in any world.
Grand Duke Nanwell, who was in a good mood, invited Hastur to play in the city for another day. In response, Hastur sighed in distress and reluctantly agreed to his kindness, which made Grand Duke Nanwell feel better.
...
Pnin Port, the Red Gloves Team, who had been following the trail all the way from Backlund, left the depths of the jungle and came to Pnin Port, where Ince Zangwill first appeared in Nanwell County.
According to the recollections of several old people who got up early to look at the sea, it was early in the morning of a certain day, when the sun had just risen.
They found a figure swimming from the sea to the beach, wet and in a mess, looking like he had been drifting on the sea for several days.
The unlucky guy was Ince Zangwill.
They gradually found out the whereabouts of Ince Zangwill in Pnin Harbor through the stories of other witnesses.
Then they followed the clues and found the home of Viscount Steddam who was killed by Ince Zangwill.
Through the investigation of the people around them, they learned that there was a natural phenomenon that night, and there were continuous fire meteors hitting the ground, causing damage to many houses.
Because what happened that night was too abnormal, many people still remember what happened that night clearly.
Since leaving Backlund, Ince Zangwill has encountered a series of pursuits!
This is the conclusion reached by the members of the Red Gloves team, including Ms. Illya, who is known as the Eye of the Goddess.
The last steam train explosion in East Tucker County also involved Ince Zangwill.
And the Black Emperor suddenly appeared near the coast and happened to meet the ship where Ince Zangwill was.
All this happened just right. Perhaps before this, Ince Zangwill had already lost 008, which led to his difficult situation.
Illya sighed: "Those who betray their faith will eventually be spurned by fate."
Leonard sat aside, his mind wandering.
He had inquired that Punin Port was not far from Hastur's territory, and it would take about half a day to get there by carriage.
"Leonard, what do you think about this?"
Facing the question suddenly thrown by Ms. Illya, Leonard was embarrassed, and then he said seriously: "I think that 008 may be in the hands of a high-sequence strongman in the audience channel, who arranged all kinds of coincidences and accidental fates of Ince Zangwill."