Chapter 326: Chapter 281 The Killer is Not Me, It’s the Earl’s Party!
Byron, after taking out his two bosses, immediately threw the "Shadow Magic" card in his hand.
Posing as a pawnbroker under a "Faustian Contract," he activated the attached Shadow Gate and returned to the Golden Deer with a speed that rivaled the Barnacle Crab’s "Deep Sea Leap."
If it weren’t for Shadow Magic having such a small payload, its flexibility would be far greater than Deep Sea Leap. "A trip that starts at a moment’s notice" doesn’t even begin to describe its convenience.
Byron was even tempted to keep it for his personal use as a dedicated flying transport. But that was just a thought; he couldn’t afford such a luxury. It was more practical to use "Shadow Magic" to create a powerful Third-order Great Wizard who could do anything.
Exchange a Third Order power capable of bloodline sublimation for a dependable enforcer who can watch the house, tease birds, walk dogs, and who will owe me his life’s labor until his dying day?
When the time comes, I must not sell this treasure short.
It’s best to convert all recent gains into combat power as soon as possible. We still have a tough battle ahead for the Right to Protect.
Just after Byron had switched back to his original identity from Falcon Alvin, he saw light signals coming from a nearby warship.
It was the Navy’s internal distress signal that, after a slight delay, had already been sent to the Composite Joint Fleet.
Soon, Byron learned of the unrest at Royal Port from an accompanying naval colonel. He was "visibly shocked" and hurriedly ordered, "Turn into the wind! Jamestown is in peril! We must return to Royal Port immediately. Gentlemen, the time has come to prove our loyalty to His Majesty the King! All gun crews, load canister shot. In three minutes, my Sea Monsters will initiate a Deep Sea Leap."
He had absolutely no interest in explaining to others why he hadn’t used this trump card when he had just gone to fight the Lancaster Party.
As the fleet turned, he, the "Bandit Suppression Commander," had already connected to the "bandits’" internal line—a local communication network comprising nine members of The King’s Right Hand.
"Attention all units, attention all units, this is the Joint Fleet about to return home. Deep Sea Leap countdown: three minutes.
Next scene: heroes enter, the bandits will scatter at the sight of us.
Everyone, hustle and start wrapping things up.
Oh, and don’t forget to lock the doors when you leave.
Politeness doesn’t really matter at times like these. The key is, if some vagabond slips in and steals my money, that would be bad.
Brethren of the Privateer Fleet, don’t just indulge in your momentary satisfaction and make a mess of things.
The company’s Finance Department tax officers have to go register the remaining real estate early tomorrow morning."
At his prompt, various combat teams under the company immediately reported their mission progress.
"This is Eight Fingers from the Robbery Team. All squads have successfully completed their missions and are evacuating in an orderly manner. I’ve confirmed: the targets have been dealt with, and the doors are locked. If any bastard dares to take advantage of us honest folk, to bully us, wait until I return as part of the City Defense Force, and I’ll split him with my axe."
"This is Gus from the Poisoning Team. Aside from a handful of Transcendents still resisting in the military harbor, there aren’t many people alive. The ’Storm Cloak’ main force has completed its evacuation. Be aware, the Coral People are about to break through the military harbor area."
"This is Alfred from Elimination Team One. All is normal. The Storm Knights and I are evacuating."
"This is Wayne Dote from Elimination Team Two..."
All units were making smooth progress; a crime syndicate with proper planning and strategy is just that organized and efficient.
However, it wasn’t entirely without unexpected incidents.
"This is Andrew from Elimination Team Three," he began.
"Let me tell you, I just encountered something interesting.
"The target for Team Three was the heir to Earl Newman, First Rank Gold Sequence ’Golden Eye’ Milton, and his entire family.
"My actions were faster than Bloody Mary’s. After taking out the adults in the house, I couldn’t find Perkin Newman, the third generation of the Newman Family, who had just turned six.
"Just then, that Evil Spirit crawled out from the pile of corpses and circled the manor. I thought that would save me some trouble.
"But when I found the little rat in the attic closet, guess what? He was still alive!"
Hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but sneer, cursing under their breath how messed up high society truly was.
After a paternity test by Bloody Mary and a comprehensive family-line elimination screening, it was clear this grandson was not a true Newman Family descendant.
It wasn’t unusual for noble couples to have affairs, even seeing different people. However, it was exceedingly rare for them to bring an illegitimate child into the family, as this particular case demonstrated. Such an incident was practically unheard of among Great Noble families for decades.
Fortunately, six years ago when the child was born, the Newman Family had not yet collaborated with the Bloodthirsty Cult, nor were they Great Nobles who possessed the "Merit of Following the Dragon." Otherwise, no matter what deceptive means the mother’s family had used at the time, they would have been instantly exposed.
As for how to deal with this child...
[Prime Minister] Violet chimed in at the perfect moment, curiously asking, "Uncle, what about the child?"
She had probably started using this form of address naturally ever since Andrew began pressuring her to marry. They were all direct descendants of [Blue Dragon King] Reinhardt, after all, so addressing him as "Uncle" wasn’t out of place.
Andrew continued in a somber tone, "After all, we’re not devils. So, I gave this Newman descendant, who carries no Newman blood, a chance to live."