Chapter 178 - 147: Dig It Out for Me

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"The Count from Eagle Ridge?"

Vivian thought for a moment, then said to Luo De, "So, should we take revenge on them as well?"

"I’ll go kill him."

Vivian’s eyes were sharp, "It’s a good opportunity to test the concealment and assassination techniques I’ve learned."

"He certainly has lived long enough."

Luo De’s expression turned cold.

Assassins have come to our doors?

Would Luo De not retaliate?

Luo De is not stingy with his people, and when facing enemies, he would use any means for revenge.

Even if it’s just suspicion.

Originally, they were enemies, so there’s no need to consider a complete chain of evidence for retaliation.

"No problem, I’ll go prepare now."

Vivian readily agreed, "You get me the map of Eagle Ridge."

"Hmm, Chris has drawn a simple map for me."

Luo De nodded and then frowned.

"Don’t rush, let me think."

Luo De suppressed his emotions and calmed down.

Vivian was puzzled, "What’s there to think about in a counterattack?"

Luo De gestured to her to be silent.

Retaliation was inevitable.

But Vivian going so far just to kill the Hawk Count for vengeance doesn’t seem beneficial.

In fact, killing the Hawk Count seems like making a wedding dress for Baron Halon.

With the Hawk Count dead, his heirs are the ones who benefit the most.

Aside from venting anger, Luo De gains nothing.

The key is that Luo De can’t use this as a bargaining chip to gain benefits from anyone.

Otherwise, the assassination of the Hawk Count would inevitably be used against him.

"The sudden death of the Hawk Count, Baron Halon probably won’t sit idly by, surely causing chaos in Eagle Ridge..."

Perhaps there’s an opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

Luo De slightly smiled and said to Vivian, "Tomorrow, I’ll first have Durant make some preparations, then you can take action."

After chaos erupts in Eagle Ridge, perhaps Luo De can send people to "take a scoop of the stew."

At worse, they could capture some slaves to work.

"You’re the Lord, you decide."

Vivian shrugged indifferently.

"Go rest now, there are other things to do tomorrow."

Luo De waved his hand to urge her.

The three returned to the house, but none of them could sleep.

Outside, it was brightly lit.

All the guards were awakened, Durant, Gang Le, and Rein all came to the manor.

Everyone learned general information from the Guard Captain, though not the details of what happened inside.

This unknown assassination left everyone worried.

But no one dared to enter the house to disturb Luo De, and could only send people to strengthen the manor’s guard.

And Durant had to instruct the guards not to spread the news of the night to avoid causing panic.

The next morning.

When Luo De saw everyone appear before him with dark faces, he realized they hadn’t slept all night.

"Pull yourselves together, didn’t I survive?"

Luo De barked, then recounted the events of the previous night, leaving the three stunned.

"Such an assassination easily breaches our defenses, my Lord."

Durant solemnly said, "So please let Miss Vivian stay with you at all times in the future."

"Yes!"

Gang Le exclaimed from the side, "We can’t afford to lose you!"

"Hmm."

Luo De nodded slightly, "We’ll arrange it this way for the time being."

But he needed to cultivate the Extraordinary in the territory in advance to deal with those unknown enemies.

"I’ve already written the letter to the Dawn Society, Durant, have the previous guard run another errand."

"Yes, Lord Baron."

Durant responded respectfully.

"Additionally,"

Luo De looked at the three, instructing,

"Organize a team of a hundred, requiring strong mobility, quick actions, with the main task being raiding."

"Only the three of you need to know about this for now, don’t spread it."

Luo De specifically instructed, "Organize it as soon as possible, ready at any time."

"Yes, Lord Baron/My Lord!"

The three answered in unison.

"Alright, no need to be so tense."

Luo De instructed, "Avril will give you a sketch of the assassin from last night, see if anyone in the territory has seen him."

"But don’t be too public about it, investigate quietly."

Luo De said casually.

In truth, Luo De didn’t think they could find any clues.

When he saw Avril’s first draft, it didn’t look human at all.

The deformed face was covered with red lines, like protruding blood vessels.

The forehead bulged with a lump, the mouth was askew, and the nose drooped on the face.

This abnormal person, if they had appeared in town before, would have definitely attracted attention.

After giving instructions, Luo De dismissed the three, telling them to go rest well.

Three days later, Milly woke up from her sleep, allowing Luo De to breathe a sigh of relief.

The first thing the relieved little girl did was ask Luo De for some sweets.

Luo De naturally couldn’t break his promise.

Luo De had Lawrence clear out a room, maintaining a suitable temperature inside, then bring in three barrels of wheat and seven barrels of rye, along with plenty of clean water.

He instructed the slaves to clean the wheat and rye thoroughly, soaking them in warm water for two days, changing the water three times a day.

After soaking, they were to scoop out the grains, spread them evenly on wooden boards covered with straw mats, spraying and turning them daily.

This process would take a week, and Luo De didn’t have time to wait.

Luo De arranged for Otto and Avril to supervise the slaves handling the grains, while he took Vivian, Gang Le, and Rein to the underground ruins of the salt mine.

Luo De wanted to quickly verify if the sequence Milly provided was correct.

Three days later.

After a journey, Luo De returned to the ruins beneath the salt mine, accompanied by Vivian and five captured soldiers.