Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 819 - 150: Fraud Ring
As a law-abiding good citizen, Ethan immediately used harsh words to reject Little Dark's demands of bribery. However, the persistent black cat did not give up. After some guidance from a certain unnamed white-haired woman, Little Dark quickly realized that the festival's events were completely unimportant. No matter what she told those nobles, they would believe her and voluntarily offer their gold and jewels.
The only difference was that it had turned from bribery to fraud.
Thus, during the intensive preparations for the Harvest Festival, a small episode occurred in the Imperial Capital.
A talking black cat entered many noble houses at dusk, telling them she knew the details of the festival's events and that for just 998 Gold Lions, they could be ahead of other participants at the starting line.
Two days later, an unaware Ethan woke up to find himself staring at several bags filled with Gold Lions and jewels on the bed, lost in thought.
"Little Dark, where did this come from?"
"Dividends."
The black cat proudly puffed up her chest.
She just took a stroll around the Upper City of the Imperial Capital, and suddenly she transformed into a wealthy tycoon. This made her admire Lindong even more. That woman usually seemed cold and aloof, but in reality, she was full of cunning; all these calculations were Lindong's ideas.
"We're partners, one-third each, fair and just."
Upon hearing this, Ethan's eyelids twitched violently. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
If he understood correctly, the "partners" that Little Dark mentioned should actually translate to a criminal gang. By accepting this money, he was essentially boarding Little Dark's pirate ship, becoming as inseparable as locusts tied to the same string. But shortly after, he realized a more serious problem.
"One-third? Who else was involved?"
"A master."
"What master? Give me a name!"
"I have professional ethics, I absolutely won't say."
"Tell me the name, and all this money and jewels are yours."
"A white-haired, red-eyed master who can turn into a cat."
Little Dark spoke righteously, "I will never betray her!"
As she spoke, she stashed all the bags of money on the bed into her storage space, making them vanish at the end of a black whirlpool in front of Ethan.
She kept her promise, refusing to reveal the name of another partner even in the face of temptation by money and jewels, adhering to her principles!
Faced with this situation, Ethan felt a headache coming on, as he didn't expect Lindong to get involved.
In fact, Little Dark didn't really lack money; she didn't even have a clear concept of wealth and jewels. Based on Ethan's understanding of her, she was simply interested in doing bad deeds, enjoying the process of crime, while the spoils of crime would most likely never catch her eye once absorbed into the black hole.
Little Dark was one of those rare criminals who committed crimes purely out of interest, not for money.
As for Lindong...
Ethan, too, thought that she probably didn't like the nobles of the Silver Radiance Empire, as they reminded her of the empire during Julius's reign. If one were to think positively, taking their money was already a restrained outcome. Several years ago, when he met Lindong in Ximu Town, she wanted to set the empire on fire.
Her level of danger and radicalism was comparable to those who wished to blow up Huangshan Tower.
In this light, Ethan felt somewhat relieved. This intuitively showed how much Lindong's temper had improved over the years, akin to how Johnny Silverhand's resistance to the corporation had shifted from transporting mini-nukes to writing songs to curse them, and then earning their ticket money through concerts.
"How did you know the specifics of the festival?"
Recently, Lindong and he had mostly been acting independently. She was often at the side of the Third Princess, attending many events with her, while the festival arrangements were directly discussed between him and the empire's chancellor.
A man named Balmon Margaret.
Despite having Margaret's surname, he lacked the cowlick on top of his head, which made Ethan feel a bit uneasy during their interactions.
"I don't know."
Little Dark said confidently.
"Then why did they give you money?"
"Hehe, they thought I knew."
Ethan had to admit that when he heard Little Dark's response, his heart skipped a beat. Not just because this involved fraud with a huge amount of money large enough for the Judicial Court to immediately form a special task force, but more importantly, today was the day when the festival participants would be informed of the specific content of the festival events, and he could well imagine the storm brewing outside the Royal Palace in a few hours.
Yet, as the nominal consultant for the festival, he had to be present today.
Excuses like having a stomachache, catching a cold, or some urgent matter at home wouldn't work today.
After jabbing Little Dark's forehead a few times in frustration, Ethan had no choice but to walk out of the room and face reality.
This was definitely the liveliest day in the Imperial Capital since Henry VI's succession. Whether it was nobles or commoners, everyone stepped out of their homes on this day, heading towards their respective spots with great excitement—nobles, wealthy merchants, and commoners were naturally divided into different areas. Even though the atmosphere in the Imperial Capital had quietly changed recently, it was still far from being able to allow everyone to break through class barriers and gather joyously together.
From what Ethan understood, over 60% of the nobles in the Imperial Capital still believed that commoners carried germs, and staying in the same place with them for too long would infect them with diseases. Thus, even for the sake of their health, they were unwilling to stay with the commoners.
