Chapter 424 - 424: Xu Jia Lu (2)
The others chuckled but remained silent.
In recent days, the Han family had indeed made a name for themselves in Black Rock City.
But unfortunately, not for good reasons.
First, the Han family had sent troops to attack a stronghold in the wilderness, resulting in a crushing defeat and a humiliating retreat.
Second, the eldest son of the Han family, who had barely managed to escape back, ended up dying at the hands of their own people.
It was rumored that the city guards who killed Han Yong De had fled to Zhao Family Town.
“Old Han, you haven’t avenged your eldest son yet, have you?!”
The man across continued relentlessly, with a grin: “I heard that Lu Ming Yuan and the others, instead of keeping a low profile, ran off to Zhao Family Town,
no,? it should now be called Zhao Family Fortress…”
“This town, which previously didn’t dare to assert itself as an independent faction, has gained confidence after defeating your Han family. They’ve transformed Zhao Family Town into Zhao Family Fortress…”
“Wow, within hundreds of miles around us, they are the first to be called a fortress, establishing a new power level between a town and a city…”
Previously, no matter how strong a wilderness power was, if it didn’t have the status to build a city, it was only referred to as a town.
Like Peace Town and Wild Wolf Town, though both were towns, Peace Town was dozens of times stronger than Wild Wolf Town.
Now, Zhao Yu’s emergence had changed the wilderness rules that had been in place for years.
Above a town but below a city, he established a new fortress.
“I heard that after Zhao Family Fortress, Peace Town seems to be getting restless, looking to upgrade and rename itself to Peace Fortress…”
“Oh, really?!” The others suddenly became interested and started discussing among themselves.
This time, the Han family patriarch didn’t object but let everyone discuss.
Xu Jia Lu, sitting at the head of the table, listened for a while and said bluntly as nothing really interesting to waste time about:
“Lord Han, if you have gathered us here, just speak your mind!”
The discussion around the room immediately ceased, and everyone turned their heads to the Han family patriarch, curious about what he would say.
Seeing the timing was right, the Han patriarch nodded and began:
“These past few days, my Han family hasn’t been idle. We’ve sent a large number of people to several cities around us and to some major powers in the wilderness…”
“This Zhao Yu, like a stone sprung out of nowhere, was previously unheard
“All of a sudden, he rose up and stepped on the name of Wild Wolf Town and my Han family…”
The Han family patriarch, unabashed, pointed out that Zhao Yu had risen to power by stepping on his family’s name.
“It’s impossible for such a baseless force to exist in the wilderness…”
“So, I speculate that someone must be backing Zhao Yu up behind the scene…”
“At first, I thought he was an agent supported by some major power…”
“After spending some effort and connections, I confirmed that the major conglomerates were not supporting Zhao Yu…”
He showed a hint of pride, as if being able to talk with the major conglomerates was a significant achievement.
As expected, this made the others look serious and regard the Han family patriarch with a hint of wariness.
The Han patriarch wore a smile, but he knew very well that he was just bluffing.
His family was not powerful enough to speak directly with the major powers. He had just acted subserviently these past few days and used the Reed Group’s intermediary to inquire around.
Others might not know this, but Xu Jia Lu was well aware. After all, she was the only one in the city who could genuinely talk to the major powers.
Realizing the Han patriarch’s lack of capability, she urged, “Then what?!”
The Han patriarch coughed and continued, “Since Zhao Yu is not an agent of a major power, someone else must be backing him…”
“Therefore, I turned my attention to the nearby cities and some powerful wilderness forces…”
The others immediately perked up.
Since the apocalypse, the power structure of the cities had been established, but no one knew if any ambitious figures were targeting Black Rock City.
“Old Han, are you saying that another city is targeting us?!”
“Which city is it?!”
His old rival became serious, a rare occurrence.
If another city was backing Zhao Yu against Black Rock City, they would have to take action.
This would be a provocation against the entirety of Black Rock City, not just a matter for the Han family.
However, the representatives of eight great merchant associations remained expressionless. They each had their own backing, and this place was just a branch for them. Even if Black Rock City fell, no one would dare touch them.
The Han patriarch shook his head, “It’s not the other cities…”
“Peace Town!”
“Huh?!”
“IS it really was Peace Town?!”
Everyone was momentarily stunned and somewhat puzzled. “Peace Town dares to go against your Han family?!”
The Han patriarch was also uncertain, but he shared the intelligence they had gathered.
“According to our investigation, Peace Town has recently sent many people away quietly, and they haven’t returned yet…”
“It’s been some time…”
“So, we suspect that the ones who challenged us in this fight were from Peace Town…”
“Zhao Yu is just a spokesperson put forward by Peace Town!”
“What do you mean?!”
The crowd frowned, not expecting Peace Town to be the force behind Zhao Yu.
“I suspect that it’s not Zhao Family Fortress, but Peace Town that wants to upgrade to a fortress…”
“However, they didn’t dare to take the first step, so they wanted to support
Zhao Yu to claim a fortress status first, to see the reaction from all sides….”