254 Shocking News II (1/2)
Chapter 254: Shocking News II
Translator: WQLEditor: DarkGem
”Big events?‘ Zhang Tie's face turned pale. ”Has something big happened at my home?”
”Yea, your home truly had a big event which shocked the whole Blackhot City!”
”Could it be the secret police...”
Zhang Tie was drenched in sweat when he thought of this possibility.
”No, it has nothing to do with the secret police. What surprised people was that your family members are descendants of the Huaiyuan Palace. Several days ago, someone from Zhang clan of Huaiyuan Palace came to Blackhot City by an airship and carried away your family members!”
Zhang Tie felt as if he was struck by a lightning bolt, leaving him dumbfounded. What he had not imagined was that his family members were descendants of the Zhang clan of Huaiyuan Palace.
His dad and mom had never mentioned it before. How could they suddenly have so many relatives? It sounded so great. The clan which could directly fly to Blackhot City from Jinyun Country by airship was definitely not average.
But what was weird was that his dad and mom had not mentioned it to him since he was born. Zhang Tie wondered what was the real reason for it.
After learning that his family members had been safely carried away by Zhang clan, Zhang Tie was really surprised. The greatest concern that was held in his heart these days finally fell down. He felt relaxed and comfortable all over as if he had ignited another burning point.
Zhang Tie, he would not complain no matter how hard and how numerous hardships he had to experience as long as his family members were safe and sound. Being a member of Zhang clan, of course it was 1000 times better than staying in Blackhot City. Previously, Zhang Tie had been racking his mind how to transfer his family members away. Now, all the problems were solved.
The old man kept observing Zhang Tie's face. Once he heard the news, Zhang Tie's expression shifted and changed, just like a big dye vat. When his face finally recovered its composure, the old man told him the other message.
”On the second day of the beer festival, the airship of Huaiyuan Palace was seen in Blapei. They planned to pick you up too, but you were a wanted criminal at the time and nobody knew where you were hiding. Your family members and the people of Huaiyuan Palace stayed for two days but found no clues whatsoever. Finally, they had to leave. Based on the speed of the airship, they might reach Jinyun Country in one week!”
'It turns out that my family members looked for me! They must be very worried after learning that I’m wanted.'
Zhang Tie became a bit worried again.
”Can the Golden Roc Bank contact my family members now?”
”No! At least not now” The old man shook his head. ”There are branches of Golden Roc Bank in the territory of Zhang clan of Huaiyuan Palace. If you want to contact your family members, we can first send the news to Jinyun Country and tell them to pay attention to the news of your family members. When your family members land there, we can then send your message to them!”
”Fine, that's great!” Zhang Tie immediately made a decision. ”Please tell my family members that I'm fine; I will soon go to them. They shouldn’t worry about me!”
The old man smiled as he drew out a standard form from a drawer on a side of the desk. ”For long-distance remote communications, you should pay by words, including the punctuation. Write down what you want to say. We will pass all the content that you write to your family members!”
Seeing the standard form, Zhang Tie revealed a bashful smile. He then picked up a pen and wrote down the names of his dad, his mom, and his elder brother in the top three columns of contact people. After a thinking for a while, he scribbled down the following lines:
—Dad, mom, elder brother, and elder sister-in-law, I'm fine; don't worry about me. I know that you've been taken away by Huaiyuan Palace's airship. Especially mom, don't worry about me. Your son is safe and sound, haven’t even lost a hair. I can eat and jump as usual. Elder brother, remember to look after our parents well. If there's any need, what I've told to Donder could be your final reliance. They should know its value. Elder sister-in-law is going to deliver a baby, watch for her body. No need to concern yourself about me, I will come back as soon as possible!
After writing those words, Zhang Tie took another careful look at it to ensure that the message contained all that he wanted to express. He then gave the paper to the old man.
”Hmm, I will have a look. Since you want to send this message to your family members and let our staff pay attention to their whereabouts, it will cost you 36 gold coins!”
”No problem!”
This amount was equal to his dad's three years' salary in the past. If it were before, Zhang Tie would definitely be scared by this figure. But now, although being high, it was still within his capacity. As long as he could relieve his parents' concern, everything he did was worth it.
Such long-distance remote communications tool was really not affordable to average people. Zhang Tie remembered the advanced level of human communications before the catastrophe when human beings had network technologies that he had read of in books in the private library. He then started to sigh inside. If it were sent before the catastrophe, such a message might be worth less than 1/10 of the price of a steamed bun. But times had changed.
”What other problems do you have?” the old man asked Zhang Tie.
”I want to know why Major Franca is wanted.”
The old man then told him how the Iron-Horn Army intercepted the airship of Major Franca on the day of the beer festival and discovered that he was missing.” The Northern Border Army of the Norman Empire firmly believe that Major Franca and his subordinates are related to the two missing soldiers of the No. 21 Division, so they delivered the order for arrest!”
’Vicious, really vicious!' This was Zhang Tie’s comment inside on Major Franca when he heard that the secret police who had followed him were poisoned to death. 'That guy must’ve known that if he was intercepted by the Norman-Horn Army’s airship, what awaited him would definitely be death. His subordinates were part of what he had done in Blapei, and under the harsh interrogation of the troop even an iron man would tell the truth, let alone those secret police!'
Additionally, the big conflict that he had set off in Blapei by his selfishness directly pushed the secret police in opposition of the Iron-Horn Army. This was definitely not what the big figures of Blapei wanted to see. Even if Franca returned, the higher ups of the secret police would also make a detailed investigation on this event. What waited for him there was also a severe punishment.
‘He’s too vicious! Perhaps when he was framing me, he had already sought for an opportunity to kill all of his subordinates for the sake of his safety.’
For an unknown secret that could make him unrivaled, for that possible outcome, that man had dared to be that decisive and vicious. Was it worth it?
The viciousness of that man chilled Zhang Tie. He knew that if he was in the position of Major Franca, he could definitely not be as vicious and decisive as the man had been..
That was the difference between people.
”I also want to know whether you can help me go to the Huaiyuan Palace in Jinyun Country. Do you provide this service?”
”Kalur is the most important traffic hub in this region. There's an airship moving from here to Jinyun Country every two months. At the moment, because of the war, many people are choosing to leave this region, so there's always no vacancy. The latest airship left Kalur yesterday. If you want a seat in an airship heading for Jinyun Country two months later, we can book it for you. You can first go to Jinyun Country by airship before transferring to the territory of Zhang clan by other airships.”
”It takes two months to order a ticket?”
Zhang Tie was speechless. He didn't want to stay here for two more months. Perhaps before he left, he could stealthily go back to Blackhot City. He had some people he was worried about there. However, it would never take him two months to deal with his concerns in there. Even if he went there by train, it would only take him one week at most.
”Do you have any faster traffic means?”
”Yes, we have. You can rent an airship to Jinyun Country. But at the moment we cannot provide you such a service!”
”Why?” Zhang Tie asked, stunned.
”Because all the airships that were available in Kalur have been rented out by others. Although Golden Roc Bank could dispatch one airship here from another place, we only provide this service for our VIPs. As you are not our VIP, we cannot provide you with such a service!”
”What's the minimum standard to be your bank's VIP?”
”The minimum standard of yellow-level VIP is that you have to deposit over 500,000 gold coins in Golden Roc Bank!” the old man genially answered.