Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 41 Lloyd's

Secret passages may sound mysterious, but they are actually not that rare.

After all, it was built for human use.

Aiwass took Lulu and Sherlock, not far from the Pelican Bar, into an abandoned warehouse that used to store stones and is now full of dust and gravel.

Coming out of the back door of the warehouse, it was a slightly desolate wasteland.

There is no one here.A creek formed by sewage and stagnant water blocked their progress.The other side of the creek is full of all kinds of domestic garbage and bushes, which have become faded and rotten after repeated wind and rain.

When Aiwass saw it, he breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had found his target, he crossed the creek without hesitation, and then walked to the garbage beach opposite.

"Go forward from here, and you will arrive after turning over this big slope."

"……I see."

Sherlock, who barely jumped over and didn't get his shoes dirty, followed behind Aiwass and muttered in a low voice: "Using the images of sewage and garbage that make people feel 'abandoned' and 'at the end', come to It makes people subconsciously think that there is no way here. It is not a very clever hiding method, but it is enough for ordinary people."

"Because this is indeed not a high-level secret passage, and it is not considered man-made."

Aiwass walked in the front and led the way, at the same time Weiwei turned around and explained: "It leads to a chemical factory that was abandoned 20 years ago.

"About seven or eight years ago, this underpass was discovered and occupied by a group of young boys from Lloyd. They are now the 'Sweater Brotherhood,' a group of stranglers."

"...Strangle the Party, isn't it the name of a gang?"

Lulu, who was holding up her skirt and was barely able to follow Aiwass, asked doubtfully, "I thought it was the biggest gang in Lloyd District."

"Not really. It's true that the Stranglers are all gangsters, but not that they have a common gang called the 'Stranglers.'"

Sherlock, the newsboy, answered her question: "All gang members who commit murder and robbery by 'strangling' are called stranglers. It is precisely those small gangs that make money in this way."

"What about the biggest gang?"

"That must be Lloyd's. There's only one Lloyd's in Lloyd."

Aiwass replied: "Prince Lloyd more than 200 years ago, the 'Lloyd's Society' established when he was still a businessman still exists today. It is a large association organization that sells insurance, usury, ocean intelligence, and business insider .In a sense, they're the only legitimate gang in Avalon."

"...Aren't usury illegal? Why are there legal usury?"

"Because they don't charge excess interest on the surface. Instead, they collect interest by selling super-high-priced Lloyd's Weekly, which is far beyond what normal people can afford."

Speaking of this, Aiwass glanced at Lulu helplessly: "My dear, you don't think that the price of five red candles to buy a weekly newspaper is normal, right?

"It's a weekly newspaper. This means that more than half of the news on it is old news that has been reported by other newspapers-there is a saying in journalism that 'the newspaper in the morning is waste paper in the evening'. Although it is a bit extreme...but anyway , the weekly newspaper should be cheaper than the daily newspaper.”

The newsboy that Aiwass met at the entrance of the Pelican Bar before was the "newsboy" raised by the Lloyd's.

At that time, Haina felt that the price of "Lloyd's Weekly" was not right.But she didn't understand to whom the Lloyd's Weekly was sold.Aiwass didn't want to explain to her either.

In her frank nature, it was better not to know this kind of thing.

Haina thought that the newspapers would be bought by sailors, fishermen, and laborers... how could they afford such money.

If there is, they will only buy meat and beer.

The tired and poor lower class cannot afford to buy newspapers, they only ask for free news from bars.

The little Sherlock on the side sighed, and patiently explained the loops to the ignorant Princess in a low voice: "People who borrow from Lloyd's in the Lloyd's District must regularly purchase a designated share of "Lloyd's The weekly newspaper is used as extra interest. When the loan collector comes to check, he will check the number of copies of the newspaper held by the borrower, and cut off a corner of the newspaper as an acceptance.

"It's the same with the inside information they sell. Those factory owners or company directors will order a large number of "Lloyd's Weekly" directly from Lloyd's. And the person who delivers the newspaper will bring the message with him.

"They still have the business of investigating designated targets, and they once invited me. As far as I know, some private detectives will accept their employment. When Lloyd's sends the investigated personal information, it also uses the designated share Lloyd's Weekly for payment."

"...is it because newspapers pay taxes?"

Hearing this, Lulu immediately reacted: "So the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Taxation will protect them?"

Although it was the first time she had heard of this kind of gray trading through newspapers, she immediately realized the cleverness of this approach.

This means that the Lloyd's society discloses all its income and financial reports to the kingdom, and actively pays a large amount of protection fees.

Since their money was collected without arrest, it means that this behavior is allowed.

It is indeed an organization cultivated by Prince Lloyd.

Despite lacking a great deal of experience, Princess Isabel's mind is very good.

Moreover, the intellectual class she came into contact with is very high, so she also cultivated a good political sense:

"The reason why the 'newspaper' is used to collect money is that Lloyd's shows its respect for the 'authoritarian way'? Even if they come from the forces left behind by Prince Lloyd, if they really annoy the Round Table Hall will be in trouble.

"But if the loan transaction is done by selling newspapers, it means that they will pay taxes on the 'interest' as a kind of net income... because they don't want to offend the Supervision Bureau, so compared to those who are almost certain to evade taxes businessmen, their tax payment behavior will be more active and stable.”

Isabel listened to the Minister of Taxation complaining countless times about not being able to collect taxes.

He constantly asked the inspectorate to send tax inspectors to companies that might be involved in tax evasion.Every time I can come up with a terrifyingly long list—longer than Isabel's hair, and when I hold it in my hand, the other end wants to hang on the ground.

——Isabelle is clearly aware that if Lloyd's tax payment behavior is sufficiently active, the amount is large and very stable, then they will indeed be sheltered.

Their ability to get the distribution rights of the "Glass Step Newspaper" has already explained the opinion of the Round Table Hall on them.

The newsboy nodded: "Because of this, the Inspectorate will not send people to manage them. In addition, they voluntarily maintain civil order in the Lloyd District, so the Inspectorate can only turn a blind eye to them.

"After all, they are legal associations that follow [the way of authority] and also respect the existence of [the way of authority]. In a sense, they are not actually a society, but can be regarded as a means Unclean large company.

"So they won't carry out 'strangling', which may lead to investigations. But their squeeze on the profit space of other gangs will cause other groups to continue to choose to send members to carry out 'strangling', 'burglary or theft', 'Kidnapping', 'assassination' and other illegal means to obtain funds.

"And this will make them easy to be investigated and arrested by the Supervision Bureau. This further reduces the living space of other associations."

"--not only that."

Finally, Aiwass, who saw the back door of the abandoned chemical factory from a distance, heaved a sigh of relief, and casually added: "Actually, after those stranglers attacked and killed passers-by and robbed them of all their belongings, their way of selling their stolen goods was still Lloyd's." Lloyd's and some commissions like assassination or theft were also issued by Lloyd's.

"That's why I just said there's only one biggest gang in Lloyd's, and that's Lloyd's."

"...and this?"

Hearing this, even Sherlock was taken aback.

But when he thought about it carefully, it seemed reasonable.No matter how legal Lloyd's is, it is still a dirty gang organization rather than a serious industrial company.

But Sherlock still can't find out the evidence of their crime...

Maybe not just because the evidence was destroyed by the Inspectorate.

Perhaps from the beginning, there was no such evidence.Because they no longer need to do that kind of thing themselves.

Sherlock carefully looked at the "fox" dressed up by the priest, and for the first time began to have doubts about his true identity.

He seemed to be very familiar with the Lloyd District, and he knew the secret passage.Even a little about Lloyd's secrets...

——Could it be that "Fox" is not a student at school, but a member of a gang?Or is it simply the eyeliner of a certain organization breaking into the church, or the apostate pastor?

Thinking of this, Sherlock tentatively asked: "Mr. Fox... If I investigate the 'Sweater Brotherhood', will it cause trouble to you?
"If I would, I think I'd make an exception. As a token of gratitude for helping me in the ceremony."

Hearing this, Aiwass paused.

He turned his head and glanced at the newsboy, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"Since I will say it in front of you, I am not afraid of you to investigate. After investigating the 'Bone Sculpture', let's arrest the Sweater Brotherhood... This can be regarded as eliminating harm for the people. Don't think that the Sweater Brotherhood is a small organization. , no one has less than five lives in their hands.

"According to my gossip...they may be connected to the group behind the Pelican Bar."

——In fact, it is not only that.

The reason why Aiwass remembers this secret passage is because this is a copy of the main line.

I forgot all the preceding plots, but Aiwass is sure that the "Sweater Brotherhood" must have something to do with the Noble Red Society.Because the members of the Sweater Brotherhood that appeared in this dungeon were not only greatly strengthened by the demon scholar's ritual, and their minds were berserk, but they also kept a large number of demon dogs made of corpses.

That copy was pretty nasty.

Not only is it long and turning, but it is easy to get lost if you don't know the way.Moreover, there are all kinds of garbage, quagmire, and sewage on the ground that affect the movement, and a large number of demon dogs will lie in ambush at the corner, activate when the first person passes by, and then suddenly rush up and start biting the second person.

These demon dogs are not only wearing scrap iron armor with sharp edges, but also have high damage at the same time, and the hatred is still chained-after being beaten, they will start to shout dogs frantically, and other dogs on patrol will hear it. Come here.

Compared with the BOSS with uncomplicated mechanism, the mobs in this dungeon are much more annoying.

Aiwass didn't want to type this book again.Just thinking about being attacked and bitten by those iron-skinned mad dogs that were fed on human flesh and half the height of a person made his scalp tingle.

It's better to let Sherlock get rid of them in advance.

Also find something for Sherlock by the way, don't let him keep staring at the things behind the Pelican Bar.Otherwise, "that lord" might think that his letter fell into Sherlock's hands, and vigilantly began to destroy the evidence and silence it.

If "that lord" destroyed the evidence faster than Aiwass, it would be difficult for him to investigate.

Although the identity of the "fox" remains a mystery, for the suspicious and intelligent Sherlock, the clues casually provided by the fox in the dream ritual are more worthy of investigation than the clues deliberately sent by someone in reality.

Because he will doubt the latter's motives and try to reason backwards from a higher level-this cannot be said to be wrong.Aiwass was afraid that he would be aware of his motives, so he used the method of "encountering" to "unintentionally" give him information.

——Aiwass knows Sherlock, he is indeed such a person.

(End of this chapter)