Chapter 206

That’s right! It’s exactly like that!

Although I don’t understand as much as Xiaoba Jin does, and can’t directly say why, I definitely sensed something was off, which is why I thought Nathan wasn’t suitable to be the leader!

No wonder, no wonder I suddenly bowed to Xiaoba Jin just now. Turns out, even though I couldn’t articulate it clearly, deep down, I had already started thinking this way…

“You… you shouldn’t be fooled by him!”

Noticing the gradually changing expressions of the people in the room and their attitudes tilting towards the other side, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but urgently said:

“Think carefully! How old is Xiaoba Jin this year? Besides attending public school for a few years when he was little, he stopped studying at thirteen or fourteen. How could he know so much? Use your brains! Could someone who only attended public school for three to five years have said those things just now? I suspect he isn’t Xiaoba Jin at all!”

Hearing the middle-aged man’s reminder, the group of rebels in the room couldn’t help but change their expressions subtly, also noticing something seemed off about “Xiaoba Jin.”

Some who moved around the valley more often and were somewhat familiar with Xiaoba Jin’s family situation immediately cast suspicious glances.

What Nathan said… wasn’t entirely wrong?

Let’s not mention why the usually silent and solitary Xiaoba Jin suddenly became so eloquent; with his level of education from community public school, it was impossible for him to improvise such a clear analysis on the spot, let alone deliver that layered and aggressive heart-piercing questioning afterward.

…

I guess I did rush things a bit too much… But it doesn’t matter! Sensing the skeptical looks from the group of rebels, Leon couldn’t help but slightly squinted his eyes, then sighed deeply with disappointment and said, “Lord Nathan, you still haven’t realized where you went wrong.

You think doubting my identity and forcibly labeling me as an imposter, solving the problem of me standing up to question you, will make you the rightful leader again?

To be honest, I now even feel sorry for you, sorry because you don’t even know who your real opponent is!”

After deliberately dragging the topic back with some profound rambling, Leon sat back in his chair and calmly continued to buy time under everyone’s gaze: “Lord Nathan, before telling you the answer, could you please first tell me what the first textbook given to a six-year-old child upon entering school is?”

“What are you talking about?”

Caught off guard by Leon’s strange question, the middle-aged man quickly reacted, realizing he mustn’t let the conversation be dragged along. He interrupted directly:

“The issue we’re discussing now is your identity! What has anything to do with public school textbooks? Don’t try to evade my questions with such tactics!”

“I am answering your question!”

Having wrestled the conversation back, Leon rapidly said:

“If you’ve forgotten, I’ll tell you! The first set of textbooks at community public schools are reading, writing, and pronunciation, and the material used to teach kids how to recognize words is the kingdom’s history over the past three hundred years! All children in the kingdom learn to read and write by learning the first sentence about how the kingdom was born! Do you remember what that sentence was?”

“Of course I remember!”

The middle-aged man struggled to seize back the initiative:

“But that sentence has nothing to do with the current situation…”

“It does!”

With an impressive acting skill brought by [Elite Performer], Leon shouted loudly, reclaiming the topic, and solemnly recited: “Under the common support of nobles, citizens, factory owners, and merchants, the royal family expelled the former rulers, absorbed scattered city-states that couldn’t bear plundering from other kingdoms, and thus established the current kingdom.

This is the first sentence most people learn!”

“So what does this have to do with now…?”

“So it’s not that the royal family established the kingdom and then gained the support of most people; rather, after gaining the support of most forces, the current royal family successfully established the kingdom! This is something even children know!”

After interpreting the meaning of the sentence, Leon looked at the somewhat stunned middle-aged man and shook his head:

“If you truly prepared to save this country as you claimed, what you should do is show the changes you can bring and make more forces willing to support you, instead of recklessly launching attacks, making everyone fear or even oppose you!”

“You talk so easily!”

Feeling somewhat flustered by Leon’s words, the middle-aged man gritted his teeth and argued: “We are rebels! Those who choose to join us are either impoverished retired veterans, bankrupt destitute civilians with nowhere else to turn, or workers being exploited and barely surviving.

What value can these people provide? Why would the forces you mentioned support us? Instead of indulging in baseless daydreams, we should follow my plan and start by taking care of…”

“See, this is where I differ from you the most.”

Interrupting the middle-aged man’s argument again, Leon shook his head and seriously provoked: “Lord Nathan, I don’t know your background, but I understand one thing…

Even though you founded the rebel group, deep down, you look down on us and don’t believe we have any value!”

Oh no!

Upon hearing Leon’s words, the middle-aged man realized his slip of tongue and his expression changed. He hurriedly tried to mend it: “This isn’t about looking down or not! I’m stating facts! Neither the nobility, merchants, nor the parliament will support us!”

“Have you ever thought about why those people won’t support us?”

Feeling the slight vibration of the small mirror in his chest, followed by a pat on his belly from a dog’s paw, Leon knew Emma Senior was almost here. With confidence, he continued smoothly:

“Because under your leadership, we are merely ghost fires that burn wherever we go, never having stood in the sunlight to openly declare what we truly want! Or to put it more bluntly, precisely because you never took us seriously deep down and never tried to explore our value, in your hands, the rebels are merely weapons used for attacks, naturally garnering no support!”

As Leon spoke, he secretly touched the horns of the black goat and peeked at the soul states of the group of rebels.

Annoyance, resentment, doubt…

It’s settled!

After his deliberate provocation, the rebels had grown increasingly dissatisfied with Middle-aged Joshua. By the time Emma Senior arrived, they might not even be willing to follow him anymore!…

“Lord Nathan!”

Leon, who managed to stir the rebels to the brink of disbandment shortly after entering the conference room, continued to fan the flames:

“In all these years, there are thousands of injured veterans just near the capital city; workers risking limb injuries from machines, working intensively for over ten hours a day, yet earning salaries insufficient to support their families number in the hundreds of thousands! There are also small handicraft workshops going bankrupt due to the impact of large factories; farmers whose land has been occupied and grain prices driven down, forced to work on noble estates; and poor citizens struggling to find stable jobs…

Do you know how many people these groups add up to?”

“I… roughly…”

“You can’t possibly know! Because you’ve never valued us, you didn’t even bother spending time paying attention, so how could you know such things?”

Faced with the middle-aged man who was speechless from being stumped, Leon slowly stood up, equally unaware of the exact numbers himself, but earnestly said: “There are so many people living in pain, yearning for change. If you truly saw them and were willing to lend a helping hand, getting even a tenth… or even a hundredth of them to start identifying with us, no one would dare ignore our opinions!

If you did this, even if the royal family doesn’t support us, they wouldn’t arrest us; even if the nobility doesn’t support us, they wouldn’t dare continue oppressing us; merchants and factory owners may not support us, but they wouldn’t hate or even oppose us!”

“…”

“When we begin trying to speak in the sunlight and make citizens and workers see hope in us, the first force will slowly start leaning towards us!

And with this true pivot point, we can do more things!”

“The royal family wants to balance the power of the nobility and control the increasingly massive merchant group; the parliament wants to limit the power of the royal family and the nobility and regulate the commercial behavior of the chamber of commerce; the nobility wants more power and wants a real share in commerce; merchants want to break free from constraints, establish more business-friendly laws, and prevent being squeezed and exploited by other parties…”

After briefly explaining the basic demands of various factions in the kingdom, Leon, while calculating the time until Emma Senior’s arrival, earnestly painted a grand picture:

“To gain support, we must first have enough value! When we truly become a force, we become an important weight that can influence the scales during the power struggles among these factions, and in exchange, the factions that receive our support must offer certain benefits.

Factory owners who want to avoid exploitation by the royal family and the nobility need to increase salary space for ordinary people; the royal family wanting to suppress the old nobility through citizens and workers needs to give more protection in legislation; and if the parliament wants to gain support from citizens, they must not only push related legislation but even offer parliamentary seats…”

None of the content above is incorrect!

At this point, Leon paused slightly, observing the expressions of the rebels in the room who were listening intently, and raised his tone: “Everyone! When the people following us truly taste the benefits we bring and more people see the significance of having someone speak for them, more and more people will start leaning towards us!

And when we truly grow strong and become a force comparable to the royal family, the nobility, the parliament, and the chamber of commerce, we can even take the initiative to force other forces to compromise with us!”

“At that time, the nobility who don’t want to be completely crushed must court us! Merchants and factory owners worried about boycotts leading to bankruptcy will have no choice but to treat us favorably!

And as our seats in parliament increase, even the prime minister’s decrees must consider our opinions! The royal family’s major decisions will even need to consult us first! And this! Is still not the end!”

It… hasn’t ended yet? We’ve already gotten this powerful, and there’s even more to come?

Hearing that this wasn’t the end, the rebels inside the room were almost overwhelmed. They clenched their fists tightly, breathing heavily, staring fixedly at “Xiaoba Jin,” who seemed to be glowing, eager to hear how much stronger the future rebels could become.

This stack of dazzling pies painted by Mr. Li was enough to knock these people out cold.

As for enticement and division, counterattacks and oppression…

Hah, over the years, we’ve been chased by the army and secret police, not daring to show our faces, hiding in this valley 800 miles away from the capital, building mud houses to live in. Going outside to pee might even lead to encountering tigers showing their fangs. Can it get any worse than this?…

Finished! Completely finished! Seeing all the rebels in the room staring at Leon with fervent eyes, none of them looking at him anymore, the middle-aged man felt a chill run down his spine.

Aquarius Director was absolutely right! This person, whoever they really are, is incredibly dangerous.

After painstakingly operating for so many years, he finally gathered enough strength to attack the boarding tower, but this guy destroyed everything in less than thirty minutes.

He didn’t just destroy the rebels; he also ruined his plan to conceal the kingdom’s mineral resources and avoid war by attacking the boarding tower.

Finished! From now on, everything is finished!

Biting his teeth hard, Middle-aged Joshua stared fiercely at the “Xiaoba Jin” opposite him, regretting that after discovering all six needles moving last night, he didn’t kill him directly and even gave him a chance to attend the meeting! I’m really stupid!

Looking at “Xiaoba Jin” who stood up amidst everyone’s expectant gazes, seemingly wanting to say more, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but take a deep breath and slowly stood up as well.

“Lord Nathan?”

Noticing his actions, Leon’s eyebrows twitched slightly, then stopped speaking and stared at him, asking proactively: “Is there anything else you want to say?”

“Yes.”

The middle-aged man slowly nodded, then opened his mouth and said: “I was thinking, if I had done this from the beginning, it would have been better! Nicole?”

Accompanying his surprised voice, the door behind Leon made a creaking sound as if pushed open, causing Leon’s heart to skip a beat, then he turned around to look…

“Bang!”

A silver bullet with threads suddenly pierced through Leon’s chest, flying into the empty doorway and disappearing.

And this wasn’t the end. Before Leon could turn his head back, the middle-aged man, filled with hatred, pulled the trigger continuously, firing seven shots in quick succession, turning Leon’s back into a bloody mess!”Ah?”

“Xiaoba Jin?!”

“Nathan!!!!!!!!!”

“What I meant to say is, if I had done this earlier, it would have been better!”

After clearing the magazine from behind and directly killing the troublemaking “Xiaoba Jin,” facing the group of rebels who betrayed him in the room, the middle-aged man, still filled with hatred, threw away the nail gun in his hand and pointed at the rebels in the room with disdain, laughing coldly: “Also, you fools! Do you really think doing what he said would succeed?

Nobles and merchants aren’t doing charity; would they honestly follow the kingdom’s laws and play by the rules with you?”

“Ho ho, I admit, Xiaoba Jin has the ability to achieve what he said, since he managed to make you betray me in just the time it takes for a meal. In this aspect, he indeed has an extremely terrifying talent.

But do the nobles and merchants need to verbally outwit Xiaoba Jin like me? All they need is to spend a little money, hire a desperate fool, grab a gun and shoot me like this… bang!”

Making a shooting gesture with his hand, the middle-aged man laughed coldly: “Wake up! The only one who can save the kingdom is me!

No matter how beautiful the path Xiaoba Jin shows you seems, with his useless ability that only makes people bow, he can’t protect his own safety! Once he, the leader, dies, everything will be just an illusion… You… why haven’t you died yet?”

“Sorry… phew!”

After getting up and spitting out the salty blood in his mouth, Leon touched the healing holes on his chest, then adjusted his clothes, turned around, and showed the rebels in the room whose minds were about to crash a sheepish smile.

“I just realized that my ability isn’t just making people bow; it should also include immortality, I think.”

(The chapter ends here)