From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

The next day, March 3

In an area close to the slums in Nancheng District, there is an unremarkable, dark and damp dilapidated tavern.

The tavern is not large in scale, with only twelve small round tables barely placed, but in a place like a slum, this can be considered a large-scale industry.

Near noon, a young man with simple clothes and a cold face opened the door and walked in. He seemed to be a regular visitor here. He walked to the bar very skillfully and greeted the bartender:

"Gin, two glasses, don't put any fucking water in it, the wine you have here is as weak as cow urine."

The bartender glanced at the dagger on the young man's waist and the calluses on the tiger's mouth, and knew that this must be another gang member who licked blood with the tip of the knife, so he quickly filled two glasses of gin and handed them over with a smile.

The young man took the glass, glanced back at the crowded tavern, frowned and cursed:

"Damn it, when did your business get so good here? Why are there so many people today?"

The bartender lowered his head and wiped the table. He didn't seem to want to get too involved with a gang member, so he just replied casually:

"I'm also surprised that there are so many people only during festivals."

The young man didn't say much. After waiting for a while, he sat down at a round table in the corner, crossed his legs and started waiting.

Anyone who looks at him will think that he is a young gangster who lives in the underground world. They would not have thought that this young man is actually the president of the Federation of Students at the Paris Military Academy.

Not long after, another strong and muscular man walked into the tavern.

Like Fuhr, the weathered sword on his waist and the scars all over his body send a message to those around him - this is a thug who licks blood at the tip of his knife.

The bartender behind the bar seemed to recognize this big man. All the muscles in his body tensed up instantly, and he did not dare to say a word.

The big man saw Chairman Faure in the corner at a glance, and sat over with a grin:

"It's been a long time, little Ful, how was your school life?"

Chairman Faure's expression was very cold, and he didn't seem to want to pay much attention to the big man, so he responded coldly:

"It has nothing to do with you."

"Why does it have nothing to do with me? I am your boss, and you are related to the future of our entire gang, Little Ful."

The big man squinted his eyes and chuckled:

"I spent a lot of money to send you to the military academy. Just setting up the relationship alone cost more than 6,000 livres."

This big man is somewhat famous in the underground world of Paris. With his arrogant force and courage without fear of life and death, he has single-handedly established his own gang and power in Paris.

However, as time slowly passed, the big man also realized that the gang's development had entered a bottleneck.

In the underworld, no matter how it develops, any gang has almost no hope of surpassing the dark cloud hanging over their heads - the gray rats in the sewers led by the King of Beggars.

After all, everyone living in the sewers is a complete desperado. After several generations of rule and jurisdiction by the Beggar King, the entire sewer is like a well-disciplined underground kingdom.

Although the strength of the Beggar King is still fragile compared to the regular army, the gray rats in the sewer are not comparable to these loose small gangs.

Since there was almost no further hope in the underground world, the big man made a decision that he thought was far-sighted after careful consideration: to develop above ground.

For this reason, he deliberately spent a lot of money to send a young man with suitable qualifications in the gang, Faure, to the Paris Military Academy.

In his plan, if Full can enter the police force or city defense force and become a high-ranking officer after graduation, then the entire gang will benefit immensely from this layer of internal and external cooperation.

Although this plan takes a long time, compared to spending huge sums of money to directly bribe the high-level officers of the two armies, this is already a compromise. After all, even the King of Beggars may not be able to offer such a bribe. Come.

And even if it is taken out, there is no guarantee that the bribe recipient will serve them sincerely. Thinking about it this way, it is safer to let a real person enter the high-level ranks of the two major armies.

"The price, huh."

Chairman Faure snorted dissatisfiedly:

"I'm afraid the benefits you've gotten from me in the past few years have long outweighed the costs."

Others may not understand, but Chairman Faure himself knows very well that not all of the benefits he obtained by using his power and corruption in the Federation of Students will go into his own pocket.

For example, Chairman Faure's corrupt scholarship this year, 60% of which will be given to the administrative officials in the military academy, in exchange for turning a blind eye and allowing them to maintain the authority of the student union.

Twenty percent is to be distributed to the major members of the Student Association to ensure that Ful, the chairman of the Student Association, is secure.

Most of the last two percent will be handed over to outside gangs, and less than 10 percent will end up in the hands of Chairman Fur.

Although it was still a considerable amount of wealth, Chairman Fuer was still extremely dissatisfied with the gang's deductions.

"Hahaha, don't worry so much, little Ful."

The big man laughed generously. Of course he also knew that the benefits he gained from Fur had exceeded the original cost of sending him to the Paris Military Academy, so he changed the subject and said:

"Don't forget how much help the gang has provided you. Just like this time, you have to ask me to wipe your ass again."

The big man also saw Chairman Ful's dissatisfaction, but he was not worried at all. After all, he had preserved all the evidence that Chairman Ful had sent to gang interests over the years.

If Furr wanted to get rid of the gang in the future and develop into the military wholeheartedly, this evidence would be enough for him to stand in a military court.

"Humph, stop talking nonsense." Chairman Faure said harshly:

"This time it's a new kid, a ungrateful thing. I've investigated and found out that he's just a poor guy from out of town. I've already invited him here, and I can just get rid of him in a while."

"Civilians from other places? They are the most relaxed type of people. They are so boring." The big man shrugged his shoulders in boredom.

In Chairman Faure's strategy, if a noble or a civilian student with a background conflicts with him, he will take the initiative to lower his profile and seek peace, trying to attract the other person into the student association group, instead of Foolish enough to use gang power to solve problems.

As for a helpless idiot like Charles, Chairman Faure will not hesitate to turn him into an unknown rotting corpse in the gutter, and use the authority of the student association in the military academy to pretend that he has voluntarily dropped out of school and Missing.

Although there have been many terrifying rumors about the chairman of the student union in the school, without any evidence, Fuhr is still safe and sound, not to mention that he has connections with many administrative officials in the military school.

Chairman Faure also didn’t feel much about this kind of procedural processing, and calmly took a sip of gin:

"Now just wait for that kid to come over, but"

Halfway through, Chairman Faure turned around and scanned the crowd of customers in the tavern, vaguely feeling something strange.

The tavern was obviously full of drinkers, but the atmosphere was much cooler than usual.

Most of the drinkers just lowered their heads and sipped the wine glasses in their hands without saying a word. No one was making loud noises, and no one was making fists and gambling. On the contrary, this shabby tavern was as quiet as a library. Even the few drinkers who were chatting seemed to be He lowered his voice because of the atmosphere.

"Why are there so many people here today?" Chairman Faure asked with a frown.

The big man didn't care at all, he laughed and said:

"The more people there are, the better the business will be. If the business is better, we will receive more protection money."

"Forget it, remember to stay away for a while so you don't get discovered."

Chairman Faure sighed, and after a reminder, he didn't bother to talk to the big man.

About twenty minutes later, just as the time for the invitation written on the note by Chairman Faure arrived, Lawrence also pushed open the door and walked into the tavern.

As soon as Lawrence entered the door, the eyes of Chairman Faure and the big man in the corner were locked on him.

The two of them had never met Lawrence, but they could tell from his age and temperament that was incompatible with the drinkers that this was the person they were waiting for.

"Mr. Bornaba, this way."

Chairman Faure did not stand up, but said hello expressionlessly.

Lawrence smiled and sat opposite Ful, ignoring the big man next to him, and said hello with a polite smile:

"You must be Mr. Furr, the chairman of the Federation of Students. Nice to meet you."

"I'm not very happy, Mr. Bornaba."

Chairman Faure seemed too lazy to spend too much time with a dying man, so he got to the point with contempt:

"You should know exactly why I called you here."

"To be honest, I really don't know, Mr. Chairman." Lawrence held his chin and asked casually:

"If it's for that letter about the scholarship, I shouldn't have to go to a lot of trouble to make an appointment here, right?"

Chairman Faure sneered disdainfully:

"Don't pretend to be stupid. If you just refuse to sign the documents, you actually have the guts to spread rumors about the student association in the military academy, and you dare to refuse the concessions I offer. I can no longer turn a blind eye to such repeated provocations. Yes, Charles Bornaparte!”

Lawrence's smile was a bit playful, he shook his head and said:

"Then it's the same for me, Mr. Chairman, I can't turn a blind eye to your repeated attacks on my friends and my gang."

"That's enough Bornaba, don't waste time, I'll give you one last chance!"

Before he finished speaking, Chairman Faure's face turned gloomy for a moment, and he slapped the table angrily and said in a cold voice:

"Sign the paperwork, disband your pathetic little gang, then resign as battalion commander, admit to everyone that you spread the rumors, and finally, kneel in front of the Federation of Students Headquarters for a whole day to apologize. That's it."

"Hahaha" Lawrence couldn't help but cover his eyebrows and chuckled:

"Mr. Chairman, I have negotiated with many people, but no one has offered me such conditions."

Hearing this, Chairman Faure's face was so gloomy that he could shed tears. He touched his right hand to his waist, and a cold light hit the table in the blink of an eye. It was a sharp-edged dagger:

"Charles Bornaba, are you not going to accept this condition?"

This movement attracted the attention of several drinkers, and the bartender behind the bar also looked at the blond young man named Charles with sighs. If nothing goes wrong, there will be another corpse in the Seine tonight.

The big man frowned slightly and patted Ful on the shoulder:

"Forget it, I think this kid is indeed ungrateful, so don't waste your breath. Hey, your name is Bornaba, right?"

The big man looked at Lawrence with a ferocious smile and stood up slowly. His figure was as strong as a hill, giving people a deep sense of oppression:

"Since you feel that Ful's conditions are not satisfactory, let's change the place to talk. Boy, come with me."

Lawrence was unmoved, crossed his arms, shook his head and asked with a smile:

"What if I say no?"

"No? If you think there's something useful to say, just say it. There's no point in screaming your damn voice anyway!"

The big man smiled even more arrogantly. He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly, and then there was a burst of rapid footsteps outside the tavern.

Almost in the blink of an eye, with a loud noise, four strong men in black violently opened the door of the tavern, as powerful as heavy infantry, and stood side by side behind the big man.

Although the bartender felt sorry for the creaking wooden door, he didn't dare to say anything because of the big man's power.

With the support of these subordinates who were as strong as cattle, the big man's smile became even brighter and he boldly said:

"Boy, don't force me to do anything. Just follow us."

Chairman Faure also sneered again and again, thinking that Bornaba was too frightened to stand up:

"Do you know what a gang is, Mr. Bornaba?"

"I really don't know." Lawrence smiled still unmoved.

“What a fool, you’re still talking hard even when you’re about to die!”

As a bloodthirsty and manic gang leader, the big man couldn't stand this kind of provocation anymore. He flew up and kicked the wooden table in front of him five yards away. It hit the wall hard and shattered into a pile of wood chips. :

"You guys, take this kid away!"

The four strong men stepped forward in response and surrounded Lawrence with murderous intent. One of them even reached out and grabbed Lawrence's neck, just like an eagle's claws trying to tear the fragile neck of a swan.

And at this critical moment, Lawrence suddenly narrowed his eyes and said loudly:

"Oga Kumas, stop just watching."

The big man was suddenly stunned, his face changed drastically, as if he heard some kind of spell engraved in his mind:

"Oga Kumas? Wait!"

However, it was too late. Chairman Faure only heard a rumbling noise behind him. He turned around and saw almost all the thirty-odd drinkers in the tavern lifting the tables and getting up. , looking at him coldly, not hiding the fierce look in his eyes.

Before Chairman Faure and the big man could react, the nearest drinkers had already rushed over.

They cooperated extremely well and almost instantly captured the four strong men beside Lawrence to the ground. Even the thuds they made when they fell to the ground were at the same time.

Before the four people could let out a scream, they saw several gleaming daggers pressed against their necks.

"You are you"

The big man's voice became lower and lower, and in the end it almost became a kind of choke.

Chairman Faure had not yet come back to his senses. He looked at Lawrence sitting there with unfocused eyes, watching the boy curiously tasting the gin on the table as if nothing had happened.

Among the crowd, a tall and thin man hidden under a burqa and trench coat walked to the bar, patted the bartender who was also in a daze and a few real drinkers, and said in a soft but undeniable voice:

"Gentlemen, please leave for a while. The gray rats are doing something."

The bartender's teeth were chattering uncontrollably, and he was even more frightened than when he saw the big man just now:

"I know you, the King of Beggars, I'm leaving now, I'm leaving now."

Several unrelated people did not dare to stay for a moment, and ran out of the tavern on the ground.

Then, the tall and thin man walked up to Lawrence, knelt down on one knee respectfully and said:

"I'm sorry, sir, I was slow to respond. Are you injured?"

"You! You! You are Oga Kumas, I have seen you!"

Before Lawrence could reply, the big man couldn't help but screamed in horror. Then his legs gave out and he hit the ground heavily, muttering like an idiot:

"You are the king of beggars"

Chairman Faure's mouth could no longer close at all, and his eyes were completely rounded.

King of Beggars? The king of the Paris underworld? Is it this thin man?

But why was he kneeling before Charles Bornaparte? !

Oga Kumas frowned and glanced at the big man, nodded slightly, and said in a calm and indifferent tone:

"Oh, you're the one from the Flank Gang, what a pity."

The big man's heart suddenly tightened, and he felt his heartbeat stopped for five seconds. The word "what a pity" came from the mouth of the King of Beggars, and he knew what it meant without even thinking about it.

Chairman Faure seemed to have recovered slightly, but his body weakened uncontrollably and fell backwards. He knocked over three tables before falling heavily to the ground:

"Charles Bornaparte, who are you?!"

Lawrence then put down the glass of weird-tasting low-quality gin, and slowly turned his head to look at Chairman Faure:

"Did you just ask me if I knew about the gangs? Mr. Chairman, I think I still know something."