Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

With a creak, the timid rat-people pushed open the great door, and a sea of faces flooded into their field of vision, causing them instinctively to retreat a few steps before hiding back in the shadows inside the house.

Gilder adjusted his clothes and stepped over the threshold, his gaze slowly sweeping around before he asked in a deep voice, "What has happened?"

"We want to see the lord!"

"Yes! We want to see the lord!"

Looking at the group of old soldiers causing the commotion, Gilder frowned and asked, "Why do you seek the lord if there is no issue?"

"No issue?" An old soldier sneered sharply, "We are here to demand justice from the lord!"

"Justice? What justice? Tell me what's the matter, and if I can't solve it, then I'll report it to the lord."

"You can solve it?" Song shoved his way to the front, stepping forward a pace, "We are here to accuse you! Recently, you've been covertly importing a large quantity of steel, which you then trade with another group of people we don't recognize! From start to finish, none of these dealings have been disclosed to us. Where did the fairness and transparency you initially promised go? And the money you've made from these transactions? The steel business should be very profitable; why are we still eating mantou and wild vegetables all day?"

Song turned around to face the others, his back to Gilder, "You won't be able to explain this, and I don't trust your explanation. Only the lord can give us a satisfactory answer! You all agree, don't you?"

"Yes, we do!"

"Exactly!"

"Can't believe you've been doing such things behind our backs..."

The sound of the crowd's footsteps approached quickly from afar, and Xu Ruoguang's voice sounded from the distance, "What's everyone doing here? What's everyone doing here? Don't you know that unauthorized assembly is prohibited?"

Black Street was small, and even the slightest commotion could trigger a chain reaction.

Xu Ruoguang, who was leading a patrol, had come at the first news of the disturbance.

The crowd scattered in fear, and Xu Ruoguang, now joined by another group of soldiers on shift change, appeared within the circle.

Song fearlessly glared back at him with a sinister smile, "We've merely come to demand an explanation, and we will not rest until we get one!"

Xu Ruoguang glanced at Gilder, who looked somewhat troubled, realizing the old soldier's question was probably a delicate issue not fit for public sharing. Thus, he decided to suppress it with authority, "What explanation? What explanation!"

In the process of maintaining the order of Black Street, many specific incidents would arise. Even the gentlest sheep will occasionally butt heads with humans, how much more so people each with their own demands?

In facing these individuals, sometimes one must learn to be a bit more forceful.

Pushing residents aside, Xu Ruoguang darkened his face and bluffed, "What are you all doing here? All full and idle, is it? If there's nothing, don't stand here and gawk, go home!"

While saying this, he turned and glared at the old soldiers in his own guard, "What are you all standing there for? Why aren't you maintaining order?!"

However, those old soldiers didn't budge, neither daring to meet Xu Ruoguang's gaze nor making any move.

Seeing this, Xu Ruoguang instantly understood, "Fine! Fine, fine! As law enforcement, you know the law yet you break it!"

"My lord!" Song bellowed, "You don't need to threaten us. Our demand is simple—we want to meet the lord! As long as the lord comes forward with an explanation, whatever punishment you give us, we will willingly accept. We only trust the lord!"

Immediately, echoes of agreement rose, "Yes! We only trust the lord!"

"That's right! Let the lord give us an explanation!"

Their intention was quite clear...

'They've come for the lord!'

A realization struck Xu Ruoguang, and his gaze shifted toward the crowd lurking in the dark—

Kuang Xin and others were also hiding among them.

Seeing the current situation, they had roughly guessed the true motive behind the ruckus caused by the old soldiers.

Could it be that they had guessed... or rather confirmed the fact that the lord was deeply trapped in the military camp and definitely couldn't come out for the time being?

Last night's misconduct by the lord had consequences that extended way beyond the military camp's internal affairs.

'What should be done?'

Before they could collect evidence of weaknesses from these old soldiers, they were instead blatantly accused by them.

Song, not intending to give Xu Ruoguang a chance to breathe, immediately initiated a power play, "Lord Ji Lande, we all know you have a way to contact the lord directly. Please call the lord over... Otherwise, my brothers, they won't be appeased."

Ji Lande squinted his eyes, his brain rapidly calculating.

Of course, the lord would support his actions. Yet these people were blatantly demanding to see the lord?

No! Seeing the lord was not their goal. 'Not being able to see the lord,' that was their true aim!

Observing the anxious look on the faces of Xu Ruoguang, Kuang Xin, and other acquaintances of the lord, even Ji Lande, who hadn't received the message, could roughly guess the core conflict of this incident.

"The lord is busy with many affairs..."

"But this is a bright future the lord personally promised us!" Song cut Gilder off again before he could speak, blocking all his avenues of retreat, "Whether the lord comes or not is up to him, whether you call him is up to you. Just give us a definite time, and we can wait."

"..." Gilder fell silent for a moment, knowing he couldn't give in to their demands.

In the face of the silence, a smile spread across Song's face, growing wider until it turned frenzied. Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire

He looked at his fellow old soldiers, his grin menacing, "Do you see now? Do you see? He doesn't dare, because the lord can't come out."