Chapter 198 Candidates Behind an iron-black street lamp pole twenty meters away from Mr. Efe, Lumian leaned sideways, using the cover of the passing crowd to hold down his baseball cap, and watched his target pick up the gold coin and put it in his pocket. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, put one hand in his pocket, and walked towards No. 126 Market Avenue, no longer paying attention to Mr. Efe who was suspected of being a fake. This is because the "Luck Change Technique" has been officially triggered and cannot be interrupted. But it will take a process for the effect to show up. After half a day or a day at most, the fake Mr. Efe will be plagued by bad luck and encounter frequent problems. At that time, if Lumian does something else, he will most likely expose his abnormality to the eyes of the official Beyonders. After walking for a while, considering that No. 126 Market Avenue was the residence of Roger "Black Scorpion" and the actual headquarters of the Sting Gang, Lumian did not dare to get too close for fear of being discovered. He just asked for a booth by the window in a cafe about ten meters away diagonally opposite and ordered a cup of Filmore coffee and a cream donut. While waiting for the food to be delivered, he looked around, examining the pedestrians coming and going on the market avenue outside, and also examining the posters pasted on the walls around the cafe. The latter focuses on the congressional elections which will officially begin this Sunday. There are three candidates: Mathieu Boulanger from the National Party, Hugh Artois from the Enlightenment Party and Jacques Sanson from the Change Party. Lumian kept an eye on everyone trying to get close to 126 Market Avenue, while reading the arguments of the different candidates with interest: Matthew Boulanger is the current congressman of the Honest Market District. His slogan is "Make Intis glorious again." He believes that the defeat in the war with the Kingdom of Loen a few years ago is the root cause of many current problems. It is necessary to reorganize the army of Intis, emphasize Intis' priority, and take back the interests lost in the southern continent, so as to feed back to the country, boost the economy, and change the face of the market district. He believed that in the process of "making Intis great again", people in the market area would get more jobs and more opportunities, including but not limited to going to the southern continent to make a fortune, joining the army, and benefiting from foreign trade.
Hugues Artois is a very popular candidate recently. His slogan is "More jobs, a fairer society". He claims that he will vigorously develop the economy, build more factories in the southern market area, and abolish the many restrictions on factory owners, bankers, financiers, and traders. But in contrast, he intends to shake the privileges of the church and the wealthy class and impose more taxes on them. Some of Jacques Sanson's views of the Reform Party are similar to those of Hugh Artois. They both believe that there should be no privileges in today's society. Whether you own church property or have financial income, you must pay the same taxes as everyone else. He also radically declared that the current tariff policy hindered the development of Innis, especially the city walls and 54 checkpoints surrounding Trier, which should be torn down. As long as goods circulated and the market became free, there would be more factories and tax revenues would increase significantly. Coupled with the taxation of the privileged class, the treasury would quickly fill up after a brief period of distress. By then, he would try to establish a pension security system that Emperor Roselle had once envisioned, so that the workers in the market area could get the most basic protection. So, his slogan is "Tear down those damn walls!" After reading it roughly, Lumian felt that if he were to vote, he would vote for Jacques Sanson. Regardless of whether this man has the ability to realize his proposal, for the people in the market area, cheaper alcohol and goods, and more security are benefits they can tangibly feel and experience. As for taxing the privileged class, they don't care too much; they just hope that not a single kopek is taken from them. But Jacques Sanson was obviously treated differently. His propaganda poster was posted in the most corner where it was least likely to be seen. This was also related to the fact that the Reform Party has always been a minority in Congress. Because the Sting Gang supported Hugues Artois of the Enlightenment Party, Lumien paid the most attention to this candidate. He not only read his campaign manifesto, but also carefully examined his color photo. This is a man in his thirties, with thick and fluffy black hair, but the temples are already a little gray, a high nose bridge, a large nose tip, deep blue eyes, a tall stature, dressed in formal clothes, and an elegant temperament. "We can't let this guy get elected... Unless we completely cripple the Sting Gang before he gets elected, but there's the mysterious 'Madame Moon' behind the Sting Gang. If a 'Black Scorpion' dies, a 'Red Scorpion' can be reborn... Well, the election will officially begin this Sunday. The General Police Headquarters, the Gendarmerie and the official Beyonders should all be mobilized and closely monitor each constituency. It won't be so easy to mess with them... Let the coolies, porters and waiters of the Savoy Party play a role?" Lumian pondered how to let Mathieu Boulanger and Jacques Sanson get that parliamentary seat. According to Intis law, anyone who has lived in a constituency for six months and has a job or is studying at university has the right to register and vote in that constituency, but Lumian had been in Trier for less than a month. While thinking, he did not forget to look out the window, looking for Louis Lund. After a long time, seeing the golden sun rising to the middle of the sky, Lumian felt that waiting was not a solution: The reason is that his identity is problematic. He is a person that the Sting Gang is closely watching. He cannot directly hide opposite the house of "Black Scorpion" Roger, but hide in a building there. In this way, his field of vision will be limited, which may easily lead to omissions. Secondly, as the leader of the Savoy Party, he had a lot of things to do and also needed to rest, so it was unlikely that he could stay there 24 hours a day for two consecutive days. As his thoughts turned, Lumian came up with an idea: "I have so many men under my wing, and I've even hired Anthony Reid. Why do I have to do it myself?" He stood up quickly, left the cafe and walked towards the Breeze Ballroom.
When he reached the middle of the market avenue, Lumian saw a lot of people gathered on the roadside. The outermost group was a circle of policemen in black uniforms, and next to them were two rows of mounted policemen watching the passers-by. Surrounded by two or three hundred people was a makeshift wooden stage, on which stood a man wearing a black suit but no bow tie. A huge poster with his photo was hung on the wall of the house behind him, and a loud voice echoed in the street: "We need jobs, we need more income... “I will build more factories in the Rue Saint-Germain area… "I promised the factory tax breaks..." Oh, isn't this Mr. Hugues Artois? Lumian relied on his height to be much higher than the average Intis and saw the speaker on the wooden platform clearly. That is Hugues Artois, a man with elegant appearance, graceful demeanor, black hair and blue eyes, the candidate supported by the Sting Gang! Lumian stopped and listened for several dozen seconds, his eyes instinctively looking at the upper floors of the building behind and opposite Hugues Artois, looking at the windows and roofs there. As expected, he found traces of police officers or people who clearly did not look like the homeowners in those places. The protection is quite tight... There is no way to use a rifle to hit Hugues Artois's head and chest a few times from those positions... Lumian withdrew his gaze with a little regret. There is another way to make Hugues Artois fail in the election, and that is to prevent him from running for election. And the dead will automatically disqualify themselves from running for election! Lumian had seriously considered the feasibility of this method when he was in the cafe, but he thought it would cause too much trouble. The gangs in the entire market area would probably be singled out as scapegoats, and he himself would be in this category. At that time, his identity would most likely be exposed, and he would be forced to flee the market area, or even Trier, and lose the opportunity to track down Mrs. Puaris and the parish priest. From the current perspective, it is quite difficult to assassinate a candidate, and even if you are lucky enough to succeed, you may not be able to escape. Lumian then turned his gaze to the few people standing behind the wooden platform. They should all be members of Hugues Artois's campaign team, three men and two women. Among them was a woman with red hair that was said to be of noble blood. She had heroic features and her facial lines were not soft enough, but overall, she was a beauty with a slightly neutral tone. She was tall, wearing a white and brown hunting suit, and was surrounded by four other people. Afraid of missing Louis Lund, Lumian stopped listening to Hugues Artois's speech, withdrew from the crowd and walked back to the Breeze Ballroom. At noon, there were not many customers here, and the waiters and bartenders were either resting or cleaning up. Lumian said to Louis and Sakota who came over: "Give me four men to guard 126 Market Avenue." "Number 126..." Louis repeated first, then blurted out in surprise, "Isn't that the home of Roger the Black Scorpion?" The boss wants to mess with the Sting Gang again? Lumian nodded calmly: "Yes, don't get close, don't get discovered, just stand in different directions and observe if there's him among the people passing by." Lumian raised his hand and pointed at the wanted posters posted on the wall by the police, and pointed at Louis Lund who was at the edge. ——The wanted warrant belonging to him was quietly moved to a less conspicuous place after he joined the Savoy Party. Luis and Sakota turned around and carefully examined the wanted poster, seeing words such as "Cordu Village". They vaguely understood something and agreed immediately: "Yes, boss." After the four gangsters left the Breeze Ballroom with a wanted warrant, Lumian said to Louis and Sakta:
"You will help maintain order in the first floor dance hall these days." After giving the order, he said casually: "I just listened to Hugues Artois' speech. It was pretty good. Um... who does our Savoy Party support as the MP for the Market District?" Louis glanced around and said in a low voice: "The Baron said before, vote for Monsieur d'Artois." (End of this chapter)