573 Brave, or Foolish?
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Sam and Noelle’s strategy for ‘success’ in Carmen was actually quite straightforward and uncomplicated, which was probably a good thing. After all, many of their predecessors with complex and sophisticated plans had failed spectacularly in the past.
Survive.
Not taking Jasper and Ginny’s ‘alliance’ into account, the possibility of generating profits from Carmen was really too low, and there was no reason for any of them to expect otherwise.
Even if someone managed to find a loophole to prevent the government from ‘strangling’ their products and services, who could stop them from making new laws?
Playing on her enemy’s field and following their rules wasn’t a very bright idea if she was planning on winning the game, as far as Emilia was concerned. After all, if they were honorable and trustworthy, why would they be her enemies to begin with?
Instead, it was much more reliable to flip the chessboard they had carefully setup from the start, which just so happened to be one of Emilia’s strong points.
After she was done causing chaos, all they would need to do was take advantage of it properly, and by the time the enemy realized they weren’t paying attention where they really should have, it would be too late.
What made Carmen so stable despite their oppressive system that encouraged gangsters and lawless individuals to extort the general public was exactly the ‘strength’ that they could exert without needing to mobilize their forces on the bright side.
Most protests could be quashed before they even had the time to begin, and with the constant whittling down of people’s will over time, fewer and fewer of such ‘troublesome’ issues would crop up.
It wasn’t that people no longer cared about changing their fate, but that they simply didn’t have any hope of such a thing being possible.
All Emilia needed to do was give them this ‘hope’, and the rest of the cards would fall into place on their own.
That was why, despite her many ‘protests’, Emilia actually wasn’t too bothered by her manager’s arrangements, and ‘reluctantly’ followed her directions while waiting for Penny to arrive.
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Meanwhile, the decision-making cogs of the Nightingale clan had come to a grinding halt after learning the ‘shocking truth’ about one of their small teams being beaten up in a remote port town.
The ‘victims’ had yet to wake up and testify themselves, but none of the elders present were stupid enough to believe that they were really beaten up by a little girl of unknown origin.
Clearly, this was the premeditated plan of some force who wished to humiliate them, and it was clear for all to see who it could be.
White Deer’s ambitious entry into the country of Carmen was no secret, and the elders knew very well that only an outsider who remained oblivious to the terror that they inspired could be so daring within their territory.
The little girl being the mascot of their new ‘guest’ only made them more certain of it all.
But even if the White Deer wanted to use them as a stepping stone for whatever reason, the elders weren’t really too worried.
Not to mention that the strength that the White Deer could exert within Carmen was limited, but even if they were to take the fight to Blue Dawn, was their Nightingale clan something that weaklings without real strength could challenge?
If not for the unreasonable lethality of gunpowder and chemicals in the hands of their government, they wouldn’t even need to obey the fools in Carmen.
They weren’t proud without reason. Just a small team of children from the Nightingale clan could easily sneak in and break through the final defense of most smaller state heads, making them little better than fish on the chopping block as far as the elders were concerned.
But if the clan leader was to be believed, this was all the government’s hand! Naturally, in sharp contrast to the man’s expectations, the elders didn’t think any better of him after learning the news, and didn’t even inform him while meeting to discuss the countermeasures for this crisis.
What a joke! How could they trust the man who only ever brought them bad news to discuss any solutions? That would just be asking for trouble. The only reason they hadn’t already stripped him of his title was because they had more important things to do.
Despite their usual arrogance, none of them underestimated the graveness of this matter. Even compared to their potential fallout with the Gray Wolfe, this was much worse.
Even if they could roam proudly around the world, it was impossible to not care about the threat of Carmen’s weapons against the more vulnerable members of their family, after all.
What they thought was but a minor slap to their face by an opponent of the Gray Wolfe turned out to be a harbinger of an unprecedented disaster.
“I don’t understand… why does the government want to suppress us now, of all times? Wat the hell are we going to do?!”
“No, this isn’t unexpected… Without the Gray Wolfe speaking out on our behalf, I’m guessing some people must have thought that we were being too unruly on ‘their territory’. In fact… perhaps the Gray Wolfe was the one who brought it up, who knows?”
The grand elder sighed, though his breath contained more suffocated anger than resignation. “Perhaps this is meant to be a ‘lesson’ for us to learn, so we can ‘know our place’? Hah…”
The other elders stared at each other solemnly before nodding in agreement.
“We can’t give in so easily. The moment we back down… everything we’ve worked so hard for will all go to waste.”
“True. But without the funding from the ‘tributaries’, how are we going to continue our upkeep?”
Naturally, it took a lot of resources to raise their young and maintain their territories. But the proud fighters of the Nightingale clan would never lower themselves to peddling for money.
That would be the same as giving up their roots, and if they did so, what would even be the point of continuing with their training?
It was only because each and every one of them focused wholeheartedly on the way of the fist that they could be what they are now, and the elders naturally couldn’t except such a thing being ruined right in front of their eyes.
While the grand elder closed his eyes in contemplation, the rest of them tried their best to figure the best way out of their predicament as well.
“We have no recourse with Sanders anymore, but Jasper and Ginny have been trying to extend the olive branch our way for quite some time. Should we… consider it, perhaps?”
“They may not be as capable as their father, but it’s better to ride an obedient donkey than a raging horse, isn’t it?”
“No no no, we finally have the opportunity to get out of their control and become independent after so many years, we can’t waste it like this!”
“I agree. Besides, who is to say if the two of them are really sincere, or just pretending? If they are even more insidious than their father, wouldn’t we have suffered twice the pain without reason? It’s not like they pay us much!”
In fact, the payments made by the Gray Wolfe in the past were quite handsome, but that was exactly the reason why the Nightingale clan now found themselves ‘starving’ and desperate after their allies reduced their support.
Now that even the ‘side-income’ was being taken away by the government, the elders couldn’t help but turn red-eyed in rage. “Bullying us like this… do they think just because they can threaten us, we will take their abuse silently?!”
But although he said so, everyone present knew that maybe that was really all they could do.
It wasn’t some small faction they could suppress, but the government with almost infinite firepower, after all. Even if they could get rid of certain key figures, the retaliation they would have to face wasn’t something they could handle.
Not unless they were willing to abandon their roots and flee on their own.
Just as they were all about to come to terms with it all, however, the grand elder’s eyes snapped open. “Enough is enough… I think it’s time to show everyone what the Nightingale clan can really do when push comes to shove!”
“!”
The rest of the elders stared at each other apprehensively before one of them gulped. “W-What does the grand elder suggest?”
The old man snorted. “Isn’t that home minister hopping around so proudly in front of us? Maybe he will learn to sit down if someone breaks his stubby little legs!”
One of the more cool-headed elders couldn’t help but stand up in shock. “B-But if we really infuriate the higher-ups in the government, the retaliation—!”
The grand elder slammed his fist on the heavy mahogany meeting table in rage. “Do you really have the blood of the Nightingale clan in you?!”
The protesting elder could only sit down while spluttering. “I-I was only thinking of the vulnerable children, s-so—”
He was interrupted by another fist slamming into the table.
“Fuck them!”
As the rest of them were stunned, the grand elder took a deep breath to calm himself down. “If we don’t stand up now, it will be the same as accepting the abuse coming from both the Gray Wolfe and the government, and maybe even the White Deer will join in. What next, are we going to become the public attraction of Carmen, the most resilient and patient punching bags in the world?! Now… who’s with me?”
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