Sometime later, Watson returned to Count Gray’s manor in the capital. There were tens of thousands of people waiting outside the manor, all scratching their ears and cheeks. The air was filled with an uneasy mood.
Count Gray stood at the front of those people. When he saw Watson return, he immediately went forward and knelt respectfully on one knee. “Master, I have completed your orders. I have gathered all the Severed Fingers members in the capital.”
“Very good, well done.”
“Master, you flatter me. I could not have done it without your help. If it weren’t for the fact that you made Snick and Marcus into your subordinates, I would not have had the right to transfer their men here.”
Count Gray continued to speak respectfully. Not far behind him, two men were half-kneeling on the ground in the same position, expressing their respect to Watson. One of the men was Snick, whom Watson had captured in the black market. His narrow eyes were filled with the viciousness of a python. The other man was a burly and fully armored warrior with a simple smile on his face.
That warrior was Marcus. He was the City Defense Department’s deputy director. He was also a Viscount. Even though his title was not high, the City Defense Department was the lifeblood of the entire royal city. The nine high walls outside the city, the exchange of the imperial guards, and the soldiers’ daily necessities were all included in the responsibilities of the City Defense Department. Marcus also had a good relationship with the military general, Hoen.
The identities of the Severed Fingers Gang’s leaders were not given at random. Those with missing fingers on the same side of the hand could do the same thing. For example, Elven and Snick had the same industry—slavery and prostitution, but one was in the floating city, and the other was in the capital. It was apparent that Snick had earned more from the same job.
Those missing a finger on their right hand could do the same job as Marcus, also known as Right Thumb. His job involved the army. For a kingdom, there was nothing that burned more money than the army. An army of 100,000 people could consume millions of gold coins in a month without a war. If there were a war, the consumption would be several times more.
It was undoubtedly more convenient to steal a little of that enormous sum of money and put it into his own pocket than to do any other work to earn money.
“The purpose of gathering everyone here today is very simple. That is, I intend to reestablish the Severed Fingers Gang and establish a new doctrine for this organization.”
Watson’s goal was to become the king of that kingdom and bring peace to it. Outsiders would never be able to harm his family and friends. If he wanted to achieve that goal, he had to start from a small angle. After all, he was not powerful enough to contend with the entire kingdom.
Changing the dark side of the kingdom and firmly holding it in his hands was the first step he had to take. Even though the Severed Fingers Gang was an underground force, they had a network all over the kingdom and were under his control. At the very least, he could know what was happening in the whole kingdom. In terms of information acquisition, he was not inferior to King Landhar III.
“Who is that kid? He looks only 12 or 13 years old, but he dares to boast that he wants to fix the Severed Fingers Gang. Is he drunk?”
“Shhh… I only know that kid’s name is Watson. Although I don’t know his specific identity, he must be extraordinary, seeing that the three bosses are so respectful toward him. We’d better be more respectful.”
Among the tens of thousands of Severed Fingers members there, only Donder and a few dozen people from the Three-legged Cat tavern knew what Watson had done. The rest of his subordinates were still confused.
“I wonder if that new boss has any instructions for the future Severed Fingers Gang?” someone asked boldly.
“I want the Severed Fingers Gang to give up any improper industries. Furthermore, all those who have committed crimes such as murder, rape, and robbery will not be allowed to participate in our core work. They will never be one of our upper echelons.”
“What did you say? Are you joking?”
Watson’s words caused an uproar in the group. They were a group of hooligans, and because they had joined the Severed Fingers Gang, no one dared to provoke them, which made them even worse. They were a group of evildoers. Almost half of them had committed crimes, so they would have to be eliminated.
When Watson spoke, the three Severed Fingers Gang leaders did not say anything else. It was apparent that they had tacitly agreed to that matter. However, Watson’s words shook the group; some of the members could not accept it.
“I’m not joking. This is the new policy for the Severed Fingers Gang. If anyone is dissatisfied, just withdraw now. I won’t stop you! But I will use magic to erase what happened here from your memories to prevent leaks. Does anyone want to leave?”
Everyone looked at each other. No one moved. At that moment, a person with a cane walked out of the crowd. After looking around, he seemed to swallow his saliva nervously as he questioned loudly, “Even though I don’t know your identity, I trust you. So, I want to ask you. The tavern I run mainly relies on low-quality wine to make money. If you don’t let us do such illegal things, then the daily profits of the tavern won’t be enough for me and my subordinates to eat. Do you plan to starve us to death? Also, even if I don’t do those things, other people in the capital will do similar things.”
That person’s words caused many people there to nod in agreement. On the one hand, Watson did not allow people who had committed serious crimes to become leaders, which made them feel somewhat resentful. On the other hand, they were angry that Watson had banned illegal businesses, then more than half of them would starve to death.
“That makes sense. What’s your name?”
“Sir, my name is Donder.”
“Donder, I can answer your question right now.”
Watson clapped his hands. Count Gray, who had been kneeling on the ground, immediately stood up and entered the manor. Not long after that, he walked out, followed by a few attendants. There was a massive box of wine in their hands.
“This wine is from the Raphael Manor. It varies from one to two years old. It’s worth between one gold coin and several gold coins. It’s not that costly.”
Watson casually took a few bottles. He pointed at the label on them and said, “Is there anyone who wants to come up here and see if the wine is one to two years old?”
Watson repeated his questions a few times until two members volunteered to come up to him. “Let’s give it a try.”
The two members opened the bottle in front of everyone. They drank two mouthfuls of red wine and slowly tasted it before nodding, “That’s right. This is one to two years old, indeed. To be precise, it’s one and a half years old. I can tell because I’m in charge of the wine trade.”
The tens of thousands of Severed Fingers Gang members below the stage looked at Watson and the people tasting the red wine with blank expressions. It was apparent that they did not know Watson’s intention.
“In the past, the Severed Fingers Gang’s method was to mix the red wine with wine from different vintages of other wineries to cover the inferior quality. Then, they would sell it at the same price to earn a huge profit. But now, we have a better choice.”
Watson spoke with a relaxed expression. He turned around and pointed at the red wine in the hands of the two members who had just drunk it. “System fusion, activate.”
The red wine bottles in the hands of the two members instantly turned into rays of light and collided with each other under their astonished gazes. A brand new bottle of red wine appeared, and the wine in it rippled with a crystal clear ruby color. A rich wine fragrance wafted from the bottle opening. The two of them could not help but swallow their saliva.
Their instincts told them that the red wine in the bottle was different.
“Now, have a taste of this vintage bottle of red wine.”
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
The member holding the bottle suddenly took a mouthful, and his eyes widened. “The red wine has changed to about 15 years old. A bottle of 15-year-old red wine on the market can be sold for 700 to 800 gold coins a bottle! But, from one to two years old to 15 years old, how did that happen?”
The man seemed to be in disbelief as he muttered to himself. He took a few more sips and drank more than half of the red wine in the bottle. The member beside him rushed up to him and snatched the bottle from his hand. “Enough, don’t drink anymore. Save some for me.”
After snatching the bottle, another member took a sip and revealed a similarly surprised expression. “It’s true. This is really a 15-year-old bottle of wine.”
“Alright, you’ve already tasted it. Now it’s my turn.”
“No, you’ve just drunk so many mouthfuls. I haven’t had a single sip yet. I want to drink a few more mouthfuls so that it’s only fair.”
The two members snatched the bottle of red wine beside Watson, causing the rest to swallow their saliva. They wondered if the wine had really changed from a year to 15 years old. Did those two people put up an act?
Watson waved his hand and used magic to send the bottles of red wine toward the rest of the men. “If you don’t believe me, you can taste these bottles of red wine.”
The members reached out to catch the bottles and opened them to taste the wine. They frowned.
“Isn’t that just a year’s worth of red wine?”
“As expected, those two people are actors, right?”
At that moment, Watson reached out to activate the fusion system. The wine bottles in everyone’s hands fused, and a wave of exclamations followed.
“That’s not right. The wine has changed. It’s now around 15 years old. Its age has increased tenfold.”
The year had increased tenfold, and the price had increased hundreds of times.
Everyone who drank the wine looked shocked. They did not know how Watson had done it.
“Just as I said, in the past, you have always used a substitute for the wine, and you have wasted a lot of time researching for a better plan. There is also a risk of being caught. But now, I can use magic to turn two inferior wine bottles into a good wine bottle. Furthermore, it does not consume any time at all. Whether it is a bottle or a hundred bottles, the time it takes to purify it is the same! Do you still think that I made a wrong decision to let the Severed Fingers Gang give up the other gray industry?”
The men fell silent. They had just refuted Watson because they thought that the gray industry was more profitable, but it seemed like Watson’s plan was better.
Watson could turn any inferior wine into high-quality wine. They would eliminate the blending process. They had countless taverns under the Severed Fingers Gang’s name. If the cheap wine in those taverns were turned into high-end wine by magic, no one dared to imagine how much money they would earn by then. Furthermore, they would no longer have to spend money purchasing high-end wine to drink in the future because they could produce such wine themselves.
