Chapter 94: Art Exhibition (IV) (Two in One)
The exhibition is held in an ancient earthen fortress fifteen kilometers north of the Rattan Winery, which is considered abandoned according to official records.
Hitzfeld had heard of the Vineyard Winery and was deeply impressed by it. The reason was that in her perception, most wineries could not be located in the northeastern region because the climate there was cold and there was a lack of sunshine because the terrain was not high enough.
Wineries mostly make fruit wine. Namibia also has fruits like grapes, which need sufficient sunlight to ensure sufficient sugar production in the body.
In contrast, the location of the Vineyard Winery is very unique. During her follow-up investigation, she learned that they have a unique secret recipe that can create a magical chemical reaction when added to the fruit wine.
It should be an enzyme, or something...
The winery had a very clean background, and Hitzfeld was mainly concerned with the ancient earthen castle.
In the information Xia Yibing gave her, it was called "Eagle Head Fort". This was actually a spontaneous name given by the nearby villagers, because the earthen fort actually stood on a protruding earthen cliff platform. When you look at its outline under the moon from a certain angle, you will find that it looks like the head of a falcon, so the name Eagle Head Fort came from this.
But this is not its real name. Its original name is "The Watcher of Faylan". It is not so much an ancient earthen fort as it is a turret left over from the founding of Sara.
"No matter how you look at it, you can't imagine that anyone would make their home in a place like that."
The woman's introduction still echoed in my mind: "Desolate, dry, sun-baked, and most importantly, inconvenient to get in and out... This place does not meet all the requirements for a residence, but if you don't think of it as a residence but as a military base, this location is very reasonable."
"Look here... This is a topographic map of the area. You can see that this towering earth cliff is the highest point in this large area. As long as we occupy this place, we can further expand the range of our artillery fire, and any army that wants to attack it will have to be affected by this height."
"Anyone who wants to come in from the north has to pull out this nail first, otherwise if you look at these roads, there is no shelter nearby... it is impossible to rush through."
"As for why it is called this name, it is because during the conquest of Wayne - I mean the process of conquering Wayne at that time, a group of troops from Faylan held on here to the death, buying time for Torredo's general attack."
"They guarded the earthen fortress for ten days and ten nights without water or food, facing countless crazy and corrupted evildoers and monsters. In the end, they achieved their wish and completed the mission, but they were also corroded by the gray fog during the killing. All their spirits, blood, and flesh merged with the earthen fortress... It was actually quite terrifying inside."
"So that's probably what happened. The battle shredded so much flesh and blood that greenery gradually covered the area over the years, and the 'Watcher of Faylan' has been haunted."
"For ordinary people, this is a forbidden area. Later, they blocked the information. After the information was lost, the locals forgot the name and began to call it 'Eagle Head Fort'."
Wumuli-Dodge actually chose this place to hold the exhibition, which surprised Xia Yibing and made her feel annoyed.
She felt that the other party was offending the heroic spirits - what? Who do you think you are, the Dodge family, that you want to compare yourselves to ancient heroes in this way?
"We are almost there, Your Highness."
Daryl warned the girl in a low voice.
"Just two more hills and we'll be almost there."
Hitzfeld woke up from his fantasy, looked out the window, and found that the car had passed another corner of the mountain road.
This is the mountain road leading to Eagle Head Fort.
The height of the earth cliff is not very prominent compared to the plain, so the way up the mountain is not steep, and we will arrive there soon just as Daryl said.
The surroundings were indeed lush and green, just like the green belt of a mountain road, with a variety of native plants.
Hitzfeld couldn't help but wonder what this place would have looked like 150 years ago, whether it was still desolate, and how much blood was needed as nutrients to make these vegetation grow so lush.
While he was thinking, the car turned the last bend, drove straight up a slope of more than ten degrees, and stopped in a shadow.
Rolling down the window, Hitzfeld looked up at the source of the shadow.
Eagle Head, the watcher of Faylan.
It was not very tall. When she first heard the word "earth fort" she thought of it as "a slightly smaller castle palace". But it was far from that. The building in front of her had only three floors, and the height of each floor was very shabby. The total height was not even ten meters.
But it is undoubtedly very solid, its walls and outlines are the same brown-yellow color as the earth, and the part close to the ground simply stretches out an inward arc, as if it grows together with the earth.
Hitzfeld noticed that it had only a few windows and figured that they were not for humans but were originally designed to extend the barrel of the gun from the inside out.
In short, Faylan's Eagle Head Fort is actually an abandoned artillery tower.
Holding an art exhibition in a place like this?
Thinking about the long vertical paintings he had seen in the exhibition hall, Hitzfeld couldn't help but wonder if there was enough space inside to display them.
She also noticed that they were not the first to arrive.
There were three cars parked under the turret, and several people were standing by and talking in low voices. Judging from their clothes, they were all rich or noble. When Hitzfeld got out of the car, everyone's eyes were focused on him.
"Ah! I think this must be Miss Larence!"
One of them, a short and fat middle-aged man with a mercenary smile on his face, immediately came forward.
"welcome!"
"Beautiful and charming Bena... Welcome!"
"Oh! To be honest, I am a little disappointed because they told me that they specifically invited James... Please tell me that he has something more important to do? Maybe this will make me feel better~"
"You are……"
"Dumont-Punkville!" The fat man immediately began to sell himself like a commodity. "Look... this is my business card! Please take it! It's not cheap now!"
Hitzfeld extended his left hand, which was covered with a blue velvet glove, and took the business card and glanced at it.
"Are you from the Boca Chamber of Commerce?"
She pretended to be trying hard to remember.
"James seemed to have mentioned you to me... He said that your business has been very big recently, with many large ships... But aren't you mainly operating routes in the southwest sea area? Why did they invite you?"
According to the information James gave her, Bena Larence was a slightly arrogant person.
This can be seen from the fact that she is not married. Although one can use the excuse that she is rich and has high standards, Sarah has a profession called natal nuns. A girl of the same age as Hitzfeld... 19 years old, if she is not arrogant, she would probably have given birth to a second child.
So Hitzfeld had to play this part well, so that her words wouldn't be out of place.
The fat man, Punkwell, was not angry at all. He explained to her carefully: "This is all thanks to the Count Jiyang..."
He said a lot, and in summary, it was nothing more than Earl Xieyang opening a new route, which led to the dissipation of the gray fog in the Aisha continent. There was no reason for the Boca Chamber of Commerce to miss such a big business opportunity, so even if they had to borrow money to buy ships, they had to go to the eastern ports such as Wayne Port and Blackwood Port to get a share of the pie.
"Then why do you consider yourself the master?"
Hitzfeld asked again.
"You just said that as if you were hosting the reception on behalf of the host."
"I am indeed considered half the boss, right?"
Punkwell smiled slightly, looking very confident. "The Boca Chamber of Commerce has always had a good cooperation with the Dodge family. You know, many of Count Dodge's paintings - I mean the works from his last transformation - are not very popular in Wayne. We help him sell his paintings to the west and south, and package him as a famous foreign artist in the local area!"
"So what can the Boca Chamber of Commerce gain?"
"In name!" Punkwell became serious.
"Oh, Miss Larence, you may not know where Count Dodge comes from... He is the son-in-law of General Barish, and the legend that General Barish followed King Torredo to fight is very popular even overseas!"
Ah, so there is a demand...
Hitzfeld immediately understood that some overseas regimes must respect and admire Sarah's glory and are trying hard to attach themselves to her. The cooperation between Punkville and Dodge can provide such an opportunity.
It’s like there are foreigners on Earth who are crazy about worshipping lighthouses.
The local authorities wanted to purchase artwork related to Sarah's history because they admired it, and for them, nothing could be more perfect than "paintings by members of General Barish's family."
Even though he is just a son-in-law, he is also a family member.
There is no conflict, and Dodge's paintings are not bad.
In this way, the Boca Chamber of Commerce has used this line to connect with the governments of many overseas territories. Isn't it easy to do business locally with the support of the government? Lower tariffs... looser inspections... freer markets... there are too many benefits.
This is not a good thing, and a foolish regime naturally doesn't care about the consequences, but this is dumping... These people smashed the local market and then monopolized and controlled the prices arbitrarily. If there is a regime conflict in the middle, a small country will basically be doomed.
This is probably how Delita died.
He hated this behavior in his heart and guessed that the Boca Chamber of Commerce must have accumulated astronomical wealth through such dirty means, but Hitzfeld did not show it and continued to chat with Punkwell.
During this process, the three people behind her also came up to greet her and get to know her.
"I've heard James mention that he has a cousin, but I didn't expect her to be so dazzling and charming."
This is Balfour Yellen, a tall and thin young man wearing glasses. Xia Yibing calls him "the young leader of the Yellen family." He looks very sophisticated.
"I... um... nice to meet you... Bella... oh, Miss Larence... I hope I didn't offend you too much..."
This is Jon Film, the grandson of old Film. He is cowardly and doesn't even dare to look at Hitzfeld too often.
This was not because he was really shy to that extent, but because he guessed that there might be something wrong with the "Bena Larence" in front of him.
After Firm's death, his family was naturally controlled by the Security Bureau and the Inquiry. Jon's job was just to be a teacher in a church school, how could he withstand such interrogation?
The few days in the interrogation room were no less than a nightmare in his eyes. Afterwards, he was forced to agree to take over old Film's place to attend the exhibition. That's why Xia Yibing said that he "was barely one of us."
He just makes up the numbers.
No one expected him to be useful, as long as he filled another position that might be useful to the enemy.
Punkville seemed to have asked him how he got here, and Hitzfeld could see that the fat man was very disappointed with him. This might be because the Boca Chamber of Commerce and the Dodge family were very eager to get further support from old Film - the old man had a good influence both in academia and the church, and Film's support was crucial for the big job they were going to do next.
As for the last one, he was wearing a neat dark green military uniform. When introducing himself, he took off his peaked cap and greeted the girl.
"I'm Fresius, a former member of the Ash Legion, and my current rank is Colonel."
"I'm not in a position to reveal my specific duties. To be honest, I don't really care about art or exhibitions. I'm here because someone sent me a confidential letter containing a secret that cannot be made public."
"You didn't tell me that before." Bafo-Yellen looked at him, his eyes flickering. "What secret is it? Are we honored to know it?"
"This is not okay."
Flesius smiled.
"Once a secret is made public, it is no longer a secret... I can only say that it is very important and is related to the stability of the current royal power."
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere among the crowd suddenly became weird.
If Hitzfeld had to describe it, she felt that everyone standing here actually had some guesses about the purpose of the exhibition, but they were all suspicious of each other.
I kind of want to come clean and explain myself, but I'm afraid the other person thinks differently than I do.
According to the original plan, the fifth person involved should be old Film, James, Baff, Fritius, and Punkwell.
Hitzfeld thought.
Among them, it can be confirmed that Old Film and Punkville have completely sided with the mastermind behind the scenes. They are mixed in to act as a guide, and it is suspected that they want to win over others as well.
So are there any such people among the remaining third party?
James didn't know that Lawrence's series of actions were to avoid suspicion, so he could rule it out.
Balfour-Yellen... The intelligence sent back by the Root Network said that the Yellen family may have sold the coin minting technology to the Boca Chamber of Commerce. This technology helped them disrupt and control the currency market overseas. They are suspected, and the suspicion is very serious.
As for Flesius, I cannot say for sure.
Hitzfeld had heard of this name. He previously served in the Second Division of the Ash Legion and was one of the adjutants of the famous General Sols. He was regarded as "as cunning as a fox" in a small circle, but no specific examples were circulated.
He and he had a connection. That was Prince Gaunt who sacrificed himself for the Tree of Death. He also served in the Second Division before, and his position was the same as Frisius's. They were both adjutants of the commander-in-chief.
Ah...it turns out that the system is different.
Her Special Operations Department has no jurisdiction over the military. It is currently impossible to tell whether Frisius was really lured here by the secret letter or was also an "undercover" like herself.
"The time is now 8:27."
Flesius took out his pocket watch and signaled to everyone.
"The exhibition was changed once. It was supposed to be held on Sunday (Sarah's Sunday is Saturday), and then it was changed to 8:30 today."
"What do you mean, Mr. Punkville?" The colonel turned to look at the fat man. "You are familiar with the host. Will the count change the time again?"
"Not this time!" Punkville coughed, "I promise you! You will not regret participating in this exhibition!"
His enthusiasm was basically in vain. Except for Jon Film who forced a smile somewhat awkwardly, everyone else was completely indifferent.
Since these people are like this, Hitzfeld feels that it is unreasonable for him to pretend to be innocent.
No matter what these people thought of "Bena Larence" before, the fact that she was sent to the exhibition was enough to show that this character was unusual.
"Don't keep me in suspense, Punkville." So she spoke directly, "You invited so many people, including those from the society, the church, and even the army, as well as nobles like Larence and Yellen. It's impossible that you invited them just to hold an art exhibition."
"Tell me quickly, what exactly do Dodge and Barish want to plan?"
"I'm glad you're so straightforward." Punkwell looked at her with a smile.
"I was pleasantly surprised when I saw you... because in fact, I didn't expect that Larence would actually send a representative... After all, with Baron Lefebvre's political sense, I don't believe he can't guess what our action means."
"But you are still here! ... You are here as a member of the Larence! This itself represents a very important meaning! I must pay tribute to you and all the Larences behind you! Because you clearly see through the risks but are still willing to stick to them! You are true nobles! Salute to you!"
He was so excited that it seemed like he was giving a speech, and Hitzfeld had to take two steps back to avoid being splashed with saliva.
At the same time, she secretly observed the expressions of others.
Bafu still had that faint smile on his face.
