Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 67 To hell with your offer of amnesty

Matteo, however, was quite interested in this plan to disgust all his enemies at once, and quickly asked, "Boss, what are you going to do?"

Milton smiled: "They want to talk, don't they? Then send someone to talk to them."

Lutz asked with some concern, "Using negotiations to buy time? Will that even work?"

“How can we possibly stall for time with them?” Milton shook his head. “It’s clearly more advantageous for them to drag this out.”

Don't be fooled by Milton's current military strength, which seems barely enough to contend with these people... The problem is that the enemy controls official resources. In other words, the enemy has eight mines, while Milton only has two. Dragging this out is pointless and will only widen the gap in strength.

Milton can win countless times, but if he loses just once, he's finished.

And how many times have the checkpoint and Fan Kangbang lost money, yet they're still alive and well?

"So, how should we negotiate?"

“Don’t we have two traitors? Let them represent us in the negotiations,” Milton said calmly. “Remember to provoke them a bit and make the atmosphere more tense.”

Luz didn't quite understand: "Make the negotiation atmosphere a little tense? Why?"

Milton said matter-of-factly, "What if things get too harmonious and the other side comes to negotiate with too few guards or armed forces?"

Lutz was even more bewildered: "The enemy's armed forces? Too few?"

“Yes.” Milton nodded. “The more of them there are, the easier it will be for me to wipe them all out at once—including those two traitors, bury them together, it’ll save me trouble.”

Now, the people present finally understood Milton's plan.

Their thinking was still focused on how to negotiate a favorable treaty...

So Milton's plan is to gather everyone together and kill them all? That's too ruthless!

Pretend to reluctantly agree to negotiations, adopt a less-than-ideal attitude, trick the enemy into bringing more weapons to the negotiation site, then send two traitors as "special envoys" to negotiate, and finally eliminate them all?!
This is absolutely insane; it's practically an open war!
The enemy might just be trying to buy time under the guise of negotiations, or to test the waters, or even genuinely want to negotiate... but Milton went straight for the kill?
Matteo stood up excitedly: "Boss! Great, let's do it! I fully support this plan! Just let me know if there's anything you need me to do!"

"Feels like a major battle? We have grenades and machine guns, but don't we need more weapons?"

Milton nodded and said, "Yes, and it would be best to use some high-powered explosives to eliminate most of their manpower in the first wave of attacks."

Lutz immediately thought of the captured RPG-7: "Boss, didn't you get an RPG before? Shall we use that? Along with a mortar and a machine gun, that should be enough?"

“Even if that thing uses high-explosive shells, its ability to kill people isn’t that strong. Don’t be fooled by the movies.” Milton shook his head. “As for mortars… they’re not very effective in street terrain. It’s better to use some direct fire.”

"Didn't the gun shop owner say they were getting recoilless rifles? Let's go check if his shipment has arrived yet."

"If we don't have any, we'll see if we can get some explosives ourselves."

If only I could buy a recoilless rifle like the Carl Gustav M2.

The gangs in these small towns only know about RPG-7. They think all guns are the same just because they look like guns, but that's not the case at all.

Rocket launchers are lightweight, cheap, and look intimidating, but they have a slow velocity and poor range. They fire rockets and are mainly used for anti-armor purposes in urban environments. Recoilless guns, on the other hand, are expensive and relatively bulky, but they have a long range, high accuracy, and great power. They fire artillery shells and can be used for anti-personnel and anti-fortification purposes.

Don't let the Gustav M2's small size fool you; it's a true 84mm rifled gun, and its most common HEDP shells have the same explosive charge as 600g of TNT.

It's practically a T-34 tank main gun that can be carried around! One shot can wipe out all the enemies in a group, and the effect is even better when it explodes indoors.

As for the issue of high prices—money is the least valuable thing if you can defeat the enemy.

"Okay, I'll go ask..."

But just then, the person responsible for keeping watch at the pharmacy knocked urgently on the door.

Milton instinctively reached for his pistol, stood up, and asked, "What's wrong?"

The sentry quickly said, "Boss, those two people you asked us to keep an eye on have come to our door. Do we want to see them?"

Those two traitors?
They came to us on their own initiative? Matteo only just released the news, and the fish have already taken the bait so quickly?
Milton considered for a moment before saying, "Let them in, but remember to search them first."

Soon, the two men walked in.

However, unlike their obedient attitude when they first met, they stood up much straighter this time.

Before Milton could say anything, they pulled out chairs and sat down without any hesitation.

In their eyes, Milton was nothing more than a tyrant who seized power through violence and bloodshed, and they were only forced to bow down to him; there was no respect to speak of.

Moreover, they have now found a real backer.

He's just a thug who rose to power through sneak attacks. What's so scary about him?

"Congratulations, tax collector! You must have made quite a bit of money lately!"

Milton leaned back in his chair and said coldly, "Just say what it is."

"I heard you want to negotiate peace with the people over there, is that right?"

The other person was less polite, speaking in a cold voice: "Let's be frank... They're willing to give you a chance. But peace is precious, and precious things naturally require money to buy."

"Chief Pedro promised to spare you, but..."

“You must return all the ‘taxes’ you previously collected from us, the losses you caused, and the money you stole through dishonest means.”

Oh, so these two traitors have completely dropped their pretense?
They originally wanted to hide it, but when they found out that the so-called "Hell Tax Collector" was also a coward who wanted to negotiate, and with Pedro's support, they simply laid their cards on the table and started to take advantage of the situation.
Now, these two consider themselves Pedro and Varta's "ambassadors," and they've become quite assertive.
They actually dared to ask me for money; they're asking for trouble.

Milton completely suppressed his murderous intent and calmly asked, "On what grounds?"

The man scoffed dismissively, "You really think they can't do anything to you? You should thank us for saying a few good words for you to Mr. Pedro!"

“Your several acts of violence can be explained as irrational and wrong actions taken in order to protect yourself.”

"And the best way to make up for a mistake is with money."

"Hand over your money and your people, and Mr. Pedro and Mr. Varta will let you go and wipe the slate clean."

"If they're in a good mood, they might even give you a job, a real job, because you've truly proven your abilities and value."

(End of this chapter)