I'm in Terra

Designing these insignias not only enhanced Victor's sense of belonging, but also allowed civilians to more intuitively understand the authority of each law enforcer. Most importantly, while Victor used this method to further enhance his own prestige, he also subtly blurred the public's understanding of the Imperial Constitution.

Even better, the emblem Victoria designed was made of oak, not any of the types stipulated in the Imperial Constitution. This meant that Victoria's actions weren't even illegal, and even if the gendarmerie arrived, they wouldn't be able to punish him. Of course, there was no chance the gendarmerie would wander over to the Empire's borders to cause trouble for him.

Today, Victoria's original plan was to inspect the infected mine managed by the patrol team, but he was delayed for a while by the news brought by Paul.

Norvinsk is located in the northeast of Ukraine. The soil here is relatively poor and the temperature is lower than in the central and southern parts. The only advantage is the large amount of high-quality minerals.

Vast quantities of iron ore, coarse source stone, and a few rare mineral veins together form the industrial pulse of Norvinsk. Almost 70% of the city's foreign trade revenue comes from the mines, which is why Victoria attaches such importance to them.

Since arriving in Norvinsk, he has visited each mine at least twice a month, firstly to ensure smooth operation of the mines, and secondly to give the people a sense of security. After all, before he arrived, the mines were generally considered places for infected people and serious criminals.

After getting dressed, Victoria took Dorothy to the City Hall to briefly arrange the day's work. He then dispatched an 80-man mixed police and military team, along with the usual supply transport team, and set off together.

The mines were far from the city and largely under the supervision of the Infected Patrol, so security was paramount. Especially with the recent emergence of a group of Snowfield Guerrillas in northern Ursus, Victoria couldn't afford to be careless. Other nobles looked down on the so-called guerrillas, but he was different. He knew the monsters within them, and he didn't want to be left without a fight when he ran into a patriotic raiding force.

However, today's journey went smoothly. Although the wind and snow showed signs of increasing, they remained within a moderate range. The large inspection team arrived at the mine, 50 kilometers from Norvinsk, in just two hours.

At the mine, both the patrol team members and the ordinary infected miners were looking forward to the convoy.

Because the infected patrol team had a bad reputation, Victoria had worked hard on the mine's system, even going so far as to overturn the traditional mine operation system. The arrival of the inspection team was not only a challenge for the patrol team, but also the best opportunity for them to earn bonuses.

Therefore, as soon as Victoria arrived at the mine gate, the mine manager who had been waiting for a long time respectfully invited the group into the lounge.

Image: "Dorothy Prototype", Location: "Images/1726130033-100416454-112117198.jpg"

Survival in a Foreign Land: Chapter 5: Rewards and Punishments (Part 1)

The mine lounge was supposed to be a simple, practical, and convenient space, but the one Victoria arrived at was a luxurious and spacious compartment.

The original standard small room was connected by a partition wall and the walls were painted with fresh paint. The room was filled with various furniture, which was not only practical and beautiful, but also looked neat and clean, forming a sharp contrast with the rough houses nearby.

From this point alone, it can be seen that the owner of the mine has managed himself in an orderly manner, and he looks like a sophisticated and sensible aristocrat.

Parkinson Law, the mine's director and one of the current vice-captains of the Infected Patrol, was rumored to have once been a noble family of some note, but tragically, political strife quickly brought their downfall. For several generations, no meritorious service had been achieved, and their titles and noble status were completely erased.

However, Parkinson Law was different from those downtrodden individuals who sought to restore their ancestors' glory. He didn't care how great his ancestors were; instead, he was more interested in making money and enjoying life. The only time he relied on his ancestors' protection was when he used connections to infiltrate the inspection team, and then he spent all his money and borrowed money to buy the mine.

At the time, the mine was just an ordinary iron ore mine, and the ore quality was also very mediocre. However, Parkinson Law did not give up. Instead, he leveraged his limited connections and the mine's output to continuously expand the mine. Until three years ago, a miner accidentally unearthed a piece of extremely dense tungsten ore in the ore deposit...

"Good morning, Colonel Victoria. May I begin the examination?"

The gradually drifting thoughts were called back. Parkinson Law pushed a cup of hot tea in front of Victoria, with a gentle and confident smile on his face.

Victoria took the large teacup, but his eyes inadvertently swept to a bottle of fine wine placed next to the bookshelf. "You seem to be confident. Have you prepared the celebratory drinks?"

Parkinson Law followed Victor's gaze and smiled sheepishly. "This is all thanks to the new laws you've enacted, Colonel. The number and motivation of my miners have both increased dramatically. A bottle of whiskey from a Gallic noble's collection is the perfect way to celebrate Norvinsk's rebirth."

Victoria smiled and nodded. "Just by looking at it, I know it's a fine wine. I hope I'll have the chance to taste its uniqueness today. Everyone, you may begin the inspection. Dorothy, take a few people to conduct random inspections."

"Yes!" Miss Rabbit pushed the glasses she had put on temporarily, and with a serious face, she led the mixed military and police team away, leaving only Victoria and Parkinson Law drinking tea and chatting in the lounge.

When Victor first took office, Norvinsk's system was still standard Ursus. To achieve his "merit" of diligent governance and peace for the people, Victor spent considerable time reforming the entire Norvinsk. He made no major changes to the military and police systems, merely streamlining and reorganizing personnel. However, he did not hesitate to take drastic measures against the former lord's minions, the infamous Infected Patrol.

Investigate personnel, reorganize and rectify, confiscate illegal gains, recruit new personnel, and establish a strict reward and punishment system. Victor knew that as long as the nature of the Infected Patrol remained unchanged, he would never win the support of the people, so he acted decisively, almost completely replacing the bloated Infected Patrol.

Parkinson Law was one of the few survivors in this major shake-up. Not only was he not held accountable by Victoria, he was even promoted to the position of deputy captain of the patrol team due to the restructuring.

Of course, Parkinson Law was able to survive and even get promoted not because he treated the infected kindly, but because the mine he controlled was the most formal and efficient mine in the entire Norvinsk.

Ledgers, facilities, the management of subordinates, the management of miners, the disposal of minerals, the use of funds. Parkinson Law treated the mine as his own territory, managing all matters meticulously. This also caused all mine owners to sweat profusely when they received Victoria's new regulations, but Parkinson Law easily completed the transformation. In less than a month, he transformed from a "traditional mine in Ursus" to a "mine in the Norvinsk Special District."

Thanks to this, Parkinson Law's mines were the least of the inspection team's worries. Essentially, they only needed to walk through the entire site and compare the actual conditions with Parkinson Law's list to thoroughly investigate key areas like facilities, equipment, production capacity, and capital flows. Then, they could investigate the miners' dormitories and the mines, and a single inspection would complete most of the details.

After about two hours, Miss Rabbit returned to the lounge with a report. She habitually pushed her glasses up and handed it to Victor. "Sir... ahem. Colonel Victor, the inventory inspection is complete. Overall, Mr. Parkinson Law's mine facilities remain within normal and reasonable limits. Mineral output has increased by approximately 10% since the last inspection. The source of funds is legal and reasonable, and there is no evidence of privately hoarding minerals or illegally disbursing funds."

"What about the details? What went wrong?" Victoria took the report and glanced at it. The data on it was quite reasonable. But since Dorothy used the word "generally speaking", it meant that the inspection team still found some areas that needed correction.

Parkinson Law, who was sitting opposite, froze in his expression, obviously not believing that he had messed up.

Dorothy coughed lightly and quickly handed over a second report. "This was discovered by Officer Tom from the inspection team. He found an injured infected miner among the resting miners. Although the miner claimed during questioning that the injury was caused by an accidental fall, Officer Tom discovered that the miner's injuries were caused by assault. After receiving this report, I took a doctor to check, and the situation is indeed as Officer Tom described."

"Oh?" Victoria put down the report and glanced meaningfully at Parkinson Law. "I wonder what crime this miner committed? I remember the new regulations I introduced stipulate that miners who commit offenses are punished with manual labor or wage deductions. Only special punishments such as corporal punishment are allowed for those convicted of crimes involving special offenses. Any idea?"

"I don't know." Parkinson Law pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and stiffly wiped the sweat from his forehead. "No miners have violated the law or discipline this month, and I haven't received any reports of fights or lynchings."

"So, someone knew about this but didn't report it?" Victoria scratched his chin with his left hand and patted Dorothy's butt with his right. "Please invite the injured miner here. And by the way, give Officer Tom a credit and tell the Finance Department to give him a 10% increase in his bonus this month."

Survival in a Foreign Country: Chapter 6: Rewards and Punishments (Part 2)

At the invitation of the inspection team, the resting miner soon came to the lounge trembling with fear.

Seeing the arrival of the main character, Parkinson Law gulped down his cup of hot tea and, suppressing his anger, approached the miner. Victor intervened, leaning back on the sofa and watching Parkinson Law's performance.

Parkinson Law took a deep breath and began chatting with the miner in a friendly tone. "You... are Kenan, the guy who came to work here last year, right? I still remember how terrified you were when you first came in, too scared to say a word. And when you got your first month's wages, you asked the logistics team to send it all back, leaving nothing for yourself?"

"...It's me, sir." Kenan glanced up at Parkinson Law in surprise, somewhat perplexed by the thought that the high-ranking butler could actually remember his name. But when he took in the lounge and the surrounding military police, he immediately lowered his head like a frightened fledgling.

"Don't be nervous. I'm here to understand the situation." Seeing that Kenan was a little nervous, Parkinson Law sat down next to him very directly, not caring at all about the mineral particles on Kenan's neck. "I want to know if you were injured? How long ago did you get injured? And most importantly, who did it?"

Kenan shuddered, somewhat afraid to speak, and simply huddled together. Parkinson Law was not in a hurry either. He stood up and slowly paced around him.

"This matter isn't a big deal, but it's not a small one either. But it has nothing to do with you. You're just a victim. And I'm looking for the team member who dared to break my rules. I think you're aware of this, right, Mr. Kenan? Or do you want to get involved as well?"

At this point, Kenan could only tell the whole story: "Yes... Lord Xiluo, it was Xiluo who was in charge of night patrol three days ago who beat me. Our team dug up a few pieces of tungsten ore that day, and thinking that we could win another award this month, we bought a box of beer at the store. Although the beer is not intoxicating, I was so thirsty in the middle of the night that I got up to relieve myself. When I went out, I accidentally bumped into Lord Xiluo. Lord Xiluo seemed to have drunk a lot of wine at the time. He beat me while talking nonsense. Although I was very angry at the time, I was thirsty and tired, so I went back to rest. As a result, Xiluo came to me quietly the next morning and gave me a stack of rubles and some food as an apology, and threatened me not to tell anyone. I saw that he gave a lot, and I was afraid of offending the officials, so..."

"Silla, huh? I see." Parkinson Luo nodded gently, his face showing no emotion. "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Kenan. Take a good rest during this time. Someone, go to the pharmacy and get some medicine for Kenan."

"Yes!" The two patrolmen standing at the door nodded and helped Kenan out of the lounge.

After understanding the whole story, Parkinson Law relaxed a little. In front of Victoria, he took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped every part of his body that had come into contact with the miners. He also took out a bottle of special potion and sprayed it on his body and the seat.

Soon, there was a new knock on the door, and Parkinson Law finished cleaning and opened the door with a serious expression. He didn't need to notify anyone, because the person who came was the Xi Luo that Kenan had mentioned just now.

Unlike Kenan, Xi Luo was quite natural when he walked into the room. However, when he saw Victoria sitting on the sofa, his legs softened involuntarily: "Deputy Captain, are you looking for me?"

"Do you know why I'm looking for you?" Parkinson Law didn't even raise his head as he skillfully brewed himself a cup of tea.

"I don't know... No, I know." Xi Luo wanted to play dumb, but when he noticed Parkinson Luo frowned, he quickly changed his words: "Is it about that night?"

"Tell me what happened yourself." After pouring the hot tea, Parkinson Law did not forget to refill Victoria and the secretary's cups.

Knowing that the leader was present, Xi Luo did not dare to hesitate any longer and quickly told the whole story of that night. Although some parts of the description were a little vague, the content was similar to what Kennan said.

"Have you apologized?" Parkinson Law took a sip of tea and asked expressionlessly.

"No, no, the compensation I gave him is enough for more than a month's wages! Besides, he's just an infected person, there's no need to be so formal, right?" Xi Luo shook his head and then muttered in dissatisfaction.

"Just an infected person?" Parkinson Luo paused while drinking his tea, wondering if his subordinate had lost his mind due to drinking. "Do you know that 99% of the miners in our mine are infected? Do you know how much money an infected person can help the mine earn in a month? Just an infected person? Without the infected, you're going to go down the pit? You're going to mine? Okay, stop talking. I'll fine you one month's salary. From today until this day of next month, you have to work as a miner for me for a month. I want to see how much you can dig out in a month. Come on, stop Xi Luo's salary this month and switch it to a miner's salary. Then give him a set of non-infected mining equipment. Okay, get out of here."

After saying that, Parkinson Law waved his hand and carried Mr. Xi Luo away in a jealous manner. Only after all the patrol members had left the lounge did Parkinson Law sit back down across from Victoria. "Colonel, I apologize for my poor management and my momentary inattention. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you."

"I think you handled it quite well. Otherwise, I wouldn't have promoted you alone out of all the people on the patrol team." Victor smiled, pushing aside the teacup in front of him. He stood up and walked over to the bottle of Gallic Treasure. "Although it has some minor flaws, it can't diminish your achievements. Looks like I can savor this fine wine at noon."

After hearing this, Parkinson Law, who was sitting on the sofa, finally felt relieved: "I definitely won't let you down."

After a satisfying meal and complete loading and unloading of supplies and minerals, Victor set off for Norvinsk after lunch. Although the overall situation in Norvinsk had been completely stabilized thanks to his efforts, Victor still visited various departments of the city hall every day to ensure his absolute control of the city.

The inspection team set out an hour after lunch, when the temperature was at its highest point of the day and the light snow had yielded. Just an hour and a half later, the convoy sighted the frozen walls of Norvinsk. But before Victoria could relax, a strange-looking caravan appeared in the distance.

"Everyone, alert!!!"

Victoria narrowed his eyes and immediately ordered everyone to be on alert.

Survival in a Foreign Land: Chapter 7: Unkind Visitors

"Crossbowmen will form a battle array, while the guards and heavy armored personnel will provide cover. The convoy will enter the city first. If any situation arises, sound the alarm and summon the troops!"

After arranging the team's movements, Victor drew his standard long sword and moved to the front of the group. This time, he was on an inspection tour, so besides his long sword for self-defense, he only had a handgun from his collection. However, the inspectors never left their weapons behind. Looking at the guards' blast shields and the powerful crossbows leaning against the rear, Victor felt a sudden sense of peace.

As the caravan approached, Victoria could see clearly who they were. It was a caravan of carriages pulled by beasts of burden, but it looked rather... appalling.

The sign hanging on the side of the leading carriage had been burned by the flames, and several crossbow bolts were still stuck in the roof. The carriages behind were even more miserable, many of them bearing marks of knife cuts and arrow piercings. The last carriage was completely gone, with only a few wooden planks put together as railings.

"Stop!" With Victoria's clear shout, the crossbowmen hiding behind the guards and heavy armored personnel took out the weapons in their hands, and the sharp arrows flashing with cold light silently conveyed the threat.

Seeing this scene, the convoy in the distance quickly stopped. Many guards and attendants who had been hiding in the carriages climbed out one after another, and two people, one tall and one short, also walked out of the leading carriage.

Both were Ursas. The taller one was about two meters tall, muscular, and always had a sword by his side. The shorter one was an old man, hunched over, wearing a valuable fleece coat.

Seeing the convoy showed no sign of fighting, Victor waved and stepped forward, while Dorothy and two shield guards followed suit. When they were about twenty meters away, Victor spoke, "This is the border city of Norvinsk. I am the lord here, Colonel Victor Kalashnikov. Where did your convoy come from, and why do you look like this?"

"The border town of Norvinsk?" The old man frowned at Victoria's question. "I'm sorry, Colonel. My name is Ramos. I'm the initiator of this caravan. We set out from the small town of Rye in the south, intending to go to Luxembourg for business. However, we didn't expect to receive news until we arrived at the gates of Luxembourg that the recent commercial tax had been raised by another 15%. I discussed it with the other bosses and decided to go a little further to the town in the north to clear out the goods. As a result, it would have been better if we hadn't left. As soon as we left, we ran into trouble. Not long after the caravan left Luxembourg, we encountered a group of bandits of unknown origin. They chased us for five days, beating and surrounding us. Fortunately, these pack animals can run, and we barely managed to shake off the bandits. However, our caravan suffered heavy losses and completely lost its way. In the end, we had no choice but to grit our teeth and continue north."

"And then you got lost all the way to me?" Victoria rubbed his chin and gave Dorothy a look. Miss Rabbit nodded, nimbly leaped onto the roof, pulled out the stray arrows, and held them in front of Victoria.

Victoria took a look and, as expected, saw that the arrows were the standard, uniformly cast design of the Sixth Legion. This meant that the unknown bandits the old man had mentioned were likely a disguised unit under the command of a certain officer, seeking to extort money.

No, that's not right. Maybe there's another possibility...

Victor narrowed his eyes and silently switched his officer card to Jia Xu. The caravan's origins were somewhat suspicious, forcing him to be cautious. As a sense of clarity washed over him, Victor passed the old man and the burly man and approached one of the attendants. "Your guards are quite good. Are you all the elite of Rye Town?"

"The elites don't dare. This team is just a collection of people from various shops." The old man shook his head, not quite understanding what Victoria meant.

Victor ignored them and simply walked around the convoy twice. Then he grabbed a burly attendant and asked him a few words: "What's your name?"

"Sir, my name is Leba, but everyone likes to call me Big Leba." The strong man who was chosen by Victoria scratched his head with a silly smile on his face.

"Are you from Rye Town too?" Victoria patted the burly man, took out two cigarettes, put one in his mouth, and threw one to the burly man.

"Thank you, sir, but I don't smoke these." The burly man held the cigarette in both hands and bowed solemnly. "I live in a small village next to Rye Town. This time I came to help my relatives. I didn't expect to be robbed on the way. I almost died here."

"Really? That means you're lucky." Victory smiled and lit a cigarette. "How big was your convoy originally? What did you carry?"

The burly man carefully stuffed the cigarette into his pocket and answered truthfully, "There used to be more than double the number now, over forty carts, and fifty pack animals. Most of the goods were from our town's specialty, rye. Some big merchants also brought some local snacks, cloth, tools, and other miscellaneous items. But we lost a lot of stuff along the way, and we basically lost all the heavier rye, leaving only a small amount for dry food."

"I see." Victoria waved and returned to the two heads of the family. "Although the road has been a bit bumpy, we are guests from afar. Please rest here for a while. I will arrange for some chambers of commerce to connect with you later."

"Excuse me, Colonel." The burly man clasped his fists and saluted in a muffled voice.

Victor said nothing more and returned to the convoy with Dorothy. He then silently ejected Jia Xu's card and re-equipped Dong Zhuo's general card: "Everyone, open fire, and leave no one alive."

Then, Victor pulled out his pistol and, without hesitation, shot the burly man in the distance dead. The crossbowman beside him was momentarily stunned, but quickly sprang into action. The hail of arrows quickly overwhelmed the defenseless group, and the caravan, which had just relaxed, was wiped out in seconds.

After the crossbowmen finished the cleanup, the guards approached the convoy under the cover of heavy armor. They checked every carriage and every body one by one to make sure that no one was left alive.

After everything was settled, Dorothy reluctantly tugged at Victoria's sleeve and said, "Master, is there something wrong with them? Why did you kill them?"

"Just a group of spies disguised as merchants." Victor held a cigarette in one hand and embraced Dorothy, who couldn't bear to look at him. "Rye Town isn't close to Luxembourg, and it's even farther from here. Besides, this group of merchants encountered those patrols along the way, so they should have been covered in dust. But although these people look dusty, they all look quite healthy. They're obviously lying. Furthermore, this caravan abandoned their local specialties, leaving behind only a few valuables, clearly wanting us to verify their origins. All in all, they're definitely spies. All of you, hurry up! Half of the stolen goods will be handed over to the public treasury, and the other half will be divided equally among the brothers!"

"Ow!!!"

With the promise of their boss, the inspection team moved much faster. The members who were originally still struggling with the origins of these people were encouraged by Victoria to put the matter behind them and concentrate on collecting the spoils.

Watching his men happily collecting the spoils, Victor's face wasn't quite as happy. If he was right, these people were probably more troublesome than the spies.

"Could it be snake scales? Has Kosice already started planning this? Or was it simply an accident?"

Survival in a Foreign Land: Chapter 8: The Gathering Storm

In fact, what really made Victor want to kill was not the supplies carried by the caravan or the reasons he and Dorothy explained. Although these things were indeed suspicious, they were not fatal.

What really worried Victoria was the sturdy man who spoke so fluently. He had circled the convoy twice and deliberately picked a man with ragged clothes and a dull look to chat with. He expected a hesitant and unclear conversation. But he was surprised by the man's politeness and fluent responses, even a little too much.

He even suspected that this group of people were sent specifically to test him. But on what basis?

Although Victory Kalashnikov was nominally the son of a general, he was in reality an unappreciated exile. Although he made quite a splash after arriving in Norvinsk, virtually no news of his arrival spread. Merchants entering and leaving Norvinsk were generally in close contact with him, knowing what to say and what not to say.

Logically speaking, no one should pay attention to him, right?

Unless... someone had been keeping an eye on him from the very beginning, ever since he voluntarily withdrew from Luxembourg. Otherwise, there was no reason why they would send someone to test him at this time when the Sixth Legion was about to undergo an internal purge.

"Black snake... I hope it's not you." Victoria frowned, and finally buried his thoughts deep in his heart.

At the same time, in the martial arts arena of a luxurious mansion, an elegant man who was watching a young dragon girl dancing with a sword suddenly raised his eyebrows, and the butler beside him brought him a cup of hot coffee at the right time.

"Snake pupil reports that snake scale No. 9 has died, and the rest have successfully taken root."

"Number 9?" The elegant man took the coffee and sipped it with ease. "If I remember correctly, number 9 corresponds to the revolutionary on the border? Kalashnikov's third son?"

The butler nodded and slid silently behind the man. "Yes, according to the time, No. 9 should have just arrived in Norvinsk."

The elegant man raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard this: "Were we found out right after we arrived? Was it an accident? Or..."

"Do you want me to send another team of snake scales over?"

"No need. I'll go meet her in person when I have the chance." The man put down his coffee cup and looked meaningfully at the Dragon Girl practicing in the distance. "But for now, the original plan will have to be postponed for a while. Let's make arrangements for the Sixth Legion first, and then deal with things over there."

"Yes, I understand." The butler bowed and then retreated silently.

The elegant man didn't care. Instead, he stood up and walked to the edge of the martial arts arena. "My dear Tallulah, your sword dance just now was not right. Let me help you adjust it."