Rifle charge in Ark, but without a mount

"I was also very happy when you taught me swordsmanship, Master... because you explained it very clearly and it was easy for me to understand. After just two days of practice, even my uncle praised my sword skills. I was really happy during that period. My uncle later quit that job because my skills at the time were enough to support the family, and he no longer had to work so hard and often work overtime until late at night."

"Sister, too. We thought too simply at the time. Without your help, Master, sister would have been targeted by the people from the Business Federation. She might have been framed by dirty means. She might even have been driven out of the city or killed. We couldn't think of any other solution at the time. We could only gamble everything. Sister gambled her honor and everything. Our family was also very weak at the time. I really can't imagine the worst outcome."

"Now that I think about it, I am always thankful that you, Master, were in that city, which allowed things to have such a good outcome in the end..."

Claude was already getting restless, his guess turned out to be correct.

"I know that this may be very unfair to my sister... but I really care about Master. When we first met, I may have had such thoughts. I can't deceive myself, and there is no way to convince myself not to care."

Maria's slender fingers desperately rubbed the hem of her skirt, and her head inadvertently lowered again, her pointed ears constantly trembling, like a frightened pony, ready to run away at any time because of the slightest disturbance. But she was stiffly waiting for something...

"Maria, you actually..."

Claude had no idea what he was going to say. Even if there was a massive army behind him, he would turn around and wade in without hesitation to get away from this troublesome situation.

Maria stood up at once, the sound of her boots stomping on the ground was sonorous and crisp, and her bangs on her forehead were messed up by her. Although her eyes were still flustered, she felt strangely relaxed:

"Master, you don't have to answer me. I just want to tell you... As long as you tell me, I will be satisfied... We can talk about the future later!"

…………

Bang! Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Her speed at this moment was astonishing. Maria disappeared outside the door in the blink of an eye. The rapid footsteps like raindrops rang in the corridor. The talented Kuranta girl's speed was maximized. She was running at almost all her strength, bursting out with the speed of a top knight.

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Maria ran with her head down, and with her extraordinary talent, she accurately avoided every obstacle. Her boiling emotions almost jumped out of her chest, and she was making a lot of noise and kicking outside. She didn't even look at the road she was walking on, and just wanted to get away from here as soon as possible.

Relying on her powerful speed, Maria ran quickly on the motor vehicle lane, almost catching up with the vehicles traveling at a constant speed. She ran around aimlessly like this until a voice sounded from the side.

"Maria, why are you running so fast?"

Maria instantly crashed into a strong and agile embrace, and the well-trained slender arms steadily caught her collision. The familiar fragrance made Maria know who caught her...

Margaret did not wear her armor today. After all, today was a rest day and it was not time for training, so she only wore a simple black dress and black boots.

Just now, she saw her sister running headfirst on the driveway, looking very dangerous, so Margaret immediately went to stop her, wanting to get to the bottom of things and also to protect the safety of other pedestrians.

"elder sister!"

To Margaret's surprise, her sister showed a panicked look when she saw her. She frantically tried to struggle out of her arms, biting her lips with her teeth, and her cheeks flushed red. She couldn't help but relax her strength and let her petite sister distance herself from her.

"Maria, how did you get here from that direction? Isn't that Dormitory Area No. 3? It's so far from where you live..."

Since she had thought of it, Margaret naturally asked it, but she didn't expect her sister's reaction to be so unexpectedly intense, as if she had asked a very sensitive question.

Maria's face turned red and white, and she stammered and couldn't utter a word. It was not until now that she realized that she could not lie to her sister at all. The slightest thought of this made her tongue feel uncomfortable as if it was tied. Under the other's concerned eyes, a strong sense of guilt spread in her heart like a flood, making her feel like a little girl who stole her sister's candy, at a loss and panic.

Margaret also obviously noticed something. She looked at Maria's face seriously, but suddenly laughed:

"Okay, if you don't want to talk about it, I won't ask you anymore. After all, Maria is a grown-up girl now, and it's normal for her to have her own little secrets..." (patting her head)

Maria, whose hair was being rubbed by her sister, said nothing, which made Margaret more certain of her guess, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but remain upturned.

"Okay, I won't bother you anymore, but you have to be sensible..."

Leaving behind a burst of laughter, Margaret, in a good mood, continued on her way, completely unaware of the expression on the face of her pale sister behind her. Fortunately, there were no pedestrians around and no one saw this scene.

Therefore, only Maria herself knew the complex expression on her face which was a mixture of shame, guilt, impending disaster, etc.

The summer wind is sometimes cool and sometimes hot and humid, but for Maria at this moment, no matter what kind of wind blows, she will sweat profusely. She has the urge to take a taxi to leave the city overnight and find a small village in the mountains to live in seclusion for the rest of her life... Maybe it would be better to make a car by herself?...

Yanguo, Longmen and Victoria: Give Yourself a Holiday

The author wants to take a day off today, and everyone knows the reason (￣￣)～■Cheers□～(￣￣), after all, today is New Year’s Eve, and I have to help my family with some chores, otherwise I’ll be scolded... It’s also a good time to take a day off, okay, that’s it, I wish you all a happy new year!

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Yanguo, Longmen and Victoria: Chapter 253: Victoria is torn apart

If you ask which country is the most powerful in the world, there must be many different opinions. In most regions of the world, there is almost a powerful country that can compete with other countries. Each of these countries has its own unique features, and basically maintains a superficial balance of power.

But if you ask which country occupies the most important and richest area, there is only one answer: Victoria.

This country occupies the center of the continent, where the most important trade routes and fertile land are located, as well as countless resources for their use. Relying on these unique advantages, Victoria has always been the world's old overlord and has considerable influence on the surrounding countries.

Not to mention, a large part of the huge body of the once-mighty Gallic Empire fell into its mouth after its death, allowing this empire to obtain countless nutrients to strengthen itself after the Battle of the Four Emperors. The Duke of Wellington's powerful fleet, the invincible Steam Knights, the further expanded territory, the increased number of mobile cities... All of this is telling of the arrogance of this empire at that time... After all, Ursus at that time was far from as powerful as it was later, and its comprehensive national strength was completely incomparable with Victoria.

Such a country that seems prosperous, powerful and able to continue is now torn apart...and this result is not caused by foreign invasion or terrible natural disasters, but because most of the nobles in this country betrayed their king. The last King Aslan was hanged on the gallows by the dukes who broke into Londinium, and the whereabouts of the only royal bloodline are unknown. The family that ruled Victoria for so long lost the empire. There are different opinions in the history classes of various countries about why the dukes launched a rebellion, but the real reason is only known by the dukes.

Today, the country is divided into several regions, each of which is ruled by a powerful duke. The Victoria Empire has in fact been divided into several principalities. The war between the dukes has been protracted. Moreover, the Victoria Empire itself has considerable problems, and its ethnic conflicts are extremely prominent. The Tara people in the Tara region have long accumulated a lot of dissatisfaction with this empire. In addition, the colonial policies and hegemonism they implemented in the past have also provoked countless enemies in the world.

Even though Victoria still has some false majesty because of its past strength, as long as this situation continues, the country will fall into a long-term weakened state of bleeding and is doomed to perish. Even if a duke finally wins the war and inherits the title of empire, Victoria will surely be extremely weak and devastated.

The current situation of the empire has also exposed countless flaws, providing opportunities for countless people...

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The wooden handle of the shovel in his hand has become smooth and oily due to years of use, but it has just the right friction. For old Ford, this shovel is the thing he is most familiar with. He has been using it since he bought it in Morgan's hardware store three years ago. Any uneven spots on it have been rubbed smooth and shiny by his rough palms.

Old Ford is a most common coal transporter. This profession is very common in this city. There are thousands of workers like him doing this job. They are called coal transporters, but they transport more than just coal. They also have to work with source minerals, various minerals and machinery when needed. Compared with the heavy and dangerous work of transporting raw minerals and mechanical transfer work, just shoveling coal here with a shovel is the easiest job. At least there is no need to worry about infection or being crushed to death by the machine.

He skillfully lowered his center of gravity and lowered his back hand. He used a shovel to throw shovelfuls of coal into the boiler. He worked for a long time without getting out of breath or blushing, and even without sweating much. He maintained a steady rhythm and continuously shoveled the mountain of coal in front of him into the boiler next to him.

This kind of work would last for another 7 hours, and he could not go home until 9:05 at night... More than ten hours of heavy physical labor every day. Logically speaking, even a young man would not be able to hold on for long, but old Ford has been working for more than 30 years, and in these 30 years, he has only had a rest time of no more than two months...

This was certainly because he was a member of the Fengti tribe with a strong body, but more importantly, he had reasons to persevere...

He was not a lucky man, and could even be said to be extremely unfortunate. His son and daughter-in-law died before him due to mineral sickness, leaving behind only a little grandson as his last relative in this world. So old Ford, who had originally planned to retire, picked up the old shovel again, wanting to save some money for his grandson before his old bones were completely exhausted.

Old guys like him are often very concerned about the education of the next generation. He sent his grandson to a public school in the city. Although he had to pay a large amount of expensive tuition every year, he was more reluctant to see his grandson doing such a dangerous job like himself and only getting a meager salary.

As long as he could graduate from public school, he could apply for other jobs, and he might even become a scribe or a civil servant. This was Old Ford's biggest dream. As long as he didn't come into contact with Originium like himself, anything would be fine. At least he wouldn't die so early and could have his own choices.

To fulfill this wish, Old Ford had to save more money than he had saved in the first half of his life... He couldn't do it with just his meager salary, even if he worked hard day and night. He had to find other sources of income to keep his grandson in school...

…………

Suddenly there was a noise in the dark and deserted alley. The Xi beasts here were no longer afraid of humans. They even bared their teeth at the humans who blocked their way. They only ran away wailing after being kicked hard.

A pair of black leather boots stepped on the dirty ground. There was a large puddle of sewage seeping from the garbage bag next to it. All kinds of tiny creatures were moving around in it, making people not want to get close at first sight. Naturally, this leather boot that had just been oiled and waxed had no intention of stepping into the puddle. It just knocked on the puddle impatiently.

The owner of the boots didn't have to wait too long. A steady and slow sound of footsteps came from outside the alley, and old Ford's short and sturdy body slowly walked into the dark road.

As the two men met, the man in boots also revealed his face from the darkness. He was an ordinary middle-aged man from the Filin tribe, but the scar across his left eye made him look not easy to mess with. He had a brown wooden stick in the corner of his mouth. If nothing unexpected happened, it should be a special kind of tobacco. The smoke it emitted was extremely fine, but had a strong flavor. The only drawback was that it was too expensive.

"You came half an hour late today. If you do this again next time, I won't do business with you. Do you hear me, old man?"

The man was in a bad mood, but he did not target old Ford, because he had the same attitude towards all people who were lower than him in status, treating them equally with distinction.

Old Ford silently began to take out his package without making any extra response to the middle-aged man's words, or perhaps he didn't want to waste any more time.

"These are three converters and four-way coupling devices. They are the things you asked for last time. I brought them to you..."

The middle-aged man stretched out his hand and grabbed his package. Old Ford slowly took a step back, allowing the other person's fingers to brush against the package and then reach his hand to his lower back.

"As usual, give me the money first..."

Middle-aged men also have their own reasons:

"This item is very important. My client has been asking for it for a long time. He must inspect the goods first... otherwise the deal will be cancelled."

The man was fearless. He believed that the old man in front of him needed the deal more than he did, so even if he was more unscrupulous, the other party would have no choice but to accept it.

Old Ford fell silent and hesitated for a moment. He took out a cylindrical metal device from the package and threw it over:

"If you want to inspect the goods, go ahead, but I have to remind you that the police often pass by this area. If we are discovered, both of us will be in big trouble, so don't waste time."

The middle-aged man's expression sank slightly, but he didn't say any nonsense. He picked up the device and began to check it. He also took out a meter from his arms and plugged it in, pressing a button from time to time to check the displayed data.

Time passed by minute by minute, and a film animal with mottled fur ran over the wall next to it. Its round eyes emitted green fluorescence in the dark night, and it looked at the two people confronting each other silently with curiosity.

After a long moment, the man finally put away his instruments, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a wad of bills.

"Here's a total of 130 pounds. If you agree, we'll make a deal."

Old Ford showed a surprised expression on his face:

"Why is the price a little more than what we agreed on? When have you ever been so generous?"

The guy in front of me was notoriously sarcastic and would try his best to lower the price every time I made a deal. Why was he so generous this time? It was like he was a completely different person.

The middle-aged man had a complicated expression on his face, and the skin on his nose wrinkled together. Under the pale moonlight, he looked cold and weird like a corpse:

"Old man, this is the last time. I won't do this business anymore... It's too dangerous. Besides, after so many years, I have saved enough money. There is no need to continue doing this and risk being hanged."

Old Ford's expression was already gloomy. He did not doubt the other party's words, because deceiving him would not benefit the other party in any way, but would instead make him lose his source of goods. In other words, this guy really did not want to accept it...

He silently handed over the package in his hand, took the stack of bills, and counted them quickly.

"Old man, let me give you one last piece of advice."

The cigarette burned to the bottom, the man took a final deep puff, and then pressed the spark out against the wall.

"Don't do this anymore. You don't know it yourself, but I've been doing this business for many years. The law has been changed recently. If you get caught, you will definitely be thrown into the mines... and don't even think about coming out alive."

After saying this, without paying any attention to old Ford's response, the middle-aged man covered his head with the hood on the back of his clothes, and even pressed his two ears against his hair, trying his best to conceal his racial characteristics. He turned around and left in a hurry, leaving old Ford with a sad face standing there in a daze.

But the old man did not dare to let himself worry for too long. After counting the money and making sure it was correct, he put it away, turned around, bent his spine, and curled himself up into a ball, making himself look like a harmless old man.

After doing all this, the old man began to move away from this dirty place.

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Life may not always be bad news... Old Ford sighed from the bottom of his heart at this moment. He thought he would always be unlucky, but he didn't expect to have good luck today.

Although he no longer had the channel to resell mechanical parts, his grandson came back today and told him a good news:

Because his grandson Ford Jr. had excellent academic performance, he was eligible to apply for a loan. As long as he submitted an application to the bank, he could get a loan that would allow his grandson to complete his studies. The repayment period was also quite relaxed, so he could wait until his grandson found a job before repaying the loan.

Although the interest rate is not low at all, it can at least allow me to breathe a sigh of relief, and also make my grandson's life a little easier, so that he doesn't have to eat black bread mixed with sawdust with me every day. At least the child can eat white bread twice a week.

After receiving the news, old Ford wasted no time and immediately put on the most appropriate clothes he had, and then took little Ford with him. After all, without his grandson's help, he would not have filled out those messy application forms.

This news was told to his grandson by a public school teacher. There is no reason to doubt it. Besides, no matter how high the bank's interest rate is, it will not be higher than usury. It is rare to have this qualification, so of course one must seize the opportunity.

Old Ford brought his grandson to the Nimod Bank. Without much hesitation, the two of them walked in.

Yanguo, Longmen and Victoria: Chapter 1 Bureaucracy ()

This was a poor but sturdy old man. Although his clothes were washed clean, they were white and faded in many places. Although the puddings were in inconspicuous places, there were as many as five of them. Under the old formal suit was a pair of old trousers, which were obviously rarely worn and had only minor wear and tear. On his feet were a pair of flat shoes with canvas uppers, which were slightly fuzzy, but his socks were not exposed.

The teenager next to him was not short, but he was very thin, like a stick. He had many freckles on his nose, grass-green eyes and short yellow hair. He was not unusual in this city. Although he looked timid, the clothes he wore were obviously better than those of the old man next to him. At least there were no patches or wear and tear, and they were clean and tidy.

The old man and the young man nervously pushed open the thick glass door of the bank and came to the lobby.

Wilson is an ordinary bank teller, but he has to come into contact with all kinds of people every day. Especially after the loan conditions were relaxed in the past two days, the number of people coming is almost enough to break down the bank's door. Over time, he has gained some experience and can judge some things from a person's appearance and attire.

Just by looking at them, he understood the purpose of the old man and the young man. Just like the people who filled the entire hall in the past two days, they all came to apply for loans. They were in urgent need of money for emergency use, so they didn't care whether they could pay it back in the future...

Wilson certainly knew the trick, but it had nothing to do with him, so when the old man and the young man lined up in front of him, he still smiled as if he was doing business:

"Welcome! Welcome! What do you two need?"

Old Ford took a look at the high chair in front of him, patted his trousers twice, and then sat down carefully. Little Ford stood behind him, waiting for his grandfather to speak.

"Hello, sir..." The old man swallowed hard. Although his arms looked much thicker than a man's, he was too nervous to look the other person in the eye.

"I heard that I can apply for a loan here, so I want to borrow some money..."

"Of course, no problem. This is a new policy, specially provided for gentlemen like you who are not well-off. Please fill out this form first..."

A form was handed over, and old Ford quickly turned around to look at his grandson. Little Ford also took two steps forward, leaned on the counter, grabbed the pen next to him, and began to fill out the form.

This form was extremely complicated to print, with each box being incredibly small, yet densely packed with information, asking about every detail, so little Ford could only carefully fill in the small boxes with the smallest letters. I also knew the importance of this loan, so little Ford did not dare to hide anything and wrote down all the specific circumstances.

If there was something he was not sure about, he would quietly ask the grandfather next to him. Old Ford also knew that this was a critical moment, and at the same time he became more alert. Even if he had not eaten pork, he had seen pigs run. He had heard a lot about the bank in Londinium. Although he had never borrowed money here, he also knew that if he wanted to borrow money, he needed to mortgage his assets.

A poor man like him naturally has no assets to speak of. Now that the bank is suddenly willing to lend them money, there must be something wrong. He just has no other choice. In a few months, little Ford will have to pay next year's tuition. In order to prevent his grandson from being kicked out, he must raise enough tuition money quickly.

It took the grandfather and grandson 20 minutes to fill out this tedious form. Wilson took it, but only glanced at it briefly, threw it aside, and said:

"Okay, you have submitted your application. There will be a result within two weeks, and we will notify you then."

Old Ford slowly stood up, his face looking a little nervous, but he still nodded:

"thank you, sir."

Wilson didn't say anything, but just smiled and nodded, then ignored it and waited for the next person to sit on the high chair in front of him:

"Welcome! Welcome! What do you need, sir?"

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Although the old man is old, he is still in good health. On the way back, he walked briskly, steadily and quickly. Even little Ford could hardly keep up with him. It was obvious that the old man was in a good mood.

As he walked, Old Ford kept mumbling: