Close Combat Mage

Chapter 209 - A Thief Even In The Dark Part 1

“Various things?” Suo Jia asked curiously.

Roger smiled mysteriously and said in a low voice, “By various things, I mean things like stealing, slipping drugs, terrorism, etc. However…although these things seem minor, these men all have extensive experience in such activities. Even these seemingly trivial tasks can be teased into an art!”

Roger praised, “On the battlefield, we’re mere appetizers. But if you let us mingle with the crowd, it’ll be an entirely different story. Our abilities are all at frightening levels. Although we are only a group of 100, the destruction we can havoc is greater than a 100,000 man army!”

“Oh! So amazing!” Suo Jia exclaimed excitedly as he was lured in by Roger’s words.

“Mhm…” Roger nodded and chuckled, “Although I don’t dare to say anything else, if you want an intelligence network, assassination, abduction, extortion, terrorism, or poisoning, we are your experts!”

Suo Jia’s eyes lit up brighter and brighter as he heard Roger’s explanation. This whole time, his greatest deficiency had been power in this aspect. He never had any clue what developments were going on in the matters around him, and it could even be said that this information was inaccessible. This made Suo Jia extremely cautious with every step. He had to be able to adjust according to the slightest change in situation at any moment in time.

However, if he really did have a branch of people like this, it would be great. No matter what he did, it would be much easier to carry out. In addition, it would present more options to deal with any situation.

Suo Jia abruptly slapped the table and declared, “Very good. Go and compile a list of those elites for me immediately. Tomorrow morning, I’ll set up the appropriate arrangements!”

Roger smiled and pulled out a form from his pocket, casually throwing it on the table. “I prepared it all ages ago, haha…there are a total of 87 people on here.”

Roger stood up and threw out the fruit’s pit before leisurely saying, “Okay, Viscount Suo Jia, since it’s quite late already, I won’t disturb you any longer.”

Storing away the form, Suo Jia stood up and replied, “Mm, it is indeed pretty late. You should go back and rest too.”

Suo Jia opened his interspatial ring and took out a bottle of rum, tossing it towards Roger. He smiled and said, “Here’s a bottle of alcohol for you to drink. Hehe…this is a fine drink that has successfully passaged through the Greater Trade Routes, you know!”

Roger caught the bottle. As he examined its label, Roger couldn’t help but lick his lips in excitement and say, “Aiya, I can’t remember how long it’s been since I last drank alcohol, let alone one this fine of a quality. Mm…thanks a ton!” Roger put away the bottle and with a wave of farewell, turned around to leave the room.

The night passed without incident. The next morning, the alarm bell rang, and all the regular soldiers and slave soldiers once more gathered at the plaza. Suo Jia had also appeared on the inspection stage again. However, today was different from yesterday because aside from Suo Jia, Generals Harvey, Jason, and Roger also stood there. Behind them were dozens of other soldiers’ figures.

Suo Jia broke the silence as he declared, “Alright. After sorting matters out for an entire night, I now proclaim that the Emerald Angels Knights group established. The head of command will be me, and the vice-commander position will be held by General Harvey. Also…General Harvey will be the general of the Emerald Angels Knights group!”

Suo Jia pulled out a form and read out the names of the 5 lieutenants, 50 sergeants, and 500 corporals that were receiving their letters of appointment. Of course, it wasn’t possible to read each of their names, so he just passed the letters to General Harvey for him to distribute. This was much more efficient.

As the soldiers were cheering, General Harvey happily accepted the letters and left the inspection stage with dozens of his supports. However, he didn’t actually leave the area, as the assembly hadn’t yet ended.

After looking at General Harvey with an encouraging expression, Suo Jia pulled out another form and read aloud, “Next, the pike users group will merge with the Blood Angels mercenary group. The head of command will still be me, and the vice-commander position will be held by General Jason. Also…General Jason will be the general of the Blood Angels mercenary group!”

After this declaration, Suo Jia handed the corresponding letters of appointment to Jason. With a respectful salute, Jason excitedly accepted the papers. What shocked him wasn’t his status as a general, but his status as the vice-commander of the Blood Angels. This no longer fell into the category of army ranks!

Suo Jia smiled as he saw Jason leave the stage, and took out the last form. After sweeping his gaze around, Suo Jia smiled and stored away the form once more. “On the other hand, Roger and his subordinates, the elite soldiers, will merge with the Dark Angels thief group. Just as before, I will be the head of command for the Dark Angels, while Roger will be the vice-commander. At the same time…Roger will be the Dark Angels’ general!”

Roger paused, then sincerely said, “I really want read out the names of the members in the Dark Angels group, but everyone knows that as thieves, we must keep such information a secret. For the sake of ensuring that our future operations will run smoothly, I will have to change my original intention, and will refrain from announcing the names!”

Suo Jia paused, then said solemnly, “There are 110,000 citizens in our Dawn City. 100,000 of them are slave soldiers. In reality, this place here is actually a city of slaves!”

Hearing Suo Jia’s words, everyone lowered their heads. They all knew that what Suo Jia said was the truth. But despite this, nobody was willing to hear it.

Seeing everyone’s gloomy expressions, Suo Jia abruptly raised his voice and announced, “I am unable to restore your statuses as ordinary citizens. However, I can guarantee that within Dawn City, my administration will not treat you as slaves, nor will we use you as cannon fodder, and send you to your deaths on the battlefield. You are all Dawn City’s citizens. There are no slaves here!”

“Gasp…” The slave soldiers couldn’t help but sharply inhale at Suo Jia’s words. They all knew that being freed from their slave status was impossible. Even the Emperor himself couldn’t do it, let alone Suo Jia. After all…there were 100,000 of them here.

However, regardless of their status, Suo Jia had actually stated that he wouldn’t view them as slaves. This alone was already a great deal. As slaves, they couldn’t enjoy the same treatment as ordinary people, so something like this was unimaginable. Actually, just the fact that they wouldn’t be used as cannon fodder was already enough to make everyone wild with joy.

Suo Jia looked at the joyous slave soldiers and continued, “I cannot promise anything if you leave Dawn City. But as long as you remain here, I can guarantee that from now on, everyone is a citizen of Dawn, and can enjoy all the same human rights!”

“Whoosh…” As soon as Suo Jia finished speaking, the slave soldiers all raised their hands in unison. A tide of applause rang out and filled the air. A slave soldier’s strongest desire was nothing else but gaining human rights!

Seeing that the slave soldiers had been stirred up, Suo Jia smiled and stretched out a hand, gesturing for them to quiet down. After the applause had faded out, Suo Jia continued, “As you guys will be citizens, I will no longer provide for anyone. If you want to gain something, then you’ll have to do labor, go work, and go to battle. If you make any military achievements or produce any results, I can promise you now that you will be the same as any other citizen, and gain promotions and awards. You may even be able to become a noble in Dawn City. If you become an aristocrat here, you can enjoy the status of a typical aristocrat, and all of its privileges!”