When the plot-skips players into the game world-Chapter 946 - 312: The Collapsing Economy

Chapter 946: Chapter 312: The Collapsing Economy

Accompanied by the long and mournful sound of police sirens, the Police Station’s vehicles stopped well outside the boundary line of Pilotti Manor.

But unlike the situation at the White Dove Opera House, this time the Police Station didn’t drive their “police line” fortress right up to the front door. It was just a few old-fashioned open-top cars, belching black smoke and making noise like tractors. Several experienced officers stood outside the barrier, constantly requesting backup.

And two streets over, exactly four “police lines” completely blocked off the crossroads.

On one of those “police lines,” a young female officer, who looked barely into her twenties, asked her seasoned senior with some bewilderment: “Are we just waiting here? But from this position… we can’t keep an eye on them at all, can we?”

Merely blocking off the streets from a distance might be effective for ordinary Transcendents committing crimes, but it was entirely meaningless against high-level Transcendents. Even if the streets were completely blocked, it wasn’t difficult at all to climb over walls or teleport…

“It doesn’t matter.”

The robust police officer, who appeared to be in his fifties with a goatee, was relaxed and completely unfazed: “Obviously, this is beyond our jurisdiction—are you suggesting that we should deploy Unit Seven from Headquarters?”

“Why not?”

The young female officer retorted, “They could solve it— even if it’s criminals with Fifth Power Level, they should be able to arrest them successfully!”

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged officer and the police around him laughed.

They looked at the girl with a hint of nostalgia, their eyes full of benevolence, as if looking at their own past selves.

“Heh… Even so.”

Her senior patted her shoulder firmly: “We still can’t act. This is Pilotti Manor, you know that. He’s the son of the Red Chancellor.”

“Alfonso von Pilotti, of course I know him!”

The young female officer replied without hesitation, her voice even tinged with urgency: “But precisely because it’s him, shouldn’t we uncover something quickly, to give Lord Pomponazzi an explanation!”

Obviously, among the younger generation of girls, Alfonso had considerable fame and prestige—even this young female officer had a strong liking for Alfonso.

“It’s precisely because this matter involves the Red Chancellor that we can’t make any rash moves.”

In the end, it was the experienced officer who provided the answer: “The only ones who would dare to directly confront the Red Chancellor… are just those few. If they really plan to go to the mat this time, we’ll of course stand with Count Leipzig—after all, he’s the one paying our salaries. The police salary in Leipzig is twice as high as in other parts of Star Antimony, second only to the capital… and most importantly, they never fall behind on payments.

“But Count Leipzig is also a senior in the Alchemy Association, as well as someone close to the Red Chancellor, so who knows which side the Earl will take this time? Without the Earl’s orders, how can we act on our own?

“—Stepping back, if neither side intends to fight it out this time, if we were to act… we would end up being scapegoated in the aftermath.”

“…Where does all this come from?”

The recently graduated female officer wasn’t that idealistic, so she understood immediately, but was still somewhat confused: “Why does it seem like you all know…?”

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

“Because it’s always been this way.”

Someone answered, “This isn’t the first dispute—this time it’s between the Red Chancellor and the Association, last time it was between the Association and the Academy, the Academy always likes to provoke others, but they do have the confidence… And even further back, there were other conflicts. Even the Spirit Summoning Tower sometimes stirs up trouble.”

“Whoever acts will have to take the blame, and even if nobody acts and something happens, the eventual impact won’t be too great—because the big incidents are not something we can handle.”

The middle-aged policeman patted the young female officer, who was younger than his own daughter, and summarized, “So, if we can avoid it, we avoid it.”

“So you mean… who the perpetrator is doesn’t actually matter?” The young female officer seemed to understand a bit.

“It does matter… but work and money are more important, kid. If you were to leave Leipzig and look around elsewhere… no, never mind, for your safety, better not go.”

The middle-aged policeman patted her shoulder and sighed, “Back in my hometown, the jobless sit at the doors of relief agencies to receive bread and salt. They can fill up the entire street, and the volunteers at the relief agencies work from dawn till dusk, even without time to rest… the agencies even have to request security from the Police Station to prevent vagrants from robbing the kitchen. This ‘kitchen defender’ might even be the only person on the entire street with an income.”

“—Damn those Goblins for cancelling their orders!”

Another younger officer cursed angrily.

The middle-aged policeman pointed at him, “Look, Jack—here’s an example. Come on, Jack, tell our nice girl here.”

“Hey, I’ve told this story so many times already…”

Jack shook his head irritably, but still spoke earnestly: “My father used to own a brick factory, a not too big but decent business. Until those damn Goblin Merchants—that bunch of swindlers! They should be skinned and sent to the Spirit Summoning Tower to be turned into sandwiches!”

The high-strength bricks of Star Antimony were a specialty. By collaborating with the Royal Alchemy Association and obtaining a special Alchemical Potion, they could increase the strength of the fired bricks to higher than concrete bricks, and the recipe for this potion was a secret kept by the Association.