Chapter 5 The current situation of the empire, it's better to run away and avoid the limelight.
Bane took the RC cell injection from the suitcase. He played with it for a moment and then asked, "How do I use it? "
"Just insert it into your waist and inject it," Frant explained. But after thinking for a moment, he added, "But I've never seen it before, so you shouldn't use it lightly. "
"Are you afraid that I'll eat you? " Bane smiled as he said this.
Of course, even if Frant hadn't said that, Bane wouldn't have injected it. Before he ate the Dark-Dark Fruit, he might have thought about it. But now he had many options and didn't need to take the risk.
Still, this injection has some value. Maybe we can take it to the pirate world and find someone to try it out. If it works well and has no bad side effects, we can think about it then.
After he put the injection back in the box, Ben casually asked, "How many injections do you have left? "
"A few injections? Do you really think this is ordinary stuff? This is a stable superpower from another world. It has some side effects, but many people will take the risk on the black market," Frant said with a look that said, 'Are you kidding me? '
What he said made sense. Even with side effects, this stuff will be very popular on the black market. Even if the side effect is cannibalism, many desperate people would want it.
But Bane didn't reply. He tapped the ash off his cigar and asked again, "So how many shots are there? "
"You know I like you Bane. Do you want three shots? " Frant asked.
"How much is it? " Ben asked again.
"Well, I also bought it from someone else at a high price. Not to mention making money from you, it's 800,000 per needle," Frant said while rubbing his hands and smiling at Bane.
"Okay, including the injection you just said you would give me, that's three injections for 1.6 million pesos. Deal! " Bane quickly decided.
Frant was shocked for a moment, then quickly complained, "What pesos? I want the Imperial Silver Dollar! "
"Where can we get silver dollars in this damn place? Even if there are some, do you think we can get that many silver dollars with our stuff? " Bane waved his hand and spoke like a rogue.
When we talk about the peso and silver dollar, we must mention the current situation.
On this continent today, there were once two powerful empires in the east and west, namely Sodexo in the west and Seris in the east.
Both empires have a long history and a heritage that spans a thousand years. However, more than three hundred years ago, a royal civil war broke out in the Sodexo Empire.
The Seris Empire took advantage of this conflict and intervened, which caused the Sodexo civil war to continue for two or three generations, lasting over sixty years.
Sixty years of fighting nearly destroyed Sodexo's once strong national power. Sensing a good opportunity, the Seris Empire launched a full-scale war against the Sodexo Empire. This war continued for more than twenty years, and Seris largely defeated Sodexo.
Almost half of the Sodexo Empire's land was taken over, and the remaining territory was split into several "kingdoms and principalities. " From that time on, there was only one empire on this continent.
That was the Seris Empire. In the next two hundred years, the empire slowed its attacks to the west because it needed to take control of the newly gained territories. As the saying goes, it's easy to conquer but hard to occupy. The empire invested a lot of resources and faced significant costs to manage these new areas.
Twenty years ago, the Empire was planning to start a new war against the West to completely wipe out the remaining forces of Sodexo. However, the war had just begun when portals to other worlds suddenly appeared worldwide, creating chaos in the Empire. As a result, the Empire had to stop the war where it had the advantage.
Since then, the way of fighting has slowly changed from the strong control of the imperial military to working together with the civilian population, a method now called the "Westward Movement. "
This means that the empire encouraged civilian groups to expand into the West and take land and resources. Those who did well would receive official titles and recognition, along with legal land and status.
In this way, the empire aimed to address the many internal issues accumulating in the country. It hoped to channel some ambitious and powerful individuals into this westward movement to create problems for the Western territories.
The westward movement has proven to be very effective. For instance, New Dal, where Bane is currently located, is a city taken and built by the Empire during the westward movement over the past decade.
This city, New Dal, is very chaotic because it is a weak point in the empire's control and a frontline area.
However, not long ago, another piece of land was taken over. It is expected to become the new front line. This area will also serve as a transit point for supplies and logistics, improving the situation. Despite the success of the westward movement, there have been many rebellions in the empire over the years. The rebellions in the western region, which used to belong to the Sodis Empire, seem never-ending.
Three years ago, in the western region of the empire, a man named Tornis suddenly appeared. He claimed to be a descendant of the noble Sodis. Using a specific portal he controlled, he started a bloody rebellion, turned many people into vampires, and created the Empire of Eternal Night.
Even though the Empire of Eternal Night was ridiculed by everyone and was quickly defeated by the Empire, the remaining vampires have not been fully eliminated. They still occasionally emerge to cause trouble.
There are many similar cases to this.
Therefore, at first, Bane believed that the state of the empire was even worse. He thought it might collapse at any moment.
The current situation can be described like this: the imperial military is suppressing rebellions everywhere. Various ambitious people are either rebelling or joining the westward movement. The overall state of the nation cannot be called safe, but it is also very unstable.
The peso was the currency used by the people in the westward movement area. Because the empire relaxed its controls, it was far less valuable than the silver and gold coins issued by the empire.
After discussing it with Frant, Bane finally managed to acquire three RC cell potions for 2.6 million pesos.
Without selling the house, Bane's family wealth was wiped out. In fact, even Frant did not expect Bane to spend so much money on the potions.
After the deal was done, Bane asked again, "The westward movement has succeeded once more. I guess life in New Dal won't be so easy in the future. You seem well-informed. Have you received any interesting news lately? "
"Since when is information free? " Frant typically wanted to squeeze out more money.
But he saw Bane holding the potion, making gestures, and glancing at his waist. Then he quickly smiled and said, "But with our relationship, talking about money might hurt feelings. "
He was really worried that Ben would give him an injection. Even though the injection was very expensive, he felt he didn't deserve it.
After looking around again to make sure no one was listening, Frant whispered, "I heard a rumor. I caught it while working for a real noble. "
"What information? " Bane asked quietly, almost without thinking.
"I don't know if it's true, but I heard in the capital that the Dragon Emperor has finally had enough of the endless rebellions in the west. He is sending the Dragon Guards to completely eliminate those chaotic rebels. This is much different from how local armies handled the rebellions before. Everyone knows the Dragon Emperor is ruthless. He is the iron-blooded ruler who has slaughtered an entire alien world," Frant said, terrified.
Bane stayed silent after hearing this. After a moment, Frant continued, "So the situation in New Dal is probably worse than you thought. The Dragon Guards may have come through here while putting down the rebellion. "
After saying this, Frant added with some regret, "I only shared this news with you. I guess we won't meet for a long time. "
"Are you leaving? " Bane raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, otherwise, why would I sell all my goods? I'm trying to quickly recover funds and escape. Maybe when things are calmer here, I could come back and take a look," Frant nodded and admitted.
Ben smacked his lips, then said, "Actually, I'm planning to escape too. The situation here in the Empire is too complicated. I need to find a place to grow first. "
"You're leaving too? " Frant's eyes brightened as he asked, "Where to? Should we go together? "
"You can't go where I want to go, so let's part ways. We'll meet again if we are lucky," Bane shook his head and declined Frant's suggestion.
That's right, Bane plans to go to the one piece world to stay out of sight and develop himself at the same time.