Four days later, the group finally arrived at the outskirts of Hillock County. Seeing the relatively stable city, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Just as they were about to enter the city, Kanna and Nian suddenly exchanged glances; both had detected the monitoring gazes around them.
"Misery, drive slower. We're not in a hurry to enter the city. Let's circle Hillock County first." After noticing the faint gazes around them, Kanna immediately spoke.
Hearing Kanna's words, Misery's face darkened. Although he hadn't noticed any movement around them, Kanna's meaning was very clear: they were being watched.
"Where?" After calmly slowing down, Misery rolled down the car window and asked while slowly driving onto the bypass road.
"Two people 200 meters behind to the left, one person 100 meters behind to the right, and one person 100 meters ahead. Tsk, these scouts are almost one per hundred meters, practically surrounding the city," Kanna complained after reporting their positions without hesitation.
Misery adjusted his sunglasses, then casually rearranged the rearview mirror, spotting the people Kanna had mentioned. Some were chatting, some were tilling the land, and there were also small vendors set up on the side of the street. If Kanna hadn't pointed them out, no one would have known that these seemingly unrelated individuals were actually spies from some unknown faction, stationed on the outskirts of Hillock County.
"Arranging so many spies is no small task. Look at that shop ahead; the owner clearly has lived here for a long time. If even people like that are spies…" Misery was contemplating how dire the situation in Hillock County was.
"However, it also reveals something else: these spies generally don't come from well-off families. Even that shop is quite common, even cheap…" Nian leaned against the car window and offered her observation.
"So, a certain faction has united the poor of Hillock County to work for them? But that's very strange. As far as I know, poor people generally don't have strong beliefs, so to unite them, one can only rely on money. But relationships maintained solely by money aren't very stable.
Moreover, in such a large city, there must be many poor people. If they only recruit a portion, the rest, out of envy, might easily expose them. But from current intelligence, although Hillock County's geographical location isn't ideal, preventing it from being annexed by surrounding dukes, the situation is still relatively stable. So how did this faction manage to make these people willingly serve them?"
If a city has rich people, it certainly has poor people. In fact, due to Terra's unique environmental conditions, the number of poor people in cities is enormous.
In such a situation, an organization capable of uniting an entire city or a large portion of its poor people sends shivers down one's spine.
"When I was in Caradon, I looked at the information there about Hillock County. It was formerly known as the Tara region, originally part of the territory ruled by the Draco King, primarily inhabited by the Tara people. After Victoria was founded, a medium-sized mobile city was built here, which is now Hillock County."
"Then comes the interesting part. To maintain regional stability, Victoria has always suppressed the Tara clan here. The Tara people receive significantly lower wages for the same work compared to outsiders."
Kanna had deliberately sought out this information while resting in Caradon City, and she had even shown it to Nian. At the time, Nian had complained about Victoria's inhumane practices. Others had already surrendered peacefully, and instead of using simple tactics like division, they chose suppression, which was most likely to cause backlash. It was a good thing King Gael had passed away early; otherwise, he would have long since raised the banner of resistance again in the name of Draco.
"You mean these are all Tara people? Hiss! Then I understand. If these people are all Tara people, then as long as the other party is also Tara, they won't need to do much; they will naturally provide cover for those people. After all, compared to external suppression, their own clansmen would hardly harm them." Misery, as an Elite Operator, was quick to grasp the situation. With just a small hint from Kanna, he had essentially identified the culprits behind the current unrest in Hillock County.
He just hadn't expected the spiritual and actual leaders of the Tara people to be the former rulers of this place, the now-extinct Draco clan.
After driving around the city's perimeter for half a circle, they discovered that all the major and minor roads leading in and out of the city were tightly monitored by the opposing faction's informants.
People inside the city would never realize this, because the city's outskirts are typically where the poorest residents live, and in Hillock County, the poorest are these Tara people. Their status is only slightly higher than the Infected. However, the Infected in a city must live in Infected districts for easy management and control, but the Tara people don't have this privilege. They can only use their limited money to buy relatively cheap houses on the city's periphery.
Only those with some financial surplus or inherited property can afford to live in the city center.
This relationship stemmed from the oppression by the Victorian government, so the Tara people here had very low loyalty to Victoria. Furthermore, Colonel Hamilton, the leader of the local garrison, was also a racist with extreme prejudice against the Tara people. This undoubtedly provided a perfect stage for conspirators to sow discord.
And in Kanna's memory, it was precisely because both the Tara people and Hamilton distrusted each other, and both stubbornly believed that all faults lay with the other side, that the conflict escalated, eventually becoming irreversible.
"Since we've clarified some information, let's enter the city first. After all, continuing to circle won't yield any more discoveries." Misery finished speaking, turned the steering wheel, and the vehicle drove into the city-bound lane.
"There's an old Yan saying, 'If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cub?' It perfectly describes this situation. I'm now curious what other entertainment Victoria can offer me… Honestly, when Kanna asked me to come to Victoria before, I was quite reluctant. After all, all scenery looks the same to me, and instead of constantly running around outside, it would be more interesting to prepare a new movie on Rhodes Island.
But now, the various things I've encountered in Victoria have constantly refreshed my worldview. All in all, this trip to Victoria was truly worthwhile. If I'm not mistaken, I might see some unexpected fun in Hillock County."
On the way into the city, Nian observed the surrounding pedestrians, and seeing the hatred in their eyes when they noticed the foreign vehicle, a smile she couldn't control spread across her lips.
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