Chapter 461: Chapter 244: Blood Exchange! (Two in One)_1 Chen Mo surveyed the scene, feeling as if he were looking at a sea of money. The question is how to fleece them; outright robbery doesn’t seem appropriate. If I spark public outrage and incite widespread resentment, it could attract trouble, like an Evil God or something similar. This sort of thing requires a clever pretext. Chen Mo considered this further. Raising taxes would be convenient. Although there’d be some grumbling, I’d only collect for one day, not impose a permanent tax. These people, though likely unwilling, probably wouldn’t say much. With that in mind, Chen Mo immediately focused his senses to find someone suitable for the task. He soon spotted a brawny man with a fierce and imposing demeanor. This man held the title of executive officer and was clearly a capable subordinate who frequently carried out Kahn’s orders. Chen Mo promptly had him summoned. "My lord, what are your orders?" the executive officer, Taskum, asked respectfully, dropping to one knee. "The city’s commerce is flourishing, bustling with people and traffic, which has significantly increased the wear and tear on our city’s roads," Chen Mo began. "Since most of this wear and tear is caused by the traffic in the commercial district, it’s only natural that the maintenance costs for these worn-out sections should fall to them. We haven’t levied a tax for this before, but it’s time we did. I want you to go to the commercial district and collect a maintenance fee from every establishment." "My lord, how should this fee be determined?" Chen Mo estimated the number of merchants and said, "Charge those with street stalls less, and those with permanent shops a bit more. The total tax revenue should be around 1,000 eternal gold coins." "So much?!" Taskum was dumbfounded. That’s equivalent to a colossal sum of 1 billion in this world’s currency! "Divided among everyone, it isn’t much," Chen Mo explained. "Tell them this fee is collected once every hundred years. Pay once, and they’ll be worry-free for a century. Just record their names when you collect the tax." "If it’s collected on a century basis, then it actually seems a bit too little," Taskum, who moments ago had thought it too expensive, immediately changed his tune. Chen Mo smiled. "The maintenance cycle for the roads is also quite long. This amount is sufficient. Go and attend to it immediately." "Yes, my lord! I will immediately have the number of merchants tallied, draw up a detailed tax allocation plan, and then proceed to collect this maintenance fee." "Excellent. I trust you to handle this. You may go." "Your subordinate takes his leave." Watching Taskum depart, Chen Mo felt quite pleased. With just a few words, I can rake in another hundred billion! Fantastic! Now I suddenly understand why those corrupt officials can’t resist temptation. Faced with this kind of money-making scheme, anyone would be dazed. Having delegated these matters, Chen Mo began to enjoy the life of a City Lord. However, it seemed Kahn had little interest in women; he didn’t even have a wife. His female attendants avoided him as if he were a tiger or a wolf, and none dared to try and get close to him or seduce him. Kahn having no intimate companions is actually a good thing for me. It makes it much harder for my identity to be seen through. As twilight approached, Alina, in Green Bamboo Village, had already led her team toward the Smoky Intoxicated Forest. Chen Mo had previously scouted the Smoky Intoxicated Forest and knew that while there were many monsters inside, they were no match for a well-organized army, so he wasn’t particularly concerned about their progress. 「Later that night」 Chen Mo constantly observed his teammates’ movements on the map. On the other two routes, the teams were nearing their target locations. The fighting will likely begin tomorrow. Around midnight, Alina had led her team out of the forest and onto the plains. She immediately contacted Chen Mo. [Alina]: "Chen Mo, I’ve brought the team. Have you scouted Storm City yet?" [Chen Mo]: "Just bring your team over. I’ll send people to meet you." [Alina]: "Meet where?" [Chen Mo]: "Inside the city." [Alina]: "You’ve already captured Storm City?" Alina eyed Storm City in surprise. Its walls were intact, showing no signs of a recent battle, which perplexed her. [Chen Mo]: "More or less. Just bring your people straight to the city gate." [Alina]: "Okay." Although she agreed, Alina felt a little apprehensive. Storm City isn’t like the previous Reik Fortress. It’s heavily guarded, with defensive structures lining the walls row upon row. Its terrain is also excellent, making it easy to defend and hard to attack. It would be impossible to capture such a place without inflicting any damage. For a moment, Alina couldn’t quite grasp what Chen Mo meant. Seeing the soldiers patrolling back and forth on the city walls, Alina naturally felt uneasy. If we approach recklessly and provoke an attack from Storm City’s guards, our tens of thousands of troops probably won’t last long. But, trusting Chen Mo, she led her troops closer to Storm City anyway. Due to Storm City’s high elevation and its many lookout towers, any slight movement in the surrounding area could be quickly spotted. With Alina leading tens of thousands of people so openly, it was difficult not to be noticed. Sure enough, the Storm City guards quickly spotted them. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢 An alarm immediately sounded, and the guards on the battlements all drew their bows, nocked arrows, and prepared for battle.