Intelligence II

At North City Lord's Manor, Dolong was still the nominal master, but the one truly in charge was Bourne, the man Dolong had said had led him back from the brink of death last time.

"Lord Dolong, you and I have worked together for over a year now, nearly two years, haven't we?"

Bourne smiled as he looked at Dolong.

By now, Dolong no longer possessed the arrogance he had once displayed as city lord, nor the fear he had shown when first meeting Bourne. He merely nodded calmly and said:

"Yes, in the blink of an eye, nearly two years have passed. Over these two years, I have experienced much and grown much.

Now that I think about what I did before, in your terms, I was an out-and-out reactionary."

Bourne chuckled and said:

"You can't say 'your terms' anymore. You are one of our comrades now. You have already endured trials and undergone transformation, changing from a landlord noble of the past into a respected city lord."

Over these past one or two years, many things had happened in North City as well.

As the old class of great landlords and great nobles in North City was swept away, Dolong went from resisting to cooperating, and eventually even threw himself actively into the liberation of North City's serfs.

Perhaps at the beginning, Dolong had still entertained opportunistic thoughts and merely wanted to save his own life. But under the long-term influence of new progressive ideas, along with the common people's support for the new policies, his thinking underwent enormous changes as well.

It was also because of his active cooperation that North City could remain as stable as it was today.

"I do not dare hope for what you have said, Bourne. I only hope that what I