At this thought, Lynn lowered his head to glance at Labul and asked.
"Who do you get along with worst in Harbor Town?"
"It's [Black Hand] Bob..." Labul did not understand why Lynn was asking, but he still spilled the story of their conflict as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube.
"Good. I'll be borrowing your clothes!" Lynn acted without hesitation, stepping forward and forcibly stripping Labul of his clothes.
The towering brute instinctively thought the demon before him intended to use some cruel skinning method on him. He desperately pressed himself against the ground, looking like a young girl being violated.
In the end, a helpless Lynn had no choice but to knock him unconscious. After changing into his clothes, he stared at Labul's face and activated his transformation magic.
This was the Shaping Magic he had previously learned from the Basic Magic Compendium, capable of altering a wizard's outward physique.
Buck, who had died at Antioch's hands, had once used this magic to turn himself into a giant bear, briefly delaying his opponent.
However, this magic was not omnipotent. Not only did one need an extremely thorough understanding of the creature being transformed into, one also had to face all kinds of risks.
The Basic Magic Compendium recorded many examples of wizards failing to learn Shaping Magic. Some transformed incorrectly, some could not change back, and some died from magical backlash.
It could be said that any wizard who dared to learn Shaping Magic was bold enough to fear no death.
Fortunately, Lynn had always been good at biology, and 071's database contained a complete three-dimensional model of the human body. Skin, muscles, blood, internal organs, and even the cells within were all perfectly clear to him, greatly reducing the chance of unexpected mishaps.
Of course, compared to Lott, whose build, age, and hair color were all extremely similar to his own, his disguise as Labul was only about ninety percent convincing.
Still, it would be enough to handle some unexpected situations!
Lynn casually smeared some dust across his face, tied up the unconscious Labul, stuffed him into a storage sack in the basement, and then walked outside.
"Damn Bob!"
Lynn stormed out of the room, cursing under his breath. Seeing the rage on his face, several dockworkers standing guard cautiously asked him.
"Boss Labul, did the negotiations fall through?"
"A whole shipload of goods, and they're only willing to pay sixty Secas Gold Coins!" Lynn said furiously. "It's all that bastard Bob's fault. He already contacted the Pedrol Family first. To steal our business, Bob is willing to transport their goods at a dirt-cheap price."
At those words, all the workers present were filled with righteous indignation. A large ship's round voyage alone cost fifty Secas Gold Coins, not even counting the crew's expenses at sea. Wouldn't that amount mean they had made the trip for nothing?
[Black Hand] Bob and the laborers under him had never gotten along with the Ship Gang, but ordinarily they only tripped each other up in secret. No one had expected him to go this far this time, willing to take a loss just to steal their business.
This was purely disgusting...
"Come on, bring the men and find him!" Lynn waved his hand and shouted loudly, gathering several dozen people before marching toward the docks in grand fashion.
Meanwhile, aboard a huge sailing ship, [Black Hand] Bob was cracking his whip and berating several laborers trying to slack off. When he saw Lynn charge in angrily, he frowned and said with displeasure, "Labul, what are you bringing so many people here for?"
Lynn could not be bothered to waste words with him. He stepped up and threw a punch, knocking the bewildered Bob straight to the ground.
The laborers aboard the sailing ship froze in place, but the men Lynn had brought had already rushed forward. A storm of clubs followed.
The once-peaceful dock instantly descended into chaos. Shouts, smashing, and pounding rang out without end, until a shrill cry suddenly came several minutes later.
"The City Guard, the City Guard is here!!"
Lynn and all the laborers on the ship stopped moving in unison, because more than a dozen armored guards wielding blades had already surrounded the ship.
Lynn raised both hands to signal everyone to stop resisting, without the slightest trace of worry on his face.
That was because Tiris, the Guard Captain of Harbor Town, was an old acquaintance of Labul's. When they had embezzled ship cargo last time, Tiris had gained quite a bit from it!
"What exactly is going on here?" Tiris strode onto the sailing ship, swept his gaze over the goods scattered across the ground and the laborers sprawled in every direction, then turned to Lynn and questioned him with obvious displeasure.
"These people barged in for no reason, knocked over the goods stored here, and attacked us..." Bob, who had lost a tooth from the beating, shouted angrily. He felt utterly wronged and still could not figure out why he had been beaten.
"It was just a minor disagreement, Lord Tiris. Besides, many people here can testify that Bob struck first!" Lynn stepped forward with a beaming smile and discreetly slipped a small pouch of coins into Tiris's hand.
More than a hundred dockworkers joined in the clamor, drowning out Bob and the others' feeble protests.
In Harbor Town, [Black Hand] was far weaker than the Ship Gang. If Bob had not had an Imperial Count backing him, making Lame Laud wary, he would have long since been kicked out of the docks.
"Arrest them all!" Tiris naturally knew all about the secret conflicts and friction between Harbor Town's two major gangs. After weighing Lynn's sincerity, he quickly classified the clash as a mutual brawl.
Under Secas Empire law, those who gathered to cause trouble would receive ten lashes!
"Hiss... that bastard really hit hard..."
Half an hour later, Lynn walked out of the docks with a frown, feeling deeply annoyed.
He had overestimated the "friendship" between Labul and Tiris. Tiris had shown absolutely no mercy when he swung the whip; none of those ten lashes had been held back.
Lynn only hoped he had not taken that beating for nothing. He had already done everything he could.
Judging by Lame Laud's cautious and cunning nature, Lynn guessed that Laud's hiding place could not be too far away and that he was constantly monitoring the developments within Harbor Town.
And what Laud feared most was drawing the Church's attention.
That was why Lynn had planned this conflict, drawn in the City Guard, and kept the severity under control, framing the cause of the clash as a dispute of interests between gangs. If nothing unexpected happened, word of this would soon reach Laud's ears.
As the Ship Gang's public leader, Labul could not be controlled by anyone except Laud himself. That made it easy to guess what the other side would do next.
Perhaps one of Laud's true confidants would come to convey his reprimand, but the greatest possibility was...
"Lord Labul, Mr. Laud has an urgent matter to discuss with you. Please come with me." A few minutes later, an utterly ordinary-looking dockworker suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered softly.
"Fine, I'll go right away!" A smile curled across Lynn's lips.
As expected, he had come!
Thanks to reader Old Watcher for the 102 Qidian Coins donation, zeerdvr for the 100 Qidian Coins donation, and Chaos Creation Green Lotus, Starfield Maple Creek, and Groudon Finally Learned to Fly for the 2 Qidian Coins donations.
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