Fuse

"I remember... there should have been a plate here!" A foreign businessman in his fifties looked at his display case with a bit of a blank expression. One of the shelves in the case was empty, but he remembered that there used to be a pure gold plate here.

Actually, the plate isn't particularly heavy. With the international gold price rising, it might be somewhat valuable overall, but its commemorative significance and value are even greater.

He hadn't noticed the things here for a while, and now that he was packing up to leave, he realized the plate was missing.

"Have you already put it away?" the butler who was helping asked in a low voice.

"Impossible!" the businessman shook his head. "I didn't come to this room to pack my things before. Who's usually in charge of this place?"

The butler named a woman, a middle-aged Nagaril woman in her thirties.

For the Nagaril People, being in their thirties is considered middle age, because their lifespan is not long.

According to unofficial statistics, the average life expectancy in Nagaril People is less than 60 years, and their lifespan is greatly limited due to factors such as poor medical conditions, living environment, and chemical pollution.

The merchant nodded noncommittally, his expression already showing some displeasure. "Call the person here."

The housekeeper nodded silently, then quickly summoned the maid who was responsible for cleaning the room.

There are many valuable or historically significant items in this room, so it has always been managed by a middle-aged woman.

She is married with children, more than one, and her stable social relationships make it unlikely that she would commit illegal or rule-breaking acts, such as theft, to have serious consequences.

The businessman has been using her for the past few years without any problems, so although he is very angry, he has not yet lost his temper.

Before long, the maid was led into the Collection Room. The angry merchant didn't notice that the maid's expression seemed a little off. He just pointed to the empty display case and asked, "Where did the things inside go? Don't try to lie to me. I remember it was a pure gold plate!"

The maid didn't refute or say she didn't know. She twisted her apron tightly with both hands, her fingertips turning red and purple, while the area where she was twisting the apron was completely bloodless.

Her body was trembling slightly. By this time, the merchant roughly understood what was going on. He looked at the maid with a cold and disappointed gaze, and sneered, "You stole something?"

A question uttered with an affirmative tone implies that the person already has a definite idea the moment it is spoken, and it is not so easy to change their mind.

The maid remained silent, which fueled the merchant's anger. He interpreted this silence as a form of resistance, or even an attack.

Federal want to evict him, and locals throw garbage into his house from time to time, shouting for him to get out. Anyone can make things difficult for him. Now, even a timid maid has started to steal his things.

The pent-up frustration and anger he had felt towards Lin Qi and the other Federal businessmen finally ignited at this moment, and his expression turned terrifying. "Hang her up..."

Nagaril's Theocratic Law and Secular Law coexisted, with Theocratic Law slightly superseding Secular Law. This led to legal chaos in Nagaril and rampant vigilante justice.

Like Simon, many foreigners like to punish their servants with physical pain, and this businessman was no exception.

The butler bowed slightly, grabbed the maid's shoulder, and pushed her out of the room.

As they walked toward the large tree in the courtyard, which was specifically used for executions, the steward spoke softly in a voice no one else could hear, "I will definitely keep my promise to you. God is watching me from heaven, so... don't blame me."

The maid's body was trembling at first, but at this moment, it seemed to calm down.

"I hope you will keep your word; God is watching you from heaven..."

Standing under the tree, the maid turned to face the butler and said those words. The butler nodded solemnly and seriously, then put the noose around her hands and turned on the motor.

The noose rose, leaving the maid half-suspended in the air. In fact, she could almost touch the ground if she stood on tiptoe; she wasn't very far from the ground.

A short while later, the merchant, wearing only a shirt and with his sleeves rolled up, came out of the room, accompanied by about a dozen servants, all of whom were the house's maids.

When faced with crimes like theft, locals usually vent their anger first by taking matters into their own hands, and then consider whether to call the police.

One of the reasons for the prevalence of lynching was to serve as a warning to others; punishing a servant in front of others could have a strong deterrent effect.

Whether they were locals or foreigners, whenever they carried out vigilante justice in private, they would have all their servants watch in order to intimidate them.

"Take off her clothes..." The merchant was furious. Everyone was hurting him, and he was extremely annoyed. He added, "Don't even leave her underwear. This kind of despicable thief should be exposed to the sunlight!"

The housekeeper didn't say anything, but simply took a pair of scissors and cut off all the maid's clothes, revealing her naked body to everyone.

The merchant picked up the whip and lashed it hard. With a crack, a welt appeared on the maid's body, which quickly became engorged with blood, oozing and swelling.

"Where did you hide my plate, you bitch?"

The maid screamed, but she only screamed and didn't say anything else. Her stubbornness made the merchant even angrier, and he lashed out with the whip again. With a crack, another bloody welt appeared.

At this point, even if the maid might have said something, she wouldn't say anything at all.

She was stripped naked and whipped here. Even if she could leave unharmed, she would have to end her life as soon as possible because her body had been seen by a man who was not her husband. So she no longer cared about anything else, only about the deal between the housekeeper and her.

The maid's silence was like a provocation, making the businessman's temples throb. He hadn't even been fired yet, and these servants dared to treat him like this. His rising anger could no longer be quelled. He cursed and lashed out at the maid.

Perhaps seeing the merchant whipping so vigorously that he was out of breath, and knowing that he was hot, thirsty, and tired, the butler thoughtfully brought him a cup of tea.

After finishing the tea, the merchant not only failed to calm down, but for some reason became increasingly agitated, dissatisfied, and angry! "Bitch, bitch!"

Before him stood the arrogant gaze, the subtle mockery, and the incompetence of the Federal businessman.

Negative emotions surged up, and the servants watching all seemed to be wearing twisted smiles. They seemed to be whispering in their hearts, mocking him, ridiculing him, and insulting him. All he could hear were the whispers of those despicable people.

His anger, his body, and his mind became uncontrollable. He even saw the servants attacking him, which made him even more terrified and furious...

After an unknown amount of time, the tinnitus and other sounds he disliked disappeared. He looked at the terrified expressions on the faces of the servants around him, and slowly moved his gaze to the front of him.

His hands were tightly gripping the maid's neck; the maid, covered in wounds, had already died...

"Murder!" In an instant, the servants fled out the door in terror, shouting repeatedly.

The merchant realized what was happening in an instant. He tried to chase after the people, but found that he couldn't run at all. He was out of breath after only a few steps, his vision went black, the world spun around him, and he collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.

The tender green grass blades clung to his cheeks, and he could even smell the raw, vibrant scent of the grass.

He knew something terrible had happened!

The housekeeper dutifully picked him up, threw him into the car in the garage, and started the engine.

"Sir, if there truly is a God, please tell him when you see him that I did this not for myself..." With that, he started the car and drove his master, the unfortunate businessman, to his friend's place before things escalated completely.

His explanation was that his master had a conflict with the servants and somehow fell down. Before he lost control of his body, he mentioned the name of his best friend, so the butler brought him here.

The businessman's friend—another foreign businessman—accepted this explanation, saying it was a normal phenomenon, as these businessmen had been helping each other for a long time. So he invited the businessman to his home and planned to contact the Police Station to find out more about the matter.

But he didn't know that in a very short time, a large number of Nagaril People stormed into the merchant's house. When they saw the maid hanging from a tree trunk, covered in whip marks, and strangled to death after being tortured, they were immediately enraged!

A group of people stormed into the merchant's house, taking everything they could carry and smashing what they couldn't. They even stripped the merchant's local wife naked and dragged her by her hair across the ground, as if only by doing so could they quell the poor maid's anger.

Nagaril Youth Party quickly followed suit. They somehow learned of the businessman's hiding place, and a large group of them surrounded the businessman's friend's house.

Looking at the agitated crowd outside, the businessman's friend suddenly felt like he had been meddling in other people's business, and the problem had suddenly become tricky.

He called the Police Station several times, but no one answered.

As he was considering whether to hand the man over or talk to someone outside, a group of people appeared out of nowhere. They started hitting people and shouted for people to stay away from their merchant friend's house.

The already agitated crowd erupted! "Kill these foreigners!"