Operation Thunderclap

The lord's warrant in Ye Weian Xiaxing's hand was, of course, a fake.

In just a few short days, how could he possibly have flown to Firefall Fortress and back to Firefall Town?

Not to mention obtaining an order from his cheap father, who was currently bedridden and on the verge of death.

This order was naturally forged by him.

As for the most crucial seal—it was naturally forged using the newly acquired [Signet Ring of Perjury].

From this perspective, Gray Crow had truly shot himself in the foot.

Seeing the crowd of onlookers growing larger, Ye Weian decided the timing was ripe. He dismounted and stood upon the stone steps at the entrance of the leather shop.

He clapped his hands, and Renn and Harold immediately dragged the Grumman Bandit Group's leader, Grumman—who was bound like a rice dumpling—along with Gray Crow himself, and threw them with a loud "thud" right in front of the crowd.

"Citizens of Firefall Town!" Ye Weian announced loudly. "You might wonder why we are sealing off the Old Oak Leather Shop. Now, I shall tell you: the 'successful merchant' Gray Crow in your eyes is actually the fence for the Grumman Bandit Group in this town! This leather shop is the very den where those murderous thugs fence their stolen goods!"

He abruptly shook open several yellowed ledgers and blood-stained letters, holding them high above his head.

"These are Gray Crow's accounts and letters! They detail exactly how Old Oak coordinated with the bandits to rob merchant caravans and eliminate competitors—and even more outrageously, Gray Crow dared to hire them to openly intercept and kill a member of the Summerstar Family—which is to say, me!"

The surrounding crowd erupted into a sudden uproar.

Regarding this matter, the locals knew the score without Ye Weian having to say a word—it was an open secret.

The reason the Grumman Bandit Group never robbed the locals was because they had an unspoken agreement with the local "big shark."

It was only due to Gray Crow's power that the common folk dared to be angry but dared not speak.

Now that a big shot was standing up for them, many could no longer hold back.

"Good arrest! My caravan lost three carts of leather on the Thunder Trade Route last year; it must have been these animals!" A shabbily dressed fur merchant in the crowd was the first to shout.

Where there was one, there was a second.

Once the resentment accumulated over the years was unleashed, it poured out like a flood.

"That bastard Gray Crow threatened my whole family with bandits last year just to swallow up my shop!"

"Those bandits run rampant in town; My Lord, you must seek justice for us!"

"Gray Crow doesn't just extort everyone; he even abducted Auntie Krillin's daughter!"

Accusations rose one after another, the crowd seething with indignation.

Facing the surging public anger, Ye Weian stood on the steps and pressed his hand down.

The noise of the crowd gradually subsided, and everyone looked up at the lord's illegitimate son who had brought them hope.

"I know how much you have suffered, but the reason this viper was able to coil around Firefall Town for so long, besides having a backer, was because he relied on the bandit group to wield violence—and even now, they still intend to use such methods to threaten you."

Ye Weian's words left the townsfolk looking at each other in confusion, not understanding what he was trying to express.

At the same time, he issued tasks to his soldiers via [Telepathy] in his mind.

(To your rear-left, the goat-bearded man in the dark gray linen shirt with a tattered leather pouch at his waist. Right now, grab him!)

The goat-bearded man had been mingling in the crowd to observe the situation, but when he saw Grumman tied up in a ball on the stage, he had intended to slip away.

Suddenly, his face changed drastically, and he instinctively tried to burrow into the depths of the crowd.

Unfortunately for him, the soldiers were already in position.

Seeing the target trying to run, two soldiers pushed aside the blocking townsfolk and, flanking him from both sides, clamped four iron-like hands onto his shoulders.

"Don't move, you bastard!" One soldier delivered a fierce strike to the man's abdomen, causing him to collapse like a shrimp before being dragged onto the stage.

"It is this man!" Ye Weian pointed at the goat-bearded man. "Does anyone recognize him?"

"I recognize him!" Someone in the crowd immediately identified him. "He is the bandit group's lieutenant, 'Goat'! Last winter, he was the one who broke into my house and stole my donkey!"

"I remember those disgusting eyes too! That day in the alley behind the tavern, he... he raped Old Pete's daughter!"

An even angrier roar erupted from the crowd.

Several family members of the victims rushed up with red eyes, punching and kicking the limp, mud-like Goat.

Indeed, this unlucky fellow was the lieutenant "Goat" who had been the first to slip away during the initial attack.

After escaping, he had hurried back to Firefall Town to report the news, only to find he was a step too late.

Gray Crow had been abducted by Ye Weian beforehand, and since this had not yet been discovered, the others had assumed Gray Crow had left on his own.

Unable to find Gray Crow, Goat had no choice but to remain in Firefall Town and wait.

He waited and waited, but instead of Gray Crow, he waited for the return of Ye Weian.

Seeing Ye Weian preparing to seal the leather shop, this fellow had come over to gather intelligence.

He thought he had been very stealthy, but who knew he had been spotted by the minimap from the very beginning.

Ye Weian walked down the steps, looked at Goat—who was being dragged over like a dead dog—and coldly announced: "Now that the human and material evidence is conclusive, I, Ye Weian Summerstar, in the name of my father, Harandir Summerstar, declare that from this day forward, the Gray Crow Illegal Chamber of Commerce, the Grumman Bandit Group, and all their lackeys are to be completely eradicated!"

"I will bring them all to justice! There will be no leniency!"

This final act completely sealed Gray Crow's death sentence.

If anyone had previously thought the ledgers could be whitewashed through political influence, catching the bandits and their spies red-handed nailed Gray Crow directly to the pillar of shame as a traitor to the territory.

"My Lord is wise!"

"Root out these malignant tumors! Long live Firefall Territory!"

The cheers of the townspeople nearly blew the roof off the Leather Shop.

"From today on, Firefall Town is no longer a sanctuary for bandits!" Ye Wei'an waved his hand. "Cain, take them all away. The rest of you, follow me to seal the Leather Shop!"

With that, Ye Wei'an ignored the excited townspeople and the sweating Mayor Bartok behind him, leading his guards into the building.

"Renn, take some men to the cellar and load all those smuggled goods and the leather that hasn't been shipped out yet onto the carts." Once inside the shop, Ye Wei'an immediately began assigning tasks.

"My Lord, there is a lot of cargo there; our carriages might not be enough," Renn reminded him.

"Then use the Leather Shop's carriages. Remember, the entire Leather Shop is now our property."

"Yes, My Lord!"

"Harold, after you clear out the cellar, set it up as a temporary prison. You will be in charge of guarding and interrogating the prisoners we send over."

"Understood, My Lord."

"Remember to ask the Mayor for a few people to record the testimonies."

"Finally, Cain, take half the men and come with me."

For the rest of the afternoon, the residents of Firefall Town witnessed the thunderous methods of this illegitimate young master.

Ye Wei'an patrolled the town with a squad of fully armed soldiers.

Whenever a red dot appeared on the system's "mini-map," Ye Wei'an would lead his soldiers to kick down the door, whether it was a private residence, a shop, a tavern, or anywhere else.

"Gate of Opening!" Renn kicked open the door to an ordinary house.

The Gray Crow thugs hiding in the vegetable cellar didn't even have time to react before they were dragged out by the soldiers like chicks.

"That's 'Quick-Hand' Jack! The most ruthless debt collector under Gray Crow!" The watching townspeople burst into laughter and applause.

"This tavern, that waitress wiping the table." Amidst the gasps of the patrons, the soldiers hauled out a girl who looked as fragile as a reed.

With every arrest, cheers erupted from the surrounding townspeople. Gray Crow's informants were usually like rats in the gutter, watching every merchant who dared to resist, and everyone hated them to the bone.

Of course, there was no shortage of sophistry during the arrests, especially from those informants who had never been exposed.

The Drunkard and the Lady tavern.

Ye Wei'an walked straight to the bar, pointed at a waitress wiping a glass, and said indifferently, "Take her."

"My Lord! I'm innocent! I'm just a part-timer, I don't know anything!" Seeing two burly soldiers approach, the waitress's eyes reddened, and she wept like a flower in the rain.

Many kind-hearted diners nearby showed expressions of pity.

Ye Wei'an didn't waste words and directly used a spell.

[Charm Person].

In her eyes, the once-terrifying Ye Wei'an suddenly became incredibly kind and trustworthy, as if he were a long-lost relative.

"I know you're afraid that Gray Crow will silence you," Ye Wei'an promised in a gentle tone, "but as long as you tell me the tasks Gray Crow gave you, I guarantee no one will hurt you. If you are afraid of retaliation from people in town, I can arrange for you to live elsewhere."

The waitress's eyes instantly turned hazy.

She was not a professional commercial spy, and her psychological defenses were as fragile as window paper in the face of the spell. Before Ye Wei'an could even ask in detail, she spilled everything:

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you! Lord Gray Crow... no, that bastard made me watch the boss's ledgers so he could set a trap to get the boss into trouble, and then he could take control of the tavern!"

As soon as these words were out, the diners who had previously sympathized with her gasped in shock. The waitress suddenly snapped out of it, her face turning deathly pale as she collapsed to the floor.

"Take her away." Ye Wei'an didn't even look at her, turning to walk out of the tavern.

Whether it was a clerk bribed in a bakery or a thug hiding in a haystack, as long as they appeared within the range of Ye Wei'an's mini-map, none were spared.

Every time a hidden "worm" was dragged out, the nearby townspeople, who had suffered so much bullying, would erupt into thunderous cheers.

As he interrogated them along the way, more crimes were unearthed.

"So that fire last year that bankrupted the Underwood family was done by Gray Crow's men!"

"He even forcibly monopolized the town's salt by threatening all the shipping firms!"

Although everyone knew that Gray Crow held absolute power and had done many bad things, because they rarely robbed openly and mostly used indirect means, ordinary people didn't feel the harm deeply.

But as many things were brought to light, they realized just how much of their own interests had been "stolen" by Gray Crow.

There were also local merchants and celebrities who had collaborated with Gray Crow; to avoid being liquidated, they pushed all the blame onto him.

Regarding this, Ye Wei'an chose to turn a blind eye.

This place belonged to the Summerstar Family, not his own territory.

Everything he did was to substantiate the charges against Gray Crow; there was no need to offend too many people.

He might still need these people in the future.

By evening, the gray network that had belonged to Gray Crow in Firefall Town had completely disintegrated.