Chapter 53: Burn It All Down!

Chapter 53: Burn It All Down!

“Is there still no news yet?” Senator Vernier propped up her glasses.

Looking at the time, the envoy they had dispatched to the Eastern Romain Empire should have returned with good news for now.

Yes, good news. Vernier thought that her maneuver was flawless.

The Eastern Romain Empire would be foolish to turn against them now. Not only would they be surrounded on all fronts, but they would lose their sea imports too. That was not a blow a nation that had just started looking up could bear.

Even if Constantin XI wanted to put on a tough front, the nobles would be violently opposed to it. If pushed too far, the nobles might even rebel and drive him out.

As for the Khitans, they had no ships to get to them, and they had confiscated a huge chunk of their fortune.

This confiscated fortune would become an important chip for them to test the Khitans’ bottom line bit by bit, and eventually...

The thought of monopolizing the Khitans’ trade made Vernier tremble in excitement, as she knew huge money could be made from the Khitans’ trade. Even becoming their middlemen was massive!

This accomplishment was enough to propel her house to greatness!

“I have a report!” A profusely sweating messenger arrived outside.

“What is it?” Vernier put down her accounting book and impassively asked.

“I-I...” The messenger stuttered, struggling to get a word out.

“Get to it!” Vernier frowned in displeasure.

“Let me do the talking.”

An old man suddenly walked in from outside.

“Envoy?”

Vernier recognized the old man; the latter was the Venetian envoy to Athens. But what is he doing here?

“Senato...” The envoy had a tired look that made him look a decade older. “There has been a mishap in our plans.”

He proceeded to share a series of shocking, terrible news with Vernier.

“What?! The Khitan Caesar killed our envoy?! Not only so, but he also massacred nearly all of the nobles in Thessaloniki?! Does he not need to find a legitimate reason to kill the nobles?!

“Isn’t the Romain emperor afraid of us locking down the sea routes to his cities, blocking their supply of rations and starving his people?”

“Let’s put aside the fact that the Romain emperor has secured a substantial amount of rations from the Ottomains’ warehouses,” the provincial commander said, “Even we don’t care about the Romains. What makes you think that the Khitan Caesar, someone who has little respect for life, would care about the Romains’ livelihood?”

“...”

There was something that the provincial commander had neglected to mention.

At the Khitan Caesar’s inconceivable rate of advancement, even if we lock down the sea routes, the chances are that we’ll crumble before the Romains starve to death.

“...” Vernier bit her lips.

At this point, she had to concede that she had made a grievous mistake here. Not only had Venice’s pressure failed to force the Khitans to bend their knees, but it had even compelled them to draw their blades.

She could already imagine all of Venice’s colonies in the Balkans being razed into ashes; their ports reduced to smithereens, and their ships smashed into shattered planks.

The blood twin-headed eagle truly sparked fear everywhere it went!

【My host, how many Venetian properties have you invested in?】

System 12345 came online with a yawn.

【Tsk. The feed is still stuck here. This crappy latency is going to be the death of me!】

【Woah, you’re making swift progress!】

To System 12345’s amazement, Shu Yichao had moved faster than it could have imagined. Coincidentally, the screen suddenly jumped to the scene of Shu Yichao galloping across the plains, as if he was in a rush to get to the next city.

【Aiyo, look at my host! So handsome and hardworking! You traveled to so many places in such a short time. I’m guessing that the Venetians must be awed by your generosity!】

【Ehehehe...】

【Hmm? That’s weird. My host, you don’t seem to have built up a favorable relationship with the Venetian merchants.】

System 12345 waited for a long time, but to its confusion, some of the information it was looking for failed to appear.

【Some of them harbor hostility toward you... but on the bright side, Vernier’s interest in you has been shooting to the moon! You’re making good progress on the whole.】

【At this rate, we might just be able to conquer our first target!】