Free Web NovelChapter 394: Chapter 250: "I’m Going to Teach Them a Good Lesson
"Since you asked today, I thought I’d mention it."
"But it seems you know him already, and perhaps have even done business together. It was presumptuous of me to share a piece of information with so little value."
Fang Zhen thought for a moment. freewebnøvel.com
That explained it.
Tang Xiaojuan had indeed kept the matter of Fang Zhen selling gold jewelry to Chen Baokun from the Yu Le Gold Store. Yao Xiang must have thought the transaction went smoothly today, and since Fang Zhen had asked, he just shared what was essentially public knowledge.
You could say the information had value, and you could also say it didn’t.
Still, if Yao Xiang hadn’t mentioned the connection to Chen Baokun, Fang Zhen wouldn’t have known about it.
So it was valuable to Fang Zhen after all.
"Alright, I’ll look into it when I have the chance. Thanks," Fang Zhen said.
"Haha, General Manager Fang, you’re too kind. Such a trivial piece of information is hardly worth such politeness," Yao Xiang said, though he looked quite pleased.
Fang Zhen said his goodbyes to Yao Xiang. The transaction was complete, and two security guards helped him carry the four leather cases filled with silver bars downstairs to his car.
Fang Zhen drove back home.
...
A little after three, Fang Zhen finished all his preparations, stored the silver bars and everything else in his sub-space, and then put on his full plate armor again before stepping into the Light Gate in his living room.
After a slight daze, he reappeared in Ashton Territory.
Fang Zhen used the crystal bone to summon his Red Hare Warhorse and quickly rode back toward the location of Viscount Keton’s army.
The Red Hare Horse was exceptionally magnificent. Since it didn’t need fodder and never grew tired, it was no exaggeration to say it could cover hundreds of miles a day.
By evening, Fang Zhen had returned to Viscount Keton’s Territory.
As he neared the army’s encampment, Fang Zhen found a relatively open clearing in the woods. After choosing a spot, he used his consciousness to sense the coordinates of his sub-space.
A black vortex to the sub-space appeared, continuously spitting out all sorts of supplies.
Fang Zhen discovered that the sub-space was somewhat different from the material world. Gravity didn’t exist within it, but he could simulate its effects. Which way was up and which way was down was defined entirely by his consciousness.
This was a great feature, as it made unloading the supplies much more convenient.
The supplies in the sub-space were quickly emptied out.
After covering the supplies with a tarp, Fang Zhen mounted his horse again and headed for the military camp to find Ottis and the others to come get them.
「Over an hour later.」
Ottis, Finn, Tahar, Mansa, and the others arrived at the place where Fang Zhen had left the supplies.
When they arrived with their soldiers and saw the supplies once again piled up like a small mountain, Mansa and the others were shocked, even though they had seen it before.
For Mansa, Ottis, and the others, no matter how many times they saw it, they would always be shocked.
New ideas and concepts weren’t all that surprising, since they were intangible. But to see solid, tangible goods and supplies manifest out of thin air was truly astonishing.
As always, Fang Zhen quite enjoyed their shock.
"Do you... Do you perhaps worship some kind of deity, like a god of food and supplies?"
Seeing all the supplies, Mansa stared wide-eyed for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out that sentence.
Fang Zhen laughed when he heard this.
’This Elder Mage isn’t half bad; he hasn’t lost his sense of humor. And it seems he’s an atheist, able to joke about the gods.’
Fang Zhen didn’t explain. freēwebnovel.com
"I’ve solved the supply issue. That’s one less problem."
"What about the matter I ordered? The venue for the nobles who will be visiting, is it ready?"
His gaze swept over Keton, Mansa Mage, and Ottis.
Mansa and Keton turned to look at Ottis.
For this arrangement with the nobles, Ottis was acting as the primary host and organizer.
"It’s almost ready," Ottis said.
"My lord, we have temporarily borrowed the Tade Church in Viscount Keton’s Territory. It can accommodate two hundred people, and the venue has been arranged according to your requirements. But what exactly are you planning to do?"
In the end, Ottis couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked Fang Zhen.
Ottis continued, speculating, "The venue you had us arrange is a bit like a hall for preaching. There’s a lectern for a speaker and seats below. It’s been set up according to your instructions, and soldiers will seal the area so the nobles can’t enter or leave."
"Are you perhaps planning to preach a sermon?"
Fang Zhen thought for a moment and said, "In a sense, yes. Just go do your job and don’t worry about it too much."
Ottis was confused, but he still did as Fang Zhen instructed.
"Several nobles have already arrived and are staying in Viscount Keton’s Territory. By tomorrow afternoon, most of them should be here," Mansa added.
Fang Zhen nodded.
His plan was actually very simple, but there was no need to explain it to his subordinates.
Fang Zhen had a two-pronged approach.
The first part of his plan was to use the same method he’d used to win over Count Quentin.
To use "incentives," the Golden Mountain and Silver Sea plan, to compel these nobles to obey him.
But there was a problem with this plan. It required a large amount of capital. Even if Fang Zhen could get that much silver in the real world—even industrial-grade silver—it would be rather inconvenient and very time-consuming.
But the silver was just an enticement; he had another method.
The other method was his violent hypnosis and persuasion abilities.
On the battlefield, Fang Zhen had already sensed that these skills of his could be combined.
For example, by vibrating his vocal cords with source power, he could produce a thunderous, extremely persuasive voice. And on top of that, he also had a permanent, passive persuasion skill.
With this as a foundation, if he were to add his violent hypnosis—channeling it through his words during a speech instead of through eye contact—and combine that with his Source-Powered Voice and persuasion ability...
With that three-part combo, he estimated that few people in this world could resist.
The reason Fang Zhen had arranged the church venue was to create an atmosphere akin to a seminar held by a motivational speaker.
Then, brainwashing and hypnotizing those nobles would be a very simple matter.
Countless people in the real world use this method, even without Extraordinary Power. It’s just that the most well-known applications aren’t exactly positive.
For example, pyramid schemes.
Even pyramid schemes have different styles.
The "northern" style involves locking you up and beating you into submission.
The "southern" style is much softer. They don’t restrict your physical freedom; they just brainwash you. Through constant indoctrination, they convince you that you’ll get rich by following them. Then, you willingly go and trick your own friends and family into it.
If you get brainwashed, your whole family can be drained of its finances.
Of course, Fang Zhen disdained such illegal pyramid schemes, but he wouldn’t discard the techniques themselves. After all, when used for positive ends, the same methods become training seminars or even a form of moral instruction.
In a sense, education itself is a form of hypnosis.
Think about it: when a teacher stands at a lectern and speaks for the better part of an hour, aren’t they just constantly trying to cram knowledge into your brain? In that respect, it’s similar to hypnosis.
Even in the real world, without Extraordinary Power, this kind of public speaking holds immense influence. Here, however, Fang Zhen had his Extraordinary Abilities. He had no doubt he could thoroughly brainwash these nobles.
"I’m going to teach these nobles a good lesson," Fang Zhen said with a smile after dismissing Mansa and the others.
