Chapter 62: The Great Bandit of the Sky

Who says there are no bandits in the city? Damn it, that’s complete nonsense! Bandits don’t distinguish between the city and the countryside. Look at that hunchback, his eyes are clearly green with greed, always prying into who has the most money...

The fat man was on the verge of tears.

That despicable fellow not only scared him half to death but also took a few pitiful silver notes from his embrace before leaving, not even sparing a few pieces of loose silver.

And he had the audacity to call it "upholding justice and doing good deeds." As he left, he even said, "I’m spending your money to help you get rid of disasters and troubles. Don’t take it to heart. I have a kind heart."

Grandma, if everyone were as 'kind-hearted' as you, there would be no one left in this world...

Bro, I gave you so many leads. You can go and uphold justice with anyone you want, even those pretty girls. I won’t be merciful, but just don’t come to me. I’m really not rich...

The fat man prayed as he walked.

Chu Yang left the city that afternoon and first went to the mines outside the city. He wanted to buy some steel, but when he got there, he found out that the 300,000 silver notes given by Wu Yunliang, though a lot, were not enough for steel.

Sorry, we have steel control in our country of Iron Cloud!

Chu Yang painfully spent 10,000 silver notes to grease the wheels and finally bought a large amount of steel at a high price from the ore processing workshop. By then, more than half of the 300,000 silver notes were gone. After just one night, Chu Yang looked at the small piece of refined iron in front of him, which was only as thick and long as his arm, and was on the verge of tears.

With no other choice, he invested the remaining silver. In a blink, he went from a millionaire to a pauper, but it was still a drop in the bucket. Chu Yang’s eyebrows furrowed, and his anger boiled.

Money, the key is money.

Can a single coin force a hero to his knees? That’s a joke to Lord Chu. A single coin can force a fool to his knees, but if you want to force me, Lord Chu, to my knees? Hehehe...

Chu Yang’s eyes glowed with a wolf-like green light.

The next night, several wealthy households in Iron Cloud City were suddenly robbed!

The thief was incredibly skilled, moving swiftly in the dark, entering and exiting houses, truly robbing a hundred households in one night. In the morning, the wealthy merchants, seeing their empty treasuries, fainted one after another, unable to catch their breath.

Even if a million rats entered a granary at the same time, it wouldn’t be this clean! Rats entering a granary would at least leave some crumbs, but these merchants’ treasuries were completely empty, echoing when stepped on.

Dust flew on the ground...

All the gold, silver, and treasures were gone, leaving nothing behind. Even a rat entering would have to leave with tears in its eyes. How ruthless and thorough was this thief?

None of the guards or caretakers heard a thing, but everything was gone...

One of the wealthy merchants, Li Laocai, had hidden silver notes under his pillow. Seeing the empty warehouse, he felt some comfort, thinking he had kept some private money. But when he checked the silver notes, he was knocked unconscious on the spot. When he woke up, hundreds of thousands of silver notes were gone.

In the dim light, he only saw a hunchback...

In each wealthy merchant’s warehouse, a message was left, showing the bandit’s straightforwardness. It read: "I do not change my name or hide my identity. I am the one who robs the rich to help the poor, Ma Tuozi of Five-Flower Mountain!"

It had a heroic and bold air.

The next morning, the drum outside the government office was beaten so loudly and continuously that dozens of fat, wealthy merchants, with tears on their faces, almost went crazy, hitting the drum and crying. The square in front of the government office was filled with wailing.

The sound was so mournful, like the cries of apes in the deep mountains, making people shed tears.

But in Iron Cloud City, from officials to commoners, everyone watched coldly, and some even set off firecrackers in glee...

The officials registered the complaints as a matter of routine and told the wealthy merchants to wait for news.

The main reason was that these guys were despicable. They were arrogant, bullying the weak, and refused to contribute to the army when the Crown Prince raised funds at the beginning of the year, claiming they had no surplus and could barely make ends meet...

If they could barely make ends meet, how could they lose hundreds of thousands of silver notes and tens of thousands of gold pieces? You guys are really talented...

Only losing money? They deserved it! How did you not steal their private parts? Now they expect us to recover their losses... Even if we did, we would say we didn’t.

It would be better to use the money for the army.

However, the information about the capture of "Ma Tuozi of Five-Flower Mountain" was immediately spread far and wide. No matter what, this extremely vicious and greedy bandit had to be caught!

Robbing dozens of wealthy households in one night, how many accomplices must he have? If left unchecked, it would cause endless trouble.

Thus, the law enforcers of Iron Cloud City were busy. In a few days, they caught many petty thieves, but not Ma Tuozi...

Outside the government office, in a corner, a well-dressed fat man trembled as he watched the crying wealthy merchants, his eyes almost popping out, his lips quivering, his face pale. He looked like someone who had sat on a hard bench for a long time, with no blood in his face.

Heaven... This, this was really done by Ma Tuozi! I swear... Because the people he stole from were all the ones I told him about... not a single one was missed...

My goodness!

What a fierce bandit.

Fortunately, I was caught first. If someone else had been caught, I would be one of the unlucky ones...

To be honest, the reason Chu Yang’s actions were so precise was entirely due to these stingy wealthy merchants. The fat man had a significant role! Because this guy was somewhat shameless and low, and his friends were all of the same ilk.

At that time, under Chu Yang’s threat, to save his life, who cared about friends? Of course, there were some honest and public-spirited people who were very wealthy. But the fat man usually didn’t get along with them, and they didn’t look up to him. In a panic, he naturally mentioned all the people he knew best...

Hearing the cries, the fat man covered his ears and, turning around, waddled home... Damn it, now I’m one of the richest in those people’s eyes, hahaha. If they still look down on me for being poor, now, hmm, who among you is richer than me?...

Thank you, Ma Tuozi...

Three days later, Chu Yang, with a messy head, grandly opened his business on a bustling street just two streets away from the Crown Prince’s residence.

It was a three-story building. Yesterday, it was a teahouse, but today it suddenly changed. Three teams responsible for moving and construction worked day and night for a whole day.

The original teahouse owner, though puzzled, didn’t ask any questions when he saw the golden gold. He moved out quickly and smoothly.

Joking, his teahouse, including the building, staff, and equipment, was worth only 50 to 60 gold pieces. The other party generously offered 200 gold pieces and didn’t want anything inside. He could easily find another place to reopen with the same staff. Not accepting would be foolish...

So, this place now belonged to Chu. It was under the jurisdiction of the now wealthy and powerful Mr. Chu.