Lushan City, Heaven-Defending Tower.
Compared to the scale of Rice Leaf Mountain City, it’s noticeably less, but it’s still well-maintained. After all, fundamentally, this castle was prepared by Saito Dosan as a retirement place. Even if he himself doesn’t care, the people below him dare not treat it carelessly.
Because this is the retirement place Saito Dosan chose for himself, the city currently has no City Lord, or rather the City Lord is Saito Dosan himself, it’s just that the Viper has not yet moved in... So, holding Saito Dosan’s handwritten assignment, the three of them managed to temporarily take over the highest power center of Lushan City without much difficulty.
They did not encounter any obstacles.
"Because the City Lord is originally Lord Dao San, and before Lord Dao San comes over, it’s originally vacant..." Fujikichiro explained, "If we couldn’t even get in at the beginning, that wouldn’t be obstruction, it would be open defiance."
This reasoning...
Gu Mo stood in the lookout of the Heaven-Defending Tower, gazing at the distant scenery, overlooking the city below, once again regretting that his phone had long run out of battery... If he’d known, he should’ve brought a power bank, but considering the time they’d be here, one or two might not have been enough anyway.
Carrying more wouldn’t be realistic, especially since if the system doesn’t recognize the items, they can’t be placed in the inventory, and he certainly couldn’t carry something weighing a dozen pounds everywhere he went.
"However, we will definitely face obstacles later on, even if those people respect our current status and speak nicely on the surface, secretly, who knows what they might do..." Fujikichiro continued with a bitter smile beside him. He knew very well that even in a small village, where there aren’t really factions, there would still be multiple different interest groups.
Families with more members would naturally try to control the village’s interests and gain greater influence, which invisibly would damage the interests of those families with fewer members, so let alone a city much larger than a small town, and Lushan City is not a newly built city.
The local powers, the existing interest groups, have developed along with this city to its present state, an integral part of Lushan City, and it’s already a tangled web of Dragons and Vipers.
"Feigning compliance while acting otherwise, it’s quite normal, such things happen all the time, because everyone has their own thoughts."
Gu Mo lightly nodded, knowing that Monkey was talking about just this matter, though his tone was quite calm, his gaze looked down at the city below strangely, as if he was pondering something.
"Mainly we are not Lord Dao San, lacking prestige, to accomplish something, we still need the cooperation of these local guys." Fujikichiro laughed, trying to speak as optimistically as possible: "If we can convince them well, ensuring it won’t harm their own interests, then there shouldn’t be a problem..."
After all, it comes down to the four words of interest and stance—
These people weren’t just opposing for the sake of opposing; they mainly feared that their interests would be harmed by the changes. As long as concessions are made in this area, promises given, and those who may have stood opposed are turned into allies...
Then the resistance could turn into assistance. That’s what Fujikichiro thought, and it’s not about the limitations of any era, because whether past or future, this world operates according to this rule.
"Ah, there’s no rush..." Gu Mo nodded, but seemed somewhat indifferent, neither opposing nor agreeing, as if he had other ideas.
Monkey opened his mouth to say something, but wisely shut up in time. He carefully observed the expression of the person in front of him, feeling that perhaps the other had some plan, so there was no need to urge any further. Saying too much tends to be annoying.
Besides, they had only just arrived today, and taking over the management of Lushan City can’t be rushed. It’s unrealistic to expect immediate success without understanding anything.
"Ahem, then Brother Gu Mo, should I go get some intel now?"
With that thought, Fujikichiro collected his previous thoughts and tried to look as friendly as possible, though his face inevitably displayed a bit of mischievousness.
"No hurry, it’s quite late today, go tomorrow." Gu Mo looked over Monkey from head to toe, waved his hand, and sighed internally.
Coming from a later society where everyone is equal, or at least supposedly and mostly, he was sensitive to this matter, able to detect whether someone was intentionally arrogant or lowering their posture.
Perhaps Monkey himself was accustomed to the survival rules of this era and accepted this basic fact, so he didn’t feel anything wrong, actively conforming to this set of rules and striving for opportunities.
Sycophantic, pandering, cautiously seizing every opportunity to stand out, yet even having gained opportunities, they remain apprehensive, fearing reversals before things are set, repeatedly confirming while fearing to annoy others, thus subtly probing for reassurance.