The steam train, which was supposed to arrive at the station at two o'clock in the afternoon and set off again at 2:30, showed no sign of arriving at the station until nightfall. The mechanical clock in the waiting room of the station just struck twenty times, which meant that it was already night time.

It's eight o'clock.

Just now, the waiter in the waiting room of the station came to inform the station master that the train should arrive at the station in half an hour, and informed the third time why the train was so seriously delayed.

It turned out that a sudden heavy rain in the Guerai hilly area in the south caused a mudslide. Several sections of the railway tracks were covered by mudslides, requiring a lot of manpower to clean up, which was why there were such serious delays.

Fortunately, all the road blockages have passed, and the train will arrive at the station soon.

When purchasing tickets, Nelson took advantage of his newly acquired jazz privileges and purchased four tickets for the VIP carriage.

According to the knighting ceremony, Nelson must take the knighthood letter, register with the House of Lords in Port Sète, and go through some cumbersome knighthood ceremonies before he can be officially knighted. However, the knighthood letter can also be regarded as the status of a knight to a certain extent.

With the certificate, you can obtain some noble privileges of the knight in advance.

With the VIP carriage tickets, the group of four naturally waited in the comfortable VIP waiting room. Although the delayed train was still annoying, compared to the people waiting in the ordinary waiting room and waiting hall, this place was simply paradise.

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Not only are drinks and fruits provided, but there is also a band playing some soothing music. In the evening, bathrooms are also arranged so that people in the VIP waiting room can freshen up and use hot water to relieve some anxiety.

Leo also freshened up a little and cleaned up the industrial dust that had stuck to his body during the day. After returning to the VIP waiting room, he asked the waiter for a few copies of today's newspapers and started reading them.

Soon Leo saw two items of interest. The first was that the war between the Kingdom of England and the Empire of France intensified, creating a state of anxiety in the Bretey area. There were signs that the troops directly under Duke Devin had taken control.

The reason for joining the frontline troops of the French Empire was to jointly resist the invasion of enemy countries.

Seeing this news, Leo couldn't help but be glad that he didn't foolishly retreat to the occupied area of ​​the Kingdom of England in the south. Otherwise, he would definitely be sent to the battlefield again, and he wouldn't be able to gain as much as he did now.

Another piece of news is from a local newspaper in Lanxi. The content is that the local business federation has reached a series of agreements with the Workers' Mutual Aid Association, including reducing daily working hours from fifteen hours to ten hours in Eastern Europe, and four hours per month.

days' rest, a 10% salary increase, inclusion of workers' compensation compensation in labor contracts, and other agreements that benefit workers.

Because he successfully negotiated these important agreements, Martin Luther, the president of the Workers' Mutual Aid Association, gained great popularity and was elected to the board of directors by the directors of the Chamber of Commerce and by more than half of the members of the Lanxi Municipal Council.

Entering the parliament, you can imagine that a new political star will rise.

"What is this? Has the shark escaped into the fish pond?" Leo couldn't help but sarcastically thought after reading the news carefully.

Although Leo didn't know the abilities of these board directors and members of parliament, he knew Martin's abilities very well, so it was not difficult to deduce what Martin Luther would do after entering these places. Martin Luther

It's definitely not a rising star like what the newspapers said. It's probably a man-eating shark wandering around and devouring it. It's conceivable that Lanxi or various cities in the western French continent will be bustling in the future.

"Woo~!" As a whistle sounded, a blade-shaped locomotive slowly drove into the station. The vents on the side of the car discharged a large amount of steam, shrouding the entire station. The special boarding guide from the VIP room arrived.

At the door, people in the VIP waiting room were led from the special passage to the boarding area of ​​the VIP car. After checking the tickets one by one, the flight attendants on the car helped the guests carry them, saluted them, and guided them to the corresponding car.

The other people's luggage was not heavy at all, and there were quite a lot of luggage like Leo that no one needed to carry. Only Jason's salutes were all heavy flintlock hand cannons, and it took three flight attendants to lift them into the car.

Naturally, this also cost Jason a lot of tips.

Although the tickets purchased by the four people were consecutively numbered, they were not arranged in the same carriage. For example, Leo was placed in room 5 of carriage 37, while Jason, Nelson and Catherine were placed in room 5.

We were in carriage No. 38. But they were fine, because the station sold more tickets, and passengers with later numbers could only be accommodated in the conductor's room. They would be accommodated after a carriage room was vacated.

After arriving at the room, there was no one in the other bunk in the room, but luggage was already placed on the luggage rack. The coffee in the cup on the table was still warm. I should take advantage of the parking to go for a walk, stretch my muscles, or buy something local.

Went for specialties.

Leo just instinctively observed and analyzed, and then ignored these things. He put his luggage on the luggage rack, and then took out the old French and English books that Catherine bought for him at the station bookstore.

A bilingual dictionary of French and a collection of folk novels written by a French children's writer in Old French. I lay on the bunk and read the book quietly, quickly recording and learning the pronunciation, words and grammar of Old French.

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Although modern French and Old French are both official languages ​​of the French Empire, they are not closely related.

Modern French evolved from Beirut, adding some pronunciations of ancient French to the phonetics, and later mixed with a little English, eventually forming the current French language.

But Old Faranic is derived from the Ská language in the Old Velen language family. It is one of the oldest languages. Its pronunciation is soft and changeable. It sounds like poetry is being read aloud, so some people think that Old Farnian is an aristocratic language.

, and modern French is the slang of the lower classes.

This theory of noble and inferior language spread widely, and many people were influenced by it. So much so that most of the nobles, scholars and other high-status people in the French Empire liked to write in ancient French, whether they were letters or books.

Modern French is more commonly used for conversations among ordinary people and government documents.

Just when the steam train sounded its first whistle to remind the train to start, the room door was opened, and a handsome young man with a mustache and single-frame eyes walked in.

I saw that this person was wearing lace-trimmed clothing and long boots that were very popular among French people. His behavior when walking and sitting down looked very effeminate to Leo, but looked like a French aristocrat to others.

"Leo Dodd, I should be your roommate for the next two days." Leo took the initiative to say hello, using the old French that he had just learned and was not very proficient in.

Hearing Leo's very blunt and weird-sounding Old French words, Mustache smiled, then seemed to think of something and was stunned for a moment. His eyes swept over Leo's body and saw Leo hanging on the bed.

The panier battle axes that could be easily picked up on the hook on his head made him startled. He narrowed his eyes slightly and then looked at Leo with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Do we know each other?" Leo easily sensed the abnormality in the other person's gaze, so he closed the dictionary in his hand, looked at the Panier battle ax that had attracted Mustache's attention before, and asked Mustache.

"I don't know." Mustache said in a nice voice, but what he said was not French or Old French, but English.

After hearing what the other party said, Leo sat up from the bunk, folded his hands on his chest, tilted his head slightly, looked at the other party, and said: "It seems that we should know each other, but I can be sure that I don't know you, not even."

I have seen you, but you know me. Let me guess how you know me." After saying that, he thought for a moment and said: "There is nothing to say about my experience in other places, and it is impossible for others to know it.

, so you can only know a person like me in one place, Rabbit Skin Town, right?"

When Mustache heard this, he showed a surprised expression on his face. Apparently Leo's words calmed him down.

Leo looked at the mustache and continued: "Let me guess who you are again?"

After saying that, he was silent again and said: "I went directly through the Black Forest to Lanxi, so it took a very short time. Since you know what happened in Tuskin Town, the time you left should be the latest."

Come to think of it, you should be about the same as me. If you can catch up with us crossing the Black Forest in such a short period of time, then you must have taken the continental train and detoured from the south. Very few people can take the continental train.

Rich means expensive, and you were forced to get on the bus halfway. Your identity must be extraordinary, and you appeared in Rabbit Skin Town at such a specific time, so I guess you must be Baron Maupassant, right?"

Although Leo's reasoning ability, which is like peeling off a cocoon, looks very bluffing, it is actually the result of data collection and analysis by the accessory brain system. The really crucial clue is that a nobleman was revealed on the cuffs of the mustache when he entered the door.

Heraldry. This double-headed bird coat of arms is not only famous in the French Empire, but also in other empires, because most of the people who own this coat of arms are world-famous artists, and what this coat of arms represents is

Baron de Maupassant.

"I should really send those people who collect intelligence to the mines of Katya and let them reflect on it." It was obvious that Baron Maupassant in front of him was completely frightened by Leo, his face was full of surprise, and he was used to it.

Rubbing the mustache at the corner of his mouth, he sat on the opposite bunk, looked at Leo with a smile, and said: "Leo Dodd, twenty-five years old, the owner of Dodd's blacksmith shop in Yorkshire, Kingdom of England

, it’s a pity that the management was not good, and I signed a lot of debt, so I had to join the army to pay off the debt. I have to say, Mr. Dodd, you are really good at disguising. From your information, I can’t tell that you are such a person.

Outstanding people.”

"How could you find out so clearly?" Leo said slightly surprised.

"If you want to check, there are certainly ways to find out." Baron Maupassant smiled slightly and said: "And after you escaped from the battlefield, there were too many clues left behind. Your names and units are on the military uniforms by the river.

, the owner of the herbal shop in Tuskin Town has never been a hard-spoken person."

Leo didn't show any strange expression, he just chuckled and said, "Your Excellency, Baron, a big man like you is also interested in a little man like me?"

"You are not a small person." Baron Maupassant raised his eyebrows and said: "If you can suppress Bobel, the old hunter of Rabbit Skin Town, so much that he doesn't even dare to take revenge, your reputation will spread throughout the whole Black Sea in a short time.

The area around the forest." As he spoke, he looked at the Panier tomahawk hanging on the bedside and said, "It seems that you have taken care of those guys who chased me."

"Your weapons are very useful, but they are a little short of bullets." Leo lifted his windbreaker from his waist, patted the bullet bag hanging on his belt, and said.

Leo's slightly provocative behavior made Baron Maupassant breathe a little heavier, and a look of displeasure appeared on his face. However, while he was cursing Leo for being rude, he was probably more blaming the old hunter Bober.

of incompetence.

The atmosphere in the room also became a little dull at this time.

At this time, a driving siren sounded, and a large amount of steam drifted past the window, making it impossible for people inside to see what was going on outside, and for people outside not to see what was going on inside. As the train slowly advanced, the steel

The sound of clashing and friction resounded, covering up all the surrounding sounds.

At this moment, Leo suddenly jumped up from the bunk and rushed in front of Baron Maupassant. Baron Maupassant was not slow in his movements. He drew the pistol from his waist with a very fast gun-drawing method and pointed it at Leo's head.

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It's just that Baron Maupassant didn't fire, because he saw that Leo's eyes were not on him at all, and he stretched out his hand to grab Baron Maupassant's side at an extremely fast speed, and then saw him casually drop a bullet on the side of Baron Maupassant.

He went to Baron Maupassant's bed and sat back on his own bunk.

It was only at this moment that Baron Maupassant saw that there was a bullet hole in the car window. Although the glass around the bullet hole was full of cracks, it had not completely shattered. It seemed that the speed of the bullet should be extremely fast, fast.

It can penetrate the glass without damaging the glass.

Looking at the thin and long bullet that was thrown on the bed, Baron Maupassant was frightened. Although this bullet may not be fatal to him, it is enough to cause him serious injury. In this case, he will not be able to reach Miria City.

The task would be impossible to complete.

"Thank you." With Baron Maupassant's temperament, it is very rare for him to say the word thank you. If anyone who knows him is around, they will definitely be extremely surprised.

Leo lay down on the bunk again, picked up the book, and while flipping through it, he said in a calm tone: "You're welcome, I'm just saving myself! After all, you died here, and I'm the only one here. It's hard for me."

Explain clearly."

Hearing Leo's words, Baron Maupassant raised his eyebrows habitually. If anyone who knew him saw him like this, they would definitely know that he was in a bad mood at the moment.

After a while, when the speed of the steam train began to stabilize, Baron Maupassant stood up, opened the door, and walked out of the room.
Chapter completed!