Capítulo 964: Chapter 962: The Manor
“Are we friends?” A sneer appeared on Annie’s face, which then turned cold. She stared directly at Claire and said, “No, we are not friends. People of the Pompo Family do not have friends.
Each of you considers us, the Pompo Family, to be the tumor of Saint Louis City, brutal rulers, greedy profit-takers. In truth, we are exactly that. How can we have friends? All we have are enemies or… potential enemies.”
As she spoke, Annie stood up, step by step approaching Claire, staring into her eyes and asked, “I want to ask you now, are you preparing to be a potential enemy of the Pompo Family, or an outright enemy?”
Claire widened her eyes, a bit intimidated by Annie’s aura, and with a slightly pale face she stood up, retreating step by step towards the door and said, “Annie, you misunderstood me, I just wanted your help, not to provoke you. Please… don’t be angry, take your time with your meal, I have some things to attend to, I’ll take my leave.”
After speaking, Claire quickly slipped out the door and disappeared.
A few seconds after Claire left, Annie walked back to her seat and sat down heavily, with an expression that seemed volatile, as if she was a powder keg ready to explode.
Brando initially wanted to say a few pleasing words, but seeing Richard to the side, unresponsive as if he were wooden, he opened his mouth but swallowed back what he wanted to say.
Unexpectedly, Annie spoke up.
It was partially directed at Richard and Brando, and partially to herself.
Looking at a mass of empty air in front of her, Annie slowly said, “I have known for a long time that the Pompo Family has a poor reputation in Saint Louis City, much like the evil characters in some knight novels.
But in order to survive, the Pompo Family must act this way. Because if there’s any weakness, any retreat, people will leap forward to challenge us, trying to defeat us and seize the wealth our family has accumulated.”
“Survival of the fittest,” Richard suddenly said.
“Huh?” Annie was visibly surprised when she heard Richard speak, giving him a deep look, “I thought you were mute, but what you said… survival of the fittest, does hold some truth. Yes, it’s indeed survival of the fittest.
This world is ; the weak are destined to be devoured by the strong. To avoid being devoured, you must devour others. It’s cruel but also very real. That’s why our Pompo Family deals so harshly with other forces in Saint Louis City, constantly expanding ourselves.
But the problem is, the further down this path we go, the stronger we become, the more envy we provoke, the more enemies we gain. To prevent everyone from uniting against us, we must use enough authority to intimidate a crowd of cowards; we must be evil.
I think, one day, our Pompo Family will be retaliated against for our actions, just like when I was assassinated yesterday. But this is the only path to follow…”
By the end, Annie’s voice grew lower and lower, almost so only she could hear it.
After a few minutes of silence, Annie let out a long breath, her expression returning to its cold Miss Annie Pompo demeanor, and she glanced at Brando with pursed lips and said, “Hey, go tell the people in the restaurant to make another table of dishes and deliver it.” ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝘯𝘦𝘵
“Huh?” Brando was stunned, looking at the dishes on the table in the room—indeed, they had gotten a bit cold after the delay caused by the man in purple, Claire, but they were still edible. Most importantly, these dishes were quite expensive.
“What about these dishes?” Brando swallowed and stared at the plates on the table.
“What do you want to do with them?” Annie asked.
“I’m not hungry.” Brando answered almost without thinking, then realized, hesitantly adding, “I mean, I actually don’t know what to do.”
During the conversation, Brando’s stomach ungraciously made a “gur-glug” sound.
The atmosphere was a little awkward.
“I’ll go tell the restaurant people to prepare another table and bring it up,” Brando said, quickly leaving the room.
Annie watched Brando leave, blinked, and said nothing.
Although she occasionally felt sentimental, she was certainly not weak, nor kind.
She was simply herself—Annie Pompo, the cold-hearted Miss Pompo.
In the blink of an eye, an hour later.
Dusk had set in, and Annie, Brando, and Richard appeared in a four-wheeled carriage, traveling outside Saint Louis City toward an unknown direction.
Annie sat on the innermost cushion of the carriage compartment, with a food box beside her. The food box had five layers, more than half a meter high, exquisitely designed with excellent insulation properties, containing the dishes Annie had Brando instruct the restaurant to prepare anew—after the dishes were made, Annie didn’t choose to eat them herself but had the restaurant pack them into the food box, brought them onto the carriage, and traveled to this location.
As for why, Brando asked with curiosity, receiving a “gentle” reply from Annie.
“None of your business, shut up!”
The carriage continued onward under the coachman’s direction, finally stopping in front of an estate gate.
Richard looked over and, through the vague night, noticed the estate was somewhat dilapidated, with only a few stone buildings standing. However, its area was enormous, about four to five times the area of his Blue Lake Estate. Inside, there was a real lake and a vast stretch of lush woods, occasionally with wild rabbits coming and going, like a fenced wild animal park.
Richard was puzzled as Annie lifted the food box and got off the carriage. Just as her feet touched the ground, a bright red light suddenly flashed in the distance from the darkness, followed by a loud explosion.
It seemed like an explosion occurred.
The coachman appeared flustered.
Brando immediately jumped off the carriage to protect Annie, who remained calm, and vigilantly looked towards the source of the red light and explosion sound.
Richard also jumped off the carriage, looking in the same direction, slightly squinting his eyes.
However, Annie remained composed, glanced at Brando, Richard, and the coachman, and said, “No need to panic, they are not enemies.”
“What is it then?” Brando asked.
“It’s a Magic Knight camp stationed on one side of the estate. The sound earlier probably came from their training,” Annie explained.
“Is that so.” Brando nodded, suddenly understanding.
Richard thought more deeply: A Magic Knight camp, stationed outside the city? There’s nothing strange about being stationed outside, but being stationed near an almost abandoned estate is a bit problematic. After all, the estate obviously cannot provide much sustenance, and transporting from elsewhere wouldn’t be too convenient, slightly peculiar.
While he thought so, Annie carried the food box and walked towards the estate.
Brando and Richard prepared to follow, but the next moment, they heard Annie say, “You two wait here with the coachman, keep an eye on the carriage, I’ll just go in alone, be out in a moment.”
“Hmm?” Brando and Richard were puzzled.
But Annie offered no explanation, striding into the estate gates.