Palermo is relatively small, only one fifth of the City of Vera, plus no traffic jams, it only takes about 20 minutes to go from its north to its south.
Upon entering the outskirts of the city, life quickly changed. Lots of farmland on each side of the road, getting wider and wider as you get further from the city. The road is quite small, only able to accommodate one car on each side.
Arthur focused on watching the tv, only occasionally glancing around while Amanda seemed to enjoy pampering him, continuing to feed him be it peanuts or other snacks. Even when he wanted a drink, she was happy to help him.
Time passed quietly, feeling pretty fast. After about an hour, the van came to a road beside which was a lake. The lake is about 500 meters wide and more than a kilometer long.
On the other side of the road, there are small hills covered with grass. Many set up camp there. Across the lake, on the other hand, there are many goats big enough to almost the size of a cow. They have a pair of long, sinuous horns. Some fight by banging their heads, obviously with the aim of attracting the e-goats.
"That is Goat Village," Amanda said to Arthur.
Further away from where the goats were gathered, there were many ancient houses and it was not a lonely place. Even from afar, you could see the crowds, it looked like a lot of people had come to the village for some unknown reason.
The van had to circle the lake to get to the village, so it took a few more minutes to get there.
As they got closer to the village, they met other cars that were also going there.
Arthur glanced at the people in the cars, most of whom looked strong and cold-eyed. They were not always soldiers but it is certain that they were a fighting people and may have killed.
"I understand now!" Arthur smiled faintly.
Amanda who knew what he was thinking replied "Don't look at this place is just a village, but the battles here are broadcast on the dark web with very expensive access fees. The money that went to the boss is hard to calculate."
"Is the boss the mafia here? And are the mercenaries the boss's subordinates?" asked Arthur.
"The answer to both is no." Amanda shook her head. "Who is the boss, I also don't know, even my friends who know a lot of information don't know either."
"That was surprising," said Arthur.
"Indeed, it is difficult to predict who he is, and the fact that he can run a business like this is proof that he has the ability.
"As for those mercenaries, they stay here only to show the people who hired them that they are strong so they can live comfortably here other than that they like this place. Well, maybe they know who's the boss."
Not long after, the car finally stopped in a large courtyard beside the village. Arthur and Amanda immediately stood up and got out of the car. The latter put on her coat again.
Aldo and Mario got out after the car engine died. The former couldn't help but scrutinize Amanda from head to toe.
"Did you enjoy the trip, Mrs. Isabel?" he asked with a strange smile.
Amanda was still pretty tidy, but of course, there were a few spots that looked disheveled whether it be her hair or her clothes, something that would not appear unless she had made some strange movements.
The question didn't bother Amanda, she seemed more relaxed because she was getting used to it after a few kisses.
"Wait here until we come back," she said, handing each of them several 100 Euro bills, which of course made them smile happily.
Arthur and Amanda go to the village. Apparently, among the houses in the village, quite a number of them were bars, some were low quality inns but had very expensive rents.
The villagers looked simple, like any other farming villager. Only, they had different gazes, those were not the gazes of farmers or commoners, but the gazes of people who had seen enough of the realities of life.
"Yoo Amanda, what's a little girl like you doing in a place like this?" Suddenly someone called Amanda's name. It was a pot-bellied middle-aged man, accompanied by a beautiful, tall, blonde-haired woman. Her rosy red lips plus her slim waist like a guitar curve make people easily conclude that she is a model.
Seeing the middle-aged man, Amanda immediately looked irritated. With a sneering expression, she said, "even my father never commented on where I went, you're not my family and friends, then what criteria do you have for making such comments?"
For a moment, the middle-aged man's face froze at Amanda's words. The woman by his side even opened her mouth, realizing why she was just a small model who needed to accompany her boss to maintain her existence while Amanda was the director of a large company.
Of course, the middle-aged man calmed down pretty quickly. He cleared his throat and said, "I'm certainly not that type, but this place is different, I think I need to speak my mind even if we're not friends or family, this is the responsibility of an older generation to a younger generation."
He glanced at Arthur after saying that, and he couldn't help but be surprised as he concluded that he was still a high school student or a first semester student at most.
"Of course I know that you have different tastes," said the middle-aged man and looked at Amanda again. "However, he is still too young, what would his parents say if they found out their son was watching a fight to the death in a lawless place?"
Speaking of which, he tried to use a sage tone, something that actually sounded forced, indicating that it wasn't his style.
"Are you talking about a place without laws?" Arthur suddenly asked so the man looked at him again.
He was slightly confused by the question but still nodded in response.
Right after that, Arthur stepped towards him while swinging his palm at his face and said, "then that means I can slap your face directly!"
BANG!
His palm landed on his fat-filled cheek. It went flat while his head was pushed down until it hit the ground.
"Ahhh..." The model accompanying him almost fell down with him as they held hands.