The group looked at each other, realizing that happiness is only found in comparison.
They were both ambushed by the Giant Dynasty, but while the neighboring outpost fell, they could still stand here and feel fortunate.
This is happiness!
The minor nobles exchanged bewildered glances, then huddled together and whispered, "Marquis Bolton used to play dumb, everyone thought he was a foolish marquis, but we never expected him to be so capable. I knew it! How could the Fifth Princess, who is so powerful, possibly like a pretty boy? She must have discovered Marquis Bolton's abilities early on, which is why she decided to marry him!"
Someone whispered, "The Marquis of Bolton has a bright future ahead of him. We should try to get on his good side now, otherwise we won't be able to once he rises to prominence."
After capturing the giant, the soldiers at the outpost immediately ran to Marquis Bolton's office.
Bolton had just logged off from the Superconducting World and was looking at Qing Chen: "Last night was amazing! The White Light helped me level up! They actually went to that Water Mage dungeon to electrofish. I don't know who came up with that idea, but they leveled up incredibly fast!"
Qing Chen smiled and said, "Congratulations on your promotion, Marquis."
The curtains in the office were drawn, and Bolton didn't even see what was happening outside.
Someone knocked on the door: "My Lord Marquis!"
"Come in, what is it?" Marquis Bolton asked impatiently, sitting on the sofa.
The soldier outside the door exclaimed excitedly, "Your Excellency Marquis, you are truly amazing! The nobles outside are all inviting you to come out and say a few words!"
Marquis Bolton was puzzled. "I went from F to E overnight in the superconducting world. That's impressive, but is it really necessary to go out and tell everyone about it?"
Marquis Bolton casually remarked, "This is nothing. Is this all you're capable of? Get lost, and don't bother me if you have nothing to do."
The soldiers were filled with awe. Even at this moment, Lord Bolton remained so calm and humble.
He quietly left the office and turned to gossip to everyone.
...
...
Marquis Bolton looked at Qing Chen and smiled, "You'll get used to it. As long as your status is high enough, everyone will want to flatter you."
Qing Chen didn't say anything; he silently opened the curtains.
Marquis Bolton continued, "Leveling up last night was very enjoyable, and those family members... hiccup!?"
He was halfway through his sentence when he saw the mess outside and almost fainted from fright.
His face was deathly pale.
"What...what's going on?!" Marquis Bolton exclaimed in shock.
Qing Chen explained, "The Giant Dynasty launched a surprise attack here last night... Fortunately, Marquis Bolton, you temporarily changed the location of the airships yesterday afternoon, which bought the A-class airships time to take off. Fortunately, Marquis Bolton, you ordered the Metal Storm to be inspected in advance, which prevented the base from being overwhelmed by flocks of birds. Half of the Metal Storm's ammunition bays on the city wall were originally empty. If it hadn't been inspected in advance, the wild boars and flocks of birds alone would have been enough to wipe out our entire army."
He recounted the events in detail, including every phone call he made and every order he issued in the name of the Marquis of Bolton, to prevent any oversights during future performance reviews.
Qing Chen asked, "Marquis Bolton, what were you doing before you married into this wealthy family and married the Fifth Princess?"
“I used to be a nobody actor,” the Marquis of Burton said.
Qing Chen thought to himself, no wonder he acted like a detective so convincingly during the interrogation, and he recited his lines so fluently.
I see.
This face certainly qualifies her to be an actress.
He said earnestly, "My lord, the No. 6 outpost next door has completely fallen. So you have now made a tremendous contribution, and it is the first great victory of this kingdom's expedition. Be sure to remember all the details to avoid any problems. The Fifth Princess will definitely help you with this matter. At that time, becoming a Marquis of Level 4 or Level 5 will not be a dream."
A Marquis of Rank 5 is already qualified to take charge of the central royal city garrison, the finance department, and the legislative department, which means he has truly entered the core of power in the Roosevelt Kingdom.
In fact, at this point, the 'position' of a non-royal nobleman has reached its limit. If the Marquis of Bolton performs another great service, he may be promoted to the 6th rank of Marquis, but his official position will not change. Only the number of private troops he can control, the number of slaves he can purchase, and his salary will continue to increase.
Therefore, Marquis level 5 is very important!
Marquis Bolton nodded hurriedly: "I will remember it... Butler, I really owe you a lot this time, otherwise I might have died last night and lost the merit I had earned. This time I can give you the merit. I told you that I was the one who proposed the idea of allocating airships, and you were in charge of the execution. Just this one thing is enough to promote you to citizen level 3."
Qing Chen smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Excellency Marquis. I will continue to work hard in the future."
Marquis Bolton looked at Qing Chen and felt like he had struck gold. With someone like him assisting him, he didn't have to do anything; he could achieve great things just by lying down...
In fact, Qingchen suddenly felt that being the Marquis of Bolton's head butler was incredibly convenient.
In last night's battle, if he had been a little more ruthless, Gale and his men would have been wiped out; if he had acted a little later, the Roosevelt Kingdom would have lost an outpost.
Now that he holds great power, whether someone loses more or less money is all a matter of a word or a thought.
If the Marquis of Bolton had a slightly higher status, Qing Chen could have inflicted heavy losses on the Roosevelt Kingdom with just a few words after a war.
Moreover, no one can criticize him; they might even thank him.
...
...
"My lord, we have captured six giants alive and they are already imprisoned in the base's dungeon. Would you like to take a look?" Qing Chen asked.
"Ah? I dare not go, they are so fierce!" Marquis Bolton was a little afraid.
Qingchen thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll go and take a look for you. Also, Duke Storm will arrive here in two hours. You must be well prepared and make sure he doesn't have a chance to impeach you."
“Yes, yes, don’t worry, I’ve finally got my revenge,” Marquis Bolton said. “That old bastard boasted that he would be the one to win the first battle of this expedition, and look what happened, I took it from him! Hahahaha!”
Qingchen discovered that this marquis had one advantage: regardless of whether the merits were established by himself or not, as long as they were attributed to him, he could accept them calmly and get into character.
Just then, the Marquis of Bolton's phone rang; it was Princess Five calling.
Qing Chen said, "Should I excuse myself?"
"No need, you're the hero, no need to avoid me!" Marquis Bolton answered the phone: "Hello, wife... Yes, yes, I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine. Don't worry, half of the airships at Outpost 9 can be repaired, and most of the damaged ones are civilian-grade, so the losses are actually not that great."
The Fifth Princess said on the phone, "Have your head butler answer the phone."
Marquis Bolton innocently handed the phone to Qingchen: "Quick, your sister-in-law wants you to answer the phone."
Qingchen took it: "Hello, Your Highness."
"Just call me Cassia," a clear, pleasant voice said on the phone. "Thanks to you this time, I'll remember your contribution, thank you."
"You're too kind. It's my duty. Actually, I didn't do anything special. I just checked the work according to the outpost's operating procedures," Qingchen said.
After a few seconds of silence, the Fifth Princess said, "I see your future with Bolton and I have some doubts about it. I will arrive at Outpost 9 in two days and hope to find some answers from you."
After saying that, the Fifth Princess hung up the phone.
Qing Chen was startled. This Fifth Princess was indeed a Fate Master above A-level. No wonder she had subordinates like the Fireline Squad.
Wait a minute. Logically speaking, the other party probably doesn't see a very clear future, or the future they see isn't actually enough to make them hostile.
If the enemy sees that I have personally killed King Roosevelt and am standing amidst the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in Roosevelt's kingdom, they should not tell me about it first, but instead mobilize a large army to besiege me.
Therefore, it is understandable that the future the other party sees is not enough to pose a threat to Qing Chen.
But he was still curious, wondering what the princess had seen.
...
...
Inside the dungeon, soldiers at the outpost were constantly spraying the giants with high-pressure water cannons.
The giants huddled in huge cages, their green and black ink washed away, revealing their natural skin color.
Qing Chen slowly walked into the dungeon, frowned, and said to the soldiers, "Who gave you permission to abuse these giants? They are still injured. Who will take responsibility if you kill them?"
The soldiers bowed and saluted, saying, "Greetings, Chief Steward."
In the past two days, although Qing Chen has not made a public appearance, everyone has received a notice that the former head steward and second steward have been executed by the current head steward, who is Marquis Bolton's true confidant.
Marquis Bolton's prestige is now at its peak, and Qing Chen's status has risen accordingly.
Qing Chen said, "You may leave. I will observe these giants."
The soldiers cautiously said, "Master, please do not approach the cage. These giants have racial talents, and we don't know if they have any other means of harming people."
"Okay, I understand."
At that moment, one of the giants in the cage said, "Toot toot!"
(Who is this human? They seem to be of high status?)
"Giggle!"
(I can understand human language; he's the head steward of this outpost!)
Qing Chen's expression turned strange because... he could understand what the giants were saying!
Originally, he thought he could only understand what Dingdong and Gudong were saying, because he was, after all, the inhabitant of Forbidden Land No. 002, and it was normal for Dingdong and Gudong, as citizens of Forbidden Land No. 002, to be able to understand what the other was saying.
But he didn't expect that he could also understand what the giants of the Western Continent were saying.
Wait a minute, he recalled that once when he went to Forbidden Land No. 002, Dingdong gave him and Yangyang each a red fruit. At the time, the fruit didn't have any effect after they were eaten, and he thought it was just delicious.
Looking back now, perhaps it was that fruit that taught him how to understand the giants' intentions from their language.
At that moment, a giant said, "Beep beep!"
(This person must be very important. 'Pfft,' you lure him to the edge of the cage, and we'll find a way to kidnap him and break out!)
After he finished speaking, the giant on the far side clutched the wound on his stomach and howled in pain, as if the wound had reopened.
Qing Chen was delighted.
This probably illustrates the importance of mastering another foreign language.
Qing Chen muttered to himself thoughtfully, "I wonder if anyone will come to rescue these giants. I need to remind Marquis Bolton to set a trap."
The giants became anxious upon hearing this.
"Beep beep!"
(Oh no! This person is setting a trap for Gale. Gale is loyal and will definitely try to save us. Then he will be ambushed by the human's trap!)
"Giggle!"
(what to do?!)
Qing Chen muttered, "Let's capture a few more giants to play with."
He then left.
The giants were left inside the cage making strange noises and engaging in heated discussions.
But in reality, Qing Chen was thinking about how to get these giants out of the country. He didn't want lending these six giants to the Roosevelt Kingdom to actually set a trap for the Giant Dynasty.