In Fontaine, the noble class enjoys unique privileges at every level of society.
These privileges are like an invisible net, separating them from ordinary people, allowing them to accumulate enormous wealth in ways unimaginable to the common person over hundreds of years.
The ten billion Mora that Joseph donated, while seemingly an astronomical figure, was actually less than one-fifth of his total assets.
Therefore, the day after making the donation decision, he unhesitatingly sent a check for ten billion Mora, his straightforwardness astonishing.
After that, nobles who were approached by the West Factory also generously "donated" their property one after another.
However, not every noble was so cooperative, such as the stubborn Count Grandet.
With a gaunt face and graying hair, he stood with his hands on his hips, looking at Lin Yide with disdain, his attitude extremely forceful: "Yide, you can kill me, but don't even think about taking a single Mora from me.
You bastard, you won't get anything from me!"
Hearing these words, Lin Yide was not angered, but a meaningful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
He slowly said, "Count Grandet, since you insist so much, then please come with me to the West Factory for a cup of tea. We have plenty of time to chat slowly."
As soon as Lin Yide finished speaking, an unexpected scene occurred.
Count Grandet suddenly fell to the ground himself and began to act shamelessly.
He shouted loudly, "Try to touch me! I'll sue you into bankruptcy!"
At this moment, Grandet's daughters, who were not far away, also gathered around after hearing the noise.
When they saw their father lying on the ground, they immediately screamed, "The West Factory is killing people!"
This scene surprised Lin Yide as well.
He did not expect that these nobles, who considered themselves to be of high status, would actually throw tantrums and act shamelessly.
However, he had ways to deal with this kind of uncooperative old thing.
He turned to the West Factory guards behind him and ordered, "Tie him up with ropes and gag his mouth with cloth."
As soon as he finished speaking, they immediately began to act.
These West Factory guards, who came from the Fatui, were quite skilled and decisive in their methods and movements.
They quickly took out ropes from the equipment they carried, and then several people cooperated tacitly to tie up Count Grandet tightly, the whole process taking less than a minute.
However, because it happened so suddenly, they could not find a suitable piece of cloth to gag Grandet's mouth.
Therefore, despite being tied up and unable to move, Grandet was still cursing on the ground, his voice extremely unpleasant, full of resentment and anger.
Lin Yide frowned as he watched this scene and said unhappily, "Don't you even wear socks?!"
Hearing this sentence, the West Factory guards were stunned, but soon one or two of them who reacted quickly took off their stinky socks and stuffed them into Count Grandet's mouth without hesitation.
Now, Count Grandet's cursing was finally stopped, leaving only his angry eyes and his bound body struggling weakly.
Grandet's daughters, seeing this, cursed angrily, their words even more vicious than before.
But despite their harsh words, none of them dared to take any actual action.
Lin Yide glanced at them coldly.
Under this glance, Grandet's daughters immediately fell silent, no longer daring to make any sound.
Then, he turned around and left with the West Factory guards and Grandet.
Just as they reached the door, a team of Marechaussee Phantoms in dark uniforms blocked their way.
The leader was a middle-aged man with a gloomy face, a hooked nose, and narrow eyes full of gloom, giving people an extremely uncomfortable feeling.
"Who are you? The Marechaussee Phantom shouldn't have someone like you!" Lin Yide asked calmly.
The middle-aged man did not directly answer Lin Yide's question, but said lightly, "Who I am is not important, what is important is that no one will take Grandet away today!"
A smile appeared on Lin Yide's face.
He slowly summoned the Silver Sword in his hand, the blade flashing with cold light, "I want to know what gives you the courage? To dare to stop the West Factory from doing business."
The middle-aged man also pulled out the rapier from his waist, the tip of the sword pointing directly at Lin Yide, "Just with the sword in my hand!"
A battle was about to break out, Lin Yide did not have any extra nonsense, and directly waved the Silver Sword in his hand to attack the middle-aged man.
His swordsmanship was exquisite, his attacks as dense and rapid as pear blossoms falling in the rain, sometimes picking and stabbing, sometimes slashing, directly taking the opponent's vitals.
However, the middle-aged man's figure was as agile and changeable as a ghost.
He moved through the battlefield at an extremely fast speed, skillfully dodging Lin Yide's fierce offensive.
Whenever Lin Yide thought he was about to hit the target, the middle-aged man was always able to defuse the crisis at a critical moment, and his sudden counter-attacks were as cunning and deadly as a poisonous snake.
Faced with the middle-aged man's superb agility and counter-attack ability, Lin Yide had to slow down the intensity of his attacks, reserving strength to deal with the opponent's fierce offensive.
In the fierce battle, Lin Yide became very interested in the middle-aged man's identity.
He was surprised to find that this opponent's swordsmanship and agility were very outstanding, and he should definitely not be an unknown person.
But after searching in his mind, he still could not find any impression of this middle-aged man.
At the same time, the shock in the middle-aged man's heart was no less than that of Lin Yide.
He originally thought that with his years of cultivation and combat experience, he could easily defeat Lin Yide.
But the actual situation far exceeded his expectations.
It was unbelievable that Lin Yide had mastered such extraordinary swordsmanship and combat skills at such a young age.
Even in that turbulent era full of talented people, he would definitely be a leader.
The battle between the two fell into a stalemate for a while, back and forth, neither giving way.
As time went by, Lin Yide gradually noticed a trace of abnormality in the fierce confrontation.
He found that the middle-aged man's attack method had something in common with the Pure Water Association assassin he encountered that day.
Although the middle-aged man was holding a rapier, Lin Yide could still see the shadow of the short blade attack mode from it.
This made Lin Yide consciously slow down his attack rhythm in order to observe and study the opponent's moves more deeply.
The middle-aged man quickly noticed Lin Yide's intention, and he immediately took a step back, breaking away from the entanglement with Lin Yide.
However, this kind of evasive behavior deepened Lin Yide's suspicion of him.
"Baron Yide, you are indeed not simple, but let's end our contest here today." After the middle-aged man dropped these words, he quickly left the scene with the Marechaussee Phantoms.
Lin Yide thought for a while, and finally decided not to chase after them.
Now is not the time to completely settle accounts with the Marechaussee Phantom and the Pure Water Association.
However, he will get back this debt sooner or later.