490 Plans for Saltstar City
Upon arriving in Saltstar City, Vicente and his group passed through a royal army checkpoint, one of the remaining consequences of their escape from Long Bay Correctional Facility.
Since the Fuller family didn't officially owe anything to anyone, and since Vicente used a device to change the appearance of his Magic Gems, they had no problem passing through inspection.
The magical device he had used to look like Oscar was very effective at fooling Acolytes and Mages. The less the user tried to change their appearance, the more effective the device became.
Vicente wasn't worried that someone would easily recognize his appearance but that they would notice his unusual gem. Hence, he protected only that information, leaving the rest of himself as he was.
As for Sarah, she was accompanied by Bart and would not enter Saltstar City with the group. She had not only the army pursuing her but also the Congregation of Revelations, which was still searching for survivors of The Faceless Ones faction.
Eventually, she could come and go from this city when the tensions subsided, but for now, she would stay by Bart's side and wait for Vicente's orders.
So, the group of three carriages entered the largest city in the province, soon heading for the estate Vicente had already acquired through one of his associates.
...
Arriving in the central part of Saltstar City, Vicente and his group stopped in front of a 400-square-meter property where a beautiful stone house resembling a small castle was.
There was a garden in front of the house, where silver fences separated the property from the sidewalk, from where anyone could reach the city's most important services in a few minutes' walk.
When Nina came across this property, she was delighted to see how incredible her house looked and its great location.
"Beautiful." She murmured as she watched the place and the men of the family clear the way for her and her brother to enter the property.
As the guards unloaded the carriages, Vicente let Nina go ahead with Eve to explore the house while he walked further back with Rory.
"This is a nice house," Rory commented, seeing that there was a swimming pool at the back of the house, a small outdoor fighting platform from which they could have privacy and a beautiful view of the beach.
Vicente smiled at that. "I know. I chose it after looking at a lot of options. Anyway, this house is in old Cayden's name. We'll be his 'tenants'..."
Hearing Vicente's tone and the name of one of the merchants associated with their group, Rory smiled, seeing that his friend would be more careful at the beginning of this venture than he had been in Millfall.
"That's good. Do you intend to keep our activities more hidden here?"
Vicente nodded to his friend as they entered the house through a large entrance hall where a beautiful light fixture hung over 5 meters high from the ceiling.
He said. "Yes. Don Mazzanti is publicly dead, but his hands will secretly operate all our interests in the province.
I intend to be who I really am as much as possible without appearing in public as the group leader. From now on, I will use you, Sarah, and Bart, as my voice and hands. I'm sorry, but I will have to make your job a little more difficult."
Rory smiled, happy to be able to help. "Don't worry about it."
"You might want to cut your hair. We don't want anything that might associate us with Deputy Point, do we?" Vicente suggested.
"I'll do that later today... But what about our local plans? We've talked a lot about our current domains and how we will deal with Millfall. But what about this place?" Rory changed the subject.
"Well, Saltstar City has its importance. There are many strong people here, so for now, our goal will be to recruit people to work for us.
It's not ideal for you, Sarah, and Bart to be my direct representatives to the various groups that will be working under my command. We'll only do this until strong people are ready to take your place.
To that end, we'll focus on recruiting more men and developing more robotic armor in Saltstar City. Otherwise, I don't want to get too involved in local problems. We'll gradually take over the province through the less complicated cities and only deal with this place once we have a solid foothold in the area."
Rory liked what he heard because this way, they would be less likely to get involved in local disputes, which, of course, would increase their chances of local success.
"This is better. It will give Nina a more stable home and peace to grow up in." Rory commented in a low voice. "Sigh! Maybe it's a good thing that we came here early. It will be easier for us to get good resources for the group and for Nina here than in Millfall."
"Yes, that's the big plus of all this." Vicente agreed as he looked in the direction where he could hear Nina's excited voice.
"As for The Ruby Devils, let's let more of their members die naturally before we get involved with them. They lost some important members recently, but they're still compelling. I don't intend to take their city now."
Rory asked. "Do you want to let other opportunistic groups try their luck with them first?"
"Hmm, let all sides interested in dominating the city weaken themselves. When everyone thinks everything is settled and stability is achieved, we'll make our move." Vicente said confidently.
With his current power, he was already confident that he had a good chance of succeeding with his plans locally. But starting today, he would have to deal with dangers he didn't want to bring near his group yet.
Considering how he felt he would fare if he acted today, he was confident that his performance would be even better in a few months or even a year!
"Okay, I'll pass on your words so the rest of the group knows your intentions," Rory said, already thinking about the group that had come to this city before them after the escape from Millfall and the fall of the Mazzanti family.
That group included the 25 strongest and most reliable men of the family, who were already waiting for them in Saltstar City.
Vicente said to Rory as he saw his friend walking away from him. "Bring them here. Their identities were always protected in Millfall. So from now on, they'll be guards, butlers, cooks, and gardeners for the Fuller family."
Rory smiled, understanding that these positions would only be facades to hide the true number of guards in their group.
