The Guardian's Return by Old Pumpkin

Chapter 344

George looked at Nico's body and confirmed that he was really dead.

At that moment, George felt a mix of tension and relief. He felt tense because Nico had committed suicide to avoid getting trialed, making the situation complicated to handle. However, he also felt relieved that Nico, who had pushed them to the edge, had ultimately chosen to take his own life.

News of Nico's suicide spread quickly. The first to hear were the villagers of Stone Village.

Nico was dead, and so was Tommy. The Wyatt family was gone. With no one left to lead them, many villagers felt a sense of urgency, fearing that others might disregard the rules and take all the money for themselves.

As a result, many became reckless, openly inciting others and leading people from other villages to raid the orchards and livestock farms. It did not matter if the targets were local or non-local. Everything was up for grabs.

Some people also privately produced and sold firearms to local forces. They started mining excessively and began to neglect preparation for safety measures.

The next day, a new village chief was elected. That village chief had made quite a fortune working under Nico. Now that he was the chief, he promised to help everyone earn even more money. The shady deals Nico used to hide in the shadows, he planned to carry out openly.

He even set up roadblocks on the freeways, only allowing passage for a fee. It severely impacted traffic, and many people started avoiding the route entirely.

The people whose orchards were destroyed and livestock stolen from them filed complaints. George was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of cases. He had one team investigate the orchard and livestock thefts while another arrested those charging fees on the highway.

When the residents of Stone Village heard that people were coming to arrest them, they triggered a landslide beside the freeway and destroyed part of it. Then, they raised the firearms made in Stone Village and opened fire.

Only then did George realize what Nico had done in Stone Village. Nico had the villagers manufacture firearms-a crime deserving of death!

George ordered the squad to take drastic measures and suppress Stone Village by forc

When the village chief realized they were outmatched, he had some villages set fires in the mountains to split their forces. There were many mountainous forests in Hill City, and forestry was one of its economic pillars.

As the fires spread, many businesses and villages saw their mature and newly planted

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eucalyptus trees destroyed.

anxiously called for firefighting aid and called neighboring

the forests were so extensive, the fire threatened to burn for weeks, if not longer. Without immediate

that opportunity to flee and scatter, making George's

finally extinguished. By then, several mountain tops

losses were

and that was not all. Many companies had started to pack up, especially those whose orchards and farms

most basic compensation, which was not nearly enough to make up for the years of hard work they had put in. Now, their trees were burned as

to stay in Hill City. They were afraid that

George had no choice but to accept them and provide strong support for them. With so many other businesses fleeing, George didn't have

more than half of the villagers in Stone Village managed

his hair had

flooded in constantly. Forest fires, destroyed orchards, stolen livestock, lost businesses, damaged highways,

month, Hill City's economy plummeted by 800 billion

original GDP was 2.8 trillion, but now it has dropped by 800 billion. That's nearly a third of the

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Chapter 344

Chapter 344

Nico's body and confirmed

tense because Nico had committed suicide to avoid getting trialed, making the situation complicated

The first to hear were the villagers of Stone

gone. With no one left to lead them, many villagers felt a sense of urgency,

orchards and livestock farms. It did not matter if the targets were local or non-local. Everything was

also privately produced and sold firearms to local forces. They started mining excessively and began to neglect preparation

chief was elected. That village chief had made quite a fortune working under Nico. Now that he was the chief, he promised

roadblocks on the freeways, only allowing passage for a fee. It severely impacted traffic, and many people

sheer number of cases. He had one team investigate the

landslide beside the freeway

had done in Stone Village. Nico had the villagers manufacture firearms-a crime deserving of

drastic measures and suppress Stone Village

villages set fires in the mountains to

was one of its economic

the fires spread, many businesses and villages saw their