Socially anxious people transmigrate to another world; living in seclusion is too difficult.

Inside a magnificent hall, brightly lit, various exquisite antiques and animal head specimens decorated the entire hall. A square dining table was placed horizontally in the hall, its surface as white as jade, and various rare foods were placed on it. Four people sat at the table, raising their glasses and drinking, sometimes laughing heartily, sometimes glancing at several large wooden boxes placed to the side.

The four people sitting around were none other than Lord Gupa of South Bay, Viscount White, Baron Enoch, and Blue Bishop Conrad of the South Bay branch of the Temple of Saints.

Gupa raised his glass and stood up first: "The preparation funds from yesterday have arrived. This is the fourth time we've received them. I also want to thank Viscount White for his brilliant suggestion. Hahaha, come on, let's have another drink!"

The other three also raised their glasses and drank their wine in one gulp. Baron Enoch began to flatter him, saying, "I must thank Viscount White for his unparalleled wisdom and righteousness in helping me out. Otherwise, I really wouldn't know how I would have been able to maintain the expenses of my territory. I'd like to toast Brother White again." After saying that, he poured himself another full glass and drank it all in one go.

“Oh, Brother Enoch, you flatter me. I only had an idea, and it was only under the guidance of Lord Gupa and Bishop Conrad that I was able to develop a complete plan. We should toast you both.” With that, he filled his glass with wine, bowed to Gupa and Conrad, and then drank the wine in one gulp.

Enoch followed suit, not forgetting to continue praising them: "The two gentlemen are truly farsighted, far beyond the reach of someone as short-sighted as me."

After a round of flattery, Gupa and Conrad were in high spirits. They gestured for the two to sit down, and after another round of toasts, Gupa dismissed the servants and said, "We can drink the wine later. Since we are here in my residence today and there are no outsiders, I'll just take the initiative. I hope Lord Conrad won't feel awkward." He then clasped his hands together and bowed to Conrad, who generously raised his hand in return, indicating for Gupa to continue.

“Now that the preparation funds have been delivered to your residence, we should discuss their distribution. White, what are your thoughts?” Gupa posed the question to White.

When White saw that Gupa had passed the issue of distribution to him, he felt a surge of disdain: "This old man, he insists on making me bring it up, he doesn't give me a chance at all." After complaining, he smiled and said, "Thank you for your kind words, Lord Gupa. In my opinion, the distribution method for the first three times was very good. How about Lord Gupa and Lord Conrad each take three parts, and the Enoch brothers and I each take two parts?"

“Well, this is how it was divided the first three times. I think it’s a bit inappropriate to divide it the same way this fourth time.” Gupa looked at Conrad with a troubled expression. The latter understood and replied, “Lord Gupa is right. My Church of Saints has not contributed anything. I think I should give up a share this time. Viscount White has gone to great lengths and should take more this time.”

“Well, since Lord Conrad is willing to give up a point, I should follow suit. How about this: Lord Conrad and I will each take two points, White will take four points, and Enoch will take two points as well?” Gupa offered his suggestion, which made White hesitate for a moment: “What are these two old men up to? Giving me a free advantage for nothing, it can’t be anything good.” But he couldn’t resist the huge benefit and agreed after some refusals.

Gupa's method of distribution displeased Enoch. Since the two of them were each giving up one point, then he and White should each take three. He immediately said, "Brother White, I'm still lacking in protecting my territory and private army. You see, this time..."

After listening, White understood that Enoch wanted to take more points but didn't want to give any. He glanced at Gupa and Conrad's expressions and saw that they were pretending not to hear and just eating. White guessed that the two old foxes wanted to use a strategy of retreat to advance. They would first give up some benefits to make Enoch unhappy, then instigate him to kick Enoch out of the game, and then split the next round of preparation funds in a 40/40/30 ratio. In this way, only he and Enoch would have conflicts, while the other two would stay out of it.

After thinking it through, White stopped pretending. After all, Enoch was just a minor baron, and he had only brought him in as a shield in case things went wrong. So White refused, saying, "Brother Enoch, it's time for you to grow up. You can't keep living off the money from your own territory. How's your management? How's your territory's finances? Don't blame me for disagreeing, but you've contributed the least to collecting the war preparation funds. You've distributed a considerable amount of money three times, which should be enough for the maintenance and development of your territory. Let's go with the two gentlemen's suggestion for now, and we'll discuss it again next time."

Enoch had drunk quite a bit, but he was still rational. He wanted to explode when he was rejected, but he restrained himself: "Fine, I'll listen to you two."

"In that case, let the servants divide these large boxes. Come here!" Seeing that the two had reached an agreement, Gupa called out. Eight men entered from outside, two of the four men's trusted confidants. After Gupa arranged for them to take their respective shares of the money, he continued to invite the other three to drink. That night, everyone got very drunk. Conrad simply lay down on the sofa and fell asleep. Gupa staggered and arranged for people to take away the completely drunk White and Enoch before returning to the hall.

Upon entering the hall, Gupa, who hadn't seemed drunk at all, returned to normal. He walked to the sofa, gently patted Conrad, and whispered, "Lord Conrad?" Seeing that Conrad didn't respond, he sat down on the sofa opposite him and raised his voice, saying, "Lord Conrad, everyone's gone. Are you still asleep?"

Conrad then sat up from the sofa, surprisingly not drunk at all. After straightening his posture, he asked with a smile, "Lord Gupa, what are your plans next?"

"There are seven days until the next large-scale collection of war preparation funds. In these seven days, I plan to have Enok wipe out the demon spies in the city. If he fails, hmph hmph hmph hmph." Gupa said with a wicked laugh.

"Is there really a demon spy in this South Bay City?" Conrad asked with a sly grin.

"Hehehe, I am the city lord, and you are the bishop. If the two of us say it's true, how could it be false?" Gupa replied with a sly smile.

"Hahaha, shall we have some more drinks?" Conrad understood and invited Gupa to continue drinking.

"Please take a seat. We didn't have enough fun earlier, so let's get thoroughly drunk this time!" The two laughed and sat back down at the table, continuing to drink heartily.

The dining table was filled with the hearty laughter of the two men, and the smell of greed spread from the table and filled the entire hall.

After White boarded the carriage and waited until it was far away before slowly opening his eyes, reflecting on everything that had happened that night. He thought to himself, "Enoch will definitely be kicked out next time we split the money. Gupa will definitely make a move in the next seven days. I need to find a way to help kick Enoch out. The problem is whether I'll be next. Just in case, I'll have to send more private soldiers to collect other taxes." Having made up his mind, he said to his trusted confidant in the carriage:

"Tomorrow, go and contact the garrison commander and have him recall the city defense soldiers to participate in the upcoming tax collection. Apart from the war reserve funds, try to recover as much valuable stuff as possible. This time, I'll split the profits with him 60/40."