Chapter 938: Lowest Level
The two did not stand by the roadside for too long. Soon enough, they were being targeted. A few villain-looking men surrounded them. However, after considering the number of people here and the guards that were not too far away, they decided not to do it immediately. Instead, they seemed to be waiting for Zhang Heng and Old Man Geng to go to a more remote place to rob them.
Old Man Geng became nervous again when he noticed the robbers. He then asked Zhang Heng in a low voice, “What should we do? Can you handle so many of them at the same time?”
“I can deal with them easily, but I don’t need to take action,” Zhang Heng said while looking at a woman in a cheongsam across the road.
The latter did not seem to be someone who lived on this level.
Her facial features weren’t outstanding, but she did look slightly prettier than most of her counterparts. In other words, her looks would not attract too much attention on this floor. However, she did have a very unique and strong temperament.
Xu Qian had a good temperament because she had practiced dancing before. However, when Zhang Heng compared her with Xu Qian, he felt that the latter overshadowed her. Even the top streamer of Xu Qian’s company, Qiu Wei, who had tens of millions of fans and was featured in an advertis.e.m.e.nt, still had a temperament slightly inferior to that of the lady he had just seen.
It was undeniable that Qiu Wei was prettier and younger. However, when the two stood side by side, Qiu Wei looked more like an ugly duckling. A bizarre feeling struck Zhang Heng. It was as if an angel was trapped in her mortal body.
It was truly a shame. If she had Qiu Wei’s facial features and worked as a streamer, she could’ve easily become an internet sensation, gaining hundreds of millions of rabid fans. But, other than her look and temperament, Zhang Heng also paid attention to her left arm.
For some reason, her left arm was missing. Instead, it was replaced by a prosthetic limb, and there was no artificial skin attached to it. The white t.i.tanium sh.e.l.l was visible to everyone.
It looked thin and slender, but Zhang Heng did not dare to underestimate it. The information that Zhang Heng collected earlier about this era before was related to mechanical prostheses. That was why he paid special attention to it.
As early as 2019, when he was currently living, the research and development of mechanical prosthetics had always been a hot topic. And many related products were being invented. Not only could these products greatly improve their quality of life, but they would enable the disabled to do things that the ordinary could never dream of. Not to mention the rapid technological development of the dungeon that he entered this time.
Some extremists took the initiative to replace some of their body parts with the corresponding mechanical parts to pursue greater strength and speed. Of course, this was strictly prohibited by laws and regulations.
Zhang Heng did not know what kind of abilities the cheongsam woman’s mechanical prosthesis gave her, but judging from the saber hanging on her waist, the mechanical hand was more than just holding chopsticks and arranging flowers.
While waiting for the signal light to turn green, the cheongsam woman crossed the road and walked in front of Zhang Heng and Old Man Geng.
Going straight to the point, she said, “Follow me.”
She then turned and walked towards another intersection. With her appearance, the men who thought of robbing them quickly retreated into the crowd.
“It seems the person that you’re looking for at this level is not as simple as we thought,” Zhang Heng said to Old Man Geng.
“New Shanghai 0297 was invested and constructed by the Shengtang Morgan Group. These people were a group of profit-oriented b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They clearly have the ability and technology to manage the city well, but they deliberately treat all five levels differently. They adopted a semi-laissez-faire att.i.tude toward the first level, with their main reason being reducing expenditure. The other reason was to stimulate more people here to work hard and generate more wealth. However, no matter what land it is, there will always be a ruler. And this place is no exception. Shengtang Morgen has already given up on this place. Naturally, there will be more powerful people to fill in the gap they left. We are actually going to meet the ruler of this place,” Old Man Geng explained.
Zhang Heng frowned when he heard this. He then stopped walking. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier that the person you wanted to meet is the ruler of this place? Are you for real? For two sh.e.l.lac records, you made me come to this extremely dangerous place?”
“We won’t be in any danger. You are just my contingency plan.” Old Man Geng wiped the sweat on his forehead to defend himself. He felt a little nervous at the thought of going to meet such a powerful man. “I’m not here this time for a transaction. My role is to bring two parties together to discuss their potential transaction. I am just the intermediary.”
“In other words, killing you will be no big deal to them,” Zhang Heng said lightly.
“They won’t do that.” Old Man Geng then looked at the cheongsam girl who stopped moving and glared at them from a distance. He felt anxious. “Boy, can’t we go back and talk about this? We haven’t even met the person we were supposed to meet, and here we are fighting among ourselves. They must think we two are nothing more but clowns! Besides, you did promise to be my bodyguard. So fulfill your promise.”
Zhang Heng was unmoved when he heard what Old Man Geng said. “That’s because you concealed important information. You only paid me to deal with the goons. Now, you want to defeat the boss for you?”
“What do you want?”
“Either we re-negotiate a reasonable price, or we part ways and go on our own,” Zhang Heng said.
“How much do you want?” Finally, old Man Geng helplessly relented.
“If you weren’t lying this time, I want ten sh.e.l.lac records.” However, Zhang Heng did not take advantage of him. Instead, he offered him a more reasonable price after rea.s.sessing the risk.
Upon hearing that, however, Old Man Geng was reluctant to take the offer. He then asked, “How about I give you three more sh.e.l.lac records?”
Zhang Heng didn’t bother to respond.
“Alright. Let’s do it. Ten sh.e.l.lac records it is then.” Old Man Geng finally succ.u.mbed to Zhang Heng. Other than the fact that he couldn’t find anyone to become his bodyguard at the moment, he also felt that the price that Zhang Heng was asking for was reasonable. Even if he hired other people in advance, the price would be the same.
The cheongsam girl on the other side was listening quietly to their bargain, and she did not speak a word while they were arguing. Instead, she only talked to them after the two finalized the transaction.
“You two don’t have to worry about anything. You are guests, after all. Mr. G will not hurt his guests. ”
“I know, I know.” Old Man Geng nodded hurriedly, “Mr. G’s accountability has always been renowned. I only hired a bodyguard to protect me on the way back and forth.”
The cheongsam girl did not reveal the obvious lie that Old Man Geng just told. Instead, she asked, “Do you have anything else you might want to deal with? If not, let’s continue our journey. We don’t want to keep Mr. G waiting.”
“Of course. Please lead the way.” Seeing the cheongsam woman turning around again, Old Man Geng grabbed the briefcase and followed her.