Chapter 302: Each with His Own Axe to Grind
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Even though the reason the Lord made his shot was not because he had seen through Zhang Lisheng’s real body but merely wanted to make use of fake coercion to test the water, he completely used his entire might nonetheless. Not only that, if the young man did not make the right counter to the disadvantages, this kind of testing would instantly turn into a real attack.
At such a precarious situation, Zhang Lisheng whom they had trapped in the curse cage did not seem to show any nervousness at all. With a faint smile at the corner of his lips, he muttered, “It’s fortunate that we’re under the sea…”
As he whispered, an abrupt and loud frightening crash suddenly resonated from the ceiling of the huge underground palace, causing the entire hall to shake violently.
In this violent quake that seemed as if the world is shattering into pieces, the fragments of the mysterious runes blinking on the four sides of wall lit with a blazing fire around the palace as it began to rattle. Innumerable cracks then began to appear. The seawater started to infiltrate and evaporate into water mist, releasing a kind of damp and salty smell.
Seeing that the bas.e.m.e.nt would completely collapse if it were to suffer from another inexplicable impact, the Lord dropped both of the hands he had originally set on his chest; the invisible cage imprisoning Zhang Lisheng began to disappear without a trace as well.
“All right, oh powerful Legender. You’ve given me a threat and I’ve responded with a warning. If this continues to go on, it would no longer be the manners two traders need to have.”
When Zhang Lisheng heard the party’s host admitting his defeat, he, who was the wicked guest, burst out laughing. With his mind, he controlled the witch doctor that had already expanded his body its largest size and was swimming in the billowing waves at the bottom of the sea above the underground palace. Confidently, he said, “Your Lords.h.i.+p, you’ve mentioned manners twice already but from what I can see, no matter how good one’s manner is, it would not be as important as a ‘deal’ in a transaction.”
“But the more important the transaction is, the harder we would need to negotiate, am I right?”
“That’s right! But, right now, the problem is that in this transaction, it’s completely a seller’s market now,” Zhang Lisheng glanced around and smiled, before saying directly, “Please look at the covetous faces of these guests you invited. I think as long as you’ve thought about it carefully, you’d be able to decide that it’s better to accept the conditions I have proposed. ”
The reason why the Lord held the so-called ‘Ancient Dark G.o.ds’ theme party was to seduce enough people to go to the Shrimp B1 Island so they could s.n.a.t.c.h away the power of faith coming from the indigenous G.o.ds. For this reason, the Darkwalkers he had spent so much effort to invite were naturally people who could also rely on the power of faith to advance their own professional powers tremendously.
Now that he was counter checked by Zhang Lisheng through this, he pondered for a moment and argued no more. “The asymmetric information gives me no choice but to accept your terms, but it is limited to this time only.”
“Of course, Your Lords.h.i.+p!” Zhang Lisheng nodded with satisfaction, and said straightforwardly, “I don’t expect to reach a permanent trading condition with you once and for all on our first meeting. Is there any paper and pen you have around? I’ll draw for you the location of the two native tribes of Kaqilu and Mokacho. How long do you think it will take to complete our transaction? ”
“I can hand over the aborigine tribal totem pole and the corpses of the monsters guarding them to your hands in a week at most!” The Lord took out a tablet from his long black robe abruptly. “19 pure faith stones is already enough to hold three groups of Hexagram Formation and allow up to 666 Darkwalkers to share the power of faith. I think most of the guests present here will want to seize this opportunity, so I already readied enough manpower for this expedition.”
To the Lord who was already at a legendary stage, having hundreds of people sharing fewer than 20 faith stones would mean that the average gain would be insignificant to him. If it was not for the sake of his long-term plan, he would most likely not have taken such hard work to carry out such a deal with Zhang Lisheng. Of course, one could also tell that he was actually very meticulous in carrying out his deeds, despite showing contempt towards the indigenous people on the foreign world.
The distinguished guests who already had their own ax to grind appeared to be very enthusiastic towards the Lord’s ‘war’ invitation as well. Each of them were eager and burning with impatience as they shouted, “I’m willing to serve you, Your Lords.h.i.+p…”
“It’ll be a breeze to kill tens of thousands strong original midgets if we’re under your lead. Count me in…”
“To think that I can actually encounter such a rare opportunity during my relaxing vacation! Thank you for your generosity, Your Lords.h.i.+p.”
“Listen to these voices around me! I was right, wasn’t I?” As the Lord watched the giant with diamond-shaped scales in the distance who was walking towards him to pick up the tablet to draw unscrupulously, he smiled and said, “That’s right, oh foreign Darkwalker. Since we’ve decided to make a deal, we can’t always call you a Legender, can we?”
“Call me Dragon Fang!” Zhang Lisheng replied casually without raising his head. “Now, give me the complete secret of becoming a Dark Believer. Seven days later, when the totem poles of Kaqilu and Mokacho fall, I’ll come and trade the faith stone with you, Your Lords.h.i.+p.”
As he finished saying so, he finished the last stroke of the map on the tablet screen with his slender finger and returned the device to the Lord.
The Lord took the tablet and looked at it. He was pleased to see that the map was simple, but the giant in front of his drew the path well for him. He silently memorized the map in his mind and handed the tablet to Zhang Lisheng. “Everything you want to know about the Dark Believer is here in this tablet. Look for it slowly, Your Excellency Dragon Fang. I’d like to remind you kindly that you’ll definitely become the ‘adored son’ of the darkness just because you can extract the faith stone from the totem poles of the foreign world’s aborigines. Whether it’s a Believer or Devotee, the key to them is piety, not anything else.”
“Of course I know this,” Zhang Lisheng did not really understand the difference between a Believer and a Devotee. After all, they both basically held the same meaning. However, when he took the tablet back again, he showed a smile that seemed to indicate that he had everything under his control. “Well, it’s not a bad idea for me to do some trials and errors, right? Anyway, thank you for your reminder, Your Lords.h.i.+p. we shall meet again after three days. ”
After saying so, under the gaze of everyone in the underground palace, the young man walked towards the hole he used to enter earlier and soon disappeared.
Seeing that the demon-like figure of the uninvited guest had disappeared into the hole, King Rat silently walked up to the Lord who had a deep gaze in his eyes, before whispering to the Lord, “It only took him a single blow to break my Enchantment Barrier! His impact is so powerful that it’s unimaginable; you have made a right choice, buddy!”
“Of course, or else I would not have given in at all, but I really don’t want to be led by the nose like this!”
“Led by the nose?” a sardonic smile appeared on King Rat’s face, “My old friend, do you have to wear that layer of ‘mask’ in front of me too? It’s clear that you’ve already seen through the fact that that Asian kid is actually a wizard, but you still keep calling him a ‘Legender. This is…”
“Shhh!” The Lord shushed him as he interrupted the midget’s words, “A trick will only be fun if it’s mysterious, particularly, such a long-term time-consuming trick. Buddy, weren’t you enjoying yourself, too, when you were seeing his performance earlier?”
Upon hearing his old pal’s words, a ferocious smiled appeared on King Rat’s face as he shut his mouth, smiling in a tacit understanding with the Lord. Right at this moment, Zhang Lisheng, who was the target of their plans, had already walked out of the hole, hugging the tablet with a concealed body and was walking on the quiet street in Queens, New York.
The autumn wind carried the rubbish on the ground up to the skies. From time to time, curses and shouts would arise from the distance. Despite walking in such a cold and terrible environment, the young man’s heart was actually scorching hot.
“It’s thrilling and twisting but the gain is quite huge. It’s no wonder that the ancient people would come up with the proverb ‘fortune favors the bold’,” He continued to murmur to himself, “That Lord must be thinking that the reason I asked for the cultivation method of the Dark Believer is to just try to find a way to breakthrough the ‘world barrier’ and to find a safe way to come in contact with the foreign world’s power of faith. It’d never cross his mind that the power of faith of the Shrimp World No. 2 can no longer injure my body anymore! This is the benefit of information asymmetry…”
Under the dim light of the streetlight, Zhang Lisheng talked without showing himself, as though he was air. He walked through seven to eight blocks and scared the wits out of innumerable gangsters along the way. Finally, he came to a stop in front of a blue medieval Ford.
This location was very close to the edge of Queens, so the security was much better. At the very least, no one would steal the car tires here.
The young man took out the key from the edge of the wheel. He then opened the door and quickly entered the car after showing his figure. After twenty to thirty seconds, he wore the spare clothes he had within his car. He then started the car and opened the navigator before driving directly to the nearest motel.
Motels, that originated from the US, was originally a safe open s.p.a.ce for drivers to stop and rest. Eventually, the owners erected simple wooden houses, and they built rooms that looked like a regular hotel slowly as well.
Today, a better motel rooms were no less inferior to the average hotel in terms of comfort, but because the geographical location that was often not in the heart of the city, along with the fact that the traditional bourgeois did not favor its origins, its charges were much cheaper than a hotel of the same cla.s.s. Most importantly, the accommodation management was not strict.
The reason Zhang Lisheng stayed in a motel was, of course, not because of the cheap price. Instead, it was because he did not have to show any proof of ident.i.ty to stay if he just gave a small amount of tip.
After throwing 200 dollars to the completely bald, obese white man at the front desk, he pretended to be experienced and said as though nothing happened, “I want a room, pal!”
“The second room on the right upstairs. By the way, do you want to ‘release some tension’? We have top grade goods here, it only costs 150 bucks!” The white man touched the banknotes to check its genuineness and showed a happy smile. Taking one key hanging on the wall, he threw it to the lean Asian young man who was holding a tablet in front of him and skipped the step of filling in the registration doc.u.ment.
It took Zhang Lisheng a moment for him to understand the meaning of the second sentence the hotel manager had spoken. Quickly, he waved his hand. “No, I’m exhausted; I just want to rest well!”
Then, he walked upstairs.
After entering the room, he locked the door and pulled the curtains shut. After taking a hot bath in the bathroom and feeling that his mind had completely calmed down, he finally sat on the edge of the bed and picked up the table the Lord had given him.