ctnovel Chapter 1829 - 1827: Deal
Chapter 1829 - 1827: Deal
Fang Zheng watched the angry girl kicking the reinforced concrete, but the girl seemed completely unaware of his presence, just fiercely kicking the well in front of her, muttering to herself.
"Damn it, don’t think this is over! Remember this!"
At this point, the silver-haired girl suddenly pounced on the wellhead, shouting into the well.
"You despicable bug, people like you should be [—beep—] and then [—beep—], and sooner or later I’m going to [—beep—] you!!"
Yikes......
Listening to the stream of censored curses, Fang Zheng was also amazed; who knows who provoked this young lady, making her utter such crude words in a place like this.
After venting her anger, the silver-haired girl finally seemed to have calmed down; she then turned around to see Fang Zheng standing not far away.
"You saw all that?"
"Pretty much, it’s kind of hard to imagine."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng curiously examined the girl in front of him, with her delicate, doll-like face, fair skin, long silver hair, and an expression so indifferent that it was almost devoid of any change. If he hadn’t witnessed her outburst at the well, anyone would have simply taken her for a typical cold, emotionless character.
In fact, her voice just now had no fluctuation, not much different from Reiji’s.
That is, if one disregards the earlier scene of her yelling at the well.
"Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I come here to vent into this well."
However, unlike many heroines in stories who either fly into a rage or beg when someone uncovers their secret, for her, this seemed to be just a minor issue.
"It’s quite a good way to let off steam."
Fang Zheng merely chuckled without pressing further, and the silver-haired girl planned to leave directly, but at that moment, Fang Zheng suddenly called out to her.
"Uh, sorry, I have something I want to ask."
"What is it?"
"I want to know the locations of all the mobile cities, even just the general area is fine... do you know where I can find someone who has this information?"
"What do you need that for?"
The silver-haired girl turned her head to look at Fang Zheng, frowning slightly.
"Besides, many mobile cities have already been destroyed by Contaminated Beasts."
"I know, but I just need to know the locations."
Whether the mobile cities are destroyed or not is irrelevant; what’s important is the core of the mobile cities, as the Digital Elf is born from the core, similar to artificial AI. Although it records information too, the real data is still stored in the core of the mobile city, so even if the city is destroyed, as long as the core is found, Fang Zheng can collect the information within.
Having the Digital Elf would, of course, make things a bit more convenient.
"........."
Faced with Fang Zheng’s inquiry, the silver-haired girl was silent for a moment.
"You can find the student council president."
"Hmm?"
"Jernie is a student autonomous city, so the student council president also serves as the city’s ruler; he should know some information."
"Got it, thanks a lot."
Hearing the silver-haired girl’s answer, Fang Zheng nodded to her, planning to leave, but at that moment, the silver-haired girl stopped him.
"Since you’re looking for the student council president, follow me."
After saying this, the silver-haired girl turned and left directly, and watching her back, Fang Zheng was taken aback for a moment before following her.
Walking along, Fang Zheng chatted with the silver-haired girl, learning that her name was Feli Rose, a second-year student in the Martial Arts Department. Out of curiosity, he initially wanted to ask about her abilities and such, but Feli didn’t seem willing to discuss those, so Fang Zheng refrained from asking further.
On the other hand, Fang Zheng also introduced his background to Feli.
"Heavenly Dao Palace? Farron Undead Legion?"
Hearing this, Feli was also somewhat curious.
"Such strange names... though there are lots of weirdly named cities outside... but what do you need all this for?"
"We’re surveying all the mobile cities."
"Survey? What’s it for?"
"Hehe, that can’t be disclosed for now."
Fang Zheng chuckled without picking up the topic, and Feli said nothing further, simply leading Fang Zheng to the student council.
As the governing body of the entire Academy City, the student council was also located at the very top of a rather impressive tower, requiring an elevator to reach. Feli seemed quite familiar with the people here; after exchanging a few words with the students outside, she promptly brought Fang Zheng into the elevator, ascending all the way to the student council room at the tower’s summit. Feli walked ahead and pushed the door open without another word.
"Oh?"
As soon as the student council room door opened, Fang Zheng saw a young man with the same silver-white hair as Feli, wearing glasses, sitting behind a desk, surrounded by a bevy of beauties. Seeing Feli walk in, he opened his eyes slightly, looking somewhat surprised at her.
"I didn’t expect you to come here, what is it?"
"I’m bringing someone."
Feli’s expression was emotionless, and her tone cold. If she appeared somewhat lively while talking with Fang Zheng earlier, the atmosphere around her now was almost at freezing point.
These two... is there something between them?
Fang Zheng glanced at Feli, then looked at the man opposite her; from Feli’s demeanor, they clearly knew each other, and judging by their similar hair color... could they be related by blood?
"Hello, sir."
The man didn’t seem to mind Feli’s indifference and stood up with a grin, extending his hand to Fang Zheng.
"I am Kalian Ross, the student council president of Academy City Jernie. Nice to meet you, please guide me."
"Hello, my name is Fang Zheng, from Heavenly Dao Palace."
As Fang Zheng spoke, he also shook the man’s hand, simultaneously glancing at Feli discreetly. He recalled she had introduced herself as Feli Rose earlier, and now this man was called Kalian Ross... hmm, these two should be siblings.
However, from the way they met just now, the siblings don’t seem to have a good relationship.
"Heavenly Dao Palace...? So Mr. Fang Zheng, what brings you here?"
As he spoke, Kalian waved his hand, and the women surrounding him quickly dispersed, while Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders.
"It’s like this, I want to know the scope and specific locations of all the mobile cities, and I wish to discuss cooperation and trade with Jernie to see if there’s any room for collaboration."
"So, you are a representative of Heavenly Dao Palace? But the first request is..."
"Our Heavenly Dao Palace is currently conducting a research and study on all mobile cities, but we don’t have enough information to determine the location of each mobile city, so we hope to negotiate with forces that have this information and obtain it."
"Hmm......"
Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s words, Kalian was somewhat surprised; he hadn’t expected this would be the reason for his visit.
"Mr. Fang Zheng, I think you should understand that the movement routes of mobile cities are confidential for any city. In fact, I can tell you that only the transportation city Yordem has a general route map, because it is the home port of all the wandering buses and the only city with the bus route map."
Wandering buses... oh, that weird-looking thing I took before.
"I understand. Nevertheless, thank you for the information."
Fang Zheng thought about this and nodded to Kalian, and at this moment, Kalian looked at Fang Zheng and spoke again.
"But you must also know, Mr. Fang Zheng, that such information is extremely important to Yordem, and they won’t disclose it freely to others."
Saying this, Kalian changed the topic.
"However, I do have some connections with the ruler of Yordem. If you can make a deal with Jernie, perhaps I could facilitate this."
"Oh?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow.
"So, what do you want?"
"Since you mentioned wanting to trade, how about a mine...?"
"A mine?"
"Yes, perhaps you have heard that in the recent Academy City war, we unfortunately suffered a defeat."
Kalian shrugged his hands helplessly.
"Now we only have one energy mine left, so if possible, we hope to obtain a new mine source."
"An energy mine..."
Fang Zheng rubbed his chin; he had heard this from that talkative youngster on the way. The so-called Academy City war was a large-scale real-person capture-the-flag game held between two Academy Cities to fight over energy mines. The two Academy Cities would attack each other, and whoever captured the opponent’s flag first would win and earn the rights to develop an energy mine.
For mobile cities, energy mines are essential. The energy needed by mobile cities has to be obtained from energy mines, and the alloy weapons called "alchemical steel" used by their martial artists require them as well. Losing an energy mine is like starting with only one gas mine, and without building a base, you’re doomed.
But an energy mine...
"We don’t have an energy mine to trade."
Fang Zheng was honest. He hadn’t been in this world for even a day yet; where could he find a mine?
"However, we can trade in other ways."
"Oh? What ways?"
Upon hearing this, Kalian looked at Fang Zheng with curiosity, and Fang Zheng smiled slightly.
"You need an energy mine essentially for energy and weapons to fend off the outside monsters, correct?"
"Correct."
Kalian nodded.
"Then, our Heavenly Dao Palace has a better suggestion. We can help upgrade and transform your energy supply for Academy City, freeing you from dependence on energy ores. As for those monsters outside... we can sign an agreement to have Heavenly Dao Palace protect Jernie. What do you think?"
Hearing this, Kalian immediately frowned. Though Fang Zheng’s two suggestions could indeed solve the problem, more importantly...
"You want to deploy armed forces in Jernie? I’m sorry to say, but Academy City is an autonomous territory and does not allow other forces to station troops there."
"We don’t need to enter Jernie."
Fang Zheng shook his head, then reached out to rummage through his items and took out a small portable communication device.
"Simply put, if you’re attacked by those monsters and can’t handle it, you can call for support with this, and we’ll help you eliminate the monsters... Right, you could see us as a kind of armed mercenary."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng placed the communication device on the table.
"Now, I’ll give this to you. It’s up to you whether to use it or not, but you should know that once you use this thing, we’ll have a hiring relationship, and at that time, don’t think about reneging on payment."
"........."
After hearing this, Kalian was silent for a moment, then he reached out to pick up the communication device.
"I understand your point. Since you’re so confident, I think... we can give it a try."
Then, he spoke.