Chapter 314: At Least He Had Social Standing…

Chapter 314: At Least He Had Social Standing…

“Heh heh heh…”

“What are you doing?” Carlin was immediately terrified by Zheng Yichen’s twisted and peculiar grin. He stared horrified at the guy holding the cutting implement… well, not the cutlery kind for eating, but the dissection kind. If he hadn’t been devoid of all strength, his magic completely sealed, he would have screamed already.

Wait, he could speak now? Should he try screaming?

Carlin wanted to give it a shot. But when he opened his mouth wide, not a single sound came out; instead, his throat strained painfully. He was utterly helpless. Okay, so the person who allowed him to speak clearly had ways to let him talk but not shout. However, that just added a new layer of fear without solving anything else.

Why had he stupidly agreed to this task? Why exactly? When he saw the ring in Zheng Yichen’s hand, his expression became even more complicated. Right, the cause of everything was this little thing. He was a high-level Stalker! Recognized by name, someone people acknowledged! Someone like him couldn’t be swayed by ordinary things, surely? Obviously not!

Yet, he had been swayed by this incredibly rare Spatial Ring. And then, he paid the price for sticking his face into danger.

“What am I doing? Of course, I’m going to do… Hmph, guess,” Zheng Yichen cackled weirdly, looking down at the baby-faced Stalker. Appearance-wise, the other seemed harmless, easily overlooked – traits indeed fitting for a Stalker. “Don’t move. Let me take one leg off first to have a look. I love dissecting geniuses the most…”

“Wait, wait, wait! Let’s talk this out! I’m just a hired hand! Is this really necessary?” Carlin yelled in utter panic. Taking off one of his legs? That was catastrophic for a Stalker! Even a bad arm was better than losing a leg! Legs were the most crucial part for stalking!

“If you make a choice, you must be ready to bear the consequences of that choice,” Zheng Yichen snorted lightly, putting his instruments away. “I’ll give you three seconds to think. Tell me how you can extinguish my anger.”

“Uhh… how about compensation?” Carlin asked weakly after some thought, only to see Zheng Yichen shift slightly and point to a storage cabinet behind him. The Magic Potions inside instantly silenced Carlin. As a competent Stalker, he naturally needed to be knowledgeable about many things, like the latest info on things like new potions. Understanding this stuff used to be troublesome and time-consuming.

But since the Magic Weapon Summoning Book came around, the latest related items could be easily checked on online stores. For instance, several famous ones, like a single-person store with the ID Tianwang. They weren’t affiliated with any guild, their identity was secret, but the items they sold were incredibly novel – like those Magic Cycles popping up lately.

He couldn’t resist buying one. Admittedly, the feeling of speeding was addictive, especially when pushing it to the limit. Feeling the intense speed, the sound and vibration of the mana engine, the pure exhilaration was awesome!

The Magic Cycle was the hot item lately. Now, even some large Mercenary Corps didn’t ride Magical Beasts when heading out; they specifically drove those limited edition Magic Cycles for prestige. Undeniably, these iron monsters drew much more attention than the familiar Magical Beasts. So seeing a few Mercenaries riding together wasn’t strange. It was normal!

Anyone who found it strange was just behind the times.

Of course, for ordinary Mercenaries, the Magic Cycle they bought wouldn’t be particularly expensive – just the standard model. After buying it, they could mod it, too. As long as the core wasn’t touched, external customization was open season. Tianwang even posted many modification plans on their Online Store; most were eye-catching and imitated by many people.

Moreover, Magic Cycles were especially popular with Noble kids and Phantoms. Taking a girl for a speed race was cool, right? And mastering killer riding skills was much more thrilling than riding fiercely-looking Magical Beasts. At least when riding beasts, people would say it was all down to the beast’s awesomeness – what did the old fart rider have to do with it? But with a Magic Cycle and slick riding skills, that was your ability. The cycle? Just a tool! Even the best model needed someone to ride it, right?

In short, Tianwang’s Online Store was incredibly popular!

According to Tianwang, they’d invent some new vehicles soon. The hint wasn’t about two-wheelers, but four-wheeled things… Adding two wheels led some to think the tech level might be lower. Still, considering Tianwang was a master of Engineering, no one said much. After all, besides those who rode for fun, others considered practicality.

Two-wheeled Magic Cycles couldn’t carry many people or items. Their popularity wasn’t just about the excitement they offered or the convenience for long-distance travel; more importantly… they were cheap! It was a one-off purchase. No extra feed costs like raising horses or cargo Magical Beasts, whose long-term feed expenses could rival the price of the beast itself.

Usually, the stronger or more enduring the Magical Beast, the greater the feed consumption.

But the Magic Cycle didn’t need that. Once bought, just pump it with Mana.

Sadly, the limited-edition Magic Cycle he’d fought tooth and nail to snag hadn’t been ridden more than a few times before he ended up in this situation. Being killed like this was utterly unacceptable. True, he hadn’t been riding long, but once he got the hang of it, he deeply loved this novelty. And he was full of eager anticipation for the potential four-wheeled model!

In short, Carlin knew a lot about recent trends and new developments. So after seeing what was in the cabinet, he knew trying to persuade with money was hopeless. Inside were at least two layers of Fixation Potions, along with some other high-end Magic Potions and unfamiliar, water-like potions. That stuff wouldn’t be water-filled bottles just taking up space.

Selling half the items in there could make an ordinary family rich beyond their wildest dreams for life.

“…Cough, I’m a Stalker,” Carlin said. “A high-level one, at that. Recognized. Generally, I can do many things. Fetching items for people, exploring Ruins, transporting things… whatever. You see… you must have some needs in that area, right?” Carlin looked at Zheng Yichen pitifully. Rebellion? That thought vanished completely after a single glance from that woman floored him.

Thinking about that woman gave him chills. She just looked like a frail, purple-haired girl wearing what seemed like pajamas. How could she be so fierce? A single glance?! Damn! Frankly, if she’d hit him after bumping into him, pulled a weapon bigger than he was from her skirt, and knocked him flat, Carlin would have accepted it. At least she acted. Facing such a strong opponent and losing wasn’t shameful.

But being done in by a single glance? Couldn’t it be any more humiliating?

“That potent?” Zheng Yichen said with surprise, looking somewhat tempted.

“Passable, passable,” Carlin replied modestly.

“Then how did you get caught and end up lying here like a dead fish?”

“……” Carlin felt like this young man was mocking him. Given the choice, he wouldn’t have wanted this either. He just planned to pull off this job flawlessly, claim that Spatial Ring as his reward. Earlier, after that girl took him down with a look, Carlin figured it was over. But who knew, she then relayed a new piece of ‘news’. What news?

There were three more like her!

At that moment, Carlin wondered if he’d been ‘too successful’ within the Dark Church, gained too many benefits, and made someone jealous enough to set up this job to bury him. It was just a Magic Pharmacist with a special Talent! Why were four such terrifying women here?

So what if he had a special Talent? He had one too, though he didn’t particularly like it. He didn’t hate it either, at least it had protected his ‘family’. In short, it was a Talent he’d never exposed and found difficult to put into words. Unless something unexpected happened, few would ever know. Those who did… needed to be made to disappear if possible…

“We can sign a Contract… Hmm, anything but an Enslavement Contract is negotiable. Besides the jobs I mentioned, I can handle many tasks. Like, I’m really good in a fight. Your status guarantees you’ll draw plenty of trouble. I can easily take care of the minor ones. Having a capable, strong fighter around isn’t bad, is it?” Carlin tried his best to showcase his value.

Since he’d been delivered here, it was simple: those four vicious women put his fate in Zheng Yichen’s hands. If Zheng Yichen had no ‘interest’ and did nothing to him, he knew full well one of those scary women would then dispose of him… just like that. Someone who could floor him with a single glance absolutely possessed the ability to wipe him from this world without a trace – including his Soul.

So hoping to be released was utterly unrealistic. Since they’d let him know so much, being freed wasn’t an option. Either obediently yield, or be destroyed outright. Simple as that… Though he stressed he still had dignity; an Enslavement Contract was completely unacceptable.

“Is that so? Seems you really don’t want to die,” Zheng Yichen nodded, still looking thoughtful. Carlin fought the urge to roll his eyes. Who the hell would choose to die for no reason? His past association with the Dark Church was purely about leveraging their power. The Sanctuary Church was stronger? Ha, they were an option, sure, but their rules didn’t suit him.

After all, Stalkers generally didn’t have entirely clean hands. Joining the Sanctuary Church meant being unable to do many jobs. The Sanctuary Church never suffered big corruption scandals, meaning they had stringent vetting procedures to prevent it. It was clearly not the place for him.

“……” Though he wanted to scoff at Zheng Yichen’s words, Carlin dared not show it on his face. He could only nod repeatedly in agreement.

“Since you don’t want to die, I can’t just force it, right? So, two Contracts,” Zheng Yichen’s expression stiffened for a split second, then returned to normal as he looked at Carlin. Loris had just woken his real body underground at the Underground Base, telling him one Contract wouldn’t be enough for this intruder; he needed two. This infiltrator had a unique Talent – the very thing that kept him from vanishing completely from the world after Irene took him down…

And that was after Dan Marina spoke up to stop it.

“T-Two? Isn’t that a bit excessive…” Carlin’s face froze briefly before he replied in a perplexed tone that Zheng Yichen could see was desperately masking panic.

“Tsk, I was sincerely offering you a chance. Since you’re giving it up, forget it then.” Zheng Yichen waved a regretful hand and turned away, leaving Carlin behind. He began tidying some documents on the table. The implication of this action was painfully clear: he seemed ready to abandon the ‘persuasion’ approach. Hey hey hey! As a high-level Stalker, he did have some social standing! He couldn’t just agree to things so readily; that would make him look ridiculous…

He wanted to wait silently to see if Zheng Yichen really gave up, but he also didn’t dare to test it. What if one of those four terrifying women appeared in the next instant? He might not even get a chance to speak.

“I… I agree.”

“Tsk tsk, I thought you were going to be tough to the end,” Zheng Yichen remarked as he shuffled papers, turning back. He was puzzled himself. What was so special about this guy to require two Contracts? While Professionals could make Contracts if skilled enough, not everyone mastered the technique. Among the four Sorceresses here, Dan Marina’s Contract-making skill was top-tier.