Chapter 292: The Enforcers

Hearing the woman's words, Yan Jing formed a rough idea of this Domain.

From her very first sentence, she hadn't stopped talking about money.

Money had to be something very important in this Domain.

As for eerie points, that was probably the local currency.

Five or six eerie points—judging by her tone, it wasn't much.

The problem was, he didn't have a single point on him.

"Get up, get up."

As the group of Enforcers approached, Yan Jing realized the leader's entire upper right torso was forged from metal. Silver-white plating slanted down from the right side of his neck, extending all the way to the waist bulging through the buttons of his white shirt. His exposed right arm was completely metallic, the interlocking seams visible on every finger.

A lackey trailing behind him was even more outrageous.

If the leader retained some human resemblance, this lackey barely looked human at all.

Aside from a roughly human height, his green-scaled skin, elongated snout, and thick tail made him look like a bipedal lizard.

This Domain held a fundamentally different ideology from Minhu. If the denizens of Minhu deliberately disguised themselves as humans, the people here did the exact opposite.

Take the leader, for example. Yan Jing didn't believe a world capable of producing such a dexterous mechanical arm would lack synthetic skin. Either that skin was too expensive, or it simply wasn't deemed necessary.

Given this setting, Yan Jing doubted a petty Enforcer captain would be too poor to afford it.

It was most likely the latter.

"Everyone up!"

The lackey stepped forward and delivered a swift kick to a person lying on the ground, making them curl into a ball.

"Lying around in broad daylight! Did you pay the lying dead fee?"

the lizard snapped.

He opened his maw and roared at the people on the ground, a foul stench blasting from his jaws.

"Pay up! Then get lost!"

...

The group scrambled to their feet and hurried to pay.

Yan Jing watched them extend a tattoo-like ring on their arms toward a machine held by another Enforcer behind the lizard. Once the machine beeped, the payment was complete.

The group actually remembered this as an area exempt from the lying dead fee. They didn't know why the rules had suddenly changed.

Or perhaps they hadn't changed at all, but no one dared to ask. They could only hurry away.

"Enforcer Liu, a bit tight on cash lately?"

After they left, the bikini-clad woman presented a metal tray of coconut water through the window, smiling faintly at the Enforcer squad.

"What are you talking about? We're just following the rules."

The lizard chuckled and stepped forward to pinch her arm, making her giggle and tremble.

But with the leader right there, the lizard didn't dare push further. He quickly picked up a carton of coconut water from the tray, stabbed a straw in, and offered it to his boss.

"Boss, have a drink."

"Mm."

The man with the metal arm nodded and took a sip of coconut water before turning his gaze to Yan Jing.

"Where are you from?"

Yan Jing blinked.

He only knew one location here: the Muke District.

"The Muke District, Sir Enforcer."

he answered, mimicking the tone of the people who had just paid.

The leader stared at Yan Jing, his eyes flashing, before speaking.

"Check his ID code."

"Understood."

The lizard nodded. He took a palm-sized device from the man behind him and walked toward Yan Jing.

"Show your Information Component."

Yan Jing nodded and pulled back his sleeve, revealing the freshly drawn "Information Component" on his wrist.

The black patterns intertwined like a fractured lake surface, hovering slightly above his skin. It looked exactly like the ones on everyone else's wrists.

Because it was a one-to-one replica drawn straight from observation.

But it definitely wasn't going to beep. He couldn't exactly voice the sound effect himself.

Yan Jing sighed inwardly.

If possible, he didn't want to start trouble the moment he arrived in a new Domain.

As the scanner descended toward his arm, Yan Jing's gaze darted between the Enforcers, calculating how to strike and end the fight instantly.

Though heavily injured, he still had a trump card left to play.

To his surprise, the woman next to him suddenly spoke up.

"Oh my, this handsome boy is our new hire. He doesn't know the ropes yet. Tell you what, dear Enforcers, tomorrow's coconut water is on me, alright?"

"He's just a kid who doesn't know any better!"

The woman smiled at the lizard and winked.

The leader didn't speak, so while the lizard was tempted, he didn't stop his scanner. That was, until the woman spoke again.

"Oh, I forgot! Wasn't it property tax day a few days ago? It completely slipped my mind!"

She tapped her head and cheerfully presented her own Information Component to them.

"Scan it, sir. I believe it's twenty eerie points?"

The leader nodded. "We'll let it go this time."

Taking his boss's cue, the lizard finally nodded, extended the scanner, and collected the money.

The squad then departed.

Before leaving, the leader threw a meaningful glance at Yan Jing.

"Thank you."

Yan Jing thanked the woman.

No matter what, she had helped him out.

She waved him off with a smile.

"Just consider it my half of the hotel room later. You're covering the whole bill this time, okay?"

With that, she glanced around. Seeing no one else coming down the street, she pulled the shop's rolling shutter halfway down and turned to Yan Jing.

"Looks like no one else is coming. Let's get off work early. The boss probably won't drop by either."

"Exploiting the boss is the first step to being a successful employee!"

She stuck her tongue out playfully before ducking her head back into the window.

"Wait for me!"

Clatter—

The massive electronic screen overhead went dark, and the window's rolling shutter was pulled all the way down. A few minutes later, the woman stepped out from a small side door. She looked at Yan Jing and smiled.

"Let's go."

Yan Jing nodded, and the two walked side by side down the street.

The woman walked slightly ahead, as if leading the way.

"You aren't from our Peace Heavenly Kingdom, are you? Or are you still in school?"

"No, that's not right. Even a student wouldn't act like that. You're definitely not from our Heavenly Kingdom."

"Where did I give myself away?" Yan Jing asked with a faint smile.

It was an indirect admission of her guess.

"I wouldn't call it giving yourself away. It was practically written on your face."

The woman laughed. "Even if you aren't from the Muke District, you should know to proactively pay the toll when you bump into those Enforcers collecting fees, right?"

"Yet you foolishly showed them your ID component. Once they scan it, they can come up with ten thousand ways to mess with you."

She looked at Yan Jing, puzzled.

"But it's so strange. Since you aren't from the Peace Heavenly Kingdom, how do you have an Information Component?"

She blinked. Before Yan Jing could think of an excuse, realization dawned on her face.

"I know! You—"

She narrowed her eyes, staring at him.

"You're a fresh undocumented immigrant! Aren't you?!"