Chapter 15
Chapter 15: You Are Heartless
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
When the man heard that Li Xiaonian was willing to pay double the bonus, his eyes lit up and he smiled. “If you can give me three times the amount, I’ll consider letting you go.”
“Really?”
In despair, Li Xiaonian seemed to see hope.
“Of course.” The man said confidently, “Although I am also a member of the Wolf Walk Guild, they cannot restrain me. Lang Burang offered a bonus of 100 gold coins. If you give me 300, I will turn around and leave now.”
Li Xiaonian’s expression changed several times, and in the end, he asked, “Why? As far as I know, once you join the Wolf Walk Guild, you’ll be subject to a lot of restrictions.”
It was not that he was reluctant to pay 300 gold coins, but that he was afraid of being deceived.
“Heh heh, I don’t mind telling you that, on the very first operating day of “Star Wind”, I had entered the Skyfire Base and then have been staying here ever since. Now you know why the Wolf Walk Guild can’t restrain me?” Gu Tong said triumphantly.
When he was still a rookie, he found that once a player left the novice base, he couldn’t return, so he decided not to leave the novice base until he had to.
It was better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion.
He firmly believed that as long as he held on long enough, he could earn money in the novice base sooner or later. For example, now, he seemed to be about to make a lot of money. If Li Xiaonian was willing to pay him 300 gold coins, he would earn 30,000 yuan.
This was much more promising than working.
“…”
Li Xiaonian admired this persistent element messenger from the bottom of his heart. No wonder he could elementalize. He was a man with perseverance indeed.
“300 gold coins? No problem, but I have a better suggestion. Would you like to listen?”
“Yes?” Gu Tong looked curious.
Li Xiaonian’s brain was racing, and he said, “In addition to the 300 gold coins, I’d like to hire you to protect me for three months and for that, I’ll give you 200 gold coins every month. What do you think?”
Gu Tong shook his head. “Although I am strong, I am not stupid. The Wolf Walk Guild has controlled the base. I can only secretly bend the rule and let you go, but if I openly go against the Wolf Walk Guild, I’ll only die miserably. And I heard that your family’s financial conditions seem to be no different from my family’s. Have you got so much money?”
If it wasn’t for the fact that Li Xiaonian’s family situation was similar to his own, Gu Tong wouldn’t have bothered to speak so much nonsense, but would have killed Li Xiaonian and dragged his body back to receive the reward.
“Let’s each take a step back. I won’t demand your protection. You only need to be my guide and help me within your power, and I’ll pay you 100 gold coins a month.” In order to increase his bargaining chips, Li Xiaonian resorted to his trump card. “Besides, I’ll tell you how to activate a hidden secondary profession. You’ve been staying in the novice base for nothing but to make money, right? If you have a rare secondary profession, even if you leave the novice base and go to big cities, you can still easily earn a lot.”
“What secondary profession?”
Gu Tong’s heart thumped with excitement.
Having stayed in the novice base for more than a year, he certainly wanted to leave. However, once he left here and went to a big city, he would become a nobody and the chance of making money would be very slim.
Staying here, he could easily earn 50 gold coins a month.
“Machinery Master.” Li Xiaonian replied very positively, “Of course, we can write this condition into the contract. If you don’t get this secondary profession, I’ll compensate you with 100,000 gold coins.”
After the excitement, Gu Tong had calmed down and asked, “Machinery Master is every player’s dream secondary profession. However, now that you know about it, why don’t you keep it for yourself, but give it to me?”
Li Xiaonian looked at him and said sincerely, “It’ll take at least one year to activate the secondary profession. For others, it may be precious, but for me, I would rather choose one year of free time.”
Gu Tong was lost in thought. He looked at Li Xiaonian. After making sure the other party wasn’t lying, he nodded and said, “Deal.”
Li Xiaonian clenched his fists excitedly and swiftly worked out a system contract.
1. Within the Skyfire Base, Gu Tong shall assist Li Xiaonian within his power and help Li Xiaonian overcome difficulties.
2. In return, Li Xiaonian shall pay 100 gold coins to Gu Tong as monthly salary in addition to the original 300 gold coins. In addition, he shall tell Gu Tong how to activate the secondary professions, Machinery Master. If Gu Tong follows Li Xiaonian’s instructions but fails to obtain the secondary profession, Li Xiaonian shall compensate Gu Tong 100,000 gold coins.
3. In case of breach of contract, Gu Tong shall compensate Li Xiaonian 100,000 gold coins.
…
Gu Tong was a little scared when he saw the compensation clause in the contract, but in the end, he didn’t say anything. After all, the conditions were equal. As long as he didn’t violate the rules, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Suddenly, Gu Tong scowled and pointed to the contract, saying, “You didn’t specify in the contract that the trigger location of the Machinery Master is within the Skyfire Base. Do you want to deceive me?”
Li Xiaonian paused and then said, “Sorry, I’ll add it now. I can assure you the location is within the Skyfire Base.”
Gu Tong breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the guy in front of him could even fool Lang Burang. He was really afraid of being swindled.
Ding…
System: “The contract signed by you and Gu Tong takes effect, and the guarantee fee for this contract is 20 gold coins.”
System: “20 gold coins deducted from your account.”
Li Xiaonian grudged a bit the 20 gold coins deducted by the system. After all, the handling fee increased accordingly with the value of the contract.
The contract had been signed, and Li Xiaonian paid 400 gold coins in a lump sum and said, “The trigger conditions for Machinery Master are very simple. You just need to work in the mechanical plant in the Skyfire Base as an apprentice for one year, working hard and without making any mistakes within this year, and then it’ll be triggered.”
Getting so many gold coins for the first time, Gu Tong felt as if he was in a dream, and he thought to himself excitedly: “My persistence of more than a year has paid off and I finally got a high return.”
With the money in hand, Gu Tong couldn’t wait to say, “Now that we’ve already signed the contract, I will help you keep an eye on the movements of the Wolf Walk Guild. If there is nothing else, I’m leaving first.”
He really looked forward to becoming a Machinery Master, so he planned to return to the base now and go to work in the mechanical plant as an apprentice. He had been stuck here for one year. He didn’t mind waiting for another year.
“Cough, cough.”
Li Xiaonian touched his nose awkwardly. “Well, Gu Tong, we’ve signed the contract. And the contract states that you need to help me through the difficult times within your power. I’m now in a difficult time. In fact, before I leave the Skyfire Base, I’ll always be in danger, so… you’ll have to help me, serve as my eyes, and help me find a safe place to hide and build up strength.”
“What!” Gu Tong instantly burst with anger and his face blushed with rage. “You… you tricked me!”
Li Xiaonian felt embarrassed, but he still explained awkwardly, “Well, I didn’t. I didn’t demand you to fight against the Wolf Walk Guild. I just need your cover. It’s not easy to make money in today’s society. You’ve made so much money all at once. How can you not pay some price?”
Gu Tong was not a fool. From Li Xiaonian’s words, he had realized that from this moment on, he would have to stay with Li Xiaonian and act as his henchman until Li Xiaonian left the Skyfire Base.
On the surface, he was “secretly” protecting Li Xiaonian, but what was the difference between this and breaking openly with the Wolf Walk Guild? He would have to secretly protect Li Xiaonian, assist him in upgrading, and help him leave the Skyfire Base safely. During such a long time, the possibility of his actions being discovered was almost 100%.
From what he knew of Lang Burang, he would never let him off if he offended him.
Besides, he wouldn’t be able to obtain the secondary profession, Machinery Master, because the Wolf Walk Guild definitely wouldn’t let him stay in the base for a full year without causing troubles for him. To make things worse, even if he didn’t obtain the secondary profession, it wouldn’t be counted as Li Xiaonian’s breach of contract because the reason that he didn’t obtain the secondary profession was that he failed to follow Li Xiaonian’s instructions to trigger it.
When Gu Tong figured this out, His face was so grimly red that it was almost dripping blood
With a wave of his palm, Gu Tong condensed cold ice arrows around him, yelling angrily, “How dare you deceive me? I’m gonna kill you!”
“Calm down, calm down.”
Li Xiaonian hurriedly shouted, “You can’t afford to pay the compensation of 100,000 gold coins.”
The 100,000 gold coin-compensation, like a spell, caused Gu Tong to turn pale and dare not shoot the ice arrows.
“Whew…” Li Xiaonian breathed a sigh of relief.
He swore to God that he didn’t want to cheat Gu Tong, but he had no choice.
Suddenly.
Gu Tong squatted on the river, crying aggrievedly. “Uuuuu… Li Xiaonian, you bastard! How do you have the heart to deceive me, a wretched man? I’ve been enduring for more than a year at the novice base and finally got a little achievement. Now it’s all gone because of you.”
“…”
Watching a man crying like a child in front of him, Li Xiaonian was at a loss.
If someone saw this scene, he might think it was a romantic dispute. When it occurred to Li Xiaonian, he couldn’t help but shiver.
“Brother Gu Tong, don’t cry. Men would rather bleed than shed tears, right? You know, I have no choice. I never intend to drag you down. Maybe you think you’re miserable, but I’m much more miserable than you! Lang Burang has vowed to seal me. Seal, you know? Once I’m sealed, I’ll never be able to appear in the “Star Wind”.”
Gu Tong looked up at Li Xiaonian, blowing his nose and shouting angrily, “That’s what you asked for. You pretend to be an elite of the Red Legion and tricked Lang Burang like a fool, OK? If you play the game normally, this will not happen.”
“Fine, it’s my fault.” Li Xiaonian couldn’t explain his grudges against the Wolf Walk Guild, so he simply changed the topic. “You don’t have to worry too much. You have my word, as long as you do everything you can to help me, even if I fail, I’ll still pay you enough compensation, and the compensation will absolutely be satisfactory to you.”
“Really?” Gu Tong looked at Li Xiaonian with some disbelief, then gnashed his teeth and said, “Humph, Lang Burang has said that your family is very poor and you make a living by swindling. As an impoverished liar, what compensation can you give me?”
Make a living by swindling?
Li Xiaonian scowled. Sure enough, only Lang Burang would slander people like this.