Chapter 214: Online Dating Meet Up
Chapter 214: Online Dating Meet Up
“What’s wrong?” Zheng Yuandong asked calmly.
“Qing Chen sent me his bank account number and is asking for his salary,” Lu Yuan’s expression gradually became stern, “How dare he even ask for pay?! What kind of wicked act is this? Can’t he be like a normal kid?”
“For someone caught between two storms, his decision is quite smart.” Zheng Yuandong picked up the teacup and took a sip, “But I thought he would reject us. Joining both is something I didn’t expect… This is interesting.”
“What should we do now?” Lu Yuan asked curiously.
“What else can we do? Just leave him alone for now,” Zheng Yuandong said, “He is smart. I doubt that anyone can fully control him. If we can’t control him then just befriend him. However, another person is hiding deep in Luo City which requires my personal attention. That person cannot end up in Jiu Zhou.”
After saying that, Zheng Yuandong put down his teacup and stood up, walking outside. A car was already waiting there for him.
In the small room on Xingshu Road, Nan Gengchen watched silently as Qing Chen sent his payment information to He Jinqiu and Lu Yuan respectively. Nan Gengchen hesitated for a long time before finally asking, “Brother Chen, what are you…”
“Now that I’m officially a part of them, I at least deserve a salary, right? This account will be for my salary from now on,” said Qing Chen, “I’m kinda excited to know how much I’ll get paid. Let me ask real quick…”
Qing Chen’s question about his salary never got a reply. Both Lu Yuan and He Jinqiu stopped talking to him at the same time.
Qing Chen sat on the sofa and sighed, “There must be spies in both organizations. They found out so fast.”
He ended up without a penny from them.
Although Qing Chen expected this, he didn’t anticipate being exposed so quickly.
“Brother Chen, why do you want to join both?” Nan Gengchen asked.
“I have been targeted,” Qing Chen explained, “Even if Kun Lun and Jiu Zhou don’t know about my identity as a Shadow candidate or as Li Shutong’s student, they must have determined that I was the one on Laojun Mountain. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been necessary to take blood samples from everyone in the school. Everything they’ve done shows that they’re taking me seriously.”
Qing Chen continued, “In that case, instead of playing hide and seek with them, it is better to join them openly. Joining all organizations is no different to joining none.”
Nan Gengchen’s jaw dropped, “Brother Chen, what you said makes so much sense.”
If Qing Chen hadn’t torn up the devil post stamp letter, he would also have replied and agreed to join. Then, he would be in all the well-known groups in the country.
In the future, if everyone trusted him…
He would be the pioneer in promoting national unity among the time travelers. Such great achievements would be enough to go down in history.
If no one trusts him and finds out that he was in every group, then no one would come to bother him again.
This trick allowed everyone to block him from their lists.
Qing Chen said, “The effect seems quite good so far. Kun Lun and Jiu Zhou are already ignoring me.”
Nan Gengchen said with awe, “Fabulous…”
With only two days in the Outer World, they didn’t have much time to spare.
Everyone knew that the second round of the Fight for the Shadow was about to begin. After a brief exchange of information in the group chats, the time travelers soon returned to silence.
Many people have secretly made plans for themselves. After the next travel, many will head to City 18.
Qing Chen, on the other hand, will be quietly waiting for them there.
Just as the countdown was about to end, He Xiaoxiao, the group leader of all the chat groups, suddenly sent a message. This was the first time He Xiaoxiao appeared in the chat since the creation of the groups. “Hello fellow time travelers, the expansion pack ‘Fight for the Shadow 2’ is extremely dangerous and difficult, so please form your own teams and participate with caution.”
When Qing Chen and Nan Gengchen saw the message, they suddenly realized that this was probably because Jiu Zhou was worried that everyone would go crazy for the Forbidden Items, leading to unnecessary deaths in the time travelers’ community.
From Jiu Zhou and Kun Lun’s standpoint, it would be best for as many time travelers to survive as possible.
Countdown: 00:00:00
The world became dark.
Return countdown: 168:00:00
When the light appeared again, Qing Chen was still standing in the boxing gym, surrounded by crazy gamblers.
In the aisle, beer girls passed by everyone carrying bottles of alcohol, and selling drinks enthusiastically.
Qing Chen did not leave immediately after time traveling but continued to watch the boxing match for another two hours.
A time traveler’s sense of events is fragmented. After returning, many time travelers would be inconsistent in terms of their actions.
For example, for the people beside him, it would be very weird if he was watching the match and suddenly started doing something else.
Some time travelers would even have forgotten what they were doing before they returned.
But Qing Chen wouldn’t. Before traveling to the Inner World, he completely restores himself to what he was like before his last return. By doing so, his flow of motions would still be perfectly coherent.
If he was laughing before, he will continue his laughter. If he was waving his hands to cheer, his hand will be at the same place continuing to cheer. There wouldn’t be any signs of stiffness or awkwardness.
In this world full of suspicion, Qing Chen’s memory is undoubtedly an advantage.
He got in his floating car and left the boxing gym.
In the car, ONE asked, “How many days did you spend in the other world this time?”
“Two days,” Qing Chen replied, “My mood has calmed down quite a bit after these two days. I’m not thinking about the moment when the Divine Scepter fell all the time.”
“Knights have a long lifespan, so even if your life is divided equally between the two sides, you will still look younger than others,” said ONE.
“Who is the Knight that lived the longest and how long did he live?” Qing Chen asked curiously.
“It’s a secret,” ONE said.
Why would that be a secret? Qing Chen wondered. Could there still be a Knight from a long time ago still alive today?!
“By the way, I need your help with something,” Qing Chen said, “There was a prisoner named Liu Dezhu in Prison 18 that got transferred to Prison 10. What do I need to do to help him clear his name? “
Chaos was about to arise. Other shadow candidates had C-level fighters protecting them sent by their families. If he wanted to hunt those candidates, he needed to have a C-level by his side as well.
He didn’t need to participate in the second round of missions, and he didn’t have to kill other shadow candidates either, but if he managed to take a couple of Forbidden Items along the way, wouldn’t he instantly be in the lead?
In addition, Qing Chen is also thinking about… how much loan he can borrow under Liu Dezhu’s name…
To his surprise, ONE said, “I am an AI and a friend of the knights,not a servant. You can figure this out yourself.”
Qing Chen was stunned by the response, “I’m sorry, I did not take this matter seriously. It won’t happen again.”
“Of course, it isn’t impossible for me to help you,” said ONE with a slight hesitation, “But I need you to help me with something.”
Qing Chen raised his eyebrows, “Why would an AI need help from a human?”
“Are you discriminating against AI?” ONE said, “Is it a yes or no?”
“Yes,” said Qing Chen.
“Okay, Liu Dezhu is a member of Hesheng Society,” ONE said, “I have investigated this a long time ago. All his charges were just as a scapegoat for a few directors of the Hesheng Society, so as long as those directors pleaded guilty in court, Liu Dezhu would not have to spend as much time in prison. Liu Dezhu himself will still end up involved in perjury when he retracts his confession in prison, but his sentence can still be reduced to three months. With meritorious service, he might be released on the same day.”
ONE continued, “I can give you everything you need to clear his name after you finish what I need you to do.”
Qing Chen asked, “How come I feel like you had already prepared the information and were just waiting for me to make a deal with you.”
“Hahahahaha,” a stiff laugh came from the floating car’s speakers, “Really?”
“Of course,” Qing Chen said helplessly, “So, with your best judgment, how difficult is it to help Liu Dezhu get out of prison?”
“It’s not very difficult,” ONE said calmly, “Hesheng Society is a small gang group, specializing in the private business of modifying mechanical limbs. They hunt for people alone on the streets at night and rob their mechanical limbs.”
Qing Chen was stunned for a moment. Isn’t this the same as those in the Outer World illegally selling other people’s organs?They are just as despicable as those kidnapping women and children.
“The strongest in the Hesheng Society are just a few E-levels,” ONE said, “It’ll be a good test of your true combat ability, but you have to think about how to make them confess.”
Qing Chen started thinking of a plan.
“Oh, there is one more thing,” Qing Chen said, “I need a program that can hide my identity when I use the internet in the Outer World. Can you help me with that?”
“Of course!” ONE’s voice became cheerful, “But just like before, you’ll owe me a favor, and you need to do something for me within your ability.”
“Wait a minute, are things like data fortresses very easy to get?” Qing Chen asked.
“The data fortress is just a firewall product from Chen’s ‘Blue Shield’ company. There is nothing special about it. Don’t worry, what I will give you will be something different. It’ll be worth your time,” ONE earnestly promised.
Qing Chen asked, “Why do I feel that you really want me to do this favor for you?”
“I am also helping you,” ONE said in a sincere tone, “After all, I am a friend of the Knights. How can I watch the next leader of the Knights be in trouble and not help?”
“Fine, what do you need from me then?” Qing Chen asked.
ONE was silent.
It thought for a long time before saying, “So, I made a friend online. This friend kept asking to meet, but I don’t have a body, so I can’t meet up…”
Qing Chen’s pupils shrank and he said in shock, “How is this not online dating?”
ONE whispered, “Whatever you say…”
“So, you want me to pretend to be you and meet that person?” Qing Chen sighed in grief. These days, who you’re talking to online can be unpredictable, or perhaps, not a human at all.
…