Chapter 523: Please, Save My Son!
Chapter 523: Please, Save My Son!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Hey, Mr.Chang!" a middle-aged man in his mid-40s came right up and said, "Come, allow me to introduce! This is Deputy Chief Gu Jun Gu, and we are here to celebrate his impending promotion! This is Department Chief Mr.Liu of the District Publicity Division..."
Chang Yue Lai was delighted.
In order to do business nowadays, a businessman must have good connections with the ranking officers from up high! He would need as much support as possible from the officers if he ever wants to expand his business. Back in his day, Chang Yue Lai had managed to get in bed with a small Director of the Business Administration Department, shoving tens of thousands of ‘gratitude’ money over to the Director, causing his competitors to close down. After that, he monopolized the marketplace like a boss and earned a substantial sum of money.
Well, that was merely a very low ranking Director, not something that would match up to a Deputy! If he actually manages to get along with an actual Chief....
Chang Yue Lai’s mind soared to the galaxies. He started fantasizing about the possibilities of him becoming far richer, earning assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and countless pretty women feeling him up. He quickly put on his best manners towards Gu Jun and the other officers. Chang Yue Lai looked like a totally different person as he tried to butter up the officers. Zhang Yang tore his eyes away from the scene. The word ‘money’ really is the root of all evil. It turned men into great actors and women into harlots!
Although Chang Yue Lai was making a great show of courtesy, Gu Jun did not have the interest or time for him. He simply exchanged some pleasantries with the man. In his current position, Gu Jun would not really be interested in entertaining this small time businessman. Furthermore, Gu Jun was about to ascend even higher up, to the same height with the secretary of the state party committee. With such a bright path ahead of him, of course, he would look at a higher place.
Zhang Yang let out a sigh, then he said, "Let’s leave!"
His initial intention to bring Wei Yan Er and her new roommates closer together had failed terribly. The situation was escalated to Chang Yue Lai serving a bunch of officers right in the middle of their ‘lunch session’! Furthermore, Zhang Yang did not want to be misunderstood by Gu Jun. The last thing he would want was to be mistaken as an acquaintance of the perverted Chang Yue Lai! He would not want to unintentionally help the old sly achieve his goals!
"Hey, you people! How can you be so rude !" Director Lee, who seemed to be a friend of Chang Yue Lai suddenly jumped up as he tried to butter Gu Jun up as much as he could. As he saw that Zhang Yang and the ladies did not show any necessary ‘respect’ to Gu Jun, he thought that it was a good opportunity to ‘express’ himself.
At first, Gu Jun did not realize that Zhang Yang and Sun Xin Yu were just beside him, but after hearing Director Lee shouting out, he turned his eyes over and saw Sun Xin Yu. That was the one moment that he felt a chill down his spine, and he almost fell face first on the ground!
She was the reason why he is where he is, today! He could not have made it this far without her!
Although he never actually found anything out about Sun Xin Yu, he did know that the Secretary of provincial Party Committee cared very much for this little policewoman, to the point where her breach of conduct, her wrongdoings would all be overlooked! Gu Jun understood that Sun Xin Yu had great power guarding her back, but she had not given him any chance of tackling her, so Gu Jun did not take any initiative to even try. He did not want to risk getting rejected, only to make things worse for himself.
Therefore, he would only cooperate with Sun Xin Yu in the police station without stepping out of boundaries.
Gu Jun quickly walked up to Zhang Yang and extended a warm hand over to Zhang Yang, "It’s Mr.Zhang! Haha! When you became the CEO of the Silky Soft Holdings, I was outstation. Sorry for not being able to congratulate you personally! Please, forgive me!"
Well, this would be the definition of saving a person by twisted means!
Gu Jun is very well sophisticated in reading body languages. Of course, he could see the ‘relationship’ between Zhang Yang and Sun Xin Yu. To butter up to a girl like Sun Xin Yu would be very simple. All you have to do is to be nice to the man she likes. It would definitely be much more effective than praising her a hundred times or a thousand times over!
Well, Gu Jun was greeting him with so much warmth and sincerity that Zhang Yang had no reason to turn away from him. It would be rude if he does that. So he reached out to shake Gu Jun’s hand, and smiled, "Deputy Chief, you shouldn’t be so courteous towards ne! You’re serving the people, while I am just an evil capitalist. How can I accept your good will! I’m not worthy at all!"
"What are you talking about! As you said, we are serving the people! Are you saying you are not one of the people I serve?" Gu Jun laughed out loud as he brought Zhang Yang over to have a seat with him. He ignored everyone else who had come along with him, especially the old businessman.
Chang Yue Lai, Director Lee and the others were very shocked to see what just happened. A powerful Deputy Chief of Police Department was treating Zhang Yang so politely! They could not help but wonder if Zhang Yang was related to some powerful officer from other provinces or districts.
Since that Gu Jun was so absorbed in entertaining Zhang Yang, the others could not help but to sit down together in silence. Even though they did not know who Zhang Yang really was, they did not dare to interrupt the very animated and lively Gu Jun. So, they sat down together and sipped on their wine glasses in silence.
As the place was a little cramped, they had another table brought in to make sure that everyone in the lounge was comfortable. After all, they were not spending their own money for this.
Zhang Yang could not reject the goodwill of Gu Jun, so he could only let the girls and the ladies sit at another table as he went on entertaining the bunch of ‘booze addicts’ with all the alcoholic drinks on the table. It was indeed a trial of ‘alcohol’ in this era!
As things had escalated to such an extent, Chang Yue Lai no longer had any room to shine. All he could do was to laugh along as they spoke. He did not even get the chance to pour them any drinks. However, at the end of it all, the bill would still fall into his hands!
Wei Yan Er and Han Ying Xue did not appreciate being ‘scanned’ by Chang Yue Lai’s filthy eyes, so they opened their mouth like lions and began to order far more expensive dishes like bird’s nest and shark’s fin soup. A few bottles of Maotai1 and red wine cost so much that even a filthy rich old man like Chang Yue Lai would feel ‘slaughtered.’ He lost his breath for a moment when he saw the vengeful girls ordering their mouths off.
However, he did not dare to reveal his feelings about that matter. Although he was worth tens of millions, it would still be a simple task for these highly-ranked officers to ‘take care’ of him and his business. It would just be a matter of seconds! He had been ‘collaborating’ with Director Lee to get rid of all his competitors back in the day. That was how he managed to be so successful today!
If one Director Lee was already capable of such things, what would more powerful officers be like?!
Back on the other table, Ma Yun Na and the other two ‘gold diggers’ were stunned.
They finally found out that Zhang Yang was actually the real ‘Buddha’ among the saints! They looked at each other in shocked realization! That was why there were so many beautiful ladies around him! Well, Zhang Yang is rich. He could buy these ladies over, and he could even take in tens or hundreds more of such ladies, if he wanted to!
Unfortunate for them, Sun Xin Yu and the ladies were simply too pretty. Ma Yun Na and the two ‘gold diggers’ did not even have the courage to attempt seducing Zhang Yang, worried that he might simply turn his head away as if they were nothing! However, now that they were using their heads for once, Zhang Yang had treated them a meal to get Wei Yan Er closer to her soon-to-be dorm mates. He simply wanted her to have a happy experience. So the key to pleasing Zhang Yang would be Wei Yan Er!
The three of them suddenly changed their attitudes and began to be very polite and nice to Wei Yan Er.
Zhang Yang happened to see that, and sighed internally. However things had turned out to be, Zhang Yang had achieved his goal, nevertheless. At ease now, he turned to chat with Gu Jun. After all, he was also the second-highest ranked officer in the Police Department of the district. Being close to someone of that level would also be a good thing.
Finally, they had a good time in the lounge. The only person who did not share their sentiments was Chang Yue Lai. His heart ached deeply as he read the bill of this ‘session’! If this bill was put on Gu Jun’s tab, it wouldn’t actually be any problem. But, he had been a listener for the entire night. He had to pay for his first-class seat. With no way of knowing if Gu Jun could even remember his name, he felt a piece of his heart being torn out, as his credit card parted from his hand! The money could possibly be spent for absolutely nothing!
After the ladies were back in the car, they couldn’t stop going on about the facial expression of Chang Yue Lai the moment he saw the amount on the bill. They were all giggling over it. The three Zhao sisters were looking at Zhang Yang with glittering eyes, as they have never thought that Zhang Yang would be a CEO in real life. A CEO who also happened to be the best professional gamer ever to pop up in the decade.
Han Ying Xue sensed their gazes and pinched Zhang Yang in the waist, and said in a hushed voice, "You hoodlum, are you planning to have more than one wife? Maybe like the emperor with 72 wives?"
After sending Wei Yan Er back to her dorm, it was time for Zhang Yang and his ‘remaining’ ladies to travel back in their car. Wei Yan Er and Han Ying Xue were really reluctant to leave each other, as they were reduced to sobbing piles of mess. Zhang Yang frowned intensely at them, "Oh come on, the little brat is just 20 kilometers away from home, and that is just a 30- minute drive from home! Don’t make it like it’s the last time you two are seeing each other!"
Eventually, he had to wrestle the two ladies off each other, literally. Before Zhang Yang and the ladies had left the place, they already heard Wei Yan Er giggling at a joke the Zhao sisters said. The four of them were already laughing like lifelong best friends. Han Ying Xue was so furious at her lightning-fast change of heart.
Back home, now that the playful little brat was no longer in the house, the large house had actually turned quiet and cold. A big piece was missing in the house.
Zhang Yang logged back into the game. As he had been helping Fatty Han with his [Vampire Inheritance], Zhang Yang had not yet worked on getting the [ Zinc Alloy] and [Light of Miracle] to unseal the second seal of his [Sword of Purging Devourer]. Although he already has the [Heaven Shaker] and no longer had any urgent need of a much more powerful weapon for the moment, he was counting on the fact that he would inadvertently stumble upon new bosses as he searches around for the two quest items.
Players were beginning to congregate in the Chaos Realm. The level range gap for every map in the Chaos Realm was far larger than that of pre-Chaos Realm content. The system had been designed to encourage players by rewarding them with better ‘initiatives’. The initial drops from bosses as they are slain for the first time and the next couple of times would have both the attributes of offense and defense and a 20 level reduction on Required Level. They would definitely be among the best equipment at the current stage of the game.
Well, such powerful equipment will not be dropping from the bosses each time they are slain. They would only drop from the first three kills on the bosses. In other words, if a player kills a boss for the fourth time, then the boss will no longer drop such equipment anymore.
Therefore, it would be best for players to more up maps and bosses in the Chaos Realm. The main priority would be to switch to a full set of Mythical Tier equipment.
Even though Zhang Yang had the advantage of his previous life’s experience, he could not remember every single spawn point of every single boss in the Chaos Realm. So, he would have to locate them based on the descriptions and hints in quest journals. That would be the only way to do it.
After riding on Whitey Jr. for a while, Zhang Yang found himself at the Flatlands of the Man Eating Monster. According to the ‘terrain’ of the world map, this should one of the main maps of the Indian Region. The Territory Gateway of the Indian Region was somewhere in the map. As Zhang Yang traveled through the map, he could see quite a number of Indian players.
Although regions would be enemy factions by default, players wouldn’t simply jump down from their ‘planes’ and kill players from other Regions. Of course, if an enemy player from another Region appeared in one of their grinding maps, they would understandably try to repel the ‘invader’. How else would they be able to grind and hunt bosses in their own lands peacefully?
After flying for a while, Zhang Yang arrived at the Skeletal Spirit Mining Cave. The [Zinc Alloy] would be lying somewhere in the mining cave.
The area is actually the territory of the Harpy monsters. There were countless of these sexy, winged creatures roaming around the entire area. A Harpy has the upper body of humans, but their legs were those of eagles, ending in their deadly, sharp talons. They were well capable of flying.
Although these creatures could fly in the sky, they evidently loved setting up their nests in dark, creepy caves. In this particular game, the Harpies seemed to be limited solely to the female gender. Unlike Wei Yan Er, Zhang Yang did not waste unnecessary cognitive bandwidth on trivial matters like reproduction and survival of the race.
He patted Whitey Jr. and landed near the cave. Almost immediately, he spotted a green-named NPC close to the entrance of that cave.
[The Old Man Kadejah] (Normal, Humanoid Creature)
Level: 110
HP: 17,600
Note: A craftsman from Slurping Stallion Town, quick-witted and nimble-fingered.
It was a frail, plain-looking old man. He looked to be least 70 to 80 years old. He looked anxious and worried.
A quest should be available here.
Zhang Yang leaped off the back of Whitey Jr. and approached the old man together with Felice, "Hello, sir. Why are you here? There are many dangerous Harpies around this area. They are man-eaters, you shouldn’t be here!"
"Young man, of course, I’m aware of that! But my son has been taken by these god d*mned birds. I, I must save him!" Kadejah steeled himself and gazed into the darkness of the cave. He rolled up his sleeves and got ready to charge in.
Zhang Yang quickly stopped the old man, "Sir, you will only get yourself killed if you charge in blindly like this! Let’s put it this way. I am an Adventurer, so let me help get your son back. How does that sound?" He doesn’t have a rat’s *ss to give if this NPC dies, but before he gets himself killed, he should at least give him the freaking quest first!
Kadejah who was barely hanging on by a thread, quickly grabbed hold of Zhang Yang’s hands and said, "Thank you so much, brave Adventurer, you have a good heart. You will definitely be blessed by the gods! Please bring my son back to me. Oh my! He’s only 5 years old! He must be terrified now!"
Zhang Yang took a look at the old man, whose face was covered with wrinkles and white whiskers, and asked, "Sir, your son is... 5 years old?"
"Hey, warrior! Although I am really old, but I’m not so muddled that I’ve actually forgotten my son’s age!" Kadejah was a little pissed. Well, that’s not the point.
Zhang Yang could not stop admiring this old man. This old man must be really strong to actually ‘produce’ a 5 year-old boy at his age! He deserved a medal for that! Zhang Yang nodded and said, "Sir, rest assured that I am going to get your son back to you, in one piece!"
"Warrior, please be quick! These god d*mned birds might eat him alive! Oh, my poor boy ---" Kadejah could not hold his feelings back any longer and he began to cry.
‘Ding! The Old Man Kadejah has given you a quest: Please Save My Son, accept or decline?’
Accept.
[Please Save My Son!] (Difficulty: B-rank)
Description: Please save my son! I was taking my son up the hill to get some dry wood, but unexpectedly, we encountered a few Harpies and they took my son away! Warrior, please save him! My poor Chionocpi!
Completion: Save Chionocpi 0/1
Although the quest did not seem to have any relations with his search for the [Zinc Alloy], Zhang Yang was not bothered by it. Since he is already entering the cave, he might as well complete another quest at the same time while looking for the [Zinc Alloy], earning extra experience points, while killing two birds with one stone!
He walked into the cave with quick steps and threw a {Spear of Obliteration} at one of the Harpies that was the closest to him.
‘-23,532!’
The Harpy let out a miserable screech and came straight down from the air, crashing into the ground, breaking i’s neck. The Harpy died immediately after that. A Level 115 normal monster only had a total of 17,800 HP. Now that Zhang Yang was capable of dealing far more damage than before, one hit was enough to kill the Harpy!
"Big brother, you are getting more powerful!" Felice has always been so cute, and the way she looked at Zhang Yang with her dazzling eyes this time was no different. Well, that completely gratified Zhang Yang’s ego.
"Hahaha!" Zhang Yang picked up the few [Inscribed Cloths] that the monster dropped, and ventured deeper in.
The cave was creepy and dark for some reason. Zhang Yang could not see the end of the cave on his map. When he brought up his world map, he realized that the endless turns and twisting passages of the cave could really mess one’s mind up! Zhang Yang was too lazy to even remember the topography of the area. He bulldozed blindly on, turning away from dead ends, believing that he would eventually find the exit of the cave.
Zhang Yang only encountered normal Tier monsters all the way. The monsters were no match for Zhang Yang’s new level of attack power. With just a simple swings from his [Heaven Shaker], he could already kill the monsters. But the cave was deep and extensive, Zhang Yang walked without any stopping for two hours before he finally saw two elite Tier Harpies guarding over a little boy.
TL Notes:
1. Maotai: Maotai is arguably the most famous Chinese liquor, produced and named after a town named Maotai.