Chapter 492

In the manor, the afternoon sunlight shone through the window onto the carpet, where the fine fluff was clearly visible. Leather shoes stepped on the edge of the carpet, and Merkel, wearing a shirt, leaned forward, reached over the table, and took the globe down from the shelf.

The globe had not been used for a long time, and a layer of dust had fallen on its surface. Merkel took a rag and gently wiped the surface of the globe. At this moment, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning his head, he found that Shiler had walked in.

"Good afternoon, sir... oh, what is that?" Merkel greeted him normally first, then looked at the thing Shiler was carrying with some confusion.

"Victor and I went to an antique shop in the West District yesterday and found something fun." Shiler shook the thing in his hand, making a clattering sound.

It was a wooden frame with many small wooden beads. Shiler picked it up and shook it, and Merkel saw the full picture of the thing. He said, "This is... an abacus? Why would you be interested in this?"

"An abacus, an ancient calculation tool. I love it more than a calculator. It also makes a sound, but the sound of abacus beads colliding is much more pleasant than the electronic synthesized sound of a calculator."

Shiler said while carrying the abacus and sitting behind the table. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the wall clock. Merkel took a step to the side, slightly moving out of the way to ensure he wouldn't block Shiler's view.

But Shiler just glanced at the watch casually and then began to lower his head to fiddle with the wooden abacus.

It could be seen that this abacus should be an antique. Fortunately, the wood with a patina would make the feel smoother. Shiler supported his head with one hand and kept moving the abacus beads with the other.

Merkel watched for a while and found that Shiler was not moving the abacus beads randomly. He seemed to be really using the abacus to calculate something. Not only did his hand movements not stop, but he was also muttering to himself.

Merkel found that his employer was becoming more and more eccentric. Changes in his daily routine and living habits were one thing; previously, he had treasured this globe, but for some reason, the globe had been thrown aside, while the cane that had not been well-received before was frequently used, and the top was even a bit worn out.

Today, he didn't know where he got an abacus, and he seemed to have really learned bead calculation, intending to use this rather ancient calculation method to calculate certain things.

"Sir, if the things you want to calculate are important, I can help you get a calculator. I am not questioning your bead calculation ability, but numbers and accounts are wrong if one is wrong. Once a mistake is made, recovering this part of the content may consume a considerable amount of your time..."

"It doesn't matter, it's not an important matter." Shiler made the abacus beads click and clatter, and he said, "I'm just practicing bead calculation so that I can cope with the peak of account settling that may come next..."

"Peak of account settling?" Merkel was a bit puzzled again, but at this time, Shiler looked up at the watch again. Just as he made this movement, Merkel heard the doorbell ring downstairs.

Merkel tilted his head in surprise, then walked quickly to the door, glanced downstairs, and said, "I remember, there should be no appointment today?"

"Indeed, because the person coming doesn't understand the concept of appointments at all."

Merkel went back to put down the globe in his hand. After going downstairs, he found a figure leaning lazily against the door. Even without getting close, he knew that it could be no one else but Constantine.

"Morning, Merkel. Is Shiler in?" Constantine didn't treat himself as an outsider at all, lifted his leg, and walked inside. Instead, the butler Merkel could only follow behind him.

"Mr. Constantine, you must make an appointment by phone first so that I can know whether Mr. Shiler has time today. If you don't make an appointment and happen to run into Mr. Shiler being busy, wouldn't it be a wasted trip?"

"Forget it!" Constantine waved his hand and said, "What could he be busy with? Eating, sleeping, wiping his broken umbrella, working only 4 hours a day, and locking himself in the study for the remaining 20 hours to study conspiracies..."

"You had better not say that." Merkel chased after Constantine, but Constantine really started walking fast. He crossed the courtyard, stepped onto the stairs, and with a few "clatter-clatter-clatter" steps, he arrived at the study where Shiler was.

Shiler was still sitting behind the desk fiddling with the abacus. When Constantine walked in, he didn't even lift his eyelids, just stretched out his finger and pointed to the chair opposite.

Constantine flicked the hem of his trench coat and sat opposite the chair. Shiler gave Merkel a look. Merkel first pulled the curtains, then walked to the door to close it, and then stood in front of the table.

Constantine looked up at him and said, "Next, we are going to have some private talks..."

Merkel made a "please" gesture and then stood still. Constantine stared at him, clicked his tongue, and said, "My conversation with your boss may involve some secrets. Don't you think you should..."

"Sir, you are British, you should know that a butler does not exist in this manor, at any time."

Constantine sighed helplessly and then looked at Shiler. Shiler was completely indifferent, still lowering his head and fiddling with the abacus. When Constantine looked at Merkel, he only saw Merkel's standard British fake smile.

"Alright, next, let's talk about my reward." Constantine tapped the table with his finger and said.

Shiler finally stopped fiddling with the abacus. He lowered his head, opened the desk drawer, took out a document from it, handed it to Constantine, and said, "This is the account detail. Take a look, is there any problem?"

Constantine took the document. When he saw the first page, he was stunned. He pointed to a line of words on it and said, "Reimbursement unit... Green Lantern Corps? What does this mean?"

"Literal meaning." Shiler answered without raising his head.

"You mean, the one paying my salary is actually the Green Lantern Corps?"

"No, the one paying your salary is me, but I still have to go to the Green Lantern Corps for reimbursement. Don't forget, I am one of the Green Lanterns. Any strategic action I take should be paid for by the Green Lantern Corps headquarters."

Constantine opened his mouth wide and said, "You mean to say, you asked me to drag the first batch of Green Lanterns, drive them to the Central Power Battery when the second batch of Green Lanterns arrived, and sneakily ambush that adjutant Carol—these things are all your strategic plans, and then you intend to let the Green Lantern Corps headquarters reimburse you for the expenses incurred by this plan?"

"That's right. Before I implemented this plan, I was already a member of the Green Lantern Corps, a legitimate Green Lantern. And the code in the ring says that the Green Lantern Corps will pay for all expenses of a Green Lantern's security activities in their responsible sector. Is there any problem?"

"You..." Constantine was rarely at a loss for words. He thought for a long time, even the muscles on his face were working hard to assist in thinking. Thinking to the end, he spat out a question:

"Don't you think you are a bit wicked?"

"Keep reading." Shiler continued to play with the abacus on his own.

Constantine took back his thousands of thoughts and then lowered his head again to look at the bill. While reading, he muttered to himself, "Attendance fee... travel fee... hourly fee... are they all calculated according to the energy of the Green Lantern ring? It seems there is no problem. Attendance fee 20 Green Lantern ring energy? Acceptable..."

"Wait!" Constantine suddenly exclaimed.

"Magic equipment wear and tear 380,000 items??? Units, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands... 380,000?!"

Constantine stretched out his hand and began to count his fingers, then he looked up at Shiler and said, "You wrote this randomly, right?"

Shiler also looked up at him, looking straight into his eyes. Constantine suddenly hesitated again and asked, "... right?"

Shiler looked at him and didn't speak. Constantine closed his eyes, then rubbed his brow, put down the bill, and looked at Shiler, saying, "I thought you would have a basic understanding of magic."

"The whole Earth... oh, no, according to their saying, the whole sector where Earth is located, the things that can be called magic equipment may not exceed 38."

"I have said long ago that magic has a price, and a huge price. You can never hire a devil to help you build artifacts for free. Even the most ordinary enchanted weapon may require selling your soul..."

"Even those mages who have their own wizard towers in the rift space, being able to have one real magic equipment is already very remarkable. And for a wandering mage like me, I don't have a single one."

Shiler still stared at him and didn't speak. After a long time, Constantine finally gave up and said, "Alright, there are one or two, but they were hidden by me."

Shiler continued to stare at him. Constantine sighed helplessly and said, "5 items, really only 5 items, including the pots and pans for making magic paint..."

Shiler raised an eyebrow. Constantine also looked at him. Finally, Constantine raised his hands and said, "Alright! Alright! My hideout has about 600 items..."

"But you have to understand, my situation is relatively special. I am good at making friends. Whether in heaven or hell, I have many good friends. Hearing that I moved to a new home, they were all willing to help. Some also do business with me, just like you, so I can get some rewards..."

"However, the vast majority of mages in this world don't even have a handy weapon. No matter what, the number 380,000 is too exaggerated!"

"Who are you?" Shiler suddenly asked this question.

"Who am I? I am Constantine, who else could I be?"

"No, I mean your title."

"Uh, I do have a title called Hellblazer, but I told you before, I am not a detective. The focus of Hellblazer is hell."

"How is your reputation?"

Constantine showed an expression of "you are asking what you already know." Shiler said, "That's right, rotten to the core."

"A newly promoted Green Lantern named Shiler Rodriguez faced the hell-level difficulty of Gotham City at the very beginning, but he was full of justice and formulated a series of plans, wanting to save this place."

"At the beginning of this plan, he drained about half of the energy of the Central Power Battery, but he found that this energy was still not enough to turn the tide. Therefore, he could only issue empty checks first and hire many capable celebrities, including you, Constantine."

"And because of your rotten reputation, it is normal for you to ask for an exorbitant price, right?"

"But how could they agree to such blatant extortion?"

"But if they don't agree, don't you have a reason to rob them? Anyway, you are a rotten person."

"I..." Constantine was choked, and he said, "I admit I am a rotten person, but not that rotten. Many times, I still have a lot of contract spirit. You are ruining my industry reputation, you..."

"I'll give you another 10% after it's done."

"20%!"

"Deal."