Chapter 102

【Not joking, this super dream recording is definitely something you'd be interested in—it's related to Golden Ancient Bridge, and it's produced in your Boundary Gate District】

【Boundary Gate District? Are you sure?】

【When you watch it, you can compare it to the city outline—if it's Xiao She, you should already be pretty familiar with your surroundings, right?】

【Let me look back, thanks first—any news from Heaven Gate City?】

【Ah, besides you making it onto the annual Hei'an ranking? I gave you ten votes! It was originally meant for this year's newcomer who got back on the list, evolto.】

【……Thanks a lot, actually. I'm asking about the follow-up investigation into the Heaven Gate riot—do they have any news about the secret key yet?】

【Ahaha. If there really were any, they'd probably notify you before me, right? I'm just an outsider, after all.】

【Still no news?】

【Xiao She doesn't trust me? Heh, I think staking out where monsters appear might actually be more reliable than counting on those people.】

【Indeed.】

「Over here, over here, young man, don't walk so slowly—I've been waiting for you impatiently. »

「Young people usually aren't suited to come and go in places like this, Mr. Man En. »

「You're on such familiar terms with Da Wei yet you still call me mister? And mercenaries frequenting this sort of place is only natural! »

「If I had to bluntly call you by name, I wouldn't mind—but if we're talking mercenaries, I really have nothing to say, Man En. »

「Exactly! I heard you're planning to set up your own office, kid. »

「Just wait a moment——»

A yellow-haired, dark-skinned man with a flamboyant hairstyle, even in the bar's dim lighting still wore sunglasses, turning his head to look at the youth sitting nearby, who raised his hand to the bartender but only ordered a glass of water.

The bartender didn't mind such a modest request, but the man, leaning on the bar, burst out laughing loudly enough to cut through the bar's noisy music, utterly indifferent to the glances thrown his way—truly a dominant presence in any social setting.

「Water, hah—even Da Wei, who just joined our crew, isn't like this; you kid really know how to have fun. »

Unfazed by others' laughter, a sign of inner strength, the youth turned his calm gaze back to the man: 「Has there ever been someone like this among mercenaries? Man En. »

「At least, so far I've only seen you like this. »

「Then I guess that makes me distinctive—taking my first step in the mercenary circle. 」 The youth took the water cup from the bartender. 「Thanks. »

「Ah, I can't tell if you're serious or joking—think about what Da Wei said earlier. So, can you guess why I'm looking for you? »

「If I were to guess, I'd say—」 the youth bringing up the topic grew a bit serious, staring at the water cup held between his fingertips, then at him, 「it's because of Da Wei's recent changes; it's not just you who wants to find me—you're their representative...... »

「You're indeed as sharp as Da Wei said, 」 the man's smile faded slightly, he lifted his chin to get a clear look at the youth's face past his sunglasses, 「any interest in joining our crew? »

「Thanks for the kindness, but my guess isn't finished yet. »

「Oh? What else? »

「I also guess, 」 Aomo looked again at the water in his cup, watching the light from the dance floor reflected in it, 「if you're just here to check my composition, it should be Da Wei's girlfriend Lu Xi, possibly even bringing along that quirky Ruibeika who knows how to steer a conversation—but it's you, not them, showing up...... »

「Pulling me into your office is probably just a spur-of-the-moment idea; your real goal is still something you want to discuss. »

After all, this person is the captain of the Edge Runners mercenary band, the office chief—basically the big boss and the elder brother.

「This is first and foremost a rather large or troublesome task, which is why you need to come in person. »

「At the same time, this relates to my specialty—either horse girls, monsters, or transmigrants. »

「Once I got here, I wasn't so sure anymore, 」 he said, downing his water in one gulp and turning to the other person, 「being here is basically a pure gamble—I'm betting it's monsters. »

「Great! I'm now convinced you're exactly the talent we need, 」 the man exclaimed, slapping Aomo on the shoulder—his large, clearly prosthetic hand still had some force, though it just rested on the youth's shoulder with a slight sink, 「provided you're not scheming against Da Wei. »

Despite the slight pressure in those words, the youth's expression didn't change: 「I actually have something to say to you all, just for you. »

「Oh? »

「Da Wei isn't planning to upgrade his crystal core, so he needs to quickly prepare an implant to counteract the side effects. »

「That's pretty costly, but you lot can scrape it together—maybe you already have. »

But he definitely won't accept it; at this point you should consider the timing—either under the pretext that the mission must eliminate hidden dangers, or simply give it as a valuable gift.

You came just to say that? Man'en directly took off his sunglasses, his unexpectedly ordinary eyes staring at Aomo, full of surprise.

【Frankly, I've been using Wild Fruit Reading to read and chase updates, switching sources, multiple read-aloud voices,. yeguoyuedu works on Android and iOS.】

Facing those eyes, Aomo's gaze merely grew a bit more serious: 'I think you've been agonizing over this issue for a while.'

Ha ha, that's true! You're right, the hand on his shoulder lightly patted his shoulder, Manen raised his hand again to lift the cup on the table, "but what you said we've actually all considered, it's just that opinions are hard to unify."

Isn't the current task exactly in line with one of these plans?

"That's right, I'll just take your suggestion and add two votes to this plan," Manen laughed loudly, his words revealing that the organization internally uses voting to unify opinions, "So, about the monster-related commission cooperation, will you take it? You probably haven't set up an office yet, just working as a lone mercenary, right?"

"I'll report you an advisor position... what's wrong with you?" The elder brother noticed the other's expression turning strange.

Nothing, advisor position, right, no problem.

After putting aside his thoughts on the 'monster advisor' position, Aomo decided to still vent to Kailifu later; for now, let's get down to business.

What I want to ask is, can you assist remotely? Or shall we discuss whether our free time matches?

You might have heard from David that I'm currently working as a trainer in Central Tressen.

I know, taking care of those peculiar little girls, right? I and Rebecca quite like watching them race; we deliberately freed up time for that derby day.

It's clear the mercenary team is called 'Edge Runners'; they seem to really like running... Aomo complained inwardly, but kept a shy smile: 'So am I working remotely or do I need to go on-site?'

Personally, I hope you can be on site, after all this job is in the Border Gate alien realm, where communication signals are often unstable.

Border Gate alien realm—rather than calling it a new term, it's more like old wine in a new bottle.

Essentially it is the divine realm behind Mount Tressen, the demon realm of Baud district, and the mirror-like market of Heaven's Gate City.

The alien space attached to the Border Gate—you could call it 'inner Border Gate' and it wouldn't be wrong; it just sounds like it's in ghs.

Such alien spaces indeed easily encounter communication signal problems with the surface; as for asking why they don't make a stable two-world communicator, that's another 'let them eat cake' kind of issue.

If that's the case, you go back and confirm first, I'll adjust according to the schedule, how about that?

Then it's settled; I didn't expect you to agree so readily—I thought we'd need to discuss it thoroughly.

Manen raised his cup, intending to clink with Aomo, but also noticed that the other's cup was already empty.

Although Aomo had considered directly using the Condensing Ice Art to melt water, he felt that he would be thrown out by the bartender nearby as a 'bring-your-own-drink' juggler.

I could only speak up to ease the response, ease the atmosphere: 'Assistive-type tasks are very suitable for newcomers; I naturally won't miss them. As long as you get the verification paperwork done, I'll have no doubts. You believe in David, and I believe in David.'

I only hope that when I look back and check the record, you'll give me a high score, let alone that this is also related to monsters.

No problem! Mann nodded.

Right! Aomo, upon mentioning this, immediately rolled up his sleeves and clenched his fists.

That monster is the Golden Ancient Bridge, right?

Golden Ancient Bridge?

That's... Seeing the other party seemed not to understand, Aomo thought about how to describe, quickly took out his terminal, switched to public mode, opened the drawing tool, and sketched a roughly tall and thin robot outline with his hand: "Such a huge robot can be separated into these four sections."

He used three lines to divide the robot's lower limbs, waist, torso, and head on the diagram; the lines were straight.

But the information I received was that it's a black long-eared monster, Mann shook the cup in his hand, and its ears are quite like those of horse-girls.

Huh!