With that permanent contract signed, Rei was officially under the care of the System and Kraft who had been acting all hot headed resumed being nonchalant about the whole issue. With his expertise no longer needed, he decided to return to the Goblin World and check on the progress of his Night Foxes.
Meanwhile, Qiu Yue revealed to him that he was no longer in Japan but in China, shocking Rei. “But your …grasp of Japanese is terrific! How did we get here? Was I out for that long?” Rei exclaimed as Qiu Yue allowed him to exit the dimensional instance and see for himself.
Instead of their terrace house where the body bag lay outside of Kraft’s room, they had been teleported to the Store’s instance instead. Amura Rei was astonished by the vast difference and quality of the dimensional instance that he could hardly believe it was an instance.
There was also no doubt that Rei had indeed been teleported to a completely different place, considering that he was being surrounded by Chinese nationals. If he had his phone with him, it would be more believable, but the crowd and the atmosphere around him told him as much.
Qiu Yue escorted him out of the instance and told him that he was currently in the newly built Tree Mall of Shenzhen. “Wait, you mean THAT Tree Mall of Shenzhen that has been all over the news in the morning?”
Rei hurried to the lower floors and out of the mall, and the mangaka artist was still in awe. But he certainly confirmed that this was indeed the Tree Mall that was trending all over social media online.
This only helped him believe that they must have saved him from the Yakuzas. Despite the torture Rei had to endure just now in order to find out his origins, what they claimed might have an inkling of truth.
There were various rumours spreading like wildfire online about the landlord who created the Tree Mall within days after what could only be called a terrorist attack incited by the underworld gangs. Not only it had resolved it on his own, but all these rumours also portrayed him as nothing short of magical genius.
Perhaps, going back to the Mecha World was indeed possible with their help. “If the war hasn’t broken out yet… Could my family still be around?” Rei thought to himself.
Thus, the mangaka artist returned back to the dimensional store instance with haste and found Qiu Yue again, who was waiting at the side of the island bar talking to Yun. “Let me introduce you. This is Yun, one of the co owners of the Dungeons and Pandas. She is like the Mothe- *cough* Big sister of all of us. You should always listen to her and not make her angry in any way.”
“Qiu Yue, you told me that you may have a possible passage to the Mecha World, right?! If there really is a war, I want to know if my family members are still alive. If they are, I was hoping that we can bring them to this place instead.” Rei asked with some anxiety in his voice.
“Sorry, I cannot help you with that aspect. We only have a way to go there, but we don’t know where we will come out. With the threat of an impending war on the horizon, it’s not really the ideal time to extract your family.” Qiu Yue replied as she was drinking a cup of Bamboo juice.
“Besides, we haven’t really gained anything from you so far, but empty promises.”
“But didn’t you tell me that you guys are willing to help me via the contract? According to your terms, you have to take my well being into account as well!” Rei countered as he took out the folded copy of his contract from his pocket.
“Please don’t leave out the part inconvenient for you. At the very top, it reads; ‘In return for his services.’ You have not rendered any services as of yet. Nothing is barring me to aid you. If you want help, show us some results, then I will ask our Boss if we can try to fulfil your wish.” Qiu Yue shrugged.
Rei knew she was right, he had nothing tangible at the moment, and it would take time to draw up the blueprints. In fact, he was the one who needed help more than ever. With the Yakuza chasing him, it would only be a matter of time until they catch him again and demand the loan interest. The longer he waited, the worse it would be for him.
And while he did not promise to use his upcoming movie as collateral, having the Yakuzas hounding at his back would definitely backfire in the final few months of preparations leading to the film release. The lie he used previously was just an excuse considering that he was aware that the movie needed more post production work before it could be pushed out.
What’s more, it was supposed to be a secret project, teased to the masses that “something major” was to be shown at the 20th anniversary of the creation of his manga by the early spring next year.
Therefore, Rei could not use the movie’s budget even if he wanted to since the studio solely needs the money.
“…Please, help me.” Rei went down to his knees at the centre of the store instance, and everyone who was walking by was stunned by his sudden begging. Even Qiu Yue was shocked that Rei was willing to go to such lengths to kneel in front of her at such a public place.
“What the hell are you doing. Get up.” Qiu Yue ordered quickly. Her body language indicated that she did not want to be involved in this particular sighting.
“Please, I just need your help to get my family to safety. That’s all. After that, I will spend all my time on the blueprints!” Rei begged loudly (in Japanese), but before he could say anymore, Yun walked to him and slapped him.
“If you have the balls and time to beg, you should take the matter into your own hands and do something about your current situation.” Yun then pulled him up and threw him through another portal. As the mangaka artist had already been contracted with the System, the System was able to pull up the coordinates of his house and teleported him there instead.
When Yun threw Rei back at his place, she threw two metal suitcases from her storage ring after him as well. “Get your life in order here before we can talk about getting your family. Do what you need to do before coming to find us.” She then flicked a business card at Rei before closing the portal. “And you better hurry, my interest rate is 10 times higher than those Yakuza loan sharks.”
Rei held on to the side of his face, which was burning with pain as he saw the name card and noticed that it was the number to call the Dungeons and Pandas. He then opened the suitcase only to find millions of yen stashed inside.
There, he quickly counted a stack and estimated the amount of money within the two suitcases to be sufficient to repay his loan interest and the remaining loan he had incurred.
Rei realised that this had to be an advance payment for the blueprints and what Yun was telling him to do was to hurry up with the blueprints if he wished to save his family too.
There and then, Rei turned to the direction where the portal was closed and prostrated in gratefulness. “I promise to get it done as soon as possible.”
