Vol 7: Chapter 8-1.
Zheng looked at the thugs as he sat on the sofa. Several were bold looking men in their thirties. Seemed like this promising profession wasn’t limited to teens and young adults. Of course, Zheng didn’t care much about them. He was thinking about something else.
Why did Jie want to kill him?
This was the question that troubled him. Then a thought arose from Yinkong’s attack and Heng’s shot. If he was the leader of a team, then what was his role? Charging at the frontline? That was just reckless. Or were people with high intelligence the only suitable ones?
Zheng pondered for a while then came to a peace of mind. Because this problem may be difficult to solve in the real world but in this world, after Lan obtained her skills, according to the Soul Link ability, she could connect everyone’s mind and maybe even control members of other teams. If that was possible, then he could give commands even when he was in the frontline. Furthermore, being in the frontline would allow him to adjust strategies according to their opponents.
“Uh. Boss, these are the leaders I know. You…”
A voice woke Zheng up from his thoughts, it was that thug from before. Zheng looked over and saw that him, and the people behind him had their foreheads covered in sweat and their heads tilted down a little. It wasn’t until then that they let out a sigh of relief. Several people with malicious intentions also just realized that this Asian wasn’t a weakling. The pressure Zheng emitted when he was pondering prevented them from looking straight at him. They knew they encountered someone from the real underworld. At least that was what they thought.
Zheng looked at them and said. “You know what I call you here for right? Before I give you the mission, tell me how many men each of you have. The people that you have absolute control over, not just people you know. Don’t try to lie, I have ways to tell if you said the truth or not. Ok, starting from you.” He pointed at a random person.
This bald guy had rings all over his face, on his nose and the sides of the face. He pointed at himself then answered with respect. “Boss, I have seventeen men. We all have bikes and are very familiar with this city. Also…”
Zheng interrupted him and pointed to a blonde guy. “You?”
“Twenty-three.”
“Eleven.”
The numbers varied. A middle aged man had the most at forty and the least was eleven, totaling to about two hundred. These people weren’t too much when they spread out through the city. But neither were they too few, since they had their networks. Once the net expanded layer by layer, it was bond to return a tiny bit of results. And all he needed was just this tiny bit. Otherwise, he would stay as a blind man like he had been.
Zheng opened the guidebook and flipped to the city map. He pointed at the map and said. “Is this the whole city? Doesn’t look too big. Are their any cities connected with this one?”
The thug said. “There are a few towns around. About ten minutes on bike. Also a residential area across this bridge.”
Zheng nodded. “Then this is it. I want you to search for three men and three women, all Asians. The distinctions are a little boy that likes to touch his hair, a young man carrying a bow, of course, the bow is sometimes in a bag but you should notice its shape. A woman with glasses. Uh. She has large breasts. And a sixteen-year-old girl that looks. She looks handsome, with short hair. Lastly, a bold man with a gorgeous woman by his side. This woman is wearing a cheongsam.”
“Spread my words. Go look for these six people. For every person that you find, the team that found them will receive two gold bars.” He took out two bars from the ring. “You can also use your networks. I don’t care what methods you use. Two gold bars for a person, and if you find another one, then three extra gold bars. I have an abundance of money. You just have to complete the mission and they are yours. Don’t try to attack me, I won’t spare any mercy. Understand?”
Zheng said coldly. He knew the ugly sides of human. A hundred percent profit was enough to make people take risks. He didn’t want anymore trouble with these thugs when he was fighting both Death and his comrades. So he took out another gold bar, held it in his hand and stared at the thugs quietly. As expected, several people expressed greed. Just then, to everyone’s surprise, a flame arose from his palm and quickly melted the gold. The liquid flowed down to the carpet and burned a few holes.
The thugs looked at the flame on his hand with shocking terror. This move woke up the people with greed. Money was a good thing but when there was an unknown force in front of them, life was more important. The thugs suddenly didn’t dare to move a bit. Zheng had become one of those legendary people with superpower.
“Take these melted gold for now. Remember, I will keep my words. Two gold bars each. I will give you as many as you can find! You, you stay. Everyone else can go back. Come back tomorrow night and report. I hope you can contact all your men and networks in a day.”
The thugs looked at each other then ran toward the still hot little pieces of gold on the carpet. Perhaps it was due to Zheng’s appearance, they split the gold rather evenly. Then these people hurried out as if they were escaping from something. The only thug left was the one that spoke Chinese.
Zheng looked at the thug’s uneasy expression, or perhaps terrified. He laughed and said. “Don’t feel so nervous. I won’t attack people without a reason. I have some questions to ask you. Do you know anyone in the police force?”
“Boss, I know a few but I am not that close with them. I only met them when I got caught.”
Zheng continued smiling. “Nothing to be scared of. I just want to meet some people in the police. It’s already late. Can you bring one of them to me by noon tomorrow? Don’t worry, take this half a bar of gold. You can use the gold to entice them, find one that will work for gold. Tell them I have a mission that can use them. After completing the mission, they will have enough gold to do what they want.”
The thug took over the gold then said cleverly. “Yes, boss. I know such person. I will bring him over tomorrow. Haha. Rest assured, I will definitely bring him over.”
Zheng thought for a bit then laughed. “You can go. Also help me ask if there are any arms dealers in this city. Be cautious and don’t let people know you are looking for these stuff. Go.”
The thug walked to the door, and suddenly asked when he was about to close the door. “Boss, I know you’re going to do something big. I will follow you. You’re much more generous and stronger than Black Jack who controls this city.” He closed the door with respect.
Zheng laughed bitterly. He knew the role he was acting gave these thugs the wrong figure. He acted like an underworld leader trying to get into politics and was using money to pave the way. They were his first group of henchmen.
But this had to be done. He only had five days left. His goals were surviving these five days or find Jie within the five days.
Zheng calmed his mind then took out the communication device. “Is it WangXia? I want to ask you, if I give you enough weapons and cooperate with you in battle, do you have the confidence to fight several superhumans like me?”
