Free Web NovelChapter 69: Chapter 69: Pesky Little Devils
Chu Bamboo forced himself to learn it by rote, managing to commit a tenth of it to memory. And that was as far as he got...
Chu Bamboo swore he had never endured such a painful memorization session. At this point, he’d rather memorize an entire novel or a textbook from cover to cover than keep trying to learn these programs...
The biggest problem was that Chu Bamboo didn’t understand any of this stuff. That meant his only option was rote memorization. No matter how good his memory was, this kind of tedious learning... was nothing short of excruciating.
’I’ll head back and find Senior Zhao. I’ll see if he has any leads on Spirit Star... If I can get away with memorizing even a little less, that’s always a good thing.’
Chu Bamboo slapped his cheeks and asked, "What time is it?"
"It is currently 3:08 PM, Imperial Capital Time."
’Fifty-two minutes until I meet up with Zhang Hai. Factoring in travel time, that leaves me with twenty-two minutes.’ Chu Bamboo calculated for a moment, then commanded, "Nuwa No. 17, search for pirated novels! List all the popular ones published since ’25!"
A smile appeared on Chu Bamboo’s face as he saw the countless novel titles. He began by clicking on the first one.
...
「4:00 PM.」
「In front of the Third District Church.」
Chu Bamboo met up with Zhang Hai.
"Master, you really can’t take me with you?" Zhang Xu bit his lower lip, his face etched with frustration.
"Be good," Zhang Hai said, his voice gentle. "We still have Mass tonight. If we both leave, we can’t just let the Ah Mas and those unreliable Priests handle it, can we? I wouldn’t be able to rest easy. You have an important job. We’re all counting on you here!"
After a long silence, Zhang Xu nodded.
「A moment later.」
"...Sorry about that," Zhang Hai said apologetically as he walked behind Chu Bamboo. "Zhang Xu’s been following me since he was little. He... doesn’t fully understand my capabilities, so it’s only natural he’d worry about me."
Chu Bamboo rolled his eyes. ’Forget Zhang Xu,’ he thought, ’I don’t have a clue about Zhang Hai’s real strength either. The most vivid memory I have is that scene from the ruined timeline where Zhang Xu transformed into an Angel.’
’Then again, how impressive was that Angel transformation, really? Could he actually beat an assassin? Or... a high-ranking member of the All-Powerful Association?’
Chu Bamboo glanced at Zhang Hai. Of course, he didn’t really care. ’If we can’t win, I’ll just kill myself and reset the timeline.’
"Where are we headed next?" Zhang Hai asked. When Chu Bamboo didn’t answer, he didn’t seem to mind, treating it as a simple stroll and casually looking around.
As they kept walking, Zhang Hai’s expression gradually began to change. First it was hesitation, then it morphed into bewilderment, and then...
"A-Are you sure we haven’t taken a wrong turn?"
Looking at the street bathed in red and green light, at the scantily clad men and women striking seductive poses, Zhang Hai confirmed his suspicions. In that moment, he felt his scalp go numb.
"It’s Joy Street. This is the place." Chu Bamboo gave Zhang Hai an odd look, then glanced up at the sign hanging high above them with a noncommittal expression. "If the All-Powerful Association wasn’t based here, where do you think they’d be?"
"??? Are you sure the All-Powerful Association is based here?" Zhang Hai lost his composure. "This place... no, even if some group *was* going to set up shop here... wouldn’t it be the Joyful Union Association? Is... is this correct?"
Chu Bamboo didn’t answer. He felt Zhang Hai had asked a stupid question.
’The Joyful Union Association did indeed have its hands in plenty of brothel businesses, but that didn’t mean the All-Powerful Association and the Five Poison Society stayed out of it.’
’To these Demon Sects, making money was the top priority. And vice—prostitution, gambling, and drugs—was naturally the most profitable line of work.’
"Boss! Captain Qi sent me." Chu Bamboo ducked into a shop selling adult products and spoke directly to the burly owner. "By the way, about your recent security fee... was it a little short? Captain Qi has been complaining."
"...Huh?" The impatience on the owner’s face froze. He rubbed his hands together, a fawning smile spreading across his lips. "Oh, so it’s you! Why the change in personnel... Not that I mind, of course... Uh, the security fee, I thought I... I see. Is it going up again?"
A pained smile appeared on the owner’s face.
"Hmph! Whether it goes up is for us to decide," Chu Bamboo said, his nose in the air.
The owner’s expression remained neutral, but his tightly clenched fist betrayed his true feelings. "Is that so..."
Thoughts churned in the owner’s mind. ’Captain Qi probably didn’t raise the security fee... but these little punks working for him!’
’Damn it!’
"I need two invitations to the masked party," Chu Bamboo said again, rubbing his hands together in a cocky manner. "I heard the Captain talking about it and wanted to check it out... If you have them, we can give you an extension on the security fee."
"???" The owner was stunned for a moment. As he realized something, his expression became unreadable.
Finally, the owner regained his composure, a suggestive smile playing on his lips. "No problem. I don’t sell these masked party invitations to just anyone... but since you’re with Captain Qi, it’s no issue at all! Come on, sign your name right here..."
"As for the price... I’ll give you a seventy-percent discount. In return, I’d appreciate it if you’d put in a good word for me with Captain Qi..."
"It’s nothing personal, but a seventy-percent discount is the absolute best I can offer. Besides, this involves the masked party... I’m guessing that even as one of Captain Qi’s confidants, you can’t push things *too* far, right? That would make things difficult for you to explain to the Captain, wouldn’t it? To say nothing of the fact that the profits from this go to Captain Qi anyway, don’t they?"
The owner’s confidence, surprisingly, returned at this moment. If he were dealing with some clueless punk who knew nothing, he would have been truly helpless...
...but this involved a certain level of secret dealings. If this kid really dared to act recklessly, the owner could just report him, and Captain Qi would be the first to punish him. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Chu Bamboo and the owner stared at each other for a long moment before Chu Bamboo let out a cold snort and signed a name with a flourish. Zhang Hai’s eye twitched. He was positive the name Chu Bamboo had just signed was not his own. ’And who,’ he wondered, ’is this Captain Qi...?’
"Full price is three hundred yuan!" The owner quickly emerged from the back room, holding two plain-looking invitations. A grimacing mask was attached to the front of each. "With the discount, that’s ninety yuan!" fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
"What are you staring at? Pay him," Chu Bamboo said, giving the waiting Zhang Hai an odd look. ’Does he have no situational awareness at all?’
Zhang Hai: "???"
’What the hell? *I’m* supposed to pay?!’
Zhang Hai was about to blow his top. "I... oh."
Zhang Hai quickly deflated, remembering that he was the one who had asked Chu Bamboo for help. In that case, it made sense that Chu Bamboo wouldn’t be the one paying...
But the problem was...
