Gunfire, Punk and Necromancer

Ge Gongdao had a lot of work backlogged on the other side of the moat that needed to be dealt with. Nightingale and Yanque still had tasks to deal with. This time, Zhuang Xuteng could only complete the bodyguard task alone.

The reward for the task was only 100,000 euros, which was indeed a lot less than his previous appearance fee—even the appearance fee after he reduced the price. However, Lucy reminded him that the money was actually more than the other six mercenaries in the past. In order to avoid causing disputes, it was best not to reveal the specific amount of money he received.

Let Zhuang Xuteng go, mainly because of his judgment and command ability in various commissioned tasks, coupled with his enough calmness and adaptability, which can add a layer of insurance to the bodyguard task. The mission lasted for two weeks and ended on the day of the free-for-all featherweight title fight. This is one of the most important competition events in Peicheng within two weeks. It is a rare good thing that can light up people's mood on this day that is about to be frozen by ice and snow.

Two weeks were just enough for Nightingale and Rockbird to complete the work at hand, plus a few days of rest to recuperate. Lucy hinted that the middlemen and mercenaries would take some actions next, hoping to completely resolve the crisis caused by the "disappearance" of Kaho Wiggins. What exactly will be done must be kept secret at this stage. Since this matter is closely related to Zhuang Xuteng, he definitely wants to take the initiative to get involved and ensure that the situation develops in a direction that is beneficial to him.

Be optimistic about the assignment letter and remember the contact information and reporting time. Zhuang Xuteng still has preparation work to do. This time there was no frontline intelligence support from Nightingale and Yanque, so Zhuang Xuteng had to find a way to find intelligence support on his own, and he naturally thought of Meteor.

After leaving the music restaurant, Zhuang Xuteng drove across half the city to a pet and plant store called "Red and Green" in Taiping District to buy some gifts for Meteor. The things here are very expensive, and its main customers are the wealthy people in Taiping District and part of Shangcheng District. Nowadays, the environment outside cities is getting worse and worse, the number of wild animals and plants is constantly decreasing, and there are even fewer suitable pets to keep at home. Things are rare and valuable, so pet animals and plants have become a pretty good business.

There are wires and electronic equipment everywhere in Meteor's home. Animal pets must not be kept. If the wires are chewed or the equipment is kicked and damaged, Meteor's life and safety will be threatened. Besides, Meteor can go upstairs to find meat buns to play with at any time. No pet can be more fun than a snow leopard.

Zhuang Xuteng wanted to pick out a potted plant for her, one that was easy to maintain, cute, and didn't require too much trouble. Under the guidance of the salesperson, he chose a pot of succulents, which were indeed fleshy, cute, weird in shape, and colorful. He repeatedly confirmed that it was a plant and not an artificial decoration, and then he gave it to people with confidence.

The succulents were being delivered to Meteor's heart, and she was extremely happy. Putting the plants on the countertop next to the work bed, she could see them with her naked eyes just by tilting her head. "This thing looks so funny. Are you sure it's not an artificial decoration?"

"The clerk assured me that this is a live plant - that store has been open in Taiping District for several years and has not been demolished. It shouldn't be selling fake ones, right?" Zhuang Xuteng stretched out his hand and gave Meteor a head massage while saying : "I can only tell whether an object has shadow energy, and whether it is dead or alive, I can't tell."

"Even if it's a decoration, I like it." Meteor squinted his eyes and enjoyed it.

"If it weren't for plants, my wallet wouldn't like it." Zhuang Xuteng said, "Thank you for taking care of Roubao, and thank you for helping me take care of the house above. I was supposed to be your bodyguard, but you ended up taking care of me. I'm so sorry. .”

"You don't need to thank me. I went up to look for Meat Bun to play with to relax. If I were in a pet shop, I would have to give you money. Meat Bun is very obedient and makes me happy." Meteor leaned back hard and looked up at Bee behind him. Zhuang Xuteng, who was much taller than her, asked, "How is your recovery going?"

"According to the outside world, it was only 10%. In fact..." Zhuang Xuteng spread out five fingers in front of Meteor and shook it. The meaning was obvious: 50%. "I'm quite satisfied, especially after I heard that several mercenaries were killed. I have to say that Colonel Taft is really powerful. He is worthy of being a thug trained by the company."

"Nonsense! That guy only used physical strength. If all the shadow weapons were activated, no one on the scene would survive." Meteor sighed and said: "In the end, we are all picking up trash on the road under the company's management. You are a scumbag who eats and waits to die!"

"It's not that miserable. We can still live in such a good apartment and don't have to worry about whether we have something to eat for the next meal. This is pretty good."

"I'm not as optimistic as you." Meteor said: "Don't forget, Colonel Taft holds the identity information of all mercenaries and middlemen. If he is willing, he can completely destroy this industry, and then we will have nothing to eat. "

"I think it's okay. At worst, everyone will be like Brother Dao, hold on for a short time, and then introduce new people, re-establish the anonymity system, and then muddle through..." Zhuang Xuteng thought for a while and said: "It really doesn't work, hire The soldiers will go to other cities and try again."

"Eh? Is that what you think? Lucy is not as optimistic as you. She said that once identity information is made public, gangs, companies and peers will begin to settle grievances, take revenge, and grab money. She said that now Pei The city is in chaos, and no one will try to turn chaos into order, but will only fish in troubled waters."

Zhuang Xuteng thought for a while, shook his head slowly, and said: "I can only say that what Sister Lucy said makes sense, and something like that may indeed happen. But I think all crises are opportunities, and the key lies in how to use and guide them. Compared with As for the grudges between mercenaries and middlemen, I think there will be more conflicts with gangs, right? As long as external enemies can be introduced and it is profitable to deal with external enemies, then conflicts can be directed and problems covered up. At most, everyone When speaking to the outside world, be more careful about your back... Moreover, intimidating each other has nothing to do with whether your identity is disclosed, it still depends on your personal strength."

"Well... what you said makes sense. Just like your master, a stranger in a famine, washes his hands in a golden basin. If we don't find fault, the main thing is to see that he is strong enough, and that you and Brother Dao can hold up the scene." Meteor. After thinking for a while, he said: "Speaking of Brother Dao, not everyone is as unafraid of revealing their identity as Brother Dao. Hey, you know the situation at Brother Dao's family, right?"

Zhuang Xuteng nodded with a smile and said: "Of course I know, Brother Dao told me. He is a 'rebel' in the family, because his whole family is basically in the Constitutional Army, both civilian and military, but he likes to hang out on the streets. . He said more than once: Fortunately, he was tall and strong. If he couldn't survive on the street, he could always find a job in the army, so his family allowed him to continue to work as a mercenary."

"He has the army as his backer and retreat. We can't compare with him. In other words, how can the mercenaries still work after their identities are revealed? We cannot use him as a reference." Meteor sighed and said: "Actually, I have another worry. : Taff and his gang have obtained the identity information of the mercenary, will they also obtain the information of the intelligence officer?”

For middlemen, intelligence officers are much more important than mercenaries. It can be said that three of the strengths of middlemen are intelligence officers. Because there are so few intelligence officers, if a company has specific information about an intelligence officer, it is tantamount to tying the nose - it can completely control the middleman with less force.

Until now there was no information on this. Colonel Taaffe never mentioned the intermediary's intelligence officer, and the intermediary certainly didn't dare ask. "Do you know who and where my intelligence officer is?" If someone really said that, it would be stupid and bad. Even if he wanted to provoke Colonel Taft, he wouldn't do it like this...

"You can't rely on guesswork in this matter, you can only prepare for the worst case scenario." Zhuang Xuteng scratched his head and said: "Move, change places, remain anonymous... In addition to being absorbed by the company, the only way to leave this industry is, right? "

"So you can't think of any other way." Meteor suddenly turned around, hugged Zhuang Xuteng's waist, and said, "Lucy said that if my identity is made public, then I will leave this industry. Peicheng disappeared and hid in a place where no one can find him. Naike, you must not be able to find me!"

"Well...if something like that happens, I think the identity information of the mercenaries will also be leaked." Zhuang Xuteng was at a loss with his hands. It seemed wrong to push Meteor away or not. He thought for a while and said: "Even if your information is released, your skills will not disappear. I may not be able to find you, but I believe you will be able to find me. If you need help, I will still help you .With your guidance, I will be able to find you, right?"

"Nike, I'm afraid of change. I'm afraid that everything I have now will disappear."

Zhuang Xuteng smiled and said: "Like a child... I said, even in a crisis, there will be opportunities, and there will not really be only a dead end."

"What if there is really only a dead end?"

"Then kill the dead end and kill everything. If you don't let me live, then I won't let them die easily." Zhuang Xuteng patted Meteor's head and back and said, "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Remember fear. If you can't solve any problems, then why bother yourself with fear? I will use this method to calm down my emotions when I am nervous, and then focus on thinking about and solving problems. Some problems are destined to have no solution, such as Sooner or later I will die. I will have to wait until that day to think about this kind of thing. Anyway, I will definitely not be able to figure it out now."

Don't care if it's just laziness or not, as long as it can relieve psychological stress. Meteor is too lonely and dare not go out. He always stays alone. After all, the world of information network cannot completely replace reality. Zhuang Xuteng felt sorry for this girl, but he only knew how to relieve the side effects of the implant, but he could not cure agoraphobia. He could only report the situation to Sister Lucy, hoping she would pay more attention to Meteor. In any case, Meteor is her most important intelligence officer and the basis for the middleman to do business.

As for his original intention to ask Meteor to provide him with intelligence support - seeing Meteor's state, he was too embarrassed to mention it.

Colonel Taaffe has brought a big impact to the middleman-mercenary industry. His threat hangs over everyone, and it is only a matter of time before Meteor has emotional problems. Zhuang Xuteng is also very stressed. The main reason why he can still remain relatively optimistic now is that he has successfully relieved the pressure - Colonel Taft punched him half to death with three punches, which also relieved the biggest pressure hanging on him.

Everyone thought that he was trying his best and that he really could not pose a serious threat to the company's enhanced people. As long as the company continued to hold that view proudly, Colonel Taaffe would no longer cast a suspicious eye on him. Based on Brother Dao's description, Zhuang Xuteng deduced that he had used about six dodges of strength at that time, plus touch strength, volley change of position and armor-breaking hammer, and did not use palm fire, bone spear gun and other combat methods. But the trump card that really allowed Zhuang Xuteng to defeat Kahuo - seven flashes, absorption of shadow energy and damage transfer - were not exposed.

Colonel Taft's fists had the aura of killing people. The key was not just one punch, but three punches in a row. He didn't believe that the mercenaries in front of him didn't show their true skills. Zhuang Xuteng didn't know what he was thinking at the time. Either he judged that he would not be beaten to death, or he really didn't react. Zhuang Xuteng felt that it was most likely the latter. In any case, he is still alive and can still go out to do mercenary commissions without being captured and interrogated by the company's people. This is the best result.

Of course, there is also a problem, that is, other mercenaries have doubts about his current status and have misjudged his strongest level. You know, Scarecrow Nack has not yet conducted confrontational missions with other mercenaries. His reputation comes from his victory in the Middleman War, Lucy's momentum, the aura bonus of the Famine Stranger apprentice, and some cooperation he received later. Praise from peers. Overall, Scarecrow Neck is quite mysterious and has never done any sensational cases. Even if he is famous, hasn't he just been discharged from a critical illness? My body is still recovering, so how powerful can it be?

Alas, with Colonel Taff's blow, it's hard for middlemen to do their jobs, leaving mercenaries to compete for limited commissions. Being a bodyguard, a job that seemed to be a dead end in the past, has now become a lucrative job. You can get 50,000 euros in two weeks, and there will be bonuses for outstanding performance. Naturally, many people are rushing to come.

If Lucy takes over all this task and then assigns it to her mercenaries, then everyone will definitely not be at odds with each other. But this bodyguard mission comes from Moat Company. There are many middlemen who have interests and can speak out. Everyone wants to take care of their people. As a result, the mercenaries who came to the scene created an atmosphere of competition, and Zhuang Xuteng's arrival gave this competition a common goal.

"Are you Scarecrow? Nice to meet you. How are you recovering?"

"My hand hurts from being pinched by you. If you still want my autograph, just let it go." Zhuang Xuteng took out his hand with a smile. The situation now is clear: the mercenaries other than him have consciously had one more task: to prove that Naike is not good. As long as it can be completed, they will have the opportunity to ask their middlemen to arrange for friends to come in.

Obviously, Zhuang Xuteng would not give them this opportunity. Another obvious thing: he can't be the leader of this gang, can't unite the team and command everyone, Lucy's original plan is a bit taken for granted. Zhuang Xuteng's top priority is to get rid of the threat and not add burden to the task at hand.

"Guys, friends, I just came out of the hospital, and I'm definitely not in as good a condition as before. To be honest, anyone who takes three punches from Colonel Taft will not be in good condition." Zhuang Xuteng explained with a smile: "I am the first One was beaten, and Brother Dao was the second one. After that, many mercenary friends were beaten by Colonel Taft, and some even died unfortunately. I think, this fist..."

"Naike, you should rest at home instead of becoming a loophole here." Someone interrupted Zhuang Xuteng and was the first to express his opinion: "If everyone fails to make money because of your accident, what will you do? Paipai Just leave and go back to continue recuperating?”