Employment Mission

Bai Cangshu descended from the mountaintop along the stone steps, noticing that this was a tall mountain by the sea. The air was heavy with moisture, and the stone stairs were slick.

With the biting mountain winds and steep slopes, those willing to climb this mountain to seek a master were probably all madmen.

Accompanying Bai Cangshu was the owner of the mountaintop inn, a man who called himself Tang Badan. His actual business was in the small town at the foot of the mountain, but Mercenary Tao's fame had grown greater and greater.

What had begun as a casual side job, acting as Mercenary Tao's intermediary and handling transfers, now brought in more money than his main business.

So, while he was at it, he built an inn on the mountaintop and picked up a few other miscellaneous jobs.

Mercenary Tao made money at an astonishing rate and spent it just as freely. He might kill his employer when he was in a bad mood, or hand over a huge sum when he was in a good one. For Tang Badan to make money off Mercenary Tao, his ability to read people had to be exceptional.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, a car was already waiting at the entrance to the town. It was a distinctly Dragon Ball-style taxi, small in size with rounded lines.

Tang Badan pointed at the car.

"Young man, you're quite calm. If you were truly going to study under a Martial Arts Grandmaster like Master Roshi, you might have some potential."

"But Master Mercenary Tao doesn't care for that sort of thing. You'd better be able to complete the mission, otherwise... heh heh."

He stuck out his belly and gave two smug chuckles, the implication obvious.

"This car will take you to Southern Capital to find the employer. Everyone else has already set out."

Bai Cangshu did not get angry. He still wore that faint, indifferent smile as he opened the door and got in. The car quickly started up, disappearing down the forest road in a cloud of dust.

As Tang Badan walked away, he thought to himself that every year, there was a group of fearless fools who wanted to become Mercenary Tao's disciples. Yet they either had their courage scared out of them, or vanished without another word.

But this young man truly gave him a strange feeling.

Though he always wore a smile, there was something indescribably odd about him. He was handsome, and his smile looked sunny at first glance, but the longer one looked, the more fake and unsettling it felt.

Bai Cangshu sat inside the unusual taxi. The driver was a heavily bearded man whose bulk looked ready to burst the seat apart.

"Sir, can this car turn into a capsule?"

With a harmless smile, Bai Cangshu asked the driver.

The driver glanced at the rearview mirror. He had no desire to respond to this guy who looked like he had far too much luck with women, and merely said impatiently,

"If I had something that high-end, would I still be driving a taxi?"

Bai Cangshu felt somewhat disappointed. Sure enough, Capsule Corp. Capsules were not everywhere.

They rode in silence, and after around three hours, they finally arrived in Southern Capital.

Southern Capital was a city where the southern desert met the sea. There were many wealthy merchants here, and just as many troubles.

After telling Bai Cangshu where he would wait, the driver dropped him off and left. Bai Cangshu then wandered into the city on his own.

Bai Cangshu saw quite a few demi-humans with animal-like appearances wandering through the city as well. They were a race unique to the Dragon Ball World—Animal-Type Earthlings.

Many of these unusual demi-humans could even learn special transformation abilities.

However, none of the ones Bai Cangshu saw displayed any extraordinary traits. Judging from their footsteps and the way they exerted force, they were no different from ordinary people.

Just as this world's challenge rating, ranging from low to unknown, indicated, the martial prowess of ordinary people in the Dragon Ball World was actually close to that of Earth.

It was simply that, with martial arts being so popular, people generally had better constitutions, and the upper limit of their technological level was higher as well.

But their basic physical abilities still did not surpass those of Bai Cangshu's world.

This world's upper limit was upheld by monstrous Martial Artists, aliens, androids, and demon people.

The gap between its upper and lower limits was enormous.

Bai Cangshu spotted a firearms store. This city's laws were similar to those of the United States in the real world, and gun ownership was quite unrestricted.

However, Bai Cangshu did not have any currency from this world on him, so he could not buy anything.

An ordinary trial-taker would probably first look for side missions to earn money, or wait until it was dark and commit some illegal acts to snatch a weapon.

But Bai Cangshu was no ordinary person.

Friends who killed people often should know that people were actually very fragile. When luck was bad, a bump or fall could end a life for good.

So, many times, killing did not require a particularly powerful weapon. What it required was a cruel heart.

After he arrived at the building bearing the sign of Abola Corporation, someone brought him to the reception room on the top floor within moments.

The wealthy, potbellied merchant Abola was a middle-aged man with distinctly Middle Eastern features. Bloated and rich-looking, he was accompanied by two bodyguards in black.

He kept wiping the cold sweat from his pale, fleshy face with an expensive silk handkerchief, making the smile at Bai Cangshu's lips deepen.

"Hey, you. Are you the killer Mercenary Tao sent?"

"Why didn't he come himself?"

Abola had already been driven to the brink of impatience by those people striking and demanding unpaid wages. Even though Mercenary Tao had demanded a hundred million as payment, he had not hesitated.

But now that he saw a clean-shaven young man had come instead, dissatisfaction filled his heart. He neither asked Bai Cangshu's name nor gave him a proper look.

Bai Cangshu sat on the sofa opposite him. Less than two meters separated them, with a table made from a single piece of natural stone between them.

"I am Master Mercenary Tao's newest disciple. My master cannot be bothered to personally handle insignificant people who aren't worth mentioning, so we handle such matters for him."

Bai Cangshu spoke casually, as if he did not care about the striking workers or the target, Mikey. He merely kept surveying the luxurious reception room.

The floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic view. The wall panels were made directly from rare stone, and the floor was laid with equally precious stone. Not to mention the tables and chairs— even the sofa beneath him was incomparably comfortable.

Moreover, this room's soundproofing was excellent. Exceptionally so.

Bai Cangshu's "confidence" improved Abola's opinion of him. He lit a cigar and beckoned to one of the bodyguards, who immediately placed a photograph on the table.

"This is Mikey. I heard he trained at a local martial arts school for several years. He's highly skilled, and ordinary people can't even get close to him."

"Since Master Mercenary Tao sent you, I won't waste words. Eighty million!"

"Kill him, and I'll give you eighty million!"

Abola was quite generous. The price was not cheap to him, but he had no intention of offending a menace like Mercenary Tao over a little money, so he did not haggle much.

This price should have been more than fair for one of Mercenary Tao's disciples to make a move.

Bai Cangshu nodded without bargaining, not even glancing at Mikey's photo.

"The price is fine. The remaining issue is that I lack a weapon."

"I came in a hurry and did not prepare one."

Abola exhaled a cloud of smoke and frowned. What kind of killer forgot to bring a weapon?

But he did not want to dwell on it. He flicked two fingers again.

A bodyguard immediately placed a black gun on the table.

The gun was very short, less than thirty centimeters long. It was a submachine gun unique to the Dragon Ball World.

Bai Cangshu picked up the gun.

Short-Barreled Submachine Gun

Quality: White (Common)

Description: A mass-produced gunpowder-propelled automatic firearm from a certain world, using bullet ammunition.

Effect: Fast rate of fire, low power

Note: Cannot be taken out of this world (item information density too low)

Here, Bai Cangshu could see the space's notes. Only items with additional information density could be placed into the Backpack and taken out of a Derivative World.

Ordinary weapons like this, which could practically be issued one to every person in this world, did not possess the information required by the space and therefore could not be recognized by it.

But it did not matter. Bai Cangshu picked up the gun, suddenly aimed it directly at Abola and his two bodyguards, and pulled the trigger.