A Trip to the Continental Hotel

Charlize Theron had a lot to do on her first day back in freedom.

First, Henry had to sneak out in the middle of the night, careful not to disturb the exhausted girl. He needed to go to his rented warehouse in the Los Angeles dock area to retrieve the Cadillac.

He had used all his superpowers to save people, but he hadn't been able to take care of the car, which had been parked in the dock area. Fortunately, a taxi driver pointed him in the right direction, allowing the situation to be resolved smoothly.

If I'm going to take Charlize Theron around today, I'd better get the car back beforehand so as not to waste her time.

Then, I prepared breakfast, received Kitty's feed for the day from the butcher, and filled the feed bowl.

The portion placed in the base bowl was for breakfast, and the portion in the reserve bowl was for lunch. That was enough to appease the Tabby Cat that cried about being hungry at mealtimes.

Heh, you dare let me go out and find food myself? I'll bring back a few two-legged cubs for you to see.

Everything was ready, and then he woke Sleeping Beauty with a kiss. Then Henry was kissed back in return.

Who says only men are excited about this kind of thing?

Anyway, after finishing Henry's —no, after finishing breakfast— Charlize went back to her room to get her passport photo.

First, register with the Screen Actors Guild. Henry then registered as an agent.

After everything was settled, the two signed an agency contract on the spot.

Then they headed to Giovanni's photography studio. This portly Italy man, who ran a photography studio but sold everything, was one of Henry's private suppliers. He always managed to get his hands on some very rare products; he was incredibly resourceful.

But what Henry admired most was his skill in taking and developing photos.

Don't assume that developing photos doesn't require any special skills; it's not just about printing out what you saw on film. In fact, in the era before Photoshop, developing photos was an opportunity for digital manipulation.

Although it's not like the beauty filters of later generations that can turn a sow into a beautiful woman, the quality of a printed photo is still half determined by the developing technique.

Typical photo studios simply follow a standard procedure to develop photos and present the result. Giovanni, on the other hand, developed photos...

That can truly enhance the overall effect.

Photo editing and color correction are just the basics. Giovanni can also overlay the contents of multiple negatives onto a single photo, or delete unsuitable content without making it look jarring.

To achieve that level, Henry still needs a lot more practice. So, in order to take Charlize Theron's audition photos, Henry brought her to Giovanni instead of doing it himself.

Everyone says Giovanni's photo studio is a rip-off for tourists, and they charge half price for acquaintances! It's a prime example of a business that doesn't open for three years, but then makes a living for three years when it does.

Henry displayed his terrifying bargaining skills, reducing the price of the audition photos to less than 10%.

This made Charlize Theron a little insecure. Was this still United States? Or some third-world country? Could you really haggle down to 90% off?

After visiting both places, I can then take Charlize to her workplace.

Henry didn't make any grand promises, saying that he could just let all the temporary workers quit and support them.

Economic independence determines a person's confidence in facing problems. What would people think if a new agent wanted to take complete control of a girl's life after she'd just been wronged by her former agent?

Therefore, in their personal lives, Henry wouldn't interfere too much unless Charlize Theron made the request. On the one hand, although their relationship had progressed to the level of boyfriend and girlfriend, they weren't married yet, so they wanted to give each other some private space.

After sending Charlize to work, Henry still had a lot to do.

The underwater server in the dock area warehouse can be placed there for now. To guide Charlize's acting, we need to get a camera first.

However, Henry went to the Continental Hotel first. The "tribute" that the man in the suit had mentioned yesterday was still on his mind.

Unfortunately, there's no way to ask the girls at the intelligence department's front desk about this. Hotel insider information is strictly forbidden for them to discuss. A casual murmur could very well end up being disappeared without a trace.

Henry was lucky; he ran into someone he should know in the hotel's coffee shop: Charlie Fisher, the uncle of the hotel manager, Mooney Fisher, and a veteran gunman who had helped Henry a lot when the Black Clinic was established.

"Charlie, is this seat taken?" Henry asked, pointing to the empty seat opposite the old gunman.

The veteran gunman looked at the empty café, but still let someone sit down. He added, however, "Here, if you have anything you want to know, you know the rules."

Without a word, Henry placed a Gold Coin on the table and pushed it out.

Charlie called over a waiter and handed the Gold Coin to the other man. "Bring this kid a coffee. What kind?"

"Double the Italian espresso."

After the Black waitress accepted the Gold Coin, she went to prepare.

Charlie looked at the man who hadn't appeared for so long and smiled. "I was starting to think you'd died somewhere. You haven't shown up for so long."

"I've been busy with other things lately," Henry chuckled. He then adopted a serious expression and asked, "Charlie, do you know what 'offering tribute' means?"

"You didn't know?" Charlie, looking puzzled. But he took a sip of coffee to moisten his throat before saying, "Most of the staff at the Continental Hotel are people with troubles on their hands."

"Because ordinary people can live normal lives in society and don't necessarily have to do these shady things. They hope that Continental Hotel can help them solve the problem, but of course, there will be a price to pay."

"It's about how many Gold Coin you need to supply to the hotel each month. There's no fixed amount; it's basically something you negotiate with the manager. It could be a fixed amount or a percentage."

"What If...? you ever stop paying your bills, it means the hotel will no longer provide shelter. However, this won't be announced publicly, so your troubles won't immediately come after you stop paying."

"This serves as a buffer period, allowing the service providers to raise the Gold Coin. You're only finding out about this today—you didn't actually discuss this with Mooney, did you?"

Henry looked embarrassed. No wonder the FBI or the police kept coming to his door. All those troubles were because he relied on his Super Senses to give early warnings and escape in time.

It seems there really aren't any left.

However, Henry could understand this system. It was essentially a gold market buyback mechanism.

What If...? the service provider doesn't need the special services offered by the hotel, then the Gold Coin earned by the gunman will continuously flow into the service provider's hands and accumulate.

Although the Gold Coin in Continental Hotel are not considered money in the economic sense, they do share some similarities. That is, money must circulate, rather than stagnate in one place.

The protection fee paid by service providers to hotels is a link in the chain that connects the money flow.

Henry had previously misunderstood that the Continental Hotel was incompetent, but it turned out he was the one who was ignorant.

As for why the manager didn't mention it, Henry didn't bother to think about the reasons behind it. It was nothing more than creating an opportunity to do favors and increasing his bargaining power.

No one expected that they would be so slippery. Since the police and the FBI might have ill intentions, it would be best to avoid them before they even encountered them, thus avoiding any trouble.