Retirement Home Enforcer

Countdown 48:00:00.

Qing Chen, Ye Wan, and Lin Xiaoxiao walked through the silent, deserted Prison No. 18.

This was the first time he had seen what the prison looked like after nine o'clock: empty and tranquil.

Four mechanical prison guards stood silently in the square. The mechanical eyes on their faces had gone dark as well, as if they had entered sleep mode.

By now, Qing Chen was certain that He Xiaoxiao's deduction had been correct. Jian Sheng had appeared in Luo City before crossing over to City No. 18.

Wherever one crossed over to, that was where a Time Walker's future life in the Inner World would continue.

Ye Wan said, "When the Time Walkers emerged that day, we didn't arrest you immediately to avoid making others suspicious. So you don't need to worry about your identity being exposed. Xiaoxiao told everyone that you coveted the ACE-005 guarded by the boss, so you received a minor punishment."

"Mm, you were quite thorough," Qing Chen said. He understood now. Li Shutong had been prepared to accept him into the organization from the very beginning. Whether he could endure the ordeal, however, was up to him.

At that moment, a weak, hoarse voice came from somewhere in the prison. "Li Shutong, let my boss go..."

Qing Chen froze. "You've kept him locked up for four days?"

"Yeah. Otherwise, he'd come out and cause trouble for the boss again. If it weren't for his commendable loyalty, the boss would've dealt with him long ago," Lin Xiaoxiao said. "But don't worry, someone kept bringing him food and water over those four days."

"What did he do before? Did you investigate him?" Qing Chen asked.

"We did," Lin Xiaoxiao said. "He used to be a retirement home enforcer for the Helian Society."

Qing Chen's mouth slowly fell open. "A retirement home... enforcer?"

"Oh, you don't know about that," Lin Xiaoxiao said with a nod. "In the Inner World slums, people generally don't have a habit of supporting the elderly. Once they turn sixty, they get sent to retirement homes, while their children squander their pensions."

"Then why would retirement homes need enforcers? To beat up old people?" Qing Chen asked in shock.

"No, no," Lin Xiaoxiao explained with a laugh. "They collect protection fees from the elderly. The old people pay them to place an order, and then they send the strongest young men with the most mechanical limbs to pretend to be the old people's grandsons, intimidating and frightening the other residents. That way, the old people won't be bullied by the other old people in the retirement home."

Ye Wan added, "Their retirement home enforcers even have a famous advertising slogan: 'Helian Society Elder Care Services. We guarantee we'll get there faster than your son, and our service is excellent. After all, we worry that if you die, we won't make any money. But your son won't worry, because once you die, the money is all his.'"

Qing Chen hesitated. "Is that business profitable?"

"Not bad," Lin Xiaoxiao said with a nod. "At the very least, it can support a whole gang. But the Heng Society looks down on that kind of business."

Qing Chen found it strange. Why would the Qing family send a retirement home enforcer to help him with something as important as the Shadow Struggle?

After thinking it over, Qing Chen asked, "Can I go see him?"

"Of course." Lin Xiaoxiao led Qing Chen to Lu Guangyi's door. He greeted the camera outside, and the alloy gate opened.

However, Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan did not go inside. They gave Qing Chen and Lu Guangyi space to speak alone.

Lu Guangyi lay blankly on the cold floor. Some of the food on the tray beside him had been touched, but he had eaten very little.

The instant he heard the alloy gate, he scrambled to his feet. The moment he turned and saw Qing Chen, he burst into tears. "Boss, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Qing Chen said softly. He was feeling a little weak, so he simply sat down on Lu Guangyi's bedboard.

Lu Guangyi crouched beside him in concern. "But Boss, why have you lost so much weight? Did they torture you? When Qing Yan comes to visit in a few days, I'll tell him about this!"

"Don't tell Qing Yan," Qing Chen said, shaking his head. "I heard you went to cause trouble for Li Shutong?"

"Yeah." Lu Guangyi nodded. "You only had your eye on his ACE-005. Was there any need to torture someone like this? Guo Huzhan had his eye on it before too, and nothing happened to him. They just think you're only a Shadow Candidate, so the Qing family won't make a big fuss over it!"

"Don't bring this up again. When you're under someone else's roof, you have no choice but to bow your head," Qing Chen said.

"That won't do! I'll fight Li Shutong tomorrow!" Lu Guangyi said indignantly.

"That's enough. Stop putting on an act," Qing Chen said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"An act... I'm not acting," Lu Guangyi said hesitantly.

Qing Chen's clear eyes met his directly. Lu Guangyi grew more and more guilty, until he finally sat limply on the ground with his head hanging low.

Even though he had been fitted with standard military mechanical limbs from the Qing family, they could not conceal the dejected air of a nobody about him.

Qing Chen felt a little moved. He had only known Lu Guangyi for a few days. Even if he were Cao Cao or Liu Bei reborn, he did not possess enough kingly charisma to make someone bow down and pledge allegiance so readily.

His past experiences had given him pain, but they had also given him an acute ability to observe and think.

So Qing Chen knew perfectly well that Lu Guangyi knew he would not truly be in danger, which was why he had put on a show of loyalty.

If Lu Guangyi had done nothing while Qing Chen was imprisoned, Qing Chen would inevitably sideline him after getting out.

There was no such thing as love or loyalty without reason in this world.

Qing Chen was exceptionally familiar with human nature.

Then Lu Guangyi muttered in a low voice, "You saw through me, Boss. But this is just how small people like us survive."

Qing Chen sighed. "You don't need to curry favor with me. I appreciate what you've done these past few days. Don't worry. As long as you don't betray me, I won't treat you as disposable."

Lu Guangyi suddenly looked up. "Really, Boss?"

"Really." Qing Chen nodded.

After giving it some thought, Qing Chen said to Lu Guangyi, "But there's something I need to make clear. If you follow me, you need to keep a lower profile. You can't be as ostentatious as before."

"I heard Qing Yan say before that you were very low-key, Boss. It really is true!" The moment Lu Guangyi heard this, he immediately became obedient. "Boss, tell me where I need to improve. I'll definitely change."

Qing Chen fell silent for a moment. "First, take off the gold bars stuck to your mechanical arms. Be more modest."

"Got it!" Lu Guangyi immediately tore off the gold bars.

The gold bars were flat and slender. Calling them gold bars was not quite accurate; gold wires would be a better description.

They were roughly one millimeter thick, two millimeters wide, and ten centimeters long.

In an instant, those mechanical arms that had looked exceptionally refined dropped several levels in quality...

Qing Chen nodded. "I'll hold on to the gold bars for you first. Remember, don't be flashy."

Lu Guangyi gave it no further thought. In the minds of ordinary people in the Inner World, would direct descendants of the five great conglomerates ever lack money? They practically printed the money themselves.

"Get some proper rest." Qing Chen calmly took the gold wires from Lu Guangyi's hand, crumpled them into a ball, stuffed them into his pocket, and walked out.

Only after the alloy gate closed behind him once more did the young man slowly let out a breath of relief.

Qing Chen's mind began spinning rapidly. There were probably two cubic centimeters of gold here. At gold's normal-temperature density of 19.23, that came to more than thirty grams...

What was the gold price in the Outer World now?

Lin Xiaoxiao asked, "Is there anything else you need to take care of?"

Qing Chen thought for a moment. "Yes. I have a plan to confirm something."