System upgrade

"All right, they're gone. Come on out."

Once the gang of underworld clones led by old Mark had left, and their little black spinning "top" had been hauled away, Zuo Ci waved toward the shelves, signaling Deathstroke to come out.

"You're awfully relaxed. Aren't you afraid I'll slip away?"

As he emerged, Deathstroke was rather puzzled. As the strongest mercenary, he was also exceptionally skilled at concealment. Even if this was Zuo Ci's shop, there was no reason he should have spotted him.

Was this guy really that observant?

"Trust me, from the moment you stepped into this shop, there was no way I was going to let you just slip away."

Bent over, Zuo Ci moved the money while chatting with Deathstroke, his expression as calm as if he were facing an old friend.

"Why are you so confident? Do you think the weapons in this shop alone can stop me?"

From the moment he entered, Deathstroke had noticed something was seriously off about this shop.

Although both the interior and exterior looked completely ordinary, Deathstroke had keenly spotted the hidden weapon placements.

By his reckoning, if a fight broke out, this place would instantly become a sealed killing cage.

Of course, that only applied to ordinary people. For him, it would merely be a little troublesome.

"Or are you planning to fight me yourself?"

If anything here posed a threat, it was really just Zuo Ci. Deathstroke simply couldn't tell what tricks he had up his sleeve.

"Of course not. I'm not stupid enough to expect this general store to take you down, and I have absolutely no desire to fight you again."

"Then why do you think I can't leave?"

"Because I'll call Batman over, obviously."

"..."

Looking at Zuo Ci's innocent expression, Deathstroke fell silent.

Seriously? Calling Batman? Wasn't that a little too much of a cheap shot?

"How much for the guns?"

Not wanting to continue the subject, Deathstroke decided he might as well finish the deal and leave as soon as possible.

"As for the money... how about this? I won't charge you for either gun, and I'll throw in twice as much ammunition. How does that sound?"

Rather than looking pleased, Deathstroke's expression grew even graver. Everyone knew that free things were the most expensive.

"What do you want?"

"Could you stop looking at me like that? You're making me seem like some kind of villain. I just need you to do me a favor later."

"A favor? Didn't you say there was no one you wanted killed?"

"See? You're stuck in a rut. I said a favor, not that you had to kill someone.

"I just want you to lend me a hand later if I need it. After all, a jack-of-all-trades who excels at everything like you isn't easy to find."

As he spoke, Zuo Ci looked around, trying to decide where best to install the remaining Jade Guanyin.

Zuo Ci had originally intended to make a normal sale, but when those gangsters showed up earlier, he changed his mind.

As a well-known DC character, Deathstroke was powerful and proficient in all sorts of skills. Besides making money in Gotham, Zuo Ci would undoubtedly have missions to complete down the line.

Doing him a favor with these guns now, then dragging him in to take the risks when a troublesome mission came along, would be perfect.

After hearing Zuo Ci's request, Deathstroke thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

He hadn't had much contact with Zuo Ci, but he roughly understood that the guy could just about be considered "honest."

Someone like him had no great ambitions and wouldn't go out of his way to provoke anyone. He just wanted to look after his own little patch and get on with life.

In that case, any help he wanted would probably amount to putting a competitor in their place or something. That wouldn't be difficult for Deathstroke.

"Fine."

With the deal settled, Zuo Ci nodded, then exchanged for another batch of ammunition and handed it to Deathstroke.

"Great, then that's everything unless you need anything else. Speaking of which, why were you hiding behind my shelves earlier? You're a killer who doesn't bat an eye at murder. Don't tell me you're shy."

"They're my former employers. Although the deal is off, it still wouldn't be good for them to see me hanging around with you. It would affect my reputa..."

As he spoke, Deathstroke's voice grew quieter, and he suddenly realized there was a major problem.

He had never cared about reputation when doing business before. Although he usually honored his contracts and refused to be bought off, that was about it.

So why did I suddenly start caring about this?

Could yesterday's condition have lingering effects?

Sensing something was wrong, Deathstroke immediately shut his mouth and darted out the door without looking back, disappearing down the street in an instant.

"He noticed, huh? Oh well."

After everything ended last night, Zuo Ci had actually exchanged for a few more Gentle Bullets, then used the system to process them into an extremely fine powder and mixed it into the incense in the shop.

That way, anyone who entered the shop would be subtly influenced as long as they breathed, reducing their aggression.

As for the effect, it certainly wasn't as good as hitting someone directly, but letting it build up little by little worked pretty well too.

At the very least, doing it this way was cheap.

"Now that everyone's gone, it's time to plan how to spend this money. A whole five million. Tsk, tsk, what a fortune~"

[Beep, beep. When total assets reach three million, the system's upgrade function will unlock. Please take note, host.]

Just as Zuo Ci began looking forward to the good life, the system interrupted him.

"Huh? An upgrade? You actually have that function? So what do I get after you upgrade?"

[Upgrading the system will unlock a larger shop, more sections, a more extensive mission list and rewards, as well as the sale seasons the host is most interested in, which will appear at irregular intervals.]

"Ooh..."

Reading the system's explanation, Zuo Ci had to admit he was tempted.

A larger shop meant a wider selection of goods. Add in the sale seasons he had been longing for, and the upgrade was definitely essential.

Missions and rewards were important too. After getting familiar with the system, Zuo Ci had discovered that although most things could be exchanged for money, a few exceptionally precious and rare items could only be bought with points.

So that part was quite important as well.

As for the additional sections, he wasn't sure what functions they would offer, but they certainly couldn't be too bad and were worth keeping an eye on. It looked like there was no getting around this upgrade.

"Your reminder sure came at the right time. I'd barely been happy for a few minutes. Fine, fine, I'll work hard and save up."

He had thought nearly five million dollars made him rich enough, but a single system upgrade cost three million. Before he could even get comfortable with the money, more than half of it had to go.

[Would the host like to proceed with the upgrade?]

"You... fine, fine. Upgrade."

It hurt. It fucking hurt Zuo Ci, but there was nothing he could do.

Watching those bulging bags of dollars disappear before his eyes left Zuo Ci feeling miserable.

He really had gotten ahead of himself. He had better buckle down and earn more money.

Speaking of which, now that he had made the rounds with Falcone, the head of Gotham's biggest gang, wasn't it time to pay a visit to the second-biggest gang, the Maroni Family?