Seeing the downright chilling smile on Jack's face, Zuo Ci shuddered involuntarily.
Sure enough, his instincts had been right. Even setting every other factor aside, that face alone was intimidating enough.
If ordinary gangsters saw him and still didn't run, they had some serious balls.
"This stuff's pretty expensive, so put it away first. Don't lose it. Gotham has plenty of pickpockets... Holy shit, don't!"
Before Zuo Ci could finish his warning, Jack suddenly picked up a pill and swallowed it.
A little bloody. Like chewing raw meat.
Although years of taking drugs had caused irreversible changes to his body, perhaps thanks to his hanma blood, his sense of taste had never suffered. It remained exceptionally sharp.
So the moment he swallowed it, he realized this pill tasted different from every drug he'd taken before. Taste alone didn't seem enough to figure out its ingredients.
Jack Hanma was indeed a man who had thrown away his tomorrow, but that only proved he was willing to do anything to grow stronger. It didn't mean he was a complete moron.
He wouldn't take too much of an unknown drug from an unknown source all at once. He would try a little first and see what it did.
"Hm?"
Just as Jack was still considering the pill's ingredients, his body suddenly underwent an extremely violent change.
His already outrageously muscular physique instantly swelled by at least a third, like a balloon being inflated, turning him from a musclebound giant into a super-musclebound giant.
Not only that, but almost simultaneously, Jack keenly sensed his internal organs coming alive and going into overdrive. His heart and lung function surged, and all sorts of hormones began pouring out.
With all these effects combined, he could feel himself growing much stronger. Even though he took excessive doses of drugs every day, it had been a long time since he'd experienced an increase like this.
"I told you not to just take it... Forget it. What's done is done. Let's take this opportunity to run a quick little test."
As if something had occurred to him, Zuo Ci pulled a black grip strength tester straight out of his pocket.
He had bought it from the System Shop a long time ago to measure the results of his enhancements and training. Now was the perfect chance to let Jack try it.
"This tester goes up to five hundred kilograms. That's half a ton. Here, let's see how high you can get."
Taking the grip tester, Jack looked it over curiously.
It wasn't as though he'd never seen a five-hundred-kilogram grip tester before. Long ago, when he'd worked with that doctor, he had used one. They'd even had testers rated for a ton back then.
But those had all been bulky assemblies of machinery, whereas this one looked no different from an ordinary grip tester.
Still, he didn't suspect it was fake. Zuo Ci practically had "there's something off about me" written across his face, after all. He had no reason to fool Jack with counterfeit goods.
So Jack didn't hesitate. He reached out and pinched the grip tester between two fingers.
He had no choice. The tester was sized for normal people, making it a little too tiny for him. Even fitting two fingers into it was a struggle.
"All right, let's see how much grip strength you... Holy shit!"
The instant Jack applied force, the numbers on the tester's display began racing wildly. Less than a second later, his monstrous strength crushed the entire device, even sending several components shooting out like bullets.
"Good lord. That's way too ridiculous."
Looking at the mangled grip tester, Zuo Ci was genuinely stunned. This thing was rated for five hundred kilograms! A full half ton, and he'd just broken it like that?
Jack, on the other hand, didn't react much. His grip strength had already exceeded five hundred kilograms back when he'd first been able to slaughter polar bears with his bare hands. It was nothing to be surprised about.
He just hadn't expected it to be this easy. He had barely started applying force, and this had happened. The pill's effects really were outrageous.
"Fine, it's broken. Whatever. It wasn't expensive anyway.
Let's talk about your job next."
Looking at the damaged grip tester, Zuo Ci didn't dare bring out any more equipment for him to test. After all, no matter how cheap it was, breaking it still cost money.
If they needed more tests later, they could wreck someone else's stuff instead. Gotham had plenty of gyms, and quite a few were run by gangs.
"You'll work eight hours a day, starting at nine in the morning and finishing at five in the afternoon. There basically won't be any overtime.
The work is simple too. You just need to handle the register, take out the trash, and throw out any punks who come to cause trouble.
Oh, right. When you throw people out, don't just toss them anywhere. There's a dumpster over there. Throw them in that."
"That's all?"
Hearing this, Jack couldn't help feeling a little puzzled. It wasn't as though he'd never worked back in his original world. After all, he wasn't like his father, who lived off a woman, or his filthy-rich younger brother.
His jobs just weren't quite like those of normal people. He generally worked as hired muscle for gangs or fought in underground matches.
He'd assumed he'd be doing the same sort of thing here, but it turned out he really was just taking an ordinary job. Wasn't that a bit of a waste?
"Don't underestimate working the register. It's no easy job, especially here in Gotham.
But that isn't all I'll need you to do. Occasionally, you'll also act as my bodyguard and muscle to help me take care of things."
Now that made sense. He'd wondered how he could possibly be responsible only for the register. If that were really all, couldn't Zuo Ci just grab anyone off the street?
Surely they could at least do arithmetic.
"Next up, pay and benefits. See all the goods on those shelves? As long as you don't waste anything, help yourself. Free of charge. That's our everyday employee benefit.
Though my store mostly just carries daily necessities. I've got equipment for preparing drugs, but no medication or stimulants. You'll have to buy those separately. Still, that stuff's easy to find in Gotham.
As for pay, you'll get twelve hundred dollars a week, plus a two-hundred-dollar bonus every month, for a total of five thousand dollars.
That's just your pay for the regular work. If I need anything special, I'll pay extra."
Zuo Ci offered Jack much better compensation than he would a local. After all, from now on, Jack was one of his own. There was no need to pinch pennies.
As he spoke, Zuo Ci pulled a wad of bills straight out of his pocket and placed it in Jack's hand.
"This is two months' pay in advance. Ten thousand dollars, exactly. You've only just arrived, and you'll need money to rent a place and all that, so take it."
Looking at the stack of green bills, Jack didn't make a fuss. He simply put it away.
"You'll officially start work tomorrow. Take today off. If you need leave later, just let me know.
All right, that covers the job. Next, let's talk about the local customs.
Here in our good, honest Gotham City, the one thing we're never short of is criminals and super freaks. Even you can't afford to let your guard down.
The ones you need to watch out for include Joker, Riddler, Bane, Deathstroke... and Batman."
Before you continue