Offers are so much tempting (Chapter 83)
"Let's go!"
Sitting in the convertible driven by Amu, they once again paid 1000 points at the city gate to get a temporary ID card. After a few formalities, the vehicle headed towards the headquarters of the Azure Phoenix Mercenary Group.
If it weren't for the Azure Phoenix Mercenary Group generously covering the points, Ye Sheng thought she wouldn't have spent the money to enter the safe zone!
Indeed, she needed to buy a house...
"Ye Sheng, you need to be careful. The deputy leader told me yesterday that he is determined to persuade you to become a mercenary this time!"
Convinced by Lan Zhang's words, Ah Mu had given up trying to persuade Ye Sheng to become a mercenary. Without any pressure, he decided to betray the deputy leader, secretly revealing his eager intentions.
Hearing this, Ye Sheng couldn't help but twitch her lips, thinking that the deputy leader just wouldn't give up!
He still wanted to persuade her to become a mercenary!
Being a mercenary was too dangerous. Besides fighting polluted creatures every day, they also had to guard against the Black Spring Freemasonary.
She would be crazy to become a mercenary.
"It's fine, my mind is made up. Even if the deputy leader makes the most convincing arguments, I won't agree."
Ye Sheng finished speaking, nodding firmly to show her determination.
Then...
When they arrived at the deputy leader Xu Li's office on the top floor of the Qingluan Mercenary Group, Xu Li started a long speech, listing all the benefits of becoming a mercenary.
He even offered to give Ye Sheng a property as a bonus for joining the Azure Phoenix Mercenary Group.
As soon as she joined, she would become a property owner in the safe zone!
This was a huge temptation.
Seeing Ye Sheng's bewildered expression, the deputy leader thought she was hesitant, so he gritted his teeth and sweetened the deal.
"Ye Sheng, we've known each other for a while. I won't talk about anything fancy. If you join the Azure Phoenix Mercenary Group, besides a house in the outer city of the safe zone, I'll personally give you 300,000 base points!"
"..."
"In addition, I will personally train you to help you get stronger quickly! You know, I'm quite famous in the outer city of the safe zone. Other mercenaries want me to train them, but I usually ignore them!"
Seeing the deputy leader getting more and more excited, his usually squinted fox-like eyes were now wide open. He was eager to make Ye Sheng his apprentice on the spot. His enthusiasm brought Ye Sheng back to her senses, and she quickly waved her hands, refusing repeatedly.
"I can't do it. Don't even think about it. It's impossible!"
Though the offer was tempting, she had to consider if she could handle it.
It would be terrible if she got overwhelmed.
Facing the deputy leader's disapproving look, Ye Sheng resisted the urge to wipe her sweat and seriously replied, "Deputy leader, thank you for your appreciation, but I still don't want to be a mercenary!"
Ye Sheng paused, seeing the deputy leader about to speak. Not wanting to lose her chance to respond, she quickly continued.
"Being a mercenary is too dangerous, and there are too many restrictions in the mercenary group. I'm just a kid and don't want to be tied down, especially with the Black Spring Freemasonry watching closely... Unless Erensu shows up, I wouldn't even consider becoming a mercenary!"
Seeing that she couldn't convince the deputy leader, Ye Sheng quickly used Erensu as a shield.
Erensu had been missing for a while, and there's a good chance that... well, she might not come back...
As for Erensu possibly not being dead and coming back later... hey, she only said she'd consider it, not that she'd definitely become a mercenary.
That's the art of words.
Upon hearing Ye Sheng mention the Black Spring Freemasonry and Erensu, the deputy leader was speechless. He hadn't expected that the offer of property in the safe zone and 300,000 points wouldn't sway Ye Sheng!
Not to mention anything else, the fact that Ye Sheng could resist such temptation showed she had a very strong will!
She was a great candidate to be a mercenary...
Unable to convince Ye Sheng to become a mercenary, the deputy leader was quite frustrated. He couldn't just dismiss the threat of the Black Spring Freemasonry, so he sighed and pointed to a corner of the office.
"Those are thank-you gifts from other mercenary groups. Take a look."
Seeing that the deputy leader had finally stopped pressuring her to become a mercenary, Ye Sheng breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran over to check out her rewards.
There were quite a few things.
Ye Sheng hadn't expected the mercenaries she saved to send her thank-you gifts.
Content, she rummaged through the items, finding dried meat, vegetables, fruits, warm winter clothing, and various weapons.
Additionally, there were some miscellaneous items yet to be sorted.
Most of the items were practical.
"Besides these, there's also some base points. Including the gratitude from the Azure Phoenix Mercenary Group, it's a total of 500,000 points."
As Ye Sheng happily sifted through the items, the deputy leader's voice came softly.
Ye Sheng's eyes lit up. The joy of suddenly receiving 500,000 points made her want to run down and sprint 100 laps!
Adding the current balance of 200,000 points, she now had a total of 700,000 base points!
Overnight wealth!
She would soon be able to buy a house in the safe zone.
Ye Sheng happily accepted the 500,000 points transferred by the deputy leader. As for the items piled up in the office, they were packed into a nylon bag, which Ah Mu would discreetly deliver to Ye Sheng's home later to avoid drawing attention.
Afterward, the deputy leader, frustrated by his failure to convince Ye Sheng, waved her off, telling her to go play somewhere else and not to annoy him.
Ye Sheng wasn't upset by this; instead, she chuckled.
"Deputy Leader, once I've saved enough points to move into the safe zone, I'll visit you often!"
"Get lost, get lost!"
After her playful banter, Ye Sheng knew when to stop and quickly dragged Ah Mu downstairs.
During this time, she firmly declined Ah Mu's invitation to eat at the cafeteria, which left Ah Mu grumbling. If you listened closely, you could hear him muttering, "Ye Sheng, you're missing out! The Black Skull Mushroom Soup is so delicious; I could have three big bowls all by myself, really..."
"..."
As soon as she heard "Black Skull Mushroom Soup," Ye Sheng remembered that bowl of dark broth.
The black soup, with numerous skull patterns floating and swaying with the waves, didn't look like something from this world. It resembled something more akin to Meng Po's soup bowl.
"I finally made it to the safe zone. Are there any good restaurants around here?"
Ye Sheng quickly stopped Ah Mu's rambling, prompting him to think seriously before replying, "There are quite a few restaurants in the outer city. However, Ye Sheng, it seems like you aren't very adventurous with food. This makes it a bit tricky. Too ordinary ingredients can be bland, and people can cook them at home, so why go to a restaurant..."
Hearing "not adventurous with food," Ye Sheng nodded eagerly. She just wanted to eat some normal food, not something strange!
(￣▽￣)
"Let's go to the 'Unforgettable Tavern' then!"
"???"
"Even though it's a tavern, they serve various drinks, fruit snacks, and their signature dish, 'Roasted Casse Beef,' which is limited daily."
Although she had no idea what a Casse cow looked like, she was intrigued by the mention of beef!
(*≧ω≦)
Seeing Ye Sheng's interest, Ah Mu enthusiastically continued, "Besides the great food and drinks, the tavern also has merchants who sell important information, like the locations of polluted creatures or plants."
"If you're lucky, you might find edible ingredients and make a small profit... Ye Sheng, you still need points to buy a house, right? I think you might need this information."
If Ye Sheng had any hesitation before, she was now determined to go!
As Ah Mu said, she still needed 300,000 base points to buy a house, so she had to give it her all!
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Seeing that he had convinced her, Ah Mu happily led the way. Unlike the restaurants lining the streets, the Unforgettable Tavern was located in the basement of a building and occupied a considerable space.
From the outside, the tavern looked unremarkable. However, as soon as they pushed the door open, the noise inside hit them immediately. Ye Sheng curiously looked around; the tavern was dimly lit, and it was hard to make out people's faces from a distance. Only small candle flames flickered on each table, like tiny stars in the night sky or specks in the sea.
People were hidden in the shadows, their voices filled with laughter, anger, and banter.
Ah Mu led Ye Sheng to an empty table, then pressed the call bell. Soon, a waiter approached with a menu, asking politely, "What would you like to order?"
"Do you still have the tavern's signature dish?"
"Yes, we do."
"Then we'll have two servings of roasted beef with sweet potato rice, some fries, a plate of Jumping Bugs, a bottle of Black Skull Mushroom Wine, and a glass of orange juice."
Ah Mu ordered skillfully, then handed the menu to Ye Sheng to see if she wanted anything else.
As Ye Sheng opened the menu, she was immediately stunned.
What on earth is this?!
Besides the Chubby Rat Heads she had seen at the Azure Phoenix Mercenary Group's cafeteria, there were also dishes featuring the large noses and certain parts of Pig-Nosed Grey Dogs, and the eyes of Green Frogs...
This was Ah Mu's idea of normal food?
It was yet another day of being shocked by the bizarre ingredients of the wasteland world!
(≧∇≦)
Ye Sheng quickly flipped to the vegetarian section, and among the strange ingredients, she chose a seemingly normal dish of stir-fried green peppers with eggs and a skewer of Seline Mushrooms.
Forced to become a vegetarian!!!
"Please wait a moment," the waiter said, taking the menu and turning to prepare their order. Ye Sheng was still recovering from the shock of the strange ingredients when a commotion broke out at the neighboring table.
Curious, Ye Sheng looked up and saw a skinny child running while swearing, flipping both middle fingers, "Nyah nyah, a bunch of poor fools, don't act big if you can't afford it!"
Immediately, someone at the next table shot back, "You little brat, you said there's a flock of Iron-beaked Ducks, but they're always solitary! Let's see if you can fool anyone with your fake news!"
Since fighting wasn't allowed in the tavern, the neighboring table only exchanged verbal jabs without chasing after the boy.
The skinny child stopped at Ye Sheng's table, revealing a fair face—a boy with bright green eyes that sparkled mischievously.
The boy's eyes were sharp and bright as he stared at Ye Sheng. Lowering his middle fingers, he flashed a cheeky grin and asked, "Miss, would you like to buy some information?"