Chapter 2569: Kongyou Service Company
Xu Huo brought the Painting Woman to the Smiling Face Park.
Smiling Face Park was a commercial park in Station City, located quite far from the Time Square in the city center. And this commercial park… just standing outside the main gate, it looked like it was about to be demolished.
When Xu Huo and the others arrived, they happened to encounter a group of people in uniform work clothes being pushed out. Both sides were arguing noisily. The uniformed side directly grabbed the player who had pushed them out and shouted, "Let me tell you, you can dodge the first day but not the fifteenth. You've ruined perfectly good houses like this, and now the government is offering free repairs, but you still won't agree. This has already affected the overall appearance of the city. Do you want the guests coming from outside to see a joke? I'm telling you, we won't stand for it!"
"Go, go, go!" The player being grabbed was still relatively polite, just a bit impatient. "Fix what? This is our home. We'll do whatever we want with it. Don't think I don't know your tricks. Once the government fixes the houses, we'll have to sign that damn contract. You're trying to fool the ghosts!"
The uniformed man's face was flushed red with anger. "The houses have already been given to you for free. What's the big deal about signing a contract? It's just asking you to cover part of the repair costs. Isn't that only right? You've already created such a huge financial hole for the government. Have you no shame!"
The player picked his ear, quickly slammed the door shut, and said, "Goodbye!"
The group of people responsible for negotiations stomped their feet in anger on the spot, but there was nothing they could do about it. After shouting insults outside for a while, they could only leave.
As soon as they left, the tightly locked door reopened, and the players who had disappeared without a trace reappeared. Some were responsible for guarding the door, others for patrolling. It looked like a park that was still operating normally.
"What are you here for?" the player guarding the door asked Xu Huo.
"I want to hire a few people." Xu Huo showed a small advertisement. "Is Kongyou Service Company here?"
Upon hearing the name, the guarding player straightened up. "Go inside. It's the smallest room."
Xu Huo led the Painting Woman into the park.
How should he put it? He felt that ordinary people definitely wouldn't dare to step into this park easily, because from the moment they entered, the gazes hidden in the shadows gradually turned into the open. It was hard to tell if it was because there were rarely guests from other zones, or rarely players coming here. In any case, these people stood scattered in various parts of the buildings, staring at them without blinking.
Truly a district that upheld the belief of "carrying out chivalrous deeds." Every player here had the sharpness of a sword drawn from its sheath.
"Little sister, let big brother buy you a drink!" A young player half-sitting on the balcony of the fifth floor tossed a bottle of water down. The Painting Woman raised her hand to catch it, took one look, and casually handed it to Xu Huo. Clearly, she didn't like the flavor.
But she took a bottle from her own backpack and threw it back.
The player upstairs caught it, took one sip, and immediately spat it all out. He turned the bottle around to look at the small print on the label: "Stink Bug Flavor?"
The Painting Woman happily waved at him.
The young player forced a stiff smile.
The two arrived at "Kongyou Service Company."
The Message Collection Terminal had said they went bankrupt on the spot, and it turned out to be true. This new place was so small it only had a storefront. Opening the door led directly to the stairs going up to the second floor, and the second floor, a space of about fifty square meters, was their workspace. On the office desk were used toothbrushes and face towels.
Were they really this poor?
The person who welcomed them up was a female player with a sweet smile and crescent-shaped eyes. She pulled open a drawer and swept all the inappropriate items off the desk into it, then poured them two glasses of water and asked enthusiastically, "I wonder what services the two distinguished guests would like to inquire about?"
Xu Huo glanced at the person curled up on the sofa sleeping. "Who's the boss here?"
"We all are." The sweet female player's smile didn't change. "Small company, we're both the boss and the employees. That's my cousin. She took a job last night and was busy all night. A bit rude, but she won't affect our conversation. Please, go ahead."
"I want to hire a few people to protect my safety." Xu Huo sat down and said, "I wonder if your company accepts this kind of order."
"We do! Of course we do!" The sweet female player skillfully pulled out a price list. "I'm a C-level player, and my cousin is a B-level player. This is the employment price list. Different services have different quotes. If you hire us to kill someone or get revenge, we'd need to do a preliminary investigation. But your request is for a bodyguard service, which saves us the investigation. No investigation, no investigation fee."
"However, you should be a high-level player, right? Logically, with your strength, you shouldn't need to hire bodyguards. So this task of yours should be relatively high-risk. For high-risk tasks, we add an extra 30% risk fee. If something goes wrong, this money will be our funeral expenses and compensation. But my cousin and I have no other relatives, so we don't need compensation. I'll charge you 20%."
"And one more very important thing: if you commit a crime in District 001, we won't provide bodyguard services. I mean, if someone comes to seek revenge, or the Enforcement Team comes to arrest you, we can't just go to war with them directly, right?"
"It's nothing major," Xu Huo said. "It's just that since arriving in District 001, I've often encountered thieves. Interactions between outer zone players and the District 001 Enforcement Team can easily lead to conflicts. I thought a local would be more convenient. Also, I plan to sightsee in District 001 for a few days, so the bodyguard will also need to act as a tour guide."
"A piece of cake!" The sweet female player quickly calculated a price. "Considering your needs, I'll charge you 15,000 per day. Five full days, deduct 5,000. Ten full days, deduct 15,000. Kongyou does business fairly. We definitely won't cheat you!"
Xu Huo looked at the price details she gave. The 15,000 also included the rental fee for an aircraft, which was indeed quite reasonable.
"Brother, two bodyguards are a bit few. Want to bring a few more!" someone from the opposite window shouted. "They're charging you 15,000. I'll charge 14,000!"
The sweet female player smiled and waved her hand, and a self-made blackout curtain fell, blocking the view from inside to outside. Seeing that Xu Huo remained silent, she said, "How about I also charge you 14,000? This price is really good!"
"No need." Xu Huo smiled. "Let's stick with 15,000 a day."
He took out several stacks of White Notes. "I'll book five days in advance."
"No problem!" The sweet female player raised her hand, and a special contract appeared. "This is a contract issued by the District Government through the Game Base. It has a mandatory performance effect. If you don't pay, the fee will be deducted directly from your personal account. Of course, if we fail to complete these five days of service, the fee will be refunded to your personal account."
She wrote the amount of cash received on the contract, along with the date and her own player nickname.
"You can choose to keep your player nickname confidential." The female player reminded him. "We can't see your player nickname anyway. How should I address you?"
"My surname is Xu. This is my sister, Xiao Chun." Xu Huo signed the contract. "I'm staying at the Yongxing Hotel. I need to go to the Clock Exhibition tomorrow morning. Pick me up in the morning. I'll cover all three meals a day."