IRCDM Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Peace and Harmony Leads to Having a Meal

Chapter 11: Peace and Harmony Leads to Having a Meal

Pei Zhong looked at his wrist.

Liang Huan didn’t mind, putting the blood-stained wrist guard back on: “Li Yao is strict, he doesn’t allow me to wear a chip. I bought a second-hand one online, and I’ll take it off when I get back.”

Pei Zhong frowned deeply, but said nothing, taking a palm-sized metal box from the iron rack full of reagents in front of him. He opened it, and three white vials inside emitted a faint, cold air.

“This kind of mental relaxant doesn’t need to be injected. It will evaporate into the air when opened. After the human body inhales it, mental power will rapidly drop to the lowest level. One vial is enough for a normal adult male. If you inhale too much, you can easily become mentally disordered.” Pei Zhong handed it to him. “The effect of one vial lasts for seven days. Some people will experience symptoms of drowsiness and nausea. If you inhale more than three vials, it will cause mental breakdown and lead to death.”

Liang Huan took it: “Where’s my medicine?”

Pei Zhong glanced at him: “Mr. Yu said that he will give it to you after he doesn’t see Li Yao in the Mercenary Competition.”

Liang Huan smiled good-temperedly: “Is that so? Is Mr. Yu doing well lately?”

Pei Zhong looked at him with a strange expression: “I don’t know.”

Liang Huan stuffed the small box into his pocket: “Have we met before?”

Pei Zhong was wary and also a bit puzzled.

“Li Yao took me to the mercenary base’s training ground and kicked my brains out.” Liang Huan smiled and pointed to his temple. “I’ve lost some of my memory.”

“Then what you promised Mr. Yu…”

“Of course I remember something so important.” Liang Huan said without changing his expression, “But I always feel like you look familiar.”

He didn’t look familiar at all, but that day when he passed by, the way Pei Zhong looked at him gave him the feeling that they knew each other before, whether it was with hatred or with kindness, he didn’t know.

“We’ve only met a few times, we’re not familiar.” Pei Zhong pointed to the door.

Liang Huan regretfully twisted his wrist and said, “Li Yao is very wary of me. I’m afraid I won’t be able to succeed for a while. If there’s a way to temporarily suppress the Functional Disorder, that would be great. Pei Zhong, can I see Mr. Yu?”

When Ai Li hit him before, Cheng Xiaolei even ran into Pei Zhong’s shop seeking shelter. Judging from Pei Zhong’s actions just now of driving Cheng Xiaolei away, he was probably afraid that he would hurt the child. This person is likely soft-hearted.

Pei Zhong looked at his wrist again and said coldly, “I have no authority to decide for Mr. Yu.”

Liang Huan nodded and turned to leave.

“The medulla of a Special Heteromorph can temporarily suppress High Mental Functional Disorder.” Pei Zhong said coldly, “Unfortunately, Special Heteromorphs are all in the Outer District, and only mercenaries have the opportunity to obtain them. Figure it out yourself.”

Liang Huan smiled: “Thank you.”

Pei Zhong slammed the door shut.

Liang Huan touched his nose and sighed. It seemed that it was indeed not easy to survive in the post-apocalyptic world. Everyone had a bad temper, probably because their brains were damaged by the Heteromorph’s mental waves.

Fortunately, the Black Market and the dormitory building were close to each other. It would only take five minutes to get there by hovercar, but the problem was that he didn’t have a hovercar. Now, there were only ten minutes before Li Yao got home—how could he get a hovercar in five minutes?

Liang Huan scanned the surroundings and saw a mid-level hovercar parked on the side of the road. The body was painted a bright yellow, but the red graffiti on it ruined the aesthetic.

“Deng, Deng-ge, please spare me! I really don’t know where he spent that money!” A young man in a white shirt was being dragged forward, staggering. His mouth and eyes were bruised.

The person dragging him had many black lines tattooed on his body, and a mechanical auxiliary device was attached to the back of his neck. He sneered: “You are his son, so it’s only natural for you to pay back the money for your father. Selling you to the Red Light District will settle the debt.”

Several younger lackeys next to him burst out laughing, and someone said: “Before we sell you, we brothers will open you up first. You’re so pretty, you’re guaranteed to be a top seller when you go there!”

The young man’s face turned pale: “Deng-ge, Deng Meng! You can’t do this, it’s against the law!”

“Are you talking about the law to me in the Black Market?” Deng Meng laughed. “Or you can go and talk to Mr. Yu and ask him to change the rules of the Black Market?”

The man was trembling all over: “Deng-ge, please give me a few more days, I will definitely find a way to raise the money to pay you back…”

“Okay, stop talking nonsense. Who told your dad to owe Mr. Yu money?” Deng Meng grabbed his neck, about to stuff him into the car like he was grabbing a chick, and the other party struggled fiercely.

“Damn, don’t be so shameless!” Deng Meng kicked him in the stomach and was about to slap him when his hand was intercepted halfway.

The hand holding him was slender and fair, with beautiful knuckles, but the strength was terrifying. Deng Meng couldn’t break free for a moment. He looked up along the hand, and his eyes paused.

The other person was very tall, but wore a light yellow hooded jacket, and white casual pants that were disgustingly clean, stepping on a pair of blue sneakers. The color scheme was like a cream cake sold in the rich district, and coupled with that clean and handsome face, he looked out of place with the entire Black Market.

“Who are you? Looking for death!?” Deng Meng cursed violently, struggling but still unable to break free.

“Isn’t it inappropriate to force someone into prostitution?” Liang Huan said politely. “He already said he would pay back the money.”

“Kid, you’re tired of living, aren’t you! Do you know who Deng-ge works for!” A lackey next to him rushed up, but Liang Huan didn’t even blink, kicking the person away.

The person crashed heavily into a lamppost, clutching his stomach and wailing.

“I know, Mr. Yu’s people.” Liang Huan smiled slightly. “Hello, my name is Liang Huan.”

“Damn, kill him!” Deng Meng roared in exasperation.

Four or five burly thugs swarmed up, and then were kicked away one by one. Deng Meng fell to the ground, his neck stepped on by that pair of beautifully colored sneakers. Liang Huan clapped the dust off his hands and politely said: “Can you give him some time to pay back the money now?”

Deng Meng nodded vigorously while lying on the ground with a bruised nose and swollen face.

Liang Huan then let go of his foot. Deng Meng’s eyes turned fierce, and he took out a gun and pointed it directly at his forehead. Liang Huan quickly tilted his head to dodge, but his face was still grazed by the bullet. He frowned, grabbed Deng Meng’s arm and twisted it directly, picked up the gun, spun it around, and pointed it at his temple, asking: “Can you now?”

Deng Meng was dumbfounded: “B-Big brother, we have no grudges, if you know Xiao Xu, I-I’ll take the lead and give him another month to pay back the money, okay big brother?”

“See, it’s so much better when everyone is peaceful and harmonious.” Liang Huan smiled, and the muzzle moved down, aimed at his wrist, and shot a hole through his bone.

“Ah!! Ahhh!” Deng Meng covered his wrist and wailed madly. The younger lackeys who had crawled up around him were dumbfounded, none of them dared to step forward.

Liang Huan wiped away the blood splattered on his chin with some disgust, and politely asked Deng Meng: “Can I borrow your hovercar for a bit?”

Deng Meng was sweating profusely, and got up, trembling, and handed him the key: “Big brother… Big brother, drive it however you want.”

“Thank you, Deng Meng.” Liang Huan patted him on the shoulder, took the key, wiped it on his clothes, and then unhurriedly got into the hovercar.

Xu Yunyan stood anxiously on the side of the road, looking at Liang Huan and stammering: “Th-Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Liang Huan smiled. “Get in.”

Xu Yunyan’s mind went blank, and he got into the car, trembling.

Liang Huan sat in the driver’s seat, looking at the row of buttons and fiddling with them for a while. Li Yao’s cars were all self-driving, and he hadn’t seen Li Yao drive before, but he had seen many people in chip videos like to speed in hovercars, and he had wanted to try it before. He turned his head to look at Xu Yunyan and asked with a smile, “Do you know how to start it?”

Xu Yunyan pointed to the power button with a trembling hand, and said in a low voice: “This… start, that is… accelerate, turn…”

“Okay.” Liang Huan patted him on the shoulder. “Hold on tight, Xiao Xu.”

Xu Yunyan’s back stiffened, and then the hovercar shot straight into the sky. The feeling of weightlessness and the feeling of being pushed back came at the same time. He grabbed the seat belt tightly, feeling like half of his soul had flown away.

Liang Huan liked the feeling of going to the sky, he directly pushed the accelerator to the end, and flew rapidly through the air roads, causing a big wave of horns.

When the car stopped downstairs at the dormitory building, there were still two minutes and thirteen seconds left before fifteen minutes.

Xu Yunyan got out of the car with trembling legs, squatted on the side of the road, and vomited.

Liang Huan silently took half a step back. After Xu Yunyan finished vomiting, he raised his head tremblingly: “Brother Liang, thank you for saving me today, I will definitely repay you well in the future.”

“No need, I’ve been accumulating virtue and doing good deeds recently.” Liang Huan opened his mouth and said. He smiled and handed him the key, “Take this car and go, go out and avoid it for two days.”

Xu Yunyan hesitated for two seconds and took the key: “But Deng Meng won’t let you go, he will definitely come and cause trouble for you.”

Liang Huan pointed to the dormitory building: “People from the Black Market don’t dare to cause trouble here, go.”

Xu Yunyan’s eyes were filled with tears of gratitude: “Brother Liang, my name is Xu Yunyan, I—”

Liang Huan glanced at the time, pressed his shoulder and pushed him into the hovercar, leaned over the window and clicked the start button, patted him on the shoulder: “Remember, Xu Yunyan, see you again if we are destined.”

Then the hovercar flew straight into the sky, leaving only a string of exhaust.

Liang Huan wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and then looked down at the blood splattered on his white pants, sighing worriedly, wondering if Jinbao could wash it clean – Jinbao was the name of his Grand Eunuch, replaced by a newly bought domestic robot, who had recently won his favor.

When Li Yao came in with the roast chicken, Liang Huan was wearing a black pajamas and playing chess on his chip. Seeing him come back, he smiled obediently and politely: “Li Yao, you’re back.”

Li Yao looked at the clothes on him again, confirming that it was indeed his pajamas. Although he rarely wore them, he recognized them at a glance. They were similar in build, and Liang Huan was just right wearing them, but he always felt something was strange.

“Why are you wearing my clothes?” Li Yao asked directly. “Don’t you have your own clothes?”

“My clothes are being washed, yours are more comfortable.” Liang Huan said with a smile.

In fact, he had just come back from outside and hadn’t had time to take a bath, and didn’t want to put on his own clean pajamas, so he simply found a set from Li Yao’s closet to put on, which seemed completely harmless to him – before, when he was still in Northern Liang, he often gave his used things, the cloaks he had worn, to his ministers. Those ministers were all grateful, and if he went to a minister’s house and used something, it would definitely be well taken care of.

Li Yao didn’t appreciate his kindness.

“Forget it, wear it if you want, just remember to wash it clean for me.” Li Yao put the takeout food on the coffee table. “Come and eat.”

Liang Huan finally ate a palatable meal: “This chef cooks okay, we can order this in the future.”

Li Yao said: “I waited in line for a whole hour to get a number, and that one chicken cost me 500 Condensed Coins. You’re thinking pretty big.”

Liang Huan ate elegantly, glancing at the six plates on the table: “One chicken is 500, do you have secret money?”

Li Yao: “…Don’t talk nonsense, I’m in debt.”

Liang Huan said: “Li Yao, I trust you very much, don’t let that trust down.”

“Eat your food.” Li Yao tore off a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth. “There’s no next meal.”

Liang Huan was not very satisfied. He took away the chicken leg and looked at Li Yao: “You have to work hard. If there’s really no way, I can go on missions with you.”

Li Yao was amused by him: “You? Go to the Outer District with me?”

“How do you know it won’t work if you don’t try?” Liang Huan poured a glass of wine and handed it to him. “What’s more, if we fight in the wild, maybe our mental link rate will increase faster, and your dream will be realized sooner.”

Except for the “medicine,” only the medulla of a Special Heteromorph could suppress Functional Disorder, and that thing was only available in the Outer District, so he had to go and explore the reality.

The smile on Li Yao’s face gradually faded, and he frowned: “No, your physical level is too poor, you’ll die within half an hour in the Outer District.”

“I believe you will protect me.” Liang Huan looked at him with hopeful eyes, and sincerely grabbed his hand. “Li Yao, this is our common home, I want to work hard with you to make you better.”

Li Yao stared at him, took his hand away, but was grabbed again. Liang Huan’s eyes were so sincere and enthusiastic that it was impossible to resist. He looked away and said stiffly: “Let me think about it.”

Liang Huan decisively let go of his hand, wiped the grease on his fingers with a wet wipe, glanced at Li Yao, who was lost in thought, and picked up the wine glass to slowly sip a mouthful.

“Okay.”