IRCDM Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Black Market – I, Your Emperor, Am Not Ill

Chapter 5 Black Market, I, Your Emperor, Am Not Ill

At eleven o’clock at night, Liang Huan finally turned on the virtual screen again.

The way to charge the chip is to wear a black wristband on the hand, which does not affect the normal use of the chip, but the charging speed will be much slower. According to Li Yao, after a full charge, it can be used for at least a month.

“Where does Zhen sleep?” Liang Huan looked at Li Yao.

Li Yao was propped up on his arm watching the little man on the screen. Hearing this, he pointed to the closet, “There’s a quilt in there, just make do with a makeshift bed on the floor for the night.”

Liang Huan said, “What about tomorrow night?”

“Keep making do.” Li Yao’s foot was still on the treatment device. He stretched lazily and threw his shirt onto the sofa, “Before next month’s mercenary payment arrives, not starving to death will be our greatest victory.”

“I will not live in such a place,” Liang Huan said.

Li Yao yawned, turned over to face him, “If you have money, go stay in a hotel outside.”

Liang Huan: “…”

He had no money. Li Yao’s money was not enough just now, and he had to make up seven Condensed Coins.

“You can’t stare a hole in me to get money.” Li Yao patted the bed in front of him and said lazily, “Or Your Majesty can suffer a bit and come over here and I’ll hold you while you sleep.”

Liang Huan was so angry that he flicked his sleeves, found a clean place in front of the window, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

Li Yao laughed, “He’s really sick.”

Liang Huan could no longer hear his voice.

A stream of heat slowly gathered in the dantian, and the breath traveled through the eight extraordinary meridians for a week, and he was pleasantly surprised.

His previous body had been damaged since childhood, and some people even asserted that he was destined to die young. However, his Uncle and Nineteenth Uncle attached great importance to his martial arts and invited a master to teach him early on. After they left, his Martial Granduncle often came to the palace to teach him Taoist methods. According to Martial Granduncle, his bones were still acceptable among ordinary people, but because of the White Jade Soup, it was impossible to improve, so he could only use it as a way to strengthen his body.

Although he could practice martial arts, he would lose vitality every time he used his internal energy. Later, he was assassinated, and his meridians suffered severe damage. In addition, he was too busy with government affairs to spare time to recuperate, and over time he had exhausted his body. The imperial physicians in the palace repeatedly reminded him, but he ignored them.

Although this body is weaker than his previous body, the meridians are complete and the foundation is still there. If he can diligently cultivate according to the methods taught by his Martial Granduncle, slowly practice martial arts, living to be a hundred years old should not be a problem.

Liang Huan clearly felt the changes in his body between breaths, and his breathing gradually calmed down. The original owner of this body had a head injury with internal congestion, which was probably why this “Liang Huan” died, allowing him to take the opportunity to return to the body. However, this injury is inside, and it is a bit tricky to heal the injury by circulating energy… It’s just that he has not been able to sense the method of that so-called “mental power” for a long time, and he may have to find a master to ask for advice.

One night passed. When he opened his eyes again, the originally blurry vision became clear, the fatigue lingering on his body was swept away, and his strength seemed to have increased. It is a pity that restoring internal strength is not something that can be done overnight, and accumulation over time is the long-term solution.

Li Yao had just woken up and met Liang Huan’s deep and cold gaze, and subconsciously tensed his shoulders and back.

He actually felt danger from the other party.

But this is impossible. Liang Huan is a typical defective person with high mental power and low physical energy. People like this can’t even engage in professions such as military doctors and commanders, let alone go to the battlefield. Most of them are clerical workers, and even a very small number of people suffer from high mental power functional diseases and cannot even take care of their daily lives and can only be abandoned.

“Remember?” Li Yao sat up, scratched his hair, pulled the treatment device off his leg, and threw it aside.

“No,” Liang Huan said calmly, “My head was injured, maybe I have amnesia.”

It was too difficult for him to play a “modern man”, and lies would be full of loopholes. Since “Liang Huan” had only just met Li Yao, he might as well just be himself.

“Let me see.” Li Yao was not in a good mood early in the morning, frowned and walked up to him. Just as he stretched out his hand, Liang Huan dodged.

He came over with his upper body bare. The dragon tail wrapped around his waist was lifelike, his pants hung loosely on his waist, and the tip of the black dragon’s tail disappeared into his pants from his lower abs. The muscles of his lean waist were smooth. Liang Huan was sitting upright in front of the window, and when he leaned over, his abs almost directly hit Liang Huan’s nose.

Liang Huan leaned back slightly, intending to push him away directly, but found that it was inappropriate to push anywhere on this person who was too informal, so he had to block his wrist, used a clever force to push him away.

“Put your clothes on,” Liang Huan said.

“Where did you get these bad habits? It’s my business whether I want to wear them or not, mind your own business.” Li Yao took advantage of his high position, grabbed the back of his neck, stuck his fingers into his hair and touched it. He did feel a clear lump on the back of his head. He wondered, “I don’t remember you being injured.”

“You kicked me.” Liang Huan almost buried his face in his stomach, paused, and then calmly took his hand away, while pinning the blame on him.

Li Yao cursed in a low voice, let go of him, and then irritably took out a cigarette and lit it. After a moment, he exhaled and sat on the sofa full of clutter. He looked up at Liang Huan, “Then how much do you remember?”

Liang Huan raised his hand and patted the ash off his coat.

“Don’t remember anything at all?” Li Yao asked.

Liang Huan nodded.

“What about mecha?” Li Yao stared at him.

Liang Huan sounded familiar, and under his gaze, he slowly opened his mouth, “What is a mecha?”

Li Yao’s eyes went dark.

He thought that Liang Huan would return to normal after a sleep, after all, Liang Huan’s mental power had reached S, and it was not a high mental power functional disease. But the current situation obviously made it impossible to operate the mecha, let alone assist. If he reapplied to the population matching center, it would probably take forever to find a suitable match. If he forcibly matched, in case the military noticed…

“Come with me,” Li Yao put out the cigarette, grabbed Liang Huan, and went out.

—

The Black Market is located in the northwest corner of the entire Eastern District, covering a large area. It is adjacent to the Mercenary Base in the east, backed by the Population Matching Center Building, and adjacent to the famous Eastern Fourth Red Light District in the west. It also has a high-end and atmospheric name, the East District Shopping Center, which shoulders half of the gray area of the East District.

The shopping center is not very tall, with seven floors above ground and eight floors underground. Therefore, it also has a nickname called “Seven Up and Eight Down”. The upper seven floors do gray business. The government turns a blind eye, as long as they symbolically pay some taxes, it is barely justifiable. The lower eight floors are all real illegal transactions, gathering the gangsters, illegal residents, fugitives, and desperadoes in the Eastern District who cannot even become mercenaries, like the third prison branch of the Eastern District.

It was the first time Liang Huan had seen so many people.

Most of the first floor of the Black Market are legitimate businesses, covering almost everything from clothing, food, housing, and transportation to eating, drinking, and playing. There are also many retail stores for mecha parts and mechanical repair shops. Each store is like a small grid in a bookshelf, without interfering with each other. There are also some children playing around in groups.

“Play, play, play! All you know is to play all day long! Teacher Mu has already started class, hurry up and clean up and go over!” A plump woman was about to whip them with a stick.

The group of children scattered in a rush.

“Ai Li, why are you hitting the children? Anyway, these children are all illegal residents. No matter how well they learn, it is impossible for them to find work outside. Sooner or later, they will have to make a living here. It’s useless.” A thin old man squatted beside him repairing a mechanical arm, “It’s better to follow me and learn how to repair a mecha arm.”

Ai Li glared at him angrily, “Old thing, it’s none of your business how I teach the children! Ai Xiaoli, get in here for me!”

“I don’t want to study! I want to follow Brother Pei to repair mechas!” Ai Xiaoli was only seven years old. He was a well-known naughty boy on the first floor, and clamored to squeeze into the mecha repair shop next door.

When Ai Li saw the shop he had entered, she immediately stopped. The crowd watching the excitement next to her also fell silent.

Liang Huan followed the crowd’s gaze. It was a very ordinary shop. Half of the light sign on the door was broken, and it was impossible to see what it said. A handwritten cardboard sign was hanging in front of the door: Atomic Mecha Repair. A pot of cactus was planted on the windowsill behind the sign, and there were stacks of empty parts boxes. Through the greasy glass window, he could vaguely see the cramped wooden shelves and a little blurry light in the room.

In a silence, the leather curtain was lifted, and Ai Xiaoli was pulled out.

The man was tall and muscular, estimated to be over 1.9 meters tall. He had a camouflage bandana tied around his head, and wore a one-piece denim suit. The gray apron was covered with oil and paint. He had dark skin, a resolute appearance, thick eyebrows and a high nose, and small pupils. When he looked at people, he had a fierce aura.

But what caught Liang Huan’s attention were his hands. They were a pair of mechanical hands made entirely of black metal, connected to the forearm. The joints were old and raised scars, which looked particularly hideous and terrifying.

Seemingly aware of his gaze, Pei Zhong accurately met Liang Huan’s eyes in the crowd.

“What are you looking at!” Li Yao grabbed the hat on Liang Huan’s coat from behind and pulled him out of the crowd, “Are you a dog? Why do you like watching the fun so much?”

He lost sight of him for a moment.

Liang Huan said, “That person’s hands are all composed of machinery. You said before that fully mechanical arms are not flexible enough. Mercenaries mostly use them for strength assistance. Can his kind still repair mechas?”

Li Yao swept a glance at the repairman through the crowd, and seemed to have a bit of an impression, “Him? His hands were chopped off, so there’s no way. People rely on this to make a living.”

Liang Huan nodded thoughtfully.

“Why are you so nosy?” Li Yao slapped him on the back of the head angrily, “If you have the energy, hurry up and remember.”

Liang Huan covered his head and stared at him gloomily, “How dare you hit Zhen’s head?”

Li Yao snorted dismissively, and then keenly noticed a few probing gazes. He glanced at Liang Huan, put the hat on his coat over his head, and pulled him to his side.

Although Liang Huan’s physical fitness was poor, he was tall, long-legged, wide-shouldered, and narrow-waisted. Even without looking at his face, he could make people take a second look. Moreover, that face was indeed good-looking, with long eyebrows and phoenix eyes, and a high and delicate nose. When he looked at people, he had a clear and cold majesty, a detached and unattainable temperament. Not to mention in the Black Market and the Mercenary Base, even in the wealthy areas where genetic modification is prevalent, this appearance can be called top-notch. Li Yao was shocked when he saw the photo from the matching center.

This person was willing to find a lower-class mercenary to marry.

Afterwards, although he knew that the other party was for money, Li Yao couldn’t help but take more care of him. After all, with such a face, if he didn’t take good care of it, anything could happen in the current environment.

Liang Huan was unhappy and wanted to take off his hat, but Li Yao held it down.

“Don’t embarrass yourself with such an ugly face.” He held Liang Huan’s head, turned around and looked at those who were plotting against him, and glanced at the numbers on their chests.

As a result, some people were not afraid of death and blew him a kiss.

Li Yao: “…”

Liang Huan turned his head and saw it clearly, and asked, “Is he showing you love?”

“Showing my ass,” Li Yao frowned, “A bunch of garbage.”

His voice was not small, and after he finished speaking, many people’s faces changed. Being cursed at like this, the Black Market is not a place to swallow insults.

Li Yao suddenly took something and slapped it on Liang Huan’s chest.

Liang Huan looked down. It was a square badge that automatically attached to his coat, with M0969 written on it.

The originally restless people instantly became honest, and some were whispering. Liang Huan activated his internal energy and heard their whispers.

“…Is that the 969?”

“The one ranked first in the Eastern District?”

“It must be. The identity card can’t be wrong. Who would dare to wear his badge? He has so many enemies, and many people in the wealthy area are spending a lot of money to buy his life.”

“Let’s stay away from him, or we won’t know how we died.”

“What killing god, he’s clearly a traitor…”

Traitor?

This was the second time Liang Huan had heard this word, and he couldn’t help but glance at Li Yao.

Li Yao didn’t react much. He seemed to be very familiar with this place, and looked at those people as if he were looking at a pile of garbage, with a tired and lazy disdain.

Very hateful.

Li Yao brought him to a remote shop in the corner of the Black Market, with the arrogant and unruly words “Black Market Certified Clinic” written on it.

“Clinic?” Liang Huan stood with one hand behind his back and said solemnly, “Li Yao, Zhen is not ill. Zhen can resolve the blood stasis behind my head by myself, and does not need to see a doctor.”

Li Yao was silent for two seconds, then pushed him in.

“I think you’re seriously ill.”