The negotiation lasted for about ten minutes. Having personally witnessed the masked man and Weikede’s skill in haggling, Gu Lian felt utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally. She seriously suspected the masked man had been swapped out!
Given the masked man’s usual level of cunning, how could he possibly be a match for Weikede? Just a few days ago, he had been completely outmaneuvered by her. So why had this masked man’s scheming ability changed so drastically now?!
Could this also be part of the other party’s calculations?!
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Gu Lian subtly shifted her body to the side. After she turned in this mission, she would stay as far away from this guy as possible.
If she ever got caught in one of his schemes, she’d probably end up helping him count his money while he scammed her!
“Friend, shall we leave it at that?”
As soon as the masked man finished speaking, a bottle of red wine was pushed onto the table. The smile on Weikede’s face bloomed like an old, weathered chrysanthemum.
“Since you put it that way, I’ll certainly give you face.”
Hearing this, Gu Lian knew her chance had come. She quickly rose from the sofa, grabbed the red wine on the table, and slowly poured a small amount into the empty glass in front of her computer. Then, she poured a little into another empty wine glass.
The rose-red wine flowed from the bottle into the glasses. Imperceptibly, a few specks of transparent powder sprinkled from her sleeve into the red wine. After doing all this, Gu Lian slid the glass across the table toward Weikede.
“Friend, let’s toast.”
The masked man spoke. Gu Lian, like a dutiful subordinate, picked up her glass. The small amount of red wine inside swirled slowly under the light. Seeing this, Weikede picked up his glass by the stem, scrutinizing it with interest.
On the video call, the masked man fetched a small cup of white liquor and stood up. Even though Gu Lian was drinking on his behalf, he still needed to go through the motions at this moment.
“A pleasure doing business. I hope we can discuss other matters in our next cooperation, don’t you agree? Cheers.”
As the masked man spoke, his face showed unconcealed satisfaction.
“Cheers.”
Weikede stood up and raised his glass.
“…”
Gu Lian stepped forward, symbolically clinked glasses, and then both the white liquor and the red wine were downed in one gulp. Weikede watched with a jovial laugh, then shook his head, staring at his glass. He poured out the red wine inside, opened a new, unopened bottle of red wine, poured himself a fresh glass, and drank it all.
Seeing this, the smile on the masked man’s face remained, but his eyes within the mask’s eyeholes narrowed slightly.
“I hope Chief Weikede achieves unification soon. The goods should arrive around the day after tomorrow. I truly look forward to cooperating with you, Chief.”
“I also look forward to it very much.”
Weikede chuckled as he put down the empty glass, his fingers lightly tapping on the tabletop.
Gu Lian set down her glass and looked out the window. Orange-yellow lights enveloped the interior of the Grand Camp. Tents and stone houses were haphazardly set up together. It seemed chaotic, yet possessed a kind of fragmented beauty.
“Someone.”
As soon as Weikede finished speaking, two fully armed personnel pushed the door open and entered.
“See our guests out.”
“Yes!”
The two armed personnel retreated to either side of the door, making a gesture of invitation. They understood very clearly that this woman, who looked very much like a rich young lady, needed to be treated politely when being escorted out.
If they didn’t know how to read the situation, they would have been killed and dumped in a ditch long ago.
Gu Lian turned and walked out the door, descending the stairs and leaving the Sand Castle.
Patrol personnel passing by acted as if they didn’t see Gu Lian, walking right past her. The two guards exchanged a glance, then turned and headed upstairs. They had been listening outside the door the whole time.
Since the cooperation deal was settled, once she was outside the Sand Castle, she could go wherever she wanted within the Grand Camp. She was considered one of their own now.
The moment she stepped out of the Sand Castle, Gu Lian felt the usual gazes watching her from the shadows had diminished. This was normal. Now that the ‘cooperation’ was finalized, naturally, the surveillance on her was reduced.
She rolled up her sleeve. It was now 8 PM. Only eight hours remained until Weikede’s death.
Seeing this, Gu Lian’s expression didn’t change. Weikede was indeed difficult to deal with, but he had miscalculated one thing. What she had put in the wine glass wasn’t poison, but the magnetic iron powder from a magnetic grenade.
When she went to the restroom earlier, she had taken the opportunity to pry open a magnetic grenade and extract the magnetic powder inside.
This fine magnetic iron powder was a crimson red, perfectly matching the color of the red wine. Utilizing the liquid’s surface tension, once the iron powder came into contact with the liquid, it would form a thin iron film at the bottom layer.
And after Weikede poured out the wine, that transparent iron film remained stuck to the inner wall of the glass. If more wine was poured in, the film would still float up.
Once the magnetic iron powder entered the body, it would stubbornly adhere to the stomach lining. As digestion occurred, the iron powder would grind through the stomach wall.
As for herself… with a stomach that could even digest stones, what was a little iron powder?
After wandering around for half an hour, Gu Lian stopped in front of a small food stall. The stall was selling a local type of Earth Cake, which smelled quite fragrant.
Scratching her elegant neck, Gu Lian subconsciously picked up an Earth Cake and put it in her mouth. After chewing twice, she swallowed it whole. The bitter, dry, crumbly texture of the cake exploded in her mouth.
She smacked her lips and reached for another Earth Cake. But a moment later, her body stiffened. She looked down at the dirt-like crumbs in her hand, feeling a bit bewildered. Why was she eating these strange things again?
In the past, she had eaten stones, twigs, and calendar pages out of necessity. So why the hell was she eating dirt now?
“Kind lady, that will be one hundred hanni.”
The old woman running the stall extended her hands in a cupping gesture, a simple, honest smile on her face.
“I don’t have any currency…”
Before she could finish the sentence ‘How about I pay with something else?’, the old woman smiled and shook her head. “Then, kind lady, you may go. You’re still young, you should be able to find a better job.”
Sometimes, the folk customs in some impoverished places are often more humane than in big cities. Many people complain about the cruelty of metropolitan life, but if they were truly abandoned in those humane places, they certainly wouldn’t want to stay.
It’s precisely because living conditions are harsh that people have no choice but to set aside their differences and unite. Today, if someone here has no food, they go over there to get a little. Tomorrow, if there’s no one to work over there, people from here go to help.
Human warmth only becomes apparent in the small, daily interactions.
“Uh…”
Gu Lian’s mouth twitched. Eating without paying in such a poor place? Better not. This place already struggled to have enough to eat; her conscience wouldn’t allow it.
She didn’t consider herself a good person. The blood on her hands exceeded three digits. But those were all mission targets or people who had attacked her first.
But to bully those who had no grievance or conflict with her? She believed she couldn’t do that.
If an iron tree could blossom, then surely she…
With her hands behind her back, Gu Lian pinched off a small piece of gold from a Gold Bar in her backpack. At the same time, she took out two packs of Combat Rations, holding them in her hand. The small piece of gold was now sandwiched between the two packs of War-ready Food.
“Although I don’t have money, I can trade you an equivalent amount of food.”
Gu Lian stuffed the food into the old woman’s hands. The smile on the other’s face remained, but now held a touch of delight.
—
Fifty meters away, on a roof.
The bright moon hung high in the sky. A guard was hiding in the shadows below, holding a notebook.
“Let’s observe a little longer. The business deal is done, so why hasn’t she left yet? Instead, she’s just wandering around?”
The guard opened the notebook, writing and drawing in it. The notes contained all the places Gu Lian had visited during this time.
He was the tough guy who had taken Gu Lian for the foot soak earlier. There was a reason he was sent to monitor outsiders. He often wore a mask known as the Mask of the Fool.
He had used this mask more than once to trap and kill those who looked down on him. But now, he genuinely couldn’t see through what Gu Lian was thinking.