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墨書 Inktalez
Cui Ming said, "Ten million, I think I can endure the discomfort." Tonight was different from the past; with five of them together, taking down a giant insect didn't seem like a big problem to him.
Beiyue nodded, "If there's truly no other way, then we have to..."
Li Qing suddenly asked, "Are you talking about that lost civilization? The one that mysteriously vanished in the desert thousands of years ago during a power struggle?"
Beiyue nodded, "Yes."
Li Qing replied seriously, "That place is a forbidden zone. There are many forbidden zones within the Alliance, all of which are inhabited by powerful creatures. Generally known ones include Antarctica and several areas in the Arctic; while there are no restrictions preventing you from going there, they do warn you that it's very dangerous. Privately, Lank's Pirate City is a forbidden zone, as well as the sea route from the Eastern Continent to the Western Continent. The mysterious place known as Silent City in the Magic System is also a forbidden zone, and Shadow Island near the Arctic is an absolute forbidden zone. Among the three continents with large populations, there are seven forbidden zones in total, and the place you mentioned is one of them."
Ding Ze said, "We've encountered that giant insect before; its skin is tough and its flesh thick, but both Yue and I can defeat it."
Beiyue nodded, "Yes." It could be troublesome one-on-one, but two against one would make it easy.
Li Qing added, "There must be a reason for these forbidden zones. For example, take Mote; if he is extremely powerful and unwilling to join the Alliance, they might consider designating an area for him. This area would then be called a forbidden zone. To put it bluntly, a forbidden zone refers to places where the creatures or practitioners inside are very strong—it's not something that can be dealt with by sending a few people from the Alliance."
It was a form of compromise; while the Alliance was undoubtedly powerful and wouldn't fear a forbidden zone, they also wouldn't mobilize their forces to eliminate something simply because it wasn't part of their group. Instead, they employed a more moderate approach: designating a territory where both sides agreed that one couldn't leave this area while the other couldn't besiege them. If outsiders entered this territory, it would be up to them to handle it. It was akin to drawing borders. The Arctic and Antarctica represented another type of forbidden zone due to their many unknowns.
Beiyue remarked, "The father of Classical Boss is a member of the Alliance; he's an old man living in Dawn City. He can't possibly be unaware that it's a forbidden zone."
Cui Ming replied, "I believe Classical Boss knows about the dangers of that area; that's why he hired you to protect Old Expert. If you can't even protect the expert, then that place has no development value for him either." There were many villains in this world.
Beiyue hesitated and said, "Aside from this job, we have no other ways to make money."
Li Qing replied, "We can't sell the house. Even if we could, the process is complicated and we wouldn't get the money in the short term. How about this: we can temporarily find a remote mountain for training grounds. As for living expenses and the travel costs to Hero City, we can take on some Civil Commissions."
"Civil Commission?"
Li Qing picked up a newspaper from nearby and searched for a while before pointing out, "It's the Civil Bulletin Board."
There were many Civil Bulletin Boards; in Dawn City, there were dedicated places for people to post notices, usually for lost pets, missing persons, or infidelity cases. Most of these tasks were handled by private detectives in Dawn City. However, there were also a small number of riskier jobs that offered relatively high rewards.
"Don't think about it; those jobs are all taken by private detectives," Cui Ming stood up and said. "Just give me the eighteen hundred; I'll go to the casino to make some money for now."
Beiyue reminded him, "Just now..."
Cui Ming explained, "Boss, I'm on the casino's blacklist. This means I can't earn more than one hundred thousand a month at the casino. On the flip side, I can take a few tens of thousands as living expenses each month with my blacklist status. This is reasonable and legal, complying with all laws and casino regulations." He could gamble but not win more than one hundred thousand; however, Cui Ming could also choose not to gamble and simply walk away with twenty or thirty thousand dollars—this was something negotiated between the blacklist and the casino.
Mi Xiaonan looked at Cui Ming with admiration and asked, "Brother Cui, what qualifications do you need to become blacklisted?"
Cui Ming replied, "Mi Xiaonan, once you place in the top three of the Eternal Sphere Poker Tournament, you can become blacklisted."
Mi Xiaonan asked, "What place did Brother Cui come in?"
Cui Ming smiled mysteriously without answering. He flicked a Spade Ace towards Mi Xiaonan and left.
...
At noon, Cui Ming went out and returned in the evening with thirty thousand yuan. After a round of gambling with the casino manager, they agreed to give Cui Ming the thirty thousand yuan, allowing him to use this month's quota of one hundred thousand. Cui Ming was not one to take advantage of others; he readily accepted the money and took it home. When Mi Xiaonan saw the thirty thousand in cash, she remarked, "It's important to master a skill."
The skill referred to was something outside of Force, like a ninja's assassination techniques. After dinner, Li Qing took the thirty thousand yuan and brought Mi Xiaonan out. Early Morning returned at two o'clock, and the thirty thousand in cash had turned into three hundred thousand. How did they make that? They went underground boxing, using combat skills instead of Force. They won two matches and lost one. Following Li Qing's instructions, Mi Xiaonan placed bets, and the two happily returned home. On their way back, they were intercepted by Gang, and then... there was nothing more to say.
When Mi Xiaonan returned, she expressed immense astonishment and admiration. In her eyes, Li Qing's true combat level was exceptionally high.
At three in the morning, Mi Xiaonan left after giving Cui Ming a brief word, disappearing without a sound. It wasn't until seven the next morning that she came back and whispered something to Cui Ming. He immediately went with Mi Xiaonan into the city to buy Lottery Tickets. The draw was at ten in the morning, and their three hundred thousand turned into nine million.
The so-called Lottery Ticket is an ancient gambling game. Simply put, there are thirty-six numbered cards shuffled face down. The dealer places one card into a pouch and hangs it high in the store. Then everyone places their bets, and after several hours or days, the dealer takes down the pouch and reveals its contents.
Lottery Tickets are a favorite gambling method among people from the Eastern Continent due to their transparency and some interesting rules. The dealer knows what card is in the pouch; to entice gamblers to place bets, they provide ambiguous hints. For example, a tree, a sheep, or a stream—each of the thirty-six cards corresponds to one of the twelve zodiac animals. Some might guess it's a sheep and buy three sheep numbers; others might count branches on trees, etc. Once these individuals win, they mistake their luck or repeated purchases for a talent for guessing lottery numbers, leading them to addiction that can ruin their lives.
Lottery Tickets have many advantages: they are public; everyone can keep an eye on the pouch. The dealer is not guaranteed profit without loss. The combination of gambling and entertainment makes Lottery Tickets legal in Dawn City, operated by businesses under strict bidding or exclusive rights. The protection of the pouch is heavily guarded with cameras and 360-degree surveillance around the clock. Even for Force Practitioners, trying to discover what’s inside without alerting anyone is quite difficult. Even Li Qing's keen senses couldn't extend seven meters high or approach the pouch without being detected from a hundred meters away.
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