Castle of Black Iron

In front of such a stingy and arrogant guy, who was seriously doing something that he considered important, if you could not bring him gold coins or benefits at this moment, you should not disturb him. Instead, you should be patient and wait for him until he has finished his matter. Zhang Tie learned this experience from Donder. Thus, since the time he entered the room, he has said nothing. He just stood by the broad desk of the Manager Hance, being patient as he waited for him to polish those nice buttons. Meanwhile, he silently looked around the most luxurious room that he has ever seen.

It was truly the most luxurious room that Zhang Tie had ever seen, as he had not seen any high-end places at all in his poor 15 years. Fortunately, the part-time job at the grocery store gave him a sharp eye. The moment he entered, he could identify that the floor was made of cedar wood, the desk of Manager Hance was made of Nanmu wood, and the other furniture, including the cabinets, seemed to be made from Golden Pomelo wood. In a corner of the office, Zhang Tie also noticed a huge, naturally-born one-headed crystal that was heavier than 5kg, resting inside a basin of crystal sand. God! He had never seen this before. Before the Catastrophe, people only used crystals as decorations. However, after the Catastrophe, the real application and knowledge of the crystals were popularized. In this age, everybody knew that any natural crystal heavier than 3 kg was called “Crystal Generator” — this was common sense. Wherever you put it, its energy and magnetic field could purify and improve the energy within dozens of square meters. It was of great importance to the health and cultivation of human beings. Some even believed that people’s negative moods could be purified and they would be lucky if they were constantly in an energy field created by such a crystal…

Zhang Tie estimated that this qualified “Crystal Generator” that weighed 5 kg was worth at least 40 gold coins… “How motherf*cking rich!” Zhang Tie heaved a deep sigh. This crystal was at least Class 4 which meant it could not even be bought at Donder’s store. It was palpably a standard “strategic material” that could not be seen in ordinary stores. Only a few franchised stores were permitted to sell them. In Blackhot City, it was monopolized by the commercial groups directly designated by the CSIF. Despite knowing that someone was in the room, Manager Hance, who was polishing his coat buttons, didn’t speak for almost three minutes before he sighed satisfactorily. He took off the flannelette and the monocle, put them away in a drawer, and then glanced at Zhang Tie.

“Sensible boy!” Manager Hance praised. He seemed to have been satisfied with Zhang Tie, as he had not bothered him when he was doing something elegant. “Well then, show me your ability!”

Being a fatty, Manager Hance’s face looked like a steaming bun that had been punched fiercely. His eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were completely buried in his fat. Compared to him, Donder was slim.

Zhang Tie hurriedly moved forward and handed over the letter of introduction to Manager Hance. Then, he stood straight in front of the broad desk and pretended to be innocent. “I am a student from the Seventh National Middle School. Captain Kerlin said that this was a nice part-time job!”

“Ha, nice, of course. Nice…” Taking the letter, Manager Hance swept over its contents and smiled. Then he glanced over Zhang Tie for a while with a stern stare that made him look creepy. “You will work here from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm after school. How many days could you come in per week?”

“Monday, Wednesday, and Friday…” Zhang Tie replied after a few seconds. Since he had to work for Donder on Tuesdays and Thursdays and had to help his mom on the weekends, he was only available on those three days.

“Only three days. Although it’s not too much, it’s fine...” Pulling out a piece paper from his drawer, he rapidly scrawled on it. Meanwhile, he poured out without any signs of stopping, “You can get your payment once a week. You will be paid 70 copper coins per hour when there’s something you have to do, and you can get more paid more if you perform well. Remember to be here on time! If you’re late even one minute, that day’s work will be done without payment. As for your personal expense to get here, we will not reimburse you for it. If there’s any tip from the guest, you can foist them into your own pocket. Kerlin should have already told you what you’re going to do here…”

“Captain Kerlin said…” The moment Zhang Tie wanted to repeat the nice promises told by Captain Kerlin, the door to the room was abruptly pushed open by a man, who hurriedly reported, “Manager, the guest in Room No.6 has been impatient…”

“Where is Harry?” standing up, Manager Hance shouted furiously. “If you offend our noble guests, our gods of wealth, you’re basically sending me to be stripped and thrown into the sewers. Is that what you’re trying to do?”

“The contract terminated yesterday. Harry has already resigned!” the man replied with a cry. “I have already reported this to you. What should we do now...”

Hance instantly recovered his composure. Two seconds later, the two of them cast their sights onto Zhang Tie at the same time. Hance suddenly gave a friendly smile. “ You… little boy, what’s your name? Come on, sign the contract. You’re very lucky… yep…”

The fat on Hance’s face shivered painfully. “ I will pay you an additional 10 copper coins per hour and this part-time job will be yours!”

Zhang Tie was thrilled. He never thought that he would encounter such an event on the first day. This job paid very generously and could make him stronger. What was more was that he could meet numerous important people. A job of touching beauties closely might even fall on him.

Zhang Tie was really lucky. His compensation had been increased within one hour of arriving. This was the first paid job he has ever had in his life.

Therefore, Zhang Tie didn’t hesitate in the least. He directly took the pen passed by Manager Hance, and without even glancing over the contract, he scribbled down his name.

After signing the contract, Manager Hance hurriedly put away the contract into the drawer. Before Zhang Tie had a chance to speak, the other man couldn’t wait and began to drag Zhang Tie by the hand towards the door. At this moment, Manager Hance remembered something and shouted, “He reeks strongly of sweat. Take him to the bath…”

Unexpectedly, he got such a high compensation of 80 copper coins per hour working for the Iron Thorns Fighting Club. Doesn’t this mean that he could easily make three or four silver coins through four or five hours of work? Three or four silver coins? The happiness arrived so fast that Zhang Tie felt dizzy after hearing the news about his increasing salary. He simply followed others’ orders mechanically, which made him feel like a machine on the production line. He got the full experience of what a streamlined production was — being urged to take a bath, then putting on soft cotton linen clothes and a pair of stockings.

After his bath and putting on clothes, he was pulled aside by someone and was covered in another layer of protective pads and armor. These protective pads and armors were worn on his front chest, back, crotch, and his limbs. They made him feel mighty. Eventually, when half his head was covered with a huge helmet, Zhang Tie felt something was amiss. “Is this the working uniform? So strange? Something must be wrong!”

Nevertheless, before Zhang Tie was able to ask, he had already been taken into a room…

It was a huge room covering about 200 square meters. The floor felt elastic, as it was paved with skid-proof rubber. The four walls were covered in padding that were akin to leather bags. The only person in this huge room was a 12-year-old kid. With red-brown hair, he wore a white uniform that was purposely made for practicing fighting. In a cold demeanor, the kid beat a figure-like doll.

Staring at that kid, who also noticed Zhang Tie, he stopped instantly. Zhang Tie also forced a kind smile, striding towards that kid. Lowering himself, he spoke. “Hey, little friend…”

Without any warning, the kid turned and made a side kick directly towards Zhang Tie’s head. Zhang Tie didn’t have a chance to say anything before his vision turned dark and passed out…

……

After quite a while, Zhang Tie’s nose felt itchy. When he sneezed, he finally woke up. Waking up, Zhang Tie still felt dizzy, as if there were dozens of small figures hammering drums in his brain. “Kid, you’re awake…” A bald muscular man that was more than 30-years-old stood before him. There were some wounds on his face. This man looked like he was as strong as an ox. Seeing Zhang Tie open his eyes, the tough man sneered and put away the small porcelain vial on the tip of Zhang Tie’s nose. After putting away the small porcelain vial, he opened a locker beside him and started to change his clothes.

Zhang Tie tried to sit up with difficulty. He found that he was lying on a broad and long chair. There were four or five other people in the room. Before he was able to speak, he suddenly felt nauseous. Noticing the trash can at a corner of a locker cabinet, he covered his mouth with a hand and dashed towards it. While vomiting, even his eyes almost popped out; however, besides some viscous saliva, he vomited nothing else. After a while, he finally felt better and returned to that chair. He shook his head and tried to remember what had happened...

“Wait...” Zhang Tie suddenly stood up, looking around for that kid. “I swear I’m going to beat the sh*t out of you when I see you again!”

“Boy, we’re training partners. Faithfully, we’re just flesh-bags. However, you need to learn some skills. Bruises are nothing serious, but you still have to protect your head and your d*ck. You are the first person I have ever seen who sent out their head towards someone’s kick without any protection…” The tough guy, who had just changed his clothes, walked over. He patted Zhang Tie’s shoulders and left the dressing room with a bag in hand.

What? Training partner? Flesh-bag? Zhang Tie gasped…