第一百二十章 贵客
At the entrance of a shack cluster with several stone houses hung a sign reading “Lord’s Articles,” which was the name of their compound.
一片拥有数座石屋的棚区门口，挂着“爵爷用品”几个字，这是他们的棚区名。
The clan leader, Jue Zhongjue, was picking his teeth when he suddenly received a Mental Link from an esteemed person, immediately breaking into a smile:
棚主爵中绝正在剔牙，忽然接到了位贵人的心灵链接，顿时脸上挂起笑容：
“Minister Shang.”
“商部长。”
{How many times have I told you? It’s just a town—don’t call me “Minister” all the time; it only invites ridicule.}
{告诉你多少次了，一个镇子而已，别一口一个部长的叫，徒惹人笑。}
“Not at all, Shang…”
“哪里哪里，商…”
{Stop wasting words. I’ll tell you something good. Yang Zicang, the one you know as Jiazi Jian, now owns many newly formed territories. Find a chance to curry favor with him; he should be building a decent faction in the future. Also, he’s under Deputy Town Chief Zhuyin, so don’t try any clever tricks on him, or the fate of the Wasteland Cart Freight Convoy will be yours.}
{别废话，告诉你个好事。杨子藏，也就是你们那边的甲子间拥有很多新诞生的地块，你找机会去讨好他，以后他应该会建起个不错的势力。另外，他是副镇长逐银的人，你别把小聪明放到他的身上，否则荒车大货队的下场就是你的未来。}
The person on the other end pointed at the large, oil-painting-like realistic artworks and a map behind him, then quickly severed the Mental Link.
那边的人指了指他背后的大片如同油画般的写实画与地图后，快速断掉了心灵链接。
“Wasteland Cart?”
“荒车？”
Jue Zhongjue paused, a glint flashing in his eyes.
爵中绝愣了下，眼中精光一闪。
“The freight convoy has been wiped out. That’s a great chance to get the wasteland cart, but I sure won’t be able to snatch it myself.”
“大货队已经覆灭。现在是拿到荒车的好机会啊，但自己肯定抢不到的吧。”
The small flame that had just flickered to life was quickly extinguished, then he thought of the painting and map he had seen moments before.
刚刚升起的小火苗迅速被压了下去，随后他想到刚才看到的那幅画和地图。
If he wasn’t mistaken, the scene in the painting featured at least several dozen different backdrops—how could one place possess so many distinct settings?
如果没看错，那画面中的地块至少有几十个各种不同幕景之多，一个地方怎么会出现那么多不同的幕景。
Could it be that all those people had brought back the land from elsewhere? What an enormous undertaking that would have been.
难道都是那些人去搬运回来的土地？那得多大的工程量。
“Hurry, hurry, hurry! Prepare the goods for me. I need to go out in person.”
“快快快，给我准备货物，我要亲自外出。”
Jue Zhongjue rushed out of the stone room and shouted.
爵中绝跑出岩石房间喊道。
A voice rang out: “We’ve only just arrived, and you’re already thinking of leaving?”
一道声音传来：“我们刚来，你便想走？”
The sky suddenly brightened as a patch of blue sky appeared amidst the perpetually gray and overcast heavens.
天地猛地一明，只见原本永恒阴云灰暗的天际徒然出现抹碧空。
The shed master and the others outside were taken aback, turning to look across the courtyard.
棚主和外面几人愣了下，看向院子对面。
There, several figures in crisp suits emerged. At the front of the group stood a gray-clad boy with pale lips, golden glints flashing in his eyes, and a side-parted hairstyle.
那里几道穿着笔挺西服的身影出现，在这队人前，站着位唇色苍淡，两眼闪动金色辉光，梳着分头的灰衣少年。
The air around him shimmered subtly, like heat waves, with blurry scenes of various landscapes constantly flickering into existence and vanishing in the undulating distortion.
他身边的空气如高温般隐隐晃动，有模糊的各种场景在晃动的气浪中不断生灭。
Suddenly feeling an inexplicable pressure, Jue Zhongjue forced a smile, his voice trembling slightly:,
爵中绝突然感觉到莫名的压力，声音有点发颤的带着笑意问：
“My lords, where might you be coming from?”
“各位爷，这是打哪儿来呀。”
A man to the right and behind the boy, wearing a suit but with heat-branded, inflamed marks on his face, opened his mouth, his voice as deep and rumbling as a dragon’s:
那少年身后右侧一位身穿西服，但脸上有着烧红烙印般的人张口，嗓音如同沉闷的巨龙：
“Before you stands a distinguished guest from the ‘Lost Illusion Company: Valley Breeze Illusion District,’ the renowned officer known as Master Xiao.”
“在你眼前的这位尊贵客人，是来自‘遗失幻境公司：谷风幻境’的著名干事，尊号霄先生。”
An attendant on the left interjected:
左侧一位侍者接口道：
“At the same time, Mr. Xiao is also the ‘Editor-in-Chief’s second pen,’ the ‘index finger’ of the honorable Editor-in-Chief.”
“同时，霄先生也是‘主编’的第二只笔，是尊贵主编的，食指。”
Jue Zhongjue was utterly bewildered. He felt the words ‘Lost Illusion Company’ were intangible and ethereal, and the term ‘Editor-in-Chief’ grew as chaotic as the memory of a dream after waking up—soon he couldn’t recall whether he had just said ‘the cook’ or ‘the knocker of bamboo clappers.’
爵中绝茫然无比，他感觉“遗失幻境公司”这几个字虚无缥缈，“主编”一词更是如睡醒后的梦境回忆般快速变得混沌，即将想不起来他刚刚到底说的是“煮饭人”还是“敲竹板”。
The Boy let out a light laugh, the golden glow slowly spinning in his eyes. With a sharp and pressing demeanor, he spoke slowly:
少年轻轻笑，眸光中金辉缓缓旋转，带着凌厉迫人气息缓缓开口道：
“Um, this shed owner, can you recount for me the part of your rise to wealth that you consider the most glorious?”
“这位棚主，你的发家史中，自认为最为辉煌的那部分经历，能为我讲述一下吗。”
“I…”
“我……”
Jue Zhongjue’s mind raced to decipher the Young Boy’s words. Suddenly, he found himself involuntarily thinking back to when he first arrived here.
爵中绝脑中急转的思索着对方的话，忽地，他感觉自己不由自主想到了刚到这里的时候。
With a slightly dazed look, Jue Zhongjue recalled: “At that time, I was still a virgin…”
爵中绝略带茫然的回忆道：“那时我还只是个处男……”
……
……
Two days later, Luo Bin received a message from the Odd-Frequency Tavern: there were already leads on that Grade A lost-frequency area.
两天后，洛宾收到了独频客栈的消息，那处A级失频之地已经有眉目了。
Late at night, Yang Zicang and his companion came to the Odd-Frequency Tavern once more, and this time both of them stepped inside.
半夜，杨子藏两人再次来到了独频客栈，这次两人都走了进去。
“Jingle.”
“叮铃。”
The wooden door was pushed open. Catching sight of a two-man figure who was ninety percent similar to the legendary one who had wiped out the Desert Cargo Freight Team, the bartender approached them with noticeable excitement.
木门被推开。瞧见那道与传闻中覆灭了荒车大货队之人，体型百分之九十相似的两人人，酒保略显激动的主动迎了过来。
He was now certain that this bloke who had sold intelligence last time was none other than the particularly ferocious second-in-command among those who had destroyed the freight team!
他此刻已经确定，上次来贩卖情报的这家伙，就是覆灭大货队的几人中，特别勇猛的二号人物！
“Two distinguished guests.” The bartender lowered his voice. “Our Boss Zhuang is upstairs. Please come with me.”
“两位尊贵的客人。”酒保低声道：“我们庄老板在楼上，快跟我来吧。”
“Mm-hmm.” Luo Bin nodded foolishly.
“嗯嗯。”洛宾傻呵呵的点头。
With that, the bartender turned to lead the way. Though the two men behind him looked ordinary, he dared not be careless. According to exclusive, top-secret information known only to a few, a formidable individual who had taken on a mission to assassinate this very man at the inn a few days ago had since vanished without a trace. It wasn’t a case of hiding his identity—his companions had even put up a high-priced missing person notice.
说罢，酒保转身带路，身后这两人看上去普通，但他却不敢大意。根据只有几人知晓的独家绝密消息，前几日在客栈接了刺杀此人任务的某位实力强横之人，在那晚后已销声匿迹。不是隐藏身份，因为那人的同伴都来挂过寻人启示了，开价很高。
And now, the target of that missing man strolled in boldly, which said a great deal.
而此刻，那名失踪之人要对付的人，却大摇大摆的出现，足以说明很多事情。
After going upstairs, the two were led into the living room of a suite. Behind a large desk, a tall, black leather office chair faced away from the three.
上楼后，两人被带到了个套间的客厅内。大书桌后面，高大的黑皮老板椅背对着三人。
“Boss, I’ve brought the people you wanted to see.”
“BOSS，您想见的人我带来了。”
A dignified voice came from the other side of the chair. “Two of them?”
威严的声音在椅子另一面响起：“是两个人吗。”
“Yes.”
“是。”
“Leave.”
“出去吧。”
The bartender turned and left, closing the door behind him.
酒保转身离去，将房门带上。
“Still calling him Boss?” Luo Bin muttered under his breath, staring at the chair.
“还BOSS？”洛宾小声嘀咕着看着那椅子。
With a rustling sound against the floor, the black leather chair slowly turned around, revealing a short, skinny man with a small mustache.
沙沙触地声中，黑色皮椅一顿一顿的转了过来，是个矮小的瘦子，他嘴上还留着撮八字胡。
His eyes scanned Yang Zicang briefly before he suddenly climbed onto the big desk, waved at the two, and whispered, “Come over here, quick.”
他的目光在杨子藏身上打量了下，突然爬到了大桌子上对两人招手，小声道：“快过来。”
“What’s this all about?” Yang Zicang stared at the man, a little speechless.
“这是搞哪一出啊。”杨子藏有点无语的看着这人。
He looked at Yang Zicang with a helpless, tearless face: “Quick, quick, quick, if we’re any later, it won’t work. I’ve already been watching you for ten seconds.”
他欲哭无泪的看着杨子藏：“快快快，再晚点就不行了，我已经看了你们十秒了。”
“What’s wrong?”
“怎么了。”
Yang Zicang and Luo Bin both stepped forward. The owner Zhuang, who was less than one meter fifty tall with a panicked expression, kept staring at the room’s door. Only after the two arrived did he breathe a sigh of relief.
杨子藏和洛宾都走了上去，这个身高不到一米五的庄老板神色慌张的一直注视着房间门，见两人到来后才松了口气。
“Ah, saved again tonight. Good thing you made it to the desk within thirty seconds.”
“啊，今晚又得救了，还好在三十秒内你们到了书桌旁。”
Luo Bin stared at him in confusion.
洛宾莫名其妙的盯着他。
Boss Zhuang said sternly: “I’m cursed. Only when there are more than two people here can I turn around to face the door; otherwise, I’ll lose a thousand years of my time sequence.”
庄老板严肃道：“我中了诅咒，只有两个以上的人在这里，我才能转过身来看门，否则就会扣掉我一千年时序。”
“Isn’t that simple? Just have your employees come in.”
“那不是很简单，让你的员工来就行了。”
“No, if the same people come for three consecutive nights, the time sequence gets deducted too. And they can’t repeat within the curse’s effective period.”
“不行，只要连续三个晚上是同样的人，那么也会扣掉时序，而且他们不能在诅咒生效期内重复。”
“Curses like that exist?”
“还有这样的诅咒？”
Yang Zicang looked at this seemingly mentally unstable owner of the Unifrequency Inn with curiosity.
杨子藏奇怪的看着这像是精神不正常的独频客栈的老板。
The boss looked embarrassed.
老板露出尴尬的神色。
The model on Luo Bin’s chest flashed. He paused, then looked at the owner in front of him: “You liar, you haven’t been cursed.”
洛宾胸前的模型闪动了下，他愣了下后看向身前的老板：“你这个骗子，你没有中诅咒。”
“Your model can tell truth from lies too? Oh, alright, the effect is the same anyway.”
“你的模型也能分辨真假？喔，好吧，反正效果是一样的。”
The boss sat cross-legged on the large desk, becoming arrogant and looking particularly shameless.
老板盘坐在大书桌上，变得趾高气昂，显得特别无耻。
“Looks like us getting you through tonight is the greatest value we can offer, right?” Yang Zicang pulled a chair over, sat down sideways.
“看来我们能让你度过今晚已经是最大的价值了对吧。”杨子藏拉过张椅子斜放着坐下。
“Haha, you jest, my guest. If you can come again tomorrow night, I’ll let you stay for free—though late-night snacks aren’t included.”
“哈哈哈，客人说笑了，明天晚上你们能继续来的话，我可以让你们免费住店一晚，当然，不包夜宵的。”
“So, is that mission you mentioned for a thousand sequence marks real or just bullshit?”
“那你说的一千时序的任务，是扯蛋的还是真的？”
When receiving the invitation, the staff at Solitary Frequency Inn had already informed Luobin that there was a task they wanted him to pass along to Yang Zicang for help, with a reward of a thousand sequence marks.
在收到邀请时，独频客栈的人已经告知洛宾，有个任务想请他转告杨子藏帮忙，报酬一千时序。
“Oh right, I almost forgot about that.”
“对哦，差点忘了那件事了。”
Manager Zhuang crawled from the desk to his office chair, stretched his toes to touch the floor, turned his body to face the desk properly, and pulled out several documents from a drawer.
庄老板从书桌爬到老板椅上，脚尖惦着触摸地板，让身体跟桌子正对后，从抽屉里拿出几份文件。
“Mm, found it. Here it is.”
“嗯，找到了，是这个。”
He tossed the items in front of the two people on the other end of the desk.
他将手上的东西丢到书桌另一端的两人身前。
“Collecting a corpse for some unlucky bastard, a thousand sequence marks. This is a job he left behind. I haven’t received his Mental Link for two days, so the task’s activated—he really went and got himself killed.”
“帮一个倒霉鬼收尸，时序一千，这是他曾经留下的任务。我已经两天没收到他的心灵链接，说明这个任务激活了，他真的把自己给玩死了。”
Luobin picked it up, glanced at it, and handed it to Yang Zicang: “This looks like something only you can handle.”
洛宾拿起来看了看后，递给了杨子藏：“这恐怕是只有你能干的事。”
Then he squinted at Manager Zhuang: “So you already knew the location of that A-grade intersecting point all along.”
随后他就眯着眼睛盯着庄老板：“原来你们早就知道那出A级交错地的位置了。”
Manager Zhuang’s eyebrows drooped, and his eyes darted left and right guiltily.
庄老板的眉毛垮了垮，眼珠心虚的左右转了下。
“It’s Crimson Moon-level, after all,” he mumbled.
“毕竟是绯月级的。”他哼哼唧唧着道。
After reading through the contents, Yang Zicang understood why that person had left a thousand sequence marks here—to have someone retrieve his remains if he met an untimely end.
看完这上面的内容，杨子藏明白了为什么那人要留一千时序在这里，让人去给万一遭遇不测的自己收回尸首。
For the place he was heading to was similar to those where I had encountered psychic entities last time, but far more dangerous.
因为那人要去的，是类似自己上次遇到念力体的那些地方，而且更加危险。
It was the very Grade-A Falling Out-of-Sync Convergence Zone I had been searching for, the one that had plummeted here.
那就是自己找的那处跌落进此的A级失频交错地。
“He was trying to seek a psychic-type ability, wasn’t he?”
“他是想寻找念力型的能力吗。”
“That’s right.” Boss Zhuang nodded.
“没错。”庄老板点点头。
Luo Bin looked at him and said, “Why exactly do you deduct one thousand chronos every night just for watching the door alone?”
洛宾看着他道：“你到底为什么会因独自看门这种事情每晚扣掉一千时序？”
Boss Zhuang glanced around, let out a snort, and said in a low voice, “What are you planning to use to trade for this intel?”
庄老板左右看了眼，呵了声后低声道：“你打算用什么来换这个情报。”
Like hell I’d trade, Yang Zicang muttered to himself.
鬼才要换。杨子藏诽腹着。
Luo Bin pulled up a chair and sat down:
洛宾拉过把椅子坐下：
“I only sold a small part of the information about the Jiazi Space before. I can trade more of it with you.”
“之前我卖掉的关于甲子间的情报只有一小部分，我可以拿更多的部分来跟你交换。”
Yang Zicang looked at Luo Bin as if he were an idiot.
杨子藏一脸有病的表情看向洛宾。
Boss Zhuang shot a glance at Yang Zicang. He had never seen someone willing to sell their own information, much less sell stuff that was actually real. This guy’s off his rocker.
庄老板看了眼杨子藏，他还没见过主动卖自己情报的人，关键是卖的情报还是真的。有病吧。
“This must be Mr. Jiazi Space,” he said.
“这位就是甲子间了吧。”他道。
A ring lit up on Yang Zicang’s chest, the numbers inside, visible only to himself, rapidly decreased, and his appearance transformed from around fifty years old back to about thirty.
杨子藏胸前亮起圆环，里面只有自己能看得到的数字快速变小，外貌从五十来岁变为了三十岁左右。
“That’s right, I am Jiazi Space, the current head of the Dajia Construction Transport Crew, and a supplier for the Deputy Mayor of Hub Town.”
“没错，我就是甲子间，大甲方筑货队的现任负责人，我为枢纽镇副镇长供货。”
“The, the Deputy Mayor!”
“副，副镇长！”
The short, thin boss scrambled off his chair in a flash, standing on the floor, his perspective looking so suddenly low.
矮瘦的老板腾地下就站起身来站在地板上，视角一下变得好矮。
“Sorry about that.” He hopped back onto the chair.
“不好意思。”他重新跳上椅子。
“You’re actually supplying the Deputy Mayor? That guy is the big shot of the city ranked twelfth for three consecutive years, you know.”
“你竟然为副镇长供货，那个人是连续三年排名第十二的城市的老大哥欸。”
YangZicang was eager to learn more about Zhuyin, but at this moment, he pretended to be profound and said, “So what’s wrong with that?”
杨子藏有心想得知更多关于逐银的情报，但此刻却故作高深的道：“对啊，有什么不妥吗。”
“N-no, nothing.”
“没，没有。”
Boss Zhuang waved his hand and continued to ask:
庄老板摆了摆手后，继续问道：
“Which city did you come to the Zone of Lost Frequencies from? Is it also the twelfth-ranked city?”
“你是从几号城来失频之地的？难道也是排名第十二的城市吗。”
In the past, YangZicang might have unhesitatingly revealed everything about himself. But now, he mimicked those two guys and said:
如果是以前，杨子藏可能就毫不犹豫的将自己的老底给说出来了。但此刻，他学着这两个家伙道：
“What are you going to trade for this information?”
“你打算用什么来换这份情报？”
Boss Zhuang showed no sign of displeasure; instead, he sank into thought.
庄老板没露出任何觉得不妥的神色，他埋头思索起来。
YangZicang couldn’t help but be inwardly surprised. Is it really okay to make demands like this? Is this how intelligence agents operate?
杨子藏不禁心中微讶的想到，这样提要求真的可以？这就是情报人员的作派吗？