Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 347: Amidst Chatter

Although Long Yuehong was a little mentally prepared for Shang Jianyao’s reaction, he couldn’t help but feel a little flustered.

This is First City... Our mission has just begun... Isn’t it inappropriate to cause trouble? He wanted to say this, but he ultimately kept his mouth shut.

He looked around and realized that his team leader and Bai Chen didn’t stop Shang Jianyao. They stood up silently, and Genava showed a hesitant reaction. However, Long Yuehong wasn’t sure if he deliberately simulated the corresponding actions to make himself more like a person because he felt compelled to do something after analyzing the situation.

Team Leader and Little White seem to be more inclined to do something, but they will consider the consequences and analyze the pros and cons. Therefore, they are very hesitant... When it comes to actions that require risk, Shang Jianyao is the entire team’s person who’s ‘responsible’ for steeling the team’s resolve... Long Yuehong muttered to himself, checked the weapons he carried, and walked to the door.

The target location wasn’t difficult to find. Relying on the intermittent cries of ‘She-Wolves,’ the Old Task Force only took about ten minutes to reach an eight-story building.

At a glance, they saw a large sign hanging on the roof. On it were words written in Red River language: “Ashland Wolf’s Den.”

“The seventh and eighth floors are all...” Long Yuehong tried to raise a conversation topic and broke the silence that the team had been in along the way.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged his words as she watched Shang Jianyao enter the building and press a button.

One of the three elevators quickly came down. The five Old Task Force members walked in one after another.

Genava was the last. As he stepped in, the elevator sank heavily and shook a few times.

Long Yuehong looked around the elevator and realized that the walls were old and mottled. There were also some pieces of paper stuck to its surface. Some were drawings, and others were photos. The contents were virtually identical—different women in various flirtatious poses or having certain parts of themselves playing peek-a-boo. All of them clearly had Ashlandic characteristics.

Long Yuehong retracted his gaze and exhaled silently.

Before long, the elevator arrived at the seventh floor. The elevator’s two doors opened one after another.

Long Yuehong had just walked out when he saw four men with pistols. They were Red River people with different hair colors, and they wore the same black, short-sleeved T-shirt that revealed their bulging arms.

On the walls beside them and along the aisle were colorful murals displaying different poses of men and women in sexual intercourse.

Jiang Baimian also saw the murals and didn’t mind Long Yuehong’s flushed face. She gave a brief evaluation. “There’s obvious worship of male genitals.”

At this moment, a guard took a few steps forward and said in Red River language, “Sorry, we don’t receive female guests here.”

“You have no say. I want to speak to your boss.” Shang Jianyao raised his chin slightly and put on an arrogant look.

After sizing up the robot behind them, the guard who had previously spoken retreated into the corridor and entered the Wolf’s Den.

In just a minute or two, a slightly obese man walked to the elevator with the guard from before. He held a United 202 in his right hand, and he was only about 1.7 meters tall. His chestnut hair was slightly curled, and there was inconspicuous swelling beside his eyes. He also had a thick beard around his mouth.

“What’s the matter, ladies and gentlemen?” asked the man in the untidy black shirt in a deep voice.

“Are you the boss here?” Shang Jianyao asked politely.

The man nodded. “Sort of. There are other partners.”

“How should I address you?” Shang Jianyao asked with a smile.

The man frowned and said, “Ogre, what do you want?”

Shang Jianyao smiled and said, “Mr. Ogre, I’m here to give you suggestions. This business of yours isn’t too good. Why don’t you spend some time teaching them to cut vegetables and make condiments and convert it to a hotpot restaurant?”

Ogre raised his gunless left hand and dug his corresponding ear. He deeply suspected that he had misheard.

Are you kidding me? He couldn’t help but curse inwardly. He originally imagined that this group of people were here to cause trouble, and he was prepared to use money to send them off if he could. If it really didn’t work out, he would find an opportunity to escape. He would then gather more men later and hire a team that could deal with the robot to take revenge.

To his surprise, they appeared to be drunk.

After some thought, Ogre scoffed. “It’s none of your business how I use the female slaves that I bought! Tell me, who sent you here to cause trouble?”

As they spoke, the four guards at the door called out to their companions in the Wolf’s Den.

About ten seconds later, four to five people holding mini submachine guns rushed out and aimed at Shang Jianyao and the others. They were also wearing black, short-sleeved T-shirts.

The prostitutes in Wolf’s Den also sensed the abnormality at the entrance. Some people gathered over in a daze and looked toward the elevator.

They were all Ashlandic. Their clothes were thin, and their faces were expressionless. Their eyes were slightly empty, lacking the natural vitality of someone in their teens or twenties.

Shang Jianyao laughed and said to Ogre and the others, “Look, they live here, and so do you. They are humans, and so are you. So...”

As Ogre and the other eight guards wore blank expressions, they suddenly turned around and rushed back to Wolf’s Den’s reception hall, rushing to the Ashlandic prostitutes’ sides. They then stuck their heads out the window and shouted, “Howl!”

They were akin to male wolves begging for a mate.

The only guard who wasn’t affected was stunned by this sight.

Although the Ashlandic prostitutes didn’t understand Red River language, they could tell what the usually fierce boss and guards were doing. Their eyes darted around as surprise appeared on their blank faces.

Jiang Baimian turned to look at Shang Jianyao and switched to Ashlandic. “Have you thought of a way to deal with the aftermath?”

Shang Jianyao first said to the remaining guard, “Follow me.”

As he walked into Wolf’s Den, he smiled and answered Jiang Baimian’s question. “I just said that I would transform this place into a hotpot restaurant or some other restaurant.”

Are you sure the business can last? Jiang Baimian couldn’t be bothered to sigh at Shang Jianyao’s train of thought and subconsciously replied.

At this moment, an Ashlandic prostitute—who had understood their conversation—took a few steps forward timidly and anxiously. “A-are you here to save us?”

Her face was relatively clean, and she could be considered pretty. However, she looked rather exhausted and was in a daze sometimes.

“No, we’re here to discuss a partnership with you,” Shang Jianyao said seriously. “How about we jointly run a hotpot restaurant or some other restaurant?”

Jiang Baimian resisted the urge to facepalm and asked, “How may I address you?”

The Ashlandic prostitute from before quickly replied, “My name is Su Na.”

As she spoke, the other Ashlandic prostitutes slowly surrounded them, their eyes no longer empty.

“Su Na, right...” Jiang Baimian deliberated and asked, “Can you manage a hotpot restaurant or similar types of restaurant here? Can the business support so many of you?”

...Team Leader is also infected by Shang Jianyao... She’s actually considering the possibility of running a restaurant... Long Yuehong tried to seek Bai Chen’s approval, but he realized that his scarved, petite companion was deep in thought.

She seemed to be considering how to settle these Ashlandic prostitutes’ future.

Su Na exchanged looks with her companions in confusion and hesitantly said, “This place definitely won’t do. If we can run it on the first and second floors and obtain cheap food, we can still run the place. This place is close to the harbor, and there are many sailors. They don’t have much money, but they are willing to spend it on women, food, and alcohol. Yes, many merchants and their guards often live in the harbor area.”

“You’re very observant.” Jiang Baimian nodded thoughtfully.

Su Na pursed her lips and said, “The clients we serve mainly come from the harbor, but Ogre forbids us from learning the Red River language. He’s afraid that we will communicate with our clients and cause trouble for him.”

At this moment, another girl interrupted. “He will make us cook. This saves him the money needed to hire a cook.”

Her eyes were brighter than before, and she was eager to prove that they had basic culinary skills.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged her words. “Don’t worry about the ingredients that the restaurant needs. We have the means.”

This referred to the Zhao family’s numerous manors.

If they couldn’t drive away the Anti-intellectualism Church, they could contact Xu Liyan. He had also bought manors in First City.

Jiang Baimian deliberated for a moment and asked curiously, “Can Ogre afford so many thugs just based on the business you do?”

“This building belongs to Ogre. He a-also sells something that makes people excited when they inhale it.” Su Na truthfully described the situation she had observed.

Upon hearing this, Shang Jianyao turned his head to look at the remaining guard amidst the howling male wolves.

The guard ‘obediently’ explained, “It’s marijuana and some new products sourced from Paradise Island.”

“Do you guys take it?” Jiang Baimian asked Su Na and the others.

At this moment, the Ashlandic prostitutes—who hadn’t come out previously—rushed into the lobby. A small number of their clients followed in confusion, but they were politely invited to stand to the side by Genava and Long Yuehong.

“No, how can he bear to let us use such expensive stuff?” Su Na shook her head. Then, she couldn’t help but ask anxiously, “We can run a restaurant, but what about them?”

She was referring to Ogre and the others.

Shang Jianyao laughed, making the remaining guard tremble with fear.

“Leave this to me.” He pointed at the room deep in Wolf’s Den and said, “Follow me.”

His first sentence was in Ashlandic, and the second sentence was in the Red River language.

The guard wore a disconsolate look. “No...”

Even so, he didn’t dare to refuse.

Just like that, Shang Jianyao brought Ogre and the others into the room one by one and completed a new round of Inference Clowning, allowing them to form a cyclic reinforcement.

Su Na and the other Ashlandic prostitutes were surprised to discover that the fierce boss and the terrifying guards had become sheep. They were obedient and submissive toward them.

“They’re your servants now,” Shang Jianyao said as he looked at the piece of paper in his hand. “Yes, persuade all of these on the list one by one, and there won’t be any problems for the time being. Wow, it looks like a rather large gang.”

“What happens after that short period of time?” Jiang Baimian asked what Su Na and the others were thinking.

Shang Jianyao took the United 202 from Ogre’s hand and handed it to Su Na. He sincerely said with a smile, “Make the best use of your time to master it. If any of them show any abnormalities, give them a bang.”

“This...” Su Na and the others were a little stunned.

Shang Jianyao’s smile became brighter. “I told you, we’re here to discuss a partnership. In the end, only you can save yourselves.”