65: I didn't expect it to be a deal (please add)

Seeing that Li Xiao did not kneel, Leather Jacket kicked directly at Li Xiao's knees and pressed down with his powerful arms onto Li Xiao's shoulders, forcing Li Xiao to collapse onto his knees on the ground.

Only then did Bald Man speak: "Little friend Stranger, welcome to the Dark Soul Mercenary Group. You are the first Stranger to ever see me!"

It seemed that the natives liked to call transmigrators "Strangers," but hearing the words "Mercenary Group," Li Xiao roughly knew what kind of people these were.

The forces on Hanhai Star were complex and intricate, with every place having its own unique armed forces; this Dark Soul Mercenary Group appeared to be the local tyrant here.

"Dark Soul Mercenary Group, huh? Never heard of it. I wonder what backwater gang this is."

Li Xiao deliberately provoked them. He currently held over four hundred thousand in his Life Pool; he likely wouldn't die unless hit by dozens of rocket launcher rounds, so the more he provoked them, the better his chances of escaping.

"Kid, I think you're tired of living!" The Leather Jacket behind him angrily drew a pistol and pressed it against the back of his head.

"Ma Kui!"

Bald Man waved his hand, signaling Leather Jacket to back off. He smiled indifferently and said, "According to the consistent style of our mercenary group, all Strangers are executed on the spot, but you are an exception. Do you know why?"

Li Xiao chuckled and retorted sarcastically, "It couldn't be that upon seeing my heroic and magnificent image, you were suddenly struck with awe and wanted to keep me here to kneel and acknowledge me as your father, right?"

"I'll kill you!"

"Boss! Finish him off!"

"Drag him out and castrate him! Let's see if he dares to run his mouth again!"

"Shouldn't it be cutting out my tongue instead?"

As soon as Li Xiao said this, not only could the Leather Jacket man named Ma Kui not hold back, but the lackeys sitting around watching the scene couldn't either.

Whether Bald Man had a good temper or was just deeply calculating, he didn't feel angry at Li Xiao's repeated provocations; instead, he brought a glass of wine over to him.

"Young man, you should watch your tongue, otherwise you might lose your life at any moment." He handed the wine glass to Li Xiao: "Would you like to try a sip? It's Nange Estate wine imported from the Fakes Principality."

Bald Man's face, full of flab and a fake smile, made Li Xiao feel a bit uneasy. He said coldly, "Alright, just say what you need to say. I don't have time to chit-chat with you."

"Good! I like straightforward and honest people. Let's put it this way: we originally planned to butcher you all and exchange you for a bounty from the Empire, but I discovered that the two off-road vehicles you drove here are very special!"

Li Xiao thought, "Good grief, is the Black Hawk Empire already offering bounties to catch Strangers?" However, Bald Man's words gave Li Xiao an idea.

"Ordinary vehicles only have two thousand durability, pickup trucks only five thousand, military off-road vehicles ten thousand, Armored Personnel Carriers thirty thousand, infantry fighting vehicles one hundred thousand, and main battle tanks four hundred thousand! But these two military off-road vehicles of yours possess over three hundred thousand durability. May I ask how you accomplished that?"

"Want to know?" Li Xiao looked at Bald Man's slightly expectant gaze and said indifferently, "This is a special ability that only I can perform."

"You mean you don't want to tell me?" Bald Man's eyes narrowed.

Li Xiao shrugged with an indifferent expression: "It's not that I don't want to tell you, but that only I can achieve this."

"Alright then, could I trouble you to help me upgrade my vehicles? We are facing some trouble recently, and those pickup trucks are the key to our victory."

Li Xiao thought to himself, "As expected, these guys are quite good at calculating."

"Upgrading, huh? It's not impossible, but I'm hungry now, and my brothers are hungry too."

"Ah! That's simple!" Bald Man heard that Li Xiao seemed to have agreed.

He turned and said to Ma Kui: "Go untie this brother's subordinates and treat them well. However, for the next little while, they will have to be slightly inconvenienced and stay in the cave; don't let them go anywhere!"

Li Xiao's handcuffs were quickly opened, and a plate of sliced roast lamb and curry fried rice was brought before him by a beautiful woman wearing a bikini.

Regardless of anything else, the food in this mercenary group was truly good; the appearance of the roast lamb and curry fried rice was very appetizing.

"There shouldn't be any drugs in it this time, right?"

Li Xiao ignored Bald Man and the others, and began to eat on his own.

He shoveled the last spoonful of rice with the last piece of lamb chop into his mouth, took a sip of iced soda, and sat on the sofa, quite satisfied.

"How about it, my friend? Can you start working now?"

"Of course! But let's talk about the price first!"

"Price?" This sentence slightly baffled Bald Man: "I think you might have misunderstood my meaning. You are currently imprisoned by me. If you don't help me, then you and your subordinates might eat the lead I send your way at any time!"

Li Xiao sighed and said lazily, "First of all, I can call people over to flatten your mercenary group at any time. By sunset at the latest, I could have you croaked."

"You think you can handle me just by talking tough?"

"I'm not bragging, but if I stand here and let you spray me with bullets, I lose if I even frown!" Li Xiao mocked.

"Oh! You're getting cocky, aren't you?"

Ma Kui was instantly furious. Only he had ever been the arrogant one; he had never seen anyone so bold.

As he spoke, he brought over an AK112, pulled the bolt, and aimed it at Li Xiao.

"Captain, I'm going to open fire. He's asking for it!"

As Ma Kui was about to pull the trigger, Bald Man spoke up: "Strangers have tenacious lives; this doesn't seem like a lie. Speak, what are your terms?"

Li Xiao pushed aside the muzzle of Ma Kui's gun and slouched lazily on the sofa.

"Sigh... That depends on how you want to cooperate. If it's a one-off deal, two hundred thousand Star Coins. If it's long-term cooperation, we can negotiate the price."

"Two hundred thousand! Are you robbing us?" Ma Kui's jaw dropped in shock.

Bald Man's expression was also awkward: "Two hundred thousand, I'm afraid even a large mercenary group with ten thousand people in the Yun City region couldn't come up with that. Do you think it's possible for us, with only about a thousand people?"

Er... Li Xiao complained internally, aren't terrorist organizations and mercenary groups supposed to be super rich? They can't even cough up two hundred thousand?

"Two hundred thousand Star Coins could buy us a tank. With that kind of money, would I still need you to upgrade pickup trucks?"

Two hundred thousand for a tank? Ma Kui's statement immediately piqued Li Xiao's interest: "You have a channel to buy tanks?"

"Ma Kui! You talk too much!"

Bald Man realized something was wrong and hurriedly shouted in a deep voice.

Seeing this, Ma Kui quickly shut his mouth and ran out sheepishly.

"Hehe, Ma Kui was just joking. How could we possibly get our hands on key equipment and supplies like tanks?"

Guess whether I believe you or not? Li Xiao cursed internally.

"I won't haggle with you anymore. Fifty thousand Star Coins to modify twenty armed pickup trucks, with durability no less than thirty thousand. How about it?!"