499: Chapter 499 Five-star review, there's a reason it's expensive.

Chapter 499: Five-Star Review, Expensive Things Have Their Reasons

"Yes."

Facing the old man's inquiry, the young man slightly frowned, his tone carrying a trace of undisguised annoyance:

"It's still about that Chen Family case."

"Their attitude is very tough this time, specifically demanding detailed information on all task acceptors for the 'Tiannan Province Chen Family Curse Case', especially the person who finally completed the task."

The old man turned around, his slightly turbid yet bottomless eyes falling on the young man:

"Just a noble Family from a border province, although they have some money, in the eyes of a behemoth like 'Utopia', they are just a slightly fatter piece of meat."

"Why are they paying so much attention to this matter? Has the reason been investigated?"

"It has been investigated."

The young man immediately replied, reporting logically:

"The informants over in Tiannan Province just sent back news that 'Utopia' seems to be implementing a secret plan in Cui City, attempting to achieve a certain purpose by controlling the Chen Family."

"But just a week ago, both sides completely fell out, and a relatively high-intensity supernatural battle occurred in a five-star hotel in the city center, even causing a not-so-small explosion accident that alarmed the local police and Special Investigation Team."

He pondered slightly, as if organizing his thoughts, and then made a speculation:

"Synthesizing the scattered intelligence collected so far, the curse case entrusted by the Chen Family is most likely the work of 'Utopia'."

"Moreover, this case and the hotel conflict should be of the same origin."

"That plan was very likely ruined by the last task acceptor dispatched by our platform."

"Oh?"

The old man's gray eyebrows raised slightly, a trace of interest appearing on his face:

"Able to ruin 'Utopia's' good deed, and still retreat completely unscathed?"

The young man nodded and continued:

"The task acceptors we dispatched previously either suffered heavy casualties and were forced to give up, or retreated in the face of difficulties and let it drop."

"Grandson was just preparing to raise the difficulty of this task to S-grade, but I didn't expect it to be successfully completed by that person, and it even involved 'Utopia'."

He paused and deliberately added:

"The Chen Family just sent people over yesterday to settle the commission, not only confirming that the task was completed and paying off the remaining funds as agreed, but also giving that task acceptor a five-star review."

Hearing this, the old man's mouth corners curved up slightly:

"Who is that person? Is his background clear?"

"Specific information is temporarily unknown."

The young man brought up the holographic projection panel in front of him, pointing at a blurry figure emitting a pale golden light on it:

"This person's code name is 'Xiaobai', male, about 1.85 meters tall. His blood Qi and Mental Energy are both extremely vigorous, able to shield the deep exploration of our Naihe Bridge core System."

"In Grandson's view, he should have undergone simultaneous physical and mental strengthening, making him a rare double S-grade ability user."

Hearing this, the old man nodded slightly, the interest in his eyes growing a bit stronger.

Observing his expression and seeing him in the middle of listening with Focus, the young man then continued his report:

"This person first appeared in Night City in the early morning of April 19th, led to Naihe Bridge by a broker named 'Yuan Datou', and accepted the task at service window No. 2, also being the last acceptor."

"Interestingly, before accepting the task, he specifically inquired whether anyone else had purchased intelligence on this case, making him look like a veteran who acts very cautiously."

"Judging from the current intelligence, the person in charge of 'Utopia' over in Tiannan Province has most likely fallen, and the plan has completely collapsed."

"So they are furious now, wanting to dig out the roots of this 'Xiaobai' from us to retaliate."

Speaking of this, the young man hesitated for a moment and tentatively asked:

"Great Ancestor, should we follow the registration clues to check this person's identity in reality?"

"Check what check?"

The old man's face suddenly sank, and he snorted coldly:

"Do these people really think our 'Naihe Bridge' is their Family's backyard? They can check whoever they want?"

"However..."

The young man said somewhat worriedly:

"Those people from Utopia are all lunatics, acting with complete disregard."

"They have already come twice, hinting between the lines that if we don't cooperate, they might target a few of our strongholds in reality. Offending them for an unknown task acceptor, would it..."

"Foolish!"

The old man violently waved his sleeve, and although he was a spiritual body, he whipped up a piercing chilly wind that made the pages in the study rustle loudly.

"Shen Shuhuan, you must remember, what is our business?"

He pointed at the floor beneath his feet, his voice resounding and impactful:

"Our 'Naihe Bridge' is an intermediary organization, a trading platform, and even one of the order maintainers of this Night City!"

"Why are our handling fees ridiculously high, and we even charge an extra 50% channel fee, yet those clients are still willing to pinch their noses and accept it?"

"Is it because our service attitude is good? Or because we look kindly?"

The old man sneered, raising a withered finger and shaking it:

"None of that! It's simply because our endorsed reputation is hard enough to provide sufficient security guarantees!"

"What we sell is not just intelligence and tasks, but absolute confidentiality of the client's identity, and absolute laundering procedures for the source of funds."

"This is the fundamental foundation upon which our 'Naihe Bridge' establishes itself!"

He stared brightly into the young man's eyes, instructing earnestly:

"If we sell our client's information today out of fear of 'Utopia's' threat, tomorrow this matter will spread throughout the entire underground world."

"By then, who would still dare to post tasks on Naihe Bridge? Who would still dare to trade through our platform? That would truly be destroying the Great Wall ourselves!"

The young man called "Shen Shuhuan" broke out in cold sweat, quickly lowering his head:

"Great Ancestor's lesson is right; Grandson has learned his lesson."

Seeing his respectful attitude, the old man did not reprimand him further. His gaze swept over him indifferently, and then he turned back.

"As for 'Utopia'..."

His voice paused, disdain flashing in his eyes, and with his hands behind his back, he looked back out at the night sky shrouded in mist outside the window:

"Just a bunch of lunatics hiding in the gutters dreaming of becoming gods. If they dare to come and make noise again, let them come straight to Night City to find me, Shen Wanshan!"

"Although my spiritual body cannot be maintained for many years, before this old bone falls apart, it can still knock out a few of their teeth."

Speaking of this, the old man's tone softened slightly, revealing a sense of desolation of a hero in his twilight years:

"Shen Shuhuan, you will be forty after this year, and you are no longer young. My branch has a thin population, and it wasn't easy to support you into this position."

"Whether it is taking over the Shen Family in the future or inheriting the position of the Chief of the Naihe Bridge Elder Council, you need to be able to stand on your own feet."

"Naihe Bridge can exist for thousands of years in this dimension of the conscious world, standing tall through dynasty changes, relying not only on force, but even more on the reputation of that golden signboard."

"In private, we can be greedy, we can be black-hearted, we can be petty, but when encountering such principled issues, we must absolutely hold our bottom line and not yield an inch."

"This is called a gentleman loves wealth, but takes it in a righteous way. As a businessman, one must follow the rules of the business Dao."

Shen Shuhuan took a deep breath, nodded solemnly, the confusion in his eyes dissipating and replaced by firmness.

"I understand, Great Ancestor. I will directly reject them and strengthen the security of our real-world strongholds."

Having dealt with this thorny problem, Shen Shuhuan's thoughts returned to that mysterious task acceptor, and he couldn't help asking:

"That person... should we pay special attention to him in the future?"

"Of course."

The old man stroked the beard on his chin, brilliant light flashing in his eyes:

"Being able to single-handedly sabotage Utopia's plan and make those lunatics eat dirt, this person can definitely be called a top-tier powerhouse, and might even be a core figure of some major force."

"This is our most beloved 'quality client'."

The old man pondered for a moment, and instructed with a smile:

"When he comes online again next time to accept or post tasks with us, you arrange for someone to make appropriate contact and give him some convenience and care within the scope of permissions."

"Right, you can directly adjust his client rating to S-grade, grant him Advanced member qualifications, and he can enjoy a 20% discount when doing tasks and checking intelligence on Naihe Bridge in the future."

Shen Shuhuan nodded repeatedly, secretly noting it down.

Granting S-grade permissions was an extremely high co-optation specification, enough to show Naihe Bridge's goodwill.

Thinking for a moment, he asked along the way:

"Then what about this task's reward? According to the rules, we have to deduct high agency fees and handling fees."

"Since we want to show goodwill, should we reduce the deducted proportion, or... simply issue the full amount to him?"

As soon as his voice fell, the old man, who still had the demeanor of a Grandmaster, suddenly widened his eyes, as if hearing something rebellious.

"Why reduce or waive it?!"

The old man blew his beard and stared, his voice instantly raising by an octave:

"Are you brat stupid? We blocked Utopia's pursuit for him; how much risk and pressure is that bearing?"

"Isn't this a service? Doesn't this require cost?"

He once again extended his withered finger, poking his great-grandson's forehead with a look of hating that iron cannot become steel:

"The fact that I didn't charge him an extra protection fee for this is already considering that his strength is not bad!"

"Still want to reduce the deduction points? Keep dreaming! Not a single cent will be less, deduct according to the rules!"

"..."

Shen Shuhuan's forehead couldn't help breaking out in cold sweat once again.

Looking at the Old Ancestor whose expression changed faster than flipping a book, his mouth corners couldn't help twitching twice.

Sure enough, this is the familiar recipe, the familiar taste.

"Yes, I know."

Shen Shuhuan didn't dare to refute, and could only nod repeatedly in agreement.

But inwardly he muttered to himself:

No wonder Great Ancestor was able to fight his way out of candidates from major families all over the world back then and become the helmsman of Naihe Bridge.

With this penny-pinching "iron rooster" personality, he truly was the chosen person to run this kind of unorthodox business.

"Alright, go down and handle it."

The old man waved his hand, his figure becoming increasingly transparent, as if the emotional fluctuation just now consumed a lot of his Soul Power.

"Grandson will take his leave for now and not disturb your meditation."

Shen Shuhuan bowed respectfully, and turned to leave on tiptoe.

As the heavy wooden door slowly closed, that crisp "click" sound isolated the two worlds inside and outside the study.

Shen Shuhuan stood in the corridor, looking out through the carved window lattice.

Night City's neon lights were still dazzling, and countless grotesque shadows shuttled through the mist.

This sleepless city was like a greedy behemoth, swallowing countless secrets and exhaling surging desires, operating tirelessly.

Perhaps until the end of the world, it would still operate like this, becoming the only Soul harbor of refuge above the wasteland.

Shen Shuhuan shook his head slightly, the corners of his mouth curling into a sneer.

No matter how strong Utopia is, facing the rules of the entire Night City, it is nothing more than a slightly stronger visiting dragon crossing the river.

He straightened his collar and walked with steady steps toward the trading hall downstairs.

...

Four in the morning.

The entire city was still immersed in the deepest tranquility before dawn.

Fang Cheng sat up from the bed lightly, stepping barefoot on the slightly cool wooden floor.

He walked to the window and gently pushed it open.

"Screech—"

A very faint sound of pivot rotation sounded in the silence.

The crisp air instantly poured into the room, and the scent of soil and vegetables from the vegetable garden downstairs drifted up along the wind, dispelling the lingering sleepiness.

Wanghu Town outside the window was at its darkest and most peaceful moment of the day.

With the dim halo of the street lamps, one could see the rolling and scattered white walls and gray tiles.

Looking past the ridges and roads was the vast and boundless Yulong Lake.

Layers of gauze-like mist rose from the water's surface, shrouding the distant mountains and near waters in a hazy poetry.

Unlike Cuihai in Tiannan Province, this place clearly had a more ordinary and down-to-earth feel.

Fang Cheng took a deep breath, then stretched his arms and gave a cozy stretch.

His bones and muscles emitted a series of crisp cracking sounds.

The tranquility at this moment formed a sharp contrast with the hustle and bustle when he first entered the house yesterday afternoon.

Thinking of the scene back then, the corners of Fang Cheng's mouth couldn't help curling up slightly.

When he and his uncle pushed open the courtyard gate after a dusty journey, tears in his mother's eyes were like broken beads.

While pulling Fang Cheng tightly to look him up and down, fearing he had lost even a single hair, she turned her head and started nagging Li Dingjian.

Grandpa didn't speak, but the cane thumping heavily on the ground and the look of hating that iron cannot become steel when looking at his uncle had already explained everything.

Fortunately, Fang Cheng made wisecracks on the side, steering the topic to dinner, which finally rescued his uncle from the embarrassing situation of a "three-judicatory trial".

To soothe his Family's emotions and celebrate the safe return from this narrow-escape journey, Fang Cheng personally cooked last night's welcome banquet.

A table of dishes with complete color, aroma, and taste made his mother and grandpa praise them endlessly.

The originally tense atmosphere completely melted into thick Family affection amid the exchanging of cups.

In the evening, Fang Cheng did not return to Jiuchang Street in the urban area, nor did he go to the new house in Haitian Garden, but stayed the night here.

During those days in Tiannan Province, constantly worrying about his uncle's safety and having to guard against unknown enemies hiding in the shadows, his nerves were always stretched like a tight string.

Until last night, lying on this familiar bed and smelling the sun-baked scent on the bedding, Fang Cheng truly let down all his defenses.

This sleep was exceptionally sweet and sound.

Originally intending to indulge himself in sleeping in, his long-cultivated biological clock still woke him up precisely at four in the morning.

Fang Cheng leaned against the window frame, his gaze crossing the overlapping eaves and casting toward the distant runway winding along the lake shore.

A few sparse street lamps flickered in the night, as if silently issuing an invitation.

"It's been a long time since I had normal training and exercised to my heart's content..."

He muttered softly, his thoughts stirring slightly.