This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 317 - 172: Red River Starfall Fisherman Li Ming_2

Chapter 317: Chapter 172: Red River Starfall Fisherman Li Ming_2

Li Ming clicked his tongue, safety is relative, one must at least have the ability to protect oneself.

"So, opening this shop is basically painting a target on our backs for the Star Hunters," Ya Ro said helplessly.

Li Ming ignored him, and they began cleaning the room.

With "Intelligent Assistance" activated, Li Ming even scraped out dried pieces of meat from numerous crevices, as well as surveillance devices that he wasn’t sure were still functional.

"I’m really starting to like this place," Li Ming shook his head, crushed the surveillance probe in his hand, and then opened the doorplate manager, adjusting it.

"Azure Dragon Mechanical Store."

Seeing Li Ming seriously picking a name, Ya Ro felt a pang of toothache, "Are you really planning to do business here?"

"What’s the matter? Is there any other rule?" Li Ming puzzled.

Ya Ro, feeling helpless, "No, it’s fine; with your skills, you shouldn’t lack for business."

"The Collector does have a liking for mechanics. I heard he has plenty of broken stuff and often hires people to fix them. If you make a name here, you might catch his eye," he added.

Although he said this, Ya Ro obviously wasn’t hopeful, as the Collector usually dealt with top mechanics.

"You’ve reminded me," Li Ming reopened the doorplate management system and added a few lines—

"Only accepts C-class and above weapon customization and repair."

The lower levels don’t earn much, merely a waste of time.

"Hiss~" Ya Ro inhaled sharply, "Don’t you want to set an upper limit?"

"You’ve reminded me again." Li Ming quirked an eyebrow and added another line, "If not fixed, double refund!"

Ya Ro gaped, astounded, "What if someone challenges you with an A-level weapon?"

"Let them come if they want," Li Ming didn’t care, big bait catches big fish.

The opening of the new store hadn’t attracted many people initially.

However, after adding that line, it did draw the attention of numerous interstellar scoundrels who stopped to point and talk in some unknown interstellar slang, followed by hearty laughs.

People from the stores to the sides and opposite also came out, their expressions quite surprised, then shaking their heads.

"This kind of gimmick is dangerous," warned Ya Ro, unable to contain himself, such stunts could attract attention in a normal civilization.

But in the Land of Stars, playing too big could lead to trouble.

And Li Ming seemed not to hear, other than the six rooms distributed over the two floors above ground, he could freely modify during the lease.

Li Ming directly opened up the entire third floor, while the second floor was designated for Ya Ro and Kay to reside in.

Kay helped clean, sweating profusely due to the gene inhibitor. After hesitating for a while, he still approached Li Ming, "May I ask, sir, what plans do you have for me?"

Having followed them here, he had already realized that Ya Ro didn’t have much say, everything was decided by this person called Azure Dragon.

But this person, seemed not to be from the interstellar alliance.

He hardly saw him on the spaceship, which left him uneasy all day, now he finally had a chance to ask.

Li Ming casually said, "My new store lacks a waiter, you’ll temporarily take on that role."

Kay’s expression stiffened, "Waiter?"

"Three thousand five hundred Star Coins a month, how does that sound?" Li Ming asked with a smile.

"This..." Kay forced a smile, "Sir, just tell me straight what you’re thinking, I see you don’t plan to let me go."

"Indeed," Li Ming candidly admitted, causing Kay’s expression to stiffen.

"I’m a man motivated by profit, it wasn’t easy rescuing you..." Li Ming said with a gentle smile, which almost made Kay lose his composure.

"You should know, I’m a displaced noble, I don’t have much money," Kay said helplessly.

"No, you are quite wealthy," Li Ming smiled, "The gene sequence for a Golden-eyed Celestial is called—’Judgement Holy Blade’, right? I want the Evolution Theory."

"Evolution Theory?"

Though Kay’s Mimic Mask had two eyes, it lacked any covering, so it felt very hollow and emotionless.

But his heightened tone revealed his turbulent emotions, he firmly refused, "I can’t possibly tell you."

Unexpectedly, the other party didn’t get angry but laughed instead, "So you do actually have Evolution Theory memorized, impressive."

Kay’s face turned pale as she struggled to speak, "Even if you get ’Evolution Theory,’ it’s useless, your gene seeds and Judgement Holy Blade don’t match up at all."

Li Ming chuckled lightly, knowing that this matter couldn’t be rushed, and said, "No hurry, the room to the right upstairs is yours. Also, Taipo will be with you, so don’t try anything funny."

Kay felt a surge of frustration but was helpless to act.

Li Ming did not want to let him go just yet, this guy still had secrets on him; that golden vertical pupil he found, what exactly was it for, he still hadn’t figured it out.

Moreover, the anti-looting organization from the Interstellar Alliance also seemed quite interested in him.

Li Ming was already calculating how to squeeze out as much information from this toad as possible.

Ya Ro kept glancing over frequently, his expression hesitant and flickering, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

Ya Ro didn’t expect that, just a few hours later, some lifeforms would visit, several humans wearing crude armor.

"Gentlemen, we’re opening tomorrow, no guests today," Kay said expressionlessly.

"How come there’s someone who drives customers away?" one of them sized up Kay, "Your shop sure is interesting, not just the big talk, but this waiter even has a gene inhibitor?"

On hearing this, Kay frowned as Ya Ro walked over and said, "Folks, we really aren’t open yet, look, there’s nothing on this first floor, not yet operational?"

The scar-faced burly man sneered, "I don’t care about that, we’re here to inform you, if you want to do business here, a third of the net profit must be handed over to us."

"Remember, it’s net profit, not gross revenue, we’ll have someone watching; don’t try any tricks."

Ya Ro’s expression grew stern, "Who are you? People from the Collector?"

The scar-faced burly man sneered, "The Collector, His Grace, doesn’t have time to deal with these trifles. If you want to do business here, you have to follow our rules!"

"Otherwise, do you know how the original owner here died?"

Ya Ro’s face turned cold.

"No problem," a voice came from upstairs, Li Ming slowly walked down, "A third, huh, I got it."

The few men looked at each other, gauging Li Ming, and satisfied, said, "So, you are the boss? Not bad, quite sensible."

Having received a satisfactory answer, the men left, cursing and swearing.

Li Ming casually cast a ’Locator,’ covering a range of ten thousand meters, enough to confirm in which direction the men had gone.

Ya Ro frowned, "This doesn’t make sense, on the Collector’s turf, how dare someone collect protection money?"

"Protection money?" Li Ming shook his head, "What they are collecting is a ’no-trouble’ fee; if they can’t protect, they can always cause trouble."

Ya Ro was taken aback, "Yeah, shit, I just used to come here to shop, never realized all the tricks involved here."

Then, he couldn’t help but ask, "A third of the net profit, just like that you’re giving it away?"

Li Ming was noncommittal, "We’ll see, they’re probably not the first group."

Ya Ro looked skeptical and waited about half an hour more when, indeed, another group came, sub-species Lizard Men.

Like the previous people, they too demanded a third of the net profit.

After going back and forth with three groups in total, Ya Ro finally cursed,

"Each wants a third, even if we give it all to them, it wouldn’t be enough. Collecting protection fees should also be done bit by bit, how can there be so many people?"

"Ha..." A low laugh came from outside the door; it was an almost skeletal old man, with a messy beard, bald on top, hunched back, and a sinister glance.

"You..." Ya Ro stared at him, "Are you the owner of the neighboring pharmacy?"

"Saber," the old man introduced himself, his voice hoarse, "Considering we’re both human, I’ll give you some advice, better to close up shop early."

"Who are these people exactly?" Ya Ro asked, not offended but rather inquiring.

"Colleagues," Saber’s words stunned Ya Ro for a moment: "Colleagues?"

Saber scoffed, "Right, mechanical repair, weapons customization, only taking on Class C and above, such big talk, it’s strange if the mechanics in this area didn’t band together to squeeze you out."

"You guys are smart, no conflicts happened; don’t judge their fierce looks, if you guys dare fight back, believe it or not, they’d just lie down on the ground and have the Collector’s guard come to punish you."

Ya Ro grinned, "Figured as much, they sure wouldn’t start a fight."

He tentatively asked, "Is there a solution?"

"Yes." Saber let out a ’hehehe’ laugh, "But I don’t feel like telling you."

Ya Ro’s expression hardened slightly, and Saber already turned to leave.