Upton City was a commercial city without any city wall or defense. The prosperous commercial trade between the south and the north of Blackson Humans Corridor allowed this city to expand over the past 200 years. Today, as the capital and the most important stronghold of Free Commercial Federation, this city had already expanded into a big city covering over 100 square miles.
This city was much more prosperous than Blackhot City.
The surging tide of people towards the south made Upton City look abnormally prosperous like boiling oil, ice and fire.
On both sides of the city streets, as long as there was shelter from the wind and rain, refugees would gather in simple tents or blankets. Moreover, right beside or not far from these refugee gathering places, those apartments, hotels, and inns hung advertising signboards everywhere.
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"No. 76 Levins Avenue, 2 bedrooms and 1 living room for rent. Water and heating is available. The rent is 10 gold coins per month..."
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"Warm family hotel, clean and comfortable. The rent is 600 silver coins per day (Note: breakfast is not included!)"
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"Suite in Black Horse Hotel, 3 gold coins per night..."
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"The stairwell on the 4th floor of Wall Building, 10 square meters, 2 gold coins per month..."
According to Zhang Tie's understanding, such a rent was nothing different than robbery. It was far out of the bearing capacity of common families. However, it became a very common thing in Upton City.
Besides these residential advertisements that could be seen everywhere, Upton City had the most advertisements at this moment. The moment Zhang Tie entered Upton City, he had met 3 liars who used the same trick. The 3 liars all had something in common, namely, they all wore tidy and classy clothes and talked incessantly. They all had the same "business". As long as you could pay them some money, they could help you contact and "reserve" an airship out of Upton City.
"Sir, our Silverboat Airship Company is definitely a powerful big enterprise. You may have met other scammers, but please believe me, we are definitely not like those people. We are an airline with our own airship. They had been operating many routes from Upton City to the south. 10 silver coins, only 10 silver coins, I can show you the airship of our company. You can decide whether you want to reserve a cabin or not after taking a look at the airship... "A 50-year old man followed Zhang Tie with an umbrella. In order to convince Zhang Tie, this man even took out some photos and some documents from a slightly worn-out briefcase solemnly in order to make Zhang Tie believe him. To show the truth of his words.
"Can you get yourself a cabin?" Zhang Tie stood still as he watched that man.
"Ah. Of course, sir. As an employee of Silverboat Airship Company, it's a piece of cake for me! "the guy replied after being stunned for a second.
"Then, hurry up and get yourself a cabin!"
"Why?"
"If you don't leave Upton City, you might be in danger!"
"Ah, sir, you're really good at joking. How could I be in danger?" The guy revealed a smile forcefully.
Zhang Tie didn't speak; instead, he just raised his chin towards afar. That guy turned around and saw some aggressive men pointing at him. They were walking towards him rapidly with water pipes and wooden sticks in their hands.
The moment he turned around, those people caught sight of his face.
"Catch him, catch him, catch that damn liar..."
"Give me back my gold coins..."
Those men shouted and rushed towards him. That guy changed his face as he dropped his umbrella and ran away at once...
Those men passed by Zhang Tie and chased after that guy. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared in the rain curtain.
At the sight of that umbrella, a 10-year old boy in a straw raincoat drilled out of a nearby alley. He ran over here rapidly and grabbed the umbrella before turning around and running away.
"Wait a second!" Zhang Tie stopped the little guy.
"Ah, I picked this umbrella up. It belongs to me now. It's not yours..." The little guy hid the umbrella behind his back vigilantly as he watched Zhang Tie with a vigilant look.
"I know, you picked it up. I just want to ask you for some information!" Zhang Tie looked a bit milder.
"I'm sorry, I don't know anything!" The little guy shook his head as he slowly retreated into the alley.
Zhang Tie turned his hand and took out a silver coin. The little guy stopped at once as he watched that silver coin with gleaming eyes. He became hesitant at once.
"Now you should know something, right?"
"What do you want to know, sir?"
"Take me to the most informed place in Upton City. Then, this silver coin will be yours!"
The little guy moved his eyes, "Two silver coins, sir, if you can give me two silver coins, I will take you there!"
"Fine, let's go!" Zhang Tie nodded.
"Mister, can you pay me this silver coin first? Count it as half of the deposit. Anyway, I can't run away from you!" the little guy said after rolling his eyes.
'What a capital city of Free Commercial Federation. Even a kid has such a business mind. 'Zhang Tie revealed a smile as he threw that silver coin into the little guy's hand.
The little fellow took the silver coin, glanced at it, and quickly put the silver coin away. He also seemed to heave a sigh of relief.
"Sir, follow me!"
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After over 20 minutes, the heavy rain gradually became lighter. After walking about 2 km, the little guy had led Zhang Tie to a place.
"Is it here?" Zhang Tie saw a building not far away as he understood it.
"Right, that building is the headquarter of the Mercenary Trade Union in Upton City. Armes, the mercenary empire and Free Commercial Federation are the best partners. Many mercenaries would accept tasks there. The pub beside the Mercenary Trade Union is the most informed place in Upton City. Besides mercenaries, many people would go there to drink and ask for some information!" "That's right.
Zhang Tie revealed a smile as he took out a gold coin and threw it into the little guy's hand, "Here's your reward!"
"Ah, thank you, sir. You're the best person that I've ever seen!" The little guy stared at the gold coin in an unbelievable way before bowing towards Zhang Tie. Finally, as if he was afraid that Zhang Tie would regret his words, he quickly disappeared into the nearby street.
Zhang Tie revealed a smile as he directly walked towards the pub beside the Mercenary Trade Union.
That little guy was right. There were indeed many people here. Those who entered and exited the pub were all armed with sabers and swords. Zhang Tie felt that they were very powerful. Opposite the pub were two weapon and armor stores and a very large grocery store. Beside the pub was a street which was full of temptation for many men.
Soon after the heavy rain stopped, Zhang Tie had seen many women with heavy make-up on the roadside with a cigarette or a bag in their hands. Zhang Tie had seen those women in the streets near the railway station of Blackhot City. At the sight of those women, Zhang Tie thought of Ms. Anna. Therefore, he knew what they were doing without asking.
Some tough men with weapons would whisper to a woman when they passed by that street. After that, they would walk into a small hotel on one side with their arms around the woman.
Blood-licking mercenaries and prostitutes on the roadside would always match each other.
Zhang Tie didn't go to the headquarter of the Mercenary Trade Union in Upton City as only officially registered mercenaries were qualified to enter it. Therefore, he came to the gate of the pub.
The name of the pub was similar to that of mercenaries. It was called "Gold Coin Pub". It looked nice and elegant. Zhang Tie guessed that it might be an unofficial external communication window of the Mercenary Union. Many things that were inconvenient to be carried out in the Mercenary Union could be done through such an unofficial channel.
Besides mercenaries with obvious badges of mercenary groups on their chests, there were many people whose identities and backgrounds were unknown. Some of them looked like pioneers; some looked like paladins; some looked like free mercenaries. Pioneers wore multi-purpose cloaks and pioneering swords; paladins wore feather hats and hand shields; free mercenaries wore crossbows and white gloves. However, they were just brands. As for Zhang Tie, now that he could change his look, he always changed his look. Therefore, those so-called brands were meaningless. Therefore, it was very naive for veterans to judge a person's identity based on his look.
At this moment, Zhang Tie looked both like a paladin and a pioneer.
After entering the pub, Zhang Tie took off his raincoat and hung it in a cloakroom on the left of the pub. After that, he walked inside.
There were a lot of people in the pub, and the atmosphere was noisy and warm. There was a unique smell of alcohol mixed with all kinds of drinks in the pub, as well as the smell of men's cigarettes. However, it was still orderly. A half-naked stripper was holding a pole on the stage in the middle of the pub, twisting her body in an enchanting way under the bright pink fluorescent lamp. Those maids with bare thighs and half of breasts were walking around the pub with drinks in their hands, teasing the guests from time to time.
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