"Put it on. This is your number plate, this is your identity card for taking assignments. If you quit later you can return it, and we'll refund you based on your level at that time."
Henry put the wooden plate in his money pouch and put on the mask.
The bald bartender led Henry to the bar's back door, knocked twice, waited two seconds, then knocked three more times.
The door quickly opened halfway from outside.
"Go in," the bald bartender stepped aside.
Henry walked through, and the door immediately closed behind him. Three pistols were pointed at him.
A white man with a fierce face said coldly: "Body search. Raise your hands."
Henry obediently raised his hands.
Two men searched Henry from front and back, very thoroughly.
After a few minutes, the search ended. Two white guards flanked Henry front and back, walking toward the alley behind.
Henry now felt somewhat like when he had traveled to Hong Kong in his previous life, winding through old housing estates.
Along the way, the guide even opened the back doors of several houses, passing through them.
After nearly five minutes of twists and turns, the guards brought Henry to a two-story brick and wood villa covering about 2,000 square meters.
The villa was surrounded by granite stone walls over three meters high.
Eight guards stood at the villa entrance, with revolvers at their waists and Winchester rifles in their hands.
One of the guards checked Henry's identity plate, then opened the house door and led him inside the villa.
About thirty meters ahead was a Mediterranean-style brick and wood house covering over 400 square meters on two floors.
Ten gunmen on the second floor were watching the first floor.
In the center of the first-floor courtyard, ten armed guards were patrolling. On both sides, separated by over forty meters, were ten rooms each.
"You're currently E-level. Tasks C-level and below are in the ten rooms on the left. The right side is for goods trading, B-level and above tasks, and task posting, so go to the left side."
"Rooms with white signs are empty, black signs mean occupied. If they're all occupied, go sit on that row of chairs - the inner positions are for those ahead in line."
"Note - you can only walk along the edge path, don't go to the center of the courtyard."
After giving directions, the guard turned around, opened the villa door and walked out.
Just what Henry could see, there were 28 soldiers guarding this villa, and he didn't know if there were more inside the house.
Moreover, from the calluses on these guards' hands and their gazes, Henry could tell these were all experienced gunmen.
Some of the houses they had passed were empty, some were occupied, and with so many nearby houses, if they were all occupied, hundreds of people could easily be hidden inside.
If he used throwing knives, Henry still had 184 knives about 30 centimeters long and weighing around 350 grams. With his Throwing Knife LV4 skill, he should be able to cause sufficient damage to enemies within twenty meters.
Now the release progress bar had reached Level 3 at 10.78%.
Below were 165 gray pearls, 106 white pearls, 9 green pearls, plus 36 gray pearl shells, 42 white pearl shells, and 2 green pearl shells.
As long as he wasn't targeted by concentrated machine gun fire, there should be no problem.
The accumulated release pearls were equivalent to 785 gray pearls, enough to upgrade agility or strength talents.
But what Henry wanted to upgrade more was the Warning talent, which required 1000 gray pearl energy and was definitely more powerful than the other two.
Moreover, he could now throw 20 knives in one second under Super Reaction state. Further upgrades might allow 24 knives?
Although this would better utilize the power under Super Reaction state, the difference wasn't huge.
Instead, upgrading the Warning talent should bring qualitative transformation to his combat power.
Henry walked along the edge path toward the left compartments. Walking down, he found only the last room had a white wooden sign - business was quite good.
So he knocked once on the door, then pushed it open. Inside was just a wooden table and three wooden stools. Behind the table sat a thin, red-haired young white man, and two meters behind his left sat a guard holding a revolver.
The last wooden stool was for Henry.
Henry walked over and sat on the stool.
"What task do you want to take? Where's your identity plate?" the red-haired youth asked.
Henry took out his identity plate and asked: "What tasks can I take?"
"This is an E-level plate, you can only take D and E level tasks. Take a look~" The red-haired youth handed Henry a small notebook.
Henry opened it and saw various group escort, kidnapping, robbery, assassination or theft tasks, though the pay wasn't high.
For example, joining a 20-plus person escort team to guard a fur merchant paid $1.5 per day, with combat extra, though those with particularly good marksmanship could negotiate.
The problem was you had to give the black market 5% commission, minimum $2 commission.
The black market probably also charged the employers commission, eating from both ends.
The red-haired youth looked at Henry's tall frame and dress, smiling: "There's also a bounty task that ignores level restrictions - Henry's head. Do you need his latest whereabouts intelligence? Only $10."
"Who is Henry?" Henry asked.
"A small town sheriff from the mountains. Someone's offering $10,000 for his head. Anyone can take it, no deposit required, but if you want his detailed intelligence that costs $300."
"The $10 one then." Henry took out two $5 bills from his money pouch.
The red-haired youth smiled and handed Henry a small piece of paper.
Henry took the paper and browsed it, finding it marked the time he left the Rocky Mountains, personnel, weapons, and final destination - Mellon Manor, plus his recent plan to escort Linda to catch a train back to New York.
At the end was a bold, highlighted sentence: This person has excellent marksmanship, is ruthless and extremely dangerous. Recommend poisoning, ambush, surprise attack.
Henry asked: "Can you tell me how many people bought this intelligence? I need to know how many competitors there are."
"Quite a few, but I can't tell you the specific number," the red-haired youth still smiled.
"After getting Henry's head, how do I claim the reward?" Henry asked.
"Bring it here to complete the task. The reward will be paid in cash, with 10% commission deducted. We guarantee your safety within the black market and will escort you out through a secret exit."
After speaking, the red-haired youth leaned back in his chair with the confident demeanor of a successful person and asked: "Have you chosen what task you want?"
He was in a very good mood, having sold five copies of the $10 Henry intelligence in half an hour - quite a nice bonus.
"I've chosen, but I have a question. This is my first time here. Do I have to go back the old way through Hamlet Bar when I leave?"
"No need, that's for newcomers. Someone will escort you out later."
"Thanks! If I have important intelligence to sell, who should I find?"
(End of Chapter)
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