Shackles of Humanity

Uncle Fu took a stack of documents and a small string of keys from a pouch on his waist and handed them over. ”The boss was originally going to thank you personally, young brother, but he was tied up with various matters and couldn’t get away. This is a small token of his appreciation. Please accept it.”

Luo Kai didn’t take them, frowning as he asked, ”What’s this?”

Uncle Fu placed the items in front of Luo Kai. ”The boss heard you lost the tool you use to make a living because of this and feels extremely apologetic. This is an employment contract. We at Black Stone Heavy Industry would like to hire you, young brother, as the Deputy Head of the Security Department, with a monthly salary of fifty thousand Star Dollars. There is also a credit voucher for one million Star Dollars, which can be exchanged for cash at any bank in any human nation. This string of keys is for a three-bedroom apartment in the Garden District of the East District. It’s already been renovated and is ready for you to move in.”

Luo Kai’s expression shifted, and he was clearly torn. The poorer a person is, the more they understand the value of money. Since coming to this world, he had almost always lived a hand-to-mouth existence. A high-paying, stable job was an immense temptation.

’But having been reborn, what he pursued was no longer money or power, but a sense of freedom that came from following his heart, unbound by any rules. The prerequisite for freedom was a life without worry, but compared to the city, he preferred the peaceful, simple life he had lived in the fishing village over the past year.’

’No matter how far human civilization developed, some things would never change—like human nature. If he took this job as Deputy Head of Security, he would inevitably have to obey his superiors’ orders and maintain good relationships with his colleagues. He truly didn’t want to relive the backstabbing, sycophantic life of his past, and he was tired of dealing with the complexities of human nature.’

Seeing that Luo Kai remained silent and showed no intention of accepting, Uncle Fu continued, ”If you have any other requests, young brother, you can mention them as well.”

Luo Kai thought for a moment and asked, ”I was wondering, could you get me an international travel permit?”

Uncle Fu smiled and said, ”Of course we can. I have the authority to get that done for you myself. Where are you planning to go, young brother?”

”I need to make a trip to the Dongyuan Upper Country.”

Uncle Fu’s expression changed slightly. He hesitated, then lowered his voice. ”Young brother, you might not be aware of the current situation. To get to the Dongyuan Upper Country, you have to pass through Nanzhao. Our Xingma Kingdom and the Nanzhao Kingdom have amassed hundreds of thousands of troops on the border. A great war could break out at any moment. The orbital transit will very likely be shut down soon.”

Luo Kai frowned deeply. ”Are there no other routes?”

”There are. One is the sea route, but the coastal shipping lanes are controlled by the South Sea Pirates. To put pressure on the Great Lord, they’re extorting exorbitant protection fees from all shipping vessels. No sea merchants are willing to run their ships anymore. There’s another path that requires crossing the Mist Mountain Range. It’s said that Fierce Beasts still remain there, and it has always been a forbidden zone for humans.”

Luo Kai sighed to himself. ’It seems this can’t be rushed.’

Seeing the look on Luo Kai’s face, Uncle Fu said cautiously, ”So... will you sign the employment contract, young brother? Then I can report back.”

But Luo Kai shook his head. ”This gesture is too generous. I can’t accept it.”

’If he accepted any of these three things, he would inevitably feel the need to repay the favor, which would put him at a disadvantage. He would rather others owe him than be indebted to anyone else.’

”Why?” Uncle Fu grew anxious, starting to suspect there was something wrong with this kid’s head. He himself had followed the big boss for half his life just to scrape his way up to the position of Deputy Head of Security. This kid was being offered a shortcut to the top, and he was turning it down!

Luo Kai explained patiently, ”I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to be tied down. I won’t accept these things. How about this: my vehicle was lost, so you can just compensate me with a new one.”

Uncle Fu stared at Luo Kai as if he were some kind of freak, now certain that there was definitely something wrong with the kid’s head.

”Can I leave now?”

Uncle Fu thought Luo Kai was worried about retaliation from the Jiuyuan Farm Stronghold. ”Of course, you can. Don’t worry, here in Longyang City, the Black-clothed Guard would never dare cause you any trouble. The boss has already decided to reduce the supply of Refined Steel to the Jiuyuan Farm Stronghold. If they still don’t learn to back down, he’ll sever all commercial agreements with them!”

Luo Kai gave a noncommittal nod. He wasn’t afraid of the Jiuyuan Farm Stronghold. ’I was already planning to go looking for trouble with them once I get a bit stronger. A cancer like that must be eliminated!’

In the end, Luo Kai didn’t accept anything. Uncle Fu left with Xiaozhuo. As they parted, the little girl’s eyes were red, but she stubbornly held back her tears. She pressed a small, exquisite pouch into Luo Kai’s hand and then left.

With his hosts gone, Luo Kai didn’t have the face to stay at the teahouse any longer. He quickly packed his still-damp clothes, walked out the teahouse doors, and got his bearings before heading toward the familiar Lobster Lane. For him, it seemed life had returned to square one.

The teahouse owner was a big, fat man who resembled a Maitreya Buddha. Seeing Luo Kai leave, he couldn’t help but pump his fist and mutter excitedly to himself, ”Heavens be praised, the big glutton is finally gone.”

It turned out that in the mere three days Luo Kai had stayed there, he had eaten through an entire month of the teahouse’s profits. If he had stayed any longer, he might have eaten them into bankruptcy!

...

He put on his overcoat, which still had bits of ice clinging to it, and first went to the small building where he rented a room. When his elderly landlady saw him, it was as if she’d seen the Plague God himself, and she immediately tried to shoo him away. On that day, three separate waves of vicious-looking thugs had come and turned the two-story building upside down. The other tenants had all been scared off and had clamored for their rent and security deposits back. The old woman had suffered a heavy loss.

Luo Kai was helpless. Now he had absolutely nowhere to go and could only wander the streets. As he walked, he kept reflecting on whether he’d been too quick to refuse the offer. ’I could do without the other things, but accepting a bit of money should have been fine. A million was too much, but ten or twenty thousand would have been enough.’

If Uncle Fu knew that Luo Kai had refused because the offer was *too* generous, he would have absolutely exploded with rage.

By the afternoon, his stomach was rumbling again. Luo Kai rubbed his belly and muttered to himself, ”I’ve eaten so much these past few days. How are you still not full?”

His hand brushed against a hard object in his overcoat pocket. It was the pouch Xiaozhuo had insisted on giving him. A little curious, he pulled it out and looked inside. There was a roll of banknotes and several objects that gleamed with a golden light—they were actually Gold Coins!

In this world, metal was extremely precious. A single Gold Coin was worth at least ten thousand Star Dollars, which meant seven of them were worth seventy thousand. Luo Kai felt a pang of warmth in his heart. ’That little girl is so thoughtful,’ he thought. ’She knew I was completely broke.’

With money, nothing was a problem anymore. He immediately found an eatery and had a huge meal, then wandered around looking for a place to live. The streets and alleys here were plastered with all kinds of small rental ads, so finding a place was simple.

He eventually chose a large courtyard house. He often needed to practice his Body Techniques, and if he lived on a second floor, it would be troublesome if he failed to control his strength and ended up smashing through the floorboards.

As soon as he entered the small courtyard, a dark-skinned little girl inside cried out in surprise, ”Uncle!”

It was Erya. ’She’s actually alive!’ he thought. Many of the bodies at the time had been burned beyond recognition, making them impossible to identify.

Luo Kai couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. ”Erya, you’re alive! Where’s your grandfather?”

Erya’s eyes reddened as she choked out, ”Grandpa’s dead. Everyone in the village is dead!”

Sobbing, Erya began to explain what had happened. It turned out that the day after she was kidnapped, the old village chief had someone bring her to the Commandery City, which was how she escaped the disaster. Erya’s parents both worked in Longyang City, and this courtyard house was the one they rented.