Swallowed Star

Volume 2 Chapter 20: The HR Alliance Market (final chapter of volume 2)

In Jiang-Nan city, one of the six major headquarters in China, there was a skyscraper that was 88 stories tall and full of wealth. On the wall of the skyscraper were two very flashy english characters: ‘HR’. Around the first floor of the skyscraper, there was a beautiful plaza which had the largest fountain in the city. Around the plaza, there were at least a thousand soldiers patrolling with real guns, preventing any outsider from stepping even one step inside.

Every pedestrian who passes by looks at the skyscraper in admiration.

Most of the people in the entire city have never entered the area.

[BEEP!]

An electronic sound rang.

Within a moment, the patrolling soldiers immediately made way for a military SUV with ‘HR’ on the car body. It stopped in front of the gate of the lobby, HUA, the door opened, and three fully armed fighters came out, either carrying a spear, a blade and a hexagonal shield, or two metal boxes on their backs.

“Mister, please enter” the doorman of the lobby’s entrance greeted them respectfully.

The three fighters immediately entered the skyscraper’s lobby.

“Let’s go, Luo Feng, let’s go sit at the bar at the side and wait for the captain and the others to come” Chen Gu laughed.

“I still haven’t seen the captain yet. I wonder what he looks like” laughed Luo Feng. At the same time, he observed the HR alliance market. This was the underground alliance that was built by the power families and corporations all around the world. It acted as their headquarters in Jiang-Nan city, so this skyscraper was extremely extravagant.

The lobby was full of eccentric people, even their simple accessories were out of the ordinary.

The waiter in the lobby, the handsome men and the beautiful women, each of them had a refreshing smile.

Luo Feng, Chen Gu, and the other member ‘Zhang Ke’ all sat on the sofa.

“What will you three be having?” smiled the waiter as he bowed while asking.

“Tie Guan Yin”!

“Pu’Er tea, with a hint of Jasmine!”

Fire Cannon Chen Gu and Zhang Ke, these two senior fighters spoke immediately, which shocked Luo Feng a bit. In the Limit Hall, these two drank alcohol frequently. Zhang Ke, whose biceps were bulging like a gorilla’s, laughed as he said: “Luo Feng, the wilderness is dangerous, so we can’t drink alcohol”

Luo Feng suddenly came to, yes, you can’t take the wilderness lightly, how could you drink alcohol now?

“I’ll also have a cup of Pu’Er tea” laughed Luo Feng.

A solemn, musical song was playing in the lobby. It was a piece played by a flute. As to what song it was, he couldn’t tell. However, the song was soothing, yet energizing. It made one feel much more refreshed.

“Luo Feng, the first floor is the resting area for guests. From the second floor and up, it’s where items are sold” Chen Gu smiled, “In the underground alliance, the prices are lower than the full price of the things in the ‘Limit Home”s internet market. Of course, it costs more than our half price”

Luo Feng nodded, half price was something that only the members of the Dojo could enjoy.

“The best thing about the underground alliance marketplace is….. that we can sell the ingredients we obtain from the monsters for a high price to them” explained Chen Gu, “if we sell the ingredients from hunted monsters to the Dojo, we also earn contribution points but the price is lower. If we sell them to the underground alliance marketplace, we get more money but no contribution points. Naturally, which one you decide to sell to is entirely up to you”

Luo Feng laughed, as to this point, he already read some posts on the fighter discussion thread, so he knew this a long time ago.

Selling to the Dojo gives contribution points and money.

Selling to the underground alliance marketplace gives only money, but a lot of it.

“Brother Wang, you’ve already been working for the entire night, take a break and leave it to me” a soft sound rang. Luo Feng, who was holding his tea cup, suddenly turned his head as if he was shocked by electricity.

At the bar, there was a young woman in a white, collared shirt and long black pants, who was changing positions with another manager.

In this bar, there were 12 waiters and a manager. The bar was open 24 hours and they had 8 hour shifts, so there were three different groups.

“Xu Xin?” Luo Feng looked with disbelief at the female manager. A professional woman who had an air of nobleness around her. There is no way an ordinary person can become the manager of the bar of the underground alliance’s lobby. This is a place that was made just to serve fighters!

Just to become a waiter, you would probably have to graduate from a prestigious college and undergo tons of training, not to mention a bar manager.

“Xu Xin…..”

How did that plain high school girl in the past change herself so dramatically?

“Brother Chen, brother Zhang, I’m going to go over there for a bit”. Luo Feng left his bag, shield, blade, etc. on the sofa, and he stood up smiling as he headed over to the bar.

In the bar.

Xu Xin’s head was lowered as she checked the supplies at the counter, suddenly –

“Xu Xin” – a familiar voice rang.

“Hm?” Xu Xin was shocked. The people who knew her in the lobby usually called her ‘Manager Xu’, and usually the fighters don’t know her name. How could someone call her ‘Xu Xin’, and this voice sounds so familiar. Xu Xin raised her head——

At this time, Luo Feng’s head was lowered as he looked into the bar, and Xu Xin was half-squatted as she finished checking the wine and raised her head.

Their gazes met.

Luo Feng and Xu Xin both suddenly had the same feeling, their hearts throbbed a bit.

“Luo Feng, why are you here?” Xu Xin reacted, and she stood up as she laughed.

“Even Xu Xin can become a manager here, how come I can’t be here?” laughed Luo Feng as he said. Looking at the young woman in front of him, Luo Feng couldn’t help but to think about his times in high school, where he sat in the back of the classroom and silently looked at Xu Xin’s back….. he had a crush for a long time, but he just didn’t have the chance to confess.

He thought he would probably never see Xu Xin again, but he ended up meeting her right before his first trip to the wilderness at the HR alliance market.

“Ah, Luo Feng, you’re a fighter?” Xu Xin saw Luo Feng’s outfit and couldn’t help but to say in surprise.

“Yea, I’ll be going to the wilderness soon” laughed Luo Feng.

“The wilderness?” Xu Xin’s face changed a bit.

All over the world, the areas other than the cities were called the wilderness. For the people who live in the cities, the wilderness was basically a replacement for the forbidden area of death. There were all types of monsters there: sinister, strange ones, and large, barbaric ones. There were also existences that were near invincible.

Only the strongest of mankind, the ‘fighters’, could go there and fight the monsters.

Xu Xin couldn’t have thought….. that Luo Feng was a fighter, and that he was about to enter the wilderness.

In reality, Xu Xin knew that Luo Feng liked her a bit….. this kind of thing was impossible to hide. Luo Feng constantly looked at her every day in class, and Xu Xin naturally caught Luo Feng staring at her when she turned her head. Naturally, Xu Xin understood Luo Feng’s thoughts.

It was just that both sides failed to point it out.

“Luo Feng, the captain’s here, come” shouted Chen Gu.

“I’ll be going there” said Luo Feng to Xu Xin.

“Okay” nodded Xu Xin.

Luo Feng went back to his original place. At this time, three people arrived, and two of them looked similar. One look is enough to tell you that they’re twins. Both of them had a shield and a scimitar on their backs. The third man was extremely large and had two black sledgehammers that were glowing with a bit of silver.

“Luo Feng, these two are the famous ‘Twin Moon Scimitar’ brothers of the Wei family, Wei Tie and Wei Qing” smiled Chen Gu as he said.

The Wei brothers nodded their heads towards Luo Feng and put down their shields and scimitars and sat down.

“Brother Tie, brother Qing” smiled Luo Feng as he greeted.

The other members of the fire hammer squad are much older than Luo Feng, at least 10 years older. Compared to the other five people, Luo Feng indeed seems like a little brother.

“This, is the captain of our fire hammer squad, ‘Dual Wind Hammer’ Gao Feng” said Chen Gu. Luo Feng couldn’t help but to notice that captain ‘Gao Feng’, wasn’t that tall. He was barely past 180 cm. His speciality was that he was extremely well built, as if he was made out of steel bars.

Gao Feng sneered, and the muscles of his face were like rocks as he approached: “Luo Feng, you also use a blade, so after entering the wilderness, try to get some experience from Wei Tie and Wei Qing. You have good talent, so I’m sure you’ll swiftly become a member of our team”

“Okay” nodded Luo Feng.

No matter what, his first priority is to not become a burden for this elite fighter squad.

“Take a break and we’ll leave” said Gao Feng.

“Yes, captain”

Including Luo Feng, the five of them nodded.

In just twenty minutes, Gao Feng and the others finished their drinks and stood up, “Let’s go, to the wilderness”. Luo Feng immediately picked up his ghost blade, shield, etc.

“Luo Feng” – a sound rang.

Luo Feng turned his head.

At this time, Xu Xin’s chest pounded a bit. For some reason, the thought of Luo Feng entering the dangerous wilderness made her worried. Maybe Xu Xin also started to develop some special feelings for the boy who had a crush on her during high school.

“Yes?” Luo Feng looked at Xu Xin.

“In the next few days, school will start for me. But during college, I’ll be the manager here on Fridays and the weekend” Xu Xin yelled, “You better come at those times”. As she yelled this, Xu Xin’s face started to turn red.

“Okay, I’ll come for sure”

Luo Feng let out a smile.

“You picked one up so quickly? Nice!” Chen Gu slapped Luo Feng shoulder as he laughed loudly.

“This is the benefits of being young, all the beautiful women stick to you” laughed Gao Feng on the side. Since he already determined to let Luo Feng join the fire hammer squad, naturally they’ll treat him as a brother.

Luo Feng just laughed.

“Let’s go!”

“Get on the car!”

The six of the Fire Squad team members got on the HR alliance private car and headed towards the train station, where they’ll ride a train headed towards the wilderness.