Chapter 433

For Arthur, coming back to Petaling Street as a Climber was strange. He had noticed it earlier in the day, over the few weeks of interacting with non-Climbers while waiting for his team in the Tower. However, it was in the crowds of mundanes, of non-climbers that he began to sense the stark difference. Most of the civilians moved like awkward colts, gangling toddlers who did not understand where their body parts were. A stark difference between them and the Climbers he had hung around with.

Not just because of the increase in physical stats that were part and parcel of cultivating in the Tower, rebuilding their body. There was also the added fact that most were trained martial artists, individuals who put their lives on the line and gambled with the coins their command of their body.

All of which had Arthur idly wondering, just how many of the thugs hanging around at the corners giving him the evil eye he could take on. How many of them were Climbers, if any, and how many of those who weren’t were a threat?

Two, three? Easy. Even without his spear, he was certain he could tackle three.

Four? Depending on where they started and if he held back or not and if they held back or not, probably.

Five might start being tricky. He certainly couldn’t get out without getting injured if they wielded weapons, though with his Steel Skin technique, it probably wouldn’t be too bad. He might even be able to get out unharmed if he got lucky if he was willing to burn chi.

Eight? Ten? Those numbers were getting to kung fu movie ludicrous levels. Of course there were practical considerations like their inability to all reach him at once. His ability to leave bodies in the way, the distance between carts and the speed of his attacks.

If you could take on ten at once, did the numbers start becoming nonsensical? After all, it was then only a question of volume and timing for how long it would take for him to beat them all.

Which led Arthur to thinking about his skillset and his need for some more powerful, area of effect or multiple attacker techniques. Of course, finding such techniques or learning them was going to be tricky. He had stopped purchasing them from the Tower a while ago, though perhaps at the next Tower he might look into it.

On the other hand, in general, such skills were incredibly tower energy expensive; which was why they only became a regular feature in Intermediate Towers. So perhaps he was skipping ahead with those considerations. Certainly, none of his compatriots had such an ability – beyond the occasional taunt skill.

Or an aura ability.

Or the gouts of flame that some of his own Durians had learnt.

Okay, perhaps he was just lacking.

“I’m not that bad, am I?” Arthur muttered, turning up the stairs and getting a baffled look from the guard. He ignored it as he ascended the stairs, the guard only belatedly realizing he was meant to stop Arthur when the young man was well past him. “Definitely not sad, I am.”

Upstairs, around the corner through the door, into the room with a smile even as the clamour from behind caught up to him. He grinned, waving to the old woman who sat behind the desk at the end of the crowded room, a loaded crossbow pointed at his forehead and a pair of bodyguards – fat and fatter, idling by her side on stools.

“If you don’t want my stones, I can go somewhere else,” Arthur said, not moving forward as he hovered just inside the door.

“You should have stopped. I could have shot you.”

“You could have tried.”

The twang of the bolt being released filled the air, only a little slower than the actual crossbow bolt itself as it cut through the air. Arthur casually leaned out of the way as he snatched the bolt out of the air, keeping his smile as he strolled forward. He idly tossed the bolt up and down his hand as the bodyguards surged off their stools.

“Now, now. That’s not nice.” Arthur kept tossing the bolt up and down, his eyes flicking over the trio. Keen Eyesight meant he had noticed the slight tightening of the finger before she had finished making her mind, Fast Twitch Faster and Lightning Reflexes had made dodging and grabbing the crossbow bolt no harder than snatching a tossed orange. He did not have a peter-tingle, but he certainly was specced for simple tricks like this.

“You really are a Climber.” Placing the crossbow on the table, the old woman waved her thugs back to their stools, though not without muttering a low-voiced curse in Malay at how slow they were to react.

Arthur, pragmatically, ignored that. Or the pair of gangsters who had managed to barge in and then, retreated at another gesture from the woman.

“So. I’m Arthur Chua. You might have heard of me,” he said as he took a seat in the chair opposite her, grimacing as he sank into the loose, plastic net weaving of the old chair.

“Nope.”

“Really?” He brightened. “Independent, then?”

“Hai-lah.” She tapped the table. “You can call me Amah Li.”

“Perfect.” He tapped the table. “You buy stones, right?”

“Not so fast. Why should you care?”

“About selling to you? ‘Cause I need Ringgit, of course.”

“That I’m independent.”

“Eh, I have had run-ins in the Tower.” He shrugged. “Nothing to concern you about.”

“Unless they kick my door down because I did business with you.”

“I’m not on their blacklist. Not anymore.” He smiled, wide. “Promise.”

She turned, gestured to one of her bodyguards. He reluctantly got off his stool, pulling a phone out of his pocket as he slipped into the office right behind her. Arthur let out a long sigh as he did so.

“Can we at least get an estimate for this? Don’t want to waste time.” He dropped the first of his first floor stones on the table, causing Amah Li to snort.

“You a joker ah? Sell that downstairs.”

“That bad, eh?” He shrugged, fished around inside his pocket, pulled out a second floor stone. Still no change of expression, so he dropped the third floor stone too. He kept going till the first five floors were there, when she actually began to look interested. Eventually, she reached over to a simple file folder, extracted a document and pushed it to him.

Printed on the document were a list of floor stone levels and prices, the explanation written in all three languages. He read it over once, then again and then shook his head.

“Only till seventh floor?” he said.

“You got more, you tell me. Higher numbers fluctuate, you know.”

Pushing the paper across, he added. “Then tell me how much and I’ll see about bringing those in.”

Amah Li hesitated, then shrugged and pulled out a pen. A few moments later and the paper was pushed back, with details added. Arthur whistled at seeing the numbers then grinned.

“So. Now we have your baseline. What’s your best?” he said.

“For you? That’s my best.” She crossed her arms.

“Don’t be like that, lah. You and I, we can be good friends, right?”

“Smart ass like you? You won’t last longer than another run-” she cut off as the door was thrown open, the bodyguard coming back out at speed. He leaned over to whisper to his boss, and Arthur sighed, figuring that they were about to get some visitors.

A suspicion that bloomed into outright confirmation moments later when she jerked upwards and stared at Arthur, her face growing white.

“Right, I guess that’s my cue to leave.” He grabbed the pricing sheet, stood up and sauntered to the door, trying his best not to look like he was running. After all, he wasn’t really. He just wasn’t interested in getting into a fight – or discussion – with the Ghee Hin or the 66 or UN or whoever else it was on the other side of that line.

Not that he got a chance, as by the time he was downstairs, the guards not daring to stop him, the crowd had arrived.

Another plan, shot to dust.

Which, really, was just about par for the course for him.