Chapter 484

"Fancy seeing you here, Manager Kong," Arthur greeted the older woman with a smile, watching as she let out a huff of amusement. He could tell she was a little harried, likely hurried over from her office upon being informed that he had finally exited. Even so, he had been busy working with the guards to count and catalogue all his cores so that he could be properly taxed.

“You know we provide exceptional service for our VIPs,” Manager Kong said, eyes narrowed in amusement. She looked at Arthur’s rather meager haul, frowned. “Not a lot, is there? You would have to go back soon after.”

“I’m relying on my Clan mates to provide more.” Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish. “I have been informed I need to focus on my own growth more.”

“True.” She tilted her head to the side. “About that… you were asking the kind of cultivation resources and techniques that the government can provide. I told you we – I – had to get approval first.”

“Yes,” Arthur said. “I know your boss wanted a closer relationship…”

“A much closer one.” She sniffed. “But he’s accepted you won’t do it, not yet. We have our slots in your rooms, at least.”

That had taken some finagling, since it had basically broken down to number of rooms that were set-up and set aside for the government. One sticking point was not just the number of rooms, but also whether they could be utilized when otherwise empty. After some finagling, it had been agreed that these rooms could be used; but had to be vacated within twelve hours if a government sponsored Climber arrived.

It meant that at times, individuals would be forced to double or triple bunk in some rooms, but it was not the end of the world. They were not prissy tourists who would complain about little inconveniences and demand to see the manager. Or Arthur figured they were not.

Any who did complain would be put on a list for sure, because that kind of idiocy was the type to be punished. As it was, Arthur was uncomfortable with the idea that he was supposed to have a private room himself, but he understood that rank had its privileges – and that the perception of rank, the privileges and the benefits one accrued and utilized altered the perception of others.

In other words, if he was not snooty enough, people like the Deputy Minister and his peers were not going to treat him and subsequently his Clan, with respect. It was foolish, but perception at times was reality.

“So, about the resources?” Arthur said, leadingly.

“I’m to let you into our vaults to pick out a few cultivation manuals as part payment. We can discuss when they are released to you, and at what rate, when they are chosen.”

“Five star manuals?” Arthur said, hopefully.

“I wish.” She rolled her eyes. “If we have one, it’s certainly not been something I have been informed of.” Arthur grunted. “The better the cultivation manual, the longer it will take for you to buy them for use.”

“But they’re not one off uses, right?” Arthur clarified.

“Of course not.” Manager Cheng sniffed. “That was not what we had agreed upon after all.”

“Good.” Jan who had been watching by the side was grinning, wide. More excited than Arthur himself, already imagining the full extent of what they might acquire. On the other hand, Arthur had a more pessimistic viewpoint, knowing that they would have to argue and negotiate to acquire anything of real use. “And we can discuss what else we can do to speed things up.”

“Of course.” The smile she gave was a little greedy.

“The guards weren’t able – or wouldn’t – tell me if any of my people have exited yet.”

“Only one – that Yao Jing of yours. He came out by himself, grumbling about the quests about a week ago,” Manager Cheng said. “He did have a large surplus of cores though. No new equipment, however.” Her gaze drifted sideways, to Arthur’s belt knife. “You’re going to need to get a license for that.”

“A small knife too?” Arthur said.

“Ya-lah.” She tapped the tablet she held in her hand. “I can put in the adjustment to your profile and get a request sent in for a small personal weapon.” Eyes drifted to the spear before she emphasized. “Small.”

“Dor je.”

“M sai.”

“So, is that all you came to say?” Arthur said, turning back to the man who had finally input everything into the computer screen and was waiting patiently for Arthur to confirm the information on the screen. Arthur scanned down the details, half his attention on the screen, half on what the Manager had to say.

“There are some updates on your building. It’s nearly finished and your people are already using the bottom levels, though there is quite a bit of work left to do to upgrade it to what you wanted.”

“Weren’t we supposed to be done by now?”

“There was a delay due to some permitting issues.”

“I thought we had dealt with that?” Arthur looked at the Manager. That was, after all, the point of working with the government.

“So had we.”

Arthur sighed, looked over the notes one last time. They were a little low, a small miscount over what he had brought back in fact. He almost opened his mouth to protest until he remembered that a certain percentage of the cores he was bringing through were going to not be registered. The guards would get their payouts, he would carry them out and later, make payment to the triads himself.

All a little dangerous for him to be doing it, instead of Jan of course, and even worst when the Manager was here, but he figured he’d complain that she was distracting him if he was caught. So resolved, he signed it without further checking.

“Well, hopefully they’ll be satisfied once we make some payments.”

“You’re talking about bribing gangsters in front of the government, you know.” By tone of voice, Arthur knew that she was not that serious about her chiding him. After all, she understood the reality of the matter just as much as him.

“Ya lah. So, anything else?” he asked.

“I’ll drive you and your bodyguard back, if you will.” She shrugged. “Only other question is when.”

“When, what?”

“When you’re going to do another Tower. What kind and where too, I guess.”

Arthur grunted, rubbed his chin. “Maybe a few months.” He sighed. “I’ll need to keep building the Clan outside, but I’ll take the government’s suggestions for another Beginner Tower. We’ll need your help, getting it organised after all.”

For once, Arthur figured he said the right thing with the way she smiled. Maybe he wasn’t entirely useless at this.