Chapter 1002: Chapter 1002
Liu Zheng lifted his chin.
The Panda placed the mountain of scratch-off lottery tickets on the counter, then was touched by the store manager with lightning speed.
The Panda was so startled that all its fur stood on end, and it jumped back to the door.
It was the first time in its life that a creature had done such a thing to it.
"This pet of yours is nice, sell it to me, you name the price."
The store manager absent-mindedly rubbed his fingertips together.
The Panda reacted with a furious curse, leaping to pounce on the store manager.
Liu Zheng stretched out a tentacle to hold it back.
"First, I'm not short of money. Second, it's my subordinate, not some pet. If you speak disrespectfully again, I'm booking a Star System Level room at the Bloody Restaurant tonight."
He said to the store manager.
"What do you intend to do?"
"Invite the HR department for dinner. A first-class dinner should suffice to finish off a former department head forced into early retirement."
Liu Zheng said calmly.
"Kid, do you really want to go down this path of mutual destruction?"
The store manager's tone was sinister.
"You're the one looking for trouble. You survived in City Hall, how could you forget the knack for judging a customer's worth? You know I'm not an ordinary delivery guy, yet you swagger around here. No wonder you got assigned to manage a lottery shop."
"I'm just being kind. If my friend from the Security Department were here, you bet by tonight a bunch of felons would confess all those major cases were at your instigation. By tomorrow morning, your warrant would be plastered all over town."
"You're full of it, is your friend the Minister or the Deputy Minister?"
The store manager didn't believe a word.
Though the Special Action Team is quite closed-off, he still had some basic political knowledge.
"He's just an assistant section chief in logistics."
"Hahaha! An assistant section chief wants to get me a warrant, do you think his father is that big shot?"
The store manager laughed.
"His father isn't that big shot, but his father is a Travel Mage."
"A Travel Mage, a Travel Mage doesn't have that kind of power."
A flicker of unease crossed the store manager's eyes.
"Not now, but soon. If your information network is still effective, you'd know that the Minister of City Supervision, that Ancient Time Dragon, is resigning."
The store manager reflexively showed a look of shock.
"Seems you're unaware, no need to say anything further then."
He shook his head and said.
"Come on, don't you hate leaving things half-said?"
The store manager protested.
Even though he's long distanced himself from politics, who doesn't love a bit of gossip?
"There's no such thing as free information, redeem my scratch-offs first."
The store manager pouted, placing all the scratch-offs on the tablet.
The "draw" character on the screen turned into a blood-red vortex, sucking all the scratch-offs in.
Then, a string of golden numbers appeared on the screen.
The store manager's eyes almost popped out.
"How is that possible?!"
In his incredulous expression, the golden numbers turned into a "fortune" character flying off the screen, imprinting onto Liu Zheng's tentacle.
"In the Metropolis, anything is possible. I want to redeem my prize."
He's about to blow up the lottery shop soon, and if City Hall doesn't let him redeem it, he'll regret it.
"A Luck Treasure, you must've used a Luck Treasure."
Worthy of a former Special Action Team member, the store manager quickly guessed the truth. Thıs text ıs hosted at novᴇlfire.net
"Whether or not I did, what difference does it make to you, store manager? It's not like I'm winning your money."
"So what if it's not my money, can't I be envious? I don't care, you must give me a cut, otherwise, I'll report you for cheating."
The store manager resorted to hooliganism.
"I don't believe there's a rule against using a Luck Treasure. Even if there is, I'll pay to have it removed. Anyway, these prizes won't end up in the hands of the Civil Affairs Department, might as well take some tangible benefits."
"Damn, dealing with you stingy second-generation guys is a pain."
The store manager gritted his teeth.
Liu Zheng took out a bottle of Copper Mark Wine from the Beheaded Mandarin Duck Wallet and placed it on the counter.
"I love dealing with young, accomplished, and generous second-generation folk like you, truly delightful."
The store manager grabbed the wine bottle and placed it under the counter, speaking with a sincere expression.
"Good eye. Alright, boss, exchange my prize."
"Do you have a prize in mind, or should I bring out the entire prize pool list for you?"
After receiving the gift, the store manager's attitude improved significantly.
"Exchange the largest one for me first."
"You want to exchange for that great person's manuscript? Think it over, that costs a billion. If you used it for other prizes, it could make a penniless commoner a darling of high society."
"But I'm already a darling of high society."
"I shouldn't have asked."
The store manager felt like slapping himself in the face.
He picked up a tablet and operated it for a while, then handed it to Liu Zheng.
To avoid giving Liu Zheng another chance to show off, he kept it short.
Liu Zheng pasted the 'Fu' character onto it.
The character got sucked in and immediately spat back out.
Also spat out was a palm-sized black leather notebook.
The cover had no markings, and the material looked like ordinary faux leather.
"This is the manuscript from that great person."
The store manager gazed at the notebook with a look of admiration, his hand hovering over it, wanting to touch but not daring to.
"If you want to touch it so much, go ahead and touch it."
"Do you think I'm stupid? Who dares to claim something that great person gave?"
The store manager replied with a 'you idiot' expression.
There might be people in Metropolis who dare to offend the Supreme Councilman, but it definitely wouldn't be him.
Liu Zheng picked up the notebook, unsurprisingly, there was no item description.
He opened the manuscript, and the first page had three lines written on it.
What is consciousness?
"I don't know either."
Liu Zheng shook his head and turned to the next page.
The next page, like the ones after it, was completely blank.
He wasn't disappointed. It's normal that something given by such a high-level person couldn't be used right away.
But where should he store this thing?
Can't store it in System Space, and he's not comfortable putting it in the Beheaded Mandarin Duck Wallet.
After all, everyone makes mistakes.
With so many strange items and abilities in Metropolis, it's not impossible he might be forced into a predicament someday.
If other things are lost, so be it, but losing this manuscript could drive him nuts.
But carrying it on him isn't an option either; it's like a child carrying gold in a bustling marketplace—asking for trouble.
Liu Zheng quickly had an idea.
He could get another storage item, put the manuscript inside, and store that in the System Space. Foolproof.
"Ah Bao, store this away."
Liu Zheng handed the manuscript to the Panda.
"Can't you hold onto it yourself? My sack is already stuffed with enough things."
The Panda reluctantly accepted the manuscript.
"I feel more at ease with you holding it than myself."
"Fine, I'll reluctantly keep it for you."
The Panda's pride couldn't be concealed in its tone.
Even though it might not decide to follow Liu Zheng yet, it was still happy about it.
"There's still 560,000 points left, what do you want to exchange for?"
The store manager asked.
"How many points for a box of Fertility Medicine?"
Niu Ma had mentioned before about the lottery, saying if he won big, it should get a box of Fertility Medicine exchanged.
"A box costs 10,000 points."
"Is there any better prize of similar type than Fertility Medicine?"
Last time, Niu Ma was parasitized by something from the Garbage Processing Plant, the contamination level was likely higher.
"I think there is, let me check."
The store manager started flipping through the tablet.