Chapter 11 - 10: Binding the Future Martial Saint, Superpower Upgrade!

Chapter 11: Chapter 10: Binding the Future Martial Saint, Superpower Upgrade!

"Deal! Two thousand three hundred it is!" Liu Zimo nodded decisively. He didn’t even intend to haggle with Manager Liu; he was remarkably straightforward.

To him, any problem that could be solved with money wasn’t a problem at all. After all, in a month, all the money in the world would turn into a pile of waste paper. No matter how high Manager Liu’s asking price was, as long as it could be delayed for a month, everything would be fine, and the debt would be wiped out anyway.

Moreover, the aviation-grade alloy steel that Liu Zimo requested would become the ultimate material for forging Divine Weapons in the future. Not only was it incomparably hard, but it also possessed a certain suppressive effect on the bloodlines of most Demon Beasts. It was something that couldn’t be bought even with ten thousand gold. Therefore, no matter how one calculated it, he was making an absolute killing!

"However, I have one request. The work must be completed within thirty days!" Liu Zimo took the opportunity to state his condition. "If it is overdue by even a single day, you must pay ten times the compensation!"

"Thirty days?!" Manager Liu shook his head without a second thought. "Impossible! For a project of this scale, how could it possibly be finished so quickly?

"Boss Liu, your request is simply asking too much. I dare say no company in all of Luozhou City can do it!

"If you really want us to take on this project, you must allow for at least a six-month construction period to make it possible!"

What a joke! Even if they were just building cement walls, it would be impossible to finish such a massive square footage in a month! Not to mention that the client was demanding expensive, ultra-hard aviation-grade alloy! If they actually started the work, just purchasing and transporting the materials would consume a lot of time. That wasn’t even factoring in the time needed to grind and weld the assembly structures of various components according to the specific dimensions on the blueprints. One month was absolutely impossible!

Seeing Manager Liu jumping with anxiety, Liu Zimo wasn’t panicked in the slightest. As the "chief designer" of this renovation project, he naturally knew its specific difficulty. Manager Liu’s overreaction was entirely within his expectations.

However, Liu Zimo understood another truth even better. In the world of contractors, there was no such thing as an incompressible project timeline. If there was, it simply meant the boss hadn’t offered enough money!

"I’ll add another two million in overtime pay!" With just one sentence, Liu Zimo successfully soothed Manager Liu’s agitation.

However, Manager Liu didn’t agree immediately. He still hesitated and said awkwardly, "Boss Liu, working overtime can indeed compress the project schedule to a certain extent, but reducing a six-month timeline to one month is still a bit..."

"Then I’ll add another million!" Liu Zimo declared straightforwardly once more, tossing in another million. He had to admit, the feeling of throwing money at people was truly fantastic. "If even this won’t work, then I’ll just have to find another renovation company!"

Hearing this, how could Manager Liu dare to keep playing hard to get? He hastily swapped to a smiling face and said, "Boss Liu, it’s a pleasure doing business with you! Shall we sign the contract now, or wait until tomorrow?"

Manager Liu didn’t even mention the one-month timeframe anymore. What a joke, with a full three million in overtime pay, how many construction crews couldn’t he hire? The six-month timeframe he had mentioned earlier was merely the normal timeline for a single renovation crew from their company. If the price was right and the overtime pay was sufficient, he could simultaneously hire three or even four crews to subcontract this renovation project. One month would be absolutely no problem!

Liu Zimo said firmly, "We sign it now! I want the renovation of this villa to officially begin today. Exactly one month from today, I expect to be sitting inside, drinking afternoon tea!"

"No problem!" Manager Liu held up an OK hand gesture and nodded repeatedly.

Afterward, he immediately called someone to draft the relevant contract, and both parties signed it with lightning speed. Once the contract was signed, Liu Zimo didn’t dawdle; he transferred the thirty percent project down payment on the spot. As for the remaining balance and the three million in overtime pay he had promised, it would be paid in full on the second day after completion, provided a third-party testing agency inspected and approved the work.

By the time the dust settled, it was nearly noon. Liu Zimo declined Manager Liu’s eager invitation to treat him to lunch and took a taxi straight out of the villa district.

Half an hour later.

Under the guise of discussing business, Liu Zimo arrived at a small trading company called Jingcheng Food Industry and specifically asked to see Lou Yuchen.

That’s right, the future Martial Saint was currently just an ordinary salesman working under Jingcheng Food Industry. It was said that when the Demon Calamity descended, Lou Yuchen happened to be taking inventory of supplies in the company warehouse. This stroke of luck allowed him to survive and avoid the wanton slaughter of the first wave of Demon Beasts.

However, his wife and daughter weren’t so fortunate. Like the vast majority of ordinary people on Earth, they perished instantly when the Demon Calamity erupted, leaving no remains. Later on, the main reason Lou Yuchen chose to join the army, practice the Martial Dao, and actively throw himself into the frontlines of hunting Demon Beasts was to avenge his family.

Yet, no one could have anticipated that during his initial practice of martial arts, Lou Yuchen would display a heaven-defying talent that shocked the entire Luozhou Military Department. He later skyrocketed to become the Martial Saint whose fame resounded throughout the entire Federation.

At this moment, Liu Zimo sat quietly in the office’s reception area, taking occasional sips of the tea the receptionist had brought. His gaze subtly swept across the entire workspace.

From the middle-aged man sitting in the general manager’s office to all the active employees of Jingcheng Food Industry, every single person had a white Shadow Lock hovering above their heads. There wasn’t even a single one emitting a green glow! In comparison, the first of the Good Brothers Liu Zimo had bound, Liu Siqi, could actually be considered outstanding. At the very least, he had a green lock resting on his head.

A man took the initiative to approach Liu Zimo and strike up a conversation. As soon as he opened his mouth, he overtly and covertly belittled Lou Yuchen, minimizing his presence as much as possible.

"Sir, Lou just stepped out, and I’m not sure how long it will take for him to return. If you have any needs, you can speak directly to me!" the man said.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My last name is Sun, Sun Jiancheng. I’m the group leader of Lou’s team, and I have full authority to represent him in discussing relevant business with you!

"To be perfectly frank, Lou is just an ordinary team member with limited business authority. Any discount he can offer you, I can offer too—and I can even go lower!"

Seeing this, Liu Zimo couldn’t help but shake his head slightly. "This guy is actually trying to poach business from the future Martial Saint. He’s really narrowing his own path in life!" he thought.

"Group Leader Sun, I’m sorry, but I already have an appointment with Manager Lou... besides, it seems Manager Lou has already returned!" Liu Zimo suddenly raised his hand and pointed at the door.

From a distance, he saw a burst of purple light suddenly appear at the office entrance. Then, bathed in that purple radiance, he saw the slightly youthful face of the Yu Chen Martial Saint.

"This purple light is so bright and brilliant! It’s countless times more intense and blinding than the streak of gold above Jiang Tianxiong’s head!" Liu Zimo marveled inwardly. "As expected of the future Martial Saint. Even before he has started practicing the Martial Dao, the light radiating from him is already this dazzling!"

He stared obsessively at the pool of purple, his body stepping forward uncontrollably to greet it.

"Lock it! Lock it! Lock it!"

It was as if countless voices were screaming in his mind! Liu Zimo’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated. His desire to lock onto this Purple Lock was unprecedentedly intense!

When he walked to within a meter of Lou Yuchen, he suddenly heard a crisp CLICK beside his ear. The shackle of the Purple Lock hovering above Lou Yuchen’s head sank and snapped into place.

It was locked!

Liu Zimo felt an instant sense of relief, and his emotions immediately settled. At the same time, the familiar prompt sounded in his ears right on cue:

[Binding successful! Your Good Brother Lou Yuchen is now online. Current bound targets: (3/10)]

Huh?!

Liu Zimo widened his eyes in extreme surprise.

"When did the binding capacity expand to ten?" he wondered. "When I bound Jiang Tianxiong earlier, there was clearly only one slot left, and the maximum binding capacity was only three people. Why is it that now, after binding Lou Yuchen, not only are the slots not full, but seven more have appeared?! Did my Superpower upgrade? Why wasn’t there even the slightest hint beforehand?"