Chapter 1340: Chapter 130: Breaking Out_3
The associate looked outside the shop and then lowered his voice, "Of course there’s a way. Junior Mercenaries who want to enter the Guild Headquarters can do so with a Special Permit Token issued by the headquarters. Our shop has always had a good relationship with the Mercenary Guild Headquarters, and as it happens, we have a few tokens left. If you wish to enter the headquarters, we can reluctantly part with them; you won’t find these for sale anywhere else."
Xuan Yue looked at Yue Ji and asked, "Sister Yue Ji, you’ve been here before, have you ever heard about needing a Token to enter the Mercenary Guild Headquarters?" She always felt that the associate’s smile was rather sinister and untrustworthy.
Yue Ji frowned and said, "Though I’ve been here before, I was always carrying out delivery missions and never had the chance to visit the Mercenary Guild Headquarters. However, I have indeed heard that only first-class mercenaries can enter the headquarters. The thing about the token should be true. Let’s just buy a few. After all, this shop can’t just disappear; if he dares to deceive us, we’ll come back and tear this place down. How much are your tokens?"
The associate hastily grinned and said, "The tokens are absolutely genuine, but because the supply is limited, the price is a bit higher. Fifty Gold Coins each, how many do you want to buy?"
Yue Ji frowned, "That’s too expensive, you might as well be robbing us. They’re just a few pieces of junk metal." An ordinary mercenary in Moon Scar Mercenary Group only earns ten Gold Coins a month; fifty Gold Coins is enough for an ordinary family to live comfortably for a full year.
The associate rubbed his hands and said, "This is the price set by the boss; I’m just an employee, I can’t make decisions. Besides, as a mercenary, being able to enter the Mercenary Guild Headquarters is a great honor! Why care about this little sum of money? How about this—if you buy the tokens, I can give you a 10% discount on other purchases, how does that sound?"
Ah Dai said, "Forget it, let’s just buy two tokens, we don’t need anything else. Brother Xuan Re, pay the man." Xuan Yue took out a diamond coin from her bosom and tossed it to the associate. The associate quickly caught it with joy, ran behind the counter, and took out two iron tokens. He handed them respectfully to Ah Dai. Ah Dai examined the token: it was square, with the word "Special Permit" engraved on the front, and the mercenary symbol on the back. The workmanship wasn’t fine but wasn’t rough either, looking rather ordinary. No matter how Ah Dai looked at it, he couldn’t see why it was worth fifty Gold Coins.
Yue Ji moved next to Ah Dai, glanced at the Special Permit Token in his hands, and took out her Mercenary Card to flash it in front of the associate, saying, "See this? I’m a Special Class Mercenary. If you’ve lied to us, you can forget about doing business in Red Hurricane City ever again. Ah Dai, let’s go." After speaking, she turned and walked towards the exit. Ah Dai threw the tokens to Olivia and Kino, and the five of them left the shop.
The associate watched their departing figures and snorted, saying to himself, "She’s just a Special Class Mercenary, what’s there to be arrogant about? The token wasn’t worth much, but it was indeed real, they won’t find any fault with me. A diamond coin, not a bad day’s earnings. The boss might even give me a raise..."
Following the directions given by the associate, Ah Dai and the others quickly made for the eastern part of the city. Over an hour later, they finally saw their destination. The associate was right; even from a distance, they could clearly see the buildings of the Mercenary Guild Headquarters. It was the tallest structure Ah Dai had ever seen. The club he had seen in Dark City was four stories high, but this towering building was more than twice that. The giant bell-shaped building had only one massive door, four meters high, situated in the center of the twenty-something-meter-tall structure, carved with the symbol of the Mercenary Guild. Below the symbol, "Mercenary Guild Headquarters" was written both in the Federation language and the Church language, the gilded letters shining brightly in the sunlight. It was nearing noon now, and the doors of the Mercenary Guild Headquarters were wide open, with numerous mercenaries coming and going.
Olivia exclaimed, "What a grand scale! This Mercenary Guild Headquarters seems even bigger than the Mercenary Group Headquarters of Moon Scar. It’s my first time seeing such a tall building, much bigger than the headquarters of the Mage Guild. I always thought magicians were the wealthy ones, but it seems the Mercenary Guild is where the real riches are!" Yue Ji said, "Although magicians hold high status, their numbers are far too few. Mercenaries, on the other hand, are different; there are at least hundreds of thousands across the continent, and even if each one contributes just one Gold Coin to the Mercenary Guild, that’s a huge sum. This is the main Guild after all; it’s the face of the whole Mercenary World, so naturally, it has to be built on a grander scale. Let’s go have a look inside and verify whether that associate was lying to us or not. The thought that two lousy iron tokens could cost a hundred Gold Coins is just frustrating."
As they spoke, the five of them had reached the Mercenary Guild entrance, where four mercenaries stood guard, each bearing the emblem of the Red Charming Mercenary Group on their chest. Seeing these members of the Red Charming Mercenary Group, Yue Ji said disdainfully, "The Red Charming Mercenary Group is indeed formidable, even guarding the doors of the Mercenary Guild Headquarters." Her voice was loud, immediately drawing the attention of the mercenaries passing by.
Xuan Yue whispered, "Big sister, I know you don’t like the Red Charming Mercenary Group, but this place is their territory after all. We should keep a low profile."
