Hell Game: Starting from Metropolis

"Ahem, well, things aren't what you think."

Liu Zheng knew exactly what he was thinking and tried to explain.

"You don't need to explain to me. I have no intention of letting you marry into my family, much less letting you marry Sesha. You can keep that to your harem."

The Nile doctor left as soon as he finished speaking, not giving him a chance to fool him.

"Alas, why did it have to come to this?"

Liu Zheng shook his head, followed his steps, and arrived at the boss's office.

"Mr. Liu, I've made up my mind. Our GaGaShuang Bathhouse will fully support your rescue mission at the Hundred Ghosts Bathhouse."

As soon as she entered, Yuan Bao'er said with a serious expression.

"That's great. We're from out of town and completely unfamiliar with the bathhouse area. With your support, the operation will surely go much more smoothly."

He said happily.

"Of course. I won't pretend to be modest with you, Mr. Liu. I've been eyeing the Hundred Ghosts Bathhouse and even the other bathhouses under Grandma Tang's umbrella for a long time. Although I haven't made any big moves due to my limited strength, I've been making many preparations in secret."

"But before I tell Mr. Liu, I need to know what kind of action you plan to take to save people?"

Yuan Bao'er said.

"I don't quite understand what you mean, Mr. Yuan."

Negotiation, offensive, threats, or a sneak attack?

Yuan Bao'er said.

"In Mr. Yuan's judgment, which action has a higher success rate?"

Liu Zheng threw the question back at him.

"To be honest, I don't know much about your situation, Mr. Liu, so I can't say which action has a higher success rate. However, the success rate of negotiation is definitely the lowest."

Yuan Bao'er said.

"Oh why?"

"Grandma Tang is a very greedy and arrogant person. If she thinks she can get something for free, she will never spend a penny on it. Even if she loses a lot of money for it, she will make the same choice next time."

“Before I moved into the bathhouse, I actually tried to communicate with her and offered very generous terms, but she had no intention of reaching an agreement. Therefore, I was forced to resort to force to negotiate.”

Yuan Bao'er explained.

"I see. So, if it's just the two of us, Dr. Nile, what are the chances of a successful attack?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"Very low, close to zero."

Yuan Bao'er said frankly.

"Grandma Tang is very powerful. The reason I was able to successfully infiltrate Bath Street was because I had the moral high ground, so she couldn't stop me with all her might."

"What grand principle?"

he asked curiously.

“Our Yuan family originally came from Yuchang Street. It was because one of our ancestors wanted to make progress that they mortgaged their family property and went to the city to develop. It wasn’t until my grandfather’s generation encountered a bottleneck in their development in the city that they thought of returning to Yuchang Street to rebuild their family business.”

“This bathhouse originally belonged to my family. I just redeemed it. Gaga Shuang Bathhouse has always been part of the bathhouse district. It just changed its name in the middle, and now it’s just changed back.”

Yuan Bao'er recounted the cause and effect.

"So that's how it is. No wonder, no wonder."

Liu Zheng nodded slightly.

He had been wondering how someone with Granny Tang's ability to secretly cause chaos at the Gaga Shuang Bathhouse could have been forced to agree to let it set up shop in the bathhouse district. It turns out there was another story behind it.

"But Mr. Liu, there's no need to worry. Grandma Tang is a local strongman, and I, Yuan Bao'er, am not one to be trifled with either. The Ga Ga Shuang Bathhouse is just our Yuan family's ancestral business and a future development direction, but it is not the entirety of the Yuan family's strength."

“The five families outside the pass are all of the same blood. This time, Granny Tang used such despicable means to seize my family business, which has already violated the taboo of the five families outside the pass. I have already contacted the other families, and we can take action to settle scores as soon as we find a suitable opportunity.”

Yuan Bao'er said.

"The Five Families Outside the Pass?"

“That’s right. There were five major clans that moved to the metropolis together: Hu, Huang, Bai, Liu, and Hui. Later, the Huang family committed a major taboo, and both the main family and the branch family died. So our Yuan family took over.”

"The Hu, Bai, Liu, and Hui families were relatively powerful and went to the city to develop their businesses early on. Our Yuan family was relatively weak, so we stayed outside the city. Later, we went to the city partly because of the encouragement from the other four families."

"Although each of us has developed over the years and the relationship between the five families is not as close as it was at the beginning, the oath we made back then is still there. As long as there is no major trouble, we can help each other."

Yuan Bao'er explained.

Although people in metropolitan areas generally enjoy scheming and backstabbing each other, the more this is the case, the more they need relatively stable alliances.

Anyone with some knowledge of military affairs knows that, apart from the generational gap in weaponry, the most significant factor affecting the combat effectiveness of an army is its organizational structure.

Outsiders like the Five Families from Outside the Pass need to stick together and support each other to gain a foothold in the city and deter those with ill intentions.

On the other hand, if Grandma Tang could unite with the people from other bathhouses to boycott Yuan Bao'er, she wouldn't be able to put up the "Gaga Shuang Bathhouse" sign again, even if she exhausted all of the Yuan family's wealth.

"So, the suitable opportunity that Mr. Yuan mentioned refers to my rescue of Qingzi, right?"

Liu Zheng asked.

“That’s right. If Mr. Liu doesn’t mind the trouble, I do have a rescue plan.”

Yuan Bao'er said.

"Please go ahead, Mr. Yuan."

“I have connections to get you a job at the Hyakki Gyo Bathhouse. Once you find the place where Haruko is being held, send a signal. I’ll then bring my men to demand her back, and you can take the opportunity to leave.”

Yuan Bao'er said.

"What reason does Mr. Yuan plan to use to demand the person back?"

he asked.

“It’s very simple. I’ll just say that you were the one who ambushed, caused trouble, and sent assassins. I’ll make Grandma Tang hand you over for public interrogation. If not, I’m willing to compensate you with half of the shares of Gaga Shuang Bathhouse as an apology.”

Yuan Bao'er said calmly.

"A brilliant plan, and impressive courage."

Liu Zheng praised.

In this way, the Gaga Shuang Bathhouse had a legitimate reason to cause trouble, and it also created favorable conditions for him and Qingzi to escape.

If Grandma Tang can't hand over the person by then, GaGaShuang Bathhouse will gain even more control.

"But if you want to go to their door to ask for their return, you need to have evidence, right?"

He pointed out the flaws in the plan.

"Of course we have the evidence. All we need is for Mr. Liu to cooperate with us by doing a few things. As everyone knows, videos can't be photoshopped."

Yuan Bao'er smiled mysteriously.

"Okay. Please tell the photographer that I look better in a side profile shot."

Liu Zheng smiled.

Half an hour later, he left the Gaga Shuang Bathhouse through the back door.

Considering that the escaped female ninja might reveal his appearance, Liu Zheng put on lingerie again, this time specifically designed for top-tier technicians.

At his insistence, the fourth brother regretfully found him a bodybuilding suit.

The good thing about this bodybuilding outfit is that it only includes underwear, so even if you change into the uniform of the Hyakki Gyoba Bathhouse, you won't be exposed.

Of course, the downside is that it only comes with underwear.

Liu Zheng tugged at the oversized jersey that his fourth brother had somehow gotten his hands on, shook his head, and waved to Niu Daji, who was not far away.

"Good luck."

he shouted.

"uncle."

Niu Daji trotted over and greeted him respectfully.

At this moment, the minotaur was wearing a set of dark blue heavy armor and holding an iron hairpin that was much taller than it, which made him look quite imposing.

"I heard you blocked two attacks for the Nile doctor and also entangled a monster from Mount Ooe?"

Liu Zheng looked at the armor on its body and said.

"Hehe, I just got lucky, it's nothing, nothing at all."

Niu Daji touched the horn, seemingly casually pointing the scratches on the armor at Liu Zheng.

Their family's ancestral armor has no other special features, but it's incredibly tough.

The ancestor of the Niu family got the secure job of gatekeeper by taking a knife for a big shot with this armor.

Although the ancestor of the Yang family was faster, he was tripped up by the ancestor of the Niu family and missed the opportunity.

That's how the feud between the two families began.

However, although the Yang family didn't get a secure job, they made much more money in business than the Niu family later on.

As for which one is better or worse, only they themselves know.

"Good, take it."

Liu Zheng took out a stack of banknotes and handed them to him.

"Grandpa, I really want to follow you."

Niu Daji said, his face flushed.

"Even if you follow me, you still have to get your bonus. The emperor doesn't need to starve his soldiers."

"Hehe, then thank you very much, sir."

Niu Daji thought it made sense and accepted the money with embarrassment.

"Let's go to the Hyakki Gyokujo Bathhouse. Lead the way."

Liu Zheng waved his hand and said with great enthusiasm.

"Alright, sir, this way please!"

Niu Daji bowed and led the way with a sheepish look on his face.

Chapter 375 Jun's place is very relaxed

"Sir, this is the Hyakki Gyō Bathhouse."

Niu Daji led Liu Zheng for a long time before finally arriving at their destination.

As the top of the ten bathhouses in the bathhouse district and the oldest bathhouse in the district, Hyakki-gyo Bathhouse is not located in the center of the bathhouse district, but is built separately on a large plot of land on the east side of the bathhouse district.

Even so, sedan chairs and rickshaws continued to come and go in an endless stream, some even with their lights on during the day.

"It's very impressive."

Liu Zheng looked at the Hundred Ghosts Bathhouse not far away and said.

This is a building with multiple layers, the bottom layer being the largest, and the area decreasing as you go up.

At the very top, all that remained was a watchtower no bigger than a toilet.

The building materials appear to be pure wood, with protruding triangular structures painted in gold, the main walls painted in red, and green tiles covering the eaves.

These paint surfaces have peeled and stained due to their age, but this actually makes the combination of gold, red, and green colors not appear gaudy, but rather give it a noble and elegant feel.

It must be said that the person who designed this building was a master of aesthetics.

Liu Zheng glanced at the Hyakki Gyoba Bathhouse a few more times, feeling a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had seen similar buildings in many anime.

"The doctor will be here soon. You guys wait nearby and be ready to assist us at any time."

he warned.

"okay."

Niu Daji quickly agreed.