Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 308 "The Mechanic" and the "Mysterious Lantern"

Whether it was due to professional habits or not, Qian Bu was very wary when facing Li Zheng, always maintaining a safe distance and constantly holding a weapon in his hand.

"Don't be nervous, I just came to chat with you." Li Zheng smiled slightly, but his eyes scanned every attribute of Qian Buchu.

When Li Zheng saw the status section, his brows furrowed sharply.

"Have you ever used drugs?"

Those four words seemed to pierce his heart, which was burdened by a lack of money. His expression twisted in pain: "How did you know?"

A narcotics officer became addicted to drugs, which was a stain on his life and a thorn in his heart, especially since he didn't have enough money.

But there's no way around it; it's simply unrealistic to expect to be an undercover agent with a clean record in a place like the Golden Triangle.

Those drug dealers are ruthless and vicious. If we don't show them some weaknesses, how can they easily trust others?
The reason Qian Bu was able to go undercover for so long was because he actively came into contact with drugs, which lowered the drug dealers' guard.

If we were to ask who in the world has the deepest understanding of the dangers of drugs, it would definitely not be the anti-drug police officers fighting on the front lines, but rather the drug dealers and addicts.

Drug dealers have witnessed too much of the unbearable suffering of addicts during withdrawal, and they know that no one in the world can withstand the torment from the depths of the soul during withdrawal.

So, the fact that he didn't have enough money to appear in the Golden Triangle as a drug addict was actually a form of camouflage for him.

"He overcame withdrawal symptoms through sheer willpower and successfully kicked his drug addiction." Li Zheng took a deep breath and sincerely admired him, saying, "Truly worthy of being called the King of Undercover Agents!"

Li Zheng had never been exposed to these things, but he had seen videos of addicts experiencing withdrawal symptoms online and knew what kind of torment that was.

Those who can quit drug addiction on their own possess a level of mental strength that is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Not having enough money, he raised his weapon, aiming it at Li Zheng's forehead: "You investigated me?"

Li Zheng glanced at the brooch pinned to the other person's chest, which was engraved with nine auspicious clouds.

This is the symbol of the Nine Heavens.

Li Zheng shrugged, seemingly completely unguarded, and said, "Don't be so nervous. Besides, your acting is really quite realistic; it might scare me."

"You think I'm acting?" Qian Buguo's eyes narrowed dangerously, and his fingers tightened slightly on the trigger device.

This is a platinum-quality electromagnetic pistol, powerful enough to instantly kill Li Zheng in his normal state.

"Otherwise what?" Li Zheng shrugged. "I don't think a police officer would kill an ordinary citizen of China, would he?"

Every undercover agent is a master actor; they have never studied acting, yet they can portray a life that is not their own.

“You’re right, but you’re anything but ordinary,” Qian Bugu said.

Li Zheng smiled, took two steps forward, then stopped and said, "Look, everything is clear now, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" He still held up his weapon despite not having enough money.

“If you were really hostile to me, you would have shot me after those two steps. Would I still be standing here talking to you?” Li Zheng felt a bit bored and directly stated his purpose: “I came to see you this time to help you. After all, Channel 879 is now my territory, and I don’t want organized people like you causing trouble here.”

Qian Buchu realized his act had been exposed, and a moment of embarrassment crossed his face. He silently put away his weapon: "You really believe I won't shoot?"

Li Zheng smiled confidently and said, "Because I trust our people's police."

"..." Qian Buchu suddenly fell silent for a moment: "Thank you."

As Li Zhengzhen claimed, his lack of trust in money stemmed from his trust in the people's police.

No, that's not it. He just trusted Old Putin...

No matter how skillful the acting or disguise, Old Pu can see through it instantly.

From the moment Qian Buguo met Li Zheng, he never harbored any hostility towards him. Only when Li Zheng revealed that he had used drugs did his emotions fluctuate slightly.

However, this emotional fluctuation quickly subsided, indicating that he was indeed bothered by the matter, but not particularly bothered by it.

After all, those were his "achievements"!
"Let's sit down and talk," Li Zheng said. He found a spot, trampled down the tall grass that was above his knees, and sat down on the ground.

He hesitated for a moment because he didn't have enough money, then walked over and sat down opposite Li Zheng.

Sakura, along with Pink Polly and two robots, wandered around, gradually flattening the tall grass around them.

Li Zheng cut to the chase: "I'm short on time, let's get straight to the point. What exactly is the purpose of Nine Heavens sending people to Channel 879?"

Whether it's Kyuten or Takamagahara, sending people to Channel 879 is purposeful.

Surely they couldn't be here to recruit members for their organization, could they?

There's no need to send someone over specifically; you can just send a private message to invite them. Why go through all that trouble?
Even though he didn't have enough money, he was a straightforward person. Knowing that Li Zheng was not easy to fool, he simply told the truth: "We are looking for special beings within each channel."

"A special existence?" Li Zheng looked puzzled, but in his heart he wondered if Jiutian was looking for Luo Aimang.

"You haven't encountered this before?" Qian Bugu was equally puzzled: "The reason we sent people over is because your strength growth is too terrifying, so we guessed that there should be someone in channel 879 who can quickly improve the strength of players."

"Ah, this..." Li Zheng was stunned. It seemed that Jiutian had misunderstood the most crucial factor, which was that the reason why his strength had increased so rapidly had nothing to do with the so-called special existence.

The main reason is that the old man given by the treasure chest system is really powerful, which helped him avoid countless detours.

“There is indeed a rather special creature on Channel 879.” Li Zheng thought for a moment and then revealed Luo Aimang: “It’s a golden octopus that runs a black market. It mainly deals in barter, where you can exchange low-level materials for some high-level items. It doesn’t improve your strength much, and the prices are outrageous.”

Regarding the functions of the black market, Li Zheng's statement was rather vague, but it wasn't exactly a lie.

While Roameng can trade for some extraordinary or even star-level items, the cost is beyond what these organizations can afford at this stage.

With a ratio of 100 to 1 or even higher, exchanging items at each level could potentially drain an entire organization's coffers with just one Star-level item.

Moreover, Roemão's trading rules are quite outrageous; if not handled properly, one could suffer even greater losses...

Li Zheng felt that he had suffered a lot of losses at Luo Aimang's hands, but he was like Huang Gai, willing to be fleeced.

"Just a merchant who exchanges items?" Qian Bugu was slightly skeptical of the information Li Zheng provided, but after Li Zheng explained the bizarre trading rules of the black market shop, he completely believed him.

"This merchant's value... doesn't seem very high..." Qian Buguo pondered. He felt it was necessary to report the information provided by Li Zheng and let others decide whether to continue searching for the merchant on channel 879.

Taking the opportunity, Li Zheng asked, "You must have been distributing quite a few channels these past few days, right? How many similar special entities have you found?"

Qian Budu glanced at him twice, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I did find a few, but they are all internal organization secrets, so I can't disclose them."

"It's alright," Li Zheng said generously. "I understand."

His attitude actually made him feel a little guilty about not having enough money.

After struggling internally for a long time, Qian Bu said in a low voice, "Let me tell you something in private. There's a guy called Mechanic on channel 0967132 who produces a superhuman-grade armor, but the trading conditions are quite strict. He only opens trading access if you have some kind of mysterious lantern."

(End of this chapter)