Marvel: The Alchemist Just Wants a Peaceful Life...

After the four people got into the car, the giant raptor, which should absolutely not have been there, stepped on the gas and drove straight towards the exit of the base.

Only after leaving the base did Sherlock's tense expression finally relax. He let out a long breath and almost collapsed in the passenger seat.

Looking at Sherlock's listless appearance, Zhao Weike found it somewhat amusing. After exchanging a glance with Helen through the rearview mirror, Helen gently shook her head at Zhao Weike with a smile in her eyes.

Zhao Weike then stopped paying attention to Sherlock, who was slumped in his chair. After thinking for a moment, he spoke to Sherlock.

"Let's go to the Continental Hotel here first!"

Upon hearing Zhao Weike's words, Sherlock, who was searching for the valley on the satellite map, suddenly raised his eyes and looked in Zhao Weike's direction with disbelief.

"There are mainland hotels here too? In the middle of a battlefield?"

Zhao Weike didn't hold back in answering Sherlock's question; he simply nodded seriously at Sherlock before speaking.

"That's right, there are also mainland hotels here, but these mainland hotels operate under war zone rules. However, for us, it's still a good place to stay."

Hearing Zhao Weike's words, Sherlock was also a little puzzled. This was the first time Sherlock had heard of such a situation. He only knew that fighting was prohibited inside the Continental Hotel, but this was the first time he had heard of so-called war zone rules, so he couldn't help but be curious.

"Old Zhao, what's with the war zone rules at the Mainland Hotel? Isn't fighting forbidden inside the Mainland Hotel? How come there's a war zone rule here?"

Upon hearing Sherlock's question, a large cross inevitably appeared on Zhao Weike's forehead, but he still explained the rules of the Continental Hotel to Sherlock.

Chapter 12 The Rules of the Continental Hotel

"Hotels in mainland China are not static. Depending on their class, location, and the manager's vision, the way they are operated can vary greatly."

For example, the Continental Hotel in New York operates on a membership system and is not open to the public. Fighting is also prohibited inside the hotel.

While both are Continental Hotels, the Continental Hotel in Tokyo is a mixed-use hotel open to the public. Although fighting is also prohibited, the Continental Hotel in Tokyo mediates disputes as soon as they occur, rather than issuing arrest warrants like in New York.

After all, the rule that hotels in mainland China cannot fight each other only applies to assassins. A mixed business model like that in Tokyo is bound to cause all sorts of problems.

As for the Mainland Hotel here, because it is a war zone and it is not far from where the 'Elder' is, the Mainland Hotel here implements the minimum war zone rules.

To put it simply, after sunset, the entire continental hotel will be closed, and any fighting is strictly prohibited within the hotel, but the exchange of intelligence and materials is allowed.

But when the sun rises again, the hotel's absolute safe zone rules will be null and void! At that time, the mainland hotels' rules against fighting will become ineffective, turning into a complete war zone.

As Zhao Weike drove, he explained things to Sherlock, who listened very attentively. In fact, Helen listened very carefully as well.

Aside from seasoned assassins like Zhao Weike, probably no one else would know about this, not even a time traveler like Sherlock who had watched three movies.

"Why do these war zone rules from the Continental Hotel sound like they're designed for intelligence brokers, not for assassins like you?"

After listening to Zhao Weike's explanation, Sherlock stroked his chin, somewhat puzzled and sighing, after all, such a rule was really too unexpected.

Upon hearing Sherlock's words, Zhao Weike glanced at Sherlock but did not refute him. Instead, he nodded at Sherlock.

“You’re right. These so-called war zone rules are essentially established for arms and intelligence transactions. The reason I suggested going there as our first stop was to see if we could find any information about Tony.”

Hearing Zhao Weike's words, Sherlock did not refute them, but nodded silently.

After all, Sherlock's knowledge was limited. This place was so well hidden that even the military and S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't found it. All they knew was that Tony was being held in a cave in a valley, which was supposedly the territory of the Ten Rings.

Under such circumstances, obtaining intelligence first is undoubtedly the safest course of action.

Sherlock was somewhat worried, though, since no one knew if there were any members of the Ten Rings in the Continental Hotel. If they alerted them, it would make things more difficult for Tony.

After all, Tony can still hide in the cave and swing the sledgehammer now, but once the Ten Rings feel the pressure, it's hard to guarantee that they will allow Tony to continue swinging the sledgehammer with such peace of mind.

However, when Zhao Weike brought Sherlock to the so-called Continental Hotel, Sherlock realized that he had been thinking too much.

This mainland hotel, located in the war zone, can hardly be called a 'hotel' in the strictest sense; a more accurate term would be 'town'!

As the sun set, Sherlock and his companions drove their vehicle through the town's dilapidated gates. Soon, someone approached the vehicle, and after Zhao Weike paid five gold coins, they successfully obtained four robes and a cover for the vehicle.

As Zhao Weike instructed, Sherlock and his two companions, including Doro, were completely covered by burqas before getting out of the car. Just as the last car door closed, the waiter used a black tarpaulin to completely cover Sherlock's large pickup truck.

Meanwhile, guided by the other waiters, Zhao Weike quickly rented a fairly well-maintained bungalow in the town for the price of one gold coin.

After the four filed in, Zhao Weike looked around one last time before entering the room. After the door closed, Zhao Weike ripped off his robe and solemnly addressed Sherlock and Helen.

“Until we leave, this robe must be worn whenever we step out of this door, without exception!”

Especially you, Sherlock, if you don't want news of our rescue of Tony to spread like wildfire, you'd better not give yourself away in the slightest and let anyone recognize you!

After saying all this, and watching Helen help Doro free himself from the burqa, Zhao Weike took a deep breath and continued speaking to Sherlock.

"After sunset, this town becomes an absolutely safe place, and the central square is where intelligence is exchanged. Sherlock, we can go there tonight and see if we can find any information about Tony."

Helen, you must take good care of Doro here, and absolutely do not let Doro run around!

"Don't worry, Doro won't run away. Doro will stay by your side obediently!"

When faced with Zhao Weike's instructions, Helen hadn't even spoken yet, but Doro spoke first. Moreover, Doro's chubby little face and 'serious' expression made him quite amusing.

Not to mention that when Doro said this, he was clearly being held in Helen's arms, but he pretended to be a big shot, even patting his chest, which made Sherlock and the Zhao couple unable to help but laugh.

Sherlock chuckled and patted Doro's head, not wanting to dampen Doro's confidence, and encouraged him with a smile.

"In that case, Doro must keep a close eye on Helen!"

"Man, Doro guarantees you!"

After hearing Doro's assurance, Helen, Zhao Weike, and Sherlock couldn't help but smile. Doro's presence always brought joy.

This was one of the few things that made me happy during this trip through the desert.

After receiving Doro's assurance, Sherlock didn't say anything more. With a wave of his hand, he brought out a variety of delicious food, drinking water, and Doro's favorite oranges from the coffee table in the house.

The group fell silent and began to eat, quietly waiting for the sun to set.

As the sun gradually set in the west, and the last ray of sunlight disappeared below the horizon, the once dark town was instantly illuminated by torches.

With a series of rhythmic gunshots, Zhao Weike, who was resting on the living room carpet, stood up and spoke to Sherlock.

"Let's go, the intelligence fair is starting."

Chapter 13 Information Market

When Sherlock followed Zhao Weike to this so-called intelligence market, the scene before him left Sherlock, who had never experienced anything like this before in both his lives, completely dumbfounded.

In the open space in the very center of the town, a whole circle of simple folding rooms were arranged against the ruins. Almost every room had a gap between it, and servants from the Continental Hotel were on guard. There was only one entrance and exit for people to enter and leave.

In the middle of this circle of small rooms was a bar, and behind the bar, Sherlock saw the kind of 'administrators' he had only ever seen in movies in his previous life.

Besides these so-called administrative staff, there were several other bars-like establishments around the bar counter.

Of course, these are all simple ones, the kind that are easy to destroy or take away.

Countless figures in burqas lined up in front of the only opening, entering the small room by the door one after another, and then leaving the small room to enter the open space.

Such a scene was less an information fair and more a cult ritual than Sherlock would call it!

While Zhao Weike was pulling Sherlock to queue up, he also began to explain to Sherlock the operating rules of this so-called information market.

First of all, the small room at the main entrance is actually occupied by staff from the Mainland Hotel. The reason they enter one by one instead of all at once is that everyone entering this intelligence market needs to reveal their identity in that small room.

And it's mandatory; there's no way to refuse unless you don't want to enter the market.

After verifying your identity in the small room, the hotel staff will give you a bracelet that is linked to your identity.

It is also confirmed that you cannot remove your bracelet until you leave the market.

Now you can enter this so-called information market.

The rules for transactions in the intelligence market are that everyone entering must register their so-called 'needs' with the administrators at the counter. These 'needs' can be intelligence, money, gold coins, or even favors.

Everything you can think of can be registered at the bar, even the lives of others or your own!

The bar staff will arrange a meeting place for you based on your registered needs, which are those small rooms. The wristband will remind everyone where to go and when to enter which room.

Once both parties have entered the small room, the room will be locked, and the mainland hotel will not be responsible for anything that happens inside the room.

Whether it's the cost of the transaction or even the reward, it all depends on your and the other party's confident negotiation.

Of course, if you want, you can directly resort to interrogation or robbery, but if you do that, you can only pray that you are the last user of this room or that the next person to come in won't report you publicly.

Otherwise, if such a situation occurs, although it may not result in the killer's immediate death or a kill order being issued as in the movies, it will immediately reveal the identity of the person under the cloak and remove the cloak from their body!

Keep in mind that this is a mainland hotel operating under wartime rules, and its enforcement is not as strict as that of a normal mainland hotel. Once your identity is exposed, as a full-time intelligence agent, there are too many ways to make you die after sunrise, or simply die in your room.

Of course, this only applies to those who are not hotel staff and do not have protective burqas.

To put it bluntly, here, only the burqa you wear provides protection against the rules of the mainland hotel security zone. Once you lose the burqa, it's like a hacker revealing their identity, and they'll likely face dire consequences.

After all, the mainland hotels here change locations almost every day, and there are far too many abandoned towns like this in the Middle East.

After hearing Zhao Weike's explanation, Sherlock thought to himself, "Wow, that's impressive!" He couldn't help but admire how incredibly shrewd the Continental Hotel's business was.

In terms of rules, this is equivalent to a dark forest system artificially constructed by mainland hotels.

The so-called intelligence market is essentially a game of deception and being deceived, since there has never been any rule in the intelligence market that prohibits the sale of false intelligence!

On the contrary, the Mainland Hotel, as the leader in constructing and maintaining this rule, can collect all the most authentic 'intelligence' of everyone present with almost no effort.

It's important to understand that 'demand' itself is a crucial form of intelligence!

By combining 'demand' with identity, it is often easy to deduce a lot of useful information, which will all be included in the operation support of the mainland hotel and become a link in the circulation of gold coins.

As for whether anyone is worried that mainland hotels will misuse the intelligence obtained?

Of course there are. After all, no one who can gather intelligence is a fool. They can see through the true nature of the intelligence marketplace at the Mainland Hotel at a glance.

If you can see it, why give away your intelligence for nothing?

It's very simple, because of trust and security!

The centuries-old reputation of mainland hotels here not only ensures that information will not be easily leaked, but more importantly, it guarantees the maintenance of rules by mainland hotels.

The most important point is that intelligence transactions can be more secure under the protection of rules.

This is similar to the methods the US used to build its dollar hegemony. Both rely on the credit accumulated over a century as a guarantee and their own strength as support to build such a system.

To this, Sherlock could only say "6" (a Chinese internet slang term for "awesome"). After all, this method, which is like getting something for nothing, is truly impressive. Most importantly, this almost openly deliberate strategy leaves you with absolutely no right to refuse.

Just like with the Nine-Turned Intestines dish, you can't judge my food if you don't eat it, but if you do, you're basically eating shit in public!

It has to be said that for Sherlock, a shut-in who was also a typical office worker in his previous life, the way this mainland hotel operates is truly eye-opening.

Sherlock and Zhao Weike stood in the line and moved forward little by little. Soon it was Sherlock's turn to enter the small room.

The process of verifying identity was not as complicated as Sherlock had imagined. All he had to do was enter the room, make sure the door was closed, verify his fingerprints, and then take off his burqa to have his picture taken.

After you've done all that, the fingerprint verification machine will automatically put a bracelet on you that looks like an iron ring.

After that, you can put your burqa back on and enter this so-called information market.

Chapter 14 A Beautiful Misunderstanding

When Sherlock entered the so-called market, Zhao Weike had already disappeared. Since everyone was wearing burqas, Sherlock couldn't tell which one was Zhao Weike, so he had to go to the counter alone to register his needs.

As previously agreed, the two were supposed to register their request for 'Tony Stark intelligence', but when Sherlock arrived at the bar, he seemed to suddenly remember something and changed the registration.

The information was changed from 'Tony Stark's intelligence' to 'Coordinates of the Ten Rings Valley weapons storage location'.

To Sherlock's surprise, the moment he finished registering his needs, his bracelet began to vibrate. This caught Sherlock completely off guard, and, puzzled, he followed the bracelet's guidance into a small room.

The room was not large, only big enough to fit two stools and a narrow table, and these three items were fixed to the wall.

It's clear that while the mainland hotel won't be involved in anything that happens in this room, it essentially doesn't encourage anything to actually happen there.

Soon another person in a cloak entered the room through the door.

The moment the door closed, a hoarse voice came from beneath the man's robe.

"These are the coordinates of the Ten Rings' valley weapons storage base that you want?"

After hearing this, Sherlock didn't say anything, but nodded, waiting for the person to continue.

Seeing Sherlock's actions, the person who came in paused for a moment, then sat down opposite Sherlock, his hoarse voice once again coming from under his burqa.

"I have the coordinates you want!"

Upon hearing this person's words, Sherlock raised his eyebrows slightly under his burqa, clasped his hands together, and after making a simple adjustment to his vocal cords, a pleasant female voice came from Sherlock's mouth.

How can I be sure that the coordinates you gave me are correct?

Upon hearing Sherlock's voice, the person in the cloak opposite him was clearly taken aback for a moment, but soon a hoarse laugh came from beneath the cloak.

After a while, the laughter gradually subsided, and the man placed his hands slightly on the table before speaking to Sherlock.