14. Gotham: Open the lid and get a prize

twenty two.

A drop of water hit the container and rolled down the tarpaulin in a hurry, and a fine rain followed.

Rainy nights like this weren't uncommon in Gotham, and weren't worth noting. It was just that the new loader had never seen anything like this before, so he straightened his aching back and stared at the fine raindrops, lost in thought.

His distraction was quickly noticed by the master, and the middle-aged man poked the young man with his elbow. If he wasn't carrying a heavy object in his hand, he really wanted to hit him like that.

"What are you looking at? Is the work done, or did someone help you?" The rain was extremely hot and humid, and the master's sweat and rain mixed together and it was soon difficult to tell them apart. "We still have a long way to go. If we don't hurry, we might not be able to finish it."

The young man who was elbowed straightened his helmet, his tone as muffled as the rain tonight: "I was just thinking, it would be great if these were pearls..." If they were real, the pearls on the waterproof cloth would be easily picked up by clothes, and he would make a lot of money by selling them to those gentlemen and ladies.

If he had money, he'd give half to Irene so she could go to school—she was smarter than him, and she should be studying in a bright classroom, not toiling away in a factory sewing clothes. And Mom, her cough had been getting worse lately, and they couldn't even afford generic medicine. If only these were pearls, he could buy her imported medicine. If there was any money left after all this, he wanted to move, preferably to an apartment where he could grow flowers on the windowsill...

"Pearl, huh?" Old Joe snorted disdainfully. "Stop dreaming like this. If we don't unload this shipment today, you'll definitely be fined tomorrow—and don't forget you borrowed money to pay the referral fee for this job. Pay that back first."

Passing the box to the waiting unloader below, Old Joe continued, "Besides, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Even if there is, it's only for the masters. It has nothing to do with people like us."

After saying all this, Old Joe wiped his face, letting the sweat flow away with the rain. "Be careful, don't let the boxes hit your feet. I'm going to take the next batch."

The words cleaved through his fantasy like an axe, bringing Chris back to the reality of the heavy rain. He'd calculated long ago that he'd need to work three days straight, unloading the required amount every day, to pay back the commission... but perhaps life would get better after that.

Chris lowered his head with hope, lifting up the container and his life. A drop of water, larger than the others, made a dull thud on Chris's sagging helmet. He subconsciously raised his head and touched it, only to find that the droplet was an ominous red.

Looking up in doubt, bundles of US dollar bills rolled down from a great height, turning into a torrent of money!

Pie really fell from the sky?

…

Half an hour ago.

It wasn't uncommon to wake up in a confined space. The wooden box was so cramped, it barely allowed the person inside to lie sideways. Aria pressed her ear against it and listened. The muffled thud of heavy objects mixed with the distant hum of a ship's whistle. The water rushed to the shore, surging back—as if she had been transported to a harbor or someplace else.

The NPC's voices were approaching, and they spoke with a different accent that took Aria some effort to understand.

"...What if the unloaders see us?" As he spoke, the man seemed to open one of the boxes, and a painful, desperate sob filled the ambient sound. However, as he closed the lid, the sound was quickly muffled by the wooden container again, disappearing without a trace under the cover of rain. "Am I lucky? This batch of 'goods' is basically intact."

"Don't overthink it. It's raining so hard. They can't possibly hear what we're doing up there." Perhaps it was his health, or perhaps it was the previous work that had worn him down, but the other man seemed to be panting heavily as he spoke. He had been patient in answering his subordinates' previous questions, but he was less polite with his boasting. "I'll go get some treatment for my brain when I get the money. It's just that the higher-ups have changed the transportation method."

Although she knew it was in a game, Aria still held her breath in excitement. You know, if ordinary people came across a crime scene or discovered a secret, they would usually be killed by the villains in the plot.

Just as she was silently comparing her own health bar with the opponent's attack power in her mind, brainstorming how to get through this level, the voice of a third person sounded.

"Are you sure we can get the money?" The man spoke with a North Jersey accent, his words flowing like butter in a pan, his words splashing like scalding oil on everyone who heard him. "I took a big risk to make this deal. If anything unexpected happens..."

This is a dangerous person. Aria put the steel sword in the inventory at the first row and continued to hold her breath and listen to the conversation between the three of them.

The panting man was very averse to such remarks. He raised his finger and shushed them, saying dissatisfiedly, "Marlon, I respect you because you are a rare decent person among us, but you also have to know that those petty crimes won't make you big money in a place like ours. I believe your dead brother has proved that."

Matchstick Malone's lips tightened, clearly hurt by the words. The newcomer, brought by the panting man, looked at him, then at his boss, intent on playing peacemaker. "Brother, although my brother's words may not be pleasant to the ears, they do make sense. In our line of work, isn't it best to not ask questions?"

Perhaps it was too cold on a rainy night, the newcomer shivered: "If I knew the truth and Batman came to find me, wouldn't I be beaten to death by him?" He had only been in this business for a few months, but he had already seen several brothers whose ribs were broken by the bat monster.

"You're useless." The panting man took a few deep breaths. It was especially hard to breathe on such a night. "You were scared like that by Batman. How can you work for Black Mask in the future?"

It turns out that what he cared about was not hiding the identity of his immediate superior, but the bad luck brought by his subordinates' discouraging words.

Aria used her sword to silently open a crack in the container. In the darkness and rain, she could only see three dark figures standing not far away - it would be great if there was a ring of light to illuminate it, she thought regretfully, and she still couldn't stop her plan of going down to the mine to open the treasure chest.

Perhaps it was fate, but the man said, "Once we load all these boxes onto the truck, our mission will be over. Others will be there to take over."

He pointed to the box where Aria was and ordered, "Go, bring that box over here too."

The younger brother who was given the order did not complain at all, but was happy that he was being reused. He watched as he got closer and closer to her, and his face finally appeared under the light of the port.

He dragged one end of the container and tried to put it onto the small trailer first, but unexpectedly, the gap that seemed to be unclosed suddenly opened and the entire lid flew up into the sky!

Aria looked at her currently empty combat skill experience bar and decided to improve her martial arts skills here today.

However, when she opened the lid and jumped out of the box, the three people did not have health bars on their heads like monsters... So in the MOD, are these people actually unharmable NPCs?

Feeling a little embarrassed, the farmer wiped the rain from his face. The rain in Zuzu City seemed very different from that in Smallville. In Smallville, it was refreshing, and the air could smell of soaked soil and grass, while in Zuzu City—Aria wiped away the water droplets and rubbed them between her fingertips—it was sticky and dirty.

However, just when she was confused for a minute, the panting guy who was far away took out his pistol, and the one who was close picked up a crowbar from the ground and was about to swing it over. Suddenly, a 100/100 health bar appeared on the heads of the two men!

That's right!

Aria smiled brightly and decisively replaced her lightweight steel sword with a pitchfork - she had wanted to test the damage value of the new weapon before, and this was a perfect opportunity!

Under the yellow light of the port, a strange woman jumped out of the freight container and quickly swung the pitchfork in a circle as if to find the feel, aiming it at the two people who rushed towards her - although she didn't know why the remaining one had no health bar, she still had to get rid of them first.

After 627 years of hardening and training in farming life, Aria's muscles far surpassed Crowbar Brother's expectations. The pitchfork and crowbar clashed together, creating a metallic hum, followed by the crowbar's teeth-grinding wail. The farmer's strength was quickly overwhelmed, and the crowbar itself buckled, giving Aria a stiff bow.

Aria pushed and pulled, firmly impaling the man on the tines of the fork like she was plowing a small haystack, and then swung him back with great farming skills, throwing him onto a taller pile of containers farther behind her.

Perhaps the farmer's peculiar fighting style frightened the man. Except for the two bullets that were fired at the beginning and were luckily dodged by the farmer, the rest of the bullets changed direction halfway and hit other obstacles nearby.

With no bullets left, he tried to change the magazine with trembling hands, but Aria pulled him under the pitchfork with a rake and kicked the magazine away.

"Let me go!" The man clasped his hands together and begged for mercy like a catfish stranded on the shore. "I can give you anything you want! Including money! Black Mask gave me a lot of money to do this, and the bag is right there!"

As if afraid that Aria wouldn't believe him, he pointed frantically into the darkness: "It's all cash in here! It's all laundered, so there's no need to worry about being checked..."

The box that had been transporting the people had been opened wide at some point, but Aria, who was so engrossed in practicing her fighting skills, didn't notice it. She picked up the crowbar and pinned the other person to the ground with a little force before checking the package.

There was indeed a lot of money inside, just as the man had said. However, when Aria took the bag, she found that her money statistic hadn't increased—it seemed that this unexpected windfall wasn't counted towards the farmer's income. She could only toss the bag of money onto the container like raking hay, hoping that the next NPC who found it would be able to use it.

Turning back to face the man, the farmer said calmly, "Actually... I'm not interested in money."

What you lack in combat skills, you more than make up for in farming experience... Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2024-06-23 20:56:30 and 2024-06-26 23:44:54~

Thanks to the little angels who provided the nutrient solution: Lu Shu and Qu Ru (139 bottles); 乀 (44 bottles); It's Xun Yu, Not Gou Huo (12 bottles); Riddler Get Out of Gotham!, Ye Zi (1 bottle);

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!