Chapter 1010 - Protection Fees

Chapter 1010 Protection Fees

“I give in, I give in! I have to!”

“Where do I sleep?” Wang Zhong looked at the other bed, which had been occupied by various items that belonged to Flying Pig.

Flying Pig flew back and forth and immediately cleaned up the bed. “This is yours!”

“Very good.”

Lao Wang nodded his head. This fellow from the illusion race was not very strong. A majority of the races who were skilled in magic would learn weapon refinery in the Heavenly Gates. There was no space for them in combat cultivation or pill refinery. They were not adept at combat but were sturdy and able to take punches. He was still able to stand up even after being punched by Lao Wang.

“Boss, one look and I can tell that you have the blood of the Heavenly Wings Race. One look and I can tell that…” Flying Pig started to fawn on him. In reality, he knew that this was not the case. However, in the divine territory, to be mistaken as someone from the four races in Heaven was a compliment. There was no difference between this and saying that one looked handsome.

However, this pattern was not Wang Zhong’s cup of tea. He was too lazy to deal with this and casually threw his backpack on the bed.

There was a soft bang, accompanied by Lao Wang’s lazy gaze. Meanwhile, Flying Pig was extremely shocked and passed over a bag of Silver Star Stones while trembling.

“What is this?” Wang Zhong glanced at him through the corner of his eye.

“Boss, don’t play with me anymore.” Flying Pig made a crying face. “I’m wrong. Is this not enough…? You must have been tired after beating me up. This money is for you to buy some fruits and quench your thirst…”

Could these be considered… protection fees?

Having just emerged from the Heavenly Treasures Street, Lao Wang understood the phrase “protection fees” rather well and did not know whether to laugh or to cry at this. This fellow had only been beaten up lightly, but his attitude changed relatively quickly.

He received the pouch and took a look. He discovered that the pouch contained 30 Gold Star Stones, three times more than what he had right now.

When Flying Pig saw Wang Zhong weigh the money pouch in his hand, he wet his pants and made a crying face. This fellow was very timid. “Boss, please don’t be upset that it is a small amount. I just paid 1,000 Gold Star Stones for school fees. This is all I have left…”

“School fees? Does everyone have to pay them?” Wang Zhong was dumbfounded.

“Of course. Everything here is very expensive, including the school fees. If you don’t have enough money, you still have to make deferred payment.”

Lao Wang was dumbfounded. One thousand Gold Star Stones was equivalent to 100,000 Silver Star Stones. He touched the “huge sum of money” of 1,000 Silver Star Stones in his pocket and was rather irritated. However, when he was dealing with the procedures, no one had collected any money from him. He did not hear anything about school fees either. What was happening?

“Leave this for yourself.” Wang Zhong threw the 30 Gold Star Stones back. He did not care about collecting protection fees from his hostel mate. If he actually had to pay school fees, these 30 Gold Star Stones would not be enough for him either.

Meanwhile, Flying Pig’s eyes lit up and hastily took back his pouch. “Tsk tsk tsk! Look, this is a good example! Boss, you are too mighty! I knew that you would definitely not take a liking to a poor person’s lunch money!”

Wang Zhong rolled his eyes. Was he wealthy? Damn, was he so poor that they did not even dare to ask him for school fees? He thought that he was somewhat rich now but never expected that he was this lowly!

The two of them quickly got to know each other after a few sentences. After hearing Lao Wang’s status as a member of a level-4 civilization, not only did Flying Pig not look down on him, he was instead unusually excited and seemed slightly more courageous. While he shouted and called Lao Wang “Boss”, he still dared to put his arms around Wang Zhong’s shoulders. He was rather friendly.

They were all from lowly level-4 and level-5 civilizations and should naturally be close. In the Heavenly Gates, level-5 civilizations were not much better than level-4 civilizations.

Take for example a special race like the illusion race. Although they were only a level-5 civilization — among the few regular level-5 civilizations in the Heavenly Gates — they had unique natural talents in weapon refinery, especially in refining weapons and integrating illusions with them. The illusion race had always been the best, not just one of the best. Thus, even though they were weak, the illusion race was not foreign to the Heavenly Gates.

Wang Zhong casually asked about some common knowledge about the Heavenly Gates. Then, Flying Pig immediately became very eloquent and took on the role of an elder who had a relatively good understanding of the Heavenly Gates.

There were about 1,500 in this batch of new people. This was a relatively large batch.

Several level-8 civilizations, other than the Machinery race, took turns to be in charge of supervising the Heavenly Gates. Thus, as compared to the emotionless laws that the Machinery race controlled in the Land, many incidents in the Heavenly Gates were subject to people’s personal biases. The division between factions was also very severe.

There was no doubt that this was the cradle of the aristocrats in the Land, as well as the place where various civilizations made compromises in their interests. After all, the Heavenly Gates were still controlled by the four races in the Heaven. As for the races in Heaven, the stability of the Land would always be their top priority. If they wanted stability, there would be a certain level of exchange and replacement of interests. This was also one of their original intentions when they had built the Heavenly Gates, to allow the powers from various large civilizations to resolve some conflicts within the rules of the Heavenly Gates. This was much better than allowing them to kill one another and destroy the stability of the Land.

Thus, it could be said that the Star Alliance laws that the Machinery race controlled were to deal with the majority of the ordinary people, while the rules in the Heavenly Gates were to restrict the peak powers and create a central platform for them to balance and exchange their interests.

Thus, the Heavenly Gates enrolments were obviously very important to the various great powers. Not only could their juniors and disciples learn more here and receive better cultivation, they could also gain access to this massive platform where they could exchange benefits. Many small Factions and Sects wanted to squeeze into the Heavenly Gates no matter what. Once they lost their place in the Heavenly Gates, it would mean that they had lost the platform and social circle where they could be rather equal to the great powers in the Land. A power that had been kicked out of the main circle was equivalent to becoming a rootless plant, and being eliminated was simply a matter of time. If even small Factions and powers thought this way, it was even more important for the great powers to maintain the number of people in each batch so that they could protect their level of influence and threat.

It was said that the current supervisors were the Shell race. When Flying Pig mentioned the Shell race, he was full of admiration. After all, they were legends who had started off as a level-5 civilization and changed into a level-8 civilization. They were the goal that countless low-leveled civilizations used to encourage themselves. Of course, this had happened a very long time ago. Now, the Shell race was the absolute peak aristocrat race in the Land. They produced large numbers of elites and were extremely powerful.

“I heard that the women from the Shell race are particularly tight. I drool whenever I think about it. If I can sleep with one of them, my entire life would have been worth it!”Flying Pig started to drool, and his face was filled with admiration. He had completely forgotten his lowly identity as a member of a level-5 civilization. After reveling in happiness for a long time, he finally remembered that Wang Zhong was beside him and hurriedly said, “Boss, do you want to try it out?”

“If you’re asking for death, do it yourself!” Wang Zhong did not know whether to laugh or to cry. He pasted the last complete label on Flying Pig — cowardly, talkative, lewd, and loved to daydream.

“Tomorrow, the supervisor from the Shell race is hosting the welcome ceremony. You can fantasize in front of them. I definitely don’t mind occupying this hostel alone.”

Flying Pig jumped in fright and hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand.

The supervisor from the Shell race for this Heavenly Gates batch? She was one of the top five leaders of the Land. She was Erza, the leader of the Heavenly Shell Race and an almighty Gold Core! This kind of being would be able to sense if one had slightly blasphemous thoughts when looking at her! Violating the supervisor of the Heavenly Shell Race, Erza? Flying Pig had no doubt that he would be erased from this world in a matter of minutes, and not even his ashes would be left behind.

She was not simply strong, but had actual power and was almighty. Only the ultimate arbitration formed by the top five leaders could overturn the judgment of the Machinery race. Furthermore, the races that these five top leaders represented also represented the top level-8 civilizations in the entire land —— the Seductress Race, the Heavenly Shell Race, the Fire Demon Race, the Natural Race, and the Soul Race. These five races were extremely powerful. Thus, in the Land, the five races that were represented by the five leaders and commanded the Heavenly Gates were the only great powers that could stand as equals with the Machinery race, and even faintly suppress them.

They talked casually for the whole night. The next day, Flying Pig had become Lao Wang’s loyal follower. Where else would he be able to find a boss that did not collect protection fees and did not put on airs? Most importantly, after Flying Pig heard that Lao Wang had gotten rid of Yin Jiao for Old Cow’s sake, he instantly felt that this boss was rather generous and upheld justice.

What kind of boss should he find? He should find this kind of boss!

Flying Pig eagerly took out a large pile of “breakfast” from his bag. They were all ordinary vegetables and fruit. They were not high-quality products and did not even include a piece of meat. However, this was much better than the pack of Day Stomach Pills that Wang Zhong had prepared.

He definitely did not hold back with things like this. Just as Lao Wang finished stuffing himself, the melodious sound of a war horn had reverberated in this quiet and beautiful mountain valley. The welcome ceremony was about to begin.

The welcome ceremony was a common practice in the Heavenly Gates.

Although they were all new people, in reality, a majority of them already knew one another. After all, they were the heavenly favored ones among the great powers who had been selected to join the Heavenly Gates. Once the enrolments in the Heavenly Gates were confirmed, a circle would naturally form. The powers who were already on friendly terms or those who were already rather close to one another would naturally unite and interact with one another, just like Shannali and Yin Jiao. The relations between factions were not very rigid, but they were definitely all orthodox factions.

When Wang Zhong and Flying Pig Jhonas arrived, there was already a sea of people present. After all, 1,500 new people gathered together was not a small number. The field was extremely crowded. Other than a very small number of minor figures, the vast majority of them gathered in groups of a few dozen people. There were over 1,000 people from hundreds of races. At that moment, they were naturally divided into about seven or eight groups. They could see that each circle which gathered together had relatively similar characteristics.

For example, those with massive physiques like the tall tree people and the burly Titans formed one group. Although there were no similarities between these two races, since they were both unusually tall, it was as if they had discovered some common language and naturally formed a circle. There were not a lot of people in this group, and there were only around 20 to 30 of them who gathered at the left of the field. Even the shortest Titan was a full three to four meters tall. Meanwhile, some especially tall tree people had heights that reached over 10 meters. When they walked, their bodies let out a creaking sound, and the ground even trembled underneath their feet. Even among the sea of people, they were as attention-grabbing as a crane standing among a flock of chickens.

These were two famous races that definitely could not be provoked. Regardless of whether it was the relatively talkative tree people with their direct ways of thinking or the Titans who were savage and irritable, they definitely could not be negotiated with. The area 10 meters around where they were standing was completely clear as no one dared to get near to them. If one were to use one sentence to describe these two races, it would be that they definitely would not use their mouths if they could use their hands instead.

Another race that was as unapproachable as the two massive races was the insect race. Although they could not cultivate their Core, the insect race was skilled in refining weapons. Their ridiculously serious and cautious personalities were the foundation of the insect race’s survival. Furthermore, they were especially suitable for refining weapons. Additionally, the insect race had powerful combat abilities, and a majority of them had extremely sturdy shells. They were also very agile and were one of the core forces in the Combat Cultivation Hall. There were more people from the insect race than in the “tall” group, and around 100 strangely shaped members of the insect race gathered together. Their physiques were different. The small ones did not even reach half a meter, while the large ones were several meters tall. Some had massive insect wings, while others had many limbs. Some had hard outer shells, while others had soft bodies. It was hard to imagine how the insect race that was made up of many different appearances managed to peacefully gather as one race. However, there was no doubt that the insect race was one of the most united and disciplined races in the divine territory.

At that moment, even while standing on the noisy field, the strangely shaped insects were all quiet and neatly stood together. They stood alone in the field, and no one dared to approach them either.

There were many other races with strange forms. For example, there were many plant goblins among the Natural Race, as well as spirits that looked like elemental bodies. Perhaps combat was not their strong suit, but they were especially adept at refining weapons. Their natural talents in sensing and differentiating materials were also much stronger than in any other race. The Natural Race was a level-8 civilization and were extremely strong. However, they were divided into two extremes. For example, the eight brother grass in Old Cow’s flower shop was also a member of the Natural Race, but it was a branch of the Natural Race that did not even have a civilization level, and they were randomly bought and sold by others. They could not hope to receive special treatment just because the Natural Race was their distant relative. In the divine territory, there were too many races with distant relations. Even if they wanted to, no matter how powerful the race was, they simply would not be able to take care of everyone.

For example, the circle of members from the Soul Race seemed like spirits, but in reality, they could freely switch between having a material body and being a spirit. They were experts at spirit wave attacks and refining pills. They were respected and admired, and had a relatively high position even in the Heavenly Gates.

Most of the other races that Wang Zhong was familiar with could all transform. The Seductress Race, the goblin race, and the demon race were all under the same system and gathered together as several small circles. A majority of them had transformed into a normal humanoid form, while a small number of them retained some features of the goblin race. This group of people was very attractive, and their looks originated from the release of their natural instincts. He saw that a majority of them dressed extremely openly. Many young female goblins simply revealed their chests and only wore an extremely thin silk fabric on their bodies as they hovered in the air. They did not conceal themselves and displayed their extremely beautiful and charming bodies, causing everyone to be excited. Flying Pig, who was watching from the side, felt as if blood was rushing to his eyes.

Wang Zhong saw someone familiar among them. It was Shannali. She was not especially conspicuous among the group of goblins, but seemed to have sensed Wang Zhong’s gaze and looked over as well. When she discovered Wang Zhong, she simply smiled at him and showed no intention of walking over to greet him. In the Catanlyke District, Shannali was favored by the heavens, but she was not considered high-ranking here. However, female practitioners who were able to join the Heavenly Gates all had good appearances and were rather popular. Furthermore, she had the mixed blood of the goblin race and the Blood Demon Race and was considered decent among the group of goblins.

“Boss, Boss. I think the beautiful lady from the goblin race saw me! With that amorous glance, heh heh, I see that I am pretty charming!” Flying Pig cautiously hid behind Wang Zhong. Standing beside these advanced races made him feel indescribably inferior. However, this did not affect his sharp senses that noticed a Seductress Race member looking here. Flying Pig was unusually excited, and his small face turned red. Had a beautiful goblin woman taken a liking to him?

“Move away.”

Before Wang Zhong could attack him, they heard a vicious voice from behind them. “Can a fat pig from a level-5 civilization like you covet the beautiful women from my great goblin race?”

Wang Zhong simply felt that it was an expert with a terrifying aura who had walked over from behind them. He only released a bit of his vigor, but it seemed to be able to form clouds and was so thick that it seemed as if it would materialize and push them from behind. It was like having a prehistoric beast suddenly appear outside your window, using its eyes that were even bigger than the windows to look at you, who had just woken up…

Wang Zhong shifted his body slightly and avoided this aura. Meanwhile, Flying Pig beside him did not react and was shocked by this terrifying vitality. He almost lost control of his bladder, and his body became limp. If it were not for Wang Zhong, who swiftly caught him, he would have been so shocked that he would have kneeled on the ground.

Then, a handsome man with golden hair walked out from behind. The terrifying vigor had been released from his body, causing others to grow scared. He was much more powerful than Yin Jiao. He did not care about Flying Pig, who had been scared until he was limp. Instead, he casually glanced at Wang Zhong, who had pulled up Flying Pig, and snorted coldly. “If you want to daydream, go away and hide in your blanket. If I hear that any trash from you lowly civilizations dared to covet and pollute the women of my goblin race, I will peel off your skin and pull out your tendons! Do you think you’re worthy?”

Flying Pig was upset and shocked, and his small face turned red. However, he did not dare to talk back. In fact, in the face of the oppression from the terrifying aura, he did not even dare to raise his head.

“Ha ha! Pigolo, does bullying these weaklings give you a sense of achievement? You are becoming more and more useless.”

Countless people looked over, and even Pigolo was slightly shocked. The person had arrived behind him, but he had not even noticed it. He turned around and saw a Blood Demon, whose entire body emitted a fishy smell, standing there. He wore a large grey windbreaker and had a large half-horn on his head. There was even a steel scrub in his hand that he continuously rubbed his horn with, producing a rustling sound. He seemed to enjoy this greatly and did not directly look at Pigolo, whose vigor had soared to the skies. “How comfortable! You can only enjoy demon horns to the fullest with the steel scrub produced by the insect race!”

“That’s Broken Horn Kakadinme!” Buzzing noises immediately sounded in the surroundings. Although this young male with a broken horn did not have the surging vigor of Pigolo, the pairs of eyes that looked at him were full of respect.