Chapter 148 Labor Fee Lumian stretched out his right hand and accurately caught the severed finger. Feeling the weight of the fingers and the temperature that had not yet subsided, he was surprised and shocked: He had anticipated what kind of protection Mr. K might provide, but he never expected that the other party would simply tear off a finger, throw it to him, and say that he could provide help at the critical moment! Isn't this too outrageous? Putting aside what use a severed finger can have, isn't Mr. K afraid that I will do something with his flesh and blood? In mysticism, flesh and blood itself is very important. Once it falls into the hands of someone with bad intentions, it may bring very serious consequences. No one wants to encounter a horrible curse for no apparent reason! Considering that Mr. K is very powerful, is not illiterate in mysticism, and can even act as a "notary", Lumian suspected that he had a way to avoid the various effects brought about by out-of-body flesh and blood, so he dared to tear off his fingers and give them to others. Moreover, this severed finger is clearly magical. I don't know if using "Corrupted Mercury" to cut this finger and draw blood will exchange the fate of "encountering the ghost of Montsouris" with Mr. K... As the prank king of Cordu Village, Lumian always has some strange ideas. He resisted the urge, withdrew his gaze from the severed finger, and looked back at Mr. K. At this time, Mr. K had grown a new, slightly wet finger with tender skin and a pale color.
"Thank you." Lumian said in a low voice and put the severed finger into the pocket of his gray-blue worker's uniform. Mr. K nodded slightly and said: "You can leave now, but don't forget our agreement." "One more thing." Lumian took out the diamond necklace, "Can you help me check whether it is real or fake? I need to exchange it for some money." He already owed Mr. K a favor and didn't care about owing him more. What if I can’t pay it back? If I can’t pay it back, I’ll sell myself to the organization behind Mr. K! This is exactly what Lumian wants. Mr. K asked the waiter who led Lumian into the basement to take the diamond necklace and began to look at it in his hands. Faintly, Lumian seemed to see a hint of golden light seeping out from the shadow of Mr. K's hood. After a few seconds, Mr. K put the diamond necklace back into the waiter's hands: "It's fake, but the workmanship is quite fine, and it's worth 50 Felkins." "Okay." Lumian did not hide his helplessness and said, "Also, I need a set of identification." An important reason why he has been living in the "Golden Rooster Hotel" is that they do not require identification. After receiving Mr. K's affirmative reply, Lumián left 19 Scheer Street and took a horse-drawn carriage back to the Honest Market District. He sometimes wondered how to join a gang without arousing suspicion, sometimes guessed what the severed finger could do, and sometimes thought about how to get the pawnshops to pay more for the fake diamond necklace, at least 30 filkins... As various thoughts came to his mind, Lumian gradually came up with an idea. At the same time, he planned to find a safe house in the Honest Market area and the Botanical Garden area before the afternoon, the kind that did not require identification. "I still have 850 Felgin and 24 Copeks on me. After deducting the remaining 400 from the information dealer Anthony Reid, I will have 450 Felgin left, which is enough to rent two or three safe houses..." Lumian carefully calculated how much assets he had left. He pursed his lips and felt that it was necessary to leave Mr. K's severed finger at the "Golden Rooster Hotel" before renting a room. ………… Before three o'clock in the afternoon, Lumian found a room that did not require identification on White Coat Street in the Honest Market District and Cobblestone Street in the Botanical Garden District. Of course, the rent has a certain premium. The former is not much better than Room 207 of the "Golden Rooster Hotel", but it costs 6 filgins per week. The latter is more like the apartment rented by Osta Trull, and the neighbors around him are all workers in the factory in the south, and it costs 10 filgins per week.
Lumian paid four weeks' rent in one go, but received no discount. Back at the Golden Rooster Hotel, he read a magazine called Men's Aesthetics, used makeup to soften his edges, added shadows in some places, and trimmed his eyebrows. After a busy period, Lumian completed the initial disguise, which made him look like an ordinary man of about twenty-four or twenty-five years old with a slightly dangerous temperament. He combed his blond and black hair, put on his dark blue cap, took Mr. K's severed finger, and walked to the Breeze Ballroom on Market Avenue. He did not enter directly like other guests, but stopped between the khaki building and the white spherical statue composed of countless skulls, and said to the two gang members guarding the door: "I want to see Baron Brinell." Before the two gang members could curse back, he added: "Tell the Baron that it was Charles whom I met last time. He should be very happy to see me again." The two gangsters looked at each other, but in the end they did not dare to delay Baron Brinell's business, so one of them went into the dance hall. Less than five minutes later, the gang member came out and said to Lumian: "The Baron asked you to go to the place where we met last time." The cafe on the second floor? Lumian smiled, put his hands in his pockets, and walked slowly into the Breeze Ballroom. He walked up the stairs and saw Baron Brinell holding a mahogany pipe. The gentleman was wearing a black suit made of fine tweed, a half-high silk hat at his side, a shining ring on his left palm, and was protected by four gangster thugs behind him. "Sit down." Baron Brinell glanced with his brown eyes and pointed to the seat across the table with a smile. Lumian walked over and sat down. He looked at Baron Brinell's deep-lined face and naturally curly brown hair and said: "Good afternoon, we meet again." Baron Brinell tapped the bottom of his mahogany pipe and asked with a smile: "What's matter?" Lumian took out Charlie's fake diamond necklace and said calmly: "I'm a little short of money recently, so I want to mortgage this necklace to you. It's worth 1500 Fel gold, and you just need to give me 1000." Baron Brinell tilted his head and said to his men: "Find someone to identify it." "Yes, Baron." A gangster with obvious bruises on his forehead walked out of the cafe. Brinell looked back at Lumian and nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, your makeup techniques have improved significantly. Although there are still many flaws, compared to before, you are no longer so easy to be recognized at a glance." “Thanks for your suggestion.” Lumian laughed. “Men’s Aesthetics is a good magazine.” The two chatted about worthless topics until the gangster who had just left the cafe came up with a man in his forties wearing a formal suit, a bow tie, and carrying a toolbox. After some identification, the man walked to Baron Brinell, placed the necklace on the table, and said in a low voice: "is fake." All of a sudden, all the gangster thugs present drew their revolvers. Baron Brinell curled the corners of his mouth and looked at Lumian, and found that the boy had a calm face, as if he had not heard the words of the jewelry appraiser or seen the actions of the thugs. Baron Brinell smiled unchanged and nodded to the appraiser: "You go back first." "Yes, Baron." The jewelry appraiser was so nervous that he left the cafe in a panic.
Baron Brinell then put down his mahogany pipe, rubbed the diamond ring on his left hand, and asked Lumian with a smile: "Did you know that this necklace is fake?" Lumian also smiled: "know." Before he could finish his words, revolvers were aimed at him. Baron Brinell saw that Lumian was unmoved, so he asked curiously: "Do you know if I can find someone to verify the authenticity of the diamond?" Lumian replied with an unchanging smile: "know." Baron Brinell narrowed his eyes slightly: “Since you know all this, why do you dare to borrow 1000 Felkins with a fake necklace? "Why do you think I would give it to you?" Lumian stood up slowly, ignoring the pistols waiting at the ready, and placed his hands on the edge of the table. He lowered his body slightly, looked down at Baron Brinell opposite him, raised the corner of his mouth and said: "Because I was the one who killed Maggot from the Sting Gang." The smile on Baron Brinell's face froze. His pupils instinctively dilated, as if he wanted to see the person in front of him more clearly. The four gangsters who were pointing their guns at Lumian were also stunned, their eyes widened. As the enemies of the Sting Gang, they know better than anyone how powerful Maggot is! At this time, Lumian raised his head and slowly swept his emotionless eyes across the faces of the thugs. Every gang member he stared at subconsciously had the urge to avoid his gaze, so that their arms reacted and the muzzles of the guns moved away from his body one after another. Baron Brinell quickly recovered and turned to the four thugs and said: "Put away your pistols! Didn't I teach you how to treat guests?" After teaching his men a lesson, he asked Lumian with a little curiosity: "How did you kill Maggot?" "I stabbed him with a poisonous knife, but I don't know where he escaped to and died." Lumian answered lightly. This was consistent with the initial intelligence Baron Brinell had received. He narrowed his eyes slightly and asked with a smile: "Do you know what it means to take my 1000 Felkins?" Lumian smiled nonchalantly: "know." ………… "Golden Rooster Hotel", Room 504. Charlie saw Lumian outside the door and asked excitedly: "Have you determined whether it's real or not?" "It's fake, worth 50 Fel Gold at most." Lumian said casually as he walked into the room. He discovered that Charlie had torn off the portrait of Suzanne Matisse, leaving only traces of glued paper.
Charlie was mentally prepared. Although he was disappointed, it was not serious. He laughed at himself and said: "It's worth at least 50 Felkins. I should be able to mortgage it to 20 at a kind pawnshop." Lumian glanced at him and laughed: "But I sold the fake necklace for 1000 Felkins." "Huh?" Charlie was almost stunned. Lumian took out the thick stack of banknotes and said with a smile: "The fake necklace is yours, and it's worth 50 Fel Gold, so I can only give you this much, and the rest is my labor fee, is that ok?" (End of this chapter)
