Not Amused
''I was honestly expecting more.''
I mutter as we make our way through the city.
The night sky blending perfectly with the skyrise, the star dotted sky meshing in with the obscenely high apartment complexes with a few apartments still being lit.
If you were to show this to any Terran I am sure they would have been amazed.
For me however, this was just another bustling city.
Comparable to the likes of many where I came from.
Slightly more on the east asian side if anything.
Well, Lungmen is I think supposed to be Hong Kong, so that checks out.
The people in the car with me are however, not following.
Some roll their eyes.
One even openly questioned it.
''How am I not phased? Bah. Where I come from you would be considered lucky to be able to ESCAPE these sights. Capitalism.''
''But I guess it is kind of impressive? For you guys atleast.''
They scoff at my remarks.
I scoff at their scoffing and lean on the passenger seats window.
I managed to call shotgun after some terrible realizations.
Even though I have no ID for Terra, R.I. was kind enough to manufacture me one that should, in theory be good enough to get me into Lungmen.
And what do you know, it actually did.
That's not the problem.
We managed to get in after the showed the L.G.D. my papers forged by R.I. after some difficulties. Orwellian states out here.
The big problem here is that I CAN'T DRIVE.
The cars here do not work like diesel engines.
The most comparable one I could give woud be electric engines, and even then that would be stretch.
These sons of bitches run on originium.
Guess who can't use originium.
Apparently you need to somehow ''connect'' with the originium inside the car?
That's how Kal'tsit explained to me atleast before I set off.
Holy shit man.
Making me sit at the passanger seat as these dumbos drive was driving me insane.
Worst of all the driving wasn't even that bad.
Yeah it was slightly extreme at times, as expected of an edgy wolf.
But it was better than going at a snails pace in this universes version of an autobahn atleast.
Didn't take long for us to enter into the city itself after a short while of driving.
The nostalgia immediately hit me.
The smell of the city, the absolute polution that comes with civilization.
The sounds which you can only hear in a REAL city.
The people, the vehicles, the commotion…
Ah. This, this felt a little closer to home.
The car eventually came to a full stop infront of a bar.
The infamous one from the stories.
It did look quite alright, knowing that it had been raided numerous t-
''Now get the hell out of my car, we have arrived.''
OK woman! I was just admiring the scene, geez.
''I am I am, calm down. Let me grab my stuff first.''
So I do.
I grab my duffel bag that I borrowed from R.I.
It even has the R.I. logo on it, making me look like a legit operator.
I check its insides just to make sure that I brought everything before I step out.
Water? Check.
The money? Check.
Identification papers of R.I. personnel? Check.
The external drive? Check.
Weapons of mass destruction? All check!
Good.
Didn't miss anything.
With heavy steps, the bag weighs me down even though it itself doesn't weight much, fucking damnit. Curse you, mortal body.
I follow behind the line of women into the bar.
Why couldn't they have sent a male operator or something man?
Why am I always stuck with these women who will never see my viewpoint.
Atleast my final hope is waiting inside the bar for us.
That's right.
As we walk in the ray of hope shines;
In the form of a penguin!
Never thought such thoughts would ever be crossing my mind in my mortal life, here we are anyways.
''You stay back for a bit, we need to talk to the boss for a minute.''
I give the P.L. crew a nod.
Understandable.
They probably want to give the man- penguin? as much information as they can.
I think they still aren't very over the whole, ''threatening them and their friends'' part.
Even though it was mostly me whose life was in danger.
Just get over it man.
Business is business.
The heat of the moment eventually dissipates.
After around 5 minutes they let me in to the bar.
With cheesy jazz playing in the background.
Huh.
Jazz exists here? Didn't expect that.
''Welcome to ''The Ends of the Earth'', to what do we owe this visit?''
I walk up the bar where the penguin is standing behind the counter.
The rest of the people with me in the car have disappeared into the sidelines or behind the counter.
''You might not expect it, but I have infact come here for business.''
I drop the duffle bag on to the counter and sit on on of the chairs.
When I do so the penguin points towards his back without turning around with his flaps.
''Would you like something, mister…''
''Despot. Operator Despot. As for the question, no thank you, not right now atleast.''
He ponders for a bit.
From what I remember this dude is supposed to have a funky personality, but by no means is he stupid.
''Weird name, not one you would usually hear.''
Probing.
He must be probing to see if I would get angry.
A provocation.
''Well it wasn't one I chose myself. Rumors went around, the people chose this name themselves. And so I thought, why not embrace the reputation? Turning weaknesses into strengths is something important in a business man. Wouldn't you agree, Emperor?''
Before he can begin talking again, I quickly move topics.
"Which is exactly why I have come here, to do business. I know I probably don't have the best relationship with your employees, but I can assure you that I am already over it."
And to that, he laughs.
"What business could you have with us?"
Right, I got him on the hook.
Time to reel in the fish, well in this case the penguin.
"Even though you operate many establishments, your primary focus is on music, right.
That is what I am here for, the distribution of music."
And to that, that joyous laughing attitude of his gets serious.
"Are you out of your mind lad? You, a nobody, walks up to one of the greatest stars in the industry saying he has music? Quit daydreaming kid, you won't be getting famous."
Ah.
He thought I was trying to leech off of him, understandable.
I give him a confused tone, one of shock.
"Oh but I am not trying to be famous at all, in fact that's the thing I want the least."
I raise my gloved hand up and begin rubbing my fingers.
"I am in it for THAT"
"Just listen to me for a few minutes, you will not be dissapointed."
With that I began talking about what I had envisioned.
Halfway during the talk the penguin got up and got himself a drink, if only I could too.
I talked to him about how I needed a publisher, and knowing that he was a top singer he was bound to have those connections.
He was still not convinced however, due to not knowing the songs.
He was right, if I were to sing a song it could never hold a candle to any singer, even from Terra.
But I had a secret weapon, I didn't need to sing anything at all.
Which was when I demonstrated to him, REAL music.
I took out the harddrive and connected it to a computer and started blasting.
Out of my many many hours playlist and downloaded songs, before we set foot out of R.I. , I had downloaded some of the most popular songs and albums of the 21st century.
The golden periods of 2000-2017.
Suffice to say, he was impressed.
I thought he would question the legality of such actions, such as if I was merely a fraud who stole other people's music.
But I could practically hear the cogs turning in his brain, calculating how much money he would earn.
"But why are you even doing this? Surely you could just release these songs to Terra over time and you would get both the fame and money."
I looked at the penguin through my mask, and laughed.
"That's the thing Mr. Emperor.
I don't have much time.
I also owe quite a huge sum to R.I. and I need to earn my economical freedom URGENTLY."
I pull my hand out for a handshake.
"That's why I am quite desperate, Emperor.
I need help in the economical front, and getting allies wouldn't hurt in the meanwhile would it?
All wounds can be healed with the flow of money, so shake my hand.
I promise you a future where you will be the most famous singer on the planet for the next 100 years."
It took a little bit more time, to work out the details and how all of this would be signed, documented and accomplished but we came to an agreement.
The hand was taken, shaken.
%25 of the profits that the music would make would go to me.
Emperor could make any edits he wanted to the songs to make them fit his style better, and they would be released in his name to Terra.
And during my stay in Lungmen, I could get the P.L. services for a huge discount.
So I handed over the drive, and with it, I gained an incredible source of passive income.
This is what business should be like.
The employees probably would cry in the face of such an agreement, but I believed in the abilities of Emperor and the cold harsh chains of Capitalism.
Lo and behold, I was right.
A great success for now.
I have accomplished one of my goals in Lungmen with 0 difficulties.
But this one was a secondary goal afterall, the real shit begins now.
There are 3 sides to Lungmen to my knowledge afterall.
The businesses, the law, and the crime.
I have already signed a major deal with the businesses.
Next step is definitely going to be dicier.
"Chop chop everyone, we are moving."
I say to the P.L. group as I grab my duffel and start walking.
"Let's wipe our slates clean for a few weeks. You'll find many benefits in such a deal, I assure you."
I go to the car and try to unlock the door with my left hand, only for thr pain to resurface.
I open the car with my right hand and get in anyways.
While inside the car I examine my hands.
Different from the usually matching blue gloves, I am wearing a green one on the left.
I can feel the swollen skin rubbing against the interior of the glove.
Gah!
Going to need more cream to fix those burns.