“Are you a buyer? Or are you here to sell yourself?” The woman blew in his ear and smiled.

CHAPTER 9

“None.” An Zhe stepped back again, his back against a plastic sheet. “I went the wrong way.”

“You went the wrong way?” The woman wondered. “The second underground floor is the casino. Where do you want to go?”

She held a cigarette between the fingers of her right hand. She sucked it with her red lips and smiled. “Beware of losing yourself.”

An Zhe looked around but he was forced into a corner by the woman and there was no way to get out. This beautiful woman was more difficult than the monsters of the Abyss.

“Don’t be afraid.” She spat out a mouthful of white smoke and said, “I won’t eat you.”

“Then can you let me go?”

The woman smiled again.

“Go?” She raised her eyebrows. “Only those with nowhere to go will come to the third floor. Where can you go when you leave?”

Then she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him forward. “Are you scared here? You don’t have to be here. I’ll give you a big room.”

“Thank you.” An Zhe lowered her head. “However, I really went the wrong way.”

“Eh?”

“I was just looking for a normal job.” He explained, “Then someone told me to come to the third underground floor.”

“You can only see people on the first floor of the black market.” The woman heard his words and blinked, eyes like smoke. “You don’t even know this?”

“I know now.” He knew about the free market from the base manual and that it was known as the black market.

“Base laws don’t protect the black market.” The woman leaned against the way while smoking. Instead of pressing An Zhe tightly into the corner, she left a gap.

An Zhe thought it was a signal that she was going to let him go. He had just stepped out when he saw two tall, black men behind her. There was one to the left and one to the right, blocking any direction he might go in.

“Anyone who comes to the third floor can’t go out.” The woman’s voice was no longer sweet and charming. Rather, it contained a cold chill. “Still, you should count your luck.”

An Zhe looked up at her.

“I’ll give you a chance,” she said. “Boss Shaw’s workshop is short of staff. If he wants you then you can work with him. If he doesn’t want you—”

Her words came to an abrupt end and she turned in one direction. “Come on.”

An Zhe thought about it for three seconds before following after her. The cubicles were dense and he seemed to be walking in a maze built in a beehive, the lights getting dimmer and dimmer. Finally, a door on a grey wall appeared at the end of the space.