Night’s Nomenclature

Zheng Yi, the silver-haired girl, felt a little at a loss as she clutched her satchel. “Do you really want to co-rent with me? Come inside and sit down first. The house is a bit messy, I hope you don’t mind.”

She was originally planning to go to cram school, but now that Yangyang came to visit, she gave up on the idea.

“Do you have any extra slippers? I won’t want to dirty the floor,” Yangyang said.

“No need, no need, the house isn’t clean,” Zheng Yi said, “And… there are no extra slippers.”

Inside the house, some of the girl’s clothes were casually strewn on the sofa and the bed, but overall, it was still relatively tidy, so it wasn’t to the extent that could be called sloppy.

Seeing Yangyang’s gaze, Zheng Yi instantly blushed and said, “I return from class very late everyday, so there’s no time to tidy up the place. Usually, I only have time to tidy up once every weekend.”

“How much is the rent here?” Yangyang directly helped Zheng Yi to fold the two coats on the sofa and put them aside.

“2200 yuan,” Zheng Yi quietly said, “but there’s one bedroom and one living room.”

Yangyang sat on the sofa and said with a smile, “If I sleep in the living room, can I pay a little less rent? You see if this works—for a rent of 2200, I’ll pay 1000, you pay 1200, and we’ll evenly share the water, electricity and maintenance fees!”

Somehow, Zheng Yi felt relieved when she heard that she was asked to pay 200 more.

She was very worried that Yangyang would offer to pay more out of pity because she viewed her as poor.

In that case, she would feel rather uneasy.

She had her own self-esteem and was unwilling to receive those unnecessary pity.

It was this self-esteem that supported her to enter high school and made her vow to get herself a way out of poverty.

Zheng Yi looked at the girl in front of her. At last, she couldn’t help saying, “Just now… I saw you going into Qing Chen’s house. I thought you guys were a couple…”

“No, no,” Yangyang smiled and waved her hands, “We’re not a couple.”

Zheng Yi was a little curious. “You two seem to have known each other for a long time. The students all said that he transferred to our school especially for you. But everyone said that Qing Chen is rather aloof and doesn’t seem very willing to talk to other people aside from you. Just… what kind of person is he?”

Yangyang fell silent for a moment. “Actually, I also don’t really know what kind of person he is. It’s because I want to find out that I plan to co-rent this place with you.”

Looking at Yangyang’s expression, Zheng Yi curiously asked her in a low voice, “What exactly is the relationship between the two of you?”

“Partnership.”

…

City 18, District 4.

This district was located in the sub-center of the city, and it was also the busiest place in the whole city after midnight.

Although the upper three districts were the most prosperous, they would fall quiet at night.

Moreover, two-thirds of the city’s nighttime police force was concentrated in the upper three districts, so it was difficult for things to get lively there.

At this time, no matter if they were the corporation descendants, children of wealthy businessmen in the lower six districts, or the bigwigs behind the entire city, everyone would all gather in District 4.

After midnight, holographic neon lights lit up like densely blooming fireworks and rows of supercars endlessly roared throughout the place.

In this era where electric vehicles were available for all, there were rich kids who were still obsessed with the thrill of power brought by the 12-cylinder engine as well as the wild sensation of the exhaust coming to live.

At this time, there was a convoy of cars speeding from the upper three districts to the fourth district. In the relatively narrow streets, they zoomed under the holographic neon lights floating in the sky.

On the overhead was a purple whale floating in the air, and underneath it was a supercar with a body like a silver mirror, looking like a scene from a dream.

In the intermingling blue and purple light, everything appeared magnificent and gorgeous.

Nan Gengchen sat in the co-pilot, silently watching all this.

They had just returned to City 18 under the escort of the federal army yesterday, and yet today, Li Yinuo was already taking him out to enjoy the nightlife.

In the driver’s seat, Li Yinuo cancelled the autopilot mode and skillfully handled the steering wheel.

She naturally rested the palm of her right hand on Nan Gengchen’s thigh. “You’ve come to the Inner World for so long, but I haven’t even shown you the real nightlife of the Inner World. Compared to these bright holographic neon signs hanging outside, I think the underground boxing club is a better representation of the nightlife.”

Nan Gengchen weakly replied, “It’s midnight, can’t we just go to sleep?”

“No!” Li Yinuo laughed and said, “The nightlife has just begun!”

“By the way, have you caught that hacker?” Nan Gengchen said, “You said you’d let me learn hacking skills, but until now, I haven’t even seen a glimpse of the hacker.”

“He’s already been caught, alright. He was hiding in City 7. When he was found, that kid was actually planning to hack into one of Li’s companies’ network,” Li Yinuo sneered, “Someone’s escorting him to City 18 now, he’ll be arriving in a few days.”

At this time, the convoy arrived in front of a magnificent circular building. On the top of the building, which was the size of a football field, a battle was being holographically projected on a huge scale. Two cruiserweight boxers were ferociously fighting in an octagonal cage. The holographic projection was so clear that even the sweat that splattered when they punched each other was vividly captured.

There was already a team of security guards in black suits coming to greet them at the door. A fancily dressed young woman wearing a golden silk-like tight-fitting gown walked to Li Yinuo’s car with her shiny heels and said, “A few days ago, I read in the newspaper that you went for autumn hunting. I didn’t expect that you’ll come back so soon. I miss you so much.”

Li Yinuo nonchalantly got out of the car and squeezed the woman’s buttocks. “There’s no use in missing me. Let the security guard park the car.”

It wasn’t until then that the thin and frail Nan Gengchen got out of the car and looked around with a dazed face.

Seeing this, Li Yinuo came to him and said, “I’m just playing around with them, don’t take it seriously.”

Nan Gengchen thought to himself—why did these words sound so awkward?

While they were talking, another person alighted from the car behind the convoy.

Li Yinuo walked back to take the hand of a little girl and smilingly introduced Nan Gengchen, “Xiaoyun, this is Nan Gengchen, the one I’ve mentioned to you before.”

“Hello brother,” Li Tongyun obediently greeted.

Seeing this, Li Yinuo said to Nan Gengchen, “This is my little sister, Li Tongyun. Although she’s still young, she’s incredibly smart.”

At this time, both Li Tongyun and Nan Gengchen felt that the other person looked familiar, but they couldn’t remember where they had met each other…

As the group of people entered the building, Nan Gengchen asked, “Does this place hold a game every night?”

“Of course,” Li Yinuo said, “This place is full of gamblers who want to get rich overnight and rich kids who spend money like water.”

It was also filled with violence and lust.

Li Yinuo continued to explain, “The boxing ring is open from Monday to Thursday. As long as you have enough strength, you can sign up for the match any time you want.”

“What about Friday, Saturday and Sunday?” Nan Gengchen asked.

“Those are the days reserved for boxers who’ve made a name for themselves. It’ll be more crowded,” Li Yinuo answered.

The entourage entered a private room, where twelve bodyguards stood outside watching the door. This was the common practice of corporation groups.

The private room was furnished with soft seats wrapped in velvet and a holographic touch screen in front of each seat, which could be used to bet on boxers who were fighting in the match at any time.

Li Yinuo made her order to the waitress wearing a bunny girl’s costume, “Give me a glass of Bloody Mary and a glass of single malt whiskey for the baby…”

Baby? The bunny girl was obviously taken aback. She glanced at Li Tongyun and said, “Good evening Miss Yinuo, the alcohol content of single malt whiskey is very high, it’s not advisable for children to drink it.”

At the side, Nan Gengchen hesitated for a long time before saying, “I’m the baby…”

Waitress: “???”

But at this moment, Li Yinuo, who was standing in front of the glass window, was completely stunned. After following her gaze, Nan Gengchen was equally stunned by what he saw!

Qing Chen and a middle-aged man, each wearing a set of snow-white sportswear, were standing on the steps in the northeast corner with a glass of drink in their hands.

The middle-aged man was talking to Qing Chen, and from time to time, he would point at the two boxers on the ring in a seemingly disdainful manner.

In the octagonal cage of the boxing ring, the blood of the two boxers were splattered all over the ground. There was no referee, and the door was locked. It would never be opened unless one of them was knocked out.

As for whether the loser would die, it depended entirely on the victor’s temperament, or the mood of the ring manager.

Under normal circumstances, the manager wouldn’t really want people to die in the ring, because each death meant that they would lose one boxer.

But if the audience in the arena got too heated, the manager would also give hints to the winner.

This was a place where emotions determined everything. It was their job to stir up the gamblers.

Li Yinuo carefully looked at Qing Chen, but she didn’t know who the person next to him was.

She thought that it should be Li Shutong, but the person didn’t look like him.

Could it be someone from Heng Society?

At this moment, Qing Chen and the man turned around and walked behind the boxing ring. Li Yinuo held her breath and stared at the holographic touch screen in the private room.

About ten minutes later, in the private room, Li Yinuo and Nan Gengchen exclaimed in shock upon seeing the updated boxer information on the holographic screen. Qing Chen appeared under the alias Guang Xiaotu as one of the two boxers participating in the next match!

Bantamweight qualifying match!

These three words evoked the cheers of the audience, so loud that the tables began to shake. Qualifying match meant that there would be a newcomer appearing tonight.

There were usually two outcomes in a qualifying match—one was the newcomer showing his brilliance in a fierce battle, and the other was the newcomer’s fall in the octagonal cage.

At this moment, no one was more excited than Li Yinuo.

Others might not know about it, but she was well aware of Li Shutong and Chen Jiazhang’s history in the underground boxing arena. Many Knights would choose to increase their actual combat experience in such a way after completing one or two Life and Death Stages.

Li Yinuo silently looked at the octagonal cage, feeling as if she was witnessing the birth of a new Knight. She was even more excited than the time she went to Forbidden Land No. 002.

She missed the rise of Li Shutong and Chen Jiazhang and missed seeing Qing Chen climb the Great Cliff of Qingshan, but this time, she didn’t miss it.

Instead of sitting down, Li Yinuo chose to stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass of the private room and patiently waited. She told Nan Gengchen: “According to the rules, a newcomer can only challenge up to tigerweight class. The qualifying match for cruiserweight class will be held on Saturday. Let’s place the highest bet of one million on him clearing all the matches tonight.”

There were many ways to bet in the boxing arena. The audience could bet on which match Qing Chen would lose.

Nan Gengchen glanced at the odds on the holographic screen. “If you bet on him to have an all-clear, the odds are 17 to 1.”

However, as soon as their bet was placed, the manager of the boxing ring strutted inside their private room. It was the woman who had greeted them at the door earlier.

With a fluttering smile in her eyes, she asked, “Why did Miss Yinuo immediately place the highest bet, do you know this newcomer?”

The woman’s hair was curled in big waves, and her bright red lips were tremendously enchanting.

“You have a good nose. Why, are you afraid someone will pretend to be a novice and make you lose money?” Li Yinuo sneered, “Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t.”

The woman smiled and said, “Look at what you said, am I not just showing my concern? Alright, I’ll go outside to greet the guests. Have fun and enjoy your drink, I wish you a good time tonight.”

After saying that, the woman walked out with a sashay of her hips. Then, she told the subordinate who was waiting outside the door, “Help me lower the odds for all-clear.”

Translator: Zee