Chapter 53: Various First Encounters on the Highway

"Answer it."

The servant quickly took the call, and the voice of the port supervisor came through, shouting.

"Boss, the other side is willing to make peace and stop causing trouble, but they want 300,000 monthly."

Listening nearby, Ye Li laughed angrily, "They smash my goods, scare away my clients, and now want 300,000 a month? No way, let them go to hell."

The servant quickly advised, "Young Master, I understand you're upset, but if we don't pay, we will incur even greater losses every month. We could temporarily appease them, find out who is backing Boss Wu, and then offer a substantial gift to resolve this issue, avoiding the monthly payment."

Ye Li calmed down and reluctantly said, "Do as you suggested. Tell Xiao Zheng not to clash with them."

"Yes, Young Master." The servant relayed Ye Li's instructions to the port supervisor.

While the port supervisor was on the call, Zeng Shen mingled with the workers and pulled aside a young worker seemingly watching the drama. "What's going on? Who are these people to demand 300,000 from us?"

"You must be new here," the worker replied.

Zeng Shen nodded, "Just started today."

"No wonder you don't know. I heard our boss, Ye Li, didn't pay for services at a port bar and even beat up Boss Wu, which is why they're causing trouble now."

"Ha!" Zeng Shen couldn't help but chuckle at the worker's explanation, drawing looks from some tense workers nearby.

"Sorry, it's hard to believe our boss would do that—hire someone and then not pay, and even beat someone up."

"Exactly, it's obviously just an excuse for trouble."

The surrounding workers agreed.

"Right, there must be some misunderstanding," Zeng Shen chimed in, though he couldn't help but reflect on the unintended consequences of using a fake name at the bar, causing Ye Li to bear the brunt of Boss Wu's wrath.

"So that's why Huang Ziliang came all the way out here with his gang. It all started with me."

Zeng Shen thought of Liu Miao's words from the previous day: "I don't know what happened, but the clients who left suddenly came back to renew their contracts."

"Turns out, my unintended actions had positive effects."

Seeing the port supervisor return with newfound confidence after receiving approval to pay the demanded sum, Zeng Shen guessed that Ye Li had grudgingly agreed to pay.

But if they settled, how would he earn survival points from teaching Huang Ziliang and his gang a lesson?

Letting them extort without consequences was unacceptable.

Determined to give Ye Li some relief, Zeng Shen decided to intervene.

Suddenly, as the port supervisor was about to speak, Zeng Shen shouted, "Damn it, do these thugs think we're pushovers? Guys, let's take them on. We won't let them bully us!"

With that, Zeng Shen leaped forward, kicking the blond thug to the ground.

[Host has subdued a Tier 3 Water Deity, survival points +100.]

Hearing the familiar notification, Zeng Shen was amused.

But for the blond thug and his gang, it was a humiliation, an open slap to their dignity.

In their line of work, face and reputation were everything.

They had intended to negotiate, yet now they were being attacked.

Immediately, the blond thug, supported by his gang, shouted in anger, "You asked for it! Let's get them, guys!"

Several hot-tempered workers, already fed up with the thugs who had previously smashed goods and beaten them, saw someone leading the charge and felt emboldened. They wouldn't bear the full brunt of any repercussions.

They roared, grabbing whatever weapons they had, and joined the fray.

The port supervisor, seeing the sudden outbreak of a fight, tried to intervene and stop the two sides, but the blond thug was the first to strike him, knocking out a tooth.

However, the next moment, the thug was kicked away by Zeng Shen, who had activated a double agility boost.

Zeng Shen quickly moved on to deal with several familiar "old clients."

In no time, Zeng Shen's intervention had the thugs fleeing in defeat.

The port supervisor, clutching his mouth, watched the thugs retreat. Instead of feeling relieved, he slumped to the ground, shakily dialing the servant to report, "Boss, it's over. They fought and chased them away."

Ye Li, seated in his office, jumped up, enraged at the news, "Useless, you're all useless!"

At that moment, an unfamiliar number called his landline.

He was about to hang up, but something made him pause, and he hesitated before answering.

On the other end, Scarface's cold voice came through, "It seems Young Master Ye doesn't want this to end. Fine, we can..."

"No, wait, listen..." Ye Li tried to interject.

But all he heard was the dial tone as the call ended, leaving him slumping back into his chair in despair.

As Huang Ziliang and his gang retreated, Zeng Shen heard the system notification and quietly retreated behind a container, using invisibility to exit the port unnoticed, returning to the RV.

Zeng Shen climbed into the driver's seat, reappeared, and softly commanded, "No. 1, continue to Xiayang Town, Tonghai."

"Understood, Master."

The No. 1 Divine Energy Chariot responded with its mechanical voice and headed toward the Jintie Highway.

As they approached the highway, the chariot asked, "Master, the Jintie Highway toll station is ahead. Should we activate stealth mode to bypass it?"

"No, stop at the toll booth normally. I'll pay the toll before getting on the highway."

"Understood, Master."

...

Zeng Shen took the card handed to him by the toll booth attendant, pretending to step on the accelerator, and slowly drove away from the booth, entering the highway.

Once on the highway, he re-engaged the chariot's autopilot, reclining in his seat, casually chatting with Xiao Ai about their recent activities and future plans, occasionally responding to messages from Li Yuqing and Liu Miao.

After driving for over ten minutes, passing a small village by the highway, a warning notification sounded.

[Danger! Danger! The host is about to enter the territory of a Tier 3 Earth Deity. If...]

Before the warning could finish, it abruptly stopped, replaced by a new notification.

[Host bravely proceeds, safely passing through the territory of a Tier 3 Earth Deity, survival points +1000.]

Zeng Shen smiled at the message, "Nice, finally triggered a first encounter. I wonder how many first encounters I'll trigger on this highway."

As Zeng Shen pondered this with anticipation, the chariot entered a tunnel.

Another notification promptly sounded in his ear.

[Warning! Warning! The host is about to enter a mutated Earth Dragon's lair. Please leave quickly.]

Upon exiting the tunnel, another notification sounded.

[Host skillfully navigates through the mutated Earth Dragon's lair unharmed, survival points +1000.]

Half an hour later, yet another notification sounded.

[Danger! Danger! The host is about to intrude on the territory of a Tier 5 Mountain Giant Ape. Please...]

Half a minute later, as the chariot left the mountainous highway section, another notification followed.

[Host calmly passes through the territory of the Tier 5 Mountain Giant Ape King without disturbance, survival points +1000.]

-Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there 

patreon.com/LegendaryTL

Thanks!