When we say that Bechi is a paradise for nightlife, objectively speaking, Bechi is actually a very convenient place. As the earliest living area developed in Barton, the infrastructure here is very complete. Life, work, and entertainment are all here, which is convenient and fast.
But of course, after the development of Barton really took off, the aspect of life began to shift due to the needs of the citizens, and more people turned their attention to Knoll and Back Bay, which can provide a better living environment. Becky began to focus on entertainment, and went a little further.
Fortunately, the city government did not continue to allow Beqi to go further in certain aspects. At least as we know, Beqi East Street, the street near Reiput, began rectification at the beginning of the year. Stores that would affect the healthy growth of high school students were closed, and outdated streets and buildings were renovated and rebuilt.
Zach's destination is on this new-looking street.
In front of a narrow building sandwiched between a bookstore and a stationery store, Zach confirmed the door number on the business card for the last time, pressed the answer button on the door, then stepped aside and pushed James to the door. ,"you say."
James ducked, "Speak for yourself."
"I still need to explain to you on the street where people come and go. It is very likely that this Earl will ignore my visit."
"Tsk." James stood back with his lips raised, staring at the transponder impatiently, waiting for a while, and then pressed it again, "How do you know he's home?"
"I called and got hung up on."
James curled his lips and stopped asking, pressing impatiently.
Click, it was connected, but no one spoke except for the sound of breathing mixed with electromagnetic noise.
James looked at Zach and raised his hand, meaning 'What do you want me to say? ! '
Zach raised his hand in response, meaning, 'Whatever, just let him open the door. '
"Barton Police Department." James pouted and spoke to the transponder, while glaring sideways at Zach in response to Zach's speechless forehead. To be honest, what can you expect James to say, "I'm Detective Lance, Earl, I need to ask you something, please open the door."
There was silence for a while, "I know who you are, and I also saw Zachary standing next to you, what are you doing here."
Zach looked up and retracted his little head from the window on the top floor. It was too fast and I couldn’t see my face clearly.
Zach waved James away and looked at the transponder, "Earl, you hung up on me."
"Now I can hang on you again." So direct.
Zach pursed his lips, "Cofft recommended you to Grande on accounting matters. He said you are an expert. Open the door, I don't want to discuss these things on the street."
There was silence again, and after a while, he said, "I don't do Grande's business."
Zach looked at James, who was already frowning, and said slowly, "Then I'll give your business card to Detective Lance. Maybe he can find something that really needs to visit you with the identity of the Barton Police Department." Reasons." A gray professional lawyer introduced a financial expert who "likes to be behind the scenes and does not do long-term business." So Zach was threatening, clearly.
Click. The door opened.
"Thank you." Zach added into the transponder.
Before he had time to open the door, James took the lead and frowned as he stepped in, "What are you looking for him for?"
"You'll know in a minute, why are you in a hurry." Zach closed the door and pushed James upstairs.
A young police detective, a vampire, and the stairs were nothing. He reached the top floor in minutes, and the door was already opened, as if it was reserved for them.
"Change your shoes." As soon as he opened the door, a man with a face like cracked tree bark instructed at the door. With a face like tree bark, have you thought of anyone, such as Smith's brother-in-law Flanders (Rimmer) or something. Now this is the android Earl. If Smith had seen him, he would have thought that Flanders was really handsome. Yes, this is for everyone's reference. To illustrate, Earl is uglier.
James, who had been mentally prepared for a long time, still had a bad reaction on the spot. He blocked the door and stared stiffly at the owner Earl who greeted them.
"Are there bugs on my face?" Earl also looked at James and asked.
"Uh." James was pushed from behind by Zach before he responded, "Sorry." He turned away and followed his master's instructions and began to change his shoes.
Zach was much faster and had already bypassed James and walked into Earl's house. He took a casual look and said, "Is the madam not here?"
"Work." The answer was simple, "Stay in the living room for a while, and the study will be tidied up in a while."
Earl's home is not big, and Zach, who is in the living room, can see the entire layout clearly by looking around. After being reminded by these words, he tilted his head and looked towards the end of the corridor to one side. The sound of rustling tidying up came from the study room, and soon, a, well, a bush in the shape of a child ran out with a pile of books and stationery.
James just finished changing his slippers and came over to see him. His face became gloomy, and his eyes couldn't help but move towards Zach, who was also looking at the child's bush.
When he came, Zach said that Earl's son looked more sorry, and it was Zach's intention.
Zach's eyes moved down on the child's face, which was almost the same as a walking plant, and landed on the books and stationery held in his hands. He actually showed a smile, "Family education? Not bad, we need something in this area." Any suggestions, I should be pretty good at it, haha, I’m not too complacent, I feel like Alice’s education is pretty good.”
Earl didn't seem to want to respond to Zach, patting his son on the head, "Go watch TV, dad and uncles have to talk about work."
The boy nodded. Through the cracks in the tree bark, his bright eyes looked at Zach, then turned to James. He was very obedient and said nothing. He turned on the TV and started changing channels.
"Study." Earl took the lead and walked towards the study, "You don't need refreshments or anything like that."
"No need." James answered before Zach could, because he already knew Zach's habits too well and couldn't give the vampire the possibility of prolonging the topic to no end.
Zach didn't mind James' quick answer, he just smiled. Entering the study, he consciously sat down behind the desk. No one could control Zach to start his own topic, "What's the name of the little guy? This is the first time I've seen him since I saved his life 9 years ago, and I don't know his name yet."
"You don't need to know." Earl picked up the missing eraser on the table and put it in the drawer. "You don't need to add another name to Toledo's list of hypocritical victims."
After closing the door, James was moving the extra chairs, but now he gave up and leaned in the corner, preparing to watch indifferently.
"Really, saving your child's life is hypocrisy." Zach said with a normal expression, "Then maybe I should be more truthful and let him return to the destiny he should have had when he was born."
James almost slapped him in the face and ended his initial onlooker, but neither Zach nor Earl made any move. They leaned back with twitching eyes and continued to stare coldly.
"My agreement." It was difficult to capture the expression on Earl's bark-like face, "Since Sibella brought the news back to the Central Region (the Secret Alliance left), it has no meaning. You can do whatever you want, but I promise ." Fortunately, the tone was clear enough and an absolute threat, "I won't make it easy for you, Toledo, either."
Zach smiled, then waved his hand, and the topic came without any warning, "Grand has some extra income. I don't know what to do with it. Koft recommended you."
"Give it all to me." The other party entered the role quickly, "plus Grande's daily accounts from the past two years, one week."
"Give it all to you? How do I know I can trust you?" Reasonable question.
"Don't believe me." He was unexpectedly straightforward and unsurprisingly diverted from the topic, bringing the topic back to where Zach had cut it off. "Just like before, I didn't trust you when I gave up my son's life."
"Your son is alive, isn't he." Zach tilted his head.
Suddenly, the tabletop was slapped hard by a hand with dry, rough skin, "Alive?! His body was damaged by the soul erosion three times as much as normal! Three times!!" emphasized, "You said that is alive?! He has never stepped out of this home! Do you think this is alive?!"
James frowned tightly, and the cold stare was really not suitable for him, because now James couldn't help but look at the door of the study room, mentally judging the degree of sound insulation here.
"Three times." Zach repeated, his mood seemed to not fluctuate at all, "Can I think that you are prepared to swallow up two-thirds of Grande's assets accordingly?"
James' eyes moved back to Zach with mixed emotions. Yes, James can't keep up.
Also unable to keep up was Earl. That bark face that makes it difficult to judge the expression actually has a clear expression, which is incredible, "You...what, how could you make such an unreasonable analogy??"
Earl was talking about his son's life, and Zach was talking about money.
"Isn't it unreasonable?" Zach actually shook his head, "Then what do you want to express and ask me to apologize? Because when you were saving your son's life, you still resented the fact that your race betrayed Toledo. With you, The fact that when I first arrived in Barton, you tried to assassinate me several times, but you deliberately didn't try your best to make your son extremely ugly?"
Zach waved his hand, "I'm sorry, I may have felt a little sense of responsibility when I saw your son just now, but I really don't have any apologies. I don't think I did anything wrong at the time, just like the last time Toledo freed the slaves. But I ended up being the only survivor. Responsible, but unapologetic, and those who are mature enough will know the difference."
To give an example that may not be appropriate, if a policeman or doctor fails to save someone, he should feel responsible, but he does not need to feel sorry for anyone.
"Now, I'm suggesting you do the same..." Zach shrugged, "No, it's better. I'll pay you two-thirds of Grande's assets. You don't need to swallow customers' money to affect your reputation. I take the initiative to pay. Let us all live a more natural life, what do you think?"
Silence fell in the study.
It was Earl who broke the silence, making sounds with movement.
He stood up and walked to the bookcase. After opening the bottom cabinet, he began to turn the combination lock without hesitation. He pulled out an ancient notebook from under some documents, opened it, glanced at it, and closed the safe. , throwing the notebook directly to Zach, "The middle part of my great-great-grandfather's diary records the changes in our artificial human race in the Secret Alliance before and after the abolition of slavery."
Zach caught it and put it directly back on the table, "What do you mean by giving me this?"
"No one betrayed Toledo, it was you who betrayed you. The artificial people who once served Toledo were abandoned by you without any warning." The tone was gloomy, "All they can do is to defect to other clans. And then you Toledo yourself , create a rift between the clans, and let the Alliance discover that you, Toledo, are a threat that must be eliminated."
Remember, Toledo's past was presented to us as a historical story by different people, a strange history of working himself to death.
Zach curled his lips slightly. Of course, as a Toledo, Zach would not think that it was seeking death. "If you regard giving freedom as abandonment, I can only say that your race has a certain nature from the source. Irredeemably flawed." An artificial race that is only suitable to be used as slaves and will become extinct if left is not a flaw.
"Whatever you say." Earl returned to the table, "The fact is that I, the me you see now, is probably the last bloodline of our race, and this is what you call the result of freedom. I have tried to keep this last Bloodline, desperate enough to attack the culprit who brought this devastating blow to our race... "
James interrupted inexplicably, "You may be mistaken. The abolition of slavery has nothing to do with Toledo. It is the process of human society itself." In Zach's strange look, James looked over. At first, he didn’t know why he suddenly wanted to say these words, and besides, these words were only someone else’s, “Toledo was making innovations in the Secret Alliance, but he was wiped out without affecting anything. "Remember, these are the words of the mind-reader Mo Ruilin.
Zach looked back at Earl, "As the detective said, Toledo is not the culprit. At most, it is a reminder to your race. You ignored it and betrayed it. I said." His eyes looked at Earl's body. time, "This is the ending you deserve." If what Earl said is true, he is the last bloodline, "And you should feel lucky that Toledo, who gave you a chance, appears in front of you again. He looked back at the study door and pointed to the child in the living room at the end of the corridor behind the door, "I've given you another chance."
Earl closed his eyes, probably completely speechless to these two guests.
"I think you should know that Rimmer has been in Barton for a while." Zach said after another period of silence in the study, and fiddled with the notebook placed on the table casually, "I don't know. In your great-great-grandfather’s diary, did you ever mention one of the Rimmers named Flanders?”
Earl said nothing.
Zach continued, "Probably not. Rimmer is the only clan in the Secret Alliance that does not use artificial human slaves, and their classes are too far apart. The slaves are not allowed to talk about the master's information. Finally, I used the only information I have With a little sense of responsibility, let me tell you some secret information that can only be known after breaking away from the slave status. Your ancestors ignored the opportunity, and I put it in front of you again... "
He was interrupted, "Are you trying to get back the two-thirds of Grande's assets that you just promised as payment?" His tone was calm, and he was just talking about business.
Zach curled up the corners of his mouth, and what he said really made people unhappy, "You have to remind me that the value of this information may be more than ten times the assets of Grande."
"You want me to do something for you for free?!" It's impossible to give money back, so I don't say it at all.
"You can judge for yourself." Zach continued with a smile, "Flender is an artificial human made by the ancestor of Rimmer himself, and it is not an ordinary artificial species. Flanders is Rimmer, and his body is full of blood. It is the same ancestral blood as the current leader of Rimmer, Eve Rimmer." (.)