Chapter 246
Chapter 246: Protection-Fee Collectors
Translator: Min_Lee Editor: Tennesh
Gold and silver were too flashy . Plus, out of every 10 prosthetics at the rehab center, three were painted gold and two silver .
Natural skin color?
Yan Biao toyed with the idea and eventually shook his head . It was too pretentious . It was a freaking prosthetic—why pretend otherwise?
Yan Biao gave careful thought to what color he should paint his prosthetic legs, asking a whole bunch of folks for advice . After much consideration, he decided on the color his doctor suggested: titanium white .
Most doctors preferred titanium white because first, as doctors they were biased in favor of white and second, titanium white looked peaceful and less threatening . It was also the default color of most home robots . It was a color most folks in the New Era were familiar and comfortable with .
Titanium white was also nicknamed "suntan-proof . " Duh! If a prosthetic could get a tan, that would be spooky .
During his rehab at the hospital, Yan Biao typically did the maximum number of exercises allowed by the doctor so he could be in the best shape possible, the kind that would enable him to engage in combat once he had gotten used to his mechanical legs . He was getting a substantial workout .
Because of his long training sessions, Yan Biao preferred to work out outdoors and bask in the sun as long as it didn't rain . The gym was often too crowded . He wasn't used to the cramped quarters .
Just as his name suggested in Chinese, Yan Biao looked a bit intimidating . Plus, he had gone on quite a few missions in the woods during his time on Baiji . His existing tan and the fact that he was working out outdoors every day now made him look like an ox .
Yan Biao typically wore long shorts or capri pants during his training sessions, both for comfort and to allow his doctor to better monitor his prosthetics . Today he wore pants, but they came off as capri pants after his prosthetics were painted titanium white . Yan Biao even donned a pair of white sneakers to match the color of his new legs .
His other limbs were heavily tanned, in strong contrast to his pristine white prosthetic legs .
Zuo Yu nearly burst out laughing when he saw Yan Biao . "What, are you pretending to be one those black horses with white hooves?"
Fang Zhao had brought Zuo Yu up to speed shortly after he had signed a contract with Yan Biao . Zuo Yu had already visited several times during Yan Biao's hospital stay . He was free anyway and had loads of time to kill, so he looked up Yan Biao to shoot the breeze and hear a few stories about Yan Biao's life on Baiji .
Even though they were competitive toward each other, they would both be serving as Fang Zhao's bodyguards from here on out . They were comrades now, so they also tried to get along .
Zuo Yu gave Yan Biao's titanium-white mechanical prosthetics a glance and commented, "That color looks a bit girly . "
That said, compared to shiny gold, silver, any of those other weird, non-conventional colors, or the floral patterns with a dizzying effect, titanium white was OK .
Yan Biao laughed and stomped his feet . He felt good about his new legs . He was used to wearing camouflage in the army . Now that he was retired, he no longer had to sneak around . It felt good to wear a different color . But he sidestepped the issue and instead asked Zuo Yu, "You got the message from boss, didn't you?"
"Got it . " Zuo Yu had reached out to Yan Biao after he heard from Fang Zhao, but when he had called, Yan Biao had been having his prosthetics painted and hadn't been able to talk . Zuo Yu had asked where he was and had decided to track him down in person instead .
"The next flight to Wai is a week from now . The tickets have been booked," Zuo Yu said .
Yan Biao was blown away . "You actually managed to swing tickets?" He had looked online right after he had hung up with Fang Zhao . He had checked everything, be they freight vessels or chartered flights, anywhere he could secure seats .
But all flights for the next month had been completely sold out .
Wai was drawing tons of visitors after the establishment of the Wai Filmed Entertainment Culture Base . Most were the cast and crew of upcoming productions . The passengers were screened carefully, first when they bought tickets online and again prior to boarding . The tickets were also quite expensive, but that didn't stop the deluge of visitors . Many folks used their connections to land gopher jobs on upcoming TV productions so they would have an official cover to check out the legendary twin bases in person—the major research base and the filmed entertainment culture base .
But because of the limited number of seats, even production crews had to work their connections .
Yan Biao had access to Wai because he worked for an investor in the filmed entertainment culture base, but first he had to land a space transport ticket .
"I'm no miracle worker . Boss got us tickets and sent me a message . The tickets were just issued," Zuo Yu responded .
Yan Biao fired up his tablet . Indeed, there was an unread message waiting for him . It was too noisy, so he had missed the reminder . He was used to using military-issue electronic equipment in the service and was still getting used to the new consumer electronic devices on Earth .
Yan Biao made a mental note to buy a better tablet when he got his first paycheck .
A week later, Yan Biao and Zuo Yu boarded a space vessel bound for Wai .
The Wai Filmed Entertainment Culture Base was now crammed with various productions that were renting space from the major investors . They had all signed contracts .
There were quite a few production crews leasing plots from the area that Fang Zhao had bought . Fang Zhao didn't have the time to deal with the paperwork; Duan Qianji had assigned someone to help him out .
But Duan Qianji was also busy and frequently delegated to her staff . The production crews paid their rent on time initially, but some tenants had started playing games when Fang Zhao's plot had started getting crowded . Tenants of the Silver Wing set were typically on time because they had dedicated staffers in charge of collecting rent . Meanwhile, production crews on Fang Zhao's plot had started owing back rent . These folks didn't dare take on Duan Qianji, but they thought Fang Zhao would let things slide .
Fang Zhao was willing to let production crews write IOUs or pay in installments, but the bottom line was that they had to show they intended to pay .
When he checked his books, he realized some tenants were messing with him this month .
It wasn't a big deal, and Fang Zhao was clearly in the right, so he didn't take the issue to Duan Qianji or the Wai military command . Zuo Yu was ridiculously free anyway, and Yan Biao had recovered . This was something for them to do . A former special forces and a retired major, both armed, would send the right message .
When Yan Biao and Zuo Yu arrived at the film studio complex and laid eyes on the clusters of replicated ancient buildings for the first time, they were blown away . Even though they had seen footage of the structures online, the real thing was more impressive .
Yan Biao took a look at his map and took a deep breath . "Wow—this entire plot belongs to boss?"
Zuo Yu triple-checked and nodded . "Yep, that's the plot . "
Yan Biao was anxious to get started . "So, let's . . . go on patrol?" Walking in the streets of these sets felt like traveling through time . No wonder folks liked working here . Filming on a proper set definitely helped you get in character . Those talented actors would feel the difference .
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