Cha Ming eventually found the Blackthorn Conglomerate. A tall gray building, the large complex occupied four city blocks and cut off both an avenue and a street. Its walls were covered in a black thornlike pattern that reminded him of the Jade Bamboo Pavilion’s décor.
Not exactly subtle, are they?
Attendants bowed as he landed at the front door. “What can this one help you with, esteemed senior?” the strongest among them said.
“I’ve come at the invitation of Director Yong,” Cha Ming said, holding out his employment contract. The attendant accepted the document reverently, then invited Cha Ming inside the building, where he saw many desks, both buying and selling in the fashion he’d grown used to at the Jade Bamboo Auction Houses in the North.
“Please excuse me while I report to my manager,” the man said before leaving Cha Ming at a small table. Servants brought tea, and by the time he drank his first sip, a man in black cultivation robes approached.
“Come on in,” the man said, waving him toward the back of the lobby. “No need for decorum. You live and work here now.”
“Will I be seeing Director Yong?” Cha Ming asked, following the man to the back. The attendant had returned to the front to welcome other guests, and the deferential attitude he’d seen in the employee before had been replaced by an intense competitive glare that seemed to say: You may be stronger now, but you watch. I’ll surpass you, and soon, you’ll be the one bowing.
“Director Yong is busy at the moment,” the man said. “As you’ll find he usually is. My name is Tian Zhi. You can call me Boss Tian, as you now report directly to me.”
“Boss Tian,” Cha Ming said, bowing his head slightly in greeting. The duo walked out of the lobby and into the open-air complex behind it.
“We’ll have your residence ready by tonight,” Tian Zhi said. “An attendant will bring your identification badge and introduce the cultivation chambers and other accommodations. For now, you’ll follow me to the research and development workshop.”
Cha Ming nodded. He followed Tian Zhi through a few smaller winding streets until they arrived at a tall square building in the center of the complex. According to the sign, it was the manufacturing center. They entered the building and proceeded to a metal door at the back. Tian Zhi swiped his identification badge on a rune affixed to the metal door. It opened up into a smaller room. A small panel on the wall was inscribed with simple runes a child could read. Tian Zhi pressed the largest number, and they began moving not up, but down. Cha Ming’s eyes widened in surprise, but the surprise ultimately faded.
“Seen a lift before, have you?” Tian Zhi asked. “It’s the only way in and out of the research complex.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Cha Ming asked, noticing that the walls hummed with a soft music to pass the time as the dreadfully slow contraption progressed. “What if the lift breaks?”
Tian Zhi shrugged. “It might be a mechanism, but it’s a core-level artifice. The whole building is made of stone, and experiments are conducted in explosion-proof rooms. If the lift stops functioning, at least one of us should be able to fix it, and if not, we’re all cultivators. We can wait for help.”
“Fair enough,” Cha Ming said. Safety was so much simpler when cultivators were involved.
Soon enough, the elevator opened into a small room with clear walls. Tian Zhi approached the wall and motioned to a small clear panel on it. He pulled back his sleeve and pointed to a black thorn-covered tattoo on his forearm—his employment mark.
“To enter the facility,” Tian Zhi explained, “one must verify their employment contract. It has to be the right kind of employment contract as well. Normal ones will be refused access along with some… unpleasant surprises.” Instead of scanning his own arm, he gestured for Cha Ming to do so first. “You’re the new one here. Scan your employment mark. If you’ve been wasting my time and you’re a fraud, I’ll just kill you and get on with my day.”
As a peak-marrow-refining cultivator, the man had reason to be confident in his strength.
Cha Ming gulped, but he did as he was told. He pulled back his sleeve and revealed the employment mark, a tattoo of thorny black patterns complete with a runic identification number. He pressed it against the plate, which hummed. The door opened, and Cha Ming walked inside. It closed immediately afterward, opening once more to allow Tian Zhi inside.
“Welcome to the Blackthorn Conglomerate’s Research and Development Center!” Tian Zhi said, holding out his hand.
Cha Ming gaped at what he saw. Instead of the slightly tall ceiling and tight hallways he’d expected of the underground facility, he saw a massive underground structure. It wasn’t just a single floor, but several dozen floors in the bottom of the building, all combined in a massive space. The ceiling was illuminated by giant crystalline lights that not only provided light but ambient qi.
Instead of the small laboratories Cha Ming had expected, he saw people walking about, talking happily. Large contraptions were being built out in the open air beside underground herb gardens.
“You can work anywhere you like, really,” Tian Zhi said. “But if you kill anyone, we’ll kill you, as per Clause 15.3 of your contract. If you’re doing anything dangerous, you need to use the research workshops.” He pointed to the building closest to them on the left. “Each one is equipped with the best in safety systems, including explosion-proof walls for witnessing tests or shielding during crafting.” He then pointed to the back. “That building is our research library, to which you now have full access.”
“That,” he said, pointing to the building to their right, “is the arboretum.” The glass building was mostly transparent and spiraled upward like a beanstalk. “We grow our most exotic
