Chapter 87: Fairness

“Alright, I agree.”

“…” Hearing the woman’s reply from behind the curtain, Zheng Yichen was momentarily stunned. He had come here fully prepared to bargain. After all, his current actions made him less of a partner and more of a supporter for those studying him. The difference was that whatever Zheng Yichen gained here, he would pay a corresponding price. Some of the things he made could also be exchanged directly for money through the partner.

“Very well, then. Do we need to sign a Contract…?”

“Contract? I don’t like such things. However, I can assure you that as long as you do not unilaterally engage in any behavior that affects our cooperation, I will not violate the terms of our partnership.” The woman behind the curtain spoke calmly. Her voice did not seem naturally flat but rather deliberately restrained.

In any case, since she had already said so, Zheng Yichen simply took out a document. It detailed the terms of cooperation. He had put a lot of thought into drafting it, ensuring that neither he nor the partner would suffer losses. As for profits, Zheng Yichen did not care much about them at the moment.

He only wanted to quickly build up his own foundation, so that he would not have to run all over the world being chased again in the future. Next time, those who chased him would have to think twice. Besides, there was also the matter of Loris. She had left mysteriously, refusing to say what she was going to do. Zheng Yichen guessed it probably had something to do with his lack of strength.

Given Loris’s power, whatever she was doing would take a long time. Under such circumstances, having one more person—or not—seemed to make little difference. Bringing him along would probably be like bringing an idle person.

“…” The woman behind the curtain flipped through Zheng Yichen’s contract. Its contents left her somewhat puzzled. In Zheng Yichen’s view, the terms of the contract were very fair, offering long-term benefits for both parties. However, it was precisely because it was too fair that it seemed strange.

If she were to draft a contract, even while maintaining fairness, she would still secure some additional benefits for herself. Such fairness… suggested that the partner was not highly valued.

Maintaining such perfectly balanced fairness meant that future dealings would be straightforward exchanges, with no lingering debts between the parties. Either side could terminate the cooperation at any time, as such fairness would not create too many entanglements, making termination pressure-free.

From this perspective, it seemed Zheng Yichen had prepared this contract in advance, knowing she did not like Contracts. But… very few people in this world knew she disliked Contracts. After all, everyone had their own secrets, and given her status, she rarely took the initiative to sign Contracts with anyone.

After reading the contract, the woman behind the curtain looked at Zheng Yichen with a subtle expression. The person before her was merely an Alchemical Puppet, controlled through various means. Upon observation, she noticed Zheng Yichen used a rather peculiar method: he controlled it through a Projection…

Wasn’t he afraid someone would seize the opportunity to trap the Projection? Although controlling an Alchemical Puppet through a Projection was one of the most stable methods, making it nearly impossible for others to seize control, unless they used the same method to forcibly eject the Projection from the puppet’s body!

As for what his Projection’s true form was, this Alchemical Puppet was shielded by magic-repelling metal. Without stripping away that layer, she could not tell. Using effective Detection Magic was even more unnecessary. Even if she uncovered the secrets of this Alchemical Puppet, being discovered would likely ruin any future cooperation.

Zheng Yichen was interesting. This was her final conclusion after observing him during this period and meeting him today. Previously, his ability to ignore some common traits in the Tavern was one thing—some people with strong willpower could also resist such traits. But after facing her directly, he could still withstand the influence of her abilities, which was extremely rare…

Moreover, figuring out the structure of this Alchemical Puppet was simple: she could just ask Zheng Yichen to make one for her.

“A very fair contract. I like this kind of cooperation,” the woman said softly. “Do you need to take this contract back?”

“No need. I have another copy here,” Zheng Yichen shook his head. The contract was not a Contract; whether its terms were followed depended entirely on personal integrity. Given its extremely fair nature, dealings would essentially be straightforward exchanges of goods for payment. Even if one had ideas, it would not be easy to heavily disadvantage the other party—not because it was impossible, but because there was no such opportunity.

Taking out another document, Zheng Yichen handed it to Lika beside him, who passed it to the woman behind the curtain. Looking at the dossier Zheng Yichen produced—a type of dossier unique to Earth—she noted she had never seen anything like it before.

Opening the dossier, she found a proposal inside. Its contents were about the equipment and preparation needs for the Bar. This world was an Otherworld, so it certainly could not copy Earth’s Bars directly. The customs were too different. If copied directly, people in this world would likely find it too shocking, too unfamiliar, and too Aberrant.

However, even after Zheng Yichen’s Magical Modification, the final form of the Bar would be akin to an overly retro style, still retaining many characteristics of Earth’s Bars. Should he modify it further to make it more grounded? Zheng Yichen felt he was now developing into an Otherworld tech enthusiast; how could he understand so many “unimportant” details?

In any case, this proposal was just a stepping stone. The actual user could modify it further as needed. Professional matters should be left to professionals.

For the woman, the contents of the complete proposal were still very novel. Although she had already glimpsed from the earlier incomplete version that the Bar would be popular among young men and women, reading the complete version gave her many comparative ideas. Moreover, the Bar’s style… compared to the current Mysterious Tavern, was more aligned with some of the things she wanted to do. Emotions… only surged more when people were excited!

“I am very satisfied. We will have more pleasant collaborations in the future,” the woman said. After reading the proposal, one might feel it was just like that, easy to think of. But in reality? Even if it seemed easy to think of, no one had actually thought of it!

It was like the combination of a pencil and an eraser attached to its end. When pencils and erasers existed separately, no one thought of this. But once someone did, others realized… it was so simple. Why hadn’t they thought of it before? That was creativity!