Chapter 40: Career

The next morning, Li Mochen was woken up by William.

The latter, perhaps thinking Li Mochen wasn't there, pushed the door open and walked straight in, then his eyes lit up with surprise.

"Andre, where the hell have you been these past few days? I couldn't find you anywhere. Damn it, I thought you'd vanished, like those missing persons."

Li Mochen sat up from the bed and looked at William with displeasure—this guy had called him by his English name again.

But then he paused, startled: "William, what happened to your face? Did someone hit you?"

Although the semi-basement was almost dark in the morning, his eyesight could still make out the large bruises and swelling on William's face.

"Me?"

William Jacques gave an awkward smile: "I got beaten up by that guy Hancock. He's gone completely crazy, didn't even care about Wang Xia and Hua Qing helping me. If Miss Louise hadn't rescued me, I'd probably be in bed for two or three months. But it's okay, the injuries aren't serious, and the matter is settled."

"Is that so?"

Li Mochen looked at him suspiciously: "I keep feeling like you're hiding something."

"What could I be hiding? I just got beaten up, no need to lie to you, AH?"

William gave a snort of laughter, then crossed his arms: "Since you're back, get up quickly. Don't forget what day it is?"

Li Mochen thought for a moment and recalled that today was match day. As a member of the school's cold weapon fighting club, he didn't have classes today, but he needed to go to the club for the morning training session to prepare.

So he immediately got up and went into the bathroom to wash up.

On the eighth day of arriving in this world, Li Mochen had learned that the place he had landed was a world where noble families, powerful capitalists, and underworld forces ran rampant.

So in America, it was very difficult for anyone to do business. Behind a grocery store on Atlanta's Market Street might stand a company or family with considerable wealth; behind a bakery might be a city councilor or even a state senator; and a decent fruit and fresh produce store likely had a notorious outlaw or even a moderately strong hunting guild backing it.

For commoners wanting to open a shop to make money, just the harassment from gangs would exhaust them, and then they'd have to face pressure from all sides of society. Without sufficient power to rely on, 'bankruptcy' was the only outcome.

This was probably why the Super Market that Li Mochen envisioned couldn't appear in this world. The social classes here were almost completely solidified, and the same went for commerce. Anyone trying to change a business model would have to fight their way through the vested interests and deal with various non-commercial pressures. Otherwise, the supermarket business model wouldn't have gone unthought of until now.

So the several ways he had previously thought of to make money were all unfeasible.

Li Mochen felt that he first needed to accumulate some wealth and establish a certain social status, which would be more beneficial for his business attempts.

Becoming a professional fighter was a good path. If he could become a professional athlete in the NMOSA (National Mixed Old Steel Association), then participating in a single match would earn him at least a hundred thousand gold shields. If he could climb to the top of this league, then a single Emperor of War championship match broadcast nationwide across America would bring in fifty million gold shields. Besides that, he would have a lot of sponsorships and advertisements, making three to five hundred million a year not difficult. Moreover, he would gain immense social influence—those who held the Emperor of War title and gold belts were widely respected and admired in society.

But joining the National Mixed Old Steel Association wasn't easy; the best way was through the draft. NMOSA held a draft every year, where the league's thirty-six club members would select the best draft participants in order to sign them as contracted athletes.

But there were only seventy-two spots, and everyone only had one chance to participate. Draft participants had to have outstanding performances in the NHSAA, NCAA, or international competitions to be selected by these clubs.

Li Mochen knew that the original owner had many obsessions and desires, and one of them was to gain recognition from high society. This was also the strongest desire of the original owner besides revenge. He wanted the Wiltons to look at him with new eyes; he wanted to prove to his sister that even without the Wiltons, their family could live well; he wanted to show the world that his mother had not made a wrong choice, that the Eastern blood within him was something to be proud of, not a stain on any 'blue blood'; he wanted to stand at the highest point in the world and give sufficient retribution to those who had insulted, despised, or even ostracized his parents.

Li Mochen found this speechless. Why did he have to prove anything to others? Why care about the thoughts of a bunch of ants and specks of dust? Was it interesting to look down on a crowd of ants and weeds? The thoughts of a teenage edgelord were really hard to understand.

But this matter didn't conflict with his goal of returning to the Primordial Dome as soon as possible.

He had once cultivated to the Mahayana stage and knew well that the path of cultivation became harder the further one went. To walk in just over a decade the path that had taken him fifty-four years in the Primordial Dome, and even to take another step forward in this world to become a true immortal, he would have to rely on external aids as much as possible.

But those elixirs or artifacts that had no side effects or residual toxins were extremely precious. Without enough money or even status, he couldn't even think about them.

So he still had to earn gold shields, and the more the better. Although his goal and that of the original owner were different, there was no conflict between them.

"By the way, William, did our school recently get two transfer students? And they joined our club?"

"That's right. You mean the two who knocked you out, right?"

As soon as Li Mochen brought this up, William started winking: "I heard you might have seen something you shouldn't have in the locker room? So, how were their figures? Pretty good, huh?"

Li Mochen curled his lip: "I'm asking you a question!"

William felt that this guy was becoming less and less polite to him, but somehow he couldn't muster any anger now: "One is called Angela Medici, the other Lina Ederic. Like our Miss, they're both from Stellar Vein Noble Academy."

"Angela Medici?"

Li Mochen poked his head out of the bathroom in surprise: "Are you sure her surname is Medici? From the Old Continent, the one that produced several Popes?"

"I was just as surprised as you."

William shrugged: "But she said she's from a collateral branch of the Medici family, not the main line. I think it must be true, otherwise she wouldn't have come here."

Then he said with a hint of helplessness: "Our Miss invited them over originally to deal with the spring team competition next year. But now it's ruined—we're 99% sure we won't get enough points, and the spring team competition is completely off. I guess our Miss must feel very sorry."

"I find it strange."

Li Mochen asked vaguely while brushing his teeth: "Couldn't they compete themselves? Couldn't they have transferred earlier?"

"That's the problem. They've already represented Stellar Vein Noble Academy in competitions."

William explained: "So they're different from you, A-Mo. According to NHSAA rules, after transferring, they have to wait half a year before they can compete again."

"I see!"

Li Mochen said casually: "Actually, it's not hard to get enough points for the spring team competition. I think I can make it to the Atlanta regional finals, and there's an 80% chance I'll win. So as long as someone from our club makes it into the top seventy-six, that should be enough."

Upon hearing this, William let out a 'Ha' laugh. He couldn't be bothered to comment on Li Mochen's boastfulness.