Later on, Ye Shen and Meilan opted to walk together back to the clinic. At this moment, Ye Shen was busy thinking about renting an apartment for him to stay. Presumably with an open space for training and meditation.
However, such luxury wouldn't be so easily come by. If there's any, the price would be very expensive.
Meilan soon noticed his complexed face. "Is there something the matter?"
"Ah, it's nothing." Ye Shen smiled wryly.
"Really?" Meilan leaned her body forward, taking a good look at his face. "Ah! Come to think of it, you must be tired after the sparring session. How about we grab some drinks? I know a good place. Don't worry, it's my treat!"
"That's very generous of you, Miss Meilan. But, I must decline. I don't wish to inconvenience you any further than this. You've been too kind for someone like me."
"C'est la vie! Let's hurry, before we run out of tables!"
Ye Shen couldn't do anything except follow this young woman around. She looked very happy, and it was very palpable from the movement of her tails. Her ears fully perked up, twitching playfully as she jogged while tugging his hand.
After traversing the winding alleyways of the downtown, they arrived at a quite crowded pub which was also owned by her friend. The place was boisterous as ever, filled with cyborgs, androids, and Systemless humans as well.
As they entered, the owner soon recognised Meilan's cute ears from where she stood.
"Meilan!" She called, waving a hand above her head.
Almost ninety percent of her body has been replaced with augmentation, making her look a very elegant and terrifyingly intelligent person.
From the front, the high-grade synthetic skin, and sizable bosoms would enchant anyone to fall into her embrace.
The neat array of glistering chrome and bright yellow wires snake up her arms and spine. But her bare, and see through back gives a proper glimpse of the complex computing hardware that was installed in her body.
Even so, the pub's owner refused to replace her brain with a synthetic brain with a quantum computer in it.
"Ah! Xiao Rong!!" Meilan trotted through the crowd, completely unfazed by the rough looking guys who were staring at her cute tail and sizable rums.
Xiao Rong stepped out of the bar, and greeted Meilan with a big hug.
"It's been a while, Meimei. How have you been?" Xiao Rong asked after peeling herself from Meilan.
"I'm good! I've been busy with grandpa's clinic. And I just got back from my gym class and decided to drop by."
"I see…" Xiao Ronf's eyes drifted to the long haired young man who stood amidst the crowd. "Hold on… he is the guy who wrecked Zhang Quan in a sparring, right?!"
"Yep, you've guessed it. His name is Ye Shen. After that sparring session, Bai Ning made sure that he'll get the best publication possible, especially after she saw Ye Shen's natural talent."
Xiao Rong took a closer look, magnifying his figure through her eyes which was replaced with augmentation. On the other hand, Ye Shen
was just standing amidst the crowd, overwhelmed by the plurality of the people.
"Weird… I can't find him anywhere." Xiao Rong was a bit concerned. "Who is this guy?"
"Well, that's what we are trying to figure out. After he crash landed near the clinic, my grandpa said to me that he's just a normal human. He was as organic as it can get, no augmentation, except the ID CHIP that my grandpa's installed in his brain stem to save his life."
"That is rather peculiar…" Xiao Rong decided to not pursue the matter any further. "But anyway, what would you like to drink?"
"Orange Sunset!" Meilan replied, she sat on the tall wooden stool hastily. She was about to ask Ye Shen about his drink but only to find him already sitting in front of a huge guy, doing arm wrestling.
Meilan's ears slumped down, "Ah, there he goes. I knew this kind of thing would happen."
Xiao Rong chuckled. "Boys will be boys… Well, let him have some fun, Meilan."
The fox girl let out a long sigh. "It can't be helped then."
****
Meanwhile, Ye Shen had amassed some cash after defeating dozens of strong men in the pub. Unbeknownst to him, the cash money has reached around 5,000 dollars.
"Argh! Damn it!"
"Hahaha! Another one down! Who's next!" Ye Shen flexed his biceps.
"Hmph! One more time! I will definitely beat you!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Ash shook his head. "Then you must raise the bet to five hundred dollars!"
"I accept!"
"Very well! Let's do it!"
Unbeknownst to everyone, Ye Shen was actually doing a quest to win twenty matches in arm wrestling. Without exaggeration, it was tougher compared to fighting against Zhang Quan by leap and bound!
'If I win, I will get additional twenty strands of Pure Yang Qi!'
Subsequently, the referee stepped in, holding their hands tightly.
"Ready… Set… Go!"
Both of them grunted intensely, greeting their teeth while mustering every ounce of their strength.
The big guy's nanotech muscles bulged up, making his bicep look like about to explode. Meanwhile, Ye Shen was barely breaking a sweat.
Nevertheless, he felt the tremendous force in his hand. Before they know it, the stainless table below their elbows began to bent due to extreme stress.
"Come on! Push harder!"
"Let's go!"
"Ye Shen! Ye Shen!"
Hearing the crowd chanting his name, Ye Shen doubled his power.
"Rrraaaahhhh!"
At last, Ye Shen couldn't help but to use his internal Qi. Soon after, Ye Shen slammed his opponent's hands to the table, and dented the metal as if it was made from clay.
Granted, everybody who wasn't paying attention to the match gradually gathered behind him. The pub went silent after the loud crashing sound.
"Oh shit!" Ye Shen was sincerely concerned. "Are you okay brother?"
"Yeah, it will heal automatically after some rest. Damn, you are so strong despite your size. Here, five hundred dollars, as promised.
"Nah, I'm just lucky." Ye Shen collected the bet into his pocket. However, he was considerate enough to put some money on the table as repair cost.
"Thank you for wrestling with me." Ye Shen held out his hand.
"Likewise, brother."
Little did he know, there was a fight promotor who silently observing the ordeal from the VIP seat.
"Marvelous! Simply outstanding performance, young man."
The slow and deliberate hand claps stole the crowd attention toward the middle aged man in fancy red suit.