As soon as Su Su stepped through the door, she saw a crowd of guests waiting for her in the hotel lobby.
Upon seeing her, they immediately swarmed forward.
“Boss, downstairs… downstairs!”
The first person to reach her was too nervous to speak properly, pointing frantically at the floor. Su Su looked back at them, her face a mask of confusion.
Eventually, someone else, unable to watch any longer, pushed the man aside to explain. Only then did Su Su understand what was going on.
It turned out that a new room had suddenly appeared in the basement, and it had frightened them.
Su Su breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was something serious. “I built that room. You don’t need to be afraid.”
“What? Boss, you…”
The guests from the dormitory were stunned. Some of them hadn’t left their room since checking in the previous night and hadn’t heard a single sound of renovation from next door. How had this room been built?
In an instant, the way everyone looked at Su Su changed. They had originally thought this lighthouse was just a structure similar to an offshore base; now, it seemed highly likely that this was related to the boss’s awakened ability. After all, no one could achieve this without one.
Just how powerful of an ability must it be to do something like this?
Their gazes suddenly became fervent and full of adoration, making Su Su’s skin crawl. What is wrong with these people?
“Alright, the matter is settled. Stop crowding the boss.”
The Captain, who had just come out of his room and overheard Su Su’s words, saw her expression and immediately stepped forward to disperse the crowd.
Once Su Su sat down behind the checkout counter, he walked over to speak with her.
“Boss, from what you just said, has another room been added to the first basement level?”
“Yes, it’s exactly the same as the current dormitory room. Why? Do you have more people coming to stay?”
Su Su looked up at the Captain in confusion. Logically, everyone from his ship already had a place to stay, so they shouldn’t be curious about this new room.
“Boss, can I discuss something with you?”
A look of hesitation flickered across the Captain’s dark, weathered face.
“Look, even though the dormitory is great and everyone is happy staying there, it’s inevitably inconvenient for men and women to live together. Could I trouble you to open both rooms? I’d like to separate them by gender.”
Perhaps fearing Su Su would disagree, the Captain quickly added that this was just his personal idea and it was fine if she refused.
Su Su listened in silence. Her face remained calm, making it impossible for anyone to read her thoughts.
But it was precisely this silence that made those waiting for her answer feel anxious.
In truth, this wasn’t just the Captain’s idea. Although they had all lived together on the ship, space had been limited back then; as long as they could survive, no one was in a position to be picky. But things were different now.
Only after arriving at the lighthouse did they realize that the ocean at night could actually be so quiet and stable. They didn’t have to live in constant fear and could naturally sleep until they woke up on their own.
Once their living environment improved, people’s standards changed accordingly. For example, snoring that was previously ignored was now audible; foot odors that went unnoticed were now pungent; and the various issues caused by mixed genders were becoming prominent.
Now that they heard there was an identical dormitory room, it was hard not to fantasize. They dreamed of how wonderful it would be if they could live separately.
While those people waited quietly for Su Su’s response, she sat still for a moment before suddenly speaking.
“Fine. I’ve already separated your rooms by gender.”
Su Su had already agreed before the Captain even finished his sentence. This was indeed an oversight on her part.
Initially, there was only one dormitory and the guests all knew each other, so living together wasn’t a huge issue. However, that didn’t mean future guests would know one another. Therefore, she didn’t hesitate to use the system to arrange the current dormitory guests into different rooms based on gender.
From now on, the dormitories would be distinguished by room numbers: odd-numbered rooms for female guests and even-numbered rooms for male guests.
After explaining this to the guests, Su Su was immediately met with waves of gratitude. They bowed deeply to her in unison, their eyes brimming with tears as they stood back up.
“Captain, let’s just live here from now on.”
As the group walked out of the hotel lobby, someone immediately stepped forward to make the suggestion to Captain Li Han.
As soon as the words left her mouth, a chorus of support erupted from the surroundings.
“Yeah, Captain, we’ve only stayed here for one night, but honestly, this is the first time in five years I’ve slept so peacefully.”
“Exactly! I thought I’d have insomnia, but I ended up being the last one to get out of bed today.”
“Me too! And it’s not just the lodging that’s good. Have you guys tried the steamed buns from the shop? There’s no weird aftertaste at all; they are definitely not the kind we usually eat.”
“Hey, hey, did you guys notice just now? The original heated display case in the lobby is gone and replaced with a warming cabinet. I think I saw tomato and egg over rice inside!”
“Where? Where? Tomato and egg over rice? For real?”
The group stood at the hotel entrance chattering excitedly. Li Han watched and listened quietly, a smile unconsciously tugging at the corners of his mouth.
How long had it been? How long had it been since this group of people had been so carefree, talking and chatting just for the sake of it?
As noon approached, the temperature on the sea rose higher and higher. Usually at this time, the temperature would be nearing forty degrees. Even after surviving the apocalypse for five years, it was difficult for them to endure such long exposure to the sun. Yet, standing here on the lighthouse, they felt no discomfort whatsoever.
Li Han knew that all of this was thanks to the hotel boss.
He lowered his eyes silently, making a secret vow to stay here no matter what.
A few minutes later, once everyone was tired of talking, Li Han gathered them together to discuss their next steps.
After all, as a crew of ordinary people, it was difficult for them to hunt and kill sea monsters as easily as those with abilities. Most of the time, they operated during the transition between day and night.
That was when only low-level sea monsters would surface. The number of low-level monsters was massive; they could take the opportunity to catch some and then kill them to see if they could find any heart cores. Even if they didn’t find any, it was fine—most of their points came from the monster carcasses themselves.
Large-scale offshore bases all had specialized sea monster recycling stations. Based on the monster’s level, species, and weight, they could earn a corresponding amount of points, which they could then use at the base to exchange for daily necessities like food and tools.
Clearly, the lighthouse did not have a recycling station. If they wanted to live here long-term, they still needed to go out, hunt monsters, trade them for points at a base, and then exchange those points for heart cores.
To achieve this, they needed a detailed plan.
The group returned to their ship and began a heated discussion. While they were planning, a medium-sized speedboat was racing toward the lighthouse at high speed.