“Even though I already had some this morning, I just can’t get enough. It’s so delicious!”
Tian Wen buried her head deep into her lunch box, nearly licking every last drop of soup clean. The others were much quieter, but a close observation revealed that their eating speed was not a bit slower than Tian Wen’s.
Luo Shaoran sat directly facing the hotel’s main entrance. A trace of worry lingered behind her slight smile. As she ate, she suddenly put down her chopsticks and stopped.
“Boss, what’s wrong?” Seeing Luo Shaoran’s abrupt pause, Tian Wen looked at her with confusion.
“They’re here.”
“What’s here?”
Following Luo Shaoran’s gaze, the group turned their heads, and instantly, everyone’s expression shifted. The lively chatter from a moment ago vanished into thin air.
A high-speed boat was racing toward the lighthouse from the distance. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the speedboat reached the base of the lighthouse.
“Shaoxing, go back first.” Luo Shaoran stared out the door, her gaze fixed and her tone stern, brookng no argument.
“Sister, I…”
“Be good. Get inside, now.”
Luo Shaoxing didn’t want to leave at all. This matter had started because of her, and she felt she should be the one to face Xu Qiliang. However, realizing that staying would likely offer no help and might instead hinder her sister, she whispered a plea for her to be careful and retreated to her room.
With Luo Shaoxing gone, the meal could no longer continue. After putting everything back into their spatial storage, Luo Shaoran took one last look outside and suddenly turned to walk toward Su Su.
“Boss, is it true what you said before—that it is absolutely safe inside the hotel?” Luo Shaoran desperately needed a definitive answer. She was gambling. She had given up the chance to flee to other offshore bases and had staked her life and property entirely on this hotel.
Su Su sat still, slowly raising her eyes to look at her. In truth, Su Su had noticed something was off since the first time these women arrived at the hotel. Logically, as ability users with money and a ship, they should have seen all kinds of offshore bases. Why were they so insistent on staying at this hotel and so concerned about safety?
Now, it seemed the answer was about to be revealed.
“There is a saying: ‘If you trust a person, do not doubt them; if you doubt a person, do not use them.’ Since you have decided to stay here, Guest, you should trust your own judgment.”
Su Su requested a glass of milk from the system and began to drink it casually. After a sip, she shook her head inwardly; it would be better if it were ice-cold.
“You…” Seeing Su Su’s completely indifferent attitude, Luo Shaoran couldn’t help but feel anxious.
“Boss, I must apologize first. We actually escaped from another offshore base. People from that base are currently pursuing us, and they will be here any moment. They are not only ability users, but they also have firearms. They aren’t people ordinary civilians can resist.”
“It was wrong of us to drag you and the hotel into this. If the hotel can’t handle them, we don’t want to bring you harm, Boss. We will find another way out.”
Luo Shaoran thought she was prepared, but when she actually saw Xu Qiliang’s boat catch up, panic still set in. Xu Qiliang was not only the Leader of a C-rank offshore base, but his father was also a high-ranking official at an A-rank offshore base. The men and resources he commanded were far beyond what they could match. She regretted her recklessness and for involving an innocent boss.
“What ‘other way out’? They’re already inside.”
“What?”
At Su Su’s words, the group quickly turned around. Xu Qiliang and his men had already stepped onto the lighthouse. In the next second, they pushed open the heavy doors and walked in.
“Oh, look, almost everyone is here. Where is Shaoxing? Her husband is here, yet she doesn’t know to come out and welcome me?”
Xu Qiliang walked in swaggering, flanked by seven or eight men. He smiled upon seeing Luo Shaoran and the others.
“Xu Qiliang, stop talking nonsense. Why do you keep following us like a lingering ghost?” Seeing him arrive, Luo Shaoran stepped forward immediately to block his path.
“Such harsh words. You stole my person; what’s wrong with me coming to reclaim what’s mine?” Xu Qiliang scanned the lobby, a look of disgust immediately appearing on his face. “What a pathetic, impoverished place. Hand over the girl quickly, and I might just let you keep your miserable lives.”
Xu Qiliang didn’t believe for a second that this shabby hotel could stand against him. Although he had been momentarily stunned when he first saw it, he figured the lighthouse was just another type of offshore base and felt there was nothing to fear. The so-called “fixed to the sea” was likely just an optical illusion.
How many people could such a tiny place hold? It was nothing compared to his base. With a wave of his hand, a subordinate immediately pulled a single-person sofa out of thin air, placing it on the ground and respectfully inviting him to sit.
Wait, he’s even more arrogant than me, the Boss?
Seeing Xu Qiliang’s display and then looking down at her own modest little chair, Su Su felt a strong blow to her pride. No. She would not allow anyone to be more arrogant than her in the hotel—especially someone who looked down on her establishment.
The hotel’s original setting disallowed anyone from using offensive abilities, but utility abilities like spatial storage were usually unaffected. But now?
“System, set the hotel to disallow the use of any abilities. For anything used within the last ten minutes, make it revert as well.”
[Understood, Host.]
Following the System’s lively electronic voice, the sofa Xu Qiliang was sitting on suddenly vanished into thin air. With a loud thud, he slammed onto the floor.
“Ah! What happened?”
After taking such a hard fall on his backside, Xu Qiliang panicked for a moment before jumping up and screaming at the people around him.
“Base Leader, I… I don’t know!” The man who had retrieved the sofa for Xu Qiliang was now stammering. He stepped out from the crowd trembling, only to have Xu Qiliang swing his arm and slap him so hard he was sent flying.
The crowd quickly parted to make a path. The man crashed directly into the wall of the hotel lobby, his head bleeding as he slumped to the ground, motionless.
“He didn’t just kill someone in my shop, did he?” Su Su hurriedly asked the System.
[Please rest assured, Host. That person simply fainted from fright.]
“Thank goodness.” Su Su breathed a sigh of relief. It would be such bad luck for someone to die in a perfectly good shop.
Even though the man was okay, looking at the jarring red bloodstain on her wall, she decided she could not let these people off. They actually dared to resort to violence in her shop!
“Useless trash.” Seeing the man unconscious, Xu Qiliang turned his head impatiently and pointed at another person. “Get me a sofa.”
“Yes, Base Leader!” The person pointed at hurriedly complied with a look of terror. However, despite straining for a long time, there was no reaction from his spatial storage.
“What’s wrong with you? Where is the sofa?” Xu Qiliang waited for a while without seeing a sofa and turned to demand an answer in dissatisfaction.
“B-Base Leader… My… my spatial storage isn’t responding.” After trying for a long time, the man finally reached a conclusion that terrified him: his spatial ability could be sensed, but it could no longer be used.