“Tell me, do you think your cousin has gone crazy?”
Yu Xin walked at the front, followed by three others: two women and one man. The man was the one who had spoken to Qiao He earlier. As for the two women, one was Qiao He’s cousin, Wang Xianchun, and the other was their classmate, Bai Bai.
When their school was on the verge of being submerged, those left behind couldn’t escape on their own. When Qiao He showed up in her yacht to pick up Wang Xianchun, they had treated her like a life-saving straw and shamelessly followed along. Because of that, the four of them had lived on Qiao He’s yacht for five years.
Bai Bai nudged Wang Xianchun’s shoulder, her face clearly showing she was enjoying the drama. Who could have guessed that Yu Xin—whom Wang Xianchun had liked since high school—would actually confess to Qiao He last month and let everyone else catch them in the act?
Since then, the atmosphere on the yacht had become increasingly bizarre. Not that it was great before, but at least they maintained a civil surface. After all, it was the apocalypse; the more people there were, the safer everyone was. But after that incident, even the last bit of dignity was nearly shredded.
Wang Xianchun relied on the fact that the yacht was bought by her cousin and her close relationship with Yu Xin, the one with the highest ability level, to constantly slack off and avoid work. Now that the two people with the highest ability levels seemed to be falling out, Bai Bai wondered what she would do then.
Bai Bai grumbled inwardly as the group walked into the inn, each with their own hidden thoughts.
The lights were bright, and the air was dry. As they stepped inside, they experienced a momentary daze. It felt as if they had stepped onto a massive Sea Base, because only such a behemoth could remain so stable on the turbulent waves.
As the night deepened, the entire ocean became increasingly restless. The sea monsters that slept during the day began to wake up one after another, rising from the depths to the surface. Their massive bodies thrashed through the water, stirring up towering waves as they searched for prey to consume. The humans drifting on the surface were their favorite delicacy.
“The sign is over there. Please read it yourselves.”
Seeing the group walk in and just stand there like idiots without saying a word, Su Su noted that it was nearly ten o’clock. She felt she needed to add business hours to the bottom of the sign. Between 11:00 PM and 9:00 AM, no one was to disturb her.
Hearing Su Su’s voice, Yu Xin was the first to snap back to reality.
“Sorry.”
A trace of apology appeared on his face as he followed Su Su’s finger and saw the notice board in front of the cashier desk. He walked over and read it carefully, the shock in his eyes becoming more apparent with every line.
There were rooms, water, and electricity; they could even shower. More importantly, this place actually sold food and water. Yu Xin looked up in surprise at Su Su, who was sitting behind the desk.
He saw a girl who looked roughly the same age as them, dressed simply, with a clean and tidy face. She didn’t look at all like a human who had been ravaged by the apocalypse.
Could it be that this lighthouse was a new product specially built by those powerful figures? And was this boss a relative of some big shot who had come down to experience the world? After all, the managers of many well-known small and medium-sized Sea Bases were from the great families of the A-grade Sea Bases. Only such people had the money, resources, and ability to establish a base at sea.
Su Su hadn’t said a word, but in Yu Xin’s eyes, she had suddenly become mysterious and incredibly powerful. Since he was lucky enough to encounter her, Yu Xin decided he had to get on good terms with the owner of this lighthouse.
“Boss, is this where we process the cards?”
Yu Xin suppressed the emotions in his eyes, put on a polite smile, and walked up to the exchange machine on the counter.
“Yes. Just put your heart cores on it.”
Yu Xin nodded with a smile and then cautiously took several F-grade heart cores from his bag, placing them on the disc of the machine. The disc split open from the middle, and the heart cores dropped into the machine’s interior. Almost the next second, a membership card rose from within, and the disc closed again.
He reached out to take the card and held it in front of him. His pupils suddenly constricted.
How… how was this possible?
The membership card looked ordinary on the surface, but upon closer inspection, several lines of small text were printed on the bottom-left corner of the front. It showed not only his name but also his current point balance.
He remembered that he hadn’t mentioned his name once since entering. How did this boss—how did this shop—know his name?
Yu Xin’s face turned pale as an indescribable dread surged through every pore of his body. Could his previous deduction have been wrong? This boss might not be human at all, but rather an unknown sea monster that humanity had yet to encounter.
A multitude of thoughts flashed through Yu Xin’s mind in an instant.
Seeing the silence fall again, Su Su looked up. Why had this person frozen up again? She turned to look at the clock behind her; the hands were already moving toward eleven. If they didn’t speak up in the next half hour, she was going to kick them all out.
At the same time, among the four who had entered later, only Bai Bai had been observing the interaction between Su Su and Yu Xin. Since Yu Xin’s confession to Qiao He, Wang Xianchun had been sulking and avoided talking to either of them whenever possible; currently, she was looking away with a pouting, unhappy expression. As for Liu Zai, he was entirely Yu Xin’s lackey and wouldn’t dream of acting without his lead.
That left Bai Bai as the only one paying attention to the situation in the room.
Seeing Yu Xin standing still, she walked over curiously to look at the notice board. A few seconds later, her reaction mirrored the others—disbelief followed by a quick glance at Su Su.
But Bai Bai was thinking a layer deeper.
Qiao He had been in such a rush earlier. Was it because she knew the information on this sign was true and was afraid of being beaten to the punch by the rest of them? Bai Bai noticed that the stairs to the second floor were locked, and there were only four doors on the first floor. Excluding the two doors without room numbers, didn’t that mean there were only two actual guest rooms?
Realizing this, Bai Bai snapped into action. If something was worth rushing for in the eyes of someone as smart as Qiao He, she didn’t need to doubt it. More importantly, excluding Qiao He, there was only one room left. If she didn’t grab it now, it would be gone.
Once she understood this, Bai Bai pulled out her heart cores, processed her membership card, and smiled at Su Su.
“Boss, are there any rooms left? I’d like to book one.”
Finally, someone who doesn’t dawdle.
“Yes, there’s one room left. How many days do you want to book?”
“Just one for now, sorry for the trouble.”
Su Su could operate everything remotely through the System. She didn’t even ask for the card and said directly to Bai Bai, “It’s done. Your room is 102.”
Bai Bai masked her inner excitement, thanked Su Su, and left the group without looking back. She walked to the door of 102 and used her membership card to open it.
The door opened slowly, revealing a dim yellow glow from a weak bulb on the ceiling. Looking at this simple but clean little room, Bai Bai’s eyes reddened with emotion.
Five years! For five whole years, she hadn’t slept in a room of her own. Every day, several people were crammed into a cabin, filled with a mix of different noises and smells. She sometimes felt that she might break down internally before she ever ended up in the mouth of a sea monster.
She closed the door, lay down on the bed, and closed her eyes.