Looking at the doghouse and the plot of land, Xi Yue was reminded of the farming games she used to play. She wondered if she would have to raise chickens and ducks here in the future too.
The inside of the doghouse was exceptionally spacious, looking to be about the size of an actual room, with two large doors swung wide open. Xiao Ha’s eyes sparkled with excitement as it trotted around inside, sniffing everywhere. Shen Yu carried the dog food Xi Yue had bought and poured it into the automatic feeder inside the house. Thankfully, the dog food was extremely cheap; otherwise, given Xiao Ha’s enormous size, she probably wouldn’t even be able to afford to feed it.
“What do mutated animals eat when they live on their own? If they all grow that big, wouldn’t they starve to death?” Xi Yue asked Shen Yu out of curiosity.
“Not every animal grows big like Xiao Ha after mutating. Most of them retain their original size after mutating; whether herbivore or carnivore, it’s all the same. They scavenge for human food, hunt mutated beast meat, or even prey on humans. Those with owners are fine, but for mutated animals living on their own, their living environment is far harsher than that of humans,” Shen Yu narrated calmly.
Xi Yue didn’t know what to say. The things Shen Yu described made her feel very heavy at heart, and she pet Xiao Ha’s head with a touch of heartache.
“Don’t dwell on those things. This plot of land is so large, why are there only ten plants growing on it? Are there no more seeds?”
Xi Yue had checked the seeds in the mall yesterday, but the prices were shockingly high—a single plantable potato actually cost 1,000 gold coins! She didn’t even dare to look at the other prices.
The system piped up to state that these seeds had undergone who-knows-how-many intergalactic breed improvements, so how could they possibly be priced the same as your average vegetable seeds!
Xi Yue shook her head and said dolefully, “No more seeds…”
Looking at her animated little expressions, Shen Yu smiled and said, “I’ll go out later and find some seeds to bring back. What else would you like? I can bring them back together.”
“Really! Just seeds will do! I don’t need anything else.” The storm on Xi Yue’s face cleared up in an instant. “Let’s go, let’s go. Have you eaten breakfast yet? I haven’t eaten either, let’s hurry up and get some food.”
When the two returned to the hotel lobby, Mr. and Mrs. Sun Mantian had also come downstairs and were chatting with He Ru, while the three little kids chattered away watching TV. Seeing the two walk in, He Lifen hurriedly inquired, “How do we post a quest on this screen? Can we search for a person? Our son went missing, and no matter what, we want to know whether he’s dead or alive!”
Xi Yue led them through a series of inputs on the self-service transaction system and said, “Alright, the quest has been posted. If anyone has news, a notification will pop up on your watch, and you can come over to ask that person then.” Mr. and Mrs. Sun Mantian thanked her repeatedly.
*Sun Hong? And a Wood-type superpower user at that.* Shen Yu wondered if it was just someone with the same name. In his past life, when he met him, Sun Hong was already an 8th-rank superpower user. If it really was the same person, then things were getting interesting. Looking at the missing person info displayed on the screen, Shen Yu lowered his head and smiled softly.
Sensing something, he turned his head around, only to find three pairs of eyes staring straight at him. Three kids with big heads, thin bodies, and sallow little faces were staring at him without blinking, one of them even holding his mouth wide open. Shen Yu offered the three children a slight smile, causing Fang Xiaojun’s mouth to gape even wider.
“Brother, you are so pretty, your eyes look like stars,” Jiang Xun said, and the two kids beside him nodded in unison.
Having finished helping the elderly couple, Xi Yue overheard this sentence too. “I think so too! This big brother is the most handsome person I’ve ever seen!”
Xi Yue and the three children began showering Shen Yu with praise back and forth, complimenting him from head to toe. Even though Shen Yu had lived two lifetimes, he found himself a bit overwhelmed. “Weren’t you hungry? Once we’ve eaten, I’ll head out to look for seeds.”
Xi Yue laughed as she was pulled along by Shen Yu to buy blind boxes.
Sipping the milk tea in his hand, Shen Yu walked down the dirty, chaotic street. After his thorough cleanup around the hotel that day, hardly any zombies were to be seen nearby. Passing by a clothing store, he spotted the Jiang father and son along with Fang Guohua, who had just scavenged their way out. Having met them once this morning and knowing they were hotel guests, he gave them a nod by way of greeting and continued walking forward.
At the end of this street had been a large shopping mall before the apocalypse. The luxury jewelry store by the entrance was an absolute mess, its glass walls long broken. After Shen Yu walked past it, who knows what came to his mind, but he turned around and stepped back into the jewelry store.
Sitting at the front desk looking over the check-in information on her tablet, Xi Yue hoped for more guests to arrive today. She wondered if the two brothers, Zhou Sheng and Su Chengkang from yesterday, would be coming back.
Just then, the sound of a car engine drifted in from the entrance. Speak of the devil! Through the glass, Xi Yue saw Zhou Sheng stepping out of a car, followed by two more vehicles behind him. She hurriedly ran outside to instruct them to park their vehicles in the garage, and had the rest follow her inside to handle their check-in.
After entering the hotel, the group stared at the brightly lit lobby, the magnificent interior decor, and the cartoons playing on the TV. Everything felt like a scene straight out of a dream! Everyone split up into action: some followed Zhou Sheng to register their information at the self-service check-in machine, while others were checked in by Xi Yue. Once they received their watches and deposited almost all their crystals, they swarmed over to pull blind boxes in a frenzy.
Watching wave after wave of blind boxes being drawn, Xi Yue thought of the gold coins crediting into her account and narrowed her eyes in a blissful smile.
A total of twelve people checked in this time, leaving them only half short of upgrading the hotel. She wondered if the restaurant would open after the upgrade; given how delicious the instant food tasted, the restaurant was bound to be even more delectable, and Xi Yue couldn’t help but look forward to it.
After the crowd dispersed, another disheveled guest arrived. His or her gender was completely indistinguishable from the outside, wrapped in a heavy coat so filthy its original color was lost, carrying a battered duffel bag. As the guest walked, dust billowed from both pants and shoes. The matted hair hung loosely, chopped up in a crooked, haphazard mess. Aside from a pair of clear, black-and-white eyes exposed on the face, the facial features were obscured by dirt. The skin on the exposed hands was pitch-black, with grime packed under every fingernail. For a moment, Xi Yue didn’t know how to address this person. Only after helping her process her information did Xi Yue learn that her name was Lin Muyan, a young woman. Though she looked filthy, she actually turned out to be a Rank 4 Healing-type superpower user. Among all the hotel guests, only Zhou Sheng and Liang Ye were Rank 4, making her quite a rare find.
After finishing her check-in and receiving her items, Lin Muyan hurried upstairs.
*This is another person with a story,* Xi Yue thought to herself.
She then received three more batches of guests: a young-looking pair of brother and sister, a fairly neatly dressed young man, and a mother and daughter who came supporting each other.
Once they had all gone upstairs, Xi Yue tapped open her personal information:
[Hotel Name: Cosmic Hotel (1 Star)
Manager: Xi Yue
Superpower: Absolute Domain (Invincible within the area you manage)
Assets: 91 crystals (∞)
Warehouse: None
Hotel Star-Up Requirement: Host 30/50 guests
Task: Please host a cute little creature 0/1]
Only 20 guests away from upgrading! Xi Yue was thrilled beyond belief. But when her eyes fell on the task, she suddenly remembered. “System, why hasn’t this task been completed yet? Is Xiao Ha not cute?”
[The mutated Husky does not qualify as a little creature.]
“How can a system like you engage in size discrimination?” Xi Yue knitted her brows, wondering what kind of small animal would actually come along to meet the system’s standards.
The Jiang father and son and Fang Guohua had all returned, their hands and backs laden with goods—looks like they had made a great haul. Calling out to the children who were engrossed in cartoons, they went upstairs to eat.
Glancing at the time, it was almost twelve o’clock. Why hadn’t Shen Yu returned yet? Although Xi Yue knew Shen Yu was extremely strong, she couldn’t help but worry about him.