“Get me three dishes and a soup first.”
Hearing this, Wang Yan went momentarily speechless.
Realizing the deputy commander hadn’t registered a card yet, he understood the meal expenses would obviously be coming out of his own pocket.
Ugh. Following a superior around really wasn’t easy, was it.
But Lu Chenggong was, after all, the man who’d saved his life. Back when Wang Yan had still been a mere tier-two ability user, out on a base assignment delivering a shipment of supplies to another small base, he’d been unexpectedly surrounded by mutants.
It was Lu Chenggong, happening to pass by with his team, who had pulled him free from those creatures’ clutches.
Without that, there would have been no Wang Yan today.
No matter how reluctant he felt now, he had no intention of forgetting that debt of gratitude, or becoming the kind of ungrateful beast who repaid kindness with betrayal.
With that in mind, he followed Lu Chenggong, picked up a tray, and moved from window to window — before he knew it, he’d already collected six dishes.
Lu Chenggong, catching that tantalizing aroma, swallowed involuntarily.
Looking up, he noticed Wang Yan staring at him.
He immediately felt a flash of embarrassment, cleared his throat lightly, and said, “Little Wang, would you mind going ahead and ordering one of every dish here? Cover the points for now — I’ll settle up with you later.”
“…Understood.”
He was the deputy commander, after all — his word could still be trusted on things like this.
Wang Yan hurried back and forth, grabbing several trays, collecting one of each of the twenty dishes behind the windows, and then checked out.
The total came to 434 points.
Lu Chenggong did the math.
Altogether, that added up to just 44 tier-one crystal cores, for a feast this lavish — if this had been at Heavenly Delicacy, that amount wouldn’t even buy a bowl of rice!
No wonder… those tier-five and tier-six ability users didn’t want to go back to the base anymore.
If you could eat food this good every single day, who wouldn’t gladly stay holed up at the inn, living like a freeloader without a care in the world?
These ability users were each worth six figures — if they converted that into crystal cores and stayed at the inn, they could live comfortably for years, entirely at leisure!
And on top of that, the conditions here were leagues better than anything outside.
Thinking this over, Lu Chenggong followed Wang Yan to find a table and sit down, rubbing his hands together eagerly, ready to properly savor this spread of vivid color, aroma, and flavor.
He hadn’t even picked up his chopsticks yet.
Beep beep! Beep beep!
A sharp alarm rang out beside him.
Xiao Yi, the robot that patrolled back and forth near the entrance, rolled up in front of him and began its announcement.
“Sir! Sir!” On Xiao Yi’s screen, the emoticon turned remarkably stern. “You have not yet paid the breathing fee! You have not yet paid the breathing fee! This constitutes an extremely serious act of freeloading! Please complete payment within three minutes, or the inn reserves the right to expel you! I repeat…”
In that moment, Lu Chenggong’s expression was quite something to behold.
He felt the gazes drifting toward him from all around, most carrying a faint edge of contempt.
Everyone dining nearby was a tier-five or higher ability user, and hearing Xiao Yi’s announcement, the disdain on their faces never once let up.
— What kind of person came to the inn without even knowing to pay the breathing fee? Couldn’t even scrape together 10 points? An absolute disgrace among guests!
Someone, indignant on the inn’s behalf, stood up at once and strode over to Lu Chenggong.
“Hey. You know full well how good a place this inn is — the innkeeper’s kind enough to run this place here and let us enjoy such quality service at such a fair price, and you’re trying to skip out on the bill?! I’d say you’re getting a little too comfortable with living!”
As he spoke, he flexed his hands, knuckles cracking loudly.
As if to say — if the breathing fee didn’t get paid soon, his fists would be doing the talking next.
Lu Chenggong, having lived over forty years, had never once in his life been treated like some deadbeat trying to dodge a bill. His face burned with humiliation, and all he could do was force out a strained smile.
He didn’t even dare look up, terrified the ability users around him might realize that this bill-dodging deadbeat was, in fact, the deputy commander of Panlong Base!
But fate had other plans.
The ability user, looking at Lu Chenggong’s bowed head, felt a nagging sense of familiarity, and immediately leaned in for a closer look.
Then his eyes went wide with shock. “Deputy Commander Lu?!”
At once, every gaze in the room converged on him, prickling painfully.
But the ability user, despite realizing he was facing the deputy commander himself, showed no sign of backing down.
“Deputy Commander, with all due respect, the breathing fee is only 10 points. Are you telling me you don’t even have that much on you?” He paused, thought it over carefully, then made up his mind. “Even if you’re the deputy commander! If you’re really trying to skip out on the bill, you’ll have to knock me down first! The inn’s business is my business!”
With that, he puffed out his chest, as if the whole exchange had filled him with tremendous pride.
The corner of Lu Chenggong’s mouth twitched.
Hadn’t this man only arrived at the inn last night? How was it that after just one night, he’d already turned into some kind of loyal retainer, standing and falling together with the inn?
The base had raised these people for over twenty years, and never once earned this kind of devotion!
Still… he understood, in a way.
The air here, and the food, alone were more than enough to drive an ordinary person to madness.
Even he himself…
Wang Yan, sitting across from him, noticed Lu Chenggong’s discomfort and immediately stood up, saying apologetically, “So sorry about that — I completely forgot to pay the fee. I’ll go take care of it right now, right now — there was absolutely no intent to skip out on it!”
With that, in full view of everyone, he walked over to the newly-installed automatic payment terminal in the cafeteria and had 10 points deducted.
Only then did the ability user, satisfied, sit back down.
Once he’d paid, Wang Yan returned to his seat, cautiously studying Lu Chenggong’s expression.
He was afraid of seeing embarrassment curdle into anger on the man’s face.
But it never came. Instead, Lu Chenggong looked up, caught him observing, and let out a bitter chuckle. “What? Do I strike you as the kind of unreasonable man who’d fly into a murderous rage over something so trivial?”
“…No, Deputy Commander,” Wang Yan said, tugging at the corner of his mouth. “It’s just… that…”
“I understand. I’ve held this position for over ten years, and never once has anyone dared to raise their voice at me like that.” Lu Chenggong sounded weathered, almost wistful. “But here, I’m treated the same as everyone else — just another ordinary guest, no different from anyone.”
As he said this, he picked up his chopsticks and carefully lifted a bite of vegetable from the plate in front of him, putting it in his mouth.
A crisp texture burst open in his mouth, carrying a pleasant, savory hint of oil that swept across his palate like conquering territory — words could hardly do it justice.
Truly, this was delicious!
This vegetable, Lu Chenggong would bet, was easily a hundred times better than anything at Heavenly Delicacy!
“…This place really is extraordinary.”
“If I were still the person I’d been before becoming deputy commander, I’d probably have packed up my whole family and moved in here overnight without a second thought.”
Wang Yan’s heart skipped a beat.
Not knowing what to say, he could only ask, “Deputy Commander… are you thinking of staying here too?”
“How could I not want to?” Lu Chenggong smiled bitterly. “But an entire base that size is sitting out there — am I supposed to just abandon it and not care anymore?”
Wang Yan fell silent.
Lu Chenggong read the thought in his expression and said it plainly himself: “Are you wondering how someone as profit-driven as me, a deputy commander who only cares about self-interest, could possibly care whether the people in the outer districts live or die?”
Caught having his thoughts guessed exactly right, Wang Yan pressed his lips together. “Deputy Commander, I’m sorry…”
“Nothing to be sorry about. I do care a great deal about my own interests — I’ve enjoyed no small amount of wealth and status over my years as deputy commander. But to completely abandon the base and walk away… that, I still can’t bring myself to do.”
Wang Yan understood clearly enough.
The majority of the base’s supplies were under Lu Chenggong’s direct control.
If Base Commander He Zheng, who provided relief to the ordinary people of the outer districts, ever truly opposed him, he wouldn’t be able to secure much in the way of resources at all.
And the annual scorching season was fast approaching.
During summer, mutants grew especially active.
Conflicts, too, would only increase.
At this critical juncture, if the ability users left en masse to move into the inn —
then the base, stripped of its core strength, would have no ability to resist at all when mutants assaulted the city.
Those civilians in the outer districts would become nothing more than dinner for the monsters.
Watching so many people die right in front of him — that was something Wang Yan couldn’t bring himself to do.
Among those ordinary people were even a few distant relatives of his own.
Having lived over thirty years, he understood this much clearly.
Only where people remained was there any future at all.
If that many people all died off, leaving behind just a handful, barely a few stragglers —
then humanity’s future would truly be finished.
“So, Deputy Commander.” He took a deep breath. “What should we do?”
Lu Chenggong set down his chopsticks, fell silent for a moment, and finally said, “I’ll find some way to speak with the owner of this place — see whether… some of these resources might be moved over to the base.”
Of all this, Chu Yi remained entirely unaware.
That morning, he’d gone out to test his ability, standing amid the polluted wasteland ruins, his clothes coming away covered in a fair amount of dust.
Once back at the inn, he first treated himself to a Kobe A5 steak, spending 10 points, then spent another 300 points purchasing a second automatic payment terminal, which he set up in the restaurant.
[Remaining points: 2,258]
Only then did he settle in for a leisurely bath, followed by tossing all his clothes into the washing machine to be thoroughly cleaned.
When he’d renovated the bedroom, he’d chosen only the highest-grade furnishings.
The washing machine here even came with a built-in sterilization function.
Just as Chu Yi stepped out of the bathroom, he received a system notification.
[You have received 300 tier-three crystal cores and 200 tier-two crystal cores, totaling 70,000 points. You have earned 70%, a total of 49,000 points!]
[Main Quest: Total Revenue of 20,000 Points! Complete!]
[Reward: Inn Experience +500!]
[Reward: Supermarket development rights!]
[Reward: 5th floor of the inn unlocked!]
[New quest for the next stage issued!]
[Main Quest: Total Revenue of 100,000 Points! (62,330/100,000)]
[Reward: 1. Inn Experience +600. 2. Building Duplication Rights ×1. 3. 6th floor of the inn unlocked.]
Oh? Why such a sudden influx of income?
Chu Yi opened the system and checked the inn’s revenue records, finding it was that tier-six ability user, Guo Fanxiang.
After discovering the underground parking lot that morning, he’d immediately left the inn, then returned around noon, bringing with him this enormous haul of crystal cores.
By the looks of it, he intended to settle in at the inn long-term.
“Not bad — a man who knows quality when he sees it.” Chu Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, then began allocating his newly acquired 49,000 points.
“Well then… let’s put it all toward my personal level.”
In an instant, the personal experience bar on the system panel began climbing rapidly.
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP ×2!
LEVEL UP ×3!
…
[Personal Level: LV.21 (0/15,000)]
Excellent — level 21 now.
In that moment, Chu Yi could feel an overwhelming surge of power welling up within his body — his body, already restored to full health, climbed to an entirely new plateau!
His mental power, drained from earlier use and not yet recovered—
the instant the level-up completed, it was restored to full instantly!
All he had to do was close his eyes, and every movement within a hundred meters of the inn — whether human or mutant — could be laid bare before him!
Truly… incredible strength!
Did the native residents of this world, back when they were mere tier-two ability users, ever possess power like this?
Chu Yi stood up and stretched, loosening his muscles.
Now then — time to try out what this new level of power could do.