Chapter 251

Chapter 251

A peculiar fishing boat from the Eastern Continent vanished, but the world remained on the brink of being torn apart by anomalies. Ji Xinghai felt as if he had merely taken a day off to relax by the sea and now had to return to overtime work.

He couldn’t avoid working overtime; he was likely the only one capable of closing the passages in the rifts. There might be others, but he didn’t know about them, so he had to assume it was his responsibility.

To close a passage, he first needed to clear out nearby anomalies and reduce their density. Otherwise, even if he closed the passage, a new one would quickly appear.

Ji Xinghai, now in cleaning mode, activated the idle anomaly employees.

"Clear everything blocking the way."

"Bee-beep." The food truck excitedly honked its horn.

Anomalies had no concept of kinship, so they killed each other without hesitation, sometimes clearing an entire small city in a single day.

Over ten days, Wang Jue’s list of hundreds of high-level or domain anomalies had been reduced by a tenth. The menu at the food house continued to expand with new items.

Other students also had their own methods, and the number of anomalies in their areas was steadily decreasing.

Ji Xinghai might not have noticed, but Wang Jue, who had successfully returned to duty, reported that the density of anomalies on their continent had noticeably decreased, most notably evidenced by the reduced thickness of the white fog.

Without the support of the white fog, some rifts were healing themselves.

This was good news; Ji Xinghai did not want to spend every day patching up cracks.

As one thing diminished, another grew. Now, official personnel had cleared large tracts of usable land, allowing humans to finally venture beyond their previously confined bases.

However, other continents had not seen such significant changes. At least, those that had been contacted hadn’t; the status of those yet to be reached was unknown.

"Is satellite communication obstructed?"

"Not really, but all the equipment is gone, and the radio towers have been corroded by the white fog. Transportation tools like cars and planes have also deteriorated, rendering them worthless even as scrap.

"Luckily, the white fog period has only lasted for eight years, and many technicians are still alive. With raw materials, these things can be produced again."

At this point, Wang Jue’s voice carried a hint of joy: "After the anomalies in Door City were removed, the stores and factories were left intact, with production lines fully operational.

"Thinking about it, having all of Door City’s residents as anomalies actually had some benefits.

"Now, dozens of small bases around Door City are merging into a large survival base centered there."

After the call ended,

"This is indeed good news, indicating that the world is reviving. Hmm? Did I use a derogatory idiom? Never mind, as long as the meaning is understood." Setting aside his phone, Ji Xinghai drew a card and placed it on the table. Qin Yu also drew a card.

"..." Another loss.

"You lost." Ji Xinghai immediately tore off a strip of paper, dipped it in water, and slapped it onto Qin Yu’s forehead. A droplet of water slid down Qin Yu’s straight nose.

Qin Yu stared at the two sets of cards on the table, deep in thought: Was his luck really that bad?

Shuffling, drawing, playing—Qin Yu lost again, his face now covered with strips of paper, a few of which had fallen off.

Even someone as straightforward as Qin Yu should have suspected something by now.

After much hesitation, he couldn’t help but ask, "May I ask how you do it?" Despite his careful observation, he found no signs of cheating.

Ji Xinghai gently fanned the deck of cards: "Why don’t you call me by my name? Is my name unappealing?"

Qin Yu didn’t understand why the conversation had veered here; his back stiffened: Why bring up names now after so long?

"Call me by my name, and I’ll tell you." The card fan concealed Ji Xinghai’s smiling lips, making it hard to gauge the depth of his mischief.

"..." The words "Xinghai" slipped out, and the tall navigator seemed to shrink, his head bowed as if bound by invisible restraints, unable to meet the mischievous gaze of the handsome young man opposite him.

If anyone knew about this, he might end up in court, whether for an anomaly reaching out to a human or an officer making suspicious moves toward a newly adult male...

Qin Yu’s embarrassment peaked when a hand landed on his head. The handsome and dazzling youth, propping his face with one hand, ruffled Qin Yu’s neatly combed hair into a mess, grinning mischievously like a child who had just pulled off a prank.

"Because I cheated, dear navigator. As for how, I encourage the diligent and upright officer to find out. I won’t admit it unless caught red-handed."

In the end, Qin Yu never figured out how Ji Xinghai cheated.

All he knew was that over the next few days, Ji Xinghai played various gambling games in the world, becoming proficient within a week.

Then, the main mission changed again.

Ten days after communicating with Wang Jue, the students received another global message:

"Through the relentless efforts of the students, the number and quality of anomalies on the Eastern Continent have significantly decreased. Humans have established a super-large survival base and resumed production. The main mission ‘End the Time Loop’ has progressed by 50.34%. We hope all students continue to strive until the very end."

The main mission was halfway done?!

The Eastern Continent had established a super-large survival base and resumed production?!

The students exchanged glances: Impressive, the Eastern Continent students collectively pushed the main mission forward by nearly ten percent!

The Eastern Continent students dining in the food shop sat up straighter, while students from other continents felt a sudden drop in confidence.

Originally, over ninety percent of the diners were from the Eastern Continent, and now they were even more proud.

"Come to think of it, it’s all thanks to the food shop. With so many special dishes, we’ve gained several extra lives. Where wouldn’t we dare go? After eliminating the juvenile boss, we even gained a nearly complete light industrial city, providing the conditions for establishing a large survival base." The students from other continents sounded envious.

The Eastern Continent students heard this but didn’t argue; it was true. They took the compliment and let others say what they wanted.

With no response, the students from other continents stopped pressing the issue, thinking about something else.

"Actually, I have quite a few students here, but they don’t know about phones or proxy purchases. I heard that the Sky Garden sells them, but only in limited quantities."

In the past, these students had never considered sharing their advantages with others; after all, they were still competitors. But that mass message just now had truly stirred them up, giving rise to this peculiar sense of collective honor.

The students' voices quickly reached Ji Xinghai's ears. After some thought, he realized that having the students voluntarily act as salespeople wasn't a bad thing at all. So, he set up mobile phone sales platforms in two other physical stores outside Sky Garden Food Store.

Still one hundred Oddity Coins per phone, with a limit of ten phones per person.

"Just this quantity? Who do you think you're looking down on?" The wealthy students wanted to buy them all, but they didn't dare to argue with the eerie phone sellers.

Under the banner that read "No Eating (struck out) Hurting Customers," there was another line: "Harming staff gets you blacklisted, and we'll hunt you down." The hunting part didn't bother them much; what they couldn't imagine was life without the food store.

They were firmly controlled by the boss.

Even under these purchase limits, the number of phones visibly decreased.

He had brought several million phones, but it seemed like they wouldn't be enough. Ji Xinghai contacted Wang Jue to see if she could produce more phones.

He was determined to get everything he could.

Wang Jue understood his intentions: "If the city hadn't been cleared yet, I wouldn't dare say this, but now, you can have as many as you want."

The reason why Men's Market City was known as the capital of light industry was because it had complete production chains for many products, including high-precision instruments.

Although they hadn't produced phones before, with the combined efforts of all the bases, manufacturing these special phones was possible.

They were essentially ordinary basic smartphones, with the only special feature being the Magic Food House app inside. Setting up servers was necessary, but with collective effort, these were minor issues.

"Actually, there are still things we can't produce immediately, like chips. Luckily, we still have some in stock, well-preserved and functional. How many do you need?"

"As many as you can provide, at cost price."

"Alright, no matter how many we can produce, we'll deliver them to Sky Garden Food Store in thirty days, ten Oddity Coins per phone."

Initially, they planned not to charge, but that might put pressure on Ji Xinghai, making him think they were trying to curry favor. So, they settled on a price that didn't make much profit but also didn't result in a loss.

"Aren't you keeping any for yourselves to sell?"

"In your hands, they'll serve a greater purpose." Wang Jue smiled. The existence of the food store was too special. In these difficult times, they preferred to be friends rather than enemies with such an entity.

As for the future...

Over the years, Wang Jue had seen the complexity of human nature. She couldn't rule out the possibility of betrayal someday. For ambitious people, an uncontrollable powerful ally was a threat.

But at least for now, she could still secure some benefits for Ji Xinghai.

This was, after all, a friend's duty.

Ji Xinghai accepted their olive branch.

For this world, the best reward was to push the numerous Oddities back into obscurity. Thus, Ji Xinghai responded to this friendship by clearing the path and closing off the routes along the way.

Soon, he entered the target cruise ship's domain.

"This cruise ship is quite interesting." Ji Xinghai flipped through the documents, remembering every page and line clearly.

"Almost no one leaves alive. The only survivor used their escape skill. A Qin, change clothes. To understand what's happening there, we need to go aboard ourselves."

Previously, the Lucky Lady required playing a luck game to trigger its conditions. Now, this luxury cruise ship required a considerable amount of assets and formal attire.

After choosing to pay a variable boarding fee, one could board the ship.

"Lucky us, we still have some assets." Standing on the deck, Ji Xinghai raised his wine glass. He bought a first-class ticket for a thousand Oddity Coins, for a seven-day journey.

This was why Ji Xinghai abandoned the Lucky Lady without hesitation. This family-owned cruise ship, whether in terms of triggering conditions or passing rules, was all about wealth and leisure. With money, one could enjoy the most pleasant sea voyage.

"It's just a bit expensive."

How long had they been here? A waiter delivered a drink, charging a three-digit fee for the drink and service. Even the most expensive Sky Garden Food Store would provide a full day's enjoyment for that amount.

"Though I have money, it doesn't mean they can treat me like a fool." Ji Xinghai said. Tired of the sea view, he found a legitimate reason.

"They are too rude." Qin Yu calmly agreed. After all, Ji Xinghai was always right. And this time, he was indeed correct. The prices here were even higher than those in famous tourist spots, with markups reaching ten thousand percent.

And this was the extremely dangerous aspect of the cruise ship—its exorbitant prices made it impossible to survive seven days.

"You feel the same way, right? But we are polite people; we won't behave rudely just because others do." Smiling, he placed the barely touched wine glass on the passing waiter's tray. "I heard the casino on board is quite famous."

Casino? Qin Yu seemed to understand something.

To match the occasion, Ji Xinghai changed into formal attire, while Qin Yu remained in black. They walked towards the cabin one after the other.

Inside the luxurious casino, glasses clinked, and elegantly dressed men and women strolled between different gambling tables, holding colorful chips. The sounds of chips colliding and excited shouts mixed with the symphony music.

Ji Xinghai stood before the symphony orchestra, watching the skilled musicians perform passionately. He waited until they finished before applauding loudly.

The conductor smiled, tipped his hat, and bowed slightly.

Ji Xinghai nodded in return. During the orchestra's short break, he went to the counter to exchange for chips, only taking the highest denomination ones. He passed the purely luck-based machines and approached the card tables.

With a clatter, he piled a stack of chips onto the table.

"One round to decide win or lose, one million Oddity Coins."