Chapter 17: The Seventeenth Cup

Chapter 17: The Seventeenth Cup

After the giant Slime disappeared, the gathered Slimes, having lost their leader, slowly dispersed and scattered across the grassland once again, resuming their roles as mascots. Gradually, the grassland returned to its peaceful state.

The broken milk tea cart clattered to the ground, along with a pile of dropped items.

Yi Luo commented, "They sure licked the cart clean."

He Wuning: "…Yeah."

The drops from the Slimes were already varied, and the giant Slime had an even greater haul.

He Wuning scanned the colorful array of drops and spotted a small black fragment.

He nudged Yi Luo, who instinctively caught his elbow. He Wuning shook off his hand and nodded towards something.

Yi Luo saw the peculiar item marked with "???" symbols and immediately understood that this was the special item He Wuning had been trying to tell him about.

He nodded, "Let's put it away first, then we'll deal with this group…"

He glanced at the rescued people—some bare-bottomed, some unconscious, some incoherent…

Finally, he turned to two small-time hooligans, "Were you the ones who made the call?"

The two hooligans exchanged glances, and the more astute one stepped forward, "Yes, it was us."

Yi Luo chuckled, looking pointedly at He Wuning, "I was worried it might be a prank, someone tricking you. I didn't expect there to actually be people in danger."

The hooligan hesitated, glancing at his shell-shocked boss and the clearly formidable duo before him. With determination, he confessed, "Actually, we were trying to trick you! There were no monsters when we called."

He Wuning raised an eyebrow slightly.

The hooligan, now filled with memories of He Wuning's heroic stance against the Slime, dared not act out of line. He shrank back and spilled everything, "It was that fool… I'm not insulting him! He really has some issues, but he's also kind of divine."

He swallowed, "He seems to be able to predict the future."

Yi Luo, intrigued, asked, "Predict the future?"

He turned to the young man and waved, "Hey, Master, take a look at me. How's my love life?"

The young man buried his head into the milk tea materials cushioned by Lao Qi, his butt sticking up high as if hiding his head would make him invisible. It was a perfect demonstration of hiding one's head while exposing the tail.

Yi Luo found it amusing and laughed.

He Wuning: "…"

He had almost gotten used to it, which was definitely a dangerous sign.

"Not that kind of prediction," the hooligan said, shaking his head, "He can see glimpses of the future. Before, he'd say where we could find good loot, and we'd actually get it! That's why we brought this old man… who faints all the time, and this fool along."

"He suddenly said today that our boss would be eaten by a monster and saved by you." The hooligan quickly glanced at Yi Luo, "But he couldn't specify where or when, or if anyone else would be involved. So we had to guess…"

"To prevent you from being too late, we decided to lure you here first."

Originally, they planned to have the fool seek help, but he couldn't even manage that.

Brother Zhang finally regained his composure, lowering his head in frustration, "I thought this place was close to the safe zone, surrounded by Slimes, so it should be safe. Oh!"

He muttered under his breath, "We weren't entirely lying; we just wanted to survive!"

"Hmph." Yi Luo sneered, pointing at him, "Cover up properly."

Brother Zhang blushed and quickly took off his shirt, tying it around his waist. Though it looked odd, at least it wasn't indecent.

Yi Luo shook his head, "I initially wondered if you were being tricked, but when I arrived and saw the monster, I thought you hadn't been tricked. Turns out, you were."

He finished his convoluted explanation and felt it was quite a twist.

He Wuning took a step forward, and Brother Zhang immediately stepped back, trembling.

—He was intimidated by He Wuning.

Yi Luo was an official figure; even if they had tricked him, he wouldn't do much beyond a verbal warning, which meant nothing to them.

But He Wuning was different.

His reputation among players was notorious, with rumors ranging from being a gangster prince to a mercenary, or even from a martial arts family…

Especially after seeing him fight the Slime so ruthlessly, rolling into burning debris, Brother Zhang now saw He Wuning as a ruthless gang leader from those old gangster movies, slicing fingers without batting an eye.

He forced a weak smile, like a student caught without homework facing the principal.

Yi Luo interjected, somewhat resentfully, "Why is he so afraid of you?"

"Go fix the cart," He Wuning gave him a light kick. Yi Luo nimbly dodged, taking out his exoskeleton armor, and responded, "Got it—"

He Wuning looked at Brother Zhang, "You mentioned earlier…"

Brother Zhang nearly knelt down, "Boss, please forgive me for my nonsense. Just let it go!"

But He Wuning's face darkened further, "Oh?"

"So, buying all the milk tea was also nonsense?"

Brother Zhang hesitated, then quickly denied, "No, no, no! We'll buy it! Whatever we have, we'll buy it!"

He immediately pulled out money from his game backpack. Together, they managed to gather 20,000 game coins. He Wuning didn't bother counting and summoned Q, "Q, come and settle the accounts."

"Coming!" Qiang immediately rushed over. "If we buy all Pure Love Milk Tea, we can get 250 cups!"

He Wuning lifted an eyelid: "Pick the expensive ones."

Yi Luo turned back and smiled: "Isn't this number quite nice?"

He Wuning frowned: "Too many, it's troublesome to make."

"Pure Love Milk Tea is 80 coins, Sweet Yearning Milk Tea is 120 coins, and Rolling Pearl Sweet is 180 coins." Qiang diligently started calculating: "Now calculating the optimal solution..."

He Wuning translated for them: "Original flavor is 80, red bean is 120, pearl is 180."

Qiang had already reached a conclusion: "Then it will be 110 cups of Rolling Pearl Sweet, one cup each of Pure Love Milk Tea and Sweet Yearning Milk Tea!"

Persisting in calling milk tea by such embarrassing names seemed to be its last act of defiance. He Wuning was too lazy to correct it anymore.

Brother Zhang would now agree even if He Wuning gave him money to just leave. He nodded vigorously, not daring to contradict.

He Wuning got into the car to make the milk tea.

Yi Luo fixed the car and didn't call the few people resting outside; he entered the car himself, clearly having something to say.

He leaned against the door frame: "Keep that fragment for now, show them a sample later."

"Hmm." He Wuning had no objections.

Yi Luo asked again: "Should we go back to the trading center and modify that message?"

He Wuning didn't insist on this matter either. He hesitated for a moment and finally said: "Not yet, let Q screen the calls first."

"Young—" Yi Luo drew out the word.

He Wuning knew this was troublesome. Impatiently, he looked up: "If you have an idea, say it quickly. If not, shut up."

Yi Luo looked at his sullen face, as if someone owed him two million, and found it somewhat cute. On a whim, he decided to tease him. He put his hands in his pockets and raised an eyebrow: "Call me 'Brother,' and I'll help you."

He Wuning: "..."

He stared at Yi Luo expressionlessly, his eyes clearly conveying the thought— "Is this guy's brain malfunctioning?"

Yi Luo took a step back: "Or you could follow their lead and call me 'Big Brother.'"

He Wuning opened his mouth and, under Yi Luo's expectant gaze, said: "Idiot."

"Tsk, harsh." Though he said this, he couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, I won't tease you anymore."

"I just sent a message to headquarters. They have a plan."

"We originally planned to establish a rescue center next to the trading center to improve survival rates. In case of danger, call a fixed operator number. They will assess the situation and dispatch the appropriate team for rescue."

"We can cooperate with them. They can filter events with abnormal monster strength and prioritize transferring them to us. This should be more credible than posting ads on the trading center or player forums."

He Wuning was silent for a moment. He asked: "What do I need to do?"

"Stay alive." Yi Luo raised his eyes, and in an instant, the casual smile vanished, revealing sharp determination in his dark pupils. "And if it's convenient, teach those monsters a lesson."

He usually kept his sharpness hidden, like a sword in its sheath, but when he occasionally revealed a glint, it reminded everyone that he was indeed a rare and exceptional blade.

He laughed arrogantly, with a touch of youthful spirit and exhilaration: "This is the beginner zone, don't you think the monsters' strength is excessive?"

"It's unreasonable for them to prevent us from having strong individuals while they do whatever they want."

"Leave it to you to teach them what fairness means."

He Wuning stared at him for a moment, then laughed softly. He said: "Hmm."

Yi Luo was about to call the others to get in the car when He Wuning suddenly spoke: "Did you suspect from the beginning that someone would try to scam me?"

"Mm." Yi Luo paused, then turned around openly. "But I figured even if I told you, you wouldn't listen."

"After all, you're the type who, even after hitting a wall, would think about how to break it down rather than turn back."

He Wuning narrowed his eyes, realizing he was speaking the truth, and pursed his lips, unusually without retorting.

After a long silence, he finally looked away and said: "You can be direct in the future."

Yi Luo showed surprise: "You'd listen to me?"

He Wuning paused: "I'll consider whether to listen."

Yi Luo gasped, stepping forward in concern: "Are you hurt? Could you be running a fever?"

He Wuning remained expressionless: "Scram."

Yi Luo relaxed: "Oh, looks like everything's fine."

He laughed, "Then my treatment is pretty good. Even if you're a tyrant who makes all decisions alone, I'm at least..."

He Wuning: "The eunuch supervisor."

Yi Luo: "...That's harsh."

Outside the car, Lao Qi finally caught his breath. As he stood up, holding his head, his mentally challenged nephew was staring intently at the pink milk tea truck.

He softened his tone: "Nephew, what are you looking at? Want some milk tea?"

The nephew slowly turned his head and nodded slowly: "Yes."

Then he remembered to answer the first question: "Light."

He was watching the light.

Author's note:

A guilt-free mini-drama:

Yi Luo: I am absolutely special to him. (Confident.jpg)

He Wuning: Get lost.

Yi Luo: Look, he doesn't talk to others like this. (Confident.jpg)

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or watered the nutrient solution from August 10, 2021, 03:08:49 to August 11, 2021, 02:40:44.

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Taro with 10 bottles; Chestnut with 7 bottles; Yesyes with 3 bottles; Tianertf and Xu Mu with 1 bottle each;

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