this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
It was a world of difference compared to what they had experienced at the hotpot restaurant in City D.
The survivors were almost dumbfounded. Had they really gone the wrong place?
Before they could figure it out, one of them couldn’t resist picking up a beef ball with their chopsticks and popping it into their mouth. As soon as they bit down on it, it burst with juice in their mouth, chewy and tender.
The rich meaty flavor as well as the aroma of spicy hotpot instantly brought tears to the survivor’s eyes, whether it be from being moved or the piping hot beef ball in his mouth.
After finishing the two boxes of instant food, they finally believed they had been scammed by a counterfeit hotpot restaurant. Jiang Ci even gave them the new address, which they noted down, planning to check it out next time.
“But how come none of you went to cause trouble after being scammed?” Jiang Ci finally asked the question that had been confusing her for so long.
“There were five survivors there, and one of them was a level seven ability user. Who could possibly take beat them?” one survivor said with a hint of resentment.
Ah, so it was a matter of force. Jiang Ci immediately understood. No wonder there hadn’t been anyone going to cause trouble for the shop after being scammed, despite this being a time where everyone’s combat abilities had generally improved.
After bidding farewell to them, Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan continued their journey towards City D.
As night was about to fall, Jiang Ci urged Song Jinchuan to speed up the electric scooter.
By the time they stopped at the edge of City D, it was already late at night. Jiang Ci took out their tent and set it up on a flat slope on the ground.
When Jiang Ci returned from washing up, Song Jinchuan had already finished preparing their meal.
The meal wasn’t something Jiang Ci had taken out from her space, but rather something he had cooked up himself. Jiang Ci then realized he had brought a small pot and along with some instant ingredients.
Song Jinchuan’s cooking skills truly were getting better and better. Even a simple braised rice dish was made so delicious by him.
After dinner, they cleaned up the trash outside and went into the tent early to rest, conserving their energy for the next day.
*
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
Meanwhile, not far from Jiang Ci’s tent in City D, a man quietly arrived at the entrance of the counterfeit hotpot restaurant under the cover of night. He hid in a concealed spot, his gaze fixed on whatever lay inside of the door.
It was very late, and the base’s gate was tightly shut, making it impossible to see what was happening inside. The man’s eyes were filled with intense hatred.
About half a month ago, he and his wife, Yuan Min, had come to the hotpot restaurant. They had saved up some crystal cores and wanted to treat themselves to a change of flavour. However, the food here wasn’t good. At that time, Yuan Min had suggested that they drop them matter and not waste the food.
But not long after they had eaten here and returned home, Yuan Min’s health suddenly deteriorated. With her health becoming increasingly worse, her body became so thin it was almost skeletal, and a deathly pallor began to appear on her face.
A doctor said her condition had been caused by toxin accumulation. The man immediately thought of this hotpot restaurant, as the only time they had eaten the meat of a mutated beast had been here.
Of course they knew that the meat of mutated beasts inherently contains a lot of toxins. However, they had been deceived, told that the toxins had been removed, and upon seeing the neighboring table enjoying their meal without any discomfort, they had believed them.
The man, Li Bo, glared at the interior of the base with red hot hatred filling his eyes. He had been foolish to believe in the hotpot restaurant.
It wouldn’t have mattered as much if it were just him suffering the consequences, but now, the base’s doctor told him Yuan Min was beyond saving, her vibrant life now about to flicker out.
He didn’t know how he had walked out of the base. When he came to his senses, he had wandered to this area with several bombs on him.
This area had been deliberately cleared by the base’s survivors, so there were no traces of zombies or mutated beasts.
Li Bo stayed here overnight, planning to rush in as soon as the base opened the next day, determined to make them pay for Yuan Min’s death.
As dawn broke, Li Bo continued to stare intently at the gate with his bloodshot eyes.
At that moment, he suddenly heard the sound of wheels rolling over the ground.
He turned around and actually saw an electric scooter! Where had they gotten the electricity to charge it at this hour?
However, he soon had no time to ponder this question because he saw the electric scooter carrying a man and a woman heading straight to the hotpot restaurant.
He quickly got up and went to intercept them.
Since they were almost there, Song Jinchuan was driving the scooter at a slower speed while Jiang Ci was still contemplating whether to take action against the fraudulent den directly or inspect their ingredients first.
Suddenly, the light in front of her was blocked, and Jiang Ci looked up to see a tall, burly man standing before them.
“Are you going to this hotpot restaurant?” the man asked directly.
Jiang Ci nodded, not bothering to explain too much as she was still unsure of the man’s identity.
The man frowned, his tone filled with disgust, “This hotpot restaurant is a scam. Their advertisements are great, but they’re actually profiting at the cost of human blood. My wife… my wife fell ill after ingesting the toxins here, and now she’s on the verge of death.”
Li Bo’s voice choked up when he mentioned his wife.
Jiang Ci suddenly thought of Mo Sisi’s team member who had been beaten up. Could it be that this was the person they encountered?
This was truly too much of a coincidence.
“We’ll go in and take a look first,” Jiang Ci said, keeping her response neutral since she was unsure if the man was telling the truth or not.
Seeing that they didn’t heed his warning and fearing more falling victim to the restaurant, Li Bo had no choice but to follow them in, planning to figure out what to do later.
Jiang Ci noticed him following them but made no move to stop him.
As they approached the entrance, Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan put away their scooter. Jiang Ci didn’t bother hiding her spatial ability, as most people now knew she was a spatial ability user.
Only then did Li Bo realize that one of the two was an ability user.
The door to the hotpot restaurant was already open, and seeing customers arrive, Ying Hu put on a smile again, “Welcome, are the three of you here to eat?”
Although they had been to the hotpot restaurant before, they weren’t regulars who would often see Jiang Ci and know she was the boss. They had never seen Jiang Ci before, only hearing that the boss was a young woman.
Thus, Jiang Ci’s presence here didn’t cause any of them to recognise her.
“Yes, I heard your hotpot restaurant has been very popular lately,” Jiang Ci said as she walked in, inspecting the place like she was on a work inspection. Song Jinchuan and Li Bo followed silently, seemingly more like bodyguards.
Ying Hu was used to such scenes. In this post-apocalyptic world, the era of men being in charge was long gone, with powerful female survivors everywhere.
“That’s right, the only place you can still get a taste of genuine hotpot is here at our restaurant,” Ying Hu said without a change in his expression.
“Is that so? But I heard there’s another hotpot restaurant in City C. So which one is the real deal? I don’t eat knock-offs, you know? I have plenty of crystal cores, so naturally I only want the best for myself,” Jiang Ci portrayed herself as a spoiled young lady, raising no suspicion from the other party.
Hearing Jiang Ci’s skepticism, Ying Hu’s face remained completely calm, clearly prepared for such questions.
“Of course, ours is the authentic one. You can smell the aroma of beef tallow—no one else has it as authentic as us. You’ll know after just one taste.”
Listening to Ying Hu’s same old spiel, Li Bo almost couldn’t control his fists, but just as his hand twitched, the person beside him gently held it down and shook his head slightly.
Looking at Song Jinchuan next to him, a thought suddenly sprang up in Li Bo’s mind. Could these two also be here to cause trouble?
At the thought of this idea, Li Bo felt his blood boil with excitement.
After Jiang Ci finished talking with Ying Hu, they were then led to the room where the ingredients were being processed.
Seeing the mutant beast meat with various colours, Jiang Ci couldn’t help but frown. Not only did the meat look far from fresh, but its eerie blue and green hues made it seem completely unappetizing. How could these people dare to sell such products?
After leaving the processing plant, Song Jinchuan leaned close to Jiang Ci’s ear and whispered, “The survivor who’s supposed to be detoxifying the meat has an ability level of at most four. He’s completely incapable of handling this task. He might have some detoxification ability, but I can sense that the meat still contains a large amount of toxins.”
Jiang Ci nodded, indicating she understood.
They then went to the dining area. Li Bo noticed it was the same group of people, still feigning enjoyment, and belatedly realized they were actors arranged by the restaurant. His fists clenched tightly.
“So, how about it? Would you like to try some?” Ying Hu once again tried to coax Jiang Ci into ordering. In his eyes, the girl in front of him was the epitome of someone naive with money to burn. If he could just get her to spend her crystal cores, this deal would surely bring in a hefty profit.
Jiang Ci stood there for a moment, then sighed, “You can stop eating now. I’ve been standing here for five minutes, and none of you have even taken a single bite yet.”
She was referring to one of the tables where the survivors were putting on their act.
Everyone’s expressions shifted, and even Ying Hu looked momentarily stunned, as if he hadn’t expected Jiang Ci to call them out so directly.
He had seen his fair share of troublemakers here before, so he quickly regained his composure and smiled, “It’s just too hot. They all still need to let it cool down before eating.”
“Oh,” Jiang Ci gave him a knowing look but didn’t press further and expose him.
“Never mind, it doesn’t look very appetizing anyway. Let’s go,” Jiang Ci said after glancing around, turning to Song Jinchuan behind her.
Just as they were about to leave, a group of burly men suddenly appeared in front of them, each towering over two meters tall.
Jiang Ci had to look up at them, and even Song Jinchuan, who was already over 1.9 metres tall, seemed slightly shorter in comparison.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Jiang Ci turned to look at Ying Hu behind them.
Ying Hu’s smile carried a smug hint of confidence as he said to Jiang Ci, “Why don’t you take another look? It’s best to eat something before you leave, so you don’t run out of energy on the road and… something unfortunate happens to you.”
This was clearly a threat. It was shocking that this counterfeit restaurant was even so brazen as to openly detain survivors.
“And if I insist on leaving?” Ying Hu hadn’t expected Jiang Ci to show no fear. His gaze shifted to the two men behind her, silently assessing their strength.
However, on their side, they had a level seven ability user and two level six ability users, both of which were considered rare high-level ability users. Even if the two people behind the other party were also ability users, they still probably wouldn’t be a match for them.
the translator has nothing to add ◡̈
