Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 108: The Big Shopping Trip
Chapter 108: The Big Shopping Trip
When Ren Wen Wen lowered her car window, Yu Sheng’s first thought was rather unexpected: “The hero and his motorcycle—what a ship.” That odd notion caused him to stiffen briefly, though he quickly composed himself. His second thought was to give her a quick once-over. “Did the Special Affairs Bureau send you? Are you all setting up near my house now?”
She blinked in surprise, looking almost flustered before finally replying, “Huh? No, no. I was just running some errands nearby and happened to pass by your place.” Her tone sounded defensive, as though the idea of coming here just to spy on him was laughable.
Yu Sheng studied her, searching for any sign of dishonesty, but she appeared perfectly earnest.
“I’m just a support staffer,” she explained. “Most of my work involves paperwork and delivering small items. I don’t usually get assigned to actual missions. Anyone setting up here would be from the action department.” She nodded firmly, as if that accounted for everything.
Yu Sheng chuckled. “You never denied the whole ‘setting up shop’ idea, though.”
She shrugged. “Well, you must have guessed by now,” she admitted. “After all, Wutong Road No. 66 is a new Otherworld site. If it bothers you, I could file a complaint…”
“No need,” Yu Sheng said with a dismissive wave. “Even if you did, they wouldn’t leave. It’s not worth it. Besides, none of you can really keep an eye on me or even find Wutong Road No. 66.”
Ren Wen Wen gave an awkward smile and quickly changed the subject. “So, are you heading out? Need a ride? I’m done for the day and on my way back to HQ, and there’s nothing urgent waiting for me.”
Yu Sheng hesitated. Her intense enthusiasm for certain… pairings could be overwhelming, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to endure any fangirling about the romantic possibilities between humans and motorcycles. But after two or three seconds of internal debate, he shrugged and nodded. “Sure, thanks. I’m going to Huaiyang Street North Entrance, near the farmer’s market.”
He canceled his ride-share request, climbed into the back seat, and motioned for Foxy and Irene to follow.
Choosing to avoid Ren Wen Wen’s “shipper energy,” Yu Sheng didn’t take the empty front seat. Instead, he and Foxy squeezed together in the back.
Irene perched herself between them. Even the doll seemed wary of that peculiar human-and-motorcycle idea.
For her part, Ren Wen Wen either didn’t notice or simply didn’t mind. She drove steadily, occasionally glancing at Yu Sheng in the rearview mirror. It took her nearly ten minutes before her curiosity won out. “Mr. Yu,” she asked politely, “when will your new book be out?”
She called him “Mr.,” which made him feel oddly self-conscious. “I’m working on it,” he said, his voice a bit uneven. “I’ve really been focusing on it these past few days…”
“Is it another thriller?” she asked eagerly, eyes bright. “Are any familiar characters making a cameo? Will it still take place in Silent Water City?”
Yu Sheng had no clue how to respond. After all, he hadn’t even created a new document for his work-in-progress. He had no title, no outline—nothing but a vague notion in his head. On top of that, the odd shipping scenario he’d been dealing with only made things more complicated. He opted for a noncommittal dodge. “I can’t give away spoilers. But it’ll be a solid story, I promise. Anyway, you said you were here on errands?”
“Right,” she said, shrugging a little. “Captain made me deliver some documents this morning to an Outlander who lives around here. Finding the place took forever—very hard to locate. Though,” she added with a sheepish grin, “still easier than finding Wutong Road No. 66.”
“Outlander?” Yu Sheng repeated, curiosity piqued.
“Someone from the Alglade Star System,” she explained. “They call themselves Children of the Stars. They have this natural talent for astronomy and can calculate things about the universe with amazing precision. A lot of them come to Boundary City because it’s so unusual, and they stay to study it for years. We get along with them pretty well at the Bureau. They look almost human, too—you might’ve met one without realizing.”
Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully, filing away this odd but intriguing piece of intel. He was still mulling it over when the car came to a gentle stop.
“We’re here,” Ren Wen Wen announced, glancing back.
“Already?”
“It’s not that far,” she replied with a smile. “Want me to wait for you? Or I can come with you—I know this area pretty well.”
“That’s all right,” Yu Sheng said, hurriedly waving his hand. He had no desire to invite more questions about his unwritten book. “We’ll be shopping for a while. Don’t want to waste your time. Thanks so much.”
In one quick move, he opened the door and ushered Foxy and Irene out, looking a bit like someone making an escape.
At last, the “shipper extraordinaire” drove off.
Yu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, then guided Foxy to a quieter corner. Taking out his phone, he opened the Borderland Communications app to see if there was a Special Affairs Bureau node in the vicinity.
He found one surprisingly close by, located near the entrance to the farmer’s market.
Following the map directions, he and Foxy soon arrived at an empty storefront with a “For Rent” sign on the door. Although the surrounding street was bustling, this particular spot was deserted, almost eerie.
In that lonely patch of pavement stood a single node device, humming softly.
Yu Sheng glanced around, then placed his hand against the door of the shop. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on memorizing the “coordinates.”
Foxy tilted her head, puzzled. “What are you doing, Benefactor?”
“Just setting an entrance marker,” Yu Sheng replied casually. “That way, it’ll be easier for me to come back here. And since there’s a Bureau node nearby, I can piggyback on their dispersal field. It makes opening the door less obvious to random onlookers.”
No one else was around, so Irene peeked out from Foxy’s arms. The small doll looked around curiously. “Is there an Otherworld here?”
“Only inside this shop,” Yu Sheng explained, pointing toward the door. “According to the Borderland app, it’s an L1-class Otherworld called ‘The Store.’ It supposedly opens at midnight, and anyone who goes in finds themselves in an endless supermarket. It isn’t dangerous, exactly, but you can’t leave until you’ve spent all the money on you. Anything you buy there turns to sand after you leave.”
“What a dreadful Otherworld,” Irene cried, then let out a quiet sigh. “It’s surprising that this place even exists…”
“That’s the way things are in the Borderland,” Yu Sheng said with a sigh of his own. “Some Otherworlds are terrifying, others are just plain odd. This doesn’t really matter to us, though. I’m just using it as a marker.”
With the coordinates saved, Yu Sheng turned back to their real mission—the big shopping trip at the farmer’s market.
They started by purchasing a large amount of food for Foxy. Buying frozen chicken legs and big bags of rice here was far cheaper than it would be at a supermarket.
The vendor, astonished by the sheer volume of goods Yu Sheng bought, asked if he was planning to open a restaurant. He even offered a discount for regular customers. Yu Sheng gratefully accepted the contact information, though he didn’t bother trying to explain that all these supplies were, in reality, “weaponry.”
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It was hard to admit that twenty chicken legs equaled one cruise missile.
Every time they walked away with a few boxes of supplies, Yu Sheng and Foxy slipped off to a corner. Then Foxy stored everything within her enormous tail.
Once they had enough meat and grain, Yu Sheng picked up various vegetable seeds and some practical tools.
Irene, who had been quiet for a while, finally spoke in Yu Sheng’s mind. “I’ve been meaning to ask—why buy seeds?”
“To grow, of course,” Yu Sheng answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Did you forget my plan? I want to clear some space in Night Valley and plant vegetables and fruit.”
“You were serious about that?!” Irene nearly squeaked in disbelief. “I thought you were just making a joke!”
“Dead serious,” Yu Sheng declared. “It’d be a waste not to do anything with all that land. Besides, now that Hunger is gone, we don’t have a fresh meat supply. Growing our own food will help. Actually, we should pick up some chicks so we can raise chickens for eggs. That’d give us ingredients to cook with, and Foxy can have a taste too. Foxy, can you store living creatures in your tail?”
Foxy nodded eagerly. “Yes! As long as I cast a little magic, they can survive comfortably in there for a month or two!”
Irene fell silent in disbelief for a few moments. Finally, she burst out, “So all that talk about ‘supplies’ in the valley was your plan to keep it stocked indefinitely. You really regret devouring that Hunger entity, don’t you?”
Yu Sheng tried to keep his face neutral, but deep down, a little part of him did indeed regret it.
If only he’d realized Hunger couldn’t regenerate after being eaten, he might have spared one. Then he would never have had to buy meat again…
