Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 329: Happiness

Yong Yi was silent for a long time before he spoke again, "Are you trying to say that pursuing equality is meaningless?"

"No, I’m trying to say the universe is chaotic, filled with discrimination and disagreements, and all sorts of messy stuff," Ma Lu said. "It’s like a five-nut mooncake that’s been sitting around for eight hundred years, now with green mold growing on it.

"And you, and people like you, are like trying to clean off that mold with your own tongues. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t dislike you folks. In fact, from some perspectives, I really admire you.

"Some among you, after paying unimaginable prices, actually managed to remove some of that green mold, making that mooncake look a bit better. But...

"But you can’t lick all the mold off the entire mooncake clean, and even the parts that you do manage to clean, given some time, will grow new mold for various reasons.

"You should understand this. You established the Order Church, found good people like Martin and Li Wei who were initially full of ideals and enthusiasm. But as time passed, they were corrupted by wealth or power, or familial love.

"It’s like how a mooncake grows mold if it sits too long. And even if you truly possess extraordinary talents and a long lifespan, had completely cleaned that mooncake and weren’t poisoned to death... Hey, don’t forget, it’s still just a five-nut mooncake, the least popular type." Explore more stories at novelbuddy

"I understand, you’re a pessimist," Yong Yi said, looking deeply at Ma Lu.

"No, no, no, on the contrary, I’m an optimist," Ma Lu retorted. "I just don’t cling to... that green mold, after all, that stuff has quite the toxicity when licked.

"Aside from those who pretend to lick the cake, fool the fools and public opinion to earn money and social status for a better life, the real heroes who go for the cake mostly meet very grim fates.

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"I once read a novel called ’The Working Prophet’. The protagonist in that book, he shares some similarities with you, facing inequality around him and choosing to fight back. But he was much smarter than you.

"He didn’t plan to clean the entire mooncake, just a spot no bigger than a fingernail. Yet even so, the price he paid to clean that little green mold was enormous, and he was even called a traitor."

"As for me, I’m just an ordinary person... I don’t want to spend my precious life struggling with endless green mold, nor do I want to lick that stuff."

"Then what is the purpose of your life?"

"To find some fun in this chaotic universe," Ma Lu shrugged. "I’m not like you, without such grand ambitions. I never intended to deal with that green mold, spending most of my energy and time on personal enjoyment.

"I want a bigger house, a fancier car, beautiful women, delicious food, and all sorts of cool stuff. Oh right, exploring different worlds, making different friends, and seeing different sceneries are also interesting... These are the meanings of my life."

Yong Yi felt somewhat perplexed, his brows tightly furrowed. "All these are just the lowest level of material desires. Don’t you have any higher ideals? What do these things ultimately bring you?"

"Uh... happiness?" Ma Lu blinked.

"..."

At that moment, the Ouroboros Serpent suddenly spoke, disrupting the two’s conversation, "How much longer are you two going to prattle on? Instead of caring about some dogshit universe and mooncake, why don’t you think about how to deal with the trouble over there?"

The purple-haired girl pointed towards the direction of the city walls, where a large number of Energized Plants had gathered. Most of them were relatively weak and couldn’t do much to the sturdy city walls.

However, a little farther away, a massive shadow was already moving towards them.

Yong Yi wasn’t particularly concerned about this, as he himself had said, his life had dwindled after many long slumbers and repeated disappointments, and failing the experiments, he no longer had any affection for this world.

Yong Yi could leave work early, but Ma Lu couldn’t.

He still wanted to collect Energized Plants in this Plane in the future, although now he had the Blue Mini Drill in hand, that device would consume energy.

Using it once meant one less use. If it wasn’t for capturing live subjects, the Witch’s methods would actually be more effective.

Moreover, once Holy Temple City fell, Ma Lu could just walk away from here, go to the next plane, but natives like Yun Que, the Ouroboros Serpent couldn’t leave. They had to stay here and face death.

Boss Ma, though not interested in the grand quest of saving the world, was actually pretty good to the people close to him, and would definitely try to rescue them.

But now, with so many Energized Plants outside the city, and more continuously arriving, it’s beyond what manpower alone could withstand.

Ma Lu turned to Yong Yi, "Do you mind if I look around here?"

"You are free to do as you please; this place is of no use to me anymore," Yong Yi said. "I can guess what you are looking for, but I’m likely to disappoint you. This place is just Paipu’s laboratory, and there are no weapons stored here.

"If you’re looking for weapons, you could try the Church’s Armory. I remember there are a few decent pieces of equipment there, and some new items just made in the lab that you can take away."

Ma Lu was surprised by this unexpected reward, but the immediate priority was to search the Pointy Hat’s laboratory first.

In the secret lab under that giant rock, Ma Lu not only got the Blue Mini Drill and matching Energy Storage Gem but also several other items.

Among them, the thermos that came out of the red box, according to the Pointy Hat, was a secret weapon he left for those who came after him to help clean up his mess.

Although the Pointy Hat might not have expected the Energized Plants here to become so numerous that they turned into a plague, and he died suddenly, Ma Lu wasn’t sure whether he had managed to put that weapon into the thermos.

But at this point, Ma Lu had to assume it existed and was useful.

However, obtaining that weapon first required cracking the code on the thermos.

Ma Lu had tried to find the password from the images left by the Pointy Hat but hadn’t succeeded, and now he had come to the Pointy Hat’s laboratory.

If he couldn’t find it here, he might have to attempt a brute force method, but there’s a chance doing so could damage the contents inside. It might even be that the thermos itself was the weapon, only encrypted.

Unlocking it with the password would certainly be the safest way.