Cangcheng seemed to truly have a special fondness for this type of food. Throughout the morning, while the crowd in front of the stall hadn't quite reached the point of being shoulder-to-shoulder, it was certainly a continuous stream, leaving Wangshu with barely a moment to rest his hands.
Huoshi wasn't in a hurry either. Holding the "Family Portrait" Jianbing pancake in her hands, she looked quite elegant as she... devoured it in three bites. The taste was indeed excellent.
Cangcheng was not a place plagued by disasters. In fact, due to its developmental direction differing from other Xianzhou ships, everything here was far more leisurely than elsewhere.
Even the patrolling Cloud Knights would pause for a moment upon seeing fresh novelties.
Around ten in the morning, the foot traffic visibly decreased. Just as Wangshu sent off the last customer and prepared to rest for a bit, that familiar, soft, and fine voice sounded again.
"Boss, two more, please."
Huoshi had returned to the front of the stall at some point, her hands behind her back, smiling brimmingly.
Wangshu: "..."
"Of course, no problem. The customer is Go... Aeon!"
Wangshu always had extremely high patience for unlucky souls, especially since Huoshi had money. He put a little more care into making this last portion. Miss Huoshi rested her chin in her hands, propping herself up on the serving shelf at the front of the cart.
When two steaming, fragrant Shouzhua pancakes were packed into paper bags and Wangshu handed them over, Huoshi blinked at him.
"Hmm~ Boss, this is bad. I seem to have forgotten my money. What should I do?"
She didn't even symbolically check her pockets; it was so fake one wouldn't even want to comment on it.
Wangshu pretended to be troubled and sighed. "Oh my, paying for food is a matter of course. If you haven't brought money... then the guest might have to pay using other methods."
For example, a set of Swarm King body data.
It certainly wasn't simple measurements like bust, waist, and hips. The data collector Asta sent seemed capable of gathering internal data as well. Wangshu wasn't clear on the specifics; after all, he was just an ordinary person who couldn't understand the inner workings of such high-tech devices.
Wangshu unhurriedly finished the last portion, then, like a magic trick, pulled that data collector from his pocket and clipped it next to the packaging tape.
"Miss." Wangshu did not lower his voice. "You wouldn't want the Cloud Knights to know about you eating without paying, would you?"
The Cloud Knights eating nearby: ?
Upon hearing this, the troubled expression on Miss Huoshi's face became even more vivid, yet her steps didn't stop as she sat in the spot Little Jingliu had occupied earlier... or rather, she rested one knee against that spot.
"Big Brother, if you let this meal be free, I'll be your girlfriend, okay?"
She softened her voice further, tilting her small face up, her eyes rippling with watery light.
Wangshu raised his head, just about to make a joke, but noticing someone taking photos, he instantly switched to a serious face, radiating righteousness.
"Ahem, then treat this meal as my treat. However, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you slightly; I already have a girlfriend." Wangshu sighed with emotion. "She's a top student at the Academy, you know!"
Perhaps not a top student, but Wangshu couldn't exactly call Jingliu a little delinquent.
Huoshi narrowed her eyes. She wasn't sure if Wangshu had integrated into society so well that he'd become foolish, or if he really intended to obtain a Xianzhou residency for stability during this period while his power was unstable.
Her expression remained sweet, her voice light enough that only the two of them could hear: "Happy cooperation."
Taking her food, along with the data collector and the attached small note, she curled up in Little Jingliu's spot. Squinting, she took small bites of the food while reading the note.
Data collection...
Is this thing useful?
Miss Huoshi, who had taken thousands of years to develop individual survival wisdom beyond mere species continuation, was genuinely puzzled.
Was the fusion progress of the Propagation remnant really going so poorly that he was forced to seek a Swarm King's body data for comparison?
In any case, Huoshi wouldn't believe that Wangshu, who ran a roadside stall, was some high-IQ talent.
Time passed bit by bit. Occasionally, a few guests would arrive. Huoshi feigned sleep in the seat, her body highly tense, waiting for the slight energy fluctuations attached to the data collector to spread and cover her skin.
It was a bit... cool.
*[Promising Future Chat Group]*
Asta: "@Wangshu, you absolutely must not forget training! Swing the sword with force for two hours! Remember, two hours!"
Wangshu: "..."
Wangshu: "Speaking of which, why haven't I seen you spamming the chat all morning?"
Currently, there were three people in the group: Senior Jingliu, who was online 24 hours a day like an NPC; Asta, who slacked off at work and spent most of her time chatting online; and Wangshu, who didn't have a serious job yet.
Asta: "Don't mention it. The Space Station was attacked by the Antimatter Legion. Fortunately, Madam Herta was here this time... It's good that she was here, otherwise, I would have had to show off my divine might... Woo woo woo."
Heaven knows how excited she was when she woke up for work during the day and discovered an Antimatter Legion invasion after a moment of daze.
Mere Antimatter Legion, don't even think about stepping half a foot into the Space Station!
As the Acting Station Lead of Herta Space Station, she, Asta, would not let a single researcher in the Space Station suffer a shred of harm!
Woo woo woo, but because of this Chat Group, Madam Herta had been staying at the Space Station for a long time recently, popping up all day long, giving her absolutely no room to display the sword arts she had honed for days.
Speaking of which, because of Madam Herta's extended stay, the researchers were all more motivated.
Wangshu: "...Your Space Station is really plagued by disasters. How come it's been invaded by the Antimatter Legion again?"
Asta: "? What do you mean by again?"
Wangshu: "Didn't it already get invaded once when the Express Crew came before?"
Asta: "The Express Crew aren't stars of calamity. It was only this one time they happened to come when we encountered the Antimatter Legion... Read less of those dailies that smear Madam Herta and the Express Crew. Oh, wait, you transmigrated; you couldn't read them now even if you wanted to."
Wangshu: "..."
Jingliu: "?"
Wangshu: "..."
Asta: "Hey hey hey!"
*[Jingliu requests to enter Asta's world. Waiting for Asta's app... Time parameter error. Request failed.]*
*[System detecting... Similar situation detected.]*
*[Abnormal status classified under Archive One. Due to the Chat Group undergoing its first adaptive upgrade, current status is Friendly 1. Disposal method of Archive One has been defaulted.]*
*[If there are objections, group members please initiate an internal vote before providing feedback.]*
Asta: "Wow."
Jingliu: "What year of the Star Calendar is it over there?"
She had paid attention to the Express Crew. After all, no matter what great deed one wanted to accomplish, the most impossible to ignore were the Pathstriders of the Trailblaze. Especially since she wanted to slay a God, they were even more impossible to ignore.
Asta: "Amber Era 2157... Forget it, using your Xianzhou calendar, it should be Star Calendar Year 8099."
Asta: "Senior, what about you?"
Jingliu: "Amber Era 2158, Star Calendar Year 8100, December."
Asta: "Will the gavel fall next year?"
Wangshu: "Is no one concerned about the timeline issue?"
Asta was in 8099, when the plot had just begun. Jingliu was at the end of 8100. He himself was in 6299... This time span!
Actually, he wasn't very clear about the timeline himself. He only vaguely remembered that Lingsha was appointed as the Cauldron Master in August of Star Calendar Year 8100, and by that time, the plot was already quite advanced.
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