Universe Infinite Canteen

The call connected quickly, but it was a bit noisy on the other end; Yan Wu must have been at some construction site.

He then found a slightly quieter room.

"What, you want a new high-dimensional artifact? Wait a minute, you've got money now, so pay back the 280,000 Star Currency you owe me first."

"...The agreed repayment period is two years from now? Yes, that's right, but I'm not stupid, I won't give you a new high-dimensional artifact if you don't pay up."

"So you're buying with Star Currency this time? But the problem is, if you have Star Currency, you should pay me back first," Yan Wu lit a cigarette, "Otherwise, once you've spent it all, what will you pay me with in two years?"

"What? You're saying you need to buy new equipment to pay me back," the owner of the hardware store was speechless, "Could you be any more shameless?"

Ma Lu spoke earnestly, "I'm serious. I'm enhancing my strength to collect ingredients better, and only with better ingredients can my restaurant make more Star Currency. That way, I can pay you back in two years as promised.

"On the contrary, if I start paying back now, my strength will stagnate. I won't be able to collect rare ingredients and will fall behind in earning, causing me to default on my debt to you."

"Why does everything sound somewhat reasonable when it comes out of your mouth?"

Yan Wu stroked his chin stubble, "I don't have what you're seeking because only you have the bug eggs in this realm, but I can ask around for you.

"There are some guys out there with collections of contraband, but as for the price... 9,000 Star Currency might not be enough."

"So I..."

Before Ma Lu could finish speaking, the hardware store owner became wary again, "Let's get this straight, I'm not lending you any more Star Currency."

"You've misunderstood, what I meant was I'm planning to earn a bit more recently," said Ma Lu.

After hanging up the phone, he opened the memo on his Traveler's Bracelet, which recorded some new intel gathered by the Valkyrie People over the past two weeks.

There were already over a dozen entries, all dining requests from various patrons, but straightforward ones like from Chen Zhengyi and Mickey were already fulfilled, leaving only the bizarre ones.

For example, someone specifically asked to eat dragon, and not the pseudo-dragons like Earth Dragons, but flying True Dragons. Despite the handsome offer of 40,000 Star Currency, Ma Lu had no idea where to find a dragon for them.

After all, the two realms he had visited so far were devoid of any sightings of True Dragons.

Another wanted seafood, and looking at the dishes ordered, Ma Lu didn't recognize any of them; they were not something to consider short term.

Actually, those were still reasonable. There were many abstract requests like one patron who wanted "something soft, moist, that would parasitically grow inside my body along with me."

And another dish that could "cultivate one's primordial spirit, manifesting a baby," or someone who recently wanted to eat "something that could grow an extra belly button."

Overall, they were all peculiar requests. Ma Lu discussed them with Old Wang, and in the end, they only identified two orders that might be fulfilled in the short term.

A patron who claimed to be a Wandering Sorcerer wanted to absorb some fire element, demanding that the dishes contain more than 17% fire attribute, while a patron with the WeChat ID Love-Struck wanted to propose to her boyfriend during the meal and be able to hear his sincere thoughts.

The former required energized plants with a 6-star fire attribute, and to satisfy the latter's request, one needed an ingredient called the Singer's Solanum Berry, along with Volcanic Big-leaf Tomato, Dreamy Bell Pepper, and other ingredients to cook a dish to meet her needs.

Fortunately, Ma Lu already had a stock of the latter few ingredients on hand, so his main goal for going out this time was to locate the Singer's Solanum Berry and see where he could find a 6-star fire attribute energized plant.

...

Two weeks had passed since Ma Lu had last returned to the Holy Temple City, and although he had reached the minimum standard for his monthly field mission—going at least twice—before he left,

Ma Lu still worried that something might go wrong during his long absence.

This wasn't the Giant Curtain, his identity had changed to a knight under the Sacred Order of Knights, not the deputy leader of a Hunting Group; he didn't have as much freedom.

Fortunately, after checking his emails, Ma Lu breathed a sigh of relief.

The death of Dulce hadn't caused much of a stir, just as he had anticipated.

After all, knights' work was inherently risky, and it was common for the Sacred Order of Knights to suffer casualties from time to time. Death was nothing out of the ordinary.

Once Dulce's disappearance was discovered, the Sacred Order of Knights indeed initiated an investigation process, dispatching investigators to the site of the incident.

However, by the time they arrived, Ma Lu had already disguised the scene as a battlefield where Dulce and his witches had fought against the Energized Plants, and this was ultimately accepted by the investigators.

As a result, the Church only issued an obituary, commending and mourning the valiantly fallen Dulce, and the matter was conclusively closed.

Moreover, during this half-month, an important event occurred that captured everyone's attention, to the extent that no one cared about the deceased Dulce.

——The Church's mining site in the southern part of the Goladot Mountains was attacked, resulting in the deaths of a staggering nine knights, thirty-seven witches, over a hundred miners, and the desertion of fourteen witches.

A mysterious organization known as the Witch Alliance claimed responsibility for the attack, proclaiming it to be revenge for the Church's recent burning of witches at the stake.

The news sent shockwaves through the Holy Temple City upon its return, marking one of the most severe blows the Church had faced in nearly twenty years.

The mining site in the southern part of the Goladot Mountains was of critical importance to the Holy Temple City. Although humanity's last survivors had managed to fend off the frenzied assaults of the Energized Plants with the Holy Stones, preserving the last city,

maintaining the city's operations solely with resources from within and nearby was inadequate, especially in terms of various mineral resources, which the Holy Temple City couldn't produce on its own.

Fortunately, the nearby Goladot Mountains were rich in mineral resources.

Therefore, the Church had established several mines there, periodically clearing nearby Energized Plants and extracting mineral resources.

The mine that was attacked was of medium size, and its output wasn't particularly high, but that didn't mean it was unimportant.

On the contrary, it was the Church's only titanium iron mine, and titanium was widely used in equipment and weapon manufacturing, including Knight's Armor.

With the loss of that titanium iron mine, not only would new equipment development be hindered, but the knights' armor maintenance could become problematic in the future.

Realizing this, Ma Lu didn't hesitate. He sprang up from the sofa and ran towards The Great Tower. Explore new worlds at empire

The war between the Church and the Witch Alliance didn't concern him much, but the consequences of the mining site's destruction would indeed have a tangible impact on him.

Ma Lu had to spend his Atonement Points before the prices of weapons and equipment surged.