Chapter 2 Wellspring House

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Aizu City is divided into three districts: Hui City District, Number 26 Highland, and Katagi District.

Xu Yang set out from his residence in Hui City District to a ramen shop called Wellspring House in Number 26 Highland, ready to meet the other party.

"One hundred million, that sure is bold."

But even if it was just boasting or negotiating down to a few hundred thousand in the end, he had to accept it.

Those who leave the company have to be responsible for their own profits and losses, especially since Xu Yang was currently spending more than he was earning.

Freedom comes at a price.

Xu Yang wore sunglasses and a mask, hands in his pockets as he moved low-key through the streets. The pedestrian traffic was sparse. Huge shuttle machines flew over the public airways above his head. Aizu was an underground city; overhead was not the sky, but a cold screen equipped with a large sky projector, fabricating an empty blue sky.

He had secretly hacked into the ramen shop's circuitry, repeatedly checking the video footage and the personnel entering and exiting to avoid any trap.

After confirming it was safe, he walked in at leisure.

Wellspring House Ramen, an independent brand, had 10 branches in Aizu City, not very large in scale.

This shop also used a shared internet technology, connecting all the devices in one network.

The civilian encryption was quite simple, only a mere level 5, and didn't have any embedded security programs. After hacking into it, Xu Yang had everything under control.

Xu Yang looked at the list: the shop had a total of four surveillance cameras, two security alarms, five electric stoves, one automatic noodle-cooking robot, one punch clock, forty-six smart dining tables, two floating service robots, high-definition wall-mounted TVs...

Their information and status were laid out bare, clearly displayed in Xu Yang's Digital Mind.

The Wellspring House was not crowded and was a very quiet place. The light was a bright yellow, scattering warmth like spring all around. Classic screens separated the dining spaces, adorned with birds and dogs in misty paintings, the materials indistinct.

The TV was broadcasting a heterogenous fighting program where two winged monsters were fiercely battling. They were crafted through biotechnology, modeled on giant lizards and resembling dragons, resurrecting the bizarre existences from the Witch Era. Their bodies were fitted with armor and implants, and both roars and cries were electronically synthesized.

If one was not careful enough, its throat would be immediately bitten, metal scales would peel off, machinery damaged, spewing electric sparks and fizzing noises, and from the wounds would bleed fuel instead of blood, igniting upon touching the ground and setting the arena ablaze like dragon fire.

"Welcome!" A floating robot quickly rose from behind the counter to serve Xu Yang.

Xu Yang's gaze shifted from the TV to the robot. Its screen displayed a cute animated smiling face, pulling his thoughts from the ancient void back to the present.

"Take me to table 40," Xu Yang stated the agreed location.

"Please follow me!"

Xu Yang passed by several geisha robots; they reclined on sofas, their faces painted white, makeup plastered on metal skin. A giant glass fish tank sat on a table in the middle, from which innumerable bubbles rose from an air tube, and 3D projected scenery fish swam slowly. One of these fish had a bug—where its head should be, there was a string of garbled code instead.

Table 40 was a private booth with two rows of cotton sofas and translucent silk curtains. Above hung two red lanterns inscribed with the character "Order," and there was a pleasant aroma in the air.

Xu Yang lifted the curtain and sat down. Within seconds, he heard heavy footsteps.

Turning his head, he saw a burly black man approaching him. The man wore sunglasses, had thick lips with a row of gold earrings in his ear, and was clad in military vests and camouflage pants with studded high-top boots, a pair of gun holsters hanging from his belt. In Aizu City where social security and laws were lacking and shootings could erupt at any time, such an attire was not unusual.

"Hey." He sat across from Xu Yang, leaned forward, took off his sunglasses, smiled, and extended his hand casually.

"The figure you quoted," said Xu Yang, "real or fake?"

"Let's eat, you have any preferences?" The black man activated the smart tabletop menu and carelessly tapped on a few items.

"I'm not picky."

The black man tapped a few more times, choosing fried chicken, ramen, rice balls, and rice cakes.

"You seem quite relaxed," Xu Yang commented.

"I wasn't sure if I'd be meeting a frivolous imposter," said the black man, "or a real nerve hacker."

Xu Yang pulled a connector from his wrist and plugged it into an outlet on the side of the table.

It was originally intended to provide charging services for some customers, but now Xu Yang was using it for data transmission, which made control more convenient since remote control took more effort.

Just as the black man opened the payment interface, he found that the prices were changing rapidly. The bill went from the initial 260 to 250,000, then to an even larger astronomical figure, before finally dropping to 0.

"Damn," the black man couldn't help but admire, "just one second?"

"Zero point one second."

This was just a basic technique for Xu Yang. He turned his head to watch the distant TV, and the black man's eyes also turned there. At Xu Yang's manipulation, the channels switched rapidly, from combat in the arena to weather forecast, then to trendy anime and corporate news.

Following that, Xu Yang brought up the entire backend of the ramen shop on the TV, showing daily records, inventory catalogs, and sanitation status for everyone to understand the actual service of the shop.

The other customers noticed the change and began pointing at the screen.

"What? The meat isn't synthetic? I don't want it anymore!"

"What does '3353 customer facial data sold this month' mean?"

"I'm paying 150 for a bowl of noodles? Is your mother still okay?"

Complaints arose from time to time.

Xu Yang remotely activated the three geisha robots that were previously in rest mode, sending them into service mode. They respectfully brought tea and fans into their private booth and knelt on the ground to serve them.

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