Chapter 376: Merlin Company's New Store

Duan Fei was very clear about what he wanted, so he quickly wrote down his wish and stuffed it into the top of the Lucky Cat’s head.

After taking care of all that, he began to inspect the items he had bought with his remaining event points.

Adhering to the principle of quality over quantity, he had only gotten five items in total.

They were Cuihua’s Mythical Flat Pan, a Fortune-Telling Machine for divining daily luck, the Wish Machine he had just purchased, the Legendary Quality [Secret Garden], and a [Multi-Functional Lathe] that could be used to make keys.

Aside from the Flat-bottomed Pan, which was a weapon, the others were all large-scale support items that couldn’t be brought into dungeons. Moreover, they were all of Legendary or Mythical quality.

The [Secret Garden] was meant to be used with Cuihua’s Mythical Flat Pan. Inside this garden lived a little demon that only a kind-hearted person could see. This shy little creature would help grow vegetables in the garden, producing one serving of Epic Level ingredients every three natural days, making it easier for Cuihua to prepare food and boost everyone’s Attributes.

Her only required payment was to have a kind-hearted person with no distracting thoughts chat with her, which would satisfy her needs for the day.

Duan Fei couldn’t see what the little demon looked like, but Cuihua and Flora seemed to be having a very happy chat with her.

Duan Fei knew he couldn’t see it, but he was a little surprised that Jinghong couldn’t see it either.

‘My Qing Mei, she’s more complex than I imagined.’

The [Multi-Functional Lathe] was a tool that could produce most basic items, but it required someone with an engineer-related Profession to operate it.

Everyone had more and more items now, and the Energy required to apply affixes was also increasing.

Meanwhile, Duan Fei’s Crowbar only had the two affixes [Indestructible] and [Splash]. He hadn’t had a chance to add new ones yet, and their Energy production had already hit a bottleneck.

Therefore, he needed to further develop the potential of Love City, attract more players, and get them captivated by the idols to generate more Romantic Energy.

The problem was, engineers were hard to find.

Just as Duan Fei was wondering how to trick an engineer into joining, the other members finished writing their wishes.

After everyone tossed their wishes into the Lucky Cat, one person’s wish was quickly spat back out.

Without even looking, Duan Fei said to Flora, “Flora, take your wish back and revise it.”

“You didn’t even look! How did you know it was me?!”

“You’re the only one here who hasn’t figured out the rules.”

Flora glanced at the other five people and could only tearfully take her wish back to revise it under the Maid’s supervision.

After she finished her revisions and put it back in, it was finally accepted this time, and the first batch of ten wishes was listed.

1. I wish the next time I buy milk tea, it’s the perfect temperature.

2. I wish I win a “one more bottle” prize when I buy a jumbo-sized Coke.

3. I wish I win fifty Abyss Coins in the Abyss lottery.

4. I wish I could get an internship at Rongge Company.

5. I wish for a new gun silencer.

6. I wish my relationship with a certain someone would get better.

7. I wish we could find an engineer.

8. I wish the shop would do better.

9. I wish I could get a new Legendary Quality item.

10. I wish we could all be together forever.

The ten wishes were posted. The last one, valued at 3.9 million Abyss Coins, felt a little embarrassing, but it was also a heartfelt expression from the wisher.

“Alright, the wishes have been listed. From now on, you can toss useless items into the Lucky Cat to be recycled. Indestructible items and living things won’t work. The higher an item’s quality, the more it will fill the Energy bar. Let’s all work hard together, everyone.”

Seeing everyone’s excitement, Duan Fei knew that the Salted Fish Guild’s cohesiveness would slowly build because of this.

Making wishes together was a good opportunity to understand one another. Plus, everyone’s wish had a chance of being granted, and sooner or later, their turn would come.

This was a process that linked the guild’s cohesiveness with individual desires. As long as they created a good atmosphere in the beginning, it would snowball and eventually become a guild tradition.

Duan Fei chuckled at the thought.

‘The guild only has seven members right now. This is just the beginning.’

‘I’ll think more about it after we get more people.’

After the first wish-making meeting ended, Jinghong logged off to go to her university.

Although many universities had adopted online teaching, allowing people to attend classes in the educational district of the city in Abyss, some things still had to be done in the real world.

Little Fatty was going to modify his AI. Cuihua’s injuries had mostly healed, so she was going to do physical rehabilitation in the real world. Lone Ranger was off to play the role of a great villain, and Flora and the Maid also had their own activities.

As a result, the once-lively office was suddenly empty except for him, making Duan Fei feel a little lonely.

With nothing else to do, he could only open the forums, check his private messages, and look for some entertainment.

After the last event dungeon, his fame had grown considerably. He had even gained some fans among the players, and he received friend requests every day.

Some people even shamelessly professed their love, saying annoying things like, “Your round, chubby figure is dancing all over my kink, so your real-life appearance must be just as cute.”

He decisively set his inbox to reject messages from strangers and dealt with all his previous mail. Then, Duan Fei was surprised to find a letter from Merlin.

The letter was simple: “Our shop is open. How about you come take a look?”

After the last dungeon, Merlin Company had finally obtained the rights to access the city and was allowed to open a shop on the commercial street.

Since he had nothing better to do anyway, Duan Fei headed to the commercial street.

First, he went to his own shop, the Salted Fish Shoppe, to have a look. He gave Bai Yang, who was busy flirting with a female customer, a good scolding. After confirming that the shop’s operations were running smoothly, he then headed to the Merlin Company store.

Perhaps because the store was connected to a dungeon, the Merlin Company shop was more than ten times larger than the Salted Fish Shoppe.

However, the size wasn’t what surprised Duan Fei the most; it was the decor.

The Holy Grail World was actually quite modernized. Magic was already a branch of the scientific system, incorporated into the study of mysticism.

But Merlin Company’s shop seemed to have reverted to the Middle Ages.

Instead of chandeliers, they used Magic Lamps overhead.

The guards at the entrance weren’t living people but animated suits of armor.

Checkouts weren’t handled by computers but by automated quill pens.

The scene before him perfectly matched Duan Fei’s image of a magical medieval period, which also left him feeling quite puzzled.

But seeing the hall teeming with people, he started to understand.

‘Can’t be helped. This is exactly what players eat up.’

‘Magic is supposed to be associated with the Middle Ages; otherwise, it just doesn’t have the right vibe.’

Shifting his mindset, Duan Fei began to wander through the shop, noticing that many people were there to buy things, but just as many were there to “check in.”

‘In the future, even if it doesn’t work as a shop, it would make a great tourist spot.’

Right by the checkout counter, Duan Fei spotted Yue Hua, who had clearly been dragged here against her will.

And next to her was Merlin, who had transformed into a large Samoyed.

‘Elder Mei, you really know how to have fun, don’t you?’