Chapter 278: Shopping Mall
"I'll be waiting for you at the shelter."
Lin Ye took a sip of his ice-cold cola. This was actually the shelter's first guest, so he planned to tidy up the bedroom a bit after returning.
"Good, I'll go prepare the trade items right away."
The Middleman was very confident in the price he had offered. He hadn't tried to cheat Lin Ye—not out of honesty, but because as a middleman, he didn't mind exploiting information gaps to reap huge profits from trades.
But that depended on who he was trading with. Facing an excellent system Survivor like Lin Ye, he wouldn't do something so foolish.
After all, he made his living from information asymmetry, and the system was the source of all information.
If Lin Ye could keep surviving, he didn't dare imagine how much benefit he could gain from Lin Ye.
It was a pity that the highest quality batch of system Survivors had an extremely high mortality rate. The system's 'training' was still too dangerous for Survivors, so he would only conduct normal trades with Lin Ye, not make early investments.
He had seen too many fools who invested in system Survivors only to end up losing everything.
Those people weren't idiots either, but the sunk costs were too high, forcing them to double down. "Thanks for your trouble."
Lin Ye didn't know about the Middleman's complex mental calculations. He just wanted to eat quickly before his egg fried rice got cold.
So Lin Ye picked up his ice-cold cola and took another small sip.
"No trouble at all, this is my job."
The Middleman stood up and left the private room.
Lin Ye smiled and waved goodbye, then finished his egg fried rice in three mouthfuls.
Little Black swallowed a large piece of roasted meat in one gulp. The little dog stuck its head inside the roasted meat, getting its face covered in grease. The Goat was much more elegant—it sat at the table using a knife and fork to cut the roasted meat into pieces, putting them into its mouth. Its hooves were exceptionally dexterous, moving so fast they left afterimages. It quickly finished an entire piece of roasted meat.
"Would you like some more?"
Xiao Bai's eyes rotated with light circles, as if processing some information.
"No need, let's go to the shopping center. Even though we can't bring purchased items back to the shelter, I still quite enjoy browsing supermarkets."
Back in university, Lin Ye would occasionally go to large supermarkets with his roommates to buy daily necessities. Their campus was quite remote—each trip to the city required a forty-minute bus ride—so every time they went out, they would have a big meal in the city.
Usually, it was buffet-style, because college students could really eat.
"The Rest Area has several large shopping centers, most of which you can shop at for free. Here is a map showing detailed information for all shopping centers."
Xiao Bai pushed a light screen displaying the Rest Area map in front of Lin Ye.
Lin Ye glanced at it and randomly chose a nearby shopping center. He didn't memorize the Rest Area map, nor did he overthink it—after all, this was the Rest Area, so it was better to relax a bit.
After finishing the roasted meat, the Goat drove them to the shopping center. The shopping centers in the Rest Area were ridiculously large, containing various products Lin Ye had never even heard of, including all sorts of bizarrely shaped snacks and drinks. Lin Ye even found some products from Blue Star inside.
"Here you can find goods originating from various Planes. Some of those Planes have completely disappeared, and only here can traces of those civilizations be observed. For example, this bottle of drink—the Plane that created it has already fallen into the deep layers of the Abyss. Even if this beverage still exists there, the taste would be different now."
Xiao Bai explained to Lin Ye.
"...This tastes awful."
Lin Ye opened the sky-blue translucent drink and took a sip. Its flavor was extremely strange, containing a taste Lin Ye had never encountered before. He couldn't describe it using any known language.
"Meow meow..."
Little Black finished the remaining drink with a bitter expression. It didn't like this flavor either.
"Your body structure is different from that civilization, so you cannot comprehend their sense of taste. This is normal."
Xiao Bai also opened a bottle of the drink and took a sip. She seemed to quite enjoy its flavor.
After drinking, Xiao Bai touched Lin Ye's body with her flexible fingers. A special taste suddenly appeared in Lin Ye's mouth. This taste mixed with the previous residual flavor, allowing Lin Ye to clearly distinguish the difference between the two taste sensations.
God's Blood flowed deep within his body. Lin Ye experienced an illusion that he could change his body structure at will—as if with just a thought, he could freely switch between the two taste structures.
Lin Ye forcibly suppressed this impulse. He didn't want to experiment with his own body.
"What was that?"
Lin Ye hadn't expected Xiao Bai to be able to influence his sense of taste so easily. Her abilities were much stronger than he had imagined.
"It's just simple information transmission—a method of utilizing mental energy. If you mind, you can forbid me from using this technique."
Xiao Bai withdrew her fingers and spoke calmly.
"No need, you can recommend me a few more interesting flavors."
This process of contacting God's Blood would enhance Lin Ye's understanding of it. After obtaining the Flesh and Blood Rule Fragment, Lin Ye had become much more sensitive to subtle changes in flesh and blood. He looked at the little dog lying on Little Black's back—he could learn about this aspect by modifying the little dog.
After browsing the shopping center, Lin Ye returned to the hotel room with a cart full of loot, much of which were things the pets enjoyed.
It was a pity the Goat could only stay for one day, the little dog didn't have much brains, and Little Black needed to be released too.
Lin Ye had considered releasing Little Black directly in the Rest Area, but Xiao Bai informed him that pets couldn't be left alone in the Rest Area.
"Will you come back here again?"
Xiao Bai stood by the bedside, calmly watching Lin Ye lying on the bed.
"Of course, tomorrow I plan to visit the massage parlor. I still have discount coupons for that place."
Under Xiao Bai's gaze, Lin Ye closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to sink into another world.
……………………………………………
Back on the hard plank bed in the shelter, Lin Ye pushed Little Black off him, then took the low-tier nutrient solution and Red Core Pendant to the Game Room.
Since his body had been transformed by God's Blood, Lin Ye felt the Red Core Pendant's influence on him was diminishing. He could definitely wear the Red Core Pendant for extended periods, but out of caution, he still only wore the pendant during spiritual energy circulation.
After completing his daily circulation, Lin Ye returned to the shelter and prepared a simple dinner for himself and the pets.
Even though he had eaten quite a bit in the Rest Area, he had grown accustomed to reading the Group Chat while having dinner.
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"Has Old Yu not reached the shelter yet?"
"Hey, he got played, otherwise he would have been back long ago."
"What happened? I was absorbing spiritual energy in the Game Room earlier and didn't pay attention to the Group Chat. What's the new drama?"
"Old Yu wanted to take the opportunity to find a shelter with a usable toilet, so he asked in the group if anyone was looking for roommates. At first, many people responded, but they all changed their minds in the end."