Chapter 281: Delicious potato chips
"Hey, no need to push yourself. I know you've already bet your entire fortune. I'll do my best to help you get the relic, but I still have to advise you—every gambling addict will eventually face a bet that bankrupts them completely. That's the fate of gambling addicts."
Lin Ye couldn't help but offer his employer some advice.
"...Go buy me a drink. I want the frozen juice from that beverage shop in the city center."
Xia La ultimately couldn't resist.
[Obtained Bounty Task: Go to the beverage shop in the city center to purchase juice]
[Task Reward: Bounty*1]
"Right away! I'll go complete the task immediately. I could tell from the start that you're wealthy and generous."
Seeing the task prompt, Lin Ye immediately changed his attitude.
"...Were you a salesman before becoming a Survivor?"
Compared to the financial loss, Lin Ye's fawning tone made Xia La even more uncomfortable. "No, I was a doctor."
Lin Ye and Xia La walked along the road toward the city center. After just a few steps, they discovered a bicycle-like device by the roadside, but unfortunately it was already broken.
"What are you doing? That thing is already broken."
Xia La watched curiously as Lin Ye disassembled the device into various components, then reassembled it into a different kind of device.
"Please get on, Employer."
Lin Ye helped support the simple bicycle modified with runes, parts, and flesh chunks as he spoke.
"Will this thing really not suddenly fall apart?"
Xia La looked at this strange device with twisted parts connected by flesh chunks, carefully sitting on the back seat.
"No problem, I can repair broken parts while driving."
Lin Ye mounted the simple bicycle and forcefully pressed down on the pedals. It had been a long time since he'd ridden a bicycle, but after just a few pedals, he regained the feeling of cycling.
The wind passed by Lin Ye's ears, and there wasn't a single person on the road. This was the feeling of freedom.
"Don't ride so fast! The middle part is breaking! Why do I feel like this thing is about to fall apart!"
Although being thrown off wouldn't injure Xia La, she really didn't want to be thrown out due to the front and back seats separating.
"No problem, it's already repaired."
While riding, Lin Ye used Alienation and Shaping runes to repair the bicycle. At the same time, he had to pay attention to the surroundings, keeping him very busy.
The two of them rode this nearly-falling-apart simple bicycle all the way to the city center. Since Lin Ye's cycling speed was faster than ordinary cars, they achieved a 100% turn-around rate from pedestrians.
Many spiritual energy users noticed Xia La. They knew she carried a Relic Offspring, but Lin Ye's brazen way of moving made them hesitate to act rashly.
Their judgment was correct—Lin Ye had originally planned to fight his way to the city center on the bicycle, but no one came to deliver themselves to death along the way.
"These people are quite smart."
Lin Ye parked the nearly-falling-apart bicycle by the roadside and entered the beverage shop with Xia La.
"Three frozen juices, and three of your best-selling desserts. Please wrap up one of them."
Lin Ye found a seat and spoke to the waiter who came to take their order.
"Why three portions? I only want one..."
Xia La suddenly noticed a gloomy-looking middle-aged man sitting diagonally across from them. His table was covered with various desserts, and he was currently staring at Xia La while continuously stuffing desserts into his mouth.
The other party was very conspicuous, but Xia La hadn't noticed him at all before.
This was a high-level spiritual energy user.
Xia La wanted to warn Lin Ye, but found she couldn't make any sound.
"One portion is for a friend."
After the drinks arrived at the table, Lin Ye immediately received the system prompt for task completion.
Lin Ye began tasting the dessert and drink in front of him. After confirming the flavor, he took out Alice's snack bag and placed the wrapped dessert and drink inside.
After a while, some additional items appeared inside the bag.
Lin Ye reached into the snack bag and pulled out a bag of potato chips.
They were energy bar-flavored potato chips.
"...How could there be such an anti-human flavor?"
Lin Ye opened the potato chip bag, took out a wall-colored potato chip, and stuffed it into Xia La's mouth.
Xia La chewed a few times, then looked at Lin Ye with a bewildered expression and asked:
"What is this? Did I really eat something?"
"They're delicious potato chips."
Seeing that his employer was fine, Lin Ye took out a potato chip and put it in his own mouth.
The potato chips had the same texture as normal potato chips, but he couldn't taste any flavor at all. After chewing a few times, Lin Ye started to wonder if his sense of taste had malfunctioned.
This feeling was very strange, and Lin Ye couldn't resist eating a few more chips.
Xia La also reached out to take a few potato chips and put them in her mouth. Soon, the two of them finished the entire bag of chips.
"...Did we actually eat anything just now?"
Xia La asked with a bewildered expression.
"I don't know either."
This was the first time Lin Ye had experienced such an empty feeling.
"Can you hand over the offspring to me?"
A young man in formal attire entered the beverage shop and walked over to the two of them.
"I suggest you exchange the offspring for some benefits with him. I'll handle things after the relic appears, but you're the employer, so it's your decision. If you don't want to sell, then forget it."
Lin Ye wanted to get rid of the Relic Offspring—he always felt this thing had serious problems.
"Hey! I'm a high-level spiritual energy user! And you still want to ask me for benefits?"
The young man laughed in anger. This was the first time he'd seen such an arrogant second-tier spiritual energy user.
"You must have just advanced, right? You don't feel much stronger than mid-level spiritual energy users."
Lin Ye held the Cross Scepter, ready to deliver a heavy blow to the other party at any moment.
"Hmph, even if I just advanced, I'm still a high-level spiritual energy user. You simply don't understand the difficulty of advancing."
The young man pulled over a chair and sat at the table, seriously explaining the difficulty and process of advancement to the two of them.
"After advancing, I wanted to obtain a relic as a weapon, and I happened to hear news of a relic appearing here."
"So you don't know what the relic is either."
Lin Ye reached out his hand to Xia La, and Xia La took out the white card and placed it in Lin Ye's hand.
"This is the Relic Offspring. Keep it safe, and we won't disturb you anymore."
After handing the white card to the young man, Lin Ye pulled Xia La, preparing to leave this place.
Even a high-level spiritual energy user didn't know what the relic here was, making Lin Ye doubt whether there was even a relic here at all.
"You can escape, but due to prolonged contact with the admission ticket, she can no longer leave. Are you sure you want to abandon her?"
The gloomy man who had been eating desserts suddenly stood up and blocked the two of them as he spoke.
"Do you know what the relic here is?"
Lin Ye didn't immediately take action—the other party hadn't shown any malicious intent.
"The relic isn't here. She's already bound to the admission ticket. You now have two choices: abandon her, then stay away from all admission tickets, and you'll escape this calamity.
Or stay here with her, and you'll both be transported to the same area.
If you leave here and enter other areas containing admission tickets, she will be taken away by the admission ticket here, while you will be transported to other areas."
The gloomy man spoke seriously.