Game: Civilization Paradise

He quickly entered the BBQ restaurant.

The restaurant was fairly spacious, with grill tables scattered about and a few customers seated here and there.

Just then, Long Ming saw Xiaoqi and the others sitting around a circular grill table.

When the group saw Long Ming arrive, they shouted excitedly.

"Long Ming, over here!"

Long Ming walked over to them and was taken aback when he saw the platters of meat and seafood on the table.

Sliced marbled beef, marbled beef steaks, starfish fish...

None of this was ordinary food. There were even types of fish he had never eaten before. The price must have been exorbitant.

This spread had to cost at least 10,000 Star Coins.

"Xiaoqi, are we really eating this well? Are you trying to go broke?"

Long Ming asked in surprise.

"Uh, well..."

Xiaoqi hesitated, unsure of what to say.

"What's wrong?"

Long Ming asked, confused.

"Well, the thing is, we didn't arrange for this meal."

"Then who did?"

"Mr. Oritta arranged it. He specially prepared all this food. Otherwise, this BBQ place wouldn't have such high-quality ingredients."

"Oritta? Why didn't he tell me?"

"He was afraid you'd fight him for the bill, so he specifically asked us not to tell you."

Xiaoqi explained to Long Ming.

"Hah, I was wondering what was going on."

Hearing this, Long Ming sat down.

Just then, Xiaopang also walked into the shop and headed toward Long Ming.

His eyes lit up when he saw the table full of high-end ingredients.

"Big Bro, you're eating all this good stuff and you didn't even call me."

"What are you doing here?"

Long Ming looked at Xiaopang, a little surprised.

"I came looking for you, then I saw you come into this BBQ place, so I followed you in. Can I join you guys?"

"Sure, sit."

"Then I won't be polite!"

Xiaopang sat down with a grin.

CLACK CLACK~

At that moment, the sound of footsteps approached.

Long Ming heard the sound and turned his head to look.

He saw Oritta walk in, wearing a gray trench coat and accompanied by Sang Rui and Kolei.

"Oritta!"

Long Ming smiled and raised a hand, waving at Oritta.

"Mr. Long Ming, sorry I'm late!"

Oritta walked over with a broad smile, took off his trench coat, and sat down.

Sang Rui and Kolei placed the fine wine they had brought on the table.

"You're not late, I just got here myself. But you're being far too generous."

Long Ming said politely to Oritta.

"It's a small thing. If Mr. Long Ming hadn't risked his life to save me in the City of Machinery, I'd probably be a goner by now. So no matter what, I had to treat you to a meal to express my gratitude."

Oritta said with great sincerity.

Although dying inside a dungeon isn't true death, it would have absolutely wiped Oritta out.

For Long Ming to risk complete financial ruin to save him was truly a rare thing.

In an era governed by the principles of the dark forest and "profit above all," it was difficult to find such a reliable friend.

"Don't say that. It's normal for friends to help each other out."

"Well said!"

"Xiaoqi, have the owner fire up the charcoal."

Long Ming said to Xiaoqi with a smile.

"Okay! Hey, Brother Chen Ge, bring over the charcoal!"

Xiaoqi quickly shouted toward the entrance, calling for Chen Ge, who was greeting customers.

But after shouting, he didn't see Chen Ge come in. Instead, a commotion could be heard from outside.

"What's going on?"

Xiaoqi and the others looked outside, confused.

Just then, Jibo and a group of his lackeys came in, shoving a middle-aged man with dark skin, graying temples, and a small mustache.

"Boss, please, not like this. I still have customers inside! If you have something to say, let's talk outside."

Chen Ge said to Jibo and his men with an apologetic smile.

"I don't feel like it. And stop trying to humor me. Hurry up and pay the management fee. Everyone else on this street has paid up, you're the only ones left!"

Jibo said with a sneer.

"It's not that. Business has been really bad. The management fee you're charging is just too expensive."

Chen Ge replied with a helpless look on his face.

Long Ming's eyes turned cold when he saw Jibo, and Xiaoqi's group was also furious.

Jibo glanced at the customers in the restaurant, his eyes landing on the lavish spread of marbled beef on Long Ming's table. He then let out a cynical laugh and said,

"No money, huh?"

"That's right."

"I'm a reasonable guy. Serve us a table just like that one over there, and we'll let you off the hook for today."

"Boss, I'm running a small business. How could I afford to serve a table like that? They brought their own ingredients. I'm just providing the space and the charcoal."

Chen Ge was starting to get anxious.

"So you're not going to show me any respect, is that it?"

Jibo reached out and patted Chen Ge's face.

"It's really not that I won't give you face, it's that I can't afford to."

Chen Ge explained desperately.

At this, Oritta's face darkened as he watched Jibo and his men. He turned to Long Ming and asked, annoyed,

"Mr. Long Ming, who are those guys?"

"They're collecting protection money."

Long Ming explained simply.

"This area should be your guild's territory, right?"

"More or less."

"And you can tolerate this?"

"It's not like we have a choice."

"Logically speaking, with your strength, dealing with these guys should be easy, no?"

Oritta asked, a bit confused.

"It's not that we're afraid of them. They're just like leeches. Beating them up is no good, and getting rid of them would just dirty our hands. They have backers, so they're not afraid of threats, and they constantly harass our subordinates. We can't keep an eye on everyone all the time. So, it's better to avoid trouble when we can."

Long Ming explained to Oritta with a sigh.

"I see."

Oritta's anger surged as he listened to Long Ming's words.

However, he suppressed his anger. After all, he was treating Long Ming to dinner today. It wasn't a good time to cause trouble.

Jibo, having lost his patience with Chen Ge, walked directly to a nearby table of customers and said with a fake smile,

"Folks, are you done eating?"

Fear appeared on the faces of the customers at that table. They scrambled to their feet and left.

"You can't chase away my customers!"

Chen Ge was getting frantic.

"Did we? They were done eating and left on their own."

Jibo couldn't be bothered to argue with Chen Ge and just went from table to table, driving people away.

Soon, Long Ming's table was the only one left in the entire BBQ restaurant.

Then, Jibo and his men came over to Long Ming's table, leaned on it with both hands, and said with a chuckle,

"Everyone, the BBQ place is closed for business today. You'd better get going!"

"On what grounds?"

Xiaoqi and the others were already simmering with rage.

Seeing how arrogant Jibo was, the corners of Long Ming's mouth curved up slightly, but he didn't say a word.

"On no grounds. I'm telling you nicely right now. Don't make me do this the hard way!"

Jibo threatened arrogantly.

SMACK~

At that, Oritta shot to his feet. A trace of fury on his face, he looked coldly at Jibo and said,

"And what if we don't leave?"

"Then don't blame us for what happens next!"

Jibo retorted with a cold laugh.

Oritta slammed a fist directly into Jibo's face.

"AHH~"

Jibo staggered back, clutching his face in pain.

"You dare hit our boss!"