The Little Fox, Pickled to the Bone

Even the Herrscher of Knowledge had expressed some displeasure after seeing Raven's pair of great evils, calmed down and listened to Raven's musings.

Some people may dislike unruly children, but no one dislikes well-behaved children.

"Although, Raven, listen to my advice, stop dreaming about villas and islands, really." After listening to Raven's beautiful fantasies and remaining silent for a while, Chen Luo earnestly advised.

Even with Chen Luo present, the Herrscher of Void might not necessarily exhibit any violent behavior even if she awakens, and it's possible that she might not trigger Great Honkai, but it's also possible that she might.

In the original storyline, when Raven bought the villa, she must have chosen a place that she was most satisfied with. If that's the case, there's a 90% chance that Raven will still choose that place now.

We're not saying that the Raven is 100% unlucky enough to sink the villa island, but even if there's a 50% chance, don't try it. Why would you try it?

"What's wrong with a villa island? Does a villa island eat your rice? People like you who don't own a villa island can't possibly experience the joy of one. Once I buy a villa island, I'll invite you to experience it, and you'll absolutely love it. A villa island is the real, completely your home; other houses only have limited property rights." Raven gave Chen Luo a disdainful look.

"That's true... but haven't you thought about what would happen if it sank?"

"How could it possibly sink? The villa island I chose is in a perfect location," Raven said confidently.

"But..." Chen Luo still wanted to persuade Raven.

"There's no 'buts' about it. Anyway, it's not your money being spent... Oh, it is your money being spent. Well, I can just reserve a room for you on the villa island," Raven said, waving her hand.

"Hmm, since you've put it that way, I won't try to persuade you anymore. Anyway, if your villa island sinks, I'll reserve a room for you in the attic upstairs."

Since Raven had already said so much, Chen Luo felt it was inappropriate to stop her.

Chen Luo was genuinely touched by the fact that the other party was willing to reserve a room for him, so he reciprocated with a kind gesture.

What if Chen Luo occasionally needs to stay in the attic?

Hmm, that room isn't small, we can still squeeze in if we try.

Besides, that room was originally prepared for sleeping with the bartender.

"Thank you so much. When my villa island sinks, I'll come and take you down with me." Raven rolled her eyes at Chen Luo.

"Why?" Chen Luo suddenly felt wronged.

"Who told you to have a jinx?" Raven shrugged.

"I didn't expect this to affect innocent bystanders as well."

"Then you can only pray that my villa island doesn't sink, otherwise I'll be clinging to you for life," Raven said after stretching.

"..." Chen Luo fell into deep thought.

To be honest, Raven's words made Chen Luo somewhat tempted. It wasn't that Chen Luo had any ulterior motives towards Raven, but rather that Chen Luo suddenly realized that if Raven's villa island didn't sink, Raven might not be planning to be a mercenary anymore, but instead enjoy life.

Then the Raven probably won't come to work at the bar.

But if Raven's villa island were to sink, Raven would definitely continue working at the bar. After all, Chen Luo n't exaggerating; the wages he pays are absolutely the most reasonable.

However, Chen Luo always felt that it was somewhat cruel to expect something bad to happen to others.

Hmm, never mind. If the other person's villa island comes to fruition, I'll just let them make a wish, and then I'll gift them a villa island in return.

Of course, it will be ten days to half a month later.

Although Chen Luo is poor, Anti-Entropy is rich, Cocolia is rich.

Isn't Cocolia's money Chen Luo's money?

However, the possibility that Raven's villa island sank is actually quite small.

"Hey, Luo, she said she'll blame you if her villa island sinks. Should we try to change her mind and stop her from buying the villa island?" The Herrscher of Knowledge sat down on the chair Chen Luo was sitting in, then squeezed Chen Luo to the side so they were sitting on the same chair. Then she whispered in Chen Luo's ear.

"No way, no way. I think this is just a joke. How could Raven's luck be that bad?" Chen Luo waved his hand.

"But what if she really becomes dependent on you?" The Herrscher of Knowledge was still somewhat worried about this.

"Then let's buy her another villa island," Chen Luo said magnanimously.

"That's true... What about me?" The Herrscher of Knowledge pointed to himself.

"Huh?" Chen Luo was taken aback.

What's wrong with you again?

"My reward? Look at me, I help you out at the bar every day, but I don't get any work points or rewards. And you don't grant my wish. I always feel like you treat Raven better than me." The Herrscher of Knowledge pouted.

"... Don't you feel any remorse saying that?" Chen Luo said with a pained expression after a moment of silence.

"If you say I tricked Venti, tricked others, or treated them badly, or even badly treated Liu Wenxuan, then I'll accept it because I didn't tell him about the bar!"

"But how could you say something as cold as 'I'm not good to you' from your 36-degree mouth? You're the only one who knows my true talent, you're the only one who's in my family, you're the only one who knows I can exchange for other people's abilities, you're the only one who's ever entered my sea of consciousness, and in this bar, you're the only one I haven't taken advantage of. How dare you say such things?" Chen Luo stared quietly into the eyes of the Herrscher of Knowledge.

"Haha, yeah, that's true..." After thinking about it, the Herrscher of Knowledge realized that it was indeed the case and couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"Um, I'll go sit at the table first. Call me if you need anything..." The Herrscher of Knowledge couldn't withstand the pressure of Chen Luo's gaze any longer and immediately tried to slip away.

"Come back here. We need to have a serious talk today. You've been at the bar for so long, what help have you given me?" Seeing the Herrscher of Knowledge about to leave, Chen Luo grabbed the other's ear.

"You don't serve the guests, you don't promote the drinks, you play around while I'm resting, you're still playing around while I'm working, and you're even playing around in my mind while I'm sleeping..."

The resentment in Chen Luo's tone was like a series of curses, which began to be instilled into the mind of the Herrscher of Knowledge, making the Herrscher of Knowledge feel extremely guilty.

Chapter 218 The Little Fox That's Been Marinated

"So, since we've run this bar together, you can't just expect me to do all the work."

"Ah, I can't take it anymore! Quickly call Otto!" The Herrscher of Knowledge shouted, covering her ears.

What do you want with Otto?

"Give him a beating and let off some steam!" the Herrscher of Knowledge said matter-of-factly.

"... Sigh, never mind, go have fun." Chen Luo looked at the Herrscher of Knowledge, who was quite annoyed by his lecture, and finally waved his hand.

"Can I go play in your sea of consciousness?" The Herrscher of Knowledge looked at Chen Luo expectantly.

"No!"

"Tch." The Herrscher of Knowledge curled his lip and then hurriedly ran out from behind the bar.

"You two have such an enviable relationship," said Raven, who had been acting as a third wheel for a while, after watching the Herrscher of Knowledge skip and hop away.

"I don't know if I'm seeing things, but it always feels like you treat her like a child. Or rather, you basically use a coaxing approach when you interact with her?" This made Raven feel a little uneasy.

"There's nothing we can do, her discount is so high," Chen Luo said helplessly.

Chen Luo cannot be said to be inherently cold-hearted, but Chen Luo does have a somewhat weak concept of friendship. Therefore, Chen Luo tends to treat others based on how much they treat him.

Of all the discounts, the lowest price belongs to the Herrscher of Knowledge. How can we not pamper her?

"Of course, you don't need to belittle yourself. I feel like we have a pretty good relationship," Chen Luo said, looking at Raven.

"Huh? Who gave you the illusion that I like you?" Raven couldn't help but glance at Chen Luo a few more times.

"What are you thinking? I just said we have a good relationship, I didn't say you like me." Chen Luo waved his hand.

"... That description isn't quite right either. We're just a worker and a boss, don't overthink it," Raven emphasized.

"Okay, okay, yes, yes, yes," Chen Luo said somewhat perfunctorily.

Then Chen Luo glanced at Raven's discount.

Raven: 55% off

This doesn't mean that Raven's affection for Chen Luo has reached the same level as Liu Wenxuan's affection for Chen Luo, or even higher.

The reason why Raven's discount is so high is mainly because of the favorability gained from Chen Luo's various titles at the beginning, plus the favorability gained from spending so many days with him.

Of course, if that were all, the price would be around 76% off at most by now.

More importantly, Raven sent two consecutive requests with a favorability rating, which increased the favorability rating by a total of 50.

However, the discount level cannot be used as a complete indicator of the other party's level of affection for Chen Luo.

The purpose of the favorability rating is to first lower the initial discount, and then amplify Chen Luo's kindness in their eyes during subsequent interactions, until the other party's favorability rating reaches a certain level.

This amplified effect of goodwill is quite obvious, to the point that you can almost always reach it as long as you don't do anything reckless.

Chen Luo didn't know why Raven would issue two favorability tasks in a row, but Chen Luo wouldn't refuse, since they were worth Primogem.

However, due to the level of favorability, this discount is definitely temporarily mixed with some exaggeration, which makes Chen Luo very troubled about what attitude to take towards Raven.

"Eek..." came the pitiful cry of a small animal.

"Um, shopkeeper, I've been wanting to ask this for a while now, what's this jar for?" Raven asked, pointing to the transparent jar next to Venti, who was still unconscious.

"You don't need to keep calling me 'store manager,' just call me Chen Luo or something else," Chen Luo said.

"So what's this thing used for?"

"This thing is suitable for disciplining pets, to teach them what they can and cannot do," Chen Luo said coldly.

Chen Luo turned his gaze to the front of the bar counter, where a transparent jar about half a person's height was placed.

Most importantly, inside that transparent jar was a little fox, pitifully scratching at the inside of the jar with its paws, while looking at Chen Luo with eyes that could Herrscher of the Heart evoke pity.

Moreover, the little fox would occasionally cover its nose with its paws.

The reason is probably the pickled vegetables that were placed in the jar together.

"I feel sorry for it. What did it do?" Looking at the little fox's eyes, the Raven couldn't help but subconsciously want to plead for her.

"It wet the bed," Chen Luo said.

"Hey, I thought it was something serious. It's just that he doesn't know how to use the litter box. Isn't that normal? If he pees in the cat bed, so what? Pet owners should have some compassion for their pets," Raven advised Chen Luo.

"But I clearly put it on the first floor, and after I finished eating, it ran from the first floor into my room on the second floor with the door closed and peed on my bed."

"This..." Raven was somewhat surprised for a moment.

"This little fox is so clever! It can even open doors! It might be a great help when carrying out missions!" Raven looked at the little fox with a gleam in its eyes.

"Waaah!" The little fox, as if it could understand what was being praised, proudly raised its head, then covered its nose with its paw.

The pickled vegetable flavor is too strong.

"You mean making it into a human bomb? No, a fox bomb?" Chen Luo turned to Raven and asked.

"This is just one of its uses, and it's the most wasteful one at that. After all, such a clever little fox shouldn't be wasted like this," the Raven said, waving its hand.

"Eek!" The little fox almost bristled.

"He's smart, but unfortunately he hasn't used his intelligence for good," Chen Luo sneered.

"But I'm still curious, why did you put it with pickled vegetables? Was it as punishment?"

"Ah, no, that's not it. It's just that the other party was unlucky. I searched the basement and found that the only thing I could use to store it and display it to all the guests was this glass jar, which is used for pickling vegetables, so it had to make do. But since this is a punishment, if it makes the other party feel better, then we shouldn't punish them, so it's not a big problem," Chen Luo explained.

The reason it was put in the pickle jar was simply because the little fox was unlucky.

Of course, it's also because this jar has a somewhat unique history...

"Aren't you afraid of spoiling this little fox? And won't it suffocate?" Raven asked with some concern.

"Don't worry about the second question. You can't cause any harm to anyone in a bar. You don't even need to breathe. You're just breathing now because you're used to it. If you don't believe me, you can even hold your breath for an hour without feeling any pain," Chen Luo said.

Any form of harm, including self-harm, is prohibited inside the bar. Otherwise, what if someone possessed the power to suck out all the air? Wouldn't they still be able to harm others?

The reason the little fox thought the pickled vegetable smell was too strong was because it was an old jar, and sometimes you can't stop smelling it just by not breathing.

Especially since the little fox only has paws and no hands, it cannot cover its nose.

"As for the first question... let it marinate until it's flavorful, at most we'll shave all its fur later, then there won't be any problem," Chen Luo said casually.

"Eek!!!" Last time, when the little fox heard that the Raven was going to use it as a human bomb, it almost got angry, but this time the little fox really got angry.

"Eek..." Then the little fox simply lay down in the pickled vegetables like a complete idiot.

"Of course, not shaving isn't out of the question. I remember Sister Lisa has some kind of powerful magic potion that can remove stains and eliminate all odors, so there's no need to worry too much about that," Chen Luo said.

"But if you use the medicine to wash her, aren't you the one who has to do it? Are you torturing her or yourself?" Raven complained.

"There's no other way. After all, this is my pet fox. It's impossible for me to kill her. I can't bring myself to do it. So I can only choose a way to punish both her and myself," Chen Luo said helplessly.

"It's all because foxes have so much energy. Whether it's the previous little fox or this little fox, they're always like this. They destroy the house and wet the bed. I can't even imagine what they'll do next."

What's next? The next step is probably to go to heaven.

"How should I put it? Your method did punish the other person, but it feels like it will worsen your relationship with them. My personal advice is that if you really want to keep this pet, you need to care for it with enough love." Raven paused for a moment before continuing.

"If you don't like it, you should release it back into the wild."