Acquiring an Employee

Based on the description, Fei Wuniang's death was likely due to the loss of her Union Technique.

Heaven knows how many people's life essences she absorbed using this ability.

Besides that, there were two other abilities Chen Xuan cared about. The first was "Immunity to Poisons," a green rarity. Its description was standard, but for the first time, the word "component" appeared.

Could it be that abilities can not only be upgraded and promoted but also combined?

He could only boldly speculate that the combined ability would likely cover all component effects and have a higher tier. If nothing else, just saving a slot would be valuable enough.

The other was "Coin Toss," a purple rarity, higher than he expected.

Furthermore, its description was completely absent, like "black magic," with only the word "forbidden" mentioned.

Why was it forbidden? Didn't Fei Wuniang often use it to kill people?

Even Gilles de Rais could use black magic freely.

But the app's display clearly had its reasons. If Immunity to Poisons was a set ability, then this should be a series ability.

Sets, series... Chen Xuan couldn't help but think of a game starting with D.

Comparing these six abilities with Lin Qing's information, it was found that the Organization only recorded "Innate Charm," "Immunity to Poisons," "Strong Seize," and "Coin Toss." "Dance Prodigy" and "Union Technique" did not appear.

Why? Were they not important?

At least the Union Technique could satisfy some special needs, such as assassination and intelligence work.

He found it not difficult to reach a conclusion: the Dimensional Limit Organization's "definition" of abilities was not the same as the Ability Store's. Dance Prodigy might be Fei Wuniang's natural talent, while Union Technique was a learned dual cultivation spell. Neither was considered an ability by them. This was probably not because the Organization was picky, but because only abilities triggered by intrusion events could be detected by them.

The Ability Store was different; it was like the sea, capable of containing anything.

This indirectly proved his previous guess – the Dimensional Limit Organization did not win the battle by using Coin Toss.

As dusk fell, Chen Xuan finally returned to the shop.

He took out his key and opened the rolling shutter. The inside was surprisingly quiet. Lin Qing would usually be lying on the sofa, resting with her eyes closed, but she was nowhere to be seen now.

The shop hadn't even opened for the past two days because the wall, riddled with bullet holes from the machine gun, hadn't been repaired yet. Her injuries also hadn't fully healed, so she shouldn't have been able to go out alone.

Recalling that they had just snatched the Dimensional Limit Organization's "prey" not long ago, Chen Xuan's heart tightened.

Had they come looking for them?

He called out to Lin Qing a few times through his earpiece, but there was no response from her end.

Chen Xuan didn't hesitate any longer. He took out his scanning gun and activated the ability to instantly recall guests. With a swish, Lin Qing appeared by the bar, holding a spatula in her hand.

"Huh? What happened?" she asked, looking bewildered.

"Where were you... going?" Chen Xuan was also a bit confused.

"I was upstairs. Why did I suddenly appear downstairs?" Lin Qing paused, then slapped her forehead. "Oh no, the food's going to burn!"

With that, she turned and sprinted upstairs.

Seeing that she was fine, Chen Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and curiously followed her to the third floor. This was the restaurant floor added after the shopkeeper upgraded. It included a private room that could seat over a dozen people and a kitchen for cooking.

The kitchen was brightly lit.

Even more surprisingly, dishes were laid out on the long table outside, and not just one or two.

There were home-style stir-fried vegetables, pan-fried mushroom fish fillets comparable to hotel plating, and even a creamy soup and dessert were prepared.

This luxurious spread stunned Chen Xuan.

He usually ate takeout or instant noodles and rarely cooked himself.

Lin Qing then came out with a plate of stir-fried prawns. "I forgot to say welcome back. Sit down. This is a celebration feast prepared for you. I hope it suits your taste."

Chen Xuan, usually talkative, opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.

After a long pause, he managed to blurt out the most foolish question.

"Uh... you made all this?"

"Not entirely. That chef machine is quite advanced; it can automatically wash and chop food, cook, and plate it. It feels like a product from 20 years in

"I don't have time to learn cooking; this is just leftover knowledge stored in memory chips. Back in our era, people no longer needed to learn skills; they just had to buy the relevant chips. Like this one in my head... it contains all sorts of random content." Lin Qing picked up her chopsticks.

"That's so convenient, that's great," Chen Xuan exclaimed.

"There are good and bad aspects, I suppose," she replied noncommittally. "Basic education has become basic chips, and some knowledge will forever remain the exclusive domain of the elite, impossible to obtain no matter how much money you spend."

That certainly... helps solidify the hierarchy. Chen Xuan changed the subject. "What did you mean by a celebration banquet just now?"

"It's a small tradition passed down from the Dimensional Limit Organization. If the team successfully completes its first mission, the group will hold a banquet like this." Lin Qing blinked. "I saw there were ingredients in the fridge and the kitchen equipment is all here, so I thought I'd make a meal. Of course... if you want to eat my cooking in the future, I can make it for you every day."

Chen Xuan could tell she was deliberately trying to curry favor. "...What exactly is your motive?"

"How can you call it a motive!" Lin Qing protested, her voice rising involuntarily. "I was supposed to be fighting alongside you, but now I can only stay in the rear. I can't just be idle all the time!"

"That's fine; intelligence support is also very important."

"Really..." Her voice suddenly dropped an octave. "Then can I stay at the shop? The other day you told me to go find a job. I've thought about it carefully. Finding a job isn't difficult, but it would interfere with my main objective. I must focus all my energy on the impending crisis and be able to contact you at any time. The best option is... is..."

She stammered for a long time without being able to finish her sentence.

Chen Xuan naturally knew she was too embarrassed to say "live here for free." After all, he had clearly stated before that he ran a shop, not an ability agency.

"Sure, you've also helped me open up a procurement channel, so it's not entirely for free."

"That's compensation for you assisting me in fighting the Dimensional Limit Organization; they can't be lumped together."

She's actually quite principled.

Wait a minute... someone who can cook, and wants to stay long-term... Chen Xuan suddenly realized he was in need of a shop employee. The Shopkeeper's Rules didn't mention anything about not recruiting guests as employees. Most importantly, her world was destroyed, and there was no way for her to return. This meant there was no risk of her leaking secrets, nor any trouble of her suddenly quitting.

"Hmm..." He feigned hesitation. "How about this: you can work for me here. Officially, you'll manage the restaurant, but in reality, you won't have to do much. Just occasionally help me entertain guests. I'll also give you a salary, how about that?"

"Really? I'm in!"

Lin Qing's eyes lit up, and she agreed immediately, as if afraid he would go back on his word.

Chen Xuan was inwardly delighted. A guest was different from an employee. Being too harsh on a guest would affect his reputation, but an employee was like his subordinate, someone he could order around to his heart's content.

"Oh, right. Are there people in the Dimensional Limit Organization who can read others' abilities?"

"I'm not sure about that," Lin Qing shook her head. "Personnel information is top secret. Even after the organization split, this intelligence was never leaked."

"What do you mean, split?" Chen Xuan asked.

"It's nothing much, really. The organization's funding has always come from large corporations. Nanomachines were also products heavily promoted by these companies. Some members of the organization discovered that nanomachines would cause unpredictable disasters and thus separated from the companies. This happened about forty years from now. Those who were still willing to serve the companies were regarded as running dogs by the separated staff."

And the nanomachines technology will be born in thirty years... Along with it, prosthetic technology will develop rapidly, and personal prosthetics will become widespread, triggering an evolutionary revolution in society. If he hadn't personally rescued Lin Qing from the future, he would have found it hard to believe the development speed over the next few decades would be so astonishing.

"So you don't know exactly how many people are currently in the Dimensional Limit Organization."

"No," Lin Qing admitted frankly. "Undeniably, the organization is still a behemoth hidden beneath the surface, and we must proceed with caution. As for whether they have certain abilities, I can only say that abilities are already incredibly varied. Even if there aren't exactly the same ones, there are many that are essentially substitutable. For example, Fei Wuniang, whom you defeated today, her 'Strong Seize' and 'Coin Toss' can both be used to seize abilities. And there are many abilities like these... So your question is most likely yes."

Chen Xuan asked the pointed question, "Does the organization also strip others of their abilities?"

Lin Qing gave a helpless smile. "The Dimensional Limit Organization truly takes protecting the world as its mission... So they will pay any price for this purpose. Although this conflicts with the values of many members, in the absence of better options, stripping abilities is considered within the price."

As expected. Chen Xuan thought. The information from Fei Wuniang probably had nothing to do with Coin Toss. She likely underwent some kind of soul-searching or major memory recovery technique before she died, which is why the intelligence didn't mention the side effects of Coin Toss, nor those abilities she never detected.

After the meal, Chen Xuan printed out an employee contract from the Butler APP and had Lin Qing sign it, then scanned the contract into the database.

Soon, a new employee file appeared in the APP. The qualification for LV4 shopkeeper was also met. Not only that, but he also found that the available ability providers in his inventory had become [2].

This meant that as long as someone became an employee of his shop, he could change and swap the employee's abilities with the inventory abilities at any time?

To be even more capitalistic, he could even directly package and sell Lin Qing's abilities, and she wouldn't even know.

Chen Xuan suddenly felt that perhaps this shop should expand.