A New Shop Assistant

From the description, Fei Wuniang had probably died because she lost the Union Technique.

Heaven knew how many people's life essences she had absorbed with that ability.

There were two other abilities Chen Xuan found particularly interesting. One was "Immunity to Poisons." It was green in rarity, and its description was fairly ordinary, but for the first time, the word "component" appeared in it.

Could abilities not only be upgraded and advanced in rank, but combined as well?

The APP was such a shoddy mess, though. He had no idea where it had picked up those fragmented explanations, and it didn't say how many components there were or how to combine them. He could only make a bold guess: a combined ability would probably include the effects of all its components and be of a higher rank. Even setting everything else aside, the fact that it would save ability slots alone made it quite valuable.

The other one was "Coin Toss," which was purple in rarity—higher than he'd expected.

Its description was missing entirely, just like "Black Magic." All it said was "Forbidden."

What was so forbidden about it? Fei Wuniang used it to kill people all the time, didn't she?

Even Gilles de Rais could use Black Magic without a problem.

But the APP must have had its reasons for displaying it that way. If Immunity to Poisons counted as a set of abilities, then this one probably belonged to an ability series.

Sets, series... Chen Xuan couldn't help thinking of a game that started with D.

Comparing these six abilities with Lin Qing's information, he could see that the Organization had only recorded "Innate Charm," "Immunity to Poisons," "Strong Seize," and "Coin Toss." "Dance Prodigy" and "Union Technique" were nowhere to be found.

Why? Were they unimportant?

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

It wasn't hard to reach a conclusion: the Organization and the Ability Store didn't have quite the same "definition" of an ability. Dance Prodigy might have been Fei Wuniang's natural talent, while the Union Technique was a dual-cultivation spell she had learned. Neither was considered an ability. This probably wasn't because the Organization was being picky. Rather, it could only detect abilities triggered by an incursion event.

The Ability Store was different. It was like an ocean—it could take in anything.

This also indirectly proved his earlier guess: the Organization hadn't won the battle by using Coin Toss.

It was already getting late by the time Chen Xuan returned to the shop.

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

The shop hadn't even opened for the past two days. The walls riddled with machine-gun fire hadn't been repaired, and Lin Qing hadn't fully recovered from her injuries, so she shouldn't have been able to go out on her own.

Thinking of how he'd just stolen the Organization's "prey," Chen Xuan tensed up.

Had they come looking for her?

He called Lin Qing a few times through his earpiece, but there had been no response for a while.

Chen Xuan didn't hesitate. He took out the Scanner Gun and activated the ability that immediately recalled a customer. In a flash, Lin Qing appeared beside the counter, holding a spatula.

"Huh? What happened?" She looked completely baffled.

"Where... did you go?" Chen Xuan was just as confused.

"I was upstairs. Why did I suddenly end up downstairs?" Lin Qing froze, then smacked her forehead. "Oh no, the food's going to burn!"

With that, she turned and hurried up the stairs.

Seeing that she was all right, Chen Xuan relaxed and followed her upstairs, curious. The third floor was the restaurant level he'd gained after the shopkeeper upgrade. It included a private dining room that could seat more than ten people and a kitchen for cooking.

The kitchen was brightly lit.

What surprised him even more was that dishes had been laid out on the long table outside—not just one or two, either.

There was a simple stir-fried vegetable dish, as well as pan-seared fish with mushrooms plated like something from a fancy restaurant. There was even thick soup and dessert.

Chen Xuan was dumbfounded by the lavish spread.

He usually ate takeout or instant noodles and almost never cooked for himself.

Lin Qing emerged carrying a plate of oil-blasted prawns. "I forgot to say, welcome back. Sit down. I made this celebratory dinner for you. I hope you like it."

Chen Xuan, who usually had plenty to say, opened his mouth but couldn't think of a thing to say.

After a long pause, he managed to blurt out the dumbest question of all.

"Uh... you made all this?"

"Not exactly. That cooking machine is incredibly advanced. It can automatically wash and chop ingredients, cook, and plate the food. It feels like a product from twenty years in the future. I just programmed it to do what I wanted." Lin Qing smiled.

Chen Xuan wasn't sure whether cooking such a feast by hand or programming a cooking machine was more impressive.

But was the restaurant in the shop really this advanced?

He hadn't even come up to the third floor after unlocking this department.

Chen Xuan hesitantly picked up a piece of pan-seared fish and put it in his mouth. The savory flavor of the termite mushrooms, the crisp aroma of the fish skin, the distinctive fragrance of black truffle, and the gentle heat of the pepper unfolded in his mouth one after another. The flavors were complex yet blended together perfectly. If someone hadn't been watching him, he might have hummed with delight.

It was a hundred times better than pre-made takeout meals.

"How is it?" Lin Qing asked expectantly.

"It's... really delicious," Chen Xuan said honestly.

"Good." She looked pleased. "It's my first time making these dishes. I'm glad the recipes seem reliable."

"What recipes?" Chen Xuan pointed to the seat opposite him, inviting her to sit and eat with him. "Don't you have to practice to learn how to cook?"

"When would I have time to learn to cook? These are just bits and pieces of knowledge stored in my memory chip." Lin Qing picked up her chopsticks. "In our era, people no longer needed to learn skills. They only had to buy the relevant chips. Like this one in my head... It has all sorts of miscellaneous content."

"That's so convenient. Must be nice," Chen Xuan remarked.

"There are pros and cons." She didn't seem to have an opinion either way. "Basic education has become basic chips, and some knowledge has become the exclusive property of the upper classes. No matter how much money you have, it's hard to buy."

That was true... It made society even more rigid. Chen Xuan changed the subject. "What did you mean by a celebratory dinner?"

"It's a little tradition passed down by the Organization. Whenever a team successfully completes its first mission, they hold a banquet like this." Lin Qing blinked. "I saw there were ingredients in the fridge and the kitchen was fully equipped, so I thought I'd make a whole spread. Of course... if you want to eat like this in the future, I can cook every day."

Chen Xuan saw right through her. She was deliberately trying to ingratiate herself with him. "...What are you really after?"

"How can you call it that?" Lin Qing protested, raising her voice. "I should have been fighting alongside you, but now I can only stay in the rear. I can't just sit around doing nothing forever!"

"That's fine. Intelligence support is important, too."

"Really...?" Her voice suddenly dropped an octave. "Then can I stay in the shop? The other day, you told me to go find a job. I thought it over carefully. Finding work wouldn't be hard, but it would get in the way of what I need to do. I have to devote all my energy to the coming crisis, and I need to be able to contact you at any time. The best choice is... is..."

She fumbled for a while, unable to finish the sentence.

Chen Xuan knew she was embarrassed to say she wanted to eat and live there for free. After all, he'd made it clear that he ran a shop, not an ability agency.

"Sure. You helped me establish a supply channel, so it's not like you're staying here for nothing."

"That was payment for helping me fight the Organization. It's not the same thing."

He hadn't expected her to be so principled.

Wait... She could cook and stay at the shop long-term. Chen Xuan suddenly realized he was in need of a shop assistant, wasn't he? The Shopkeeper's Rules didn't say he couldn't hire a customer. Most importantly, her world had already been destroyed. She couldn't go back, so there was no risk of her leaking secrets or suddenly quitting.

"Hmm..." He pretended to hesitate. "How about this? You can work at my shop. Officially, you'll manage the restaurant, but you won't have to do much. Just help me serve customers from time to time. I'll pay you, too. What do you think?"

"Really? I'd love to!"

Lin Qing's eyes lit up, and she agreed at once, as if she were afraid he'd change his mind.

Chen Xuan was grinning to himself, too. Customers and employees were different. If he treated customers too harshly, word would get around and hurt his reputation. But an employee was basically his subordinate, so he could order her around to his heart's content.

"By the way, are there people in the Organization who can read other people's abilities?"

"I'm not sure about that." Lin Qing shook her head. "Personnel information is top secret. Even after the Organization split, that information never got out."

"What happened with the split?" Chen Xuan asked.

"It wasn't anything complicated. The Organization had always relied on big corporations for funding, and those corporations were also the ones pushing Nanoworm Technology. Some Organization members left the corporations after discovering that nanobugs could cause unpredictable disasters. This probably happened forty years from now. The members who continued working for the corporations were seen as lackeys by the ones who left."

Nanoworm Technology would be developed in thirty years... Cybernetic Body technology would advance rapidly alongside it. Personal cybernetic bodies would soon become widespread, setting off a revolution in human evolution. If he hadn't personally rescued Lin Qing from the future, it would have been hard for him to believe that the next few decades would bring such astonishing changes.

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

"That's right." Lin Qing answered frankly. "There's no denying that the Organization remains a colossal force lurking beneath the surface, so we have to act carefully. As for whether they have a certain ability, abilities come in all kinds. Even if there isn't an exact match, there are bound to be some that can basically serve as substitutes. For instance, Fei Wuniang, whom you defeated today—both her 'Strong Seize' and 'Coin Toss' could be used to take abilities. There are plenty of other abilities like that... So the answer to your question is probably yes."

Chen Xuan asked the pointed question. "Would the Organization take other people's abilities, too?"

Lin Qing gave him a helpless smile. "The Organization really does make protecting the world its mission... so it'll do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. Even if that conflicts with the values of many members, taking people's abilities is still considered an acceptable cost when there's no better option."

Just as he'd thought. Chen Xuan figured the information on Fei Wuniang probably had nothing to do with Coin Toss. She might have been subjected to something like a soul-searching spell or the Grand Memory Restoration Technique before she died, which was why the information didn't mention Coin Toss's side effects or the abilities she'd never noticed.

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

Soon, a new employee record appeared in the APP, and he met the eligibility requirements to apply for the Level 4 Shopkeeper position. Not only that, he also found that the number of available ability providers in stock had become [2].

Did that mean that as long as someone became an employee of the shop, he could switch that employee's abilities with the abilities in stock whenever he wanted?

To put it more ruthlessly, he could even package Lin Qing's abilities and sell them, while she remained completely unaware.

Chen Xuan suddenly felt that maybe it was time to expand the shop.