Power Outage

It was 5:30 PM, at the hotel reception.

"You've calculated this wrong. How can you charge me for two days? I only stayed one night, and I'm not even sleeping here tonight!" a middle-aged man argued with the receptionist.

"Sir, according to regulations, the system automatically charges for the next day after twelve o'clock. Besides, it's already past five-thirty, and you're only checking out now, far exceeding the designated time," the receptionist explained hastily.

"What kind of stupid rule is that? I haven't even used anything, and you want me to pay? And a small hotel like this, are you really fully booked?" The middle-aged man slammed his hand on the table, making a loud bang, his emotions running high.

Facing a guest who seemed ready to lash out at any moment, the receptionist became a little scared and explained carefully:

"Sir, I really can't. Even if I wanted to refund you, the room system has already automatically charged for the second day. I can't just pay you out of my own pocket."

"Don't try to fool me. You think I don't understand these things? It's just a matter of adjusting it. Since you can't decide, get your boss or manager over here!"

Just then, the hotel's glass door was pushed open, and a young man walked in slowly.

Hearing the noise, the middle-aged man instinctively turned his head to look. It was a somewhat handsome, youthful boy, but his clothes were wrinkled and dirty, with black and white patches all over, as if he had rolled around in a mud pit.

The funniest part was that, despite his young age, he was carrying a briefcase like an adult.

However, for some reason, as he watched the boy walk over with a blank expression, he felt a slight tension, not even daring to take a deep breath.

"Hey there, handsome! You're back!" the receptionist greeted the young man as soon as she saw him.

The boy, who had been expressionless, immediately broke into a smile. "Are you busy? I might have a package arriving tomorrow or the day after. Could you help me sign for it?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Then I'm heading back to my room."

The boy glanced at the middle-aged man and continued up the stairs.

As soon as the young man left, the middle-aged man felt a wave of relief. The interruption had also greatly diminished his dissatisfaction and anger.

This young man was, of course, Chen Shouyi.

After returning, he took off his clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

He held a towel and dried his hair while looking in the mirror.

The young man in the mirror had lean, firm muscles with smooth lines, not an ounce of excess fat.

Even the muscles in his ribs, back, and neck, which were difficult to train, were clearly defined.

With a slight movement, his muscles rippled like liquid mercury.

"My skin seems to be getting better," Chen Shouyi frowned slightly as he looked at his increasingly smooth and tender skin.

It wasn't that he disliked it; who would complain about having good skin?

It was just that more than half of the grace period he had used as an excuse to leave home had passed, and he still had to figure out how to explain things then.

"Never mind, I still have a few days. I'll think of an explanation when the time comes."

He changed into clean clothes, opened his briefcase, and let out Shell Girl. As soon as the tape was removed from her mouth, she clamored to watch cartoons.

Habit was a powerful force. When Shell Girl was first tied up, she would be angry for a long time, but now she had grown so accustomed to it that it was commonplace.

Chen Shouyi turned on the TV, switched to a cartoon channel, and paid her no further mind.

He then took out his phone, logged into the Armory, and secretly analyzed the situation of the Barbarian tribes near the island.

The Barbarians' morale had plummeted, and their retreat at the end of today's battle clearly showed they had been terrified by him.

Coupled with the death of the Barbarian chieftain.

Under normal circumstances, the Barbarian tribes should fall into chaos for a period.

Even if a new chieftain were chosen immediately, they would lack prestige and wouldn't be able to organize another war in a short time.

This meant that, although his and the island's Space Channel seemed to be completely exposed to the Barbarians' sight, they were actually safe.

At least safe for a while.

This battle had greatly boosted his confidence. As long as no more powerful individuals like the Barbarian chieftain appeared, he could handle any encirclement of today's scale with just a War Bow, killing as many as they sent.

With that thought, he made up his mind.

He quickly typed "arrows" into the search bar and then filtered the results.

Soon, a row of shops appeared on the webpage.

His new phone was much more responsive, no longer freezing up constantly.

There was a wide variety of arrows.

There were Swift Arrows, Armor-piercing Arrows, Spinning Arrows, Heavy Arrows, Whistle Arrows, and more, totaling over a dozen types.

Each type of arrow differed in length, quality, and arrowhead.

For example, the Spinning Arrow had a small propeller-like blade at its tail. This type of arrowhead sacrificed some speed for a more stable trajectory and improved accuracy. At the same time, its high-speed rotation would inflict greater damage.

Of course, even for the same type of arrow, there were variations in appearance and price depending on the shop.

Fortunately, compared to the exorbitant cost of War Bows, arrows were much cheaper.

The most expensive ones were only a little over three hundred each, which he could afford.

Chen Shouyi quickly ordered one hundred Swift Arrows, twenty Spinning Arrows, and ten Whistle Arrows from a specialty store run by a long-established, large cold weapon company.

Whistle Arrows emit an extremely sharp whistling sound in flight and do not have much lethality on their own. The reason for purchasing them was that Chen Shouyi felt the whistling sound should be able to instill panic in the Barbarians.

The total cost was twenty-eight thousand yuan.

He paid cheerfully, as these were life-saving items, and naturally, he had to buy the best.

Just then, the room lights suddenly went out, and even the television went black.

A power outage?

He couldn't remember the last time Dongning City had a power outage; it seemed like they hadn't had one in a very long time.

Before Chen Shouyi could even wonder.

Shell Girl, with her cheeks puffed out, slapped the pillow with both hands and shouted, "Beiqi! Beiqi! Beiqi!"

Beiqi's ass, can't she see the power is out?

However, it seemed that for Shell Girl, the concept of a power outage didn't really exist in her mind.

"Stay here and don't talk loudly. I'll show you 'Beiqi' later," Chen Shouyi said to Shell Girl.

Without paying attention to Shell Girl's displeasure, he turned on his phone's flashlight and prepared to go to the service desk to inquire.

As he opened the door, he saw that several people had already come out into the corridor.

"I just checked, the power is out everywhere. Was there a power outage notice for Dongning City today?"

"Haven't heard anything. Maybe the lines are aging."

"Let's just go to bed early then!"

"So early? It's only seven o'clock, how can I sleep?"

Listening to their discussions, Chen Shouyi immediately stopped.

It seemed the power was really out.