Tea Again Tonight

"Here, this Valis is for you."

"This..."

The burly captain looked at Lu Qiming, then at the Valis on the table. He'd come here to thank Lu Qiming, so how had things suddenly turned into this?

"Take it. You kept your promise, so you deserve it."

Lu Qiming smiled at the conflicted-looking burly man. They'd gotten into trouble on the Fourteenth Floor through their own actions, but they'd still kept their promise and brought the Magic Stones back to Eina. He was giving them the money as a reward for keeping their word.

Embarrassed, the burly captain pushed the Valis in front of him toward the beastman youth beside him, indicating that he should take it.

"Thank you, sir. You saved us and gave us such a generous reward."

The burly captain and all his companions stood and bowed to Lu Qiming. The beastman named Allen in particular watched Lu Qiming with tears in his eyes, his expression full of excitement. With these five hundred thousand Valis, he could marry his beloved Qiaobiluo!

"You don't need to thank me. It's what you deserve."

With that, Lu Qiming turned and walked back to the counter, smiling at Eina.

"Miss Eina, would you like to join me for a meal?"

"I'm in! I'm going to eat you out of house and home tonight, big spender!"

Eina stepped straight out from behind the counter and glared at Lu Qiming as if she were going to bankrupt him tonight. Lu Qiming had eaten her out of house and home last night, so today she was going to do the same to him. But when she saw the huge sack in his hand, she began to doubt whether she could actually eat him into poverty.

"Let's go."

Lu Qiming adjusted the stainless steel basin on his head, slung the huge sack over his shoulder, and headed out of the Adventurer Guild with Aili, Ailin, and the others.

That evening, they were back at the same Ganesha Familia chain restaurant.

Lu Qiming was relentlessly attacking the roast suckling pig in front of him. Several towering stacks of plates had piled up beside him, all the dishes he'd already finished. Waiters kept clearing away the empty plates and bringing out fresh dishes.

"Nom!"

Lu Qiming stuffed an entire pork leg into his mouth in just two bites, crunching up and swallowing the meat and bones alike.

"Senior, are you still not full?"

Aili stared at Lu Qiming in a daze, feeling the gulf between them keenly. They'd all been unable to eat any more for a while, but Lu Qiming's stomach seemed like a bottomless pit. He just kept eating, and his stomach didn't even look any different.

It was as though the food he swallowed was absorbed in an instant.

"Me? I'm almost full, I guess."

Lu Qiming tossed the last piece of roast suckling pig in his hand into his mouth and patted his stomach. After a day of fighting, he'd used up a lot of energy, and his physical abilities had improved again with his level-up, allowing him to store even more.

As soon as the food he ate reached his stomach, gastric acid dissolved it and converted it into energy, which his body stored away. After this meal, he wouldn't need to eat for a month unless he engaged in high-intensity combat.

And even if he did fight, the energy stored in his body would be enough to keep him going at full strength for several days.

With that, Lu Qiming resumed his assault on the food left on the table.

Across from him, Eina stared at him in despair. So he hadn't even been full last night—and she'd thought she could eat him into poverty?

"ε=(ο｀*))) sigh."

Eina sighed helplessly and slowly started on the steak in front of her. She'd given up on trying to eat Lu Qiming into poverty. She might as well let him bankrupt himself!

Half an hour later.

Lu Qiming finished the last plate of fried noodles and stood up, patting his stomach with satisfaction. The others gave him looks that said, "You finally finished." They'd been full for half an hour; the rest of the time, they'd just watched Lu Qiming's performance.

"Let's go."

Lu Qiming ignored their looks. It wasn't his fault. His body was now far stronger than an ordinary person's, and accordingly, it needed far more energy. Besides, his class was Assassin—he couldn't learn to fill his stomach by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth like a cultivator.

After paying the bill, Lu Qiming parted ways with everyone outside the restaurant.

"Burp! Energy replenished. Time to head back and find Tia and the others."

Lu Qiming grinned and turned toward Tia's Tea Shop. He'd done too much slaughtering today and needed Tia and the others to comfort him!

At the Tea Shop, Lu Qiming went straight inside, now familiar with the place. He cheerfully greeted the other young ladies and headed toward Tia's room.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Tia, I'm back!"

"Come in. The door's unlocked."

Hearing Tia's voice, Lu Qiming pushed the door open and went right in. Inside, he saw Tia and Anya in their pajamas—and, more importantly, two unfamiliar young cat-eared women beside them.

"Um, Tia, who are these two?"

"This is Yisi, and this is Yilian. They're good friends of mine and Anya's. They came over to visit tonight."

Tia smiled at Lu Qiming, while the two cat-eared women beside her playfully winked at him.

"Oh, okay."

Lu Qiming swallowed, staring at the two cat-eared women who were clearly twins. Could it be... he was in for a treat tonight?

"Come on in. What are you standing in the doorway for?"

Just then, Anna came out of the bathroom after taking a shower. She pulled Lu Qiming inside and locked the door behind them, activating the room's soundproofing array.

Lu Qiming let Anna lead him to the bed. Only then did he notice that Tia had gotten a new one, even bigger than yesterday's. There was room for ten people to sleep on it.

"So you're Lu Qiming, the adventurer who took down a Floor Boss all by himself?"

The two cat-eared women sat down right beside Lu Qiming. Their pale, jade-like fingers lightly traced his face as they leaned their gorgeous faces close to his, studying him with curiosity.

"Mm-hmm."

Lu Qiming nodded blankly, his eyes fixed on their two pairs of twitching cat ears. He really wanted to give them a closer look and see how they felt. They had to be so soft!

"Haha, Qiming, you're so cute!"

On his left, Yisi couldn't help laughing at Lu Qiming's dazed expression. She cupped his face in both hands and squeezed his cheeks.

"All right, you two, stop teasing Qiming."

Tia came over, shooed the two cat-eared women away, and sat down boldly on Lu Qiming's lap.

"Qiming, it's getting late. Shouldn't we..."

"Mm, it's late, it's late!"

Lu Qiming nodded eagerly. Even if it was broad daylight, it would still have to be late!

"Click!"

The lights went out, plunging the entire room into darkness as a suggestive atmosphere filled the air.

Suddenly, Lu Qiming felt someone pounce on him. Four different fragrances filled his nostrils.

It's great that I replenished all my energy tonight. The girls in this other world are amazing!

Those were the only two thoughts echoing through Lu Qiming's mind. At that moment, he was filled with gratitude to the system for sending him to this world!

Thanks to NoZero0 for the two monthly votes.

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