The store manager gently shook the teacup in his hand: "I just want a peaceful retirement life."
Bronya looked the store manager straight in the eyes: "You should know that this is not the answer I want to hear."
The words sounded a little tough, and her eyes did not yield, but Bronya's tone was still filled with an indescribable powerlessness.
"..."
In fact, the store manager also felt powerless.
Although still immature, as a politician serving as the supreme ruler of a city, and with the negative example of the star core in front of her, Bronya certainly could not believe that this transcendent cafe would end up in Beloberg for no reason.
But, God bless you, the appearance of this cafe in Beloberg was a surprise to the manager, and he himself was not the kind of politician who liked to engage in intrigue, so there was not a single lie in what he said from beginning to end.
"Do you believe me when I say that my presence here is just an accident?"
Just in case, the store manager asked,
"…If you want me to believe this, then I can choose to believe it." Bronya said with a depressed look.
That expression was just as if he was saying "Do you think I have a choice?"
Tsk, that's trouble.
This kid seems to be the type who finds it hard to change his mind once he has made up his mind about something, the store manager thought.
It seemed that if she didn't make some substantive demands here, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep well after she returned.
This is not okay.
"I understand. Let me tell you my purpose."
The store manager placed the teacup on the table, crossed his fingers, and gently placed his elbows on the table.
"You should have discovered it when you came to this cafe. For ordinary people in Beloberg, this thing actually doesn't exist."
"…So what? Is there any problem with this?"
"This is a huge problem, my dear Great Guardian."
The corners of the store manager's mouth curled up slightly.
"Even if you are a great guardian, you should know that for a store to operate normally, a source of customers is essential."
Bronya, who had roughly guessed what the manager wanted to say, looked slightly gloomy: "So?"
"So, I hope you can help me find out if there are any 'customers' who meet the requirements in Beloberg." The store manager said with a smile.
Bronya asked: "...What do you want to do with those customers?"
"Look at what you said. As the manager of a coffee shop, I just sincerely hope that my shop can have more customers." The manager shook his head and said with a laugh.
"..." But such words made Bronya fall into deep silence.
No other needs, just hope that more customers will come to patronize? Before Bronya could think about the meaning of this sentence, the manager's words interrupted her thoughts.
"——Of course, if there are too many customers, it will be easy for this small shop with few employees to be overwhelmed."
"Well, that's it."
The store manager stretched out his arm in front of Bronya and raised a finger.
"Every day, you introduce me to a customer on behalf of Beloberg, is that okay?"
"A...customer?" Bronya repeated the manager's words.
"Yes, one customer." The store manager retracted his arm. "As long as this store can have one customer from Beloberg visit it every day, in exchange, I will not touch a single plant or tree in Beloberg."
"One person's sacrifice in exchange for the safety of the entire city, a good deal, right?"
Using one person's sacrifice... to exchange for the safety of the entire city? Such a description made Bronya's face suddenly darken.
Should I take that person as a hostage, or is there something even more extreme...
Unspeakable humiliation tormented Bronya's heart.
But, before that——
She pursed her lips and confirmed again in a somewhat dry voice: "If you let a Beloberg come to this cafe every day, can you guarantee that you will never harm other people?"
"Yes." The manager nodded.
"Can this person be me?" Bronya looked straight at the manager's face.
“Of course, I’m not the kind of untrustworthy person who likes to add other conditions after proposing one.” The store manager laughed.
"Then it's decided." Bronya stood up. "I will patronize your store every day in the future. In return, I hope you will keep your promise."
She turned around and was about to leave the store, but before she could do that, the manager's voice made her stop in her tracks.
"Wait a minute."
"What?" Bronya turned around, her unyielding eyes filled with bloodshot of fatigue and humiliation, "Do you want to regret it?"
"No." The manager pointed to where Bronya was, "I just want you to drink your tea."
"..." Bronya snatched the teacup from the table without saying a word, then raised her neck, like a person walking in the desert who suddenly came across a glass of water, and drank the cup of fragrant tea along with the tea leaves in just a few gulps.
"thanks for treatment!"
Bang! After slamming the cup on the table in anger, Bronya walked away without looking back.
The store manager shrugged and showed a helpless smile on his face.
Chapter 19 I! The store manager! I'm ready to cause trouble!
"It seems that you have made that guy quite unhappy."
Almost at the next moment when Bronya disappeared at the door of the store, a milky voice suddenly sounded in his ears.
"Tsk." The store manager Yu Fan snorted coldly, "If I don't do this to lower her favorability as much as possible, after she leaves, won't Guanxing and the others make trouble for me again?"
Miss Haitu, who had appeared at some point in the seat next to Yufan, burst out laughing. She raised her head and called out to the direction of the second floor staircase: "Did you hear that? Miss Guanxing, this guy is talking about you guys like this."
Following the sound of staggered footsteps, the three shop assistants who returned to the second floor to make room for the store manager and Bronya to communicate went down the stairs one after another.
"Ah..." Guanxing sighed softly. She shook the feather fan in her hand and looked at Yufan with a helpless look in her eyes. "You are so old, why are you still upset over something like this?"
After a moment of silence, she walked to the store manager, then with her back to him, she gently placed her body in his arms: "Okay, I know you're also aggrieved, come, give me a hug, don't be sad."
“I don’t feel that sad or wronged, I just feel a little bit uncomfortable.” Yufan gently ruffled Guanxing’s silver hair, with a melancholy expression, “Compared to me, the great guardian probably found it difficult to close his eyes for a very long time.”
"What? Human, are you still thinking about that woman?" Yuexia crossed her arms, her red eyes shining with seductive light, "If you are really interested in that woman, why not just leave her here?"
"Don't talk nonsense." Yufan sneered, "Let's not talk about whether you guys are willing or not. I can't accept it myself if I force her to stay in the coffee shop like this."
ε=(?ο｀*)))Alas, after calming down, he sighed, raised a finger, and rubbed his eyebrows which felt a little stiff.
"Although the work in a cafe is not very physically demanding, it is more difficult than I thought to coordinate the relationship between different worlds." He said tiredly, "Why did I choose to open a shop at that time..."
"I have to ask you, Mr. Store Manager, why you took the initiative to take on responsibilities that should not be yours."
Following soft and soothing words, a white and slender hand replaced Yufan's fingers and gently stroked his forehead.
The elegant maid stood in front of him and said in a very gentle tone: "Although we expected the captain to make such a choice given his character, as the price, you have replaced the singularity. If you still want to contact the outside world, you must borrow the power of this immovable point."
"It's probably my own fault for not thinking it through." Yufan looked around and sighed, "Who would have thought that after using Hyperion's power to reconstruct the rules of the Quantum Sea and the World Bubble, a coffee shop would appear at the fixed point?"
"This is probably the embodiment of your innermost desire." Rita laughed softly. "Together with everyone, running a cafe that can attract customers from different worlds in a peaceful and comfortable atmosphere is a very romantic idea."
"Romantic... well, I don't deny that." Yufan shook his head, an expression of extreme stomachache appeared on his face, "But while it's romantic, it obviously also brings a lot of trouble."
"The matter with the Great Guardian is easy to resolve. He just took on a position with heavy responsibilities, so he has a strong sense of crisis and tends to complicate simple matters. With her intelligence, it probably won't take long for this level of misunderstanding to be resolved."
"The problem is, the package that bastard Lao Yang threw at me..."
Rita gently placed her finger on Yufan's lips and said with a smile, "Using the word 'wrapped' to describe a lady is not something a proper gentleman would do."
"Okay, okay...it's just a hassle that he threw over here."
"Haha, human, why does it sound even more excessive?" Yuexia chuckled, looking very happy for some reason.
"Anyway, just understand what I mean!" Yu Fan muttered, "It's because you guys were watching..."
"We are not petty enough to be jealous of a murdered girl." Guanxing raised the feather fan in his hand and gently patted Yufan's head. "Let's not talk about this. How are you going to deal with this girl's matter?"
"Do you need me to follow her after she wakes up?" said Haha Rabbit.
The petite and nimble cybergirl swung her legs gently while blowing a bubble into her mouth.
She raised her palm and tapped a few times in the air, and several translucent virtual light screens unfolded in midair:
"That woman named Cocolia - I heard from you that she is the mother of Bronya from other worlds? Any identity is fine. Anyway, she seems to have set up a very strict guard near the 'fixed point' of the world where this little girl is. It seems that she will not stop until she achieves her goal."
"How much combat power do you have?"
"There are thirty-six ordinary soldiers, twenty-four tactical mechas, and several airships floating in the air - these are roughly the places that can be seen, and there may be more in places that cannot be seen." Pop, the bubble in the rabbit's mouth burst, she licked around her lips, and rolled the bubble gum stuck near her mouth back into her mouth.
"Humph, they really have set up a tight net. But they are making such a big fuss just for a little girl. They really don't have the grace of a superior." Guanxing sneered.
"Well said. If I tell you that if this girl goes crazy, she can easily beat up those so-called guards and tactical mechas and kill them in one move, would you feel that they are even more useless?" Yufan said expressionlessly.
"But, human, I don't think you will let this little girl fall into such a crazy situation." Yuexia leaned over, leveled her eyes with Yufan who was sitting in the seat, and said with a sweet smile, "Just like that time, you stopped me before I made an irreversible mistake."
"...You are you, she is she, how can we generalize?" Yu Fan shook his head helplessly, "But I really don't want this child to be harmed to that extent by that stupid woman. My coffee shop is at least connected to Changkong City. If a assassin rushes in accidentally one day, I will have nightmares in the middle of the night."
"So, who among us are you going to let go?" Guan Xing asked, "In terms of status, Rita should be the most suitable, and in terms of ability, it should be Brownie. Of course, even if we let this guy go, it probably won't be difficult to solve the problem with this kid."
Yuexia Liumei raised her eyebrows and shouted, "Why did I become this guy when I got here? Do you want to fight?"
"No, I'll do it myself this time." But at this moment, Yufan suddenly shook his head.
The four shop assistants were stunned at the same time.
Rita said hesitantly: "But, Mr. Manager, aren't you ready..."
"I am indeed prepared to stop interfering in the affairs of other worlds, so I will not harm the lives of either Cocolia or the soldiers following her."
Yufan smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes, instead there was a hint of danger.
Chapter 20 The human brain is a
Mei Raiden opened her eyes and found herself lying on her side on a booth sofa against the wall, covered with a fluffy velvet blanket.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes, sat up and looked around blankly. The sound of stir-frying came from deep in the kitchen. The hooded girl behind the bar was blowing bubbles and half-lying on the bar, playing a handheld video game.
Did I, did I accidentally fall asleep? She pressed her forehead and felt as if there was a restless blood vessel throbbing deep in her brain. She tried to recall the scene before she fell asleep, but found that her memory seemed to be interrupted at a certain moment, and then there was nothingness, just like being anesthetized during surgery.
Because she had been kidnapped as a child, out of instinctive vigilance, Raiden Mei subconsciously touched her body.
My physical freedom was not taken away, so it didn't feel like I was kidnapped.
I don’t seem to feel any discomfort anywhere on my body.
Apart from a few wrinkles caused by lying on its side, even the outer clothes showed no signs of having been touched, and valuables such as wallets and mobile phones were still intact and remained in their original places.
So, I just fell asleep? Raiden Mei frowned slightly, instinctively feeling that something was wrong, and subconsciously shuddered.
She didn't know why, but she felt that her body was instinctively resisting her from continuing to search her memory for the reason why she suddenly fell into a deep sleep.
"you're awake?"
At this moment, a young voice awakened her still confused thoughts.
Mei Raiden turned her head in the direction of the voice, and saw the young store manager in a white suit sitting not far from her. He crossed his legs and flipped through a black account book, his calm eyes not looking in her direction.
Although falling asleep without any warning in a shop that one enters for the first time can be considered quite suspicious, looking at the non-stressful and even warm atmosphere of this cafe, after hesitating for a moment, Mei Raiden finally asked the question that concerned her most: "What's wrong with me? Why did I suddenly..."
The store manager closed the account book gently, turned his head and looked at Raiden Mei's face.
I don't know why, but his eyes looked a little weird.
"Are you wondering why you lost consciousness?" asked the store manager.
"..." Raiden Mei nodded speechlessly.
"Uh, you don't remember what happened before?"
"..." Should I remember? Raiden Mei frowned, with frank doubt in her eyes.
"...Well, let me put it this way." The store manager considered his words, "Although it was my fault that you fainted, the fact that you don't remember that memory has nothing to do with me."
"What does it mean?"
"If I'm not mistaken..." The store manager paused, looking as if he couldn't speak anymore. "The reason why you don't have any memory of the time before you lost consciousness is probably because, um... one of your five senses was hit beyond your comprehension limit. So, in order to protect your body, your brain chose to actively delete the memory of that period."
