Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Negotiation was an art, and this form of art was not confined by strict rules.
It was different from a debate competition. There were no judges nor audience, and under many circumstances, there was not necessarily a victor or loser.
One could be diplomatic about it or go down the road of being nonsensical enough to disrupt the other party’s thought process.
Whatever method got one the winning edge was the best and right tactic!
Su Mo’s method of negotiation with the game was demanding an exorbitant amount and getting paid on the spot.
His negotiation was outrageous despite knowing how important he was to the game.
“Give me ten shots of Dongfeng!”
“2?”
“Don’t you have any here? Even Ma Fei has them. Besides, I was the one who defeated the Evil god!”
Each price he demanded placed Adam, who was opposite him, in a tight spot. Adam had to reject him and explain why at the same time.
Fortunately for Su Mo, Adam was just a program.
He did not have any real human emotions. All rage, disdain, and suspicious shocks were merely lines of code.
If Su Mo’s reward request was within an acceptable range, Adam would go through a quick face change—much like someone in a Sichuan opera—and he would agree immediately, which actually made him lose his sense of authenticity.
Su Mo’s throat was close to frying after continuous probing and haggling for nearly three hours. In the end, the negotiations for the reward were finally complete.
Adam, who was sitting right opposite him, seemed to now be in possession of human emotions after negotiations were done.
He let out a sigh of relief as he pushed the stool aside and slowly stood up while reaching out with his hand.
“Su Mo, your greed is truly an eye-opener for me. I have never met anyone like you. I’ve met so many players before this, yet you’re still at the top of the list. Is this the reason why you’ve been able to gain so much success in such a short time on the wasteland?”
Su Mo laughed out loud as he stood up too. He reached out with his hand. “Thank you for the compliment, and thank you for your generous gifts. You’re like a second Ma Fei to me!”
Both parties had gotten what they wanted, while each harboring goals of their own.
Just like how the friendly negotiations at Huaxia had ended with a handshake, both parties shook each other’s hands tightly.
[hope to see you here again. To be honest, you’re starting to grow on me as a player!”
“Haha, same here. I hope to be able to fulfill all the needed requirements soon!”
They released each other’s hands.
Su Mo took the trouble to put on a show of looking about the room nostalgically before waving his hand. Adam waved back.
Boom!
A muffled thunderclap was heard, and that familiar dizziness returned once more. Su Mo opened one eye and closed the other.
Once he was able to see clearly once more, he was surprised to see himself back on the captain’s quarters on the third level of Hope One!
‘The minute hand of the clock hanging on the wall was ticking slowly.
The time was now eight forty-two in the morning!
‘The examination of his sea of consciousness had taken longer than he thought. With no way of checking the time back then, this interrogation had actually taken up his entire day, which was quite frightening!
Fortunately, this was a reward collection, so in the end, it was more of a shock than a threat!
With the protection of the system, the game not only failed to detect any problems, it even showed some of its hand.
Su Mo felt some level of relief when he realized that the game’s surveillance on this side of the world was so weak!
The game could only test for anomalies using data, not through visual observation or all-day surveillance.
This was the program’s strength and its weakness too.
Such a mechanism guaranteed that he would never make a mistake nor would he be tricked by anything that was only surface-deep.
However, to a certain level, he had also lost the most direct way of examination and had now entangled himself with a chaotic chain of logic.
“I’ve obtained a Trust License from the game, which has completely washed clean everything about me that doesn’t seem reasonable.
However, the moment he entered, a fragrant smell filled his nostrils before he managed to even take two steps forward.
Since his body was enhanced, his stamina consumption was frighteningly high. Even if he had had a good sleep or breakfast, those would not have been enough to sustain him.
When he smelled the aroma, his tummy immediately rumbled like muffled thunder.
“Huh, did that girl Su Chan cook up a meal?”
Su Mo followed the aroma out of curiosity. All he could hear was the clanging and banging of cooking pots and pans coming from the direction of the kitchen, as well as the sound of howling wind.
‘There was no gas stove on Hope One, nor was there an induction cooker.
Su Mo was only able to make delicious food out of an earthen pot and firewood every day because he had used the Ocean Wind’s blessing for additional pressure on the temperature of the stove.
As for the others, if they wanted to make food, all they could do was to stir their dish in the pot and manually add to the fire.
As a foodie, Su Mo could tell from the sound of the person stir-frying the dish that it was a method unfamiliar to him.
He could not help but poke his head inside.
He saw the honest Moore lying on the ground in front of the stove and blowing into an opening while Su Chan was crouching at the side, trying her best to fan Moore and lower his temperature.
Shen Ke was standing where the head chef should be standing in a kitchen like this. She was focused on stir-frying the vegetables in the pot and occasionally tasting one or two pieces.
‘The side of her face was very different from Zhong Qingshu’s gentle demeanor. She had more strength in her, much like Mulan.
Seven or eight plates had been laid out on the dinner table behind her. Even though they were covered with bowls, the aroma continued escaping from them.
For a moment, Su Mo’s mind went blank.
‘There seemed to be a sudden gap in his memory. The scene in front of him brought him back to a time when he was young, at the Northern Shaanxi Compound.
Back then, he had been just like Su Chan, standing in front of the stove and watching his mother fan while sweating profusely and greedily tasting the flavors of the pot.
He had never had to worry about his meals for the next day and the day after tomorrow.
He never had to think about what sort of responsibility he had to bear, nor what he should be striving to achieve.
Back then, he was very relaxed and innocent. He was not stressed because someone was helping him with getting by in life!
Just like the first time he had entered trading ruins when he saw his family from when he was young.
Su Mo entered a dazed state at that moment, and his mind grew a little fuzzy.
At that moment, he was no longer the Almighty Su of the humans.
He was an ordinary young man, a man with a family!
“Hey, Brother Su, wake up! Quickly come up here and help with the fanning. Moore’s mouth is about to burn off!”
In the end, it was Su Chan who unexpectedly turned back and spotted Su Mo standing at the door.
‘When she called out to him, Moore, who was lying on the ground, and Shen Ke, who was frying the vegetables, turned to look at him with different expressions on their faces.
Moore looked embarrassed, like a child who had just stolen something. His entire body was yelling ‘don’t look at me!”
Shen Ke was smiling sweetly. “Wow, Su Mo, you’re awake. Hurry and clean yourself up. I’m about to finish up with the cooking. Let’s eat together in a while!”
“Alright, thanks for the trouble!”
“It’s no trouble at all, just cooking some dishes. It’s nothing compared to what you did. I can cook every day for you if you want me to!”
“Wow, Big Sis Chen, is this a love confession?” Su Chan immediately shouted when she heard Shen Ke’s words, as if she was looking forward to more drama. The atmosphere in the kitchen instantly changed.
Su Mo watched as a blush appeared across Shen Ke’s rough, scarred face. He smiled and nodded whilst gently waving toward the sky.
A magical gust of wind appeared from nowhere and immediately blew over the stove.
‘The warm fire expanded as if a giant dragon had breathed into it.
Su Mo watched as Moore and Su Chan celebrated by jumping and dancing about. He and Shen Ke exchanged exasperated looks before he quickly ran off to clean up.
The cold water poured over him, gushing out from the shower.
It extinguished the fire burning in Su Mo’s body.
This was the first time since arriving at the wasteland that Su Mo truly believed that it was so goddamned awesome to be alive!
