Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 207 Paying Homage to the Immortal Master
“This is inevitable.” Lin Qing placed a bowl of sliced ​​watermelon in front of him. “People will choose to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and the current situation seems to show that the harm outweighs the benefits.”

"Thank you." Chen Xuan took a bite, then realized something was off. "...This is a watermelon sold in the store, isn't it?"

“Yeah, there are more than a dozen. You’re not counting on it to make money, so what’s wrong with eating one?” Lin Qing said matter-of-factly. “Didn’t I eat potato chips often before?”

These are winter melons, grown in greenhouses!
"Okay," he gave up arguing. "You mean, things will change in the future?"

“No, not for ordinary people. Theoretically, the more wild ability users there are, the more frequent superpower crimes will be. The Limitation Agency is taking advantage of this trend to form more enforcement teams to suppress ability users and further replace abilities with cybernetic bodies.” Lin Qing shrugged. “But don’t worry about Jiangcheng becoming a silent ghost town. Most people will eventually come back.”

"why?"

"Because there are branch offices here, the response to crimes involving ability is the fastest."

Chen Xuan was stunned for a moment after hearing this. Did this mean that the security problems in other cities would become more serious in the future?

"Oh, right... speaking of agencies, I almost forgot to tell you." Lin Qing's tone suddenly rose two octaves, "Honglian is from the Jiangcheng Agency! We don't need to search the whole world for her anymore!"

"Who?" Chen Xuan couldn't remember for a moment.

“Honglian, the one who caused the Weixian Agency to split…” She took out the old woman’s photo again, “It’s this person! Do you remember her!”

He let out a long "Oh," and said, "You heard it from Jiang Siqi?"

"That's right! I heard Jiang Siqi calling her team leader 'Sister Honglian' when the task force was assigning tasks!" Lin Qing said excitedly. "I heard her call her that many times afterward, but unfortunately, I couldn't record Honglian's voice. Now we can be pretty sure that Honglian was among the group of people who went to the Wuhuan Machinery Factory!"

“Hmm…” Chen Xuan pondered for a moment, “But there’s also the possibility of the same code name.”

"That's alright. As long as we can get a frontal photo of Honglian's face, Xiao Lü can use bone structure to create a model of her, with a reliability of over 80%," Lin Qing said, waving the photo in her hand.

"Should we have Jiang Siqi take a picture when she gets a chance?"

"I think so too, but unfortunately I've lost contact with her recently."

Missing? Chen Xuan quickly realized, "She crossed the intrusion point?"

“Yes, that’s the only possibility.” Lin Qing nodded. “The cell phone signal disappeared in the early hours of that day, which means that the security agency didn’t even wait until dawn before sending people into New Paris World.”

"Oh no." Chen Xuan frowned. "Liu Shuyue and I have been there for three days and haven't heard a single word about the other group of transmigrators. Could Jiang Siqi have been turned into a worm-faced monster by the radiation?!"

"This..." Lin Qing hesitated, "...Can you summon her here?"

"No, she used a clandestine transaction method, which won't be recorded by the store, so she can't be considered a formal customer."

"Are we going to go look for her again?"

“That won’t work either.” Chen Xuan shook his head. “I was thrown there by the eroded space, so my landing point might not be the same as the stable intrusion channel. If the people from the organization aren’t on the Champs-Élysées, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack for us to find them. We don’t have a better way than to wait for Jiang Siqi to return on her own.”

A look of worry appeared on Lin Qing's face.

She was certainly not worried about Jiang Siqi.

Honglian has most likely entered another world as well. If she perishes there, causing the Dimensional Authority to lose its creator of the split, the problem will be serious.

Two days later, instead of receiving a signal from Jiang Siqi, they received a signal from Liu Shuyue.

"How about Mala Village?" Chen Xuan asked.

"Everything is normal." She seemed to be in very good spirits. Although there had been many ups and downs in the past few days, Chen Xuan felt that she was enjoying this time when she could temporarily put aside her responsibilities and enjoy free adventures.

"Then let's get ready to set off."

“I want to go too!” Lin Qing interjected.

"If you go too, who will watch the shop?" Chen Xuan sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“Then let’s close the shop for a day. You don’t make money from this anyway,” she pleaded. “I want to find a place to test the repaired prosthetic body. It’s not convenient in the neighborhood.”

Well, not relying on this to make money has almost become her catchphrase. "This time it should be a quick trip back, so it wouldn't hurt to bring her along," Liu Shuyue chimed in.

Seeing that both of them were begging him, Chen Xuan had no choice but to agree, "Alright, alright, I understand."

After setting up the branch at the former site of the "I Am the Only One" faction, the three of them entered the elevator and went straight to the territory of Chang'an City.

Upon entering the branch, Chen Xuan found the courtyard very tidy. The large tree in the corner was lush and leafy, yet there weren't many fallen leaves on the ground. The two spiritual energy devices used to test the disciples were still placed in the center of the courtyard, but someone had thoughtfully covered them with tarpaulins for rain protection.

"It doesn't seem like anything has changed," Chen Xuan remarked.

"What could have changed? We've only been away for a month... Hmm?" Lin Qing suddenly exclaimed.

Following her gaze, the two looked up at an iron pole standing on the roof—it was covered in thick rust and had turned completely orange-red.

"That's the antenna you set up, isn't it?" Chen Xuan asked.

"Yes, it was pieced together using some renovation materials found in the warehouse." She said with some surprise, "How come it's so rusty?"

Footsteps could be heard outside the compound.

Two men dressed in plain clothes, carrying brooms, pushed open the gate and walked into the courtyard. They were stunned when they saw Chen Xuan and the others.

"You've come at the right time." Chen Xuan waved to them. "Are you from the Immortal Alliance?"

The two exchanged a glance, their faces filled with shock! They dropped their brooms, knelt on the ground with a thud, and kowtowed deeply to Chen Xuanxing, saying, "Greetings, esteemed immortal masters!"

what?
Chen Xuan was completely bewildered. What was going on here? In the past, the disciples of the Sovereign Sect would indeed call him and Liu Shuyue that, but the sect had been disbanded. Could these people still be members of the sect?
"Get up, get up, don't rush to kowtow." He quickly stopped them, "Tell me who you are?"

The two men then stood up, dusted themselves off, and bowed their heads to reply, "We are Wang Wenyi and Wang Wenshou, both of whom are beginner disciples of the Ascension Platform."

"Oh... Ascension Platform." Chen Xuan nodded. "Have you two been in charge of cleaning this courtyard during this time?"

"Reporting to the Immortal Master, we dare not take credit!" Wang Wenyi quickly replied, "Every year, new disciples are stationed outside the academy to ensure that everything here is as new as ever when the Immortal Master returns!"

"I see—" Chen Xuan's expression changed halfway through his sentence, "Wait, every year?"

Liu Shuyue had already asked first, "When was the last time the teleportation array was activated?"

"Let me think..." Wang Wenyi calculated, "If I remember correctly, it should have been twenty-five years ago."

Twenty-five years!?
The three of them were stunned.

“This shouldn’t be happening!” Chen Xuan murmured. “How could the time difference between the two places widen so quickly? The Ability Shop has clearly established a very deep connection with this place.”

Based on his previous experience, the more he visited a place, the shorter the time difference between the two places would be.

Even if you don't go for a while, the flow of time will gradually increase from slow to fast, instead of instantly returning to the initial difference.

"Could it be because you stayed in another world for a few days and the barcode scanner broke down, making the distance double?" Lin Qing asked in a low voice.

That's possible.

"Then why has it only been less than half a month since the Spicy Village incident?" Liu Shuyue asked.

"Perhaps it's because you and Fu Jiaolu's door were never closed, while Joan of Arc's door was only opened when the teleportation array was used."

Joan of Arc's room number was 210, which was far from the others, partly to allow for a long enough passageway to be built. Chen Xuan didn't want any cultivators to break into the shop, so he would close the front and back doors of the room after sending people there.

"Let's think about this later." Chen Xuan turned to look at the two people. "Since it's been twenty-five years, the Immortal Alliance headquarters should be completed by now, right? Who is the current leader or governor of the Immortal Alliance? Please introduce me to them."

"You flatter us! You can just tell us what you need!" They waved their hands repeatedly, their faces showing both shock and embarrassment. "However, Master, the Immortal Alliance has now collapsed, and there are no longer any Alliance Leaders or Governors here."

(End of this chapter)