A Bite of Douluo Continent

He came specifically for me?!

In an instant, cold sweat broke out on Fang Qing's forehead.

We've been discovered?

That shouldn't be the case.

He played the role of the department store owner very well, and even seemed to enjoy it.

They are professionally trained and would never be exposed under normal circumstances.

Calm down, calm down!

Maybe they just came to chat...

Forget it, I shouldn't deceive myself anymore.

I'm so sorry, brothers of the Secret Service, I'm afraid I'm going to lose my young life here...

Remember to take care of my wife after I'm gone... Oh, I don't have a wife.

That's fine.

Gritting his teeth, Fang Qing turned to look at Qi Han, who had already walked up to him, with a face full of grief and indignation.

Kill me or torture me, it's up to you!

...

"Um...are you alright?" Seeing the expression on Fang Qing's face, as if his wife had been cheated on, Qi Han couldn't help but show some sympathy. "I'm the owner of Hanshi Restaurant, which is diagonally across from yours...what happened to you?"

"N-nothing." Fang Qing was taken aback when he saw the other party communicating with him so normally, but he quickly regained his composure.

Damn, did they really just come here to chat with me?

Is this something a spy would do?!

Why isn't this going according to plan...?

Was my expression just now too abrupt?

I need to think of a way to smooth things over...

Seeing that the other party hesitated for a long time without speaking, Qi Han seemed to understand something. He sighed softly, patted Fang Qing's shoulder, and said, "I understand. Were you deceived by someone and bought such a desolate shop? That's why you're so heartbroken now?"

"Ah, this..." Fang Qing was somewhat amused and exasperated. He hadn't yet figured out how to explain his earlier loss of composure, but Qi Han had already come up with a solution for him...

Seeing the change in Fang Qing's expression, Qi Han became even more confident in his guess and immediately comforted him, "Don't worry, it's alright. Business on this street will definitely improve in the future, and there will even be more shops."

Once the side quest is completed, a large number of diners will make a special detour to Hanshi Restaurant every day to taste its dishes. After finishing their meals, these people may not leave immediately but may wander around the area, thus supporting the business of nearby shops.

This is called traffic generation.

So this young man has caught a good time.

With the Cold Food Festival, this area will surely prosper in the near future, or at least it will not be as desolate as it is now.

So opening a shop diagonally opposite Hanshi Festival now might not necessarily result in losing money.

As foot traffic in the area increases, shop prices in the vicinity may rise further. If people see the potential for profit, they might be willing to open a shop here.

Even if I leave here a month later, these shops will still have a long period of customer traffic and I will still be able to reap a wave of benefits.

Qi Han said he was very familiar with this.

Shortly after he opened his Cold Food Festival restaurant in Star Luo City, the business of shops near the restaurant almost doubled. Even in Shrek City, when he taught how to make fried rice with eggs, it caused the price of eggs to rise...

As long as you don't open a restaurant near the Cold Food Festival, your business will surely prosper.

However, these words of comfort took on a completely different meaning in Fang Qing's ears.

His face turned pale instantly.

How would the mission objective know that business here would improve in the future?

And how did he know that more stores would be added later?!

The “Daxing Mingke Street” project has only just begun. He is just the vanguard of opening shops. Considering that it would be too abrupt for all shops to open at the same time, the shops will be opened one after another.

His Majesty's decree will be issued only after the shops have opened, encouraging people from other places to visit Mink Street and promote the prosperity of the area; it has not even been drafted yet.

Both of these matters are absolutely secret, so why does this restaurant owner named Qi Han appear so calm and collected, as if he has seen through everything?

Sure enough, chatting with myself was just a pretense.

He was clearly using this to tell himself, and to tell the Secret Service:

Stop these underhanded tactics. I've seen it all, and I know everything.

Fang Qing's face instantly stiffened.

There's a mole in the Secret Service!

Chapter 489 Lunch Box That Cannot Be Fitted into a Storage Soul Tool

Qi Han wanted to say a few more words to comfort his new neighbor, but he quickly realized that the more he patted the other man's shoulder, the more stiff his expression became.

This is…

Slightly taken aback, Qi Han quickly realized what was going on.

This new neighbor...is he socially awkward?

Judging from his rather resistant expression towards my advances, I'm pretty sure it's true.

It's unbelievable that a socially anxious young man would have to independently support a new store.

I don't know what kind of shop he runs, but maybe I can patronize his business in the future.

Socially anxious people are generally very resistant to getting close to unfamiliar people. Thinking of this, Qi Han took the initiative to distance himself from the other person, only smiling and leaving a sentence, "I will come to support your business when your store opens," before turning around and returning to Hanshi.

Yes, I really am a kind and understanding neighbor.

Qi Han felt smug and then closed the shop door and entered the training space to begin a new training session.

He was completely unaware of the devastating impact his words had on Fang Qing.

Taking care of the business…

Fang Qing felt a chill run through his body.

The other party has seen everything about them, so they must know very well that running the store is just a front, and their real purpose is to monitor them.

Why say that?

There must be a hidden meaning in what they said.

So the hidden meaning in those words is...

Fang Qing's heart skipped a beat.

Understood!

Qi Han wants to monitor himself in return, and even monitor the secret intelligence department's every move!

In an instant, he felt his hands and feet turn icy cold. He glanced at the closed door of Hanshi Restaurant not far away and thought that Boss Qi might be watching him from behind the door with eyes he couldn't see. He felt a chill run straight to the top of his head.

Stiffly moving into his still-unfinished shop, Fang Qing quickly reported the situation to his superior using the secret service's special methods.

No, there's a mole in the Secret Service. We don't even know who this mole is. Maybe it's even my boss?

Thinking of this, Fang Qing paused in his actions.

Forget it, I'll just report it to His Majesty directly.

Fortunately, due to their positions, every spy in the Secret Service had the right to report the intelligence they had directly to the emperor; otherwise, he would have been even more desperate at this moment.

Thinking of this, he instantly crushed the intelligence he had written halfway into dust, took out a new piece of paper, and started rewriting it.

The wording of a secret report sent directly to the emperor naturally had to be modified.

...

"You're here?"

De Hongchen looked up from his busy work. At this moment, the soul bone that had only been modified by about half had completely lost its original form and become part of the core magic array. Countless fine and precise metal structures were attached to its surface, and intricate patterns like stars were imprinted on it.

This core magic array is almost complete, but it is still far from the soul-guided full-body armor he envisioned.

De Hongchen's envisioned Soul Guidance Full Body Armor is an armor composed of multiple Soul Guidance components. Using the principle of Soul Guidance Array, these components are interconnected, achieving a synergistic effect greater than the sum of their parts, thus enhancing the individual combat power of Soul Guidance Masters.

Based on the synergy of the soul-guided array, this design scheme is theoretically feasible, but it will require a long period of experimentation and adjustment to succeed.

(P.S.: This is not battle armor, but a special soul-guided light armor similar to the combat style of Meng Hongchen in Douluo Continent II.)

However... De Hongchen has decided to put the matter of the Soul Guide Armor aside for the time being.

He looked at his son, who was walking into his lab, with a hint of anticipation. When his gaze fell on the black lunchbox Yao Hongchen was carrying, a look of delight appeared on his face. "What delicious food did you pack? I'm actually quite hungry."

As he spoke, he walked excitedly toward Yao Hongchen.

Yao Hongchen's expression was not relaxed. He frowned and pondered something. When he saw his father coming, he immediately spoke up, "Father, there is something wrong with this lunchbox."

"What could be wrong with the lunchbox?" De Hongchen took the lunchbox from Yao Hongchen's hand dismissively, and was about to open it to see what the cold food he had been longing for tasted like, when he heard Yao Hongchen's next words.

"This food box for the Cold Food Festival cannot be stored in a storage soul tool."

Ok?

De Hongchen's hand, which was about to open the lunchbox, suddenly stopped.

A beautiful gemstone on his finger, resembling a ring and shimmering with blue starlight, suddenly flashed with a faint light, while the lunchbox in his hand remained untouched.

After casually probing, De Hongchen's expression became somewhat strange.

Is there really such a thing?

Seeing his father's unsuccessful attempt to put the lunchbox into the starlight sapphire, Yao Hongchen revealed a knowing expression.

After receiving the Cold Food Festival meal box, Yao Hongchen planned to put it into his storage soul tool, but was surprised to find that the meal box could not be stored in the storage soul tool.

This is very unusual. There are many things that storage soul tools cannot hold. Items that exceed the storage limit, the same storage soul tool, and living creatures cannot be put into the storage soul tool. However, the reasons why different things cannot be put into it are also different.

The storage space created by the storage soul tool has a fixed length, width, and height. If items exceeding the storage space's capacity are placed inside, the storage space will collapse, and the storage soul tool will be rendered unusable.