Offer blocks to the end times

"..." Sojiro didn't know what to say. He had also discovered the function of tea. One cup of tea was equivalent to the result of several years of training. The difference between the two was quite large. However, at this moment, their system panels beeped. "It seems to be about Ishtar. The round table meeting has started again."

Upon opening the call, the two knew they had guessed correctly. After exchanging a few words, the group headed towards the guild hall, while Senju strolled around the market. He looked at the stalls and compared them with Susukino's in his mind. Then, a speechless thought popped into his head: Is this what free market versus planned market? If he hadn't invested so much, Susukino's business would definitely not be as good as this.

After spending most of the day shopping, eating a lot of delicious food, and buying many interesting trinkets, Senju finally started looking for a location to build a supermarket. By the way, someone has already built a hot spring bath here. Looking at the men's and women's curtains hanging directly by the roadside, Senju suspected that they were the kind of hot spring baths in the Crimson Demon Village, where the hot spring water is composed of a giant water ball and a giant fireball.

Well, thinking about it this way, Senju realized that it had been a long time since he had taken Tiathe and the others out to play. But those kids have grown up now. They fused with the Eternal Orb a few years ago and are now all in girl form, working at Nigoran's restaurant. They are also unofficial members of the combat department. Time really flies.

Looking at the curtain over there, Senju sighed. Rem, standing beside her, was slightly surprised. She sensed the nostalgia in her 'carefree' master's heart, but it didn't seem like she was about to take a bath. She stood calmly to the side, slowly waiting for Senju to recover.

"Well, Senju was just making a comment," she said, glancing over there before continuing on her way. "Rem, let's go see if the owner of this place is willing to accept the makeover."

Chapter 1912 Department Store

However, upon reaching the curtain, Senju encountered a problem: the owner was behind that curtain! He touched the curtain slightly, and a dialog box popped up in front of him, displaying the pricing. "Tsk, so it's automatic. Too bad. Rem, let's go."

Slightly disappointed, Senju continued walking forward. After a while, he nodded at a ruined building. The building's overall structure was still intact, and most importantly, Senju recognized it as a department store from the tattered lettering at the entrance. "This will do."

After transferring ownership of the building, Senju threw a ball of light onto it. It was a conceptual composite of the 'department store'. As the ball of light flew into the ruined building, it immediately flashed and then transformed from a mottled ruin into a bright and vibrant building. The merchandise, electricity, glass doors and windows, and light pipes were all restored. Then, Senju and the other two went inside.

"(￣△￣；)⊙▽⊙A department store?!" The passing players all had a stunned expression. A brand new building had suddenly appeared in the ruins! Could it be that the buildings from the original world had also crossed over?! They immediately rushed forward excitedly.

Through the entrance, everyone saw all sorts of modern goods inside. Excitedly, they rushed in, only to crash into an invisible wall. A streak of lightning shot out from the entrance, causing them to stumble backward. At the same time, a dialogue box popped up in front of them: "Entry permission denied!"

"How is this possible?!" The players were stunned for a moment, staring at the 'modern society' separated by an invisible wall. They really wanted to go back. Before long, the area was full of players. Many people from the surrounding area came after hearing the news. The abandoned buildings on both sides were filled with people. Everyone looked inside and discussed how this thing appeared. Could it be that other buildings on Earth were also coming over?

Well, although some people had heard rumors about Susukino, saying there were supermarkets and hot springs there, no one really thought much of it. In their minds, the so-called supermarkets were probably exaggerated, at most a bit bigger than...

These stalls are just a bit bigger, but they're definitely not a modern supermarket, much less a fully-maintained building. This must be something that's traveled from the real world!

While they were waiting for the entrance to open, Senju had already set the prices for the goods here. There were quite a few types, tens of thousands of kinds, including food, daily necessities, clothes, tools, appliances, and so on. It was a real hassle to price each one. Senju and Rem transformed into thousands of different beings and it still took them several tens of minutes to finish. Well, the main thing was to think about what prices to set.

When Qian Shou came out, he was quite surprised to see so many people outside. Did these players have nothing better to do? But they were good customers. "Hello everyone, today is the grand opening of our store. We have a wide variety of products, but there are no discounts. Please feel free to buy."

"..." Everyone was speechless. Shiroe, who had come upon hearing the news, rolled his eyes. He hadn't expected that the department store would open in just a few hours. He had thought it would take five or six days. "Lord Senju, I didn't expect you to be so fast. You actually built such a building so quickly."

“Well, that’s the advantage of modular building tools,” Senju shrugged, then pointed inside. “Let’s go in and take a look.”

"It's an honor," Shiroe said with a slight bow. Senju felt that Shiroe was somewhat assimilated by this place, so he shook his head and led Shiroe inside. Rem walked with Akatsuki, and the players behind them also rushed in and started shopping. Everyone seemed very excited about the modern products.

"This is amazing! There are so many products!" Shiroe exclaimed in amazement after browsing around, and bought quite a few things. Then she brought up the matter of the Ishtar messenger, saying that they would keep their appointment and wanted to invite Senju to the banquet as well.

Senju was speechless for a moment. He had thought that Shiroe would levy taxes on the department stores here, but instead, they brought up this matter. He waved his hand and said, "The messenger invited me before, but I declined. Attending parties is too troublesome, especially parties of nobles."

Senju shook his head repeatedly, while Shiroe was much more serious, "But adventurers need to build good relations with the Earthlings, and communication is essential. This banquet is an opportunity, but unfortunately, it's not a good chance to strengthen the relationship between the two..."

Shiroe listed a bunch of benefits of attending the banquet, and Senju nodded repeatedly. What she said was indeed true. If she wanted to develop the civilization here, she had to make the players and the Earthlings live in harmony and increase communication. This meeting between the two sides' leaders was indeed an important event that she had to attend.

“What you said makes a lot of sense, so I’ll go participate then,” Senju nodded. Shiroe, standing beside him, wiped the sweat from her brow. She had finally managed to fool this guy. Now she wasn’t afraid of any danger. As for the huge profits that the department store might generate, Shiroe ignored them for the time being. If you don’t have the corresponding strength, don’t try to make money. Having this great guy come forward this time would greatly increase the adventurers’ deterrent power.

However, this meeting won't be held for more than a month, and it's in that Ancient Ice Fortress. Senju was slightly speechless and said that he would travel to other cities in the next few days before going there. Shiroe said that Senju was free to move around.

The two wandered around for a while and then saw Soujiro. However, Soujiro was followed by a lot of excited female players. Well, they were probably all female players, right? Senju looked at the muscular-looking women among them and was slightly speechless, but for the sake of his eyes, he wouldn't take the initiative to check!

"Master Shiroe, Lord Senju," Sojiro bowed slightly, then looked around. "I never expected to see such a modern scene here. Lord Senju is truly amazing. You completed such a large project so quickly. And these goods must be hard to come by. There are so many of them."

"Well, this is a prop that comes with this department store. As long as you consume a certain amount of energy, you can replenish it infinitely," Senju shrugged slightly. The female players next to her immediately started chattering, "Really? That's great! It seems we won't be short of cosmetics and perfumes for the time being. This is a real help."

"Well, I'm glad everyone likes it," Senju shrugged. She couldn't help but understand their excitement. But speaking of which, how much influence do adventurers have from the outside world? Do they really need cosmetics?

After chatting for a while, Senju gave them a bunch of hastily made coupons, then watched them walk away with Soujiro in her arms. "Tsk, as expected of a harem protagonist."

Chapter 1913 News

"A harem male lead, huh?" Shiroe pushed up his glasses. He and the others said it in a teasing tone, but if this lord said it like that, there must be some deeper meaning. However, he couldn't figure it out for the time being. He bowed slightly and said, "Well then, Lord Senju, let's go take a look around here. There are many supplies that I'd like to buy."

“Well, I’ll give you a 20% discount here,” Senju said, swiping her finger slightly to give Shiroe and Akatsuki a permanent buff. The two were immediately delighted, and then Shiroe offered some suggestions, “Perhaps, Senju-sama, you could also collect some local goods and items to sell; that can be quite profitable.”

“Hmm, that makes a lot of sense,” Senju nodded repeatedly. He realized that localization wasn’t ideal, as it wouldn’t be good to rely solely on products from Earth. “I’ll think about it.”

"Then, we'll take our leave."

"Alright," the two said and left. Senju was thinking about the local goods. Tsk, when it comes to goods, we have to talk about logistics. With the local transportation, can the goods be delivered in time? There are also various other issues. It seems quite troublesome.

Forget it, let's make some props. Local goods are already taken by locals. It wouldn't be good if I stole all the business. Even now, Senju estimates that he has taken away at least 30% of Akihabara's purchasing power.

After wandering around for a while, Qian Shou found several less crowded areas, such as the gold and silver jewelry area, the porcelain area, and the children's toy area. However, the most crowded areas were the games area and the cosmetics area, which were packed with a large number of boys and girls.

After looking around, Thousand Hands nodded and waved. All the ornaments were then enchanted, transforming into magical items that floated in pillars of light, looking dazzling. However, the prices had also increased significantly; items that originally cost a few hundred gold coins were now worth hundreds of thousands.

The ceramics section has been replaced with various weapons and armor, still at exorbitant prices. Top-tier magical items start at hundreds of thousands of gold coins, and these are displayed in glass cases. Above that are super limited-edition equipment that require tens of millions of gold coins to acquire, floating in pillars of light and radiating powerful energy. Above that are divinely forged weapons worth 300 million gold coins, encased in a sphere of light containing the Ea sword, but this one is not described in detail and is simply marked 'EA'.

Players who wandered over out of boredom were stunned when they saw the prices. The prices were way too expensive for the average person! And why were there rare items in a department store?! Looking at the stats, everyone's mouths watered. The weapons and armor here were incredibly powerful, and most importantly, there were no level restrictions!

The most experienced players gathered around EA, scrutinizing it. This must be the most expensive and strongest item, but it wasn't marked. There was a lot of noise, though in the end no one actually bought it.

"Could this be a world-class item?" Looking at the cylindrical sword floating in the sphere of light, Shiroe pondered to himself. However, looking at the price, he felt a bit troubled. Three hundred million gold coins, even with an 80% discount, would still be two hundred and forty million, which would require more than a year's income from the entire Round Table Guild. He couldn't possibly give all that income to himself, but this was also his only chance to come into contact with a world-class weapon. Shiroe was caught in the dilemma of not having enough money.

However, thinking about her own preferential buff, she could easily say that she had already raised 60 million in funds, and then let other guilds contribute the remaining 240 million. With that in mind, Shiro said a few words to Akira next to her.

The players were drooling, while Thousand Hands left. A portion of the money received was used to maintain the building's ownership and to convert into magic to replenish supplies, while the rest was sent to Rhine. Thousand Hands then built a huge hot spring hotel and rested there.

Many players watched curiously, but they didn't get permission to enter. Even though it was marked as a 'hot spring inn' outside, they weren't even allowed to go in. The crowd complained outside for a bit before dispersing.

After resting for a night, the two left. As for the boss knight, Senju left him here to guard the gate. Then the hot spring inn opened, and some players went in out of curiosity. Others then discovered that entry was no longer prohibited, and many players came to experience the novelty.

Meanwhile, Senju and Rem continued their stroll, and happened to see a newspaper for sale on the roadside. They bought one and took a look. Senju noticed that the headline on the first page was about the department store. In addition to the extremely rich selection of goods, the article highlighted the round stick weapon worth 300 million. The author speculates that it might be related to returning to the real world.

"Is this considered free advertising?" Thousand Hands muttered to himself. However, the speculation above was not wrong. EA could indeed tear through space and travel through worlds, but EA was only responsible for breaking down obstacles, not for the personal safety of users.

Continuing on, we see the contact between Ishtar's envoy and the Round Table Council. The envoy spoke at length about the significance of this matter for adventurers and Earthlings, and stated that the Round Table Council had accepted the invitation and would send three councilors: Shiroe, the guild leader of the guild 'Record Horizon'; Klasti, the guild leader of the combat guild 'DDD'; and Michitaka, the head of the production-oriented guild 'Ocean Organization', to attend the Earthlings' banquet.

In addition, it also noted that the round table conference had invited the Grand Duke of the Aizor Empire to attend the banquet. This Grand Duke was also a player and the builder of the department store. This left Thousand Hands speechless. Was he afraid that he would stand him up?

Speaking of which, there's something that leaves Senju speechless: the Ocean Organization has over five thousand players, roughly the same number as all the players in Susukino. Moreover, this guild has multiple production departments, making it seem very similar to a modern corporation. Senju thinks this guild is worth cooperating with.

After casually sending this message to Rhine and causing him some annoyance, Thousand Hands flipped through it again. It showed the progress of several production-related guilds jointly developing a generator. It also mentioned that the steam engine they had made before could be used. If successful, combined with the various electrical appliances in the department store, this place could enter the electrical age.

Looking at the description above, Thousand Hands realized that there really were people here using monsters as power sources. Monsters that constantly generate heat, like fire snakes and fire lizards, could provide an inexhaustible power source for steam engines. But this also served as free advertising for the department store.

Then flip through it, and...

The news about food and dungeon progress seemed like gossip. Senju glanced at it casually and handed the newspaper to Rem, saying, "Let's go, Rem, let's go check out other cities."

Chapter 1914 Ram Arrives

This time, however, Senju didn't go to a player city, but to a city of earthlings called 'Ikebukuro'. There are some good things here. Looking at the huge 'Tower of Sunshine', Senju nodded and then went to find the 'Thorn Forbidden Library'.

It was an ancient library labyrinth, containing a lot of forbidden magical knowledge. Several magicians who were looking for information asked Thousand Hands to uproot the library and send it to the magic academy as a library.

Of course, they also asked for many other things, such as capturing a Flame Demon, opening a spatial passage to the magical city of Tsukuba, or incorporating the academic guild there, which would accelerate the spread of magic. Senju remained noncommittal about this, saying he would wait and see.

After wandering around for a while, Senju noticed the difference between player cities and ordinary cities. Ikebukuro didn't have any huge underground magic circles or protective barriers.

Moreover, after looking around, Senju was speechless to find that the food here was still tasteless. She shook her head, looked at Rem, and said, "Rem, let's open a small shop here for now."

“I will do whatever you say, Master,” Rem said obediently. “By the way, Master, if we’re opening a small shop, let my sister come and help out. She’s an amazing cook.”

"Uh..." Senju was speechless for a moment. He felt that Rem's cooking skills were better, but when he closed his eyes and sensed Ram, she was reading a book. She looked like a quiet and beautiful girl, if you ignored the fact that she was in a manga.

However, Ram seemed to sense Senju's gaze and instantly transformed into the perfect maid, "Master, did you summon me?"

"Hmm, Ram, come here," Senju's voice was quite normal, even though he was feeling rather confused. Ram bowed slightly and was then moved over here by Senju.

"Master, is there anything I can help you with?" Although she was excited to see her sister, Ram maintained an elegant demeanor on the surface. Senju, however, rolled her eyes, and she could hear her own inner thoughts. "Well, I'm thinking of opening a small shop here temporarily, and I'd appreciate your help."

"A small shop?" Ram was puzzled for a moment, then, sensing the information Rem was transmitting, she picked up a slice of pizza next to her, took a bite, and then looked disgusted. "It really has no taste at all. Is something wrong with this world?"

"Well, I guess everyone's used to using food magic," Senju shrugged. She also knew food magic, the most basic of which was creating food blocks that had no flavor at all. But this seemed to be a step further, using various flavorful ingredients to make tasteless food. It was truly an amazing feat.

"I see, so all we need to do is promote real cooking skills?" Ram nodded, listening to Rem's telepathic message, and then looked eager to try it out. "Then, Master, let's open a shop and spread real cuisine. The people here are wasting too much food!"

"Alright, let's open the shop then," he snapped his fingers, and a large food truck resembling a festival stall appeared beside them, complete with all sorts of equipment. However, Ram seemed somewhat speechless. "Master, couldn't we make this a bit more formal? A mobile food truck..."

"Um, this can be changed. By the way, let's discuss what food to sell first. If we want to expand our publicity, then various fast food options are definitely the way to go. They're quick to prepare and easy to make," Senju waved his hand, bringing up another important matter and trying to change the subject.

Ram rolled her eyes at Senju helplessly, then looked around. "Well, we need to do some research. We need to see what ingredients are readily available in this city, then consider how to cook them. We need to choose a simple and convenient dish to promote, at least to change the situation where this food is tasteless!"

“What my sister said makes so much sense, Master, let’s get started~” Rem’s eyes sparkled, and Senju nodded as well. “Ram is right, Rem, let’s start the investigation.”

Then the three of them started collecting ingredients. Eating the flavorful ingredients and looking at the tasteless dishes, Ram was speechless. "What kind of transformation led to this civilization? It's unbelievable."

"Well, I guess it's because the taste was transformed into magic," Thousand Hands said casually while eating an apple. He was just guessing. The game's background is the collapse of a technological world and the salvation of the gods. Perhaps that's why the taste was also judged as 'corruption' back then. However, no one can explain the background setting clearly, especially in a newly created world like this. Digging into the background can reveal a lot, but it's actually not very useful. That's how it's 'set up'. And everything in the past is also explaining the present.

In the ordinary world, there should be ancestors before there are descendants. But here, the descendants come first, and then based on the existence of the descendants, it is deduced that there should be ancestors. Then the ancestors show various traces. Although it sounds complicated and seems to be the same, this is the difference between cause and effect and the order of things.

While gathering various ingredients, the three discussed what dishes to make: fried chicken, lamb rolls, and a vegetable salad. The ingredients for these dishes were all locally available, but after some discussion, they decided on fried chicken because it was quick and easy to prepare.

It was quick and had the strongest flavor impact. After buying some ingredients and taking out the food cart again, the three of them started experimenting. They quickly finished the product, which was simple but tasted great.

"Then let's get started!" The three of them began preparing food by the roadside. As the aroma spread, many locals gathered around to watch curiously. "What's that smell? Why can't I stop drooling?!"

Seeing that there was enough prepared food, Senju gave it a try, while Rem called out from outside, "A hot and fragrant fried chicken shop is opening today! The first 100 people get a free sample~ Welcome everyone~"

"Free?" Swallowing hard, a chubby earth-man walked over. "Give me one."

"Here you go," Senju said, quickly packing the fried chicken into a bag and handing it to the customer opposite him. The customer curiously opened the bag, took a leisurely sniff, and then took a bite of the fried chicken with a nonchalant expression. His eyes widened immediately, his gaze slowly sliding downwards, drool dripping from his mouth. "What is this? What is this?!"

He started wolfing down his food, finishing it in no time, and then ran over, "Boss, another one!"

"Get in line!" The people in line glared at the fat man who cut in line. He had been eating so deliciously that they wanted to try some too!

Chapter 1915 Spread

The fried chicken was a huge success here, selling over a thousand servings in just a few hours. However, the locals who ate the regular food were utterly astonished, then somewhat bewildered, wondering how it was made and whether food should even have a taste. But it was just so delicious!

Seeing the excited people, Rem felt a sense of accomplishment, but Senju and Ram were much more indifferent. "The recipe for fried chicken should have spread by now."

“That’s right, Master. I saw several people queuing up repeatedly, even asking about how to make fried chicken. I got impatient and explained it to them. After a few times, anyone who’s not an idiot should have learned it,” Ram said, glancing half-closed at the Earthlings outside. “Maybe a new fried chicken shop will appear in a few days.”

“It’s great that they can learn on their own initiative,” Senju said calmly, looking outside. “If they were too rigid, I would be quite troubled.”

"Master, sister..." Rem looked helplessly at the two who had indifferent expressions, "What do we do next? Lamb rolls?"

"Well, to be specific, it should be grilled meat and flatbread. The people here don't even know the most basic things," Senju shrugged helplessly. The people here cook by skill. The so-called chefs are just people who can make food at a high level. "In addition, add some juice or something, since the drinks here are just plain water!"

“Hmm, add some black tea and milk, and prepare some snacks too,” Ram nodded from the side. Rem thought for a moment, then raised her finger, “We can also add bread making, since the bread here has absolutely no flavor!”

“Those are too complicated, you know,” Senju said helplessly, looking at the two of them. “The milk is fine, but we probably don’t have tea-making skills here, let alone complicated desserts and bread.”

“No, Master, there is tea here too. It tastes like real tea, and the snacks and bread are super easy to make,” Ram said calmly, then looked at Senju. “If Master finds it too troublesome, I can drag everyone here into the illusion space and teach them how to make all kinds of dishes.”

"Well, let's take it slow," Senju said, speechless at Ram's coaxing. He could easily force the people here to learn various techniques, but after considering it, he didn't agree to do so.

Although he made significant moves in this world, forcibly merging player groups and wiping out monsters in several areas, he didn't really interfere much with the Earthlings. At most, he had an indirect influence. These actions were merely 'fertilizing' the civilization of this world.

Using illusions to distort human minds on a large scale is like "pulling up seedlings to help them grow." Although pulling them up would not only prevent the civilization here from dying but also allow it to improve rapidly, Senju instinctively felt it was wrong and subconsciously resisted this option.

"Tch, what a pity. A single illusion could have solved all the problems in this world," Ram muttered to herself. Senju sighed and patted his forehead. Ram was quite like his old self. He had come here to cultivate his mind and body, and his impatient heart needed to be calmed down.