Ch 165: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Lu Yao wanted to travel to Mingshi City, and the best way to achieve this was by leveraging Harold’s unique ability.

The issue was that Harold required specific spacetime coordinates to travel to a particular world. Previously, Lu Yao would arrive in another world first, carrying dragon scales imbued with Harold’s aura. Harold would then sense her presence and traverse spacetime to find her.

This method, however, was neither efficient nor precise, as locating Lu Yao among countless possible timelines often required significant time and effort.

When Lu Yao was managing the Childhood Tutoring Center, she successfully created a Spacetime key with Alfred’s help. This greatly improved Harold’s accuracy in traveling to designated worlds. The Key also allowed for more discrete actions by opening portals to specific spacetime points, eliminating the need for Harold to tear through the fabric of space with every traversal.

The current problem was that there were no spacetime coordinates in Mingshi City for Harold to lock onto. The five players who had returned to Mingshi City only possessed Ghost Bracelets that Lu Yao could sense, but those bracelets alone couldn’t provide Harold the coordinates he needed.

Moreover, once the storage rings and Ghost Bracelets left Ghost Street, Lu Yao could no longer use the system to deliver physical tools and items to players. In the real world, the bracelets retained only their communication and storage functions.

Lu Yao needed to serve as Harold’s guide and accompany him in crossing spacetime. However, Harold’s inherited ability to traverse spacetime did not allow him to transport living beings with him.

Years ago, Harold’s mother had crossed countless timelines alone in search of a way to change Harold’s fate. If she had been able to take Harold’s father with her, the outcome might have been entirely different.

Lu Yao’s portable warehouse, having undergone multiple upgrades, could temporarily store living beings. She had used it to transfer staff between shops successfully. However, as the warehouse’s owner, Lu Yao herself could not be stored inside.

Another option was the Qiankun Bag from the Floating Continent, which could also store living creatures. After consulting with her staff, Lu Yao decided to test this method.

She made a special trip to Jiujue Sect, where a master craftsman agreed to forge a custom Qiankun Bag for her.

Three days later, Lu Yao received the artifact-level tool delivered by the sect—a Sky-Swallowing Sea-Holding Bag.

Since establishing the internet café’s reputation in the Floating Continent, every so often, its patrons sparked new trends in the Six Realms. Recently, a retro, overly dramatic naming style had taken the realms by storm, with customers enthusiastically naming their magical artifacts, spirit pets, and combat techniques with grandiose titles.

Lu Yao later heard that her custom Qiankun Bag had been completed in just a day and a half, but the craftsman spent another day and a half racking his brain to name it, which delayed its delivery.

Once she received the bag, Lu Yao went to the nail salon to meet Harold.

Dragon Valley had just started its vacation period two days prior, so both Harold and Tina were at the salon. The non-human staff were also present and were all curious about the Qiankun Bag.

The golden, drawstring-style Qiankun Bag passed from hand to hand, with everyone sharing their opinions. Though it could hold living creatures, Harold hesitated to use it to carry Lu Yao across spacetime without further testing.

For their first experiment, they decided to transport a butterfly from Emerald Town in Alexander’s Continent to the pet cafe in Eden Sea.

At dusk, after the salon closed for the day, a glass jar containing a butterfly was placed on the tea table in the main hall. The non-human staff gathered around with their phones, watching attentively.

Lu Yao carefully placed the butterfly into the Qiankun Bag, and Harold carried the bag through a spacetime portal.

A minute later, a video appeared in the shop’s employee group chat. The seals in the pet cafe were thrilled as Harold opened the Qiankun Bag, releasing the deep blue butterfly. The seals’ already large, round eyes bulged like lightbulbs as they patted their bellies in excitement.

[Little Pet Cafe Leilei: Butterfly, butterfly!]

[Little Pet Cafe Jiu Hua: Ahhhh! Deep Sea Butterfly!]

[Little Pet Cafe Zhou Su: There are even two guests dining here who were stunned when they saw the butterfly!]

[Lu Yao: Harold, remember to catch the butterfly back.]

[Little Pet Cafe Piaopiao: Lu Yao, Lu Yao, I like this butterfly.]

[Lu Yao: Hmm… Do you want to keep it? Butterflies don’t live very long, you know.]

[Little Pet Cafe Leilei: what if we keep it in the Fishing room.]

The Fishing room includes the surrounding sea, but it’s enclosed by an invisible barrier.

Since the butterfly wouldn’t be able to leave the Little Pet Cafe’s range, Lu Yao thought about it for a moment and agreed.

Two minutes later, Harold returned to the nail salon.

Second Experiment: Transporting a small bird from Alexander’s Continent to Sanhua City.

Harold used the Qiankun Bag containing the bird and opened a spacetime portal once again.

One minute later—

[Childhood Tutoring Center Bai Yi: Help!!! The bird got pounced on by Erxin!!!]

[Nail Salon Harold: The chubby cat moved too fast.]

Lu Yao rushed to the Childhood Tutoring Center and rescued the bird from Erxin’s fluffy paws.

The plump cat just wanted to play, so the bird was unharmed.

Afterward, Harold returned to the nail salon with the bird. When it flew out of the Qiankun Bag again, it was in good condition.

Third and Final Experiment: Transporting a live magic bull from Alexander’s Continent to the Nitean Continent.

The magic bull was three times the size of an ordinary ox, aggressive, and highly temperamental.

Worried that the Nitean Littles might be affected, Lu Yao arrived at Thorn Valley in advance.

Harold stepped through the spacetime portal, releasing the massive magic bull from the Qiankun Bag.

The Nitean Littles observed from the safety of their village by the inn.

Startled by its unfamiliar surroundings, the magic bull stomped its hooves and lowered its massive, curved horns in a threatening charge toward Harold. But before it could get close, Harold raised his hand, and the bull collapsed sideways with a resounding thud.

Lu Yao handed Harold a large, broad-bladed machete and called out to the little people near the inn: “Danger resolved. Get ready to butcher for meat!”

The Nitean Continent was entering the cold Twilight Moon Season, and the little people had been trying to stockpile food.

With the successful conclusion of the experiment, the magic bull was donated as rations for the little people.

A delicacy from Alexander’s Continent, the meat of the magic bull was tender and flavorful, popular across various stores on the shopping street.

Although the little people occasionally enjoyed it at the hot spring inn, they hadn’t realized such delicious meat came from such a massive animal.

After three successful experiments, it was confirmed that Harold could carry living beings through spacetime using the Qiankun Bag.

Lu Yao returned to the DIY Workshop and contacted the five players through their Ghost Bracelets.

The meeting was set for three days later.

…

Three Days Later, Mingshi City, E60 District.

At the rooftop of Green Forest Sanatorium.

In addition to the five players Lu Yao had contacted—Song Wen, Ren You, Xing Yong, Cai Yuxing, and Chen You—Ji Linkai, Liu Jing, and Jiang Lin were also present.

Some had woken up in Green Forest Sanatorium and had been undergoing therapy and rehabilitation; others had rushed over from other districts after being contacted.

Except for Ren You, everyone else was in wheelchairs.

Their meeting with Lu Yao via the Ghost Bracelets had been set for 9:00 a.m., but by 8:30, most of them had arrived.

Seeing several former DIY Workshop employees, Xing Yong couldn’t help but ask, “Is the boss really a robot?”

The DIY employees, Jiang Lin, and Ren You all shook their heads.

Ren You said, “I don’t think the shopkeeper is a robot.”

Liu Jing: “I don’t think so either.”

Ji Linkai: “So, the official statement from Ghost Street is fake?”

Although Ji Linkai was a shop assistant, he joined later and wasn’t familiar with the events leading up to the official opening of the DIY Workshop.

About 80% of the players trapped in Ghost Street had regained consciousness, while 20% were confirmed to have suffered brain death, causing a massive stir in Mingshi City.

As the situation escalated, not only had Ghost Street‘s official developers and the game company become a target of public backlash, but questions about the safety of virtual worlds and the role of Polaris had also begun surfacing.

Three days ago, the developers admitted that the still-unlogged game character “Lu Yao” was a robot designed by the company to rescue players.

The statement didn’t address any substantive issues but did temporarily quell some of the online disputes.

Cai Yuxing: “We saw it.”

Ji Linkai: “Saw what?”

Cai Yuxing suddenly clutched her throat, shaking her head vigorously.

The binding confidentiality agreement they signed in Ghost Street hadn’t dissolved even after returning to the real world. They were forever forbidden from revealing the secrets of the DIY Workshop.

Xing Yong, growing anxious: “What’s going on? Why can’t you say anything at a time like this?”

Liu Jing, Chen You, Cai Yuxing, Jiang Lin, and Ren You—each bound by the agreement—remained silent.

At that moment, the five individuals with Ghost Bracelets received a notification instructing them to form a circle, stack their bracelets together, and wait for a few minutes.

They had no idea what Lu Yao intended or what was about to happen, but they followed the instructions as agreed.

The three without bracelets stood behind them, equally curious about what might unfold.

After five minutes of nothing happening, Xing Yong lowered his arm: “My arm’s sore. What does the shopkeeper mean by this?”

Jiang Lin: “For a second, I thought she might emerge from the bracelets.”

Ren You laughed: “Your imagination is wild.”

Liu Jing: “I thought of something similar. Not through the bracelets, though. I figured the shopkeeper might suddenly appear in a helicopter.”

…

Amid their idle chatter, a faint sound like the turning of a lock cylinder echoed.

Everyone turned toward the noise and saw a door materialize out of thin air on the empty rooftop.

After a soft “click,” the door opened, and out stepped a young man dressed in a black robe with his hair tied high in a ponytail.

The youth stood tall and graceful, wearing an intricately designed long black robe. His black hair was neatly bound, his features were exceptionally refined, and his deep blue eyes were stunning.

Liu Jing stared, muttering in awe: “Straight out of… a manga…”

Harold glanced at the group, said nothing, then turned away, slightly tilted his head back, and reached into his mouth to pull out the Qiankun Bag.

During the experiments, Harold had worn the Qiankun Bag on him. But before the actual transfer, he grew uneasy and, after much deliberation, decided to hide it inside his stomach.

In case of unexpected accidents during the journey, having Lu Yao safely inside his stomach meant she would be absolutely protected.

Harold opened the Qiankun Bag, and Lu Yao leapt out. Seeing her companions frozen in shock, she smiled and greeted them, “Long time no see.”

“…”

Harold steadied Lu Yao and gave her a quick once-over. “You’re okay?”

Lu Yao shook her head and raised her wrist, softly saying, “Qiuyu, time to wake up.”

The small black dragon coiled around her wrist stirred, its tail tip scratching lightly at the skin on her inner wrist.

When Lu Yao and Harold were conducting the time-travel experiments, the little ones from the internet café caught wind of it via their phones.

Qiuyu quietly cozied up to Lu Yao, begging to go with her to Mingshi City.

Lu Yao, unable to decide on her own, left it up to Harold since he was the one facilitating the journey. Somehow, Qiuyu managed to persuade Harold—the usually aloof and lazy little black dragon—to agree.

When the otherworldly employees at the nail salon heard that another dragon from a different store would be accompanying Lu Yao, they were surprised but entirely reassured.

Qiuyu seemed uninterested in taking human form for now. Lu Yao glanced at her companions, who already seemed on the verge of sensory overload, and decided not to push Qiuyu.

Lu Yao stepped forward, clapping her hands lightly to recapture everyone’s drifting attention. “Thank you all. It’s because of your efforts that we were able to leave Ghost Street.”

Everyone was still in a state of shock. Ji Linkai was the first to regain his composure, staring at Lu Yao in a daze before slowly shifting his gaze to the young man standing beside her.

Lu Yao pulled Harold closer and introduced him. “This is Harold, my younger brother.”

Everyone: “Younger brother?!”

Liu Jing: “Shopkeeper, why is your name Lu Yao while your brother’s name is Harold?”

Cai Yuxing chimed in, “You don’t look or sound like siblings at all.”

Ji Linkai: “Isn’t that a bit off-topic?”

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