Chapter 55 Level 4 Store Manager

The moment the clock pointed to 8:30, Chen Xuan was successfully transported back to the shop.

"I have to say, you've got quite some nerve," Lin Qing said, reclining on the sofa as usual, with a simple dinner of two dishes and a soup set out on the coffee table. "You provoke the Dimensional Authority and then still dare to linger right under their noses."

"They always say the most dangerous place is the safest place, plus their attention was completely drawn to the breach point; they simply didn't have the time to care about anything else," he said calmly.

Of course, the real key was that he held a winning hand—not only did he have the free 8:30 clock-in, but he also had the Store Manager's exclusive recall. As long as the shop didn't go under, the Authority could never trap him.

"Were there any casualties at the scene?"

Chen Xuan shook his head. "I didn't hear any such news before I left."

Although a fair number of ambulances had arrived, he hadn't seen a single person who needed to be carried off on a stretcher.

After all, with so many onlookers visiting the zoo, the local police station had already made preparations, and numerous officers were on-site to maintain order, keeping the crowd flow within a manageable range. Moreover, the actual incident had taken place in the sparsely visited botanical garden. By the time the neighboring jurisdiction brought over the large-caliber tranquilizer guns, all accidental risks had basically been eliminated.

In truth, releasing dinosaurs had not been part of the plan the two of them had formulated.

Although the intelligence provided by Lin Qing indicated that the wanderer associated with Breach Point No. 109 was a Utahraptor named Guagua, they hadn't expected it to drive a herd of herbivorous dinosaurs ahead of it, causing several ancient creatures extinct for hundreds of millions of years to break through the boundary line and enter this brand-new world.

Therefore, he hadn't returned to the shop immediately at the time, but instead used "Invite Guest" to send Lin Qing back first, while he turned around to monitor the dinosaurs' movements to ensure they wouldn't charge into the plaza area.

The method of control was also quite simple: he switched to the Eight Diagram Palms he had previously traded from Liu Shuyue. This allowed him to inflict pain on the thick-skinned dinosaurs without being as eye-catching as the Myriad Thoughts Sword.

"Actually, there was no need for you to do all that," Lin Qing said, looking straight at him. "The invasion of the world will create more ability users, and correspondingly, more people will use their abilities to commit evil. When we deal with the Dimensional Authority in the future, it is bound to affect many ordinary people—that is an unavoidable outcome."

Chen Xuan replied noncommittally, "It would be one thing if I couldn't see it or manage it, but since I can do it with a flick of my wrist, it's better to clean up the aftermath after all. Besides, this show was directed by us."

Seeing him unmoved, Lin Qing didn't try to persuade him further, though her gaze softened slightly. "Let's eat first."

Seeing Chen Xuan sit down by the coffee table, she picked up her chopsticks as well.

Clearly, she hadn't started eating earlier, but had been waiting for him to return all along.

"The Dimensional Authority must be in complete chaos right now..." Chen Xuan pondered while eating. "I saw a large number of police cars at the scene. According to what you said, they usually try their best to avoid official involvement."

Although the appearance of the dinosaurs was an accident, it had to be said that the effect was truly maximized. This plan revolved around a time lag: before the botanical garden was placed under complete lockdown, as many people as possible were allowed to personally experience the existence of the breach point. Yet the sensational effect triggered by the dinosaurs was far more pronounced than the breach point itself—the moment those ancient colossal beasts crawled out of the deep forest, the notion that anomalies existed in this world would take deep root in people's minds.

"Of course. The Authority probably never dreamed in a million years that someone would understand erosion better than they do," Lin Qing said, smiling happily.

"Indeed."

The Dimensional Authority had very little chance of winning from the very beginning. This wasn't due to a lack of capability on their part, but rather misfortune beyond their control. The normal time for Breach Point No. 109 to be detected was originally two years later; the Authority would capture the perpetrator, Guagua, on the scene and keep it in captivity. Only later, through waveform recording comparisons, would they discover that the first wave emitted by Breach Point No. 109 had occurred in 2025—which was today.

In other words, the enemy would never have calculated that a breach point existed in the botanical garden.

It was precisely by relying on this exclusive intelligence that the two of them had decided to use it to make big news.

"Will leaving Guagua there be fine?" This was Chen Xuan's only remaining concern.

A mere few minutes of contact had shown that this Utahraptor was quite personable, with an estimated intelligence that wasn't low, and its visible joy while playing with Lin Qing was unmistakable.

A dinosaur's life is a life, too.

Moreover, according to historical intelligence records, Guagua undoubtedly possessed abilities. Yet, limited by the language barrier, the Dimensional Authority could only end up wrapping things up with a series of question marks.

"You couldn't possibly bring it back to raise it, could you? The next day, the entire residential compound would know there's a dinosaur in your shop!" Lin Qing said helplessly. "Dinosaurs are easier to deal with than humans; the Authority won't go so far as to dissect it for experiments."

"I hope so." Chen Xuan shrugged. The pebble to test the waters had been cast; the next step was to wait for the Dimensional Authority to make its move.

...

After the meal, customers visited the shop one after another. Standing behind the counter processing transactions, Chen Xuan browsed the trending topics online.

In fact, he didn't even need to look; even the compound residents who came to the shop to buy items were chatting about the botanical garden anomaly and the dinosaurs when they ran into each other. The vast scope of this incident's impact was evident.

The deep forest area had now been placed under government control, and construction fences had been erected along the edges of the lawn, making it impossible for the public to get close for the time being. Yet the stricter the control, the more it proved that this matter was not groundless. The homepages of major video websites were almost completely dominated by the word "ability," and people were already starting to inquire about how to stimulate their own powers.

Suddenly, a familiar message icon popped up at the bottom of the screen.

Chen Xuan clicked it open, and sure enough, it was the notification email regarding the LV4 Store Manager approval.

——"By this stage, you should already be wealthier than a nation or world-famous. If not, then try a little harder."

——"A branch store may now be established. The contents regarding branch stores in the 'Store Manager's Code' have been unlocked."

——"New trading methods are now available: Secret Trade and Unilateral Demand. The former will not generate a trading interface, nor does it place any requirements on the number of abilities held by either party. The latter allows the acquisition of abilities from ability holders, with conditions negotiated freely by both parties, requiring the other party's confirmation during the transaction. Neither of these two trading methods counts toward performance points."

——"Ability synchronization limit increased to LV4."

——"Non-tradable, non-transferable. Current status of the Store Manager: Still alive."

This time, thankfully, no additional store floors had been added.

However, what on earth was a branch store?

It wasn't even directly introduced in the message column, which meant its level of complexity far exceeded that of processing lodging or operating a restaurant?

Chen Xuan was unfazed by now. Anyway, the night was still long, and he could slowly study it later.

The two new trading methods seemed to lift the restriction of having to trade ability for ability, which was obviously good news. For example, previously, when saving Liu Shuyue and trading with Joan of Arc for the "Blessed Holy Maiden," he had also had to dig into his inventory for a "Feng Shui Secrets" that was useless to both parties. With the new trading methods, that whole stack of operational steps could be skipped.

After browsing the email, Chen Xuan eagerly opened the Store Manager rating to see what new requirements the next level would propose.

Store Manager LV5 application conditions: 1,000 performance points; wealthier than a nation or world-famous.

The first requirement was a tenfold increase compared to the 100 points of LV4, but it didn't come as a surprise to Chen Xuan. As could be seen from the previous promotions, the performance gap between each tier was extremely obvious.

However, the second requirement left him utterly dumbfounded.

How was one supposed to satisfy this? How much money counted as wealthier than a nation? How much fame constituted being world-famous? Was there not even a single criterion for judgment?

Come to think of it, both items were quite absurd, especially when applied to modern society—even the world's richest person wouldn't dare claim to be wealthier than a nation, right?

Yet, he happened to notice that this time, the rating section featured an additional prompt: LV5 Milestone Reward, which grants an additional ability slot!

This meant the number of abilities he could carry simultaneously would increase from four to five, which in many cases would not only save him the trouble of switching abilities, but also further enhance his combat configurations.

He wanted this desperately!

Chen Xuan racked his brain for a long time, yet couldn't figure out how on earth to bring the application conditions any closer to completion. He had no choice but to fetch the Store Manager's Code first to see what this branch store business was all about.

He had practically worn this manual out reading it before, able to recite every single page by heart, yet he had never seen any instructions regarding branch stores.

Unexpectedly, this time he found a new explanatory entry in the table of contents.

Good grief, even a book could add content to itself.

"Branch Store": The Store Manager may establish a branch store, which requires a room of no less than fifty square meters, accompanied by a legitimate and reliable lease or purchase contract. Once the contract is scanned into the Store Butler App, the branch store is considered successfully established. All subsequent expenses incurred will be the responsibility of the Store Manager.

To slightly condense and summarize it: It costs money.

This was real, tangible expenditure. Rent, utilities, and inventory costs—the initial one-time investment to open a shop was far higher than the operating expenses.

He continued reading downward.

"Responsibilities": "The ???-th Store Manager" is a unique ability, bearing full responsibility for the shop, and therefore cannot be transferred to a branch manager. When customers visit, the Store Manager must attend to them personally. Regardless of which shop one is in, daily working hours shall not be less than 8 hours.

"Functions": The branch store shares warehouses, equipment, and inventory abilities with the main store. The transfer of employees between the two stores is not restricted by distance or frequency. The branch store does not include additional value-added service functions such as lodging or dining; please be sure to pay attention to customer satisfaction when using the branch store to attract guests.