Chapter 18 [Congratulations on unlocking the new area of the Orchard Specialty Store...
The long corridor was quiet and cold.
A player wearing protective clothing looked nervous as he took out a cup of fruit tea, three strings of candied haws and two boxes of ice cream from the space and quickly handed them into the small window of the door.
His action was more like throwing it in rather than handing it over.
As soon as a few items were put in, there was a sound like a beast biting its prey from behind the door. The chewing and sharp gnawing sounds were intertwined, which was chilling.
The player in protective clothing subconsciously wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, took a few steps back, and cursed the unfairness of fate in his heart.
If the previous mission had not failed and his team had not been almost wiped out and forced to disband, he would not have fallen into the situation of being ostracized and finally assigned to such a dangerous job by the union.
He heaved a sigh of relief as the noise behind the door gradually died down. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, a familiar and oppressive figure blocked his way.
“President!”
He froze in his tracks and bowed his head.
The other party glanced at his trembling body and asked coldly, "How is the progress there?"
The player in the protective suit gritted his teeth and answered, "The news from over there said that the president of the Liuhuo Union, Lin Li, has already led people to move into the dungeon. There are two S-level players there now. Our actions... may not be convenient under their noses."
He raised his eyes and secretly glanced at the president's expression, then quickly lowered his head.
Previously, their union had devoted almost all its energy and manpower to compete with other unions for the elite union position, and therefore ignored a lot of other important information.
Now, when they discovered that even some small guilds knew about the existence of the dungeon, it was too late to seize its resources or place people inside.
After waiting for a while, the player in protective clothing saw that the president still did not respond. He felt a little uneasy, swallowed his saliva, lowered his head and walked back tentatively.
After taking a few steps, he suddenly felt his ankle tighten.
He looked down and saw a thorny bramble wrapped around his ankle like a poisonous snake, piercing his flesh, and blood slowly seeped out along the bramble.
“W-What’s going on?!”
The cold, sharp sting made him gasp.
The player in protective suit was horrified and turned back suddenly, only to find that the door behind him that was originally locked with an iron chain had been quietly opened at some point, and a strong smell of blood and a cold breath poured out from the door.
"President! Save me!"
He turned to the person in front of him for help in fear, his voice trembling.
However, the other party just stood there coldly, looking down at him, without any emotion in his eyes, and said lightly:
"Since things can't be done well, prove your value in another way."
With a sudden pull of the bramble, the player in protective suit was dragged into the door.
His nails left a long mark on the floor, and the shrill screams were instantly drowned out behind the door.
The corridor fell silent again.
The president slowly squatted down, touched the blood on the ground with his fingertips, slowly raised it to his nose and sniffed it, with an intoxicated smile on his lips:
"Although those special fruits are good nutrients, they are not as good as human blood... Fresh blood is the best choice to nourish the thorn bush."
After saying that, he stood up, his back blended into the shadows, and the thorns behind him were silently retracted into the door, as if nothing had happened.
*
In the orchard, Zhu Yu was squatting by the land, holding a small kettle. Looking at the fruit seedlings, most of which were still in the seedling stage, he couldn't help but sigh, with a worried look on his face.
She recently discovered that the amount of land was no longer able to keep up with the growth of seeds.
The daily harvest was certainly gratifying, but as the seeds accumulated more and more, the land could not be expanded endlessly, which made her a little worried.
It seems like it's time to use money to solve the problem.
Zhu Yu thought for a moment, and decisively spent a considerable amount of gold coins to purchase a large amount of fertilizer, which he spread directly on the soil.
Soon, the fruit seedlings that were originally growing normally began to grow rapidly, the green branches and leaves quickly spread out, and the unripe fruits continued to expand in size until they matured.
In the next few hours, Zhu Yu was very busy, harvesting fruits in batches with a virtual sickle.
With each swing of the sickle, the system's fruit harvest announcement sounded:
【……】
[Strawberry × 20, Strawberry Seed × 40]
【……】
[Pineapple × 30, Pineapple Seed × 60]
【……】
[Grapes × 15, Grape Seeds × 30]
Zhu Yu's eyes lit up at the series of system notifications, especially the last one that reminded her that she had unlocked a new variety of fruit tea:
[Congratulations on unlocking the new fruit tea "Succulent Grape"]
[Congratulations on unlocking the new fruit tea "Zhizhi Grape"]
Zhu Yu stopped and watched with satisfaction as the numbers in the fruit storage space on the virtual interface rose rapidly.
Just as she was about to take a breath, an unfamiliar system prompt sounded in her ears:
[The total amount of fruit reaches 1,000, and the fruit processing area is successfully unlocked. The currently unlockable function is: fruit cutting]
Zhu Yu was stunned for a moment, and then an arrow flashing with soft light appeared in front of her eyes. She followed the guidance of the arrow and came to the fruit processing area that had just been unlocked.
The processing area doesn't look very large from the outside, but after entering, Zhu Yu didn't expect that the space inside was much larger than she had imagined.
Therefore, she guessed that there might be many other features waiting to be unlocked.
The processing area is divided into several functional areas, the most eye-catching of which is the long row of operating tables in the center.
The countertop is as clean as new, with various processing tools and containers neatly placed on it, presenting a set of standardized fruit cutting assembly line equipment.
Next to it is a small constant temperature storage cabinet, which is convenient for storing processed fruit cuts.
Zhu Yu walked around the constant temperature storage cabinet and curiously approached the operating table to observe.
According to the instructions above, she only needs to put the fruit into the entrance, and the machine will automatically cut and arrange the fruit, and then send out a neatly arranged fruit plate from the other end.
During the cutting process, she can also adjust the shape and size of the fruit pieces by selecting different templates, and even cut out exquisite styles such as petal shapes and star shapes.
In order to test the effect, Zhu Yu took out a few freshly harvested strawberries from the storage space and put them into his mouth, then chose the shape of the fruit he wanted.
After pressing the start button, the machine starts running instantly.
A moment later, a plate of beautifully cut rose-shaped strawberries came out from the exit.
Zhu Yu picked up the fruit plate and stared at the plate of sliced strawberries that looked like a work of art. He couldn't help but sigh again that the game's handling of details was perfect.
Just as she was about to taste it, a familiar feeling came over her mind, as if there were some new changes in the dungeon.
Zhu Yu's heart moved and he hurriedly withdrew from the orchard space.
She walked towards the bright spot in her mind, and soon she saw a small new shop standing there quietly.
The store's front is unique, so she didn't need to bother naming it. The name appeared directly on the sign: "Orchard Specialty Store."
Zhu Yu was slightly startled, feeling both surprised and curious.
She didn't expect that there was such a connection between the orchard and the underground city, and that the orchard could actually open a store directly in the underground city to sell fruit products directly.
She pushed the door open, but before she could see what the store looked like, her attention was drawn to the continuous system pop-up windows.
[Congratulations on unlocking a new area in the Orchard Specialty Store: Fruit Salad Area]
【All fruits in the orchard specialty store can only be supplied from the orchard】
[Please ask the owner to set the appropriate sales quantity and price for the fruit salad]
[It is recommended that you set the price to: 80-100 gold coins/share]
After reading all the system prompts, Zhu Yu raised his brows slightly.
Only fruits produced in orchards can be supplied to specialty shops. In this way, these fruit salads will have special additional effects.
Thinking of this, she began to slowly calculate the current fruit stock and growth rate in the orchard in her mind.
After deducting the daily demand for candied haws and special fruit tea, she found that the orchard could supply 60-100 portions of cut fruit for making fruit salad every day.
Considering that the fruit cut energy is purer and the effect is stronger, there will definitely be many players coming to buy it.
Therefore, Zhu Yu decided to set a daily limit of 100 servings of fruit slices, and targeted the VIP customers of the dungeon.
She skillfully adjusted the system settings and finally filled in the price of "88 gold coins/piece" in the pricing box.
Just as she finished the settings, a familiar figure appeared at the door.
Yunze was wearing a light pink shirt today with a black waist chain hanging diagonally around his waist. He walked in slowly, and several metal pendants collided gently with his steps, making a tinkling sound.
He was holding an unfinished ice cream in his hand. He looked around after entering the store, with his usual nonchalant smile on his face:
"Hey, City Lord, a new store is opening so soon? It seems that the business in the dungeon is pretty good recently."
Zhu Yu raised his eyes to look at Yunze, and glanced at several players who entered the store behind him. He found that these people were well-equipped, and their behavior revealed a sense of calmness and confidence. They were obviously high-end players with good strength.
Zhu Yu smiled slightly and understood.
She responded politely:
"It's better to come at the right time than to come early. Today is the opening day of our new store. Why don't you try the newly launched fruit salad? The effect and taste are very good."
Yunze raised his eyebrows and pointed at the various fruit slices neatly arranged in front of him:
"Everyone heard it, right? We can't miss out on anything the city lord personally recommends. It's a rare opportunity to catch up with the opening of a new store, so we can't return empty-handed."
As soon as he finished speaking, several of his companions behind him took out gold coins and readily bought several servings of fruit soup.
After selecting different combinations of fruit slices, several people opened the boxes, took out exquisite little forks, and began to taste.
As soon as they took a bite, a hint of surprise flashed in their eyes, and the expressions on their faces quickly changed from curiosity to admiration.
"The benefit of this fruit slice is much stronger than that of the fruit tea candied haws!"
"Yes, this energy feels particularly pure, no wonder the price is so high."
The other nodded, with some approval in his tone.
Yunze looked at the fruit basket in his hand, narrowed his eyes slightly, and seemed to be thinking about something.
While the others were concentrating on tasting the food, he came closer to Zhu Yu and lowered his voice:
"City Lord, this thing is so effective, can you also supply some to our oasis? Even a little bit is fine."
Zhu Yu shook his head and refused:
"That won't work. Each box of cut fruit requires more fruit, and the quantity I can supply every day is limited. The supply of special fruit tea can be increased to 30 cups, but the fruit salad should be left to other VIP customers."
Yunze was obviously disappointed after hearing this:
"Oh, what a pity! I really want to bring this good stuff back for everyone to taste."
"Good things must be limited in quantity to maintain their appeal."
Zhu Yu half-jokingly said, "The supply from your oasis is already a good deal, don't be greedy."
Yunze shook his head helplessly, and finally let out a long sigh. He turned around and left the specialty store with several of his companions who had finished eating the fruit slices.
*
After word of the added benefits of fruit slices spread in the specialty store, all 100 boxes of fruit slices were sold out within two hours.
Many VIP players were added today. After a day's business, Zhu Yu returned to the lounge in a very good mood.
Before going to bed, she casually opened the panel and took a look at the new side quest, which had a countdown of more than 30 hours.
After confirming that there was nothing urgent, she breathed a sigh of relief, turned off the panel, and fell asleep peacefully.
However, in the middle of the night, a strange vibration suddenly woke Zhu Yu up from his sleep.
She was stunned for a moment, and then felt that the entire dungeon seemed to be shaking slightly.
She immediately got out of bed, called system 996, and quickly rushed to the direction of the vibration.
"996, can you detect what's going on?"
Zhu Yu asked in a low voice while walking quickly.
System 996 flashed with light, and its tone was somewhat doubtful:
"We haven't detected the specific situation yet, but the source seems to be from the fourth floor of the dungeon... Strangely, this floor is not open to the public at all, and you, the host, have not received any unlocking notification."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yu didn't think much and rushed into the elevator without hesitation.
Just as System 996 said, the button leading to the fourth floor in the elevator lit up.
The elevator door opened, Zhu Yu stepped out of the elevator and came to the entrance of the fourth floor.
The scene before her made her frown—the road from the entrance to the front was all shrouded in thick darkness, and that darkness was like a tide surging from the unknown depths, swallowing up everything.
Zhu Yu stood at the entrance of the passage with a vigilant look. Just as he was hesitating whether to go deeper to check, he heard footsteps one after another behind him - some players from the second-floor apartment came rushing over after hearing the noise.
"What's going on? Isn't the fourth floor open yet?"
"Those vibrations just now came from this side. Could it be that monsters have invaded?"
Just as everyone was discussing, a familiar voice sounded in Zhu Yu's ears:
"City Lord Zhu, what happened here?"
Zhu Yu turned around and saw that it was Lin Li.
Lin Li looked calm as he scanned the surroundings and soon landed on Zhu Yu. He was also obviously attracted by the unusual situation.
Zhu Yu was just about to open his mouth to respond when the vibration under his feet suddenly intensified.
Along with the shaking of the ground, a long whistle sounded suddenly - "Woo-woo-woo".
The sound came from far away and gradually got closer, like some kind of machine slowly turning.
Everyone fell silent at the same time, holding their breath subconsciously and looking in the direction of the sound.
In the depths of darkness, a faint light was gradually approaching.
Accompanied by the harsh sound of rails rubbing against each other, a black train slowly emerged from the passage.
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