The slime bought a green vintage train with only two carriages. Beside the driver's seat, there were three-tier short bookshelves, piled with several paper books.
Yu Xiaoxiao walked up to the brand new train, which had a smell of being exposed to the sun.
The goblin sitting in the co-pilot's seat rushed over, he helped to adjust his brown horned hat and handed an apple to the girl.
"Sister, have an apple. My brother said if we eat an apple before going out, we will be safe."
The apple, reddish in color, looked very tempting.
After taking it, Yu Xiaoxiao saw Vivian take out another apple from her bag, wiped it with her sleeve, and took a bite.
Crack.
A crisp sound was heard, as it sat on the train seat, swinging its legs back and forth.
"I eat two apples every day." With puffed cheeks, it said while chewing, "One to send my brother off safely, and two to welcome him back safely."
"Sister, remember to eat one when you take the train every day."
"I will prepare many apples for you and put them on the train's shelf, is that okay?"
At this moment, the slime suddenly asked, "Vivian, did you take the apples from the fruit shop without paying?"
Vivian, eating her apple, stared at the slime with her round eyes.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Soon, only the apple core was left.
"It's just two apples, the boss is very generous."
Yu Xiaoxiao stood in the back carriage, looking at the neat and clean seats, and thought that it would be very lively when more people come.
She asked, "Will people be willing to settle in the underground city in the future?"
The slime analyzed, "S-class humans definitely wouldn't. They've been living above for over ten thousand years, and they can't adapt to the life in the underground city. But, A-class humans should be very willing to come."
"Humans are still classified?" Yu Xiaoxiao heard for the first time.
"This is not a ranking, but two major camps," the slime said, sitting on the chair and continued, "In ancient times, all were A-ranked humans. Later, under the push of science, the embryos of the As planet combined with aliens, giving birth to the current S-ranked humans."
"The bodies of A-ranked humans all have demon blood, with more than two hundred races, including our slime tribe, as well as goblin tribe, rock tribe, red fairy tribe, and so on."
"Later, S-ranked humans, born in the case of machine incubation, have the appearance of aliens-"
"Um... and are infinitely close to your kind."
"In the case of multiple universe collisions and overlapping dimensions, the wisdom of the ancient planetary humans is the 'aesthetic sense' pursued by the entire interstellar world. So, at least in terms of appearance, everyone strives to emulate you."
"However, there are still many A-ranked humans who are unwilling to choose to have offspring through technological incubation. They still continue the traditional way to preserve their pure bloodline."
"So, in the current territory of the Kaluya Empire, humans of the two camps live together in peace."
"But because the bloodline of the royal family is all S-ranked, in some matters, A-ranked individuals inevitably feel unfairly treated."
"If we open the underground city, many A-ranked people would be willing to come."
Vivian interrupted, "Yes, sister, if you are willing to open the underground city to the outside world, I will definitely be the first to report."
The slime said, "Don't come, we don't welcome little dummies."
Yuxiaoxiao thought slightly.
She sat in the window seat, touched the necklace on her chest, and summoned the energy crystal.
The girl looked at the bright spot on the floating electronic map, her "treasure repository" is still under construction, and once completed, she can place all her treasures inside.
Residential area.
If the underground city wants to establish a residential area, it can start from the street of the small restaurant.
Yuxiaoxiao has recently searched a lot of pictures online.
Those dreamlike scenes, buildings that are impossible to appear in the real world, the magical dwarves here can create them with magic.
Ding Ding Ding-
The train slowly stopped.
The road beside the track had been paved with flagstones.
The slime was the first to get off the train, wearing a small crystal lamp on its head, watching the dwarves busy not far away.
It said, "I will go and calculate how many street lamps are needed."
"I will go too-" Vivian followed it.
Yuxiaoxiao put away the energy system.
She got off the train and heard the clanging sound in the distance, seeing a group of dwarves pushing a cart of stones.
The small restaurant is ahead.
According to her request, the small restaurant has two floors, occupying an area of two hundred square meters.
In order to integrate with the underground city, it uses high-quality titanium diamond for the upper layer, with a deep gray color and clear texture.
The flower garden and small pond beside the door are still there, and on the left, a large area is specially set aside to plant marble trees.
The tall arched gate, about two and a half meters.
The brown mahogany door, with a plaque hanging above, carved with five golden stars. In the dim light of the underground city, these few small stars can be seen shining from a distance.
The small restaurant is much more magnificent than imagined.
The girl walked to the archway, took a deep breath, and pushed open the big door.
Creak-
The first thing that caught her eye was a person's back. He was standing in the corridor, looking up at the menu on the wall.
"Are you...?" Yuxiaoxiao asked in confusion.
The restaurant had just closed for the day, and someone actually arrived earlier than her.
But soon, she knew the identity of the other party.
He was wearing a gray windbreaker, but you could still see a little black tail showing underneath.
Yuxiaoxiao's first reaction was to enter the restaurant and close the door.
"Prince Lord?"
"Don't call my name." His voice today sounded less tired than before.
But it was still faintly hoarse.
Full of magnetism, elusive, and addictive.
"Then, what should I call you?" Yuxiaoxiao asked.
"..."
He had never thought about this question.
Looking at the black tail, Yuxiaoxiao took a step forward and whispered:
"Prince Lord, you still need to find a way to hide your tail. Otherwise, everyone will know it's you."
Yuxiao, to some extent, knew about the third prince's situation.
The most distinctive feature of him is this tail. In the Calia Empire, there are many different kinds, but no race has a tail as sharp and hard as his.
Coupled with some bad rumors, his identity became even more repulsive.
He turned slowly.
Contrary to what Yuxiao had in mind, he was wearing a white clown mask on his face, with a red round nose, curved eyes, and an upturned mouth.
She was stunned.
Such a "friendly" or even "ridiculous" mask on his face had an indescribable charm.
"As." he suddenly said.
"Ah?" Yuxiao didn't react.
He pulled up the collar of his windbreaker, burying his chin in it, and spoke with a bit of shyness in his hoarse voice.
"That's my name."
As?
The first thing Yuxiao thought of was the planet As, part of the Calia Empire and the surname of the royal family.
She smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll call you As from now on."
His windbreaker wrapped him tightly.
Other than his white short hair, nothing could be seen on his whole body, even his hands were covered with white gloves.
The windbreaker was long, and yet a part of the tail was still visible.
Yuxiao felt like laughing a little, but she didn't want to risk offending him. So, she walked behind the bar counter and squatted down, opening the cabinets one by one.
In the bottom drawer, a roll of bandages lay quietly.
Yuxiao picked it up.
She said, "Let's wrap it up, shall we?"
As nodded stiffly.
Yuxiao walked over and stood behind him, slowly crouching down.
The girl knelt on one knee.
She gently lifted the hem of his coat, exposing his tail. Then she wrapped it layer by layer with the bandage, in a gentle, slow, and meticulous manner.
As's body tensed.
He hadn't had contact with humans for many years.
And she was the second person to touch his tail.
Turning his head, he could see the girl focused on her task.
Her fair face and delicate, untrimmed eyebrows made her look innocent and tender.
Her dark, bright eyes blinked lightly, rippling with a warm smile.
And this smile, reflected in his eyes, stirred up the long-dormant pool like a spring breeze.
Ripples spread out in circles.
She wasn't frightened by this taboo tail.
Nor did she find it disgusting.
The white bandages wrapped around it, tied with a bow on his back.
Yuxiao scratched her cheek and said apologetically, "I'm not good at this, so this is the best I can do."
She squatted behind, her arms folded on her knees, like a gentle little lamb.
Her slightly curled long hair took on a faint color under the warm light. The girl was wearing a clean cotton dress, showing off her delicate collarbone.
As looked away.
He slightly moved his bandaged tail, which now resembled a broken knife, sharper than any weapon in the Calia Empire.
"Okay," he said lightly.
Yuxiao looked satisfied with her "work."
She said, "If I'm not busy, I can spend most of my time here teaching you how to cook."
"If there's something over there, I might have to leave early."
"And you? How long will you stay?"
He wears a clown mask.
You can't see his expression.
Maybe even without the mask, you wouldn't know what he's thinking.
After hearing the girl's words, he didn't answer immediately, but stood there in a trance for a while.
"What... I'm here," he finally spoke after a while.
Yuxiaoxiao had already been scanning the restaurant.
The overall area wasn't overly large, divided into two levels, with an empty space in the middle.
The adjacent stone walls were neatly separated. On the first floor was an open kitchen, and a long bar separated it.
Further back was the cold storage room.
Several warm white lights hung above the bar.
The surrounding tables and chairs were all made of solid wood, some individual, and some combined.
The wall cabinet was full of the most popular wheat beer in the Calian Empire.
And other varieties.
Yuxiaoxiao pushed open a half-door and walked in, tidying up the bar, feeling fulfilled in this small shop.
"Xiaoxiao, ma'am—," the door swung open.
The slime rushed in.
"I just counted, this area needs at least 264 street lamps!"
Smack.
The restaurant lights suddenly went out.
Yuxiaoxiao: "..."
The slime paused for a moment.
It then noticed the person standing in front of the bar.
"Who are you?" it asked. "Do you have an access pass? If not, leave quickly. This isn't a place for just anyone to come!"
"Victor," Yuxiaoxiao hurriedly spoke up. "He's the apprentice I hired, he'll be working here from now on. You can get to know each other."
"Oh," the slime responded.
It still looked at the stranger with a suspicious gaze.
He was dressed in a long gray coat.
Wearing a clown mask.
White disheveled hair.
There was also a bandaged tail behind him.
The more you looked, the more suspicious it seemed?
The slime frowned slightly and reminded, "Xiaoxiao, ma'am, hiring, you should be careful. We don't have a legion now, if anything happens, I may not be able to protect you in time."
"Brother Clown—"
Ivy suddenly appeared, raising her hands high, holding an apple, "Your tail is injured. Brother says, eat an apple every day, disaster will stay away from me."
"This is the last apple, given to you."
"Remember to eat it every day, so your tail will get better."
Goblin tiptoed.
Its horned hat was slightly tilted.
But it still tried hard to pass on good luck to the injured clown.
The latter, however, took a step back without any urgency.
Smack.
The chandelier above the bar turned on.
He immediately turned his head, and saw the girl standing on a chair, tightening the light bulb with both hands.
She said, "The quality is really bad."
"No way, I bought it from the best store in the capital, it shouldn't break after just a while of use?"
The slime muttered twice, it moved closer to check the other chandeliers.
Warm white light.
As softly lowered his head, he pulled up his collar and stepped back a few steps.
Yuxiaoxiao, Slime, and Vivian all gathered at the bar.
He was the only one isolated from the crowd.
It was as if he never fit into this world.
He had grown accustomed to this distance.
Because, only in this kind of distance, could he avoid getting hurt.
The young girl said thoughtfully, "There will be no eternal darkness, nor will there be eternal light. If you decide to change, then the first step is to face it."
"Face who?" Vivian asked puzzledly.
It was eating the apple that the clown brother didn't want to take, with a bit of something on the corner of its mouth. It wiped it off with its little hand and focused on Yuxiaoxiao.
"Ah Si," Yuxiaoxiao suddenly said, "I forgot to tell you, his name is Ah Si."
The named person's body suddenly became stiff.
Slime didn't bother to pay attention to him.
It was still mulling over how the light could have broken just now, mumbling to itself:
"Is the owner trying to swindle me with secondhand goods? Hmph, I'll go over there now and see how he explains it to me!"
"Oh - the clown brother's name is Ah Si," Vivian repeated.
"Sister, I still want to eat the fried rice you made for me last time," it swallowed its saliva.
Fried rice.
The young girl smiled and said, "Sure, then go over there and wait for a while, okay?"
Yuxiaoxiao waved her hand, "Ah Si, come here."
- I won't.
He took two steps back again.
"Don't you want to learn how to cook?"
Ah Si remained silent.
He just stood there, in the darkness where the light couldn't reach.
Yuxiaoxiao helplessly smiled, "Without the light, I can't see anything."
The light was on when she arrived just now.
Therefore, maybe the Third Prince's concern was not the light, but—
As Yuxiaoxiao thought of this, she spoke, "Vivian, could you please go outside and help take care of the flower bed?"
"Okay—" Vivian didn't say anything and ran out.
There were only the two of them left in the small restaurant.
Ah Si's tense nerves relaxed slightly.
Yuxiaoxiao took out two eggs from the basket and said, "Let's prepare the ingredients now. The first thing we need to do is cut the scallions and carrots."
The girl washed the carrots.
Placed them on the cutting board.
She picked up the nearby kitchen knife and had only made two cuts when she saw Ah Si coming over.
He reached out his hand, as if asking for the knife.
Yuxiaoxiao handed the knife to him.
Ah Si raised his right hand and, like an executioner, slammed the knife down heavily, and a corner of the carrot suddenly flew off.
Yuxiaoxiao: "..."
"No need to use so much force," she gestured with her hand, "Lower it, gently, this knife is very sharp, and it will slice the radish in one go."
Sharp?
His tail moved behind him.
Ah Si placed the knife on the carrot, slowly cutting down, and glanced at Yuxiaoxiao.
She nodded in praise, "Yes, that's it."
His movements were very clumsy, probably the first time he had done such a thing.
For some reason, even though she could feel his serious gaze behind the mask, Yuxiaoxiao stood next to him.
The two were very close. He wrapped himself tightly in his trench coat, and his movements were very slow, taking twenty minutes to cut one carrot.
Yuxiaoxiao had already heated the pan.
She beat the eggs into a bowl and stirred them with chopsticks.
"...I'll do it," he said.
Yu Xiaoxiao handed the bowl to him.
Under the warm white light, his clown mask was smiling happily. His bright red lips, like rose petals, seemed stained with blood.
"Yeah, not bad," Yu Xiaoxiao encouraged him, "The eggs are beaten evenly, it's ready to be put in the pan."
With Yu Xiaoxiao's guidance, As completed his first cooking experience in life.
- Fried rice with eggs.
Yu Xiaoxiao found a clean plate, and besides Vivian's portion, there was still plenty left in the pan.
She asked, "Would you like to try some?"
The "clown" looked at the fried rice in the pan and remained silent.
Yu Xiaoxiao took a plate of pickled green beans from the cupboard.
She pointed to the nearest table and said, "You can go there first. I'll take the food to Vivian and be back soon."
A small goblin was napping in the flower bed.
There was only a pile of stones in the flower bed.
It raised its head, and even with a street light, there was only a faint glow, unlike outside where there was sunlight everywhere, which was very glaring.
The door in front was pushed open.
Yu Xiaoxiao brought the food to it and whispered, "Vivian, come and eat."
The little goblin quickly sat up.
It took the plate with both hands and asked, "What about the clown brother? Has he eaten?"
"Not yet."
"Then can you call him out to eat with us, sister?"
"Probably not," Yu Xiaoxiao said, "The clown brother likes to be alone."
"Oh, okay."
Vivian's attention quickly turned to the food.
She tucked a clean napkin into her collar, picked up a spoon, and said, "Then I'll start eating!"
Yu Xiaoxiao returned to the restaurant.
As was sitting on a chair, silent. When he heard some movement, he raised his head.
There were two plates of fried rice with eggs on the table in front of him, one of them sprinkled with pickled green beans. A spoon was placed aside, and he hadn't taken a bite.
"What's wrong?" Yu Xiaoxiao asked.
"You eat," he said.
Yu Xiaoxiao picked up the spoon, took a bite, and said, "It's delicious. It's very impressive to make it this good on the first try!"
After hearing the girl's words, he slowly raised the mask a bit with his hand.
Then he started eating.
He felt that the food was somehow different from what he had eaten before, but he couldn't specify how.
His eating pace was slow, so Yu Xiaoxiao went to cook two cups of soy milk and brought it to the table.
"Where are you staying tonight?" she asked.
"At the shop."
After a few bites, he put the mask back on. Anyway, there wouldn't be any taste when eating this food.
He stood up and walked inside.
Yu Xiaoxiao followed him.
In the corner of the second floor, there was a wooden ladder leading to a small attic.
The attic was small, just enough for a bed.
As climbed up the ladder and sat at the entrance of the attic, saying, "I stay here except on Saturdays."
He closed the door of the attic with a whoosh.
At first, Yu Xiaoxiao was a little nervous to see him, but from this interaction, she could tell that he didn't seem to have any malice.
She returned to the ground floor.
The Slime had bought back the street lights and was installing them with the Dwarfs.
Vivian had run off after finishing her meal, and she didn't know where she had gone.
There was only an empty plate left in the flower bed.
Yu Xiaoxiao boarded the train.
"Go to the treasure vault."
The treasure vault in the underground city had been there before, this time it was just repairing the damaged parts, so it was completed within a day.
The Rock Clan helped to bring back the scattered items from all around.
Now Yu Xiaoxiao's fingerprints have been input into the treasure vault, only she can enter.
In front of the solemn and massive ancient building, Yu Xiaoxiao counted, there were a total of four floors.
Compared to other buildings, this was indeed a big one.
Yu Xiaoxiao input her fingerprint, the defense system disarmed, and the iron gate slowly opened.
From the outside, it looked heavy, but inside it was covered with precious emperor crystal stone slabs. No need to turn on the lights, it could reflect light.
The adjacent shelves were made of the best materials, containing various rare and precious treasures.
After Yu Xiaoxiao entered, the gate closed automatically.
As far as the eye could see, it was all treasures, from large crystalline moonstones to ancient items that had settled for thousands of years.
Each item taken out could be auctioned for a high price.
Not to mention the boxes and boxes of gold and silver jewelry.
Yu Xiaoxiao glanced at the account book in the Yining system.
Moonstone: 23.
Sky Blue Stone: 103.
Ice Diamond: 2265.
Alien treasure: 78.
Historical relics: 166.
Epic weapon: 12.
Gold brick: 1999.
Silver brick: 2333.
Unaccounted for: 86550.
"..."
Yu Xiaoxiao was full of question marks??
Almost all the piled-up items in the underground city had been collected, leaving only valuable items aside from some ordinary gemstones.
But there were actually more than eighty thousand items scattered outside?
Were they buried in the ground?
Or...
She looked at the Yining map, except for the central area, the other undeveloped areas, all dark and unexplored, likely hid treasures.
But no matter what, at least there was no need to worry about funding for the time being.
Yu Xiaoxiao planned to start with the more abundant gold and silver bricks.
"Victor," she called out through the communicator.
"Here!"
"If you have time tomorrow, can you accompany me to the capital city?"
"Madam Xiaoxiao, are you going out?" Victor's voice hesitated, "We don't have attendants. What if we encounter danger?"
"Can we request the mobilization of troops from Lord Rock?" Yu Xiaoxiao asked.
"I'll ask!"
Victor immediately contacted Rock.
It explained Yu Xiaoxiao's intention, and Rock agreed, "A team of god-tier magic users will follow, please ensure the safety of Madam Xiaoxiao, the Steward, at all costs."