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For lunch, Chairman Sean chose the Borg Chamber of Commerce’s most prestigious restaurant in Gold Hole City.

This was a restaurant catering to professionals; every ingredient used in the banquet was either a magical beast, a magical plant, or a rare medicinal herb of a certain age. The head chef was also a renowned chef whom the Borg Chamber of Commerce had hired from out of town at great expense.

Not only did the food taste excellent, but its presentation was also quite impressive.

Qiyu was no longer the country bumpkin he’d been when he first entered the survival game. These dishes were indeed delicious, but he wasn’t about to be overly impressed.

Most importantly, true to his nature, no matter how stunning the food was, the most enthusiastic response he could muster was to bury his head and eat earnestly.

The “country bumpkin” title now belongs to someone else.

Jin Qian, who’d been living like a semi-wild man in the Star Forest for over a month and a half, hadn’t stopped talking since the first dish was served.

Snap!

Snap, snap, snap!

Not only did he take photos, but he also dutifully posted each dish to the regional chat channel.

He even had to throw in a cheeky line:

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Let our family members watching at home take the first bite.】

Players in the regional channel: “……”

【Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens: ?】

【Liver Emperor: Weren’t you really supposed to be on a trip? 】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Big Spender has single-handedly raised all players’ expectations for going out on expeditions.】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Everyone, calm down! The only reason I’m living it up like this is because I’m riding on the coattails of a big shot in the game. This feast was treated to us by a guild master! It’s free!】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: If I’d been exploring on my own, I’d still be somewhere in the corner munching on steamed buns right now. If you don’t believe me, just check out my “Lucky Big Shot” status.】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Tsk, tsk, tsk. He’s a top-ranked big shot, after all—exploring for 24 hours, and he managed to get locked up for 23 and a half hours.】

Me, “My Fate Is in My Hands, Not Heaven’s,” peeking at the screen: “……”

He was so furious he could have ground his teeth to dust.

Fortunately, the players’ attention wasn’t on him; the conversation shifted back to the picture of the money.

It’s just that ever since this survival game launched, all supplies and tools have had to be obtained by opening treasure chests.

As for food, you’re lucky if you even get edible items from a chest. Expecting fresh ingredients, a full set of cookware, or even seasonings is practically a pipe dream.

Even the most skilled cook can’t work miracles without ingredients—let alone in a survival game, where most players would be considered quite talented just to reach a “home-cooked” level of culinary skill.

Being able to eat a normal meal in a survival game puts you in a league of your own.

Let alone a feast this lavish?

Almost instantly, the “Friends” page of Jin Qian was flooded with countless red notification dots.

【Be A Good Person: My kid is about to cry from hunger. Money moguls, could you please send back whatever you can’t finish? My kid definitely won’t mind if it’s leftovers.】

Others had even more ambitious ideas.

【I’m Lily: @Need A Little Money To Save Me, could you help me order some food? Place two orders for me—I’ll pay the full price plus an extra 30% commission. How about it?】

【Irritable Brother: I agree. Money Master, go to the kitchen and bag up all their ingredients—then auction them off on the trading channel. I’m serious.】

【Little Old Me: Maybe Money Master could go to the market and buy a batch of ingredients? After all, while exploring out here, such a safe opportunity with connections is truly rare.】

Although he really hates this “Little Old Me,” Money had to admit that this person was indeed quick-witted.

He—or she—had actually planned to go buy a batch of supplies this afternoon anyway.

But there were priorities.

First, stock up for himself, then pick up supplies for the friends in the small group. Once all that was done, if there was still time and money left over, he’d bring some supplies to the regional channel.

He noticed something quite interesting.

Even though the players in the regional channel all knew he was out exploring with the gaming big shot, anything he could do, the gaming big shot could do as well—and even do more and do it better.

Yet, with so many people in the channel tagging him, not a single one asked the top player to bring back supplies.

Perhaps it was the big shot’s unique, commanding presence that made people feel awkward asking him to do something so down-to-earth?

One of them was quietly tucking into his meal, while the other kept exclaiming in wonder—without a doubt, both made President Sean, as the host, look very good.

Overjoyed, he immediately had someone give Qiyu and Jin Qian a VIP card, stating that whenever the two brought friends to this restaurant in the future, their meals would be completely free.

Just as Jin Qian was about to ask if they could prepare a few tables of the same meal as today’s lunch, he suddenly felt too embarrassed to speak up.

However, he quickly convinced himself: the ingredients here looked expensive at a glance; while delicious, they weren’t exactly a great value.

Maybe he should just buy some ordinary ingredients instead—

Just then, Qiyu spoke up:

“Make two exact copies of the dishes we just had. No need for the VIP card—I’ll pack them in my backpack to take home.”

Jin Qian: “Just like a true boss—he doesn’t flinch under pressure, no matter the situation.”

Before President Sean could speak, Qiyu quickly added, “If it’s free, I’ll pass.”

President Sean shook his head with a laugh: “You young people, really.”

In the end, he didn’t say anything.

After President Sean left, Leslie kept his word and dutifully served as their tour guide, first taking the two of them to the market.

Unsurprisingly, Jin Qian—who was seeing just how valuable “gold coins” were for the first time—was completely dumbfounded.

Once the initial shock wore off, he went on a shopping spree.

Seeing how he was acting—as if he were going to shop on behalf of every player in the entire region—Qiyu stopped him:

“At this rate, you won’t finish shopping even if you spent the whole afternoon.”

“Just buy what you need first, and pick up a few things for your friends. As for the others, if it’s convenient to buy for them, do it; if not, let them go out and explore on their own.”

He suspected that if he hadn’t spoken up, Jin Qian would have kept buying nonstop until the market closed. But even so, it was simply impossible for one person to meet the expectations of tens of thousands of players in the region.

Reminded of this, the fervor driven by Jin Qian’s wealth finally began to subside.

That’s right—his original plan had been to finish shopping, then visit a few famous spots in Gold Hole City, and finally enjoy the God of Spring Festival in the evening.

The moment he realized just how rich he was and how much he could buy, he’d completely forgotten about the God of Spring Festival; all he could think about was stockpiling, stockpiling, stockpiling.

Not to mention the time it would take to shop, his backpack simply didn’t have enough space for all that stuff. He certainly couldn’t go out and buy a few extra storage backpacks just to stock up for players on the zone channel.

If he did that, the meager profit he’d make wouldn’t even be enough to cover the cost of the storage items.

“You’re right, boss.” He thought it over quickly and nodded. “An exploration like this might not happen again. I can’t spend an entire day like this just shopping.”

He acted quickly, immediately reworking his plan and stepping aside to whisper with Leslie.

Aside from the supplies he needed for himself, he followed Qiyu’s example from their last expedition and brought gifts for his friends in the group.

In addition, he ordered some rice and vegetables from Leslie—a quantity that was enormous for an individual.

But compared to the 70,000 players in the regional channel, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

Jin Qian thought to himself that the boss was right—he didn’t have the capacity to meet the expectations of tens of thousands of players.

Everyone started on an equal footing; anyone had a chance to get an exploration scroll. It was enough for him to buy a little extra supplies and list them on the trading page whenever he had the chance.

Next, Leslie took the two of them to a residence located in the center of Gold Hole City.

This was the place he had prepared for Qiyu and Jin Qian to rest for the night.

The house was spacious, the floors spotless, and the flowers and plants in the courtyard grew exceptionally lush—clearly, someone had been tending to them all along.

Leslie explained: “This is an unoccupied residence. It’s usually looked after by a butler and servants, who live in the house on the left. If you don’t want to be disturbed, there’s no need to call them. If you need any assistance, just press the button located outside each room’s door.”

Qiyu took a look around. The mansion was vast, with plenty of rooms—more than enough even if God Has No Form were to join them.

Speaking of God Has No Form, I wonder what he’s been up to today?

No sooner had he thought this than a new message popped up on his survival panel.

【God Has No Form: I’m all done with my business. Invite me to your party.】

Qiyu immediately turned to Leslie and Jin Qian: “A friend of mine is coming over. I’ll go out to meet him.”

Leslie had already heard him mention that another friend would be coming today, so upon hearing this, he hurriedly said, “I’ll go with you!”

Jin Qian grabbed him by the arm: “Hey, let our boss go meet him alone. Can you tell me how that button by the door works?”

The boss was definitely going to summon the person using the party feature. What if Leslie followed along and saw someone appear out of thin air—how would he explain that?

Qiyu wasn’t actually very worried about this. He’d been through a lot and knew that the survival game would surely have a way to make everything that seemed unreasonable seem reasonable.

Walking to the main gate, he opened his survival panel and, under the “Party” section, invited God Has No Form.

Soon, he heard the clop-clop-clop of a wilderness carriage.

A carriage drawn by four white horses appeared from around the corner and stopped in front of him.

God Has No Form stepped down from the carriage.

Qiyu walked over, pulling out a beast crystal to feed the foal as he said cheerfully, “You’re a little early, Dan Xingyu.”

Knowing the foal didn’t take a liking to him, Dan Xingyu didn’t try to feed it either; he just stood obediently to the side and watched.

He said with a smile, “It’s because I’m so excited about this trip that I rushed—really rushed—to finish everything.”

With a touch of glee and pride in his voice, he added, “When we get back, I have a surprise to show you.”