"Let's go."
Min Moyou gave Xiaotong a nod, pulled out his room card, and walked toward the elevator lobby.
"Huh?"
Xiaotong subconsciously stepped forward to follow, feeling a sudden sense of discord.
This is a hotel, you know?
I'm not actually his girlfriend or his date or anything; that front desk clerk was just letting her imagination run wild. Why on earth am I following him to a hotel room?
Granted, I took his things, and accepting a gift leaves you with a short reach.
Granted, this guide commission might also come with a few odd jobs attached to the side...
Still, it's just the final few steps now. What could he possibly need me for?
Pressing the elevator button?
It's not like he doesn't have hands. How could pressing an elevator button possibly require someone else to—?
Carrying luggage?
He doesn't even have any luggage!
So what on earth is this all about...?
"Ouch!"
Lost in thought, Xiaotong was suddenly bonked on the head by Min Moyou.
Looking up, she saw that Min Moyou was already standing right by the elevator doors.
"Don't just stand there. Press the button."
...???
Are you kidding me???
You seriously—?!
"Right away... Young Master."
Xiaotong couldn't help propping her head with her hand and shaking it. Just what kind of overgrown baby was this guy?
Oh wait, didn't he just give her seven hundred million?
Never mind, then. All is forgiven.
She'd better check later to see if that ring was actually worth seven hundred million.
I hope he wasn't just throwing out a random number to try and bluff me...
Soon enough, the elevator descended to the first floor.
It was late into the night, and as the elevator doors slid open, it was empty, just as expected.
Min Moyou stepped inside and glanced back at Xiaotong, who was still rooted outside the threshold. He raised an eyebrow, wearing a look of mild annoyance.
It was as if he were silently scolding Xiaotong for lacking situational awareness and failing to read the room. And she called herself a top-tier agent?
Xiaotong hesitated for a moment, but ultimately stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the ninth floor on Min Moyou's behalf.
Whatever, it's just for the last little bit. I'll treat it as a chance to go see what this "Dragon King Suite" looks like in person, broaden my horizons, and brag to people later about what kind of absurd place costs that much...?
Xiaotong was completely exhausted after the long day. She just wanted to clock out and rest, and she had zero desire to make small talk with Min Moyou in the elevator.
Min Moyou was busy syncing with the system, so he didn't have the bandwidth to chat with Xiaotong either.
Inside the elevator, the two stood side by side in silence.
No matter. The night was still young.
...
"System, explain that whole Ancient Dragon Realm - Wonderland thing to me."
[Ancient Dragon Realm - Wonderland, as the name implies: it is an ancient dragon domain. It is a spatial field formed when an ancient Dragon Descendant—one who overused dragon curses and suffered the erosion of its sanity, mutating into a Dragon Shadow—uncontrollably radiated the power of its dragon curses. Later, after that Dragon Shadow perished, its dragon curses did not choose a new master. Because ancient techniques for purging the influence of a dragon domain were crude, this ancient dragon domain survived.]
[Cut the fluff and word count, you jerk.]
[Ancient Dragon Realm - Wonderland is an independent spatial dimension measuring approximately m×m. It can store both inanimate objects and living beings, and one can live normally within it. Only the host holds the coordinates to enter this dragon domain. The exact location of this dragon domain has been buried by the long river of history and cannot be detected by other Dragon Descendants, so it can essentially be considered a private space belonging exclusively to the host.]
[Isn't that just a portable pocket dimension? You used so many words—are you just a chatterbox, System?]
[Not only that, but this dragon domain can automatically yield a certain quantity of rare materials every day, such as Dragon Jade and Dream Dust.]
[Elaborate? It can't possibly be materials used for gacha pulls and refining dragon curses, right?]
[The supernatural energy and rules of this world were brought and established by a creature called a "Dragon." After the Dragon departed, it left behind its power—namely, dragon curses. Only a tiny fraction of humans can sense dragon curses, or be chosen by them, and wield their power. These people are Dragon Descendants.]
[Once a human becomes a Dragon Descendant, they can develop their own potential, break through the shackles of their mortal limits, obtain their unique Yin Mark, and strengthen their power. This process is exceedingly difficult. Dragon Jade contains power belonging to the physical level of the "Dragon" and can assist in this process. Consequently, Dragon Jade serves as the hard currency among Dragon Descendants.]
[The so-called dragon curses are agglomerations of power left behind before the "Dragon" departed this world. Some merely carry the lingering aura of the "Dragon," while others possess power directly belonging to the "Dragon" itself, varying in magnitude. Therefore, dragon curses possess levels of strength and are roughly divided into three tiers: Blue Tier, Purple Tier, and Gold Tier. Each tier is further divided into three grades, with rarity and strength increasing sequentially.]
[The dragon curses that directly originate from the source power of the "Dragon" are formed from the split physical body that the "Dragon" used while existing in this world. Known as the "Nine Sons Dragon Curse," there are nine in total, and they were Gold Tier dragon curses from the moment of their birth. The strength of these nine curses is sufficient to overwhelm all other dragon curses combined; hence, Dragon Descendants refer to them as the "Supreme Dragon Incantation." However, there is now a tenth—if the host's "Aohui" is counted—though "Aohui" has yet to be fully restored to the Gold Tier. Its fictional background is: its power directly stems from the source of the "Dragon," but because its magnitude was too small to reach the Gold Tier, it was overlooked and undiscovered.]
[Dream Dust contains the power belonging to the mental level of the "Dragon." It can be used to assist in upgrading and advancing dragon curses. Because Blue Tier dragon curses have an association with the "Dragon" that is far too negligible, they can never break through the Blue Tier no matter what. Purple Tier dragon curses contain at least a trace of the "Dragon's" source power and hold hope of advancing to the Gold Tier with a sufficient amount of Dream Dust. Meanwhile, Gold Tier dragon curses can be continuously developed through Dream Dust, enhancing them without upper limits.]
[Yin Marks and dragon curses are the two major factors influencing the strength of a Dragon Descendant. The crucial resources capable of elevating Yin Marks and dragon curses are Dragon Jade and Dream Dust. Both can only be harvested from ancient dragon realms. The harvesting process is perilous for the most part, and such ancient dragon realms are exclusively held in the hands of a mere handful of factions with terrifying strength or extreme concealment capabilities. They are absolute sellers' markets completely in demand with zero supply.]
[And the Ancient Dragon Realm - Wonderland can automatically yield a certain amount of Dragon Jade and Dream Dust every day. Now, does the host understand the value of the Wonderland?]
"Got it. That really is good stuff!"
"By the way, System, can you see other people's strength?"
[Affirmative, Host.]
[What's my strength?]
[0 Marks, Purple Tier 3. Your power stems entirely from the "Aohui" Dragon Curse and remains completely undeveloped.]
[What about Xiaotong?]
[1 Mark, Purple Tier 3, Water Attribute. Combat direction: Breakthrough.]
[Why aren't you elaborating on attributes and directions?]
[The application of dragon curses is essentially the mobilization of certain rules within the world. These rules come in great variety, presented in the form of attributes; the preferential direction of one's abilities is classified by the manifested form of applying those rules.]
[And what about me?]
[The Aohui Dragon Curse possesses all attributes and all directional advantages.]
[What about my security squad? (With the mindset of a good socialist youth, Min Moyou didn't view the so-called Death Guards as objects or slaves, but as living, breathing human beings, and thus was unwilling to refer to them as Death Guards.)]
[Unexceptionally 3 Marks, Purple Tier 3.]
[Oh? Doesn't that mean I can just swagger around sideways?]
Min Moyou felt a very palpable sense of security wash over him.
[Even if the host were to do the Iron Mountain Lean while singing "Why Are You So Beautiful," nobody would be able to scratch you.]
...
"Ding-dong—"
The elevator quickly ascended to the ninth floor.
Xiaotong stepped out of the elevator first. Under Min Moyou's startled gaze, she stood rigidly beside the elevator door, bowed slightly, made a sweeping gesture of invitation, and said in a sarcastic tone:
"Young Master~ We have arrived~ Please~"
Xiaotong rolled her eyes in secret—was this the kind of thing it took to make Min Moyou satisfied?
Min Moyou barely managed to keep from laughing out loud. He nodded with satisfaction and praised:
"Not bad. Keep it up."
Accepting Xiaotong's "welcome" without an ounce of shame, Min Moyou stepped out of the elevator, briefly oriented himself, and walked toward the Dragon King Suite 909.
Xiaotong waited for a moment, but Min Moyou didn't say "Rise" or "At ease" to her as she expected. When she raised her head, he had already walked some distance away.
Perhaps in Xiaotong's mind, the impression Min Moyou gave her suggested he should strike a haughty pose, grandly declare something like "Rise," and then offer a gracious helping hand, fully displaying an overbearing aura of dominance.
Xiaotong silently followed behind him, astonished by the fact that this floor only contained nine rooms. The exterior of Kowloon Residence looked exceptionally imposing—its footprint was no smaller than a supermall, and it wasn't as if Xiaotong had never stayed in a hotel before... back when her missions outside required her to rough it out for a night at some inn...
Well, okay, there was actually that one time when she was out on a commission in the outer districts with Old Master Du. Old Master Du himself had looked down on cheap guesthouses and insistently, with all sorts of picky complaints, booked a single room at Kowloon Residence...
And he'd insisted on booking two rooms at that—one for each of them, and a separate room for his cat. Xiaotong had been completely baffled: why didn't Old Master Du just sleep in a cardboard box? She herself had been planning to sleep under an overpass.
He had called it "improving the living conditions of a business trip to store up energy so as to better complete the commission," and in the end, he had deducted the hotel fees straight out of the commission payout before splitting the remainder with her...
Fine. At the time, Xiaotong figured that if she'd actually stayed at Kowloon Residence, that alone would be something she could brag about, right? So she half-heartedly agreed to Old Master Du's suggestion.
Even though it was just the most ordinary single room.
In Xiaotong's memory, an ordinary floor of Kowloon Residence had over a hundred single rooms.
Yet this "Dragon King Suite" had only nine rooms on the entire floor...
Every doorway was spaced far apart.
Just how huge must these rooms be?
Xiaotong mused that she definitely needed to take a good look around—now she'd have the opportunity to brag to those drinking buddies of hers (her poor, impoverished friends) that she'd slept in a Dragon King Suite at Kowloon Residence!
As she thought about this, Xiaotong suddenly realized a crucial question—
How was her pay going to be settled? How was the one thousand per hour calculated?
When it came to money, not a single bit of carelessness was allowed!
Xiaotong had been burned too many times by Old Master Du's various "budget-saving life hacks" over the years.
Unable to wait another second, she questioned Min Moyou:
"Hey, Boss...? Look here, today's evening shift should be wrapping up soon, right?"
"Was Xiaotong's service to your satisfaction?"
"So... about my wages...?"
Calling Min Moyou "Boss" was meant to emphasize that their relationship was strictly a cash-for-hire arrangement—so hand the money over to this lady right now!
"What? In a rush?"
Min Moyou slowed his pace. Though he didn't care about this small sum of money, settling accounts every few hours still felt a bit troublesome.
Tsk, this greedy woman—especially since he'd just given her seven hundred million.
If Xiaotong knew what Min Moyou was thinking, she would have shouted back in protest:
Those seven hundred million can't be eaten as meals!
"Hurry! I'm in a rush! Your guide Xiaotong is almost too broke to afford a meal—"
Xiaotong grabbed the hem of Min Moyou's jacket, preparing to play the pity card, but right as the words reached her lips, she tripped over her own tongue!
Crap!
She was so used to playing the pity card with Boss Shen that she'd forgotten her current persona: a top-tier agent who lacked neither cash nor commissions, and whose skipping of meals was purely to maintain her figure...
What to do, what to do, what to do?!
She wasn't going to get exposed, was she?!
Min Moyou had known what Xiaotong's financial situation was like all along. He hadn't believed a single word of her act from the very beginning, and he very naturally pulled a thick stack of Jiufang Coins from his pocket—easily amounting to several thousand—and handed them to Xiaotong, saying:
"Then let's settle this much for now."
Why not smash her with tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands all at once to pay the commission in full, like he did everywhere else?
Min Moyou had considered this: if Xiaotong got her hands on enough money, given her lazy personality, she might not put her heart into doing things, and he wouldn't be able to use the commission fees as bait and leverage to hold over her...
Ahem, the main concern was that if Xiaotong got enough money, he wouldn't be attractive to her anymore, or Xiaotong would lose interest in him. What would he do then?
What was a domineering CEO trying to take the initiative to advance his relationship with Xiaotong supposed to do?
So, you see, this was just a little trick for a domineering CEO to keep a tight leash on his little white rabbit~
Xiaotong visually estimated the stack to be around seven or eight thousand Jiufang Coins—more than enough to cover tonight's commission fee. Her hands moved in unison, taking the money with a sacred reverence and stuffing it directly into her waist pouch. She then offered Min Moyou a very solemn word of thanks:
"Thank you, Boss."
Having secured her cash, Xiaotong felt completely at ease. Her eyes darted around mischievously as she voiced another doubt lingering in her heart:
"Oh, right, Young Master? That rate of one thousand an hour... how is that counted?"
"Xiaotong is so silly, I don't quite get it?"
Oh?
Min Moyou smiled knowingly.
Was she walking right into the trap?
"As long as you stay within a place where I can summon you at any time, the time counts. Anything less than an hour counts as a full hour."
"And what if it exceeds an hour by one second?"
"Also counts as an hour."
Wonderful! Just wonderful!
Xiaotong had already decided to pitch a tent and sleep on the floor right outside Min Moyou's room tonight—with this kind of calculation, wouldn't sleeping through the night mean making several thousand while just lying down?
Wait...
Xiaotong's expression turned conflicted again—with this "Dragon King Suite" being so huge, if she camped out by the door, would she even hear him calling for her from inside the room?
She'd heard that the soundproofing of the "Dragon King Suites" in Kowloon Residence was top-tier. If that was the case... if the hours didn't count because she didn't hear him, she'd be in deep trouble.
Hiss...
What should she do, then...?
That was several thousand we're talking about...
Ah, fudge!
It's this poor person's mindset ruining things for me again!
With a room that huge, couldn't she find a place to sleep inside it?! Why on earth was she fixated on sleeping by the doorway?!
If worst came to worst, she could just sleep on the couch!
And if they wouldn't let her sleep on the couch, sleeping on the floor inside the room had to be way better than sleeping out in the hallway corridor, right?!
As for the whole "a lonely man and a single woman sharing the same room" thing...
Heh!
I'm a Dragon Descendant, you know!
Is she seriously going to be afraid of him harboring malicious intentions toward her?
That's the plan!
He'd never expect someone like her to be this shameless! Heh-heh-heh...
Having figured it out, Xiaotong felt quite pleased. She trotted along behind Min Moyou, lowering her head as she went *hehehe*.
Min Moyou, walking ahead, was also very pleased.
He knew Xiaotong would take the bait.