Chapter 475 Unexpected Trouble
When the demon cultivators woke up (yet again), Yun was there waiting beside their ward. Jin had decided to relieve his 'mother' from shop duty since she had been up for more than three consecutive days. In exchange, he summoned his Another Jins out via the System to hold the front while noticing that it was less straining than previously expected.
Jin believed it was probably due to the 'true awakening of his cultivation' just like the System and Kraft had predicted in the past. The System then informed Jin that he should be able to leave the shop with the Another Jin on duty. However, there were consequences to it as it would consistently strain his chi consumption.
"Imagine your chi producing and maintaining at 100%. Should User leave Another Jin on duty, the System will establish a connection with User and will be reserving 50% of his chi to maintain that particular Another Jin in the shop. Therefore, User will only be 50% as strong against any enemies on the outside." The System explained.
"And there is no way to get back the 50% reserved chi without User having to return to the store and recombine with the Another Jin. In theory, it is possible to extinguish Another Jin to free up the chi, though System believes that this will come with consequences for User."
"Please also take note that prolonged separation might cause severe headaches and possibly develop into paranoia and Dissociative Identity disorder in the long run. System recommends that unless deemed necessary, do not attempt it for long periods of time."
"With User's current Grade, an estimated period of 30 minutes had been established to be safe as long as User does not exceed a distance of 50 kilometres from the store. System will also prohibit User from attempting to travel to other worlds while leaving behind the Another Jin."
"I know, I know. There is always Yun, bellators or even other monsters that can substitute to take care of the shop. I do not have to run everything by myself." Jin nodded his head as he went back to the Dungeon Maker to personally take a look at all the things he had missed during his training.
That said, he was especially interested in seeing Wolte's Slug Tank up close as well as Gold's enormous stack of reports. He quickly skimmed through the detailed reports as expected for the Lord Scholar but also noticed that they might be taking drastic actions as part of the resistance soon.
In the meantime, Yun had introduced herself to the demon exorcist trainees and brought them around Dungeons and Pandas for a tour. As they were going to be the shop's newest batch of assistants, Yun introduced them to every permissible dungeon instance and service instances.
Even though they might still dislike Jin for defeating them, they admitted that his Dungeons and Pandas had been built with much realism and…fun. They were positively surprised at the great services during their stay in the luxury recovery instance, and when they thought that was it, Yun had shown them the Restaurant Train of Delicacy Instance.
Rong and Lian loved the food so much that they were dying to share it with their family members back home, but Yun forbade them from doing so. "We do not allow the food to be taken outside, and at least for now we have no plans on offering a delivery service. However, you are more than welcome to bring your family members here and enjoy your time together… as long as you are off the clock that is."
Afterwards, she brought them to the Panda Muscles Instances and Emerald Mountain Hot Spring and lastly the WunderPanda Theme Park Instance.
"I can safely say that Jin is either a grandmaster at Dimension Instances or he has employees that are so much more capable than my father." Su Zhen praised as she took pictures of the various instances. (Yun did not stop her from doing so.)
"Are we allowed to train or spar with the monsters?" Lein asked as he felt regrettable that he was not able to contribute much against the fight with the Transforming Spider and attributed it to the lack of strength.
"While the rules are not yet set in stone, Staff is allowed to visit one particular dungeon instance for free once a day. Any subsequent instances will be available to you at a discounted rate." Yun answered as she led them to the shop instance.
"Pfft! So stingy!" Lian complained, and Yun stopped in her tracks. She folded her arms towards her and looked at her with a strict expression.
"Don't forget why you are here in the first place. You have been assigned to us to work, not to play or train. We are already courteous enough to allow you to visit one dungeon instance for free each day and give you discounts after that." Yun started to reprimand the teens on their attitude.
"During your shift, the basic rules of work still stands. Be punctual, do your allocated tasks, and you can go off for the day. Jin is not so inflexible to force you to have to work 8 hours a day to repay your debts." Yun concluded her tour and asked them for their phones for the System to update their Pandamonium Apps to 'Temp Staff' clearance.
"What kind of task will we be given?" Rong asked, and Yun said that it could be mundane stuff like explaining to customers how the dungeons work or assist customers in their dungeons.
"Oh, that sounds interesting, assisting customers in their dungeons." Su Zhen replied as she continued to take pictures of the interior decor of the Winter Wonderland theme as well as the humongous Christmas tree.
"When I said assisting, I meant you could either help them or make the dungeon even harder. Of course, if the customers can withstand your attacks, it would be a bonus for them." Yun said as she pretended to update their phones via the computer near the bar.
"However, there might be other things which Jin might ask you to do, like testing more of his prototype dungeons. I am merely giving you the gist of what to expect."
"I think this job does not sound as bad as I thought it would be…just that the pay sucks," Rong said.
"Food is good, the environment is good. And the technology used is very advanced. I do not mind either." Su Zhen remarked.
"Then Miss Yun, what time do we need to report tomorrow? You did said that Grandma Yuan will brief us on yesterday's performance." Lian asked respectfully as Yun returned the phones to them. They noticed that the Pandamonium App symbol had changed from a Panda peeping through from the corner of the icon into a white collared Panda with a 'Hello my name is _' nametag on the icon app.
"12pm sharp. I will be waiting. I have updated your Pandamonium Apps. It now includes a tab telling you how much debt you have left as well as one tab with the instruction manuals you are to read up. I expect all of you to know the contents of the manual, which is why I am giving you guys some time tomorrow to prepare. Other than that, you guys are dismissed for today." Yun concluded and shooed them off.
———–
"Aww man, here I thought I could have a rest after that crazy fight with that Transforming Spider," Rong said to the group as they exited the store.
"Do you think it's part of the training by Grandma Yuan? And what is the connection between Grandma Yuan and Jin anyways? Three days ago was the first time I ever saw her with that dungeon supplier. First, she wanted us to kill him, and now we are to work under him…" Lein questioned, but nobody bothered to answer.
"All we have to do is get rid of our debts as soon as possible and regain our freedom. But I doubt we will be able to complete this task before the end of next year. We can only hope Grandma Yuan's bonuses will help us." Lian sighed when she tried to put things into perspective.
"Just take one step at a time." Su Zhen replied as she began to look through the features of the app.
"Still, it's a good thing we do not need to go through standard formal education. Can you imagine us having to work and study at the same time? I probably think I'd rather quit school and focus on training and saving the world." Rong said.
"Heh, most people do not have the luxury to choose like that. Be thankful you are in a Royal Zodiac Clan." Lian teased, and suddenly a group of men stopped them in their tracks.
"Did you say you are in a Royal Zodiac Clan?" The man who appeared to be their leader was smoking away in front of them.
"And what if we say we are?" Lein stepped in to intervene when they saw the group of hooligans trying to surround them.
"Why don't you just surrender yourself to us? We just want to get even with that dungeon supplier over there. As long as you come with us quietly, we won't do anything to you. We might even pay your debts!" The leader offered as he overheard the words debt and Royal Zodiac Clans.
"What shall we do? It seems they have some grudge with Jin's store." Lian asked via a private voice transmission.
"They are probably goons from people who are jealous of Jin's success. He has risen too fast for his own comfort. They must think we are just mere clans people of the Royal Zodiac Clans that could be exploited easily since our kind does not usually go to a commoner's dungeon suppliers for training." Su Zhen deduced the whole situation.
"Oh. So, these goons think that by kidnapping us, they can shift the blame to Jin in some way or another?" Lein queried, to which Su Zhen nodded slightly.
"You are kidnapping us?" Rong asked out loudly, resulting in some of the passers-by starting to look at their direction.
"Hey hey hey! We are just inviting you to join us. It's a simple transaction. Now don't make it harder than it has to be!" The leader partially revealed a knife out towards them, and so did the rest of the gangs. Some even wielded iron pipes which had been hidden in their jackets. The leader was definitely very welcoming as it looked like an invitation they shouldn't deny.
"Well, we did plan on getting back at Jin some way or the other. But it pissed me off these thugs think they are better than us. Let's us just follow them and beat them up " Rong shrugged his shoulders at Lein before he sent a chi transmission at him.
"Yeah, let's go along for now, and we can kick some ass when they gathered us in an area," Lein said via the transmission before they all pretended to be scared and terrified by the provoking act.
Suddenly, a police patrol appeared from nowhere and saw a glimpse of the gangster brandishing a knife at the kids. "Hey, you guys. What are you all doing to those kids?!"
"Nothing, just having a conversation with the kids, officer. They were lost, weren't you?" The leader smiled widely at the police officer.
"Aren't you too old to be telling tales? I saw you and your men threatening them with knives. Take 'em out slowly and put them on the ground." The officer demanded, and the leader became more relaxed than usual.
"Ah Sir. You must have been seeing things, we are not holding any knives or anything." The leader grinned as he raised his hands up. That was when the police officer instinctively placed his hands at his baton and immediately called for backup. The other patrol officer then asked the demon cultivators to come at his side.
However, that was also when the gang leader suddenly struck the police officer with a cultivation technique. The very same Ruby Rat chi which could immobilise a person with red crystal growing all over the body.
The demon cultivators who were walking towards the patrol officer immediately went to the offensive by drawing their weapons. The rest of the Ruby Rat gangsters did not hesitate and assaulted the paralysed police officer as well as the one who was too stunned to react.
"Shit! This is not how things were supposed to go!" One of the gang members cursed as they stabbed the two police officers in broad daylight while the demon cultivators managed to defend themselves from the attack.
"Oh? So, we have some decent cultivators instead of just some pests." The Ruby Rat gang leader said while some of the onlookers who were witnessing the exchange suddenly screamed and alerted the entire Tiangong district. Several cultivators immediately took their weapons out to defend themselves as well as their loved ones but not everyone was skilled to do so.
Like rats in the sewers waiting for the opportunity to strike, the rest of the Ruby Rat gang members who were lurking around appeared abruptly and started to assault random people on the streets. Some were killed in cold blood without being aware of the situation because they were tending their stores or shopping
But unlike other shopping districts, the famous Dungeon Supplier store had made this place thrive on cultivators. Thus many were still able to put up a fight without the major assistance from the police. Yet, those cultivators were only doing so in the name of self defence and did not have the brutality the Ruby Rat gangsters showed.
"Let's get that dungeon supplier brat out of his hole! Continue to vandalise, destroy everything around here! Kill if they resist! This is all on you, Jin!" The Ruby Rat gang leader shouted as he understood that after killing two police patrols officers, they could no longer turn back. They might as well go all out and force Jin's appearance to fight against them.
"Let's fall back to Jin's store!" Su Zhen suggested, and everyone immediately agreed as they protected one another against the sudden onslaught of the Ruby Rat gang members. As much as they wanted to help others, they could only fend for themselves against the extraordinary large number of gangsters.