Chapter 119 – Future Battlefield

Stepping into the internet café run by Birdy for the first time gave Fang Zheng a subtle thrill, as if the “Meng Chudong” he had always imagined had lifted off the ground and floated to a place just out of his reach—until he saw the “reserved VIP seat” in the corner, and the Deputy Commander landed with a thud in the Commander’s heart.

This was the second day of the three-person inspection team’s arrival, led by Meng Chudong to tour the Future Battlefield.

The expanded Overwinter Internet Café had a fresh renovation. The first floor had six private rooms, all four-person setups, while the second floor had two private rooms—one for six people and one for eight. Since the initial scale wasn’t planned to be too large, after some discussion, the three of them decided that a four-person room would suffice for the short term. As for the price, for Fifth Brother and Diamond, that was the Commander and Deputy Commander’s business. For Fang Zheng, it was between Birdy and Lu Yue. At any rate, he already had a rough idea of the amount on the IOU.

While the three of them were discussing, Meng Chudong pulled Lu Yue outside for a private chat.

Lu Yue initially thought his childhood friend just wanted to talk about how to offset the rent, but when he finally understood Meng Chudong’s intentions, he was shocked: “You’re withdrawing your shares?!”

Meng Chudong sighed: “Your reaction is a bit exaggerated.”

“Oh,” Lu Yue adjusted his expression and tried again, “You’re withdrawing your shares?”

“Much better this time.” Meng Chudong nodded approvingly before continuing, “I was just here for fun anyway—no management, no development, not even recruiting. These past few years, I’ve basically been freeloading…”

“Hold on!” Lu Yue interrupted, “You suddenly developing a conscience is terrifying!”

Meng Chudong smiled faintly. “So, deduct the cost of eight computers and two four-person rooms for the next two years, along with expected profits, and calculate how much is left. Just give me the cash.”

Lu Yue pouted: “That’s not fair… Breaking up the partnership so abruptly without any buffer… I don’t agree, waaah…”

Meng Chudong chuckled: “Cut the crap. You’ve got two days to settle the accounts.”

Lu Yue stared at Meng Chudong for a few seconds before finally realizing the guy was serious.

Dropping the act, Lu Yue asked soberly, “You’ve made up your mind? You really want to do this power leveling thing with him?”

Meng Chudong pursed his lips and, after a long pause, nodded.

“You’ll have to handle everything yourself, and one misstep could mean losing everything. Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Meng Chudong thought for a moment and added, “If your café hasn’t gone under in two years, we can renew the contract then. We’ll renegotiate the price.”

Lu Yue facepalmed: “Couldn’t you say something more auspicious?!”

Meng Chudong laughed, patting Lu Yue’s shoulder. “You probably can’t pull out the cash all at once, so we’ll do it in installments. Pay me whenever you have the money. We’re just starting out now and don’t need it immediately. Anyway, from the moment you finish the calculations, all future profits from Overwinter Internet Café have nothing to do with me. If you still transfer money to me monthly, I’ll consider it installment payments.”

Lu Yue rolled his eyes: “So from now on, I’ll earn and spend my own money, no longer supporting a freeloader.”

Meng Chudong tilted his head and gave an honest assessment: “Yeah, that sums it up nicely.”

After the amicable dissolution of their partnership, the two walked back in silence. Only when Meng Chudong had one foot inside the café did he hear his childhood friend grumble irritably behind him: “If it weren’t for the money you invested back then, this café wouldn’t even exist. So it’s not you taking advantage of me—it’s me who got lucky meeting you.”

Meng Chudong stopped but didn’t turn around: “Sorry, I already have someone I like. I can’t return your feelings.”

“……”

Why is this guy even more infuriating than before?!?!?!

If any player from Huaxia Summit had been present, they would’ve told Mr. Lu the answer: There’s a magical, gradual phenomenon in this world called “couple telepathy.”

The inspection of their little plot of land was successfully completed as the city lights came on. The five of them dined together again, and during the meal, they finalized their plan: After two more days of checking out the city’s environment, if nothing unusual turned up, they’d go back, pack their things, and move here for the long haul.

After dinner, Lu Yue returned to his own home, while Fang Zheng and the other three went back to the hotel.

Lu Yue had booked a twin room and a queen room for them at the hotel. Faced with such considerate service, Fifth Brother and Diamond could only sigh in admiration—such thoughtfulness was definitely the mark of true bros. The room assignments were a no-brainer. Fifth Brother and Diamond just hoped the hotel’s soundproofing was up to the task.

However, on the first night, exhaustion from the journey and alcohol knocked Fang Zheng and Birdy out as soon as they hit the bed. They slept straight through till dawn.

So the second night was the real deal.

By the time they returned to the room, night had fallen. Meng Chudong took a shower first, followed by Fang Zheng. Throughout the process, the two barely spoke, but unlike the previous time, it wasn’t nervous tension—just an excited anticipation and an unspoken understanding.

When Fang Zheng stepped out of the bathroom, the main lights in the room were already off, leaving only the dim glow of the bedside lamp. Birdy sat on the bed, half-hidden in shadow, his expression unclear.

But Fang Zheng could just tell he was smiling.

The kiss happened naturally, followed by deeper exploration. The downside of inexperience was clumsiness, but the upside was how easily sparks could fly. Before long, Birdy couldn’t hold back any longer, leaning over Fang Zheng to open the bedside drawer…

Fang Zheng’s eager anticipation turned to disappointment at the sight of what Birdy pulled out: “Why are you grabbing a pack of gum?”

Meng Chudong tore open the transparent wrapper, opened the box, and took out a small square to educate his Commander: “This is a condom.”

6:00 AM.

The Commander slowly opened his eyes, only to be startled by the Deputy Commander’s bright gaze mere inches away, nearly stopping his heart.

He had to say something to break the awkward silence.

So the Commander swallowed hard and spoke: “They really do look alike…”

Deputy Commander: “……”

Commander, realizing: “We can skip this page, huh?”

Deputy Commander: “Yes.”

Commander: “Then… morning exercise?”

Deputy Commander: “I’ll burn paper money for you on Qingming Festival.”

Commander: “……”

Five minutes later.

Commander: “I wanna go back to sleep…”

Deputy Commander: “Granted.”

Despite having no memory of showering, his body felt unexpectedly refreshed. Closing his eyes again, the Commander felt like he could smell flowers in the air.

Then, in that sweet-scented space, someone wrapped their arms around him from behind, pulling him into a warm paradise.

After two days of inspections, the trio realized this city was actually quite similar to the one Fang Zheng lived in—and the one they’d originally planned to settle in—whether in terms of development, economy, urban construction, or cost of living. So the vote was unanimous: three to zero in favor of relocating.

Meanwhile, Meng Chudong received two documents during those two days. One was an IOU from Fang Zheng, the other a settlement statement from Lu Yue. Though different in nature, their effects were the same—both made the recipient want to slash the amounts in half.

Whether friends or lovers, those who truly care about you will invariably, in their own ways, try to keep you from getting the short end of the stick. Meng Chudong didn’t say it out loud, but he understood.

But he still bargained. With Lu Yue, he successfully cut the amount by 30%. With Fang Zheng, he only managed 20%, because by the time he tried to bargain further, the guy went for the “gum.”

And then.

There was no “and then.”

On the day of their return, since their train tickets were for 10:00 PM, the four of them had nothing to do after packing up in the evening and ended up killing time at Overwinter Internet Café. Unfortunately, Huaxia Online was undergoing maintenance, so they had to entertain themselves—some watching movies, others playing cards.

Since the café wasn’t crowded when they arrived in the evening, the four of them didn’t take a private room and just picked random machines in the main area. But as the night wore on, the place grew livelier. By the time Fang Zheng finished watching a horror movie and took off his headphones, the café was buzzing with noise.

“Fuck! Are you fucking stupid?! Are you standing there pissing or what?! Attack him! Fuck!”

The stream of elegant Mandarin startled Fang Zheng, especially since the guy roaring was sitting right next to him.

Glancing over subtly, the first thing he noticed was the other’s monitor—a game similar to Huaxia, also featuring a dungeon run. From the status bars, the guy was the party leader, but clearly, a hot-tempered one. Half the party had already been wiped by the boss in the center of the screen.

As the party leader’s eloquent vocabulary grew more colorful, the number of surviving party members dwindled until only the leader remained. Even then, he lasted a full two minutes through skillful positioning and precise dodging before finally going down.

Not bad.

From a fellow gamer’s perspective, Fang Zheng gave him a positive technical evaluation.

But clearly, that evaluation didn’t reach its target—or maybe it wouldn’t have mattered if it had. With a loud “smack,” the mouse was slammed onto the table, followed by a shove of the keyboard, and the young master stood up, flipping the table as he quit.

The kid couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen, wearing sagging baggy jeans, a hoodie, and, further up, a collection of shiny earrings and messy hair.

Watching him settle the bill at the counter, Fang Zheng suddenly remembered something—minors weren’t allowed in internet cafés. Shouldn’t Birdy remind Lu Yue about this?

Lost in thought, Fifth Brother across from him suddenly spoke up: “Hey, it’s about time.”

Fang Zheng checked the time on the monitor—it really was time to leave.

Even though internet access here was free, the cards plugged into the computers still had to be returned. So the other three handed theirs to Fang Zheng in perfect sync and strolled leisurely toward the exit, leaving the Ghost Server Legion Leader to handle the formalities.

As Fang Zheng approached the counter, the boy happened to finish paying and turned to leave. They brushed past each other—nothing unusual—but after the brief contact, Fang Zheng suddenly realized something was off. He didn’t carry a wallet, usually stuffing loose change and his phone in his pants pockets and larger bills in his back pocket. But now, when he touched his back pocket, the reassuring thickness was gone.

Sensing something was wrong, the boy suddenly bolted!

Fang Zheng wasn’t about to let him get away, lunging forward like a tiger pouncing on prey!

When it came to running, Fang Zheng was no match, but in terms of explosive power and body weight…

“Fuck! You’re crushing my guts out!!!!”

Remember: Never provoke a fat guy at close range.

The other three, who hadn’t even left the café yet, came running back at the noise. By then, Birdy had helped Fang Zheng up, while Fifth Brother and Diamond pinned the little bastard to the ground.

“What happened?” Birdy frowned, asking.

“He stole my money,” Fang Zheng summarized succinctly.

The pink bill was still clutched in his hand, leaving no room for denial. The panting criminal could only convey his feelings through a vicious glare.

Fifth Brother smacked him on the back—though he clearly held back, having noticed the kid’s age: “What’s with that look? You’re not happy about this?”

The criminal ignored him, continuing to glare at Fang Zheng. After grinding his teeth for a while, he finally asked, “How did you notice?”

Only a thief confident in his skills would ask such a question after being caught.

Fang Zheng gently patted the boy’s head and sighed: “My butt’s the most ticklish part.”