CHAPTER 445: DAY 21

The twenty-first day of Lin Mo’s arrival in this realm and the opening of the Divine Convenience Store began as usual. A long line of customers waited outside. More than half of them are new customers from different parts of the Eastern Abyssal Domain and Northern Arctic Dominion. Furthermore, while the locals and the nearby sects had already adapted to the influx of visitors, the sheer number of powerful auras gathering for the Divine Lecture had turned Fanling City into a pressure cooker of spiritual energy. City Lord Wei Xian had been feeling restless as he continuously directed the City Guards to maintain order.

Unfortunately for the City Lord, with the Royal Entourage of King Wu Tianzhen, the Southern Wu King and Wu Meiyu’s father, arriving at his city, his responsibility as a vassal was also added to his shoulders.

Having been informed about the kingdom’s qualification to bid for one of the three immortal-grade products, the King, who was also gifted with a Divine Patron seat for the Divine Lecture, hurried to a border city of his kingdom.

City Lord Wei Xian’s only saving grace was the fact that he brought his retinue of Royal Guards and court officials, including the Right and Left Ministers of the Kingdom. He just needed to assign them a place to stay.

Lin Mo remained on the second floor with Wu Meiyu as they enjoyed a cup of freshly brewed [Morning Star Coffee] from the new magical appliance that functions as a coffee vending machine. It just magically appeared overnight at the same time as the new stocks of store products had arrived from the Divine Pantheon.

In front of them was a large projection of the Area Monitor, showing the vicinity of the store and the Bulletin Board as it continuously refreshed the new threads posted by Viewing Jade users.

"Your Royal Father arrives with the subtlety of a summer thunderstorm," Lin Mo commented, taking a sip of his coffee. The drone feed showed a magnificent, dragon-headed royal carriage and a contingent of several hundred elite Royal Guards creating a significant commotion at the city gates.

Wu Meiyu sighed with a hint of weariness in her voice. "That is his way. He believes a king must always project power and majesty. A rather inconvenient philosophy in a city already overflowing with Nascent Soul patriarchs who could flatten his entire procession with a single thought."

"Indeed. Power that isn’t backed by an equal measure of humility is just an invitation for trouble. That’s a lesson the Golden Carp Guild is learning as we speak," Lin Mo mused. "Anyway, I’ve seen some familiar faces. Left Minister Shen has been quite active in the Bulletin Board, hasn’t he? Coordinating with your Royal Brother. And there’s also your subordinates from the Silver Lotus Hall."

Wu Meiyu put on an embarrassed smile as she recalled the incident before she came to the store as a Royal Envoy. Through a decree from her Royal Father, she ordered the Silver Lotus Hall to investigate the Divine Convenience Store. They did manage to enter and report back, however, Lin Mo made some arbitrary store policies that led them to fork out large amounts of spirit stones. In the end, they also became patrons of the store. Left Minister Shen also appeared that day and became one of the Golden Patrons after buying a lot of Viewing Jades and filling his shopping basket with expensive store products.

"Left Minister Shen has always been fascinated by the store, Shopkeeper. He also had a hand in my Royal Brother dismissing his doubts about you and the store. But as you may know, he’s quite a prideful guy." Wu Meiyu paused and took a sip of her coffee before continuing, her voice laced with a hint of embarrassment, "The Silver Lotus Hall... they’ve gotten a justification to come and check on me. I seem to have forgotten that I have people who serve under me."

Lin Mo chuckled. "It is easy to forget old responsibilities when new, more convenient ones present themselves. Perhaps they are more interested in the employee discount than your well-being, Your Highness."

"I would not be surprised," She replied, a wry smile touching her lips. "The ’convenience’ you offer is a potent motivator. In any case, my Royal Father is here. He will undoubtedly request an audience. He is not as... flexible as my brother, or as easily impressed as young master Jin Bao. As much as he wants to strengthen our kingdom’s cooperation with the store, he may be here to also confirm if I... intend to remain by your side."

The cheeks of the First Princess turned a glossy pink as she muttered that last sentence.

Naturally, that didn’t escape Lin Mo’s notice. But how should he respond? At this point, even if her position was still called ’temporary’, she’s already as essential as Liu Xiaoyu or Yu Qingyan.

He met her gaze, his own expression unreadable for a moment before a soft, genuine smile formed on his lips. "Your Highness, this store is growing faster than I could have ever imagined. Whether you are a princess or a manager, your value to this establishment is absolute. The choice to stay or go has always been yours, but you should know that your absence would be a great inconvenience."

His words were a carefully crafted blend of professional appreciation and personal sincerity. It was the truth, but it was also the answer she needed to hear. Wu Meiyu’s gaze softened, the faint blush on her cheeks deepening as she gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.

"I... understand, Shopkeeper. I now have an answer to his question."

Just as she finished speaking, Xiaoyu bounded up the stairs, her face a mixture of excitement and exasperation.

"Boss! The King’s people are here! There’s a fancy-looking old guy with a long beard who calls himself the Left Minister and another old man with dyed black hair calling himself the Right Minister. They are asking for a ’formal diplomatic reception’ with the ’Lord Shopkeeper’. The City Guards cannot truly stop them from cutting in line."

Lin Mo took another slow sip of his coffee. "Did you come out and offer them a sample candy?"

"I was about to!" Xiaoyu declared. "But Sister Meiyu’s other people, those people you scammed before, the Silver Lotus Hall agents. They seemed to have been informed by Sister Meiyu’s Royal Army escort, Captain Zhu Min. He went out there earlier. They’re currently explaining the concept of ’queuing’ to them. I think they’re having a very inconvenient time."

Lin Mo couldn’t help but laugh. The store’s culture seemed to be clashing head-on with the rigid courtly etiquette of a kingdom, and his own patrons were the ones enforcing the new rules.

"Hoh? I guess Captain Zhu Min deserves a bonus, Your Highness."

"Surely, you jest, Shopkeeper. He had also clocked in for work today."

"Ah. Right. He’s donning our store uniform, huh?" Lin Mo chuckled as he turned to Xiaoyu, "My prodigious assistant, are you still panicking? Or you’re just excited again to greet our new customers?"

"What of it, Boss? It’s the joy of being the store’s assistant! Hmph. If I must say, you’re becoming lazy, Boss. Enjoy your coffee with Sister Meiyu, I’ll thrash you in our sparring soon."

"Y-you..."

Lin Mo’s lips twitched as he attempted to retort but Liu Xiaoyu simply stuck her tongue out before dashing back down. Meanwhile, Wu Meiyu giggled at their exchange.

In the end, he could only shake his head.

"Anyhow, isn’t it a perfect training exercise in ’customer service diplomacy’. Your Highness? Besides, it seems your subordinates are more integrated into our ecosystem than you thought."

Wu Meiyu covered her lips as her eyes drifted back to the scene unfolding on the drone feed. Moments later, a soft, melodious laugh escaped her. "It seems so. You have a way of turning everyone, from princesses to spies, into your employees, Shopkeeper. Should they wish to become an employee of the store, will you let them in?"

"If they apply. Besides, I trust your and Xiaoyu’s judgment for staff expansion." Lin Mo shrugged before his gaze drifted to the Bulletin Board.

The board was, as expected, ablaze. The ’Flash Raid’ had officially concluded, but the threads discussing it were still multiplying. He saw a post from Liu Zhongzu declaring the Anchor secured and open for exploration, which immediately spawned a dozen new threads from mercenary teams organizing their first forays into Area 1.

The new ’Realm Guardian Leaderboard’ was already populated, with the Liu Clan, Azure Gale Sect, and Crimson Vale Sect holding the top spots for their contributions to the raid. It had sparked a fierce, but so far friendly, competition.

Still, with the Divine Lecture coming up, many of the Viewing Jade users who failed to get their hands on even a General Admission Ticket wanted to postpone whatever they had planned today just to get a glimpse of the two divine beings who were going to descend as guest lecturers.

Many of them were already counting down for the reactivation of the Celestial Shuttle Hub directly to the store’s hub. It was scheduled at the same time as the store’s opening, after all.