RHWHEG – Chapter 18 The Café

In the luxurious apartment on the fifth floor of Building 4 in the residential complex, four members of the Foundation were having a meeting in the living room. The housing prices in the complex were still quite high, so they chose to share a single apartment. However, since the apartments were built for wealthy residents, each unit was spacious, and they didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, their standard of living had risen sharply.

“Fishmen, you’ve already drunk eight tanks of water today,” the Two-Faced One complained.

Eight tanks—equivalent to the volume of eight large fish tanks. At that moment, the Fishmen was still drinking. He said, “You don’t understand. Even if I’ve become a Fishmen, I still need boiled water! Before, I was drinking sewage and wastewater, but now there’s unlimited clean water here and a gas stove. Of course, I’m going to boil it before drinking!”

“This place is really nice…” the Ant-Eater murmured. They had brought some basic food and supplies with them, but now in the complex, all their daily needs were fully guaranteed.

The Ant-Eater sighed, and his longing for the Ecological Ethics Foundation slightly diminished.

They had originally joined the Foundation out of desperation. Now that life was better, their minds were freed from some of the brainwashing’s influence.

Yet they still felt positively toward the Foundation, wondering if they should pass the news to headquarters to allow more fellow members to move in.

The crocodile would bless them!

However, events developed unexpectedly. According to a radio broadcast, the Foundation’s Fishmen unit was identified as vicious and dangerous, currently hiding in Jiangbei City. The city’s shelter announced it would come to eliminate them!

Even the Foundation headquarters’ secure line claimed they had betrayed the organization.

“Why does headquarters think we’ve betrayed them?” the Fishmen asked in confusion.

“Don’t look at me. Although I have two spines, I only have one brain,” the Two-Faced One replied.

Cotton Doll gestured: maybe the information was transmitted incorrectly.

The Fishmen said, “That’s possible. If headquarters knew what a great place this was, they’d be grateful we set up here first.”

“I can’t even imagine a reason to refuse living here,” the Ant-Eater stammered. “But if it’s a transmission error and headquarters comes to attack… do we… do we even get a chance to explain?”

Building 4, Apartment 501, fell silent.

“We need to save ourselves. We need to think,” the Fishmen said, pursing his lips and falling silent for a long moment. “This place is wonderful, and we need more people to know about it… If headquarters attacks blindly, it’s over… We have to discuss this with the crocodile envoy here!”

That was how Yu Qunqing learned about the situation.

He was planning the layout for the complex. Five days of “match-three” work had taken him from the entrance of the complex to the first circular plaza.

At the entrance, three reinforced steel gates had been added, each able to open from the center in four directions, giving a grand sense of ceremony when entering. Next to it, a pure white obelisk was erected, featuring a mysterious one-eyed pattern. It didn’t serve much purpose—it was mostly decorative.

Beyond the plain gates was a circular flower plaza, flanked by asphalt driveways and Great Wall-style walls. The bizarre combination had an oddly artistic feel. Behind the flower plaza stood a marble statue of a little angel, and a stone path led to a circular plaza in the heart of the complex’s garden, flanked by messy lawns.

When he finally finished refurbishing the tiles of the circular plaza, a game notification popped up:

“The complex has been beautifully renovated, and many people have already heard about it. A chain café brand wishes to move in. Do you agree?”

“Agreed. Game resource pack downloaded successfully. Area unlocked—Café. Players may now start decorating this area.”

Immediately, a dilapidated 120-square-meter house appeared before him. Inside were several incomplete dining sets, the roof leaked, the cabinets were dusty, and some were even soaking in water.

Yu Qunqing: Why do I have to handle the renovations for merchants moving in?

System: “Ding dong! The contract clearly states that players are responsible for renovations. Merchants’ profits will be split 50/50 with the player.”

Yu Qunqing examined the place carefully. This small house had two floors. The café on the first floor allowed self-service, with simple machines for dispensing items. Selling more complex items required either purchasing advanced AI from the Diamond Shop or hiring staff. Currently, the café only sold two items: instant coffee and croissants.

Yu Qunqing spent 50 building materials on a croissant, and the system notified him that 25 materials had been credited back.

Switching to renovation mode in the leaky, water-stained house, he realized that interior decoration for the café consumed building materials. He figured out the logic: renovating his own home or public spaces followed the main game line and used Six-Pointed Stars, while cafés and other residences were part of expansion packs, consuming building materials.

Today’s special game event was “Building Material Explosion,” so Yu Qunqing still had surplus materials. He fixed the café’s roof and installed waterproof and fireproof facilities. That was when the Fishman swam in.

“Wow!” the Fishman exclaimed. “This must be the work of Master Crocodile.” Influenced by Grandma Sun, he had a deep respect for crocodiles. “Maybe Master Crocodile was casting a spell when he whipped the statue.”

Or maybe the crocodile just wanted some fun.

The Fishman shared their worries with Yu Qunqing: headquarters had labeled them as traitors and might take action against them.

“We have a misunderstanding with headquarters. If only we could communicate with them…”

“Of course you can communicate,” Yu Qunqing said. “If you want to invite more of your colleagues to move in, why not discuss it in person? If we can participate in the follow-up cooperation between the Foundation and the Shelter, maybe everyone can resolve the misunderstanding.”

The Foundation members had ample disaster stones, letting Yu Qunqing enjoy a bit of effortless victory. If he could recruit more, that would be even better. He didn’t mind a Foundation branch opening here; after all, his residential area would be the title investor.

The Fishman sullenly drank his coffee.

After a while, he ordered a coffee and a croissant, then handed them all to Yu Qunqing. “Thank you so much for comforting me. You’re a 100% eco-friendly person, Crocodile Envoy… that nickname was told to me by Sun Min.”

Yu Qunqing: “Alright, Crocodile Envoy.”

The Fishman was simple-minded. Without hesitation, he spilled all the details he knew.

According to the Fishman, the Foundation had some abnormal-powered individuals whose appearances had completely deviated from human form. The Foundation couldn’t cure them, so they were frozen and sent to high-tech official shelters—a plan called the “Reversal Project,” aiming to find ways to revert high-level powers back to green-marked humans.

“We know the handover point for the headquarters’ Reversal Project… maybe we can communicate with the relevant person there. Headquarters would understand us and send more compatriots to this wonderful residential area,” the Fishman said, still hopeful about the Foundation.

But in Yu Qunqing’s understanding, it wasn’t that simple.

The Foundation absorbed abnormal-powered individuals rejected by normal humans, and under the guise of treatment, they willingly entered freezers. When they awoke, they had become experiment subjects with no rights. The “Reversal Project” did exist, and the Foundation and Shelter secretly shared human experiment results.

He had known this in his previous life and even found a reliable teammate from the project. In the last life, the teammate lived reasonably in the Foundation lab but suffered greatly when sent to the Shelter lab. Now, knowing about the Reversal Project, he wouldn’t let it go unchecked. The tragedies of the past life would not happen again.

He wouldn’t reveal the truth to the Fishman for now; the right time would come.

No matter who came from the Shelter or Foundation, Yu Qunqing wouldn’t go easy this time.

“Wow—what’s newly built here?” Sun Min’s voice came from outside. As soon as he entered, his eyes glowed green, even stranger than the Fishman’s. “There’s even food here? I need to tell them.” Sun Min leaned over the café counter, wishing he could just eat it, but an invisible force blocked him.

“You need building materials… Hello, Brother Yu, Brother Fishman,” Sun Min looked a little disappointed. His family lived hand-to-mouth, exploration abilities were limited, and they didn’t have extra materials.

Yu Qunqing gave him two croissants—crispy, soft, and sweet. Sun Min immediately froze in place.

Yu Qunqing: “Come with me, there’s a reward.” The two powered individuals couldn’t handle so many people. Although Sun Min was still a student, he had grown quickly recently.

Sun Min: “I’m willing!”

They went to find the courier Xiao Jin and confirmed their destination—the Xiangcunwei Metro Station. It was a bit far from the residential area, so they had to set off immediately.

Yu Qunqing prepared his weapons. He had never used a bow before, but now much had changed. Many things could change, but he still wanted to preserve some memories. Now he was going to rescue a teammate he had never met, inevitably recalling his previous life’s team. He imagined their first meeting in this life; his teammates would probably still try to prank him first, but he had already figured out their tricks. However, if Xiao She wanted to hit him this life, he wouldn’t dodge.

A burning pain resurfaced in his brain, so he stopped thinking about it.