Chapter 168 I Just Manage Smuggling

Looking at Becky's face, full of anticipation for a bright future, Hao Ren really couldn't bear to shatter the girl's hopes. However, even though the macro-world did indeed have many trading companies engaged in inter-world commerce (such as the wealthiest Fia Li Void Consortium and the most cunning Goblin United Merchant Guild), a smuggler like Becky was definitely out of the question. He silently watched the mercenary girl, and when Becky started envisioning how she would use money to crush the mercenary colleagues in the neighboring village after she became king, he finally couldn't help but interrupt, "Um, Becky, do you know what I do?"

Becky finally snapped out of it and looked up at Hao Ren, "Uh... I think it's something like an inspector..."

"Do you know what inspectors do?"

"...Transportation captain?"

Hao Ren tapped the coffee table, "I'm in charge of smuggling."

As a result, Becky was instantly overjoyed, "Oh, that's great! Considering our fateful encounter, can you give me a backdoor? I've really found a backer..."

Hao Ren: "..."

He felt like he couldn't keep up with this mercenary girl's train of thought!

"Forget it," Hao Ren said to Becky, pouring cold water on her with a wry smile, "First of all, this universe's system prohibits any form of material exchange between the dream plane and the surface world. Secondly, your technique is also difficult – it's not that easy to transport things between the dream plane and the surface world, especially during these troubled times. Messing around will cause some kind of 'collapse,' and we'll all become eternal sinners."

Becky's face immediately fell, "Doesn't that mean I came here for nothing?"

Truly a mercenary at heart, she really came just to make money.

"Stay here peacefully," Hao Ren waved his hand. "Even if it's just a vacation, it's still good. There are many fun places in this world. I'll prepare a personal gift for you later, and it'll be enough for you to show off when you go back."

Becky saw that the expression on Hao Ren's face was serious, and knew that this matter was probably out of the question. And even if it was just a vacation, it didn't seem like a wasted trip, so she cheered up again and turned her head to continue studying the TV remote. Hao Ren looked at her carefree appearance, but he couldn't feel as relaxed as her. He discussed another matter with the data terminal in his mind: "Can you send Becky back? 'Completely' send her back."

"Not very likely," the data terminal's reply was as expected. "This machine has said before that the transmission rules between the dream plane and the surface world are very special. You can bring Hilda out of the dream plane 'completely,' but now if Hilda wants to return to the dream plane, she can only lie in a hibernation pod like you and project her mental body into it. Becky is the same. When she crossed the reality barrier, she gained a physical body in the surface world. As a price – she was deregistered in the dream plane."

"So, if she wants to go home, she can only lie in a coffin and dream her way back – with her body remaining in the surface world. And no matter how long she stays in there, she must eventually wake up in the surface world?" Hao Ren felt that this was giving him a headache. "She already 'belongs' to the surface world and can't go home anymore. How am I supposed to explain this to her?"

The data terminal was silent for a few seconds, seemingly thinking about this question for Hao Ren. Finally, it gave a suggestion, "You can write a will before explaining this to her, and by the way, send this machine to the nearest welfare..."

Hao Ren didn't hesitate to take out the data terminal from his pocket and throw it towards the trash can in the corner. The latter nimbly flipped over in the air and flew back, "This machine is giving you serious advice based on extremely practical considerations!"

Becky raised her head upon hearing the sound and exclaimed, "Oh! The music box from our first meeting! It can talk?"

Hao Ren didn't need to make up lies at this time, "Since you're already here, let me tell you the truth. This is not a music box, this is my assistant, but if it continues to be a smart aleck, I will give it to you as a music box."

Data terminal: "...You two-timing..."

Becky was even louder than the data terminal, "Okay, okay, how smart-alecky does it have to be before you give it to me?"

The data terminal didn't dare to say anything anymore.

At this time, Vivian had already brought the sumptuous lunch to the table. After wandering in the dream plane for many days, everyone had basically been subsisting on dry food or unfamiliar local food, and they had long missed the home-cooked dishes of Earth. So, the first thing Vivian did after returning home was to quickly clean up the kitchen. Let me mention in passing: Actually, Vivian herself didn't think the food in the dream plane was that bad. She felt that being able to eat her fill every day and being able to have a second bowl whenever she wanted was already the greatest happiness in the world...

The vampire girl invited everyone to the table, and Hao Ren led Hilda, who was still lost in thought, and Becky, who refused to let go of the TV remote, to the dining table. Becky asked questions while pointing at the TV, "Hey, this thing called Lord of the Rings looks interesting, it feels so close to life... I also know the swordsmanship used by that old man Gandalf! But I'm better at magic than him, he only knows flash spells... Oh, and I just watched something called an advertisement. So, the hair of you Earthlings flies up after washing it! Will someone perform it for me later? And what is that thing called 7-Up? Will it summon a large group of water elementals after drinking it? And there will be waves behind it, so is it a powerful hallucinogen? Or a magic supplement? Haha, your world is so interesting..."

Hao Ren, bearing Becky's ten thousand whys, walked to the dining table, but he was already physically and mentally exhausted halfway there. He raised his eyes and looked around, "Who is responsible for introducing Becky to common sense?"

Nangong Wuyue immediately lowered her head, "Eat, eat..."

She was the one responsible for instilling common sense in Becky just now, and now she was more tired than Hao Ren.

Fortunately, Vivian's good cooking finally ended—or at least paused—Becky's ten thousand whys. She was amazed by the richness of the food in front of her and became even more convinced that "Hao Ren is a local tyrant." Then, she began to ask what all the dishes on the table were.

It wasn't that there wasn't plentiful food in the dream plane. After all, they had a civilization of ten thousand years, even counting from the disaster that destroyed the world. And Holleta was rich in products. It was impossible not to be particular about "eating." It was just that Becky, as a mercenary, usually lived a life of traveling long distances and camping in the open. Her best cooking was barbecue, and the most common thing she ate was hard bread. Usually, when she settled down in one place, she could only go to the tavern for a few bowls of muddy wine and two pounds of cooked beef – we don't know if she would go outside to fight two tigers to exercise after eating, but her usual food level was definitely not comparable to those who were stably at home. So, she was dumbfounded when she saw the table of delicacies that Vivian had made. Becky clumsily used chopsticks to pick up a piece of tofu and wobbled it towards her mouth. After finally succeeding, she broke out in a sweat, "Eating here is so troublesome. These two sticks must be your usual magic tools for tempering your spiritual power, requiring a high degree of concentration..."

Helpless, Hao Ren had to get Becky a spoon and fork, otherwise this girl would starve to death at the dinner table. As for those two chopsticks, he decided to feed them to Doudou.

Speaking of Doudou?

Hao Ren then realized that Doudou was not at the dinner table. He was just about to get up and call out when he saw the entire table shake violently, and then tilted to one side. The dishes on the table were about to slide to the side. Vivian quickly summoned a group of bats to stabilize the things on the table, and then everyone bowed their heads to look under the table: Finally, they found Doudou's figure. The little merman didn't know when she had jumped to the side of the table leg, and now she was raising a table leg and happily starting to gnaw on the corners of the wood: Because she couldn't get her mouth on other places.

Everyone's eyes widened, and Nangong Wuyue exclaimed, "How can she be so strong?"

Doudou noticed the gazes of the people around her, put down the table leg, turned her head and patted her tail to greet Hao Ren, with a lot of sawdust on the corner of her mouth, "Pa pa~"

Hao Ren couldn't believe what he had just seen, but the fact was in front of him: This little merman, who was only half a foot long, had just lifted the table!

He carefully held the fish baby in his arms, checking if there were any wounds on the latter, but the little guy was as energetic as Lily at 8:30 in the morning, and it seemed that the amazing "feat" just now was just something she did casually. Vivian came over and pinched the little guy's arm. The arm was thin, not much thicker than the chopsticks she usually ate, and soft as if boneless, but...

Hao Ren casually handed two wooden chopsticks to Doudou. The latter hummed happily and snapped the two chopsticks in half at the same time, starting to gnaw on the burrs at the broken ends.

Those two chopsticks were made of ironwood...