Mu Rufeng descended the staircase and set foot on the soft and heat-radiating sand of the beach.
There was still a considerable amount of trash on the beach—cigarette butts, betel nut residue, tissues, drink bottles, and more.
That's the problem with free attractions; the cleaning isn't as thorough as it is at places that charge admission.
Though Mu Rufeng didn't mind it, after all, he wasn't here to play.
Before long, Mu Rufeng had reached the area with sunshades.
He looked at the sign displaying the price: four hours under a sunshade for one hundred yuan.
Glancing at his watch, with fifty minutes to spare, Mu Rufeng promptly chose an empty bay and took a seat.
Not long after, an attendant wearing a vest came over.
Mu Rufeng promptly paid one hundred yuan, got a ticket, and sent the attendant on his way.
"Item Slot is sealed, and some items can't be used now. I wonder if Treasure Tower can detect this when I enter the instance?" Mu Rufeng pondered.
Before, as a Level 2, Mu Rufeng had six Item Slots. After clearing Blood Chamber Hotel, he earned an Item Slot Expansion Card and expanded to nine slots.
Then, after clearing the Treasure Tower auction, he leveled up to a third-level Contractor and gained an additional three slots, reaching a total of twelve.
Three of those were empty, while the other nine held the [Scarlet Preferred Stock Contract], [Blood Hotel Share Contract], [Qingshan Pig Farm Share Contract], [Crimson Preferred Channel Cooperation Contract], [Clown's Crazy Chainsaw], [Mysterious Meteorite Iron], [Loving Singing Mouth], [Little Electric Donkey Ball], [Lock's Homemade Revolver]—nine items in total.
The rest, Mu Rufeng had placed behind him, wrapped in bandages and carried along.
Although there were many items and even though they were thin and small, and covered by Mu Rufeng's trench coat, it did appear quite strange.
Of course, saying it was not strange was one thing, but wearing a trench coat in the sweltering summer heat was indeed odd.
Here was Mu Rufeng under the blazing sun at the beach, eliciting curious glances from passing tourists.
Undisturbed by this, Mu Rufeng ordered a chilled watermelon juice, looked towards the sea, and quietly waited for noon to arrive.
"Hey, handsome, aren't you hot under that trench coat in such scorching weather?"
At that moment, a crisp voice rang out.
Subsequently, the girl in the swimsuit who had made eye contact with Mu Rufeng earlier took a seat beside him on the chair.
"Hot? I don't feel it, do you?" Mu Rufeng, while looking at the ordinary girl, replied, paying particular attention to her right hand for a moment.
There, he saw a familiar tattoo.
"Of course, I'm not hot either, handsome. I left my phone at home. Could you treat me to a watermelon juice? I've been thirsty for a while."
"And you wouldn't mind if I rest here for a bit, would you?" the girl asked.
"Of course not," replied Mu Rufeng, as he scanned the QR code on the table and placed an order for two more chilled watermelon juices and some snacks.
It had to be said, this was quite convenient; there was no need to run to the distant drink stall anymore.
"Thanks. Let me introduce myself—I'm Captain Sun Lujia, a third-level Contractor from the Yantian District task force of the Deep City department," said Sun Lujia, introducing herself.
"So, you're Captain Sun. I'm Mu Rufeng, a third-level Contractor from the Wan City District branch of the Changsha department," Mu Rufeng said with a smile.
Concerning Sun Lujia's identity, Mu Rufeng had already speculated when he saw the Login Bracelet tattoo.
Although it had been half a month since the last incident, and those group forces had become aware of the Login Bracelet, that amount of time was not enough for them to finish negotiations.
However, he estimated that after some time, not only contractors from related departments would have Login Bracelets.
"Indeed, I guessed as much," Sun Lujia said with a light smile.
"Are you here for the Gluttonous Cruise instance as well?" she suddenly asked.
"Eh? You too? I thought you were here to play," Mu Rufeng said cheerfully.
"Exactly because of this instance, I finally got some time to play around."
"In Deep City, there's a mix of everything. Independent contractors are as common as weeds, and there are various nefarious organizations. It's quite a headache."
"I rarely get any time to rest throughout the year," Sun Lujia sighed.
"Yep, it's been hectic," Mu Rufeng agreed, nodding sympathetically.
For half a month, Mu Rufeng had indeed been very busy with never a dull moment.
With an increasing number of players, incidents of disappearance, independent contractors fighting or killing innocents, and thefts and robberies were on the rise.
This series of changes seemed to hint that the connection between the Mysterious World and the real world was becoming ever tighter.
"Sir, here are your two watermelon juices, five burgers, five chicken strips, and ten grilled sausages."
"The remaining five bowls of chilled mung bean noodle soup, ten servings of fried tofu, five servings of stir-fried noodles, and five servings of fried rice will be served shortly," a staff member said while placing a large tray on the table.
Fortunately, the table under the sunshade was quite large, and even with these dishes, it was just under one-third full.
"Thank you very much," Mu Rufeng said, expressing his gratitude.
"Wow, you ordered so much, you probably won't be able to finish it. I wonder if I could have some too? I'm hungry, and I didn't bring my phone," Sun Lujia said, her eyes gleaming with hunger as she looked at Mu Rufeng.