Good Samaritan

Cheng Shuili turned and exited the police station. Once the glass door closed behind her, the entire station collectively let out a sigh of relief.

Immediately following that, a cacophony of chatter erupted.

"What a terrifying human!"

"As expected of the chief! To think she had the courage to speak to her!"

"The chief is so brave! I was worried the whole time that the human would suddenly pull out a dagger and start a massacre."

"Me too, me too!"

Lang An raised his hand silently and whispered, "Xiong Gu and I didn't even have the courage to check her documents."

Yang Jiao nodded, a faint blush on her face. She accepted the praise from the others, but her expression turned cold the moment she turned to look at Lang An and Xiong Gu.

"You two, incompetent! You are both grounded from your rest days for the next three months!"

"No, Boss!"

Cheng Shuili stood on the street, momentarily unsure of where to go. The street was bustling with beastmen coming and going. She had originally intended to browse a large store to see if she needed anything, and buy it if she did.

All she could think of that she needed right now was a bowl for eating.

She needed the feeling of home.

Regardless... Cheng Shuili didn't want to use disposable meal boxes anymore.

But just as she reached a fork in the road, she caught the fragrant scent of bread, accompanied by a sweet aroma of cream.

Cheng Shuili's feet carried her into the bakery against her own will.

It was too fragrant.

It wasn't the artificial bread-scented fragrance of the modern world, but the purest kind, carrying the delicate scent of fermented wheat.

The cream, too—Cheng Shuili had never smelled such a sweet, rich scent before. It was as if sweetness had been materialized, turning into tangible wisps that scrambled to rush into her nostrils.

If the food Wan Yi made was a feast for the taste buds, the scent of this bakery was an indisputable feast for the sense of smell.

Cheng Shuili pushed open the cute shop door, which was decorated with stickers of little flowers and grass.

The moment she stepped into the bakery, the aroma intensified, and her mouth began to salivate involuntarily.

It was so fragrant!

Only a pair of furry ears were visible behind the counter. Cheng Shuili heard a weak greeting: "H... hello, customer. W... what would you like?"

The words were spoken with difficulty, making the speaker sound like a bit of a stutterer.

Cheng Shuili immediately understood the nature of the shopkeeper.

Socially anxious.

She didn't say anything, instead walking around the shop once. The transparent cabinets were filled with various small cakes.

There were classic styles from the human world: toast, baguettes, dinner rolls, donuts, pineapple buns, danish pastries, all sorts of breads, as well as European-style loaves, swiss rolls, and tiramisu.

There were plenty of pure cakes, too. The small two-layered ones, six-inch or eight-inch ones, fruit-flavored, or ice-cream-filled—all the things she remembered could be found here.

And they were high quality and inexpensive!

A ten-slice bag of toast only cost 7 game coins!

Cheng Shuili quickly realized this was a business opportunity.

Right now, everyone living well had 10 game coins. If she could order toast in bulk and sell it to other players for 10 game coins...

Cheng Shuili shook her head. The idea was indeed good, but to make big money, she would need a significant amount of capital.

She thought about it, counting on her fingers. She only had 407 game coins on her right now, which could buy 58 bags of toast. This way, she could earn... over a hundred game coins!?

That was a lot!

The reward for first place on the leaderboard was only a hundred!

Cheng Shuili was tempted.

She suddenly realized she had fallen into a misconception. Why was she limiting herself to the idea that everyone only had 10 game coins?

If she waited until tomorrow to sell them, wouldn't everyone have 20 game coins by then?

Cheng Shuili's eyes lit up completely. This was fragrant, soft toast!

One had to realize that not everyone had Cheng Shuili's luck and strength to encounter a cook like Wan Yi who started with a food truck.

Most people were still gnawing on compressed biscuits with mineral water, swallowing multivitamins every now and then to supplement their nutrition.

If a piece of fragrant, sweet toast were placed in front of them, the cost would merely be the game coins gifted by the system for completing the mileage.

Cheng Shuili was almost convincing herself.

It could be said that 10 game coins weren't much at all! Selling them for 15 would still be good value for money!

Cheng Shuili pursed her lips and decided to go for it. Once tomorrow night arrived and everyone had 20 game coins, she would sell them for 17 game coins a bag.

Not for any other reason, just to round out the profit.

She wasn't exactly a greedy merchant, right?

She wasn't even thinking about swindling all the game coins out of everyone's hands.

Cheng Shuili mused to herself; she really was a good Samaritan!

But the source of the fragrance wasn't these items...

Cheng Shuili circled around again and could only feel that the scent was faintly coming from the kitchen; perhaps it was something that hadn't been put on the shelves yet.

The stutterer behind the counter, not hearing a reply for a long time, couldn't help but poke his head out, intending to see what the situation was, only to meet Cheng Shuili's eyes directly.

The stutterer: "!!!"

A human!!!

Someone had entered his shop!

Help! Should he call the police station now?

In his panic, the stutterer flopped onto the floor. His hands scrambled wildly, and he accidentally brushed against a sharp knife tip, causing him to let out a short, sharp cry.

Only then did Cheng Shuili realize that this guy seemed a bit too afraid of her.

"Don't be nervous. I have a certificate from the police station; we can do business."

This was meant to be comforting, but to the stutterer, it sounded like a threat. He became even more terrified, clutching the kitchen knife that had just cut him, and hid in the corner like a cornered animal, saying nothing.

Cheng Shuili remembered that the description for 【Majesty】 included the line, "It may backfire when dealing with NPCs of a sensitive or suspicious nature."

The stutterer in front of her was clearly a sensitive little soul.

Cheng Shuili sighed, took the initiative to swap her title from 【Supreme Monarch】 back to 【Noob's Salvation】, and said, "I can show you my documents. I am here to buy things in good faith. I've already been to the police station, and Chief Yang let me out herself."

This seemed to soothe the stutterer, and he tilted his head, poking one ear out.

Cheng Shuili had already noticed that he was a leopard beastman.

To be honest, a leopard running a bakery didn't fit human stereotypes. And a leopard that was socially anxious...

Cheng Shuili fell silent for a moment, suddenly realizing a truth.

Reject stereotypes, starting with the leopard!

Bao Chi carefully glanced at the human and only calmed down when he saw the document presented before his eyes.

He stood up, trembling. "Th... that... v... very glad..."

"Alright, don't say those polite things." Cheng Shuili had no patience to listen to him spit out words one by one. She said bluntly, "Just nod or shake your head."

"I smelled a very fragrant scent outside, but I couldn't find the source after coming in. Don't you have anything here that gives off that scent?"

Bao Chi shook his head, then nodded. Seeing Cheng Shuili waiting quietly, he spoke up, blushing: "Y... yes, there is, but it hasn't come out of the oven yet."