Chapter 91: Collecting Water Fees

Green vines crept up around his ankles, twining tightly around both man and chair. Wu Xingyu let out a low chuckle, stretched out his long, fair hand, and pressed it against the vines.

The vines, as agile as snakes, instantly froze, then withered and crumbled inch by inch, finally disintegrating with a crisp snap into a shower of dust.

Pei Yu, frustrated, gritted his teeth. Since one plan had failed, he immediately tried another. He hugged a pile of green spiky balls to his chest and hurled them fiercely at Wu Xingyu’s handsome face, determined to turn that pretty face into a pincushion.

Clearly, his hatred ran deep.

Wu Xingyu calmly dealt with this as well. With a flick of his finger, time reversed.

The spiky balls that had been flying toward him visibly rewound back into Pei Yu’s arms.

Throw, rewind. Throw, rewind. Throw, rewind...

In the end, Pei Yu’s arms were aching and sore, and he could no longer stand being made a fool of. That was how the game of hurling spiky balls finally ended.

Mo Xie, seeing this, could only cast a sympathetic glance at Pei Yu.

Pei Yu was so angry he was grinding his teeth, but he didn’t try any more sneak attacks. He stomped back and plopped down on his chair with a huff, twisting his neck and pouting so much you could hang an oil bottle from his lips.

Yuan An: Is this a side effect of turning into a baby?

Mo Xie turned his gaze back to Wu Xingyu, his sharp eyes now tinged with a pleased smile. “It’s been years since we last met, and your ability control has become even more refined. What level are you at now?”

Wu Xingyu replied blandly, “3S.”

Mo Xie’s eyes narrowed in shock, his pupils trembling. That was on par with his own ability level. What on earth had his nephew experienced in these past twenty years?

Even Pei Yu, who’d been pouting hard enough to hang an oil bottle, now had his mouth hanging open wide enough to swallow a sandbag.

3S level? Did this kid eat some kind of immortal elixir? No, even that wouldn’t be this crazy.

He was so jealous he could cry.

Wu Xingyu glanced at their stunned faces, his pale pink lips curving up slightly. “It’s nothing much, really. I just leveled up naturally, didn’t hit any bottlenecks.”

Pei Yu: Versailles, this is pure Versailles*—this brat is just showing off, plain and simple.

[*T/N: “Versailles” here is internet slang for humblebragging.]

Yun He felt he had something to say. Sure, there were no bottlenecks, but his power had gone out of control before.

His third brother had inherited the purest royal bloodline of the Norman Empire, and awakened the royal family’s hereditary ability: time manipulation.

When advancing from SS to 3S, his powers went haywire—whoever he looked at shrank, whoever he glared at aged. Those closest to him got the full brunt of the empire’s most dangerous power, the ability to toy with time.

Yun He himself had been shrunk back into a baby. He was terrified his third brother would shrink him all the way back to a single cell and send him straight into their mother’s womb. That would be the end—he might not even be born again, just get stuck in there.

So he’d scrambled out of the range of the indiscriminate time attack with all his chubby hands and feet, just barely saving his baby self.

After that, he was coddled and fed by his mother for three days, until he was so miserable he wanted to die. Only then did his third brother return him to normal, ending that terrifying baby adventure.

But he couldn’t say any of this. If he did, his third brother might just turn him into a baby again on the spot, and he couldn’t handle that.

So when Pei Yu shot him a look asking for confirmation, he just smiled and stayed silent, playing the part of an emotionless statue.

After his initial shock, Mo Xie was full of relief. “With your abilities, aside from stirring up public anger, you shouldn’t face much danger on this exile planet. Setting up a trading caravan is a good idea.”

After Pei Yu shot him a desperate look, Mo Xie added with a smile, “Take Pei Yu with you. He really does know the routes and the news from the major cities.”

Wu Xingyu glanced at Pei Yu and, for the sake of his little uncle, agreed to let him join the caravan.

“So, what are you planning to sell?”

As soon as he asked, Pei Yu’s face lit up and he blurted out, “Water, of course! The water in the cabin is pure, not a trace of dark matter. It’s top-quality. A small bottle could sell for hundreds of energy credits! And the water here is supplied for free, so it’s pure profit—no cost, all gain!”

Hearing this, Wu Xingyu and the others suddenly realized—why hadn’t they thought of this before? Water really was a valuable commodity.

It was just that, as nobles living in the Empire, they’d never experienced water shortages, so it hadn’t occurred to them right away that water could be sold.

[Ding dong—System vulnerability detected. Beginning repairs. Now broadcasting to all Earth Village residents: From this moment on, water fees will be collected. The rate is 5 spirit coins per cubic meter, to be paid by the cabin owner at the start of each month. Payment location: Earth Village Mission Hall, under the “Earth Village Details” section: Water Fee Payment.]

[If payment is overdue, water supply will be cut off. After ten days of arrears, administrative penalties will be imposed—forced labor based on the amount owed. The more you owe, the more you work.]

In short, don’t even think about getting a single advantage from the game.

The stingy main system was strict as ever.

Pei Yu: ...

His smile faded, and he practically exploded on the spot.

But he still forced himself to finish his sentence through gritted teeth, “Even if they charge us, we can just raise our prices. We’ll still make some money, heh, heh...”

He secretly decided: raise prices, raise them as high as possible.

Wu Xingyu and the others had the same idea. Water was valuable, and they’d still sell it—but the price would have to go up.

With this new money-making beast on their side, Wu Xingyu even looked at Pei Yu a bit more kindly.

Meanwhile, the villagers who’d heard the announcement were all abuzz with discussion.

At Meifang’s house—

Meifang slapped her thigh, looking like she’d just missed out on a fortune.

“Why’d they have to start charging for water right now? I was just about to enjoy a nice, relaxing bath!”

Cook patted his wife’s back, clumsily trying to comfort her. “Go ahead and bathe as usual. I’ll earn the spirit coins. I’ll make lots of them, so you can use all the water you want.”

Harvey nodded in agreement. “That’s right, Mom. We hardly ever get such good conditions. You go ahead and bathe. Tomorrow I’ll go hunt monsters with Chief Luke and the others. I heard there are spirit coins in the treasure chests—if I’m lucky, I could get a dozen in one go!”

Meifang looked at her husband and son with satisfaction.

“All right, all right, we’ll do as you say. Let’s enjoy ourselves today and have a proper bath. You two should scrub off all that black grime, too. You haven’t had a good wash in years—look at your black skin, it’s probably all dirt.”

This made the father and son blush in embarrassment. “We’ll wash, we’ll have a good bath!”"