Chapter 105 The Sobering Reality

Liǔ Shēng certainly had prejudices against the other races, but at least he was right about one thing: Hao Ren’s bunch were far too undisciplined. Opening a restaurant with them was pure chaos. Never mind Lily, the Ngong-Po siblings weren't exactly reliable, Elizabeth was a complete hellion, and her dad was no help at all. The Ngong-Po couple were solid workers, but they became muddleheaded when busy. In the end, only Vivian seemed remotely dependable, but she could only cook in the kitchen. Everyone feared letting her handle money, lest she bankrupt the Ngong-Po couple…

Anyway, Hao Ren didn't expect much when he asked a bunch of monsters to help open a restaurant. He didn't even expect it to be profitable. His main reason for supporting the Ngong-Po couple was to give them something to do. As for the others, they could help out when they were free, but most of the time, they would be busy with their own things—especially since Hao Ren had to take a few of them along on his frequent trips to other worlds.

As for the restaurant, although it was a hectic day, once the Ngong-Po couple got used to the routine and had their children to help, there shouldn't be any problems.

But no matter what, watching the bustling scene, Hao Ren couldn't help but wonder what the small restaurant would become…

The busiest part of lunchtime finally passed, and the customers gradually thinned out. Lily and Ngong-Po May were seeing guests off at the door, their faces radiant with joy. Sixty to seventy percent of the customers who came today were familiar neighbors, all notified by Lily yesterday. Of course, they had to be properly seen off.

Nangang was such a small place, just a small district to begin with, and now with less than half the population remaining. Most of the people you saw coming and going were familiar faces. The first hurdle to opening a business here was "doing business with acquaintances," but fortunately, everyone here was used to it. The Zhang family buying cigarettes from the Li family, the Zhao family getting furniture from the Liu family—it was all commonplace.

Lily was completely in her element, standing on tiptoe at the door, calling out, "Come again tomorrow! Old Zhang! Bring your Mao Mao along, too~~"

Hao Ren rolled his eyes beside her. "Nonsense, who brings a dog to a restaurant?"

Vivian wiped her hands on her apron and walked over from the back. "Some people bring dogs to save the world, so why can't they bring dogs to a restaurant?"

Lily thought for a moment, then flew into a rage. "Bat, you're taking advantage of me again!"

Some neighbors grabbed Ngong-Po Wudi to offer suggestions as they left the restaurant. "Your wife's cooking is good. I'll come again next time, but you need to fix up the menu. Don't list dishes you can't cook…"

Others gave Hao Ren advice. "Little Hao, I think you should just help out at the restaurant from now on. Don't run off to other places all the time. You rent such a big house here, are you really okay with being away from home all the time?"

Still others advised Izhaks. "Daquan… such a small restaurant, you don't need a security guard, do you?"

When the crowd had thinned out, Ngong-Po Three-Eight began to calculate the day's earnings with the money box. After a quick glance, he knew they hadn't made much. "Hmm… we broke even, but didn't earn much. It's not just the discounts… mostly, we only sold cheap stuff."

"Nonsense, how much do you think a bunch of old men and women can afford to eat?" Ngong-Po May rolled her eyes. "We mostly sold peanuts. The old guys can nurse a plate of peanuts with tea for half an hour. I think the ultimate form of our restaurant will be a senior citizen activity center."

There were few young people in Nangang. Most had moved to the city or worked there. Almost two-thirds of those who remained were elderly. It looked busy today, but honestly, they mostly sold cheap side dishes. Only the pot of braised ribs was empty in the kitchen, and that was because Lily ate it all. But Ngong-Po Wudi was easygoing. "It doesn't matter how much we earn. We're not doing it to get rich. We're just looking for something to do."

Elsa nodded in agreement. Seeing this, Hao Ren felt relieved. As long as the two of them were happy.

At that moment, a voice that had been forgotten for a long time finally sounded in the corner. "Everyone, are you done with your business? Is it our turn?"

Hao Ren looked up, surprised. "Liǔ Shēng? You two haven't left yet?"

Liǔ Shēng held a piece of cucumber in the air with his chopsticks. "Didn't you tell us to wait?"

Hao Ren slapped his forehead. "Oh, I forgot. Come on, everyone, let's tidy up and discuss the real business."

Liǔ Shēng held up a rune card. "Don't mind if I temporarily block your customers, do you? It's best to be quiet when discussing serious matters."

Hao Ren took the card and handed it to Lily. "Go stick it on the door. No admittance for now."

The group pushed two tables together. After everyone was seated, Hao Ren first pointed to the two demon hunters and introduced them to the Ngong-Po couple. "You haven't met. Let me introduce you. This is Liǔ Shēng, a senior demon hunter. This is Zhao Xi, Liǔ Shēng’s disciple. The two of them are in charge of the demon hunter organization in this city. But for now, they're friends."

A strange look flashed across Ngong-Po Wudi's face, but seeing the expressions on the faces of the others around him, he didn't show any further emotion. Hao Ren then introduced the couple. "Ngong-Po Wudi, former demon hunter. Elsa, a sea siren."

Liǔ Shēng and Zhao Xi stared at the magical combination. But having seen things at Raven 12345, they ultimately accepted the information overload. Liǔ Shēng shook his head and laughed. "Your staff composition… is getting more and more chaotic."

"Let's not waste time on small talk. Let's talk about the fading of the hunting instinct…"

The two demon hunters immediately described the fading of the hunting instinct and the possible situations that might arise within the demon hunter community. After they finished, everyone fell silent. Hao Ren glanced at Ngong-Po Wudi. "Do you have a hunting instinct?"

"I used to have one, but it was weak from the start," Ngong-Po Wudi said frankly. This was the first time he had mentioned his hunting instinct in such detail in front of his monster friends. "Demon hunters are a race heavily influenced by bloodline, and we also have a lot of postnatal training to strengthen our bloodline power. I wasn't one of those with strong bloodline abilities from the start, and the training I received after birth wasn't complete… so the hunting instinct wasn't stimulated too much."

"So you had one at least, right? It's just that because it was weak, it was easily suppressed by your rationality," Vivian said, stroking her chin. "Can you still feel the hunting instinct now?"

"I haven't been back for a hundred years," Ngong-Po Wudi said helplessly. "It's like blinding a person for a hundred years, that ability has completely atrophied. Anyway, I don't have any animosity towards the other races now, but I'm not sure if it atrophied in the last hundred years, or if it only faded recently like these two."

Vivian hummed and shook her head gently. "Looks like you can't be used as an example. It's not representative. If we could contact Bai Huo, that would be great. She should have more detailed information."

"But do you think she'll tell us?" Hao Ren waved his hand. "Rather than that, I'd rather you contact Hesperides."

Vivian frowned slightly. "Hesperides?"

"The demon hunters' hunting instinct is essentially the same thing as the innate hostility between other races," Hao Ren nodded. "If the 'instinct fading' on Liǔ Shēng and Zhao Xi isn't a special case for them, then I'm afraid it's not just a special case for the demon hunter race. I heard a vampire at the Athens Sanctuary say that the younger generation of other races are also showing signs of easing relations—this is similar to the weakening of the hunting instinct in the new generation of demon hunters."

"So the hunting instinct has completely disappeared in demon hunters, so you suspect the same is happening in the monster community?" Vivian frowned, took out her phone from her arms. "To be honest… I really don't like calling that hellion, I get annoyed to death every time."

Hao Ren also knew Hesperides was annoying, but he could only laugh awkwardly. "No choice, we don't know any other monster sanctuaries, so we have to trouble you."

While Vivian went to make a call, Liǔ Shēng quickly asked, "The Bai Huo you just mentioned… is that the demon hunter Bai Huo?"

The other party's sudden words were a little unclear, but Hao Ren knew what he meant. "Who else could it be? It's the white-haired girl who uses holy flame to burn people like it's eating and drinking."

Even Zhao Xi, who always had a deadpan face, was surprised. "You even pulled her in?! "

Hao Ren: "… What do you mean pulled in? And we've only met a few times. She's not the same as you."

After a while, Vivian hung up the phone and looked at Hao Ren. "You guessed it—the Athens Sanctuary also has other races whose antagonistic instincts have suddenly disappeared."