The Hua Ting hotel was truly magnificent. Its twenty-four floors connected by a central tower serving as the elevator, topped by a luxurious restaurant. That's where Tang Yue invited me after I texted I was coming soon.
Entering in casual clothes drew side-eyes, but I ignored them. Only the info mattered—and it'd be nice seeing Tang Yue; been a while.
Riding the tower elevator to the restaurant turned side-eyes to contempt—everyone in evening gowns and suits. A hostess even approached, her unfriendly face saying no polite table query. Should've dressed up.
Luckily, Tang Yue grabbed my elbow from the dining area last second and dragged me to our table in the far corner. It was lavish: cushy armchairs, floor-to-ceiling window arm's reach away, stunning Shanghai view. Even I felt underdressed now.
"Sit already. How'd you think coming here like that was smart?" Tang Yue grumbled, settling in.
Only now I noticed her outfit. White airy dress baring shoulders and cleavage. Pearl earrings, hair styled like ocean waves.
Couldn't help admiring her beauty, inwardly kicking myself again—pairing with such a beauty in a tee and jeans was criminal.
"...Sorry, didn't think. Just rushed to see you ASAP. You look stunning today." I flattered a bit.
Lies feel good. And not total lies—happy to see her again. She'd gotten prettier since last time.
"Flatterer. Don't butter me up—after your sugar mommy scam, no trust left." She twitched her brow irritably. Ungrateful tsundere.
"As you say. Got the info?" I asked. No compliments wanted? Straight to business.
"Yeah, here. If you weren't a totem keeper, I wouldn't share a single line." She handed an opaque packet of papers.
"Wanna discuss something big?" I hinted at the anti-bug artifact she'd placed on the table earlier.
"Totem info is that 'big.' If you didn't know, it's classified." Her eye twitched.
I hadn't forgotten exactly—just misremembered. In my past life, China needed totem data desperately to hunt and fight sea monsters, so it was more open then. Gotta update my head on this era's secrets. Don't wanna tangle with spooks.
Pulling a sheet from the packet to check, my face soured like I'd bit a sour lemon. Ancient Chinese text—I couldn't read crap!
"...Got a modern translation?" I asked her.
"I read ancient fluently. Could read it if you ask nice." She smirked condescendingly, pocketing the anti-bug artifact—guess important talk was over.
She was totally getting revenge! But no choice—these were vital. Didn't wanna bug Ling Ling for decode; she'd ask awkward questions I wasn't ready for.
"What does my lady desire?" I asked subserviently. I'd play along now, but payback later. Only I get to embarrass people!
"First, let's eat, and I'll tell you the terms already in the room," Tang Yue waved her hand condescendingly at me. Showing off her control over the situation like that. But I'm not against it, since I haven't eaten anything today anyway.
After a hearty three-course dinner—very tasty, by the way—it was time to pay the bill. When the waitress approached us, Tang Yue looked at me expectantly, apparently waiting for me to pay...
"Um, do you accept resources as payment?" I asked awkwardly, since I'd spent all my money on walks with the girls. Even the gold bars were gone; I'd exchanged them all for cash on trips to parallel worlds. I'll have to borrow... more in Bo City.
"I'll pay," Tang Yue sighed tiredly, pulling out her card. I preferred not to notice the waitress's contemptuous glance.
After paying for dinner, we took the elevator down to the twenty-fourth floor and entered a well-furnished room: carpet on the floor, a window spanning the entire wall... and one king-sized bed.
"So that's what you want, my lady. Turning rumors into reality," I dramatically covered my chest, looking playfully at Tang Yue, who midway through my sentence tossed an anti-listening device onto the floor. She's going to read the totem texts aloud here, after all, so precautions.
"What are you thinking about? I don't need anything from you! Your fawning face is enough for me. We came to the room so I could read the information you need in a calm setting," Tang Yue blushed all over.
Heh, it's so fun to tease her like that. Noticing something in my expression, she bashfully punched me in the side with her fist, then immediately yanked her hand back in pain.
"What are you made of, steel?" The girl asked in bewilderment, shaking her hand.
"It's a special body enhancement technique. Right now, my body matches a Junior Pack Chieftain in strength and durability," I smiled at her.
"If you want, I can enhance your body the same way. It won't take long, just a couple of hours. We can do it after reading the info," Noticing her envious look, I offered. No matter how much I joked, I did want to repay her a little for the inconvenience. I'm not a sadist... unless just a tiny bit.
"...Despite your antics, I know you can be trusted. The situation with Chao He proves it. So I won't refuse," The girl nodded seriously. She understood the full usefulness of this technique.
"Then let's get to passing the info to me. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish," At my suggestion, the girl nodded, and we sat on the bed, where she read aloud the information I wanted about the previous owners of the totem vessels and their deaths. I didn't write anything down, since I wasn't afraid of forgetting anything—not with my mastery of the spirit element.
In the end, reading all the information took Tang Yue more than ten hours. There really was a lot of data. But as I thought, the Tang family—which in the past, by the way, was a sect—had the info I needed on the previous owners of the totem vessels. They didn't know their current locations, but they had precise past locations of those owners. As well as info on the vessels that had been destroyed.
These events got plenty of attention in the documents, presented as a tragedy for all mankind, which I fully agreed with. Losing several controlled monsters at the peak Warlord level or even Emperor level had seriously hurt China's defenses back then.
When we finished, it was deep night, and Tang Yue was yawning widely. Not wanting to keep her waiting, I knocked her out and started the body enhancement procedure, summoning Pikachu.
After finishing the procedure a couple of hours later, it was early morning. I woke Tang Yue, said goodbye, and left. The girls and I needed to prepare for the trip to Kowloon.
Oh, I'm gonna have a blast there. I can already imagine my rivals' faces when I show off mid-level sixth-tier magic. It almost pulls to the third tier of high level.
_____
One hour later. Rooftop of a neighboring building. Members of the special tax squad.
"Now we can confirm they're in a relationship. Their phrases before the anti-bug kicked in prove it. We can also gauge the power dynamic between them—the guy calls her 'lady.' And did you see how awkwardly she's leaving the hotel now? Plus, she clearly didn't sleep much. It's obvious what they were up to at night. We've been told the guy has an abnormally strong body," One of them spoke into the recording device and asked his comrades.
"It's too early to say for sure she supplied him with resources again. But if he has a power spike soon, we can drop surveillance on the guy and focus fully on the Tang family. He's clearly just their pawn," The second voiced his opinion.
"Eh, if only I had a sugar mommy like that. I might never work again," The third sighed sincerely, earning contemptuous looks from his comrades.
But deep down, they agreed with the third. They wouldn't refuse a relationship with such a stunning woman who would pursue them herself and shower them with huge sums of money either.
At that moment, they were fiercely envious of the guy who'd gone home an hour ago, where two more beautiful girls were waiting for him.