Chapter 15

"Bang!"

As the magical beast collapsed, Hongci frowned. "The beasts around here seem to have gotten stronger lately."

"And the beast tides are coming more often," Luolus added, scanning the surroundings warily.

Luosi stepped forward to help with the healing, speaking as he worked. "Even the magical plants are affected."

As a wood-element mage, Luosi was especially sensitive to such changes.

Hongci glanced around. "Let's head back to town. Remember to report this to the mayor!"

"Yes!"

The others quickly packed up and left in a hurry.

"So the calamity has leveled up?" Rao Ke asked, eating her lunch while listening to Sesame Paste's update.

Sesame Paste's tail flicked, eyes fixed on the blue screen. "Yes. If the previous calamity was on easy mode, this one is on hard mode."

"So it'll keep leveling up later?" Rao Ke caught the key implication.

Sesame Paste nodded. "Of course. Civilization evolution isn't that simple. Many small worlds have turned into dead lands because of civilization purification, which is why we're needed."

"The shop system will unlock a calamity section and sell some corresponding magical artifacts," Sesame Paste said, closing the blue screen after syncing the information.

Rao Ke nodded, looking out the window at the forest, lost in thought.

"Knock, knock!"

"Come in."

Xue Jiali walked in carrying two small plates of strawberry cream cake. "Freshly made. Try one."

Since Xue Jiali was in charge of the dessert stall, Rao Ke had given her several cooking books on sweets and drinks to study.

Xue Jiali was very interested, and now she made it a point to create a new dessert or drink every day for Rao Ke to taste and critique.

Xue Jiali was truly talented at desserts. Her sweets were perfectly sweet, soft, and incredibly fragrant.

Rao Ke actually quite enjoyed such daily activities as tasting desserts—relaxing and pleasurable.

She took a small bite. The cake sponge was soft and fine, the cream smooth, delicate, and sweet—utterly satisfying.

"Delicious!" Rao Ke wasn't good at elaborate praise, so she usually just kept it simple.

Sesame Paste, however, seemed to have installed a praise module, as he could go on and on with detailed compliments.

"Good. Learn a few more recipes, and your dessert stall can officially open the day after tomorrow. I'll allocate two robots to you in a bit," Rao Ke said, savoring the strawberry cake with a satisfied nod.

Xue Jiali nodded. "Can I purchase some items from you?"

"Of course. Make a list and give it to me. I'll tell you when the goods arrive," Rao Ke said readily.

Xue Jiali nodded. "Just deduct it from my salary. If it's not enough, let me know."

After Rao Ke and Sesame Paste finished the strawberry cakes, Xue Jiali took the plates and left Rao Ke's room.

"Alright, let's get back to the topic—the shopping cards," Rao Ke said, returning to the main subject.

They had been discussing shopping cards earlier, but Sesame Paste had suddenly received news of the calamity's escalation, forcing a pause.

"Let's just split it into three tiers for now," Rao Ke said, looking at the plan laid out on her tablet.

The shopping cards were divided into three types: the ordinary Black Card, the premium Silver Card, and the top-tier Gold Card.

The ordinary Black Card allowed money to be converted into points stored on the card for shopping, and shopping points could accumulate to redeem products.

The premium Silver Card, in addition to the Black Card's features, offered free delivery and a 5% discount.

The top-tier Gold Card, on top of the above, gave a 15% discount.

To activate an ordinary Black Card cost 5 gold coins. Spending over 500,000 gold coins upgraded it to a Silver Card, and spending over 50 million gold coins upgraded it to a Gold Card.

There was no limit on Black Cards, but Silver Cards were limited to 100,000, and Gold Cards to just 100.

After setting the activation and upgrade conditions, the next step was to design the machines and the cards' uniqueness.

"I'll go negotiate," Sesame Paste said, turning to contact the neighboring tech system.

After a while, Sesame Paste nodded. "They'll be delivered in half an hour."

"Any conditions?" Rao Ke knew nothing in life came free.

"A small matter—its host wants a few books on this world's technology. I just need to find them later."

Meanwhile, on the second floor of No. 7 Wandering Town's town center, Mo Duoya looked at the recent data reports, frowning. "Why has the frequency of beast tides increased so much?"

Ailier added from the side, "According to adventurers, the attack power of magical beasts and magical plants has also risen significantly."

Mo Duoya's expression darkened. "The calamity has escalated..."

"But apart from the border towns near the Adventure Forest, the higher-ups probably don't know yet," Ailier said with a subtle smile.

"Indeed. Still, let's send a letter up. My imperial brother may choose not to ask, but I can't neglect to report," Mo Duoya said with a faint smile.

Whether the letter reached the intended hands was another matter.

The beastman towns had also noticed the same phenomenon and chose to report it. Unlike Mo Duoya, however, Ke Enli was sent personally to the imperial capital to report to the Beast Emperor.

"Leave this matter to you," Duo Weituo said, looking at Ke Enli's careless attitude. His fist clenched, but he held back. "Also, bring some items from the Keke Shop along. That's also important!"

"Got it." Ke Enli waved a hand, not taking it seriously.

Duo Weituo handed the items to Ke Enli without further instructions—after all, the guy was going home to report to his own father. Did he really need to teach him that?

Rao Ke paid no attention to the turbulence caused by the calamity's escalation. Right now, her sole focus was the six card-swiping machines before her.

"One on each floor, placed next to the display machines," Sesame Paste explained.

"And this is the chip. Embed it into your tablet, and you can check the spending information of card-issuing customers."

Rao Ke nodded, then got to work on her old craft: designing promotional posters for the card event.

While Rao Ke was busy with design work, a tavern in No. 7 Wandering Town was abuzz with talk about her.

"Hey, have you all been to the witch's Keke Shop? I heard it's become totally different recently!" a burly bearded man shared with his lanky companion.

The lanky man nodded. "I went yesterday. They've got all kinds of amazing things I've never seen before, especially..."

The two chattered on, eventually summing it all up in one phrase.

"Truly worthy of being a witch..."

Not far away, a figure in a black robe raised their head with interest and murmured, "A witch..."

"Excuse me, where is that Keke Shop?"

The bearded man looked up at the sound of a female voice and saw a woman draped in a wide black cloak had silently appeared beside him.

"You startled me! Head out of the town gate and walk west for about ten minutes, and you'll see it," the bearded man said, recovering from the shock but still eager to help.

"Thank you." The cloaked woman set down a small pouch as a token of thanks and turned to leave.

Before the bearded man could return it, she vanished from sight in an instant. He turned to chat with the lanky man, only to find his face pale.

"What's wrong?" The bearded man opened the pouch to find it full of gold coins.

"Wow, she must be a noble from the royal capital," the bearded man thought, feeling lucky—then, realizing his drinking buddy had been silent all along, he turned.

The lanky man, white-faced, spoke one word at a time.

"Ju-just now... I saw... that woman... she had black hair and green eyes!!"

The black-robed woman looked at the shop ahead, observed for a moment, then went in, bought some things, and hurried out.

Then she transformed into a crow and flew away with the items.

"Kelisili! Kelisili!"

The crow flew into the heart of the Adventure Forest, where beneath a lush giant tree stood a delicate wooden cabin.

"Wenni, shut up! Have you turned into me and gone out to play again?" A lazy female voice drifted from inside the cabin.

"Open the door quickly! I have very important news—about a witch cub!"

"What!" Hurried footsteps sounded from inside.

"Creak—"

The wooden door opened, revealing a tall, graceful woman with an alluring face.

She had wavy black hair, seductive green eyes that seemed full of affection, and a mole below her lip adding a touch of charm.

"Wenni, what's this about a witch cub?" Kelisili asked, unusually eager.

For a magical race as powerful as witches, the birth of every cub was exceedingly rare.

"If it's a true witch cub, I absolutely can't ignore it!" Kelisili declared with conviction.

She had the perfect timing, place, and opportunity—she had to seize the moment. Once those other women caught wind, they'd surely come to steal the cub. She needed to make the first move.

"Where is she?" Kelisili looked at Wenni.

"At the edge of the Adventure Forest. But I suggest you dress nicely and make a good impression, so she'll be willing to become your student," Wenni, Kelisili's longtime crow familiar, always gave sound advice.

Kelisili thought it over, found the suggestion reasonable, and dashed to her wardrobe to start picking out an outfit.

Wenni hopped onto her nest, then took out the goods she'd bought, planning to enjoy lunch first.

After all, Kelisili's wardrobe held hundreds of years' worth of clothes, and Kelisili herself suffered from decision paralysis. Besides...

"Don't forget to pick a gift for her, and later, a gift for when she officially becomes your student," Wenni called out.

"I know! I remember I placed a staff here somewhere, and..."

As Kelisili plunged into another round of searching, Wenni preened her feathers and began selecting her lunch.

Meanwhile, Rao Ke was watching the countdown for the new calamity section in the system shop.

"10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1!"