I open a restaurant in Mysterious Recovery

Chapter 682 That Damn Person: Chen Qiaoyang!

"In this world, there are only ghosts, not gods; otherwise, vengeful spirits wouldn't be able to roam freely. But what if it's relative?"

Lu Zhiwen looked numb, and his condition was much worse than the others. This was the reason why he did not accept the supernatural phenomenon at the Peace Hotel, but no one laughed at him. On the contrary, they all admired him.

Regardless of his attitude towards the Peace Hotel, he was an incredibly pure person, and also someone willing to sacrifice himself.

"Just like we previously thought Lin Yuan was a god, we didn't see him as a legendary god, but rather as an existence whose strength surpassed too many levels, which is why we placed him in this position and called him 'He'."

In ancient times, there have been countless myths and legends, stories of gods and immortals vanquishing demons. We used to just listen to them as stories, but what if they were all true?

If our current story is passed down through generations, will people think it's about gods and immortals vanquishing demons?
Of course, ordinary paranormal events don't have that much of a basis to be passed down. It's more likely that only S-level or higher paranormal events can be passed down for a long time and then mythologized.

“You’re right, and I agree with that view. In other words, perhaps many years from now, we will all have the opportunity to be deified after death, but such deification will be meaningless to us and will not enhance our strength. What we need is powerful force that can be used in this era,” Wei Jing said calmly.

He has lost all supernatural powers and has become an ordinary person.

Despite this, after a few days of silence, he returned, and even as an ordinary person, he showed no signs of self-abandonment.

Instead, they continued to actively participate in the headquarters' arrangements.

Headquarters did not revoke his captaincy, as if everyone had subconsciously forgotten about it.

Liu San glanced at him but did not refute him. "The biggest difference between us and the manager is that his divine status is recognized by everyone in the mortal world. But if what Yang Jian and Li Leping said is true, then the future manager of the Peace Hotel, Lin Yuan, may appear in any timeline with absolute power, or even trace the source of the supernatural. Such an existence is beyond our easy comprehension."

“The difference in strength is too great. The shopkeeper seems to have many flaws, but those are just parts of the supernatural entity he has created. Unless his true form appears... no, even if his true form appears, we have no chance at all. This situation is far too pessimistic for us.” Shen Lin’s tone was low.

His attitude was somewhat negative.

The group exchanged glances, all understanding the situation.

This person was treated like a human mobile landmine by the store manager, and didn't even have the chance to ask the store manager for an explanation.

Especially this time, even though there was a clear opportunity to meet the real store manager, the one I met was the store manager from the Gengshen year. I had no idea what the store manager of this era was thinking, and I didn't get the answers I wanted.

If they were in different places, no one would think they could perform better than Shen Lin.

"So what are your thoughts now? Do you want to take this path to godhood, refuse it, or perhaps even sabotage it?" Cao Yanhua asked.

Refusing is one thing, but then sabotaging it?
Who can sabotage the store manager's plan, or is it a plan involving another timeline?

The captains' gazes turned somewhat strange. Cao Yanhua noticed this, but he didn't mind at all. He remained calm, watching everyone and waiting for their answers.

So, is the minister serious?

"The so-called path to godhood is more like Him selecting assistants to help Him. However, the conditions for such assistants are terrifying. They need to reach the level that ordinary people would consider gods and immortals. I think this path is possible. If one really goes all the way to the end, one might also reach the level of integrating the past, present, and future into one, and achieve the same realm as Him."

Yang Jian said calmly.

“Youth is wonderful, or perhaps it’s the fearlessness of youth? Yang Jian, your idea is quite good, but I only agree with half of it. At least for now, the path we see is the most suitable and best one planned by the store manager,” Li Leping said calmly.

Everyone then expressed their opinions.

No one refuses to embark on the path to becoming a "store manager," it's just that everyone is more or less willing to accept this path, it's not a big problem.

But since it's the path to godhood, it's mostly up to you to decide.

The headquarters has already exhausted too many resources and simply doesn't have the capacity to support the collective growth of the twelve team leaders. Therefore, at the end of the meeting, Cao Yanhua also offered a suggestion, but instead of addressing the headquarters' difficulties, he made a promise:

"Any captain who wants to embark on this 'path to godhood' can bring it up now, and headquarters will provide certain resources to support them."

Everyone fell silent, except for Yang Jian, who frankly said, "No need. I will raise the resources myself to walk the path to godhood. I don't need any extra support. Let's leave the headquarters' resources to the right people."

“Yang Jian is right. We are the team leaders, but we also need to set an example. The same goes for my resources,” Liu San added.

With the support of Yang Xiaotian from the Gengshen year, and Guo Fan using his own employee quota to open a branch in Dachang City, Yang Jian's efficiency in earning this life-saving money is not low.

How could Liu San be any slower?
By "selling" himself, his savings for saving his life have exceeded three digits and are approaching four digits, making him probably the richest person present.

It's estimated that even the headquarters can't possibly have much more money than him.

If that's the case, then why use the headquarters' resources to walk the path to godhood?

If we fail, it's okay; we can reduce some of the losses. But if we succeed, will we be controlled by headquarters because of this favor and support?

Before the Peace Hotel, people could treat promises like empty words as long as they were thick-skinned enough.

However, given the existence of the Peace Hotel and the personality displayed by the "manager," if they dare to do this, even if they complete the path to godhood and take the most crucial step, they may still be eliminated by the "manager."

Honesty is the foundation of a store manager's business.

Li Leping and Zhou Deng also refused one after another.

Li Jun and Lu Zhiwen didn't speak. They didn't even know how to check into a hotel, let alone participate in a virtual game, so they wouldn't have the option of choosing whether to walk the path to godhood.

Wei Jing, needless to say, is now just an ordinary person and has no other choice either.

Cao Yang was the only one left who remained silent, and his silence spoke volumes about his attitude.

Yang Jian didn't care. Everyone has their own choices. He wouldn't force the other party to form an alliance, much less go against headquarters. "Minister Cao, Chen Qiaoyang's current problem is quite serious."

Chen Qiaoyang's actions in the game have already angered many people.

As soon as Yang Jian spoke, even Cao Yang couldn't help but complain, and Li Leping, Liu San, and Zhou Deng also expressed their opinions.

Zhou Deng, in particular, was extremely agitated and wished he could have Chen Qiaoyang removed from the party immediately.

Cao Yanhua hesitated and said, "Virtual games are just virtual games. Is it inappropriate for us to use actions from the game to punish others in real life?" "Minister Cao, what kind of person do you think Chen Qiaoyang is? Is it possible for him to do something that would backfire on headquarters?" Liu San asked.

Cao Yanhua did not answer, but that was already an answer.

However, Chen Qiaoyang's presence at headquarters is more of a symbolic one.

Tell those old monsters who are still alive that as long as they are willing to join the headquarters, abide by the headquarters' rules like Chen Qiaoyang, and complete the tasks assigned by the headquarters, the headquarters will accept them.

Moreover, during this period of time...

Chen Qiaoyang also completed many tasks assigned by headquarters. Apart from his usual arrogant attitude, it would be fair to say that he was conscientious and diligent.

But now, they're targeting him for his actions in the virtual game. Isn't that inappropriate?

“It didn’t matter before, but now virtual games involve the path to godhood. Minister Cao, are you really so sure about Chen Qiaoyang? If he succeeds in achieving godhood, how do you think he will treat headquarters in the future?” Zhou Deng reminded him.

Cao Yanhua's heart tightened immediately.

It was simply because Zhou Deng was telling the truth. The path to godhood was imminent, and looking at the captains in front of him, they were clearly preparing to cooperate against each other, and would no longer act as casually as before.

Chen Qiaoyang is seen as an unstable factor by these people.

Even if Cao Yanhua disagrees, it won't change their attitude towards Chen Qiaoyang; on the contrary, it will alienate these team leaders.

The appearance of the Peace Hotel has already greatly affected the prestige of the headquarters. If even the captains, who are the pillars of the organization, have other ideas, then the situation will become even more terrifying.

"I will give this matter a good consideration. However, as I said before, headquarters has its own rules and will not punish without prior instruction."

Cao Yanhua spoke with a firm and forceful tone, but Yang Jian and the others had already understood his attitude, so they did not stay any longer.

Soon, the group of people left. Li Leping was also preparing to return to Dachuan City, but when he arrived at the airport, he did not board the plane immediately. Instead, he went to a VIP waiting room.

Yang Jian sat quietly in the room, leisurely drinking his soda.

"The news about the path to godhood has already been leaked. Are you sure this will work?" Li Leping sat down, staring at Yang Jian with a scrutinizing gaze.

The information about the path to godhood was originally known only to the two of them. As long as they didn't say anything, given the shopkeeper's personality, he wouldn't reveal it to outsiders for at least a short period of time.

This way, the two of them can have some time to prepare.

Sometimes, taking one step ahead can lead to taking every step ahead – a principle everyone understands.

“A quick step forward leads to a quicker finish, that’s true. But there’s a prerequisite: that step has to be significant enough, not just a small gap. You’ve seen how difficult virtual games are. Can one or two games really widen the gap between us and everyone else? Or do you really think we can cooperate seamlessly without any friction?” Yang Jian asked.

Li Leping shook his head.

Now that the store manager has opened the path to godhood, everyone has become a competitor.

Even if he hadn't considered doing anything underhanded, and even if he knew Yang Jian's character and wouldn't stoop to such a thing, who could guarantee anything?

There can't be 100% trust between people, so we need to use other methods.

"With the opening of the path to godhood, more people will flock to the virtual game, as well as the King's Organization and Fang Shiming. They are not weak. What we need to do is stick together for mutual support, not fight among ourselves."

Concealing the information could very likely cause divisions within headquarters.

If that's the case, in virtual games, they might not be able to unite their forces when facing powerful enemies, and that would be a real disaster.

"Store manager, even if he is only the store manager from the year of Gengshen, his telling us this news may be because he intends to use us to spread the news to others."

Yang Jian said calmly, "I don't plan to leave Dachang City anytime soon after this trip."

"Understood. In the virtual game, before finally reaching the summit, I hope we can cooperate sincerely." Li Leping extended his hand.

Yang Jian glanced at it, then reached out his hand and clasped it tightly.

……

"Minister Cao, you have time to see me today? I heard that most of the team leaders came to a meeting earlier. I wonder what the topic was. Could it be that it was targeting me?"

Chen Qiaoyang walked into the office and sat down casually in front of Cao Yanhua, appearing very relaxed and quite rude.

Cao Yanhua was already used to Chen Qiaoyang's attitude. Although he was a little bothered, he didn't show it. Besides, Chen Qiaoyang would soon behave himself.

With the sound of a cane clicking on the ground, Old Qin walked in from outside the door, his back hunched.

"Mr. Qin, you've arrived."

Cao Yanhua quickly stood up to greet him, but Chen Qiaoyang's face had already darkened, and his fierce gaze was fixed directly on Cao Yanhua without any politeness. "Minister Cao, do you have something to arrange? There's no need to bring this person out. Could it be that you're sending me to my death?"

"It's a misunderstanding. Old Master Qin just happened to be here on some business."

Cao Yanhua said things he himself didn't believe. He just didn't trust Chen Qiaoyang, so he specially invited Old Qin over to keep things under control and to warn Chen Qiaoyang not to act recklessly!
Under the "manager's" watch, Old Qin would be forced to drive to the Peace Hotel three times a day.

However, in front of anyone other than the "shop manager," even a top-tier ghost tamer like Chen Qiaoyang, who has lived for decades, is still an unassailable being.

Judging from Chen Qiaoyang's attitude, this really works.

Even though Old Qin just smiled gently to the side, like a kind old grandmother, there was no aggression or threat whatsoever.

"It's like this, as you probably know, there are twelve captains at headquarters, but only eleven of them are currently abroad. One captain has been gathering information overseas. However, he seems to have run into some trouble recently, so I was thinking, could you go out and check on him? If he encounters any danger, it would be best to bring him back."

(End of this chapter)