After eight hours of sleep, Tang Shaoyang opened his eyes. He slept in the afternoon, it was right after he killed Mo Wen. Killing the person did not weigh him in any way, but he tortured the man first before killing him. Since this was his first time torturing someone, it was mental-taxing for him.
However, good sleep helped him to recover. The moment he opened his eyes, Zhang Mengyao's face came to his sight. He could hear a light snore from the girl and her breathing was steady, indicating she was sleeping soundly.
'She looks so tired…' he thought to himself as he slowly came down from the bed. He sat at the edge of the bed and stretched his stiff body for a moment.
[It's 10 pm, do you want me to tell the kitchen to prepare your dinner?] Origin's voice rang in his head.
Tang Shaoyang did not immediately answer the AI. He got up from the bed and went to the bathroom, "Yes, but I want a light meal…" He paused midway as he thought of something, "If Li Yue's grandmother is still in the shift, I want her hand-made dumpling, and also a cup of coffee,"
After washing his face, he headed toward the exit lightly, making sure he did not wake Zhang Mengyao from her sleep. When he was out of the door, he noticed the door in front of him was opened with a slight gap. He could see light coming out from the gap, meaning there was someone inside the room.
"Huh!?" Tang Shaoyang was surprised. This floor was his room, four penthouse suites that combined into one with six bedrooms. He and Zhang Mengyao occupied one main bedroom, and the other bedrooms should be empty, but there was a light in the other main bedroom.
Curious, Tang Shaoyang pushed the door lightly and sneaked into the room. With a light step, he headed in the bed's direction. He then noticed feet hanging at the edge of the bed. The skin was smooth milky white, up to the thigh, he noticed it was a woman's feet. The thick thigh told him.
As he got closer to the bed, he started to hear steady breathing. Then a full sight of a woman sleeping came into Tang Shaoyang's eyes. To his surprise, the woman on the bed was the swan he saved from the hospital. On top of that, she also wore his shirt.
'How could she be here?' That was what he thought when he saw the girl. In order to get to this floor, she needed his permission or Zhang Mengyao's. Even if Origin wanted to get the girl to this floor, it needed at least Zhang Mengyao's consent.
If she was here, 'Does that mean Zhang Mengyao agrees?', as these thoughts floated in his head, a smile formed on his lips, "In the end, I have to talk with Zhang Mengyao first," he muttered.
Tang Shaoyang approached the bed, he lifted the girl's feet to the bed, and he then covered her with the blanket, "What a careless girl…"
Afterward, he left the room. He did not forget to close the door before he went down to the second floor. When he reached the cafeteria, he saw the grandma who made the dumping standing next to a table. On the table, there was a steaming basket.
The smile on his face was getting thicker at the sight of the steaming basket, "Thank you for preparing the dumpling for me, Li Yue Grandma," he did not forget to thank the old lady as he approached the table.
"Hoho," the old lady smiled happily as she waved her hand, "This is my job, you don't need to thank me,"
Tang Shaoyang merely smiled at the old lady's response. Just as he was about to sit, he saw the little girl Li Yue was sleeping on the chair. She slept soundly while leaning her back against the hard wooden chair. He was about to sit next to the little girl, but then he noticed a red scratch around her neck.
He frowned and looked toward the old lady, "What happened to Li Yue's neck?" It was not a mark that mosquitoes would leave. It was a scratch of someone's nail, he could tell that with one look.
"Huhu, Leader Tang surely has a sharp eye," the old lady laughed as she looked at her lovely granddaughter, "She fought with the new kids from the Century Orphanage. The new kids said you were evil but my little girl could not accept that so she argued with them. It was just a children's fight, nothing serious," the old lady waved her hand casually, indicating it was nothing serious.
If it was an adult who did that, Tang Shaoyang might do something for the little girl. Since it was a children's fight, he could not meddle in it, "I hope you enjoy the food," the old lady wanted to pick Li Yue, but he prevented her.
He called a male staff from the kitchen and told him to carry Li Yue, "Thank you for your concern, Leader Tang," the old lady did not refuse the help but she thanked him.
Afterward, Tang Shaoyang enjoyed the feast. Beside the steaming hot black coffee, there was also a cold orange juice. He finished the basket of dumplings and a glass of orange juice in fifteen minutes.
He then took his time to finish the coffee. By the time he finished the coffee, it was already ten-forty in the night, "What should I do now?" He just woke up, there was no way he would sleep again.
"Exercise might be good…" he stood up and muttered.
—Yes, we have a lot of work with your fighting style.
Zaneos chimed in Tang Shaoyang's head when those words came out of his mouth.
*** ***
When Zhang Mengyao opened her eyes, she did not see Tang Shaoyang on the bed. She rubbed her eyes and creased her brows, "Where did he go?"
[Master went to the drill ground last night…] Origin reported what his Master did last night to Zhang Mengyao.
"He hasn't come back yet?" She asked in a whisper as her frown deepened. It was five in the morning, meaning it had been six hours since Tang Shaoyang left the base to the drill ground.
Zhang Mengyao was concerned about his state, so she immediately got up from the bed. She washed her face and changed her clothes to her usual exercise attire.
When she arrived at the drill ground, a few of Tarriors and a few from the slave group had arrived at the drill ground. However, she did not see Tang Shaoyang around. She walked deeper into the drill ground, in her seventh step the ground vibrated slightly. From the distance, she could hear familiar laughs.
She picked up her pace, walking to the source of the laugh. Further was a big circle field surrounded by trees. This was the field used by her, Lu An, and Tang Shaoyang for their exclusive training. As she stepped into the field, Zhang Mengyao found the person she had been looking for. In the center of the field, Tang Shaoyang was standing on top of Pride, the Demonic Ape. He locked Pride's right arm with his right foot on its chest.
"I give up! I give up!" The Demonic Ape tapped the ground with its free hand. Tang Shaoyang released the big arm and slumped down onto the ground. He wiped the sweats on his forehead with the back of his hand, "I won, so the score is 3 to 1,"
Pride stayed silent, trying to stabilize its irregular breathing. It did not try to refuse that as it indeed lost to Tang Shaoyang, this was its third loss.
"What are you doing?" Zhang Mengyao approached the Master and his Vassal. Tang Shaoyang moved his eyes, "Oh, you are here," he greeted her with a smile, "We just finished our fourth round of sparring,"
Zhang Mengyao did not reply but looked at the man's eyes. He looked much more relaxed and better than yesterday. At least, it was what she saw from the surface, it was unknown what was in his head and how he's feeling now. She could not read that from his expression.
Noticing the stare from Mengyao, he looked up, "What's up?" She did not reply but just stared at him for a little longer before she shook her head, "Nothing,"
"Oh, do you want to start your daily routine? Lu An may arrive shortly, why don't you wait for him?" He did not know the girl was concerned about him. Zhang Mengyao hummed while nodding her head in return.
Tang Shaoyang stood up, "I won today, we will do it again tomorrow!" He spoke to Pride who was still laying flat on the ground. "I will next time even though you are my Master!" The Demonic Ape boldly declared.
Tang Shaoyang grinned at Pride's bold challenge. Not long after the conversation, Lu An arrived, "He's here, then I am going back," he bid his farewell to Mengyao. The latter responded with a nod.
Back to the base, he took a shower and spent his time in the control room. He sat on the chair while looking at the translucent map in front of him. He tapped the map at a certain area and a new screen popped out.
[Do you want to purchase the land (5,000,000 Game Coins)? Yes/No?]
He took a deep breath when he saw the price of a thousand square meters of land was 5 million coins. As they planned beforehand, Tang Shaoyang and Zhang Mengyao agreed to purchase land to start farming for their permanent source of food. He planned to buy the land for the newly formed Agricultural and Provision Division.
Tang Shaoyang did not dare to press the yes button. He checked his empire's treasury, the available fund was around 17 million. He could afford to get the land, but the problem was that he wanted to upgrade the smart base to Level 4.
"Origin, how much coin to upgrade the base to the next level?"
[10 million coins for Level 4 Smart Base. By upgrading the smart base, you will open the Level 2 General Store, and open one random facility!]
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Character's Status Update
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Name: Zhang Mengyao
Class: Knight
Age: 25
Affiliation: Tang Empire
Level: 42
Talent: Insight
Attribute Point: 0
Strength: 101
Agility: 69
Vitality: 112
Stamina: 72
Magic Power: 10
Sense: 42/50
Skill Point: 10
Skill: [Basic Detection], [Envisage], [Shield Wall - Lv1], [Unbending Strike - Lv1]
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Insight Talent: +1 to all attributes except for Magic Power each level up.
Knight's Bonus attribute: +1 Vitality each level up. (Not all class give bonus attribute)
Zhang Mengyao's focus attributes: Strength and Agility before she gets her class. Strength and Vitality after she gets the class.
Sense: 42/50, the cap will be explained in the later chapter as it's part of the story.