64 Another Gathering

Ning Shi exited the game and looked at the time. It was already six o’clock in the evening. He quickly drove to Huachao Restaurant in Dongcheng Area.

Today was the 22nd of August, the day of his monthly gathering with his two best friends.

Although he had already become a transcendence with great strength and had become the principal of an Awakener School, he was still an ordinary person in Ning Shi’s heart.

It was still a great pleasure to have a meal and chat with friends.

The High-tech Development Zone where the school was located was relatively remote, and it took nearly 50 minutes to drive to the destination.

Huachao Restaurant was a buffet restaurant specializing in Long Island cuisine.

Because of its good packaging and operation, Long Island cuisine had become very popular in Yunmeng Kingdom in recent years, and it was usually expensive.

The dinner buffet at Huachao Restaurant cost 398 Yuan per person, which was not cheap at all.

Many people were quite repulsed by the cuisine of Long Island, thinking that it was not as extensive and profound as the Yunmeng Kingdom’s food. Ning Shi did not comment on it. He was just a foodie.

Most of the restaurant owners, chefs, and employees were from the Yunmeng Kingdom. As long as the restaurant focused on food and drinks and did not export culture and ideas, Ning Shi would only eat.

Walking into the shop, the overall style of the decoration was mainly red, black, and white, with red lanterns and pale-yellow wooden windows. It had the unique style of Long Island and was combined with modern fashion elements.

It was seven o’clock in the evening, the peak time for dining. Many couples were sitting in waiting seats in front of the restaurant.

“Hello, Sir. Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes, in Room 3, Mr. Yang. I’m his friend.”

“Please wait a moment… Mr. Yang has arrived. Please verify your identity first, and then you can go in. Did you bring your ID card? If you don’t have it, you can just tell me your ID number.”

Ning Shi was shocked. He asked in confusion, “I’m just having a meal, why do I need to verify my identity?”

The waiter pointed to the banner at the door and said, “I’m sorry to have caused you trouble, Sir. Due to the awakeners, the prices in our shop have changed. Therefore, we need to verify your identity.

Ning Shi’s eyes fell on the poster on the display.

“Ordinary people: 398/person.

“Non-strength-type awakeners: 698/person.

“Strength-type awakener: 1698/person.”

In the last column of the poster, there was a small remark.

“The price adjustment of our restaurant is in consideration of cost and does not involve any discrimination. To ensure the speed of serving, we can only serve up to 30 strength-type awakeners at each meal time.

“Please verify your identity before entering the store. Please forgive us for any inconvenience.”

Alright, even restaurants discriminate against strength-type awakeners!

Ning Shi also understood the restaurant’s approach. If they did not make a price adjustment, with the appetite of strength-type awakeners, these buffet restaurants would soon be bankrupt.

Ning Shi didn’t bring his ID card and gave his ID number to the attendant. He continued to ask, “Can you verify if I am an awakener with just an ID card?”

These days, Ning Shi was either playing games or busy with school matters, so he didn’t pay much attention to society.

The waiter explained, “Yes, sir. The government has already issued regulations on the management of awakeners. As long as you are an awakener, you must register with the government within a time limit. If you do not register, you will be subjected to a maximum of three years of detention.

“Moreover, only registered awakeners can purchase spiritual crystals at a discounted price from the government. Most of the current awakeners have completed the registration, and their identity and the type of awakener ability will be displayed on their ID card.

“Even if there are some who miss their registration occasionally, the probability of encountering them in our restaurant is relatively small.”

Ning Shi poked his head out curiously and looked at the computer of the waiter. He saw that there was a golden frame on his ID photo, and in the upper right corner, there was a fist symbol.

“Hello, Mr. Ning. You are a strength-type awakener. There are 17 strength-type awakeners in the store now. As long as you agree to the price of 1698 Yuan per person, you can go in.

What else could Ning Shi say? He could only say that he had to eat to his heart’s content today and figure out the price-performance ratio…

He followed the waiter into the shop.

“Oh, ke ya Kusama! (There’s an important guest here)”

The waiter leading the way shouted, and the rest of the waiters followed suit.

“Oh, ke suppress Kusama!”

Ning Shi didn’t like it and could only accept it. Long Island restaurants liked to do this.

Yang Yunzhi and Chen Wei were already sitting inside when he entered private Room No. 3. The two of them were talking and laughing, their faces glowing red and their bodies exuding energy.

“Shitou, here you come! Hurry up! Quickly sit down! The tablet is with Dazhi. Dazhi, hurry up and order, I’m starving!”

Chen Wei took the initiative to greet him. Compared to the past, he was now exuding a sense of confidence and brashness.

Ning Shi was keenly aware of it. He asked with a smile, “Old Chen, what good stuff did you encounter?”

Before Chen Wei could say anything, Yang Yunzhi answered.

“The awakening potion has had its price reduced recently. Old Chen bought another bottle and successfully awakened after drinking it. He’s still in his excited phase!

“F*ck! Awesome, Old Chen! Congratulations!”

Ning Shi was truly happy for his best friend. Although the awakening potion could be taken multiple times, the probability of a single awakening did not change. For adults, the probability of awakening was not high.

Ning Shi himself had also taken a bottle of potion, but it had no effect. His parents had also taken it, but they had not awakened.

Including Yang Yunzhi, who had already drunk two bottles of potion and was still an ordinary person.

After becoming an awakener, even if one’s abilities were not good, just the benefits of having a healthy body and a long life were enough to make people go crazy.

Ning Shi understood Chen Wei’s excitement very well. He asked, “What ability has Old Chen awakened? Is he a strength-type like me?”

When Ning Shi asked this, the private room suddenly became quiet.

Chen Wei’s face was a little twisted, as if he had just died. Yang Yunzhi’s lips were tightly shut, trying to hold back his laughter.

In the end, Chen Wei decided to go all out and said, “My ability is the extremely rare transformation-type. I can choose an image or species to transform and obtain the corresponding ability after the transformation.”

“This ability is awesome. Why do you look so embarrassed?”

Ning Shi asked, puzzled. The ability of the transformation-type was really powerful when used well.

Yang Yunzhi couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. He calmed himself down and asked Ning Shi.

“Who is Chen Wei’s favorite character?”

Chen Wei was a fan of comics and animation. When he was in school, he didn’t even listen to the lectures in class and just read comic books. After graduation, he especially loved watching Long Island anime.

Ning Shi remembered that his favorite character was Railgun – Misaka Mikoto, the protagonist of A Certain Magical Index.

Railgun was powerful, lively and cheerful, and she was always at the forefront of the popularity rankings of various anime characters. The key was that she was a female character.

Ning Shi was dumbfounded. “Old Chen, don’t tell me you’ve transformed into Railgun?!”

Chen Wei wiped the corner of his eyes and said, “It would be great if it was Railgun. I wanted to become Railgun. But for some reason, I suddenly thought of Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors in One Piece.

Charlotte Linlin. The female character in one piece was as strong as a monster and very talented. When she was five years old, she destroyed the giant island, Elbaf, and instantly killed Jarul, the hero of the giant race. She was known as the Natural Born Destroyer.

Most importantly, the woman’s image was that of an ugly fatty!

“Hahaha! Hahaha!”

Ning Shi’s true self as a bad friend was exposed, and he smacked the table and laughed wildly.

“I’m sorry, I’ve received professional training. I don’t usually laugh unless I can’t help it! Hahaha!

“Old Chen, Old Chen, I didn’t expect you, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, to also defect to the revolution!

Now that the matter had been made clear, Chen Wei didn’t feel as hopeless as before. After all, they were all his good friends. He argued shamelessly.

“I didn’t have that kind of intention at all. It was my first awakening, and I didn’t have a teacher to teach me. I just wanted to have fun, so I activated my transformation ability in Railgun’s image.

“How would I know it would turn into a Big Mom!

“No one told me that before reaching Level 7, the transformation-type could only choose one form!”

Ning Shi caught the main point and said awkwardly, “Old Chen, that’s not important. Quickly transform and let me see. I’ve never seen a real Big Mom before!