Chapter 4: The Century-Old Hotel (Part 2)
Although today's situation was much better than last night's, he still feared the darkness and wished for some light during the night.
The slender decorative candles in the birthday cake were useless—it seemed the only option was to find something to start a fire.
What frustrated him was that despite the grandeur of the entire first-floor lobby, not a single item was flammable.
Damn fire safety measures—they didn't prevent fires, but they sure prevented me.
He thought this was a hotel, and there should be some flammable items in the room, such as quilts or similar objects.
But after searching through the second, third, and fourth floors, he couldn't find a single door! Without doors, how did customers enter the rooms?
He thought: There should be doors, but they're invisible. When customers arrive on their floor, the automatic recognition system would open the doors.
Now without electricity, he naturally couldn't find any doors.
Even with electricity, he wouldn't be able to pass the identity verification.
No choice. But he didn't want to spend the night in this dark and stuffy room, so he simply went outside to stay in the open.
The rain had stopped, so he decided to walk around for a while. As long as he kept his protective suit on, there shouldn't be much danger.
He hoped those big wolves from the hills across the river last night wouldn't appear…
However, there were no signs of any animals having been in this area.
Although it was still somewhat stuffy, he put on his helmet because it allowed him to see farther and take early measures in case of emergencies.
Dare to spend a night in the wilderness? Let's walk around first and decide later.
Sleeping fully clothed with the helmet's alert system activated should theoretically be safe.
But walking around fully equipped like this is really uncomfortable and stuffy.
Oh right, maybe I should gather some branches to burn for light at the hotel. Though they're artificial trees, surely they wouldn't be fireproof too?
So he found a slightly lower branch and hacked at it with his dagger.
"Ouch! It's electrified!" he shouted, dropping the dagger in surprise.
He smacked his forehead as sudden realization dawned.
These trees function just like the solar panels in First Paradise - they're power generators. This entire grove isn't just for aesthetics; it powers the hotel.
If that's the case, there shouldn't be power shortages here. So why isn't a single electric light working?
Clearly, there's a malfunction in the power supply system.
No matter how advanced the New Humans are, they couldn't guarantee their facilities would remain perfectly intact after over a century.
He casually inspected another tree and only then discovered those leaves were actually some kind of flexible solar collection panels.
Slowly peeling open the base of a leaf cluster with his dagger, when the blade pierced inside, he again felt electric current flowing, even sparking a few times.
Wireless power transmission had become common by 2A62. These trees' power generation devices still appeared functional - so was the hotel's power reception system faulty, or was there an issue with output control?
Logically speaking, it should be the latter.
Because the hotel rooftop likely had solar or other power facilities too, which should connect directly to the hotel's power system without needing wireless transmission. Even if it couldn't receive power from the solar trees, there would still be other power sources preventing blackouts.
He should return to the hotel to find the control facility - it must be an antique. The Time Capsule should explain how to repair it and restore power.
He wanted to try entering before complete darkness fell.
He turned back, retracing his steps while trying to recall the areas he'd passed in the hotel during the day. Where could that power control room be?
From a security standpoint, it should logically be on the first floor. Places with heavy foot traffic should probably be ruled out first. And none of the areas he'd already visited seemed to fit the description.
With this analysis, he had a rough idea of the general location and headed straight in that direction.
The interior was now pitch black, forcing him to rely on his helmet's night vision to navigate.
As he approached a corner, his helmet's warning system suddenly alerted him to extreme danger, while his night vision goggles flashed with images of a rapidly moving object.
Startled, he instinctively turned and fled. His sprint seemed unstoppable, carrying him all the way back along his original path to where he'd first come ashore.
To flee in panic without even seeing what kind of monster it was - how utterly humiliating.
In First Paradise, he'd been the bravest, afraid of nothing.
But the New Humans were bolder still, daring enough to create any kind of monster imaginable.
He suddenly remembered his only food supplies were still back at the hotel. He had no choice but to return.
He hesitated: should he wait until daytime tomorrow to go back, or return now to reclaim his belongings?
Calming down, he decided to first review the helmet's playback of the earlier alert footage to identify what that "monster" actually was.
After watching the footage, he nearly choked with anger.
The helmet's automatic analysis system clearly labeled the creature in the footage - it was a king cobra, not some monster at all!
Furious, he grabbed his dagger and stormed back to the hotel.
Approaching that same corner again, he slowed his pace.
Through his night vision goggles, he could see six king cobras in the room ahead.
Reaching the doorway, he violently kicked open the door and slashed his dagger at a cobra's head, which immediately rolled to the ground.
The other five struck at him, but their fangs couldn't penetrate his protective suit.
Showing no mercy, he swiftly dispatched them all - reducing the snakes to segments within two minutes.
Only then did he realize this room was actually the hotel's power distribution room.
He glanced around and felt a sense of déjà vu. Indeed, it was identical to the main distribution room in First Paradise!
These snakes—or their predecessors—must have accidentally triggered the emergency power shut-off after invading.
This could be restored on-site or remotely.
But since the hotel had been abandoned by its owners, naturally no one came to address it.
He reached over and reset the emergency shut-off, instantly illuminating the room.
Overjoyed, he scanned the area again, checking for any remaining troublemakers.
After confirming no lingering threats, he gathered the dead snakes into a pile and muttered, "Aren't these food too? Damn, there's quite a lot!"
Now with power restored, the hotel must have an ice-making room—perfect for storing them as reserves.
Still, better find something to boil water first and try cooking a piece of snake meat.
So, he picked up a segment of the snake, held it in his hand, and walked towards the cake room.
Just as he was about to cross the hall, he got another big fright.
The humanoid ladies and gentlemen in the hotel had started moving! They were frantically cleaning and tidying up.
He stood still, unsure how to handle this situation.
At that moment, two humanoid gentlemen approached and said, "My King, how may we assist you?"
He stammered, "I… I…"
One humanoid gentleman looked into his eyes and suddenly exclaimed in alarm, "We have no registration records for a King here!"
Another humanoid gentleman glanced at him and said with a smile, "I don't know how you got in, but please go register outside at the main entrance immediately."
He remained standing motionless.
The two humanoid gentlemen gently supported him with both hands and escorted him outside the main entrance.
He heard a voice from above call out, "We sincerely apologize, but your identity cannot be verified. Entry is not permitted."
(End of Chapter)