"Don't rush, don't rush, eat slowly. No one's competing with you." Watching the delicate young girl devouring her food voraciously, Chen Luo's heart truly ached for her.
Chen Luo couldn't understand how an adult could possibly starve themselves to death.
After opening a direct door to Nagazora for Senti, Chen Luo focused on reviving Mona, who was still alive.
Without Chen Luo, others couldn't use the teleport waypoints to access the bar's entrance.
Moreover, without Chen Luo's permission, others couldn't follow people from different worlds to their worlds. Similarly, even people from the same world couldn't visit each other without Chen Luo's approval.
This could be considered an advantage, preventing people from different worlds from crossing over during the bar's daytime operation if Chen Luo wasn't present, which would cause significant problems.
Of course, those Chen Luo pre-approved were exceptions.
For example, Chen Luo pre-approved Rin to transfer to Raven's location through the bar.
This was also to allow Rin to see her sister as soon as possible.
Naturally, this was limited to one transfer only.
However, even without permission, temporarily seeking refuge in the bar was possible.
Returning to the main topic, according to Chen Luo's assessment, Mona wasn't in any real danger—she had simply fainted from hunger.
But then again, Mona was, after all, a remarkable champion of enduring hunger. Not having enough to eat was already a normal state for her—how could she possibly starve to death from just one day without food?
Chen Luo had been unconscious for 24 hours, just one day. Although a day is long, going without food for a full day wouldn't kill anyone.
But Chen Luo was truly puzzled: after providing her meals for so long, why hadn't she saved even a single Mora? Where did all her money go?
Unable to figure it out and unable to wake her, Chen Luo ultimately chose the simplest and most straightforward method: placing a plate of fried rice on the table in front of her.
He didn't have to wait long—in fact, the moment Chen Luo placed the food on the table, she snapped awake.
After waking, without even saying thank you, she began devouring the food voraciously.
"Bar owner, oh Bar owner, how could I live without you?" After spending two minutes finishing a large plate of fried rice, Mona looked at Chen Luo with emotion.
Chen Luo suspected that if they weren't sitting face-to-face, she might have pounced on him.
Before, Mona knew she might not eat well without Chen Luo, but now she realized it wasn't about eating well—it was about potentially starving to death.
If Chen Luo had decided to rest for two days instead of one, Mona might have truly starved to death in the bar.
No, that's not right—death events don't occur in the bar; even if you try to harm yourself, you can't die.
Therefore, Mona could only faint from hunger but not starve to death.
"It's not that serious, really not that serious." Chen Luo felt somewhat embarrassed.
"Could I have another serving? I'm still hungry." After wiping her mouth with a tissue, Mona asked cautiously.
Mona no longer cared about her image, as there was none left to maintain.
Having nearly starved to death twice in front of him, what image could she possibly have?
The image of a starving ghost?
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
"I could give you more, but you haven't eaten all day and just had a large meal. Even if you're still hungry, I suggest you come back for a late-night snack when the bar opens in the evening." Seeing the commission worth 50 Primogems, Chen Luo accepted it without hesitation but didn't plan to give her food immediately.
It wasn't that Chen Luo lacked the food, but he was concerned for her health.
"Alright then." After hearing Chen Luo's advice, Mona nodded reluctantly.
Mona felt she could still eat, but if Chen Luo disagreed, there was nothing she could do.
"But I'm really curious—did you really not leave even one day's worth of meal money for yourself?" Chen Luo was genuinely puzzled.
How much did this person trust him? If he ever decided to close the bar, she might starve to death on the spot.
Chen Luo would never close the bar permanently, but he might occasionally want to take a day off.
If he hadn't needed to bring Senti to the bar this time, he might have taken another day off.
In that case, he might have truly witnessed Mona fainting from hunger.
"Well, I just used all my money to pay the final installment for the astrology instrument. I really didn't have a single Mora left." Mona said embarrassedly, smoothing her hair.
Mona was a true shopaholic, the kind who could serve as a cautionary tale after Double 11 sales.
However, the things Mona bought were genuinely useful for academic research. The problem was that she often failed to properly reconcile the contradiction between her financial capabilities and the prices of the latest instruments.
"I don't want to advise you to use astrology to earn money or anything like that, but if you had just asked any of the bar's customers for help, you wouldn't have starved to this extent, right?"
As an outstanding hydromancer, Mona strictly adhered to the rule of astrologers: not using astrology to earn money. Chen Luo wouldn't challenge her principles, but...
Although Chen Luo hadn't come last night, his bar had remained open to allow customers to seek refuge if they faced life-threatening dangers.
Among the bar's customers, except for that guy who could survive on thin air, none were as poor as Mona, who didn't even have money for food. If only Mona had asked them for help?
Although Mona wasn't deeply acquainted with the others, they were at least on nodding terms.
"Did you forget about the sign at your bar's entrance? Unless they had an emergency like me, others wouldn't enter the bar after seeing that sign."
"And I couldn't just wait in the bar indefinitely hoping someone would save me. So I didn't see anyone last night, and when I came back at noon today, you're the only person I've seen until now." Mona said somewhat innocently.
"This..." Chen Luo was momentarily speechless.
There was a sign at the entrance of Chen Luo's bar, like many bars, indicating the bar's operating status. When the status changed, the sign would switch from "Open" to "Temporarily Closed."
Thus, except for someone like Mona who urgently needed saving, no one would enter after seeing the "Closed" sign.
"Sigh, forget it. Let me get you some soup. You shouldn't eat more solid food, but soup should be fine." Hearing about Mona's pitiful situation, Chen Luo couldn't help but sigh.
Even Venti would shed tears hearing this.
At least Venti could survive on thin air without starving, but Mona was a true shopaholic who spent every last penny.
"Next time, could you at least save one day's worth of meal money?" After bringing the soup, Chen Luo couldn't help but say.
He felt like a worried parent, fretting over these problematic customers.
Senti, needless to say, was like raising a child.
Mona spent money recklessly every day, constantly too hungry to afford food, requiring Chen Luo—who always provided free meals—to worry about her daily life.
Venti drifted through life aimlessly, a complete drunkard bard.
Eula kept saying "vengeance" all the time. Chen Luo, who knew the truth, was fine with it, but other customers who didn't know the details felt like Eula was someone not to be trifled with.
You're already in another world—can't you change your catchphrase?
In short, you don't realize how strange it is until you think about it. Chen Luo suddenly realized that none of his bar's customers were normal.
But thankfully, these customers aren't normal; otherwise, where would Chen Luo go to reap benefits?
[Ding! commission completed]
The suddenly appearing talent panel made Chen Luo's hand instinctively twitch.
Dammit, you scared me.
"Wait, which commission is this?" Having slept for 24 hours and messed up his sense of time, Chen Luo didn't react immediately.
[Reunion After Tens of Thousands of Years]
Reward: 400 Primogems + Random item.
Difficulty: 3-star
"Oh, so Rin has already met her sister? Raven works pretty fast too." Seeing the commission displayed on the talent panel, Chen Luo remembered.
It made sense—24 hours had passed. Even by plane, she should have reached headquarters by now.
In any case, he gained another 400 Primogems and a random item.
This time, after obtaining the random item, Chen Luo didn't hoard it but opened it immediately.
Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well familiarize himself with the new item's effects.
Chen Luo found that whenever he obtained a random item from a commission, no matter how useless it seemed, it always had some use—like the "Children's Funland."
Chen Luo now had two Children's Funlands. One was new, the other had been used for tens of thousands of years.
Although one was new and the other old, and the new one might sound more valuable, it was the tens of thousands of years of negative emotions accumulated in the old Children's Funland that seemed more valuable.
Although Chen Luo didn't yet know what use the tens of thousands of years of accumulated negative emotions could be to him now, if he ever reached master or even grandmaster puppeteer level, he might be able to create a dark puppet.
Even if he didn't create puppets, he could let the Herrscher of Sentience absorb the negative emotions, but Chen Luo was afraid she might not be able to handle them.
Simply put, he was afraid the Herrscher of Sentience would overeat.
When Chen Luo saw the new random item he had just opened, he instinctively started looking around the Midnight Bar for a test subject... no, for a friend, and eventually settled his gaze on the only other living person in the bar.
"Mona, are you almost finished eating?" Chen Luo asked with a concerned look.
"Huh? What's up? Something wrong? I'm just drinking soup. It's a bit hot now, so I can let it cool for a while. If you need something, just say it." Mona, who had been leaning over the table trying to blow on the soup to cool it, looked up and said.
"Well, I wanted to ask if you could help me test an item? Don't worry, it's not something that will hurt you. And in this bar, you don't have to worry about getting injured or dying—you know that, right?" Chen Luo said.
"Test an item? If it's not something embarrassing, I don't mind." Mona thought for a moment, then nodded.
Chen Luo had been immensely kind to her. After all, without him, she didn't know when she would have saved enough money to buy her new astrology instrument. So if it was just helping out, Mona didn't mind.
Of course, if it involved changing clothes or something similar, Mona would hesitantly refuse. Though unlikely, it wasn't impossible.
"Actually, it's this." Chen Luo took out a gun from his inventory—a revolver.
"What's this? A handgun?" Mona asked, looking at the strange object.
In Teyvat, guns did exist, like the ones used by the Fatui gunmen who could deploy fire shields.
"Similar, but it's called a revolver."
"How do we test it?" Mona asked.
"Just... shoot you with it. Don't worry, it won't hurt—at least according to the item description—and it won't cause any injuries. I swear on my reputation." Chen Luo raised three fingers.
"No need to be so serious. I believe you, alright?" Seeing how serious Chen Luo was, Mona said.
"I'll need to lift the damage restriction permission a little bit—just to the level of normal roughhousing. Is that okay?"
As the bar owner, Chen Luo had the ability to lift permissions. Lifting permissions would allow mutual influence and harm, but if only lifted a little, it would be like tickling someone—just enough to make them feel itchy.
"If it's just roughhouse-level permission, that's fine." Mona nodded.
Mona agreed so readily not because she lacked caution, but because after spending so much time with Chen Luo, she had never seen him harm anyone—except during that "Judgment Time" incident.
Besides, if it was only at the level of roughhousing, it would be like a mosquito bite at most.
Moreover, he had just saved her life again. Repaying a favor like this wasn't easy.
Also, she trusted her hydromancy. Her astrology told her Chen Luo was trustworthy, meaning he wouldn't harm her.
"Don't force yourself."
"I'm not forcing myself. Go ahead and try." Mona nodded firmly.
"Alright, get ready." Chen Luo raised the gun, pointing the barrel upward.
"Bang!" A relatively soft gunshot rang out, and a round-headed bullet that looked like a children's toy shot out. Although Chen Luo wasn't aiming at Mona, the bullet curved directly toward her at high speed and hit her neck.
"Mona, how do you feel now?" Chen Luo quickly asked.
"Feel? I don't feel anything... Hahaha, wait... Hahaha... why can't I... Hahaha... stop laughing... Hahaha..."
Watching Mona clutching her stomach and laughing uncontrollably, Chen Luo nodded.
This thing was the real deal.