Universe Infinite Canteen

"You're telling me this thing can transport me to other universes?"

Ma Lu examined the white egg in his hands closely, but he could find no difference from an ordinary chicken egg.

It was roughly the same size and weight, with an equally shiny shell, and when touched, it felt slightly rough; under sunlight, one could even faintly see light shining through from the other side.

"The Bug Egg can't directly take you to other universes; it's more like creating a projection of you over there," Old Wang explained. "Once the time limit is reached, the projection will disappear and if it suffers lethal damage, it'll end your journey prematurely."

"Sounds like logging into a game account, that's pretty safe. But what if this thing breaks? Can it still be used?"

"The Bug Egg is one of the toughest materials in the Multiverse. There's nothing in this universe that can damage it."

"Really?" Ma Lu tapped the egg on the table. The shell dented the moment it touched the table but immediately popped back to its original shape and plumpness as soon as it was lifted.

Ma Lu watched in amazement as Old Wang pulled out a few more things from beneath his blue windbreaker.

There was an orange wristband, a small knife about thirty centimeters in length, a medium-sized plastic bag, and a chip.

......

Ma Lu had met Old Wang on the forty-second day after his graduation ceremony. That day he got up early from bed to attend a job interview.

However, when he arrived at the interview venue, he found it in complete disarray.

Angry investors and bewildered employees were chattering incessantly like sparrows on a telegraph pole.

There were cries from the finance room like, "Why, why has this happened? Where did all the money go?!"

Ma Lu stopped a lady who was walking out with a monitor under one arm and two big bags of printing paper in the other. She looked at him warily until Ma Lu explained why he was there, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"The company's gone. Early this morning, the boss suddenly dissolved the work group. Then his phone became unreachable. Nobody could contact him. Some say that bastard has fled the country, and before leaving, he swept away all the remaining money from the accounts.

"There definitely won't be any compensation, and the salary owed for the past two months will probably not be reclaimed. Everyone's just managing to grab some things.

"Since you're here, don't be shy, just grab something to cover your travel expenses. Anyway, all the valuable stuff is already picked over," the lady generously offered.

Unable to refuse her hospitality, Ma Lu finally chose a Spider Plant from a corner.

Meanwhile, a middle-aged man looking like an investor burst from the finance room, his eyes red, shouting, "Put it down! Everyone, put it down!!! This is company property! No one is allowed to touch it!!!"

However, the moment he showed up, he was quickly surrounded by angry employees, and someone even grabbed his collar, demanding he repay them on behalf of the boss.

The office became lively again in no time.

Ma Lu left the office building carrying the Spider Plant, whose leaves were a bit yellowed, planning to catch the subway.

On his way, he passed through a small park where he saw a group of sixteen or seventeen-year-old teens huddled together, swearing and kicking at something.

Ma Lu approached out of curiosity and saw a middle-aged, bald man curled up on the ground with his eyes closed.

"What's going on?"

"He came over while we were playing basketball, trying to steal Hui Zi's power bank," said a boy over one meter eighty, hugging a basketball, his tone vicious. "He definitely needs to be taught a lesson."

"That's right, we've had thefts at the court all week. We've finally caught someone. This guy is too audacious, daring to reach out right in front of us under broad daylight. He's asking for a beating." Another person chimed in, punctuating his words with a couple more kicks to the man on the ground.

But the bald man did not fight back, maintaining a strange, curled-up pose, hands clasping his chest, while leaving his face exposed.

"I feel like this must be a misunderstanding. I know this guy; he lives in the apartment below mine. He's got a bit of a problem here," Ma Lu said, pointing to his own head.

"For real? You're not his accomplice, are you?" The tall one eyed Ma Lu with suspicion.

"Would a sane person wrap themselves in a storm jacket in thirty-eight-degree heat?" Ma Lu said as he fiddled with his shirt to let some air through.

"A lot of us in the neighborhood know about him. He used to be a programmer, made some money during the best years of the internet boom, but later his parents died in a car accident.

"After that, he not only lost all his earnings in the stock market but also ended up deep in debt. His wife ran off with someone else, and the child turned out not to be his. He couldn't handle the blow and went mad. Now he lives only with his grandmother, who is over eighty, but she's old and can't keep an eye on him, so he sometimes escapes."

"That's terrible," Yi Mi Ba exclaimed in shock.

The other youths stopped what they were doing and exchanged looks.

Ma Lu shifted the flower pot to his other arm. "I'm not his accomplice, I work just around the corner. Mars Technology, Floor 12, Building A, Universal Plaza, ever heard of it?"

The youths looked at each other, and Yi Mi Ba said, "That's really bad luck. Let's just forget it. It's not worth it to make a fuss over a madman. Let's go back to playing ball."

Once they had gone far away, Ma Lu finally addressed the man on the ground, "Hey, are you alright?"

The man opened his eyes and shook his head.

"Do you remember where your home is, or do you have a relative's contact number? I can call them for you."

"Thank you, my sector has sustained severe damage, and I've lost a lot of data," the man spoke in an odd manner.

"Alright then," Ma Lu said without being too surprised.

Although he had made up many stories with those youths, there was one thing he hadn't lied about: the bald man in front of him was indeed not in his right mind. If Ma Lu hadn't realized that, he would never have gotten involved in this matter.

"Let's go to the police station and see if the police can help you recover the data," Ma Lu continued, playing along with the man's words.

The man shook his head again, "According to 'Multiverse Traveler's Guide' Clause One—Travelers must ensure their identity is not revealed by civilizations outside of The Grand Alliance, I must immediately terminate this communication."

"But you're in trouble," said Ma Lu. "If you don't resolve this, you might just cause more trouble, and then it'll be hard for you to go unnoticed, right?"

The man seemed hesitant at his words and after a moment, he uttered two words, "Recharge."

"Recharge?"

"I need to recharge."

"Oh, you mean your phone? No wonder you were trying to steal a power bank earlier; your phone is dead. Do you want to use mine for now?"

Ma Lu handed over his own phone.

The man took the phone but returned it after just a few seconds, "Not enough."

"What do you mean not enough?" Ma Lu took back his phone and was surprised to find that it, which had 40 percent battery just moments ago, was now completely dead. The screen was pitch black, unresponsive to any button pressed.

"How strange, how did it suddenly die?" Ma Lu examined his phone and when he looked up again, he found that the man had already started walking towards a high voltage tower not far away.

Ma Lu quickly grabbed the man's storm jacket, "Don't even think about it. Here's an idea; I'll take you somewhere where you can recharge. I need to charge my phone too."

Five minutes later, Ma Lu led the man into a small café on the street, ordered two of the cheapest lemonades, and then asked the waiter for a charger.

Ma Lu placed the spider plant on the center of the table. Through the wide leaves of the spider plant, he saw three shiny metallic coils slither out from under Old Wang's blue storm jacket.

The metallic coils seemed alive, initially just peeking out furtively and scanning the café to make sure no one was looking their way. Then they twisted and wriggled under the table, finding the right opportunity to quickly slip into a wall socket in the corner.

The next moment, the hanging lights on the café's ceiling started to flicker frantically, alternating between bright and dim.

All the electronic devices in the shop also began to emit shrill beeping alarm sounds, with error messages continuously popping up on the LCD screens, like a comical yet crazy concert.

This bizarre spectacle lasted for about a dozen seconds until a muffled pop came from the fuse box, and then the world returned to silence once more.

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