Chapter 26 - Coward Tom

 

…

 

Just when Li Qu’s smile grew wider as he expected Tom to attack him, he did something out of everyone's expectation.

 

Tom, the almighty Captain of the Protector's Unit, did a ninety degree bow full of sincerity and said,

 

“I apologize for offending Sir, I have short foresight and did not mean to go against you, my nephew is smart in recognizing someone of greatness. Please go easy on me for the sake of my nephew.”

 

“...”

 

It was the first experience of not being able to predict something for Li Qu on Earth, he looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with a look of disdain.

 

“Is this what you Earthlings call a ‘turn-off’? Tch, I expected better from you. Whatever, go take a seat and scram after drinking.”

 

Li Qu left and nestled down on the chair located at the cashier counter.

 

‘Perhaps I should pretend to be weak next time so I can watch a good show?’

 

As Li Qu was lost in thought, Mike slowly got up and soothed his backside from the impact after he had been kicked.

 

“Look, what did I tell you Uncle! F*ck’s sake, let's just drink our tea an- Tsss! It’s f*cking painful! I think there's a bruise!”

 

Tom’s left hand was mangled with blood dripping onto the floor as he let out a huge sigh from escaping death's door and took out a first aid kit from his storage belt to stop it from bleeding.

 

He then wrapped a tight bandage on his hand in a robotic manner, as if he had done it countless times before.

 

The startled Elvis and the uncle-nephew duo sat down around a table and called for Xia Qiu to order the tea.

 

“My waitress, clean up the mess that the coward Tom made after they leave. Remember to collect the Bio-Cores from them, tell me if they are unwilling to pay after drinking my tea.”

 

“Yes, Young Master Li!”

 

Xia Qiu jumped a little as she was still in a daze witnessing the scene in front of her and was given a startle from Li Qu instructing her.

 

“Coward Tom, Pffft, hahahaha- Ouch!”

 

Mike roared with laughter but Tom gave another light kick to his bum while shaking his head and looked up at the sky.

 

‘This nephew, I have spoiled him for nothing! Sis, are you watching in heaven as your son bullies me?’

 

Xia Qiu snapped out of her stupor and walked to the trio’s table.

 

“T-Three pots of Gold Spirit Tea, paying now or later?”

 

No matter how prepared she was to work as a waitress, she was still essentially a newbie when it came to being friendly to customers.

 

The etiquettes of a waitress would be slowly ingrained into her after she gets used to working in the teahouse.

 

Elvis was quite at a loss for words of the way Xia Qiu talked.

 

‘Who takes orders like that!! Sigh… What have I gotten myself into? And the price, that’s a month’s worth of my wage!’

 

He had already heard of the price but he thought that he could just take a sip from Mike’s pot, Elvis did not expect to get into this situation.

 

Elvis was a healer, and healers were not good at attacking or hunting, so he could not hunt Bio-Beasts by himself and could only tag along in a team that had decent offensive ability.

 

Although there would be a reason why someone like Elvis could get into the Protector’s Unit, he was still new and did not have many Bio-Cores.

 

“W-wait, Miss! Only two pots please, I do not have e-enough… I-”

 

Elvis sadly told Xia Qiu as Captain Tom suddenly interrupted him.

 

“Do you think I would let my men suffer! Don't worry, I'll pay for you!”

 

Elvis looked at Captain Tom emotionally and sniffed.

 

“C-Captain Tom! Y-you are so nice to me… Sniff.”

 

“Hey new guy, don't cry so easily man! You already look like a girl, you'll be mistaken as one when you act like that!”

 

Mike elbowed Elvis as the words he said resonated with Elvis.

 

“Y-yes! I-I will man up!”

 

Saying that with a few tears in his eyes was comical to look at, but it was indeed true that Elvis had the delicate facial features of a girl.

 

“We will pay first. Thank you, Miss.”

 

Tom took out 15 Bio-Cores from his storage belt and handed it over to Xia Qiu.

 

Bio-Cores were about the size of a pinky finger, as such, the 15 Bio-Cores could be held within her two hands.

 

Xia Qiu then dropped the Bio-Cores on the cashier counter where Li Qu was sitting while using his phone and walked into the brewing room to fetch the pots of tea.

 

Li Qu had already concocted a bunch beforehand, Xia Qiu just had to take the tea leaves and boil them.

 

Everything was already setup for Xia Qiu, it was id*ot-proof.

 

Xia Qiu walked in and surveyed the room filled with blue lines running across the cabinets, she tried to touch one of the cabinets and her hand gently rebounded back.

 

“Wahhhh, this is so cool, it seems like I can't touch anything without permission.”

 

The blue lines filled the whole room, except the table where Xia Qiu was allowed to interact with.

 

It was the defense formation created by the System in action to prevent thefts.

 

…

 

“Here are your pots of Gold Spirit Tea, enjoy!”

 

Xia Qiu placed the tray on the table and she walked towards Li Qu to pester him with random small talks while the trio enjoyed their tea.

 

Mike excitedly took his pot and poured the illuminating tea into his teacup, as if demonstrating the majesty of the magical Gold Spirit Tea.

 

Audible gulps of saliva were heard from Tom and Elvis while Mike looked proud as if he was the one that made the tea.

 

“Quick! Drink it and feel the true power of Young Master Li!”

 

Tom and Elvis then poured the tea into their cups.

 

Elvis took a small sip and his eyes lit up as if there were stars in them as he exclaimed in glee.

 

“O-oh my Nature Goddess! T-this is so amazing, wuahhh!”

 

“This is truly good tea. It is definitely worth the price, or maybe even underpriced for it's worth.”

 

Tom nodded with satisfaction as his eyes were displaying his greed to drink more.

 

Elvis was currently in the Genelock 2nd Phase, and when he finished his first cup, he could feel his powers noticeably increase.

 

“Wow! My powers, Captain Tom, my powers have increased!”

 

Elvis was visibly excited and told Tom.

 

“Look! What did I f*cking tell you! Those people are lucky that I’m a magnanimous person and will bring them the next time, hmph!”

 

Mike boasted to the two beside him.

 

“Hmmm, this is truly mysterious, a tea that could increase your powers. I have a great idea… I would brin- W-wait! T-this…!”

 

Although the Gold Spirit Tea could let people like Mike and Elvis that were in the lower stages of power increase, keep in mind that Tom was an Ascended, he was already at the limit on Earth!

 

Tom hurriedly used his Ascended-level Micro Sense and inspected his body when he drank the tea, but he still could not see through the process of it, that was when he felt an infinitely small push by something.

 

When he felt that ‘something’ move just a little bit, he nearly forgot to breathe.

 

As if he had come across something important, his Gene Ocean subconsciously churned.

 

…