A short while later, the old man was brought into the office.
He was an elderly gentleman who needed a cane to walk and trembled with every step, yet he was dressed very neatly.
The old man bowed slightly in greeting. “Hello, Mr. Lu.”
“Please, have a seat.” Lu Li quickly gestured for the old man to sit down, then said, “The gem you gave me is very useful. One of my partners happens to need it, so you can make a request. As long as it’s within my ability, I’ll fulfill it.”
Hearing this, the old man’s face lit up with excitement, and he stood up from the sofa again: “Mr. Lu, I only have one request. I hope you can help me find someone at Harbor Hotel.”
“Find someone?”
A trace of confusion flashed across Lu Li’s face.
“Are you sure that person is still alive?” Although Lu Li’s question was somewhat cruel, it was the truth.
In the apocalypse, what was the difference between being missing for a month and being dead?
Wait a minute.
Lu Li suddenly realized something.
Hadn’t the old man just mentioned Harbor Hotel?
If it was Harbor Hotel, then he really would be looking for a person rather than a corpse.
With that thought, Lu Li straightened up and asked, “Who do you need me to find?”
The old man’s expression grew heavy, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he answered, “My daughter. Her name is Eve.”
“Eve? That foreigner?” Lu Li was startled. However, in this world, he should probably call her someone from another region instead. After all, this world had only one government and one country.
“To tell you the truth, Mr. Lu, I only returned to Dihui City a month ago. When people get old, they naturally want to return to their roots, so my daughter brought me back here.”
“But I never expected the apocalypse to arrive so suddenly. When those demon beasts descended, I happened to be out taking a walk, while my daughter was still at the hotel.”
After listening to the old man’s explanation, Lu Li was fairly certain that the Eve he was talking about was the same Eve he knew.
Lu Li smiled and congratulated him. “I can agree to your request. In fact, I can also give you some good news. Your daughter is still alive, and she’s living quite well.”
Upon hearing that his daughter was still alive, the old man’s frail body trembled violently. The tears he had been holding back for days finally spilled from his eyes as he let out a long sigh of relief.
“Good! Wonderful! My Eve is still alive!” The old man wept tears of joy and even prepared to kneel and kowtow to Lu Li.
Reacting quickly, Lu Li stopped him before he could do so.
“There’s no need for that, sir. You don’t have to feel that you owe me anything, either. The treasure you gave me is more than enough to repay me for everything,” Lu Li hurriedly said.
After Lu Li helped the old man sit down, Yao Xia, who was standing nearby, voiced her doubts: “Sir, this place is quite close to the hotel. Haven’t you tried going there to look for your daughter?”
Yao Xia stared at the old man suspiciously, having keenly noticed a flaw in his story.
“Where do you think an old man like me could go besides staying in the camp? Even if the emergency exits inside the mall are safe, what about the road leading to the hotel? Besides, the hotel isn’t safe either, is it?”
“Even Officer Jun nearly failed to return from Harbor Hotel, let alone a useless old man like me.”
The old man paused before continuing, “Besides, I wasn’t even sure whether my daughter was still alive. So all I could do was stay in the camp and wait for an opportunity.”
After hearing his explanation, Yao Xia nodded.
“I understand. I’m very sorry, sir. I was overthinking things.”
“I’ll go and bring your daughter here shortly. However, I can’t guarantee that she’ll be willing to join Dawn Camp. Regardless, I promise I’ll make sure you get to see her,” Lu Li assured him.
The old man nodded repeatedly.
He didn’t know what kind of situation Eve was currently in, but there was one thing he was certain of: no matter how good her circumstances were, they couldn’t possibly be better than Dawn Camp.
Lu Li headed straight to the hotel with Beedrill. After finding Indeedee, Lu Li explained why he had come.
Upon hearing Lu Li’s explanation, Indeedee immediately made an OK gesture.
“Indeedee“
Indeedee remembered the girl named Eve quite well. Among all the fake humans living in the hotel, Eve was one of the few who produced the least amount of happy emotions.
Indeedee could sense that Eve had always longed for freedom and wanted to leave the hotel.
This was something Indeedee had never quite understood. After all, the outside world was in such chaos. Why would a fake human girl constantly dream of going outside in search of freedom? Did she think she had lived too long?
However, after hearing Lu Li’s explanation, Indeedee felt that perhaps it was time to give these fake humans a choice. After all, it was no longer lacking in positive emotions.
“Indeedee“
Indeedee shared its thoughts with Lu Li.
Lu Li nodded in agreement: “Why not just let them join Dawn Camp? Besides, you can’t keep providing for them forever. After all, we’ll be moving soon.”
Indeedee nodded.
Over the past few days, Indeedee had frequently been visiting the Alcremie Kingdom for free food and drinks. The Alcremie were especially warm and hospitable, and Indeedee had actually been eating a little too much lately.
If Lu Li hadn’t still been here, Indeedee would have moved to the university long ago and stopped caring about these people.
After all, these humans were producing fewer and fewer positive emotions, and Indeedee wanted to replace them with a new batch of high-quality fake humans.
Indeedee innocently shared its thoughts with Lu Li.
After hearing this, Lu Li didn’t quite know what to say.
From a human perspective, Indeedee’s behavior of raising humans like livestock and then casually abandoning them was undeniably evil.
But from Indeedee’s perspective, there was absolutely nothing wrong with its actions. If livestock stopped putting on weight, the logical thing to do was cut one’s losses and replace them with a new batch.
At least Indeedee had never considered slaughtering the humans it had raised. Instead, it intended to release them.
Lu Li said, “That’s fine. Dawn Camp can take these people in as well.”
Indeedee nodded and gently snapped its fingers.
The hotel lobby was instantly packed with people who had appeared out of nowhere. Some were wrapped in wrinkled pajamas, while others wore nothing but loose shorts. All of them looked bewildered by their sudden transfer.
The people who had been teleported into the lobby looked around in panic. It wasn’t until they spotted Indeedee and Lu Li standing beside it that the frightened crowd gradually calmed down.
Lu Li stood on the reception counter with a solemn expression.
“Everyone, I have some unfortunate news for you. Your days of being kept as livestock are over.”
Upon learning that their days in captivity had come to an end, some people wept tears of joy, while others were filled with uncertainty about their future. However, most were overwhelmed by fear of the unknown.
They had no idea how they were supposed to survive in this apocalyptic world without Indeedee.
A middle-aged woman who looked like an office worker stepped forward and angrily accused Lu Li.
“Can you tell us why? Why has Lord Demon Beast suddenly decided to abandon us? Were you the one who interfered?”
With the female office worker leading the charge, some of those who had already accepted being raised by a demon beast immediately joined in.
“Exactly! Don’t tell me you think you’re some kind of savior! We don’t need you to save us! Our lives are perfectly fine right now!”
“We don’t want to leave! We want to stay in captivity!”
“We have food, clothing, and everything we need here! What gives you the right to throw us back into the apocalypse?”
More than half the crowd joined in, loudly accusing Lu Li of meddling in their affairs.
Lu Li’s expression darkened as he was “condemned by them.” Although he had already prepared himself to be questioned, he hadn’t expected such an intense reaction from these people.
“I didn’t save you. You’ve simply lost your value, so you’ve been abandoned,” Lu Li said expressionlessly.
Naturally, those accusing Lu Li didn’t believe him. They stubbornly insisted that Lu Li was the one who had ruined their current “wonderful lives.”
“Bullshit! You must have threatened Lord Demon Beast!”
“Exactly! Lord Demon Beast has been taking care of us for an entire month! Why would it suddenly abandon us?”
“You owe us an explanation!”
“We demand answers!”
Lu Li: “…”
Lu Li was utterly speechless.
Do you people even hear yourselves? Me, threatening Indeedee? Could you use your brains before saying something like that?
“Some of you must have raised chickens before, right? When an old hen stops laying eggs, do you keep feeding it?” Lu Li asked darkly.
Hearing this, the noisy crowd that had been condemning Lu Li suddenly stopped. The entire lobby became quiet.
Lu Li continued, “The reason Indeedee was willing to take care of you was because it feeds on positive human emotions. Unfortunately, the amount of positive emotion you’re producing has been steadily decreasing.”
“If I’m not mistaken, quite a few of you have been feeling conflicted, haven’t you? On one hand, you’re reluctant to give up your current safe and comfortable lives. On the other, you don’t want to remain cooped up in those cramped hotel rooms.”
“Indeedee originally intended to get rid of all of you and replace you with a fresh batch,” Lu Li revealed another shocking piece of information.
Hearing this, many people in the crowd gasped.
They didn’t doubt Lu Li’s words. After all, the arrival of demon beasts had caused countless deaths. Even though Indeedee appeared gentle and adorable, a demon beast was still a demon beast.
“It was only because I kindly persuaded Indeedee that it decided to release you instead of simply eliminating you,” Lu Li said with a mocking sneer.
Indeedee, who was standing beside him, suddenly widened its round eyes, its fluffy face filled with innocence.
When did I ever say I was going to eliminate them? How come even I didn’t know about that?
Although Indeedee was puzzled by why Lu Li would say such a thing, it didn’t bother explaining. After all, in its eyes, Lu Li was practically half one of its own kind. It didn’t care what these fake humans thought.
“If you don’t want to join us, that’s fine too. You can even continue staying at this hotel, but Indeedee definitely won’t be looking after you anymore,” Lu Li continued.
Indeedee had already decided to move to a new home with him, so it naturally wouldn’t care about the hotel’s surroundings anymore. For the next few days, Indeedee would be staying at Lu Li’s home, returning to its original duties.
After finishing his explanation, Lu Li turned toward Eve: “Eve, you don’t have a choice. You’re coming back to Dawn Camp with me first because your father is still there waiting for you.”
Upon hearing that her father was still alive, Eve’s eyes instantly reddened. She was so overwhelmed with joy that she could barely stand.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Eve agreed: “I’m willing to go back with you! But could I return to my room first? I need to collect some things.”
Lu Li nodded, naturally having no objections.
Eve hurried out of the lobby. More than ten minutes later, she finally returned carrying a large, bulging travel backpack.
“As for the rest of you, if you want to join Dawn Camp, you can cross the skybridge on the third floor, then take Emergency Exit No. 7 directly to the sixth floor. Dawn Camp is located there.”
After saying this, Lu Li took Eve’s hand and turned toward Indeedee, giving it a slight nod.
Once Lu Li and his companions disappeared, the people in the lobby looked at one another, unable to make up their minds.
In the end, it was the female office worker who spoke up.
“Let’s join Dawn Camp. But before that, we should loot the food in the hotel. The living conditions at Dawn Camp definitely won’t be as good as they are here. If we bring some supplies with us, we’ll have a little more security,” the woman suggested.
Hearing this, the others nodded in agreement and immediately began looting the hotel.
Lu Li brought Eve to her father.
The moment father and daughter were reunited, they embraced each other and burst into tears.
Lu Li quietly turned and left Jun Shutong’s office.
After returning home, Lu Li turned toward Indeedee and spoke with a serious expression: “Indeedee, I look forward to working with you from now on.”
Indeedee also nodded with a smile on its face.
Now that it had finally gotten rid of the burden of looking after the people at the hotel, it could devote itself wholeheartedly to being Lu Li’s full-time housekeeper.
Immediately switching into work mode, Indeedee began cleaning the room. Lu Li had always been rather casual about keeping his room tidy, leaving various items scattered around in a mess. Every time Indeedee saw the clutter, it felt uncomfortable all over.
“Now I can finally take care of everything openly and properly!” Indeedee thought happily.
Just then, the walkie-talkie suddenly crackled to life.
Lu Li answered the call.
“Sir, there’s one more thing I forgot to tell you,” Yao Xia reported.
Lu Li asked, “What is it?”
“It’s about how Old Xu was dealt with. Shutong said that although Old Xu hasn’t made any great contributions, he has still worked hard for the camp. So she only demoted him. He’s now just an ordinary member of the Scavenging Team.”
“She asked me to check whether you’re satisfied with this punishment. If you’re not, we can still…”
Before Yao Xia could finish speaking, Lu Li interrupted her.
“Let’s leave it at that. Teaching him a lesson is enough.”
Lu Li had originally intended to throw Old Xu into Atonement Camp. However, considering that they had all gone through hardships together during the early days of the apocalypse, and that Old Xu’s attempt to intercept the benefits meant for Lu Li hadn’t succeeded, he ultimately decided to show some leniency.
That was why he had chosen to simply demote Old Xu rather than send him straight to Atonement Camp.
Hearing this, Yao Xia breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, Jun Shutong had only decided to demote Old Xu. She had never said anything about increasing the punishment if Lu Li was dissatisfied.
Jun Shutong really wasn’t particularly skilled at management. She had actually taken Lu Li’s words completely at face value. When Lu Li said he wouldn’t interfere with the camp’s management, she genuinely believed him.
But this incident was different from ordinary management matters. After all, Old Xu’s embezzlement had directly involved Lu Li.
Just because Lu Li hadn’t taken the initiative to take action didn’t mean she could make decisions on her own without reporting them to him.
Having plenty of experience navigating workplace politics, Yao Xia naturally wasn’t about to let this incident create a rift between Jun Shutong and Lu Li. That was precisely why she had made this call.
After ending the conversation, Lu Li released Turtwig.
Lu Li wasn’t entirely sure what Turtwig liked, but according to the caretaker book’s description, Turtwig should enjoy staring blankly into space or sleeping.
Turtwig was a Pokémon that didn’t particularly enjoy physical activity and wasn’t even very fond of training.
This was also one of the reasons Turtwig was relatively unpopular among the Starter Pokémon. Its reluctance to train practically guaranteed that the vast majority of Trainers wouldn’t choose it.
Moreover, these characteristics weren’t advantages in the resource-rich Pokémon world. On the contrary, they were considered burdens.
Lu Li gently stroked Turtwig’s shell and sighed with emotion.
“Turtwig, it’s the Pokémon world that’s done you wrong!”
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