Chapter 73: Only I Can Use Magic Chapter 73: Meeting a Foreigner at Times Square

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Chen Yi was prepared; he stepped back a pace, waited for the yellow light's flicker to stabilize, then tentatively reached out and tapped it.

A three-point array map of Earth appeared directly before him.

The Chinese characters on it were fine and minute, changing constantly with his finger's selection.

Chen Yi subconsciously glanced to the side; the subway gate leading to France represented his previous choice.

As for now... he quickly placed his finger on North America.

Then New York, United States.

The center of the postwar world, the heart of humanity—whether people like it or not, this was the city and country with the fewest errors over the past fifty years.

Most importantly, Wall Street was here.

The Light Gate flickered again, then stabilized.

The subway gate slowly came to a halt.

Chen Yi licked his lips and stepped forward with his left foot.

A flash of brightness passed, and the scene before him had become a dense crowd of people, huge electronic billboards, and towering skyscrapers.

Behind him was a red phone booth.

In front was an intersection and English road signs, reading: Sixth Avenue.

Seeing so many people, Chen Yi couldn't be bothered to look for any sign anymore; he grabbed one person and asked in Chinese-accented English, "Where is this?"

The other person impatiently pulled free of his clothes and mumbled, "TimesSquare."

Time squared?

He peeled a berry and ate it, then asked another person. This one took about two seconds to explain, then hurried away.

Chen Yi thought for a long time before figuring out that "time squared" was actually Times Square. In proper American usage, it's New York Times Square.

No wonder he couldn't think of it—the legendary square had no trace of a square at all; apart from billboards competing in size, the most spacious place was actually the intersection of the roads...

Unlike the nervousness of first arriving in Paris, Chen Yi was now very relaxed, strolling with a tourist's mindset, as if he were in some commercial center in Jiangning.

In fact, the time it took him to get from home to New York might not necessarily be longer than getting to some commercial center.

He patted his pockets; inside were 200 US dollars he had prepared in advance. Ten green bills, looking basically without any sense of security.

Inside the backpack behind him were scrolls and potions, his greatest reliance.

Besides this, Chen Yi, who had cultivated for half a vacation, was quite confident in his body; running into unarmed thugs, he felt he had a fighting chance.

In fact, at certain hot-blooded times, he actually hoped for a chance to show his stuff.

Moving forward with the flow of people, Chen Yi observed his left and right until he saw the name of a certain bookstore, then walked in and found a red Michelin Guide—New York.

Lunchtime; if you want to eat something but don't know what to eat, it's often the moment the Michelin Guide shows its might.

Any slightly large bookstore in the world can find red-covered Michelin Guides; some are by state, some by city—of course, the latter are usually developed country cities conforming to European and American habits.

New York was naturally the focus of their guide writing.

The entire Michelin Red Guide had over four hundred and forty pages just for New York hotels and restaurants, with Manhattan accounting for the majority.

Chen Yi found a New York map on the wall, then followed Sixth Avenue and Ninth Avenue respectively to find his way, and finally chose a famous sister store named Broadway. It served fresh dishes mixing American and French flavors, with the menu changing every day. And the most advantageous thing was that it didn't require reservations—the Michelin Guide was no martial arts secret manual; gentlemen in New York were willing to drive 100 kilometers every day to find delicious restaurants, regardless of price.

Under these circumstances, going to a restaurant requiring two months' advance reservation to try one's luck was absolutely beyond the capability of normal people.

Perhaps something even normal mages couldn't accomplish.

After choosing the restaurant, Chen Yi put the book on the counter, handed the other person two 20-dollar bills, and said, "I just came to New York; can you call me a taxi?"

The white cashier boy nimbly took the two green bills and smiled, "Please wait a moment; the car will arrive soon."

Chen Yi nodded, then handed him a credit card, saying, "Pay for the book with this."

The boy's smile reached his neck.

With a "beep," a credit card not named "Chen Yi" was charged 11 dollars. This was an anonymous card he had gotten from his older brother Chen Heng; seeing it work, he felt much more relieved.

200 dollars in change could fill his stomach in Manhattan, but eating well would be difficult. Moreover, most restaurants didn't like cash-paying customers; they'd leave too deep an impression.

When leaving, the boy said with a very good attitude, "Wish you a pleasant time in the United States."

"I will." Chen Yi walked out of the shop door in high spirits, thinking: When the day comes that I buy Times Square, I must properly educate the employees inside, making sure visiting Americans come happily and leave satisfied, being a good landlord. Just like this young man now.

The taxi fought its way out of a traffic jam, like a fish surfacing to breathe in winter.

The Broadway store name was hidden under neon lights; Chen Yi with great effort reached the entrance, took out two green bills as usual, handed them to the doorman, and said, "I'm hungry."

Hearing this, the receiving deputy manager was stunned, then laughed, but still firmly said, "Sorry, we're full."

Chen Yi "oh"-ed, stepped back a bit, then, at the moment the deputy manager's attention lowered, strode in with big steps.

The other person took two or three seconds to come to his senses, turned to grab him, but couldn't catch up with a Paladin Apprentice's speed.

Chen Yi plopped down on an empty seat by the window and said to the waiter coming afterward, "I found a seat myself; take my order."

"Sir, this is reserved." The deputy manager's expression turned serious.

Chen Yi smiled slightly, one hand dragging his backpack onto his knees, and incidentally reached in to tear open a Third-level Strength Scroll. At the same time, he grabbed a handful of Green Breath Berries.

The Third-level Strength Scroll added 11 points of strength, that is, 110 kilograms of strength.

Unlike the strength bonus from his own cultivation, the strength added by the scroll applied to any muscle group.

Chen Yi used tremendous force to peel open the hard shell, pressed hard, and the shell actually embedded itself in the tablecloth.

The deputy manager's expression changed instantly, thinking viciously on the outside but fearful within: If he hits me, should I resist, or endure this once and then throw him out?

Chen Yi truly had no intention of using his strength to intimidate others; using the scroll was merely to avoid the other party using strength to intimidate him.

His whole face was smiling, and in a tone of reasoning, he said word by word: "Look, I'm just one person, and I came all the way to New York just to taste your famous dishes; twenty minutes is all I need."

"I don't have that right, sir, this table is already reserved," the Deputy Manager said very quietly; being beaten was secondary, he was mainly worried about disturbing other guests.

Chen Yi continued eating the berries and continued persuading, trying to win the other over with overflowing good feeling.

However, just as the Mages say, eating more Green Breath Berries only increases good feeling very little. The Deputy Manager feared losing his position and would never concede for just 10% good feeling.

Having a reservation but no table is a very bad omen.

Like most famous restaurants in New York, Broadway operates only five days a week, six to eight hours a day, preparing to receive a quite limited number of guests, caring more about reputation than quantity.

Chen Yi was after all a student and did not detect the key point; relying only on berries would naturally be hard to achieve his wish.

Just as the Deputy Manager was preparing to further "persuade," a pair of lovers who had just entered attracted both sides' attention.

A perfectly tailored Italian suit, an exquisite bow tie, golden hair like a lion dog's hairstyle.

Chen Yi always felt he looked somewhat familiar.

Such a handsome foreigner, however you look at him, seems like Stanik's style.

Or rather, however you look at him, he seems like the Vatican style from that banquet that day.

"Who are they?" Chen Yi suddenly changed the subject.

"Mark," the Deputy Manager habitually answered, then said angrily: "Sir..."

"A Vatican person?" Chen Yi continued asking indifferently, while tapping the table, and said to the waiter: "Steak, a big piece, leave the rest to the chef."

He tapped with somewhat great force; over 200 kilograms of force came down, a table corner was forced to leave the family, fell onto the floor tiles, and made a clap-clap sound.

The waiter was terrified; when he looked at Chen Yi again, his gaze was clearly as if looking at Li Xiaolong; the Deputy Manager was fine, but no longer insisted he leave.

Obviously, releasing such a dangerous person would cause greater losses to the restaurant.

Mark heard the sound, looked over here, and sized Chen Yi up and down, obviously finding his Asian face strange.

The Deputy Manager decided to leave and reported the situation to the Manager. Two waiters moved a new set of chairs and tableware from the kitchen, assembled them at the stairway entrance, and deliberately placed a "Reserved" label.

Chen Yi sighed; it seemed that in the world of the American Empire, good feeling was still not as useful as threats.

Regardless of the reason, he finally got his steak, along with delicious but unhealthy potatoes dipped in goose fat and spinach dipped in black truffle, and the hot chocolate cake with caramel ice cream dessert was equally unsuitable for gentlemen and ladies wanting to maintain their figure.

Satisfied, he wiped his mouth clean, began drinking water, and observed Mark on his right side.

This fellow's speech and manners, table etiquette, and even every move were too much like Stanik.

Two foreigners cast from the same mold.