Chapter 85: Guess How Many People Are Watching You (To Reach the Monthly Ticket Quota and an Extra for Alliance Leader Anmiao Ge)

I didn't expect that even a goddess who isn't very clear on money‑box basics would still have a terminal—what does she usually use it to check?

Aomo, who was going down the mountain, thought about this pointless question.

Overall, things went quite smoothly, even skipping some necessary steps of formal worship, such as washing hands at the purification fountain.

But having said that, why would a Western horse goddess and a Berth District demon need to follow the rules at an Eastern shrine?

Aomo had the goddess do a round of scanning, then he shook the wish bell and made a wish, clapping however many times he liked.

It was the 'hope everything goes well' type of wish from Zuomu Lake, and then the goddess said a bit embarrassedly, 'I can't really grant that kind of wish; how about you wish for something related to horse girls? Aren't you in charge of one?'

As a goddess of the horse‑girl line, it's not hard to understand that she'd have some specific abilities in that domain; Aomo wasn't surprised she knew the number of horse girls under him, and he was even willing to believe she could identify Ailisuzhi precisely.

But Aomo still didn't want to make another wish; he just smiled, shook his head, said it was fine, and thought it was better to achieve his horse‑girl‑related goal himself.

That answer pleased the other party quite a bit, so as Aomo descended the mountain he ended up with a dark‑gold amulet in his hand.

The other side seemed to have just dragged me through a set of worship rituals and called it a day, saying nothing else; I couldn't say anything else either, so I bade farewell, thinking that if I got a chance I'd bring a gift to get to know them again, which would give me more courage to find a topic.

As for that amulet...

Aomo looked at the amulet in his hand; its dark‑gold center was woven with dark‑red lines into the outline of a running horse, and holding it gave a cool sensation.

The Eastern district's amulet is essentially a charm; Aomo's evaluation of it was: "Feels… not as profitable as commemorative coins."

Using commemorative coins to cosplay a two‑faced person for a motivation boost is more reliable than waiting for someone else to save you; I might as well toss this thing to Ailisuzhi later—maybe it'll save on air‑conditioning costs.

Wait a moment—Telesen apparently doesn't count as an air‑conditioning expense… Aomo stroked his chin and realized he could later go to the lab for free air‑conditioning, but then thought that staying in the lab would likely require him to cooperate with experiments, so this round's cost‑benefit might not work out well.

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This afternoon, see what moves counter moves... He sighed, then looked again at the unread messages on the light screen; Kailifu asked how his work was going, while Bi Ze sent a new message asking if he could get Ailisuzhi to shout "Tiga"...

The meaning is unclear, possibly another alien‑specific madness; Aomo skipped it, first chatted with Kailifu, then turned his steps toward the cafeteria.

He deliberately avoided the rush hour just to experience the legendary free cafeteria where horse girls could all eat their fill.

However, even after avoiding the peak, there were still some horse girls and even staff members active in the cafeteria.

Consequently, these people inevitably cast surprised glances at Aomo, this unfamiliar face.

Does the school have such a young trainer? And this hair color... is he a fan of the emperor or the sovereign?

Bearing those gazes, Aomo walked past calmly.

He had already taken off his hat and mask at the shrine; thinking that some horse girls were looking for him on campus, whose feature was the same appearance as when walking with Miss JunChuan JiangSheng, he simply dropped any disguise, headed straight to the window, did a quantum‑speed read of the menu, and let out an unsurprising exclamation.

"Damn, there's a ton of carrots!"

Although the menu is varied and balanced, most items involve carrots or similar ingredients, so at a glance the dish names made Aomo feel like his "carrot" gestalt was collapsing.

Fortunately, the cafeteria knows not all horse girls in the school love carrots, so there are still some normal dish names to choose from.

It's the kind that's easy to be blinded by the frequent appearance of carrots at first glance, but still leaves room for others.

"Sorry for the trouble, I'll order these."

"Sure, please hold your number and wait a moment."

There were ready‑to‑serve set meals and also made‑to‑order dishes you could wait for; Aomo picked a side seat with few smokers, settled in, inserted his number plate into the table interface, then began scanning the other serving stations in the cafeteria.

What Ailisuzhi would like to eat... coming from a researcher's perspective, one would start from nutritional balance, but he didn't know her recent physical condition, so he should be conservative in his choice, considering dietary balance and mouthfeel...

Aomo smacked his lips, feeling there wasn't much to choose from.

Rather than that, maybe consider recreating the recipe I once prepared for Morrison.

But whenever I think about it again it seems troublesome, because the recipe needs improvement.

The taste difference between vampires and horse girls is ultimately obvious; he couldn't possibly give Ailisuzhi a whole table of various blood products.

So not only would I have to cook myself, maybe even adjust the recipe... Do I really need to apply for an extra kitchen? Or should I talk to the cafeteria's back‑of‑house staff about borrowing theirs?

Thinking this through, Aomo's gaze drifted toward the back‑of‑house area; his vision became slightly unfocused as he pondered the taste difference, when a faint chair‑scraping sound suddenly came from his ears.

"May I ask if I can share a table?" "Feel free—?"

He never expected someone to pull up beside him, nor did he notice when the other appeared; Aomo jerked his head around and saw a face as beautiful and emotionless as a doll's.

Her azure eyes met his black ones in mid‑air, then she shifted her gaze without a ripple and set the tray she was holding onto the table.

"Sorry for the rudeness," she said.

If Aomo's usual speech is merely a flat calm lacking inflection, then her tone is an inorganic lack of vitality, as hard and cold as the metal headpiece on the right rear of her cheek.

That face was very familiar, and this tone even more so.

As Aomo watched her sit to the side and begin picking up utensils, he also, as if observing propriety, averted his gaze and looked back toward the distant back‑of‑house window, his expression calm, his inner self... indeed a bit shaken.

After all, this person was exactly the one he had originally expected would come to block him.

At that day's college‑entrance exam site, Ailisuzhi hid in the darkness and also successfully slipped into Aomo's information blind spot.

Meanwhile, a certain openly door‑blocking cyber horse girl genuinely entered Aomo's field of view and even tried to go back to make amends.

But that time ended up being a miss.

Back then Aomo didn't care much, but now, having become a trainer and looking back, he felt it was somewhat regrettable.

He had indeed thought about it, if only for a brief moment.

But he also remembered that the other person had a trainer, and that trainer was a transmigrator who held another set of views on horse girls.

Digging into someone's corner is best left alone; even if he thought he might meet again at Telesen Academy, or that his own horse girls would likely notify her, Aomo never imagined their actual meeting would happen in this setting.

In the cafeteria, blocked off, one waiting for food, another sitting to the side with a tray—what is this?

No, stepping back a bit.

Why does she want to sit beside me instead of opposite?

Moreover, doesn't she have any friends to go to the cafeteria with? What is the trainer doing?

Still putting on a window‑shopping guise, Aomo's hearing, though somewhat inferior to that of horse girls, remained sharp enough to pick up the faint eating sounds behind him.

The clatter of utensils and chewing was steady—she didn't stop eating mid‑meal, and no obvious gaze came from the side to prod her; she seemed merely to have come over to share a table and eat.

With so many empty seats, why do you come over here to share a table and eat?

Sitting next to a stranger of the opposite sex who's only appeared on TV interviews?

Meipu Boufang really is this lacking in a sense of crisis, huh? This won't spread a new strange reputation, will it?

Aomo didn't feel the gaze coming from beside him, but he had already noticed scorching heat coming from several distant points.

No, what are you guys excited about?

Aomo's brow twitched uncontrollably, and he began to feel that this waiting time was unbearably long.

Why isn't my order ready yet? Just a few Chinese dishes, and you're taking this long?

Aomo had already considered getting up to urge the food counter, but after thinking, he turned back.

He suddenly recalled a question he had never been able to answer, and clearly now was the best opportunity.

"May I bother you for a moment? Miss Meipu Boufang."

As long as he makes up his mind, his executive ability is always outstanding.

"Permission, please explain the order."

This kid... maybe we can trick him into mining cryptocurrency......

Hearing this mechanical role-play–like tone of voice, and seeing the agreeable attitude of immediately putting down his utensils after speaking, Aomo wiped a sweat from his brow.

"Do you still remember six days ago? On June 9th, you went to the college entrance exam site."

"Confirmed, I asked classmate Xiye Hua to take me to the destination on that date—in other words, to complete the task together."

"May I ask the reason?"

Adaptability is truly powerful, because I've already encountered many 'strong-willed' people around me, and after researching her data, in just these few short words of our actual meeting, Aomo could already ignore her unusual way of speaking.

"Permission, confirm your location so I can analyze you."

"?"

Aomo looked in surprise at the horse girl with chestnut-red long hair; her azure eyes were always so blank, clearly focusing divine light on him, yet he could discern no emotion from them.

It seemed as if she were truly a 'cyborg'-like existence.

"Why... uh, analyze me?" Frankly, just thinking of that term reminded Aomo of the mental examination in Heaven Gate City.

He had indeed been analyzed by that cold machine, which then spat out a page of a mental examination form he didn't really want to see.

Looking back, it was also a complicated feeling.

But Meipu Boufang remained consistent, answering firmly and directly: "You've been entered into the database; I determine that we need to confirm whether Mr. Aomo Lindun is qualified to obtain 'permission'...."

It might just be a little hard to understand.

Furthermore, when mentioning this, her gaze swept over Aomo's chest badge, and at that moment he noticed a change in her gaze.

Those blank blue eyes suddenly gained focus, and Aomo was finally able to read the emotion labeled 'determination'.

"I urgently need a 'master' who can cooperate with me—uh, that is, a trainer."

She even considered the difficulty of understanding, deliberately switching to a more comprehensible phrasing—Aomo hadn't even had time to be moved by her finally expressing organic emotions and empathy before this content blew him away.

"Huh? What about your trainer?"

Aomo was still experiencing for the first time such a huge discrepancy in information.