Universe Infinite Canteen

Experience new stories on empire

Ma Lu's forearm had vanished into the black hole.

Two meters away at a seat, the disappeared half of his arm reemerged.

He stroked Mr. Furball's belly twice, and the latter rolled over, muttering sleepily.

"No, no more, I have no money, I don't need... any paid services."

Ma Lu withdrew his arm from the black hole, flexed it a few times, and found nothing amiss.

"Interesting, is this a high-dimensional artifact?"

"High-Dimensional Artifact, oh, you mean those products from Creation Technology? No, no, this is considered a... local specialty of our dimension."

Mickey said, "Glad you like it, but it's getting late. Thanks again for your hospitality. I really should be going now, for real this time."

After saying this, Mickey assumed a diving pose and plunged into Ma Lu's cellphone, returning to its Steamboat Willie, tapping a rhythm with its foot, and humming a merry little tune.

Having watched the over seven-minute short clip, Ma Lu didn't notice any further interaction with Mickey inside it.

It seemed as if Mickey had reverted to being that diligent cartoon actor, tirelessly playing its role in one cartoon after another.

The once bustling restaurant quieted down once more.

Ma Lu and Old Wang also tidied up, sent Mr. Furball back to his room, and then took a taxi home.

Over the next few days, Ma Lu continued to operate his business while experimenting with the newly acquired black hole.

As a product of the cartoon dimension, its main feature is utter disregard for science.

Ma Lu had already discovered quite a few ways to use it.

Of course, its primary use was still for grabbing things.

For instance, after finishing work and collapsing onto the sofa, he'd pull out the black hole, reach inside, and without getting up, he could grab the remote on the coffee table and turn on the TV.

Then he would use the black hole to fetch a bottle of drink from the fridge on the opposite corner, and afterwards he could even snag a couple of plants from balcony number 6.

This experience could easily beat all smart home products on the market, truly a lazy person's ultimate blessing.

And the thing was easy to pack away too, perfectly portable.

Ma Lu usually just folded it and stuffed it in his pocket, taking it out and unfolding it when needed.

Besides, it could also be weaponized.

Whenever Ma Lu punched towards the black hole, he could hit a target three meters away. Although his accuracy was still a bit off, with practice, it would only get better, and eventually he could even reduce the margin of error to milliseconds.

In addition, the black hole could serve as a universal key.

As is well known, normally, as long as a door isn't dead-bolted from the inside, it can be opened from the inside.

So all Ma Lu had to do was paste the black hole onto the door and then reach in to unlock it.

Having discovered this use, Ma Lu never carried keys with him anymore, though he only dared to play around like this when returning to his own community.

His restaurant was right on the main street, too crowded to casually reveal the black hole.

Theoretically, with this device, Ma Lu could roam unobstructed on Earth, even directly withdrawing money from ATMs.

However, as a highly-educated college graduate, Ma Lu was definitely not the type to engage in illegal activities.

Besides, Universe Infinite Canteen had already got on the right track, and his financial situation had improved significantly. The restaurant alone was bringing in about half a million a week, so he had no reason to risk anything.

Therefore, in recent days, Ma Lu had mostly been using the black hole to cut down on his WeChat steps.

The only regret was that such a useful item could not be taken to other dimensions.

So, Ma Lu brought up the old topic again and asked Old Wang, "Why is it that only the three starter items you initially gave me can be taken across?"

"That's the regulations of the "Interdimensional Travel Convention"."

"What convention?"

"The "Interdimensional Travel Convention"," Old Wang repeated, "This convention is established by The Grand Alliance, and interdimensional travel is a very serious matter.

"Travelers from other dimensions will undeniably affect the dimension they visit. This impact could be big or small, good or bad, so The Grand Alliance is very strict with interdimensional travel assessments.

"If you travel in the flesh it goes without saying that you need a lot of paperwork and a lengthy approval process. If you use High-Dimensional Artifacts such as Bug Eggs to project, because it cannot be monitored in real-time, the examination would be even more rigorous."

"In principle, only a small number of special professions that genuinely require frequent interdimensional travel are permitted to do so, and during the travel, they can only carry High-Dimensional Artifacts related to their work."

Ma Lu suddenly realized, "The Chef's Knife, Traveler's Bracelet, and Collection Bag are all essential equipment for collecting ingredients, so I can carry them, but other High-Dimensional Artifacts are not allowed. What about the Gift of Destiny then, why isn't the Gift of Destiny restricted?"

"The Grand Alliance certainly also wanted to prevent powerful and dangerous items like Gifts of Destiny from being taken to other dimensions, but they couldn't manage it."

"Couldn't manage it?"

"Divine Artifacts can't be restricted," Old Wang replied succinctly.

"So, apart from Divine Artifacts, there's no way I can take anything else with me?" asked Ma Lu, disappointed.

"There is. The "Interdimensional Travel Convention", after all, is just a document. Just as The Grand Alliance once issued a document to block travel to this dimension, yet there are still people like me who can find a way here. So, there are definitely methods to circumvent the convention in this world."

"What are those methods?" Ma Lu perked up at this information.

"The Title System," Old Wang stated, "Haven't you already unlocked it? Different titles have different effects, including some that can increase the amount of items you can carry. It's kind of an officially tolerated loophole.

"Only those who are dedicated to their work can unlock enough of the compendium, and the officials are willing to reward such individuals. But it's hard to say when you'll get such a title."

Ma Lu had just recently unlocked a new title, which increased the scanning range for ingredients. It seemed unlikely that he would unlock another title anytime soon, and even if he did, it might not be one that increased the amount of items carried. So, he asked further,

"Is there any other way?"

"As far as I know, there are also some High-Dimensional Artifacts that have similar effects," Old Wang said. "But those are likely special products from the early days when The Grand Alliance's various regulations were still imperfect, or perhaps the personal side projects of some Artisan. Nowadays, it's probably very hard to find them on the market."

Reflecting on these options, Ma Lu thought he should contact Yan Wu, especially since he had just made a tidy sum, with over nine thousand Star Currency in his pocket, which made him feel like he was speaking much louder.

So he decisively dialed the hardware store owner's number.