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A month passed quickly. After finishing the assembly line procedures in the pocket-dimension factory, the storefront renovations were complete. The appearance had changed significantly.
The front facade was no longer a closed metal wall. Instead, it featured a huge transparent tank with brightly colored corals at the bottom, where many exotic fish swam. The most eye-catching feature was the Mermaid floating at the entrance, her presence attracting attention from many alien races on Xandar.
Through the water tank, one could clearly see beautiful shelves stocked with strange weapons. Time Grenades flashing with blue energy, sleek battlesuits, nano-lightsabers... Everything caught passing attention, but the store hadn't officially opened, so they could only wait.
Today, Rhomann Dey had taken leave from the Nova Corps and brought his wife and daughter to Central Square in a transport ship. The happiest was his daughter, Dahl. During this month, she'd often visited Aidan's store to play with the Glare Beast, Xuanlan, and the relationship between the two was quite good.
"Traveler, White Queen, the store opens today. Let's decide on a name quickly." Inside the store, Aidan gathered the Traveler and the White Queen's holographic projection near the entrance.
"The White Queen's Arsenal!" the White Queen said excitedly.
"Traveler's Arsenal!" The Traveler wasn't to be outdone.
"I could call it Parker's Arsenal!" Aidan rolled his eyes.
"How about Aisha's Arsenal!" the Mermaid in the water tank added through comms.
"Your vacation this month is gone," Aidan glared at her.
"No! Why only deduct my wages?" Aisha looked aggrieved.
"The two of them don't have vacation time or wages—how can I deduct from them?" Aidan shrugged helplessly. "Okay, hurry up and come up with a store name. Preferably something memorable."
"How about 'Big Ivan'?" The White Queen thought of Earth weapons, eyes lighting up mischievously.
"No!" Aidan shook his head, directly rejecting it.
"Technology Tree!" said the Traveler.
"This... maybe. I'll think about it," Aidan wasn't very satisfied either.
"Why not call it the Mermaid Weapon Shop?" After Aisha spoke, seeing the boss wanted to deduct her vacation again, she quickly explained, "Look, I'm the 'face' of this store now. The first thing people see is me. The Mermaid Weapon Shop is perfect."
Aidan and the two AIs glanced at each other. That actually made sense.
"Then what if you die?" The White Queen asked curiously.
Aisha's face darkened.
"I still have three hundred years to live—don't worry," she glared at the AI.
"Okay, that's settled." Aidan stood and decided. "It's called the Mermaid Weapon Shop!"
"I think this name sounds like some entertainment venue," The White Queen couldn't help complaining.
"It's not as good as the Technology Tree!" The Traveler added, somewhat unwillingly.
"What do you know? Mermaids represent fatal temptation in oceanic mythology," Aisha defended.
Three pairs of strange eyes looked at her.
"I... I just got caught by accident," facing their judgmental gazes, Aisha felt guilty, then swung her fish tail and swam to the back of the tank.
"White Queen, project it. When Rhomann arrives, put the store name on the sign," Aidan clapped his hands.
"Easy." The White Queen snapped her fingers, and holographic text reading 'Mermaid Weapon Shop' appeared before the facade.
"And we need a logo. Make it a mermaid silhouette."
"Traveler, you're handling internal reception today." The prices were fixed anyway—no bargaining. Whoever sold items, the result was the same. Aidan still had to receive Rhomann and deliver the customized weapons.
Soon, Rhomann piloted the Nova transport ship to the storefront. The curious alien crowd saw it was a Nova vessel and quickly made way.
"My God, this place is luxurious!" Rhomann exclaimed after disembarking, looking at the drastically changed building.
Dahl behind him was accustomed to this—she'd been here two days ago.
"Come on, come in!" Aidan warmly greeted them into the store.
After entering, Rhomann stared wide-eyed at the surroundings. Everything surprised him.
"Traveler, prepare to open! Aisha, mind your reception etiquette!" Aidan arranged.
"This looks so stupid!" Aisha whimpered but still swam to the entrance and assumed a welcoming pose with hands on her waist.
The store name projection appeared above the gate at the right time.
The shop was open!
However, after opening, the surrounding aliens didn't enter immediately but looked hesitantly. Soon, a rock-like alien—possibly a Kronan—pushed open the door and walked in.
"Welcome!" As soon as he opened the door, a sweet voice sounded from the tank beside him, startling him.
He glanced at Aisha curiously, then walked in, slightly flustered by the beauty.
After the Rock Man entered, the Traveler stood at the front counter.
"What weapons do you sell here?" He approached the robot curiously.
"Here's a list. All weapons sold in our store are listed, with detailed data descriptions marked," the Traveler called up a holographic panel. The panel automatically translated text into various universal languages.
"Ten... 100,000 Units?" When he saw the first weapon column, he was shocked.
Then he looked at the description:
Electromagnetic Yaka Arrow: Made of Yaka Metal, possesses strong penetration capabilities. Linked via neural control headband...
"Too expensive," he shook his head and continued reading.
Time Bomb: Priced at 30,000 Units. Can slow down time within explosion range. Effective radius: two meters!
Biological Battlesuit: Priced at 800,000 Units. Can comprehensively improve physical fitness and possesses combat prediction functions. Degree of improvement depends on user's physique; combat power can increase by up to ten times...
Monster Egg: Priced at 100 million Units. (Description: The store manager is lazy and hasn't written a description yet.)
The further he read, the more shocked his expression became. The weapons listed were truly amazing. But when he recovered, he was embarrassed. The cheapest item—the Time Bomb—cost 30,000 Units, and he seemed unable to afford anything else.
He wanted to drop the panel and leave, but thinking of the Mermaid's sweet voice welcoming him, how could he leave without buying something?
"Cough... Boss, let me buy a Time Bomb!"