As soon as 12:00 PM arrived, Tess opened the doors, and the net cafe was instantly packed. Although no one from Northshire or Westbrook Garrison showed up—and guild leaders like Andromath and Sandar stayed at their respective posts to issue bounties for clearing Defias rebels from the farms in northern Westfall—Shadowbreak was there, having waited for quite some time.
Brother Wilhelm had sent him definitive news: Archbishop Benedictus had acted out of character this time. He hadn't requested any support from the Priests' or Paladins' Guilds for the front lines, leaving them with only two words: "Stand by."
Since the Paladins' Guild operated with a degree of independence, Shadowbreak couldn't take initiative to launch his own actions if he had been told to wait.
Wayne hadn't returned yet; he was still at the construction site confirming details with Barons.
Although this plot wasn't his first choice for a location—it was a distance from the town center and not as bustling—it was large enough. The surroundings were spacious, and there were few neighbors, most of whom lived on the other side of the lumber mill.
The main reason he chose this spot was to conduct preliminary tests for his ultimate goal: to see how much of his vision could actually be implemented in this world after his transmigration. Furthermore, since his target customers weren't the commoners of Goldshire but rather traveling adventurers and guild members, the slightly remote location wouldn't be a major issue.
After finishing up at the site, Wayne rushed back to the cafe, only to find that very few people were watching the livestreams today.
"Tess, what's going on? Why are there so few people today?"
Tess pouted. "You're asking me? They said since you aren't here, they didn't want to watch anyone else's stream. Some even said they were going to look for you. Hmph, I was kind enough to put on other people's streams for them, but I shouldn't have bothered."
Just then, Corrine took off her glasses and stood up. "Miller, why are you back alone?"
Wayne blinked. "I just spent over an hour with a hundred muscular men. Who did you expect me to bring back?"
As he said this, everyone in the cafe took off their glasses and glanced at him. Corrine even subconsciously swallowed.
Raymond, who had been watching Sandar play, remarked, "Teacher, if I were as rich as you, I would have married a wife by now."
Sandar rolled his eyes at Raymond. "Look at you, so ambitious."
Wayne also gave him a flat look. "In your eyes, am I the kind of man who opens a harem just because he has money?"
At that moment, someone outside saw him return and shouted:
"The boss is back! The boss is back!" "Boss, start a stream quickly! It's boring when it's not you." "Yeah, yeah, watching your stream is exciting, boss." "Stop talking and let him get in the game."
Wayne complained internally: I'm a serious gaming streamer...
However, before he sat down to play, Corrine opened a private chat with him in the game channel. They met in the Saint Seiya animated world again. This allowed him to broadcast the anime plot to the outside while discussing confidential intelligence with Corrine.
Corrine brought a message from Mathias. Only then did Wayne learn that two Pandaren and a dwarf had gotten into a fight at Dagger Hills. Apparently, the Defias had disrupted some kind of "sacred ritual" of theirs.
Wayne chuckled to himself. He knew exactly what it was.
Most likely, the ale was almost finished brewing, and the Defias thugs smelled it and tried to steal it. The good-tempered Chen probably wanted to keep the peace, but Li Li couldn't help but strike first, completely derailing Mathias's entire plan.
Compared to those agents, Chen was a super-powerful ally that one could only dream of. Wayne couldn't help but complain: Who did those rebels think they were provoking? Why pick a fight with those two giant pandas? Did they really think they survived just by being cute?
Corrine continued, saying that the two of them faced over twenty rebels without losing any ground and had chased them all the way from Dagger Hills to the entrance of the Deadmines.
They had intended to stop there, but the SI:7 vanguard squad, lying in ambush and disguised in Moonbrook, decided to seize the opportunity. They revealed their identities and intentions to the Pandaren and formed several small teams to storm the underground lair of the Defias Brotherhood together.
A day and night had passed, but no update had been sent back via magical letter yet. They only knew that the agents waiting on the surface occasionally heard violent explosions coming from deep underground.
Additionally, Mathias asked her to tell Wayne to be extra careful in Goldshire.
To her surprise, Wayne didn't respond to the warning. Instead, he stood up to leave. It turned out that as soon as he had entered the game interface, he had seen a notification from the vending machine:
[Net Cafe revenue has reached 2,000 Gold]
[Starbucks Coffee Series unlocked (Hot drinks only for Autumn/Winter)]
He clicked on it and saw the classic categories: Americano, Latte, Mocha, Cappuccino, Caramel Macchiato, and Espresso—six types in total. They were all bottled, priced at 2 Gold per bottle.
As he confirmed the notification and prepared to run to his room to "retrieve the stock" from the cellar, an electronic voice informed him that the new products had already appeared in the warming box.
He turned to look at the warming box that previously only held popcorn. WTF! While the top three rows were still popcorn, the bottom six rows were now filled with various flavors of coffee! Even he didn't know when this change had occurred.
Fortunately, the middle-aged gaming addicts in the cafe were either immersed in their games or focused on other people's screens. Having just finished lunch, they hadn't noticed the change in the warming box behind them.
Then again, Wayne thought, in a world where chanting a spell could conjure bread and spring water, even if they saw it, it probably wouldn't matter much.
While everyone was playing intensely, Wayne calmly stood up, walked to the warming box, opened the door, and took out a bottle of hot Mocha. He opened it, took several sips, and let out a long burp.
Suddenly, a faint aroma filled the room. Noticing the change, everyone turned their heads toward him.
"What is that?" "I don't think I saw a change there when I came in..." "Same here, I only saw the yellow popcorn bags..." "You must be seeing things. Could Miller conjure it on the spot?"
Wayne cleared his throat and spoke clearly: "This is a special new seasonal drink for autumn and winter. It feels warm in the hand and has a rich taste. Drink it during the day for energy, and you won't be able to sleep at night. It is called... Starbucks!"
"Star-bucks?"
Everyone was confused. "I've heard of swordsmen, travelers, and customers, but what does a 'Star-buck' mean?"
As a veteran player, Zaldimar looked at the dark green glass bottle in Wayne's hand and asked skeptically, "Miller , can this stuff taste better than iced Coke? I think Coke gives plenty of energy during the day."
"Quiet. Just smell it."
Wayne poured out the water in Tess's cup outside the door and poured the steaming coffee into it. The moment the brown liquid hit the air, the aroma instantly filled the entire room.