Chapter Eighty-Eight: Everything Arranged

Harvey followed Sonia downstairs, and when they reached the lobby, they drew many eyes.

Over the past month, news had already spread among the other employees of the Elite Hotel that Sonia often went out during the day.

Normally, when there were guests to attend to, one could not be so free.

Sonia’s freedom clearly meant she had a very close relationship with the guest in Room 7777, Mr. Kassadin.

Then, half a month ago, they heard that Sonia had submitted her resignation.

That only made them more curious about what sort of bewitching charm Mr. Kassadin had cast on her, that Sonia would actually believe him and choose to quit.

And yet they also noticed that Sonia’s mood grew better by the day.

Now, seeing her step out of the Elite Hotel in casual clothes and with a radiant smile, they could not help but feel a twinge of jealousy.

It seemed Mr. Kassadin had granted Sonia a great deal of freedom, not to mention money and the like.

Anyone who could stay in the Elite Hotel for months on end was no ordinary person; they all possessed staggering wealth.

Rather than saying they did not believe Sonia could meet such an exceptional guest, it was more that, deep down, they did not wish her to be so fortunate.

When Sonia stepped out of the Elite Hotel, she bowed deeply toward it.

Though life there had been difficult, the fierce competition within the hotel had tempered her.

It had taught her many things, and in the end brought her to Mr. Kassadin, who appreciated her and gave her the chance to change her fate.

“Come, Mr. Kassadin. I’ll drive you myself and take you to have a look,” Sonia said with a smile, lifting her head and turning to take the car keys from her bag.

Harvey nodded at that and followed her into the car.

“I’ve already worked things out over there. I hired a ship, and there will be sailings in and out three times a day, morning, noon, and night.”

“Since it’s an island residence, access isn’t as convenient as usual apart from those three scheduled sailings.”

“So the pier has already been built as well.”

“Mr. Kassadin, you won’t need any of that yourself, but it’s mainly meant to provide other staff with another point of entry and exit in the future, as well as a way to transport ingredients.”

“As for chefs, based on your previous eating habits, I think it would be best to hire them on a rotating basis.”

“Just like the Elite Hotel, let them take turns over the course of a month. That way, variety in the dishes can be guaranteed.”

“I did want to help you handle the hiring directly, but it wouldn’t be quite appropriate for me to decide the salaries myself.”

“So I’ll need your personal review before they can be hired.”

Sonia sat in front, started the engine, and drove off as she spoke.

“Chefs do need to be considered carefully. Do you have a list?” Harvey asked thoughtfully after hearing her.

Although he had not yet gone to look at everything in person, Sonia seemed to have already thought through every detail.

“I’ve already discussed it for you. These are people who are willing to work for you if you choose to hire them.”

“But because of the location, travel in and out is inconvenient, so I’ve already prepared some rooms for them.”

As Sonia spoke, her gaze remained fixed on the road ahead, and she tapped her right hand lightly.

A projection appeared before Harvey in the back seat.

On it were displayed the chefs’ appearances and ages, the hotels they had worked at in the past, and the dishes they specialized in.

Their current monthly salaries, as well as the daily wages they hoped for, were all listed clearly.

At the lower right corner of the projection there was a dim checkmark. Clearly, once he tapped it, those people would be added to the list.

After that, Sonia would handle the rest of the communications herself.

The daily wages were not excessive either. Over the course of a week, they would run from about fifteen hundred to three thousand, with the highest weekly total being no more than twenty-one thousand.

Clearly, they understood that at least five meals a day would need to be prepared, and were simply hoping to earn some extra money during their time off.

This made Harvey think as well. At present, the only people living on the island were Sonia and himself.

But as more and more people joined the Church of the Void, they would eventually need to acclimate on the island for a time and understand their own power, after which there would be no need for them to keep living there.

So there was no need for too many chefs for now; forty on rotation would be enough.

At a weekly wage of twenty-one thousand per person, the monthly cost would still be around eight hundred thousand at most, which was more than sufficient.

If he wanted to save a little, a total monthly salary of around four hundred thousand for those chefs would also do.

By that calculation, even if one reckoned it at the highest possible rate, the annual compensation for these forty chefs would only come to about ten million.

Even if, over the course of a year, he did not use any other means to make money, a single bounty mission would be enough to cover their pay.

So Harvey did not deliberately choose the cheapest candidates, but selected them according to his own preferences.

After all, eating was not merely one of the paths of void evolution; it was also the most important pleasure within it. There was no need to mistreat his own stomach just to save a little money.

Save where it should be saved; where saving is unnecessary, there was no need to quibble. As long as the experience was good enough, that would suffice.

Harvey looked through the list and quickly selected forty chefs.

Though Sonia did not look at the screen in front of her, she kept hearing the steady chime of selections being made.

Knowing that Mr. Kassadin, just as she had understood him to be, would not be stingy when it came to food, she felt considerably more at ease.

In truth, no matter how well she did these things, what ultimately mattered was whether Mr. Kassadin was satisfied with them.

Still, this also told Sonia that some of her own ideas ought to pass muster as well.

Although Mr. Kassadin’s ability to make money was astonishing, in just a few short months he had earned tens of billions, it was still best to let the island form a healthy cycle.

The island was vast; in time, a section of it should be set aside for planting and breeding.

And the permissions she had applied for to fish and gather around the island should also prove useful.

Though Mr. Kassadin had never said so explicitly, since he had already planned a place for them to train, it meant food would need to be provided as well.

If everything had to be supplied in full, then just the cost of eating would be a considerable sum.

Allowing them to gather marine life and feed themselves would be excellent as well.

She was now officially working for Mr. Kassadin.

It was time to begin thinking about gradually increasing her food intake and accelerating her own growth.

She had evolved three times within a single month and already felt the difference within herself.

So it was not hard to guess that the people she would need to keep an eye on in the future would not be weak.

Therefore, her own strength had to be raised to a sufficient level, so that when Mr. Kassadin was not on Xandar, she could be responsible for overseeing the condition of the other members of the Church of the Void on Xandar.