Omega Manual chapter 65

Kisses and Hugs

When they walked out of the inn’s gate, it was already lunchtime.

The boy in the inn was called Douding. He chirped a lot about all the good places to eat and play in Fuba Port. It was unclear how this child’s mind worked, as he rattled off a string of complicated and hard-to-remember names without hesitation. Shelley’s head was spinning from listening, but Irey surprisingly nodded along with interest.

“Oh, there’s also an amusement park in the city!” Douding enthusiastically pointed in a direction, “You can see the Ferris wheel over there, right? It’s our iconic building! There’s also a pirate ship, carousel, Lover’s Lane… If you two want to kiss and hug, that’s the best place!”

Kiss and hug… what? Shelley’s cheeks suddenly flushed red.

Irey burst into laughter at this term, reaching out to tousle Douding’s head, “Did your mom teach you to say these things? Do you know what ‘kiss and hug’ means?”

Douding’s big bright eyes pouted, “I know! It’s when two people who like each other do this~,” he brought his mouth close together.

“Halton!” Shelley couldn’t stand it and pulled Irey away, “Don’t teach kids random things all day!”

“I didn’t.” Irey laughed so hard he was out of breath, “Clearly, he’s self-taught—ow, that hurts!”

The noon commercial street was busier than in the morning, with the smell of various foods wafting through the air just from walking down the street. Unlike Leisau or Duhaat, there were no strange ingredients or cost-saving cooking methods.

The aroma of French fries, chicken sizzling on the grill, sticky rice dumplings that were both fragrant and sticky, the mix of scallion and cumin, all made the mouth water.

There were also all kinds of fruit drinks displayed row after row, with vendors sitting on their carts cracking melon seeds, one foot dangling outside, waving their hands when someone came to buy, letting them pick and take as they pleased, and throwing money into the box.

Shelley’s compressed biscuit from the morning had long since digested, and the aroma of the food teased his stomach. When he hesitated among the myriad foods, Irey had already started moving. In less than two minutes, he had picked up two skewers of grilled meat, three fried chicken legs, four skewers of grilled squid, and a cup of watermelon juice.

Irey handed him a portion of the food and stuffed it into Shelley’s hands, like feeding a small animal.

The small animal cautiously examined the food in his hand, still carrying the doubts from Leisau.

“Is this chicken?” Shelley looked at the chicken leg in his hand suspiciously, “It’s not some rat meat mashed together…”

“Just take a bite and you’ll find out, right?” Irey said, “Open your mouth.”

Shelley reflexively opened his mouth, and Irey stuffed the chicken leg into it.

The crispy crust shattered between his teeth, and the aroma of the chicken burst in his mouth with the juice.

Theoretically, these street snacks, no matter how delicious, couldn’t compare to the food in Nantes, but perhaps it had been too long since he had eaten a decent meat meal. At this moment, Shelley felt that this fried chicken leg was simply the epitome of deliciousness, so fragrant that he almost wanted to bite off his tongue.

After finally swallowing the food in his mouth, he could barely speak clearly, “It’s chicken! So delicious, perfectly fried!”

Irey laughed, pulling him along, “If it’s good, eat more! This street is still long, let’s continue eating forward!”

When he was still in Nantes, Shelley had heard that Fuba Port was a somewhat different city.

It was close to the sea, an important port for northern cities to communicate with the outside world, and countless wealth and materials flowed in from here, giving this small port a tolerant and diverse culture.

But it wasn’t until he was here that Shelley could clearly feel the difference.

People had their own thoughts and judgments, unaffected by government propaganda. And because of its abundant resources and wealth, Fuba Port could use tidal power to generate electricity independently, without relying on inefficient traditional methods, and build a more comprehensive and ideal town.

For example, on the streets of Fuba Port, Shelley unexpectedly saw a restroom designated for Omegas.

Even in the most luxurious cities like Nantes, the restrooms were only differentiated between Alpha and Beta, with the Alpha restrooms, which were fewer in number, built nearly twice as large as the Beta ones.

As for Omegas, they couldn’t go out alone at night, and during the day, they faced many inconveniences. Gradually, everyone defaulted to the idea that Omegas could only stay at home, so there was naturally no need for any facilities related to them on the streets.

Except perhaps for the “Injection House” specially prepared for the monthly Offering Day.

It felt quite novel to pass by other Omegas on the main street. After eating and drinking their fill, they even encountered a young Omega girl running a stall. Various delicate handicrafts were displayed on her stall—some woven from rattan, others assembled from plastic and rhinestones—exquisite and lovely, making them irresistible.

The girl had a cheerful personality and enthusiastically introduced her products when she saw their interest, explaining the weaving process and the symbolic meanings behind the designs. “This pair of lovebirds sells really well, symbolizing indestructible love and soaring together; or take a look at this lily, which also symbolizes enduring love and a harmonious relationship! The series with kittens and puppies is also very popular, especially adorable!”

Irey nodded, “Okay, I’ll take these few.”

A happy smile spread across the girl’s face as she immediately turned to get a packaging bag, “Okay, thank you so much!”

Shelley knew Irey was thinking of her own sister.

Along the way, they wandered around, enjoying food and play, without anyone casting strange looks at them.

The weather was very clear, and the food was affordable and delicious. Everything in this city was simple and plain, yet it easily brought happiness to people.

Shelley stopped in front of a toy store window.

The store’s decor was not very refined, and the toys in the window were ordinary and commonly seen, nothing special. Irey followed his gaze but didn’t notice anything remarkable.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing, just feeling a bit nostalgic.” Shelley smiled, pointing to a plastic snow globe in the middle of the window. Inside was a small snow mountain and a puppy. When powered on, the globe would snow while colorful lights and music played. “Once, on my birthday when I was little, I was out with my father and happened to pass by a toy store like this. I really wanted that snow globe inside.”

“And then?” Irey took a sip of his drink. “Did you buy it?”

“No, my father thought it was something only ordinary kids played with. He later gave me a book ‘The Rise and Fall of the World’ as a birthday present,” Shelley said helplessly.

“Do you want to buy it now?” Irey stopped and raised his chin. “It’s not expensive anyway.”

“No, when I was a child, I just thought it was magical. Now that I’m grown up, I know there’s no magic inside, just a fan and foam plastic,” Shelley laughed. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve seen one, so I suddenly felt nostalgic.”

Irey looked at the snow globe in the window and fell silent for a moment. He reached out and grabbed Shelley’s hand.

The sudden warmth made Shelley startled for a moment, but before he could regain his senses, he instinctively tightened his fingers and held Irey’s hand back.

Their palms pressed tightly together, and they could even feel each other’s pulse in their wrists.

“Have you ever been to an amusement park before?” Irey asked.

“I’ve worked on AI systems for amusement park themes and watched some gameplay videos,” Shelley hesitated, “but… I’ve never actually been.”

Irey gave a knowing look, grabbed Shelley’s hand, and said, “Come on, let’s go to the amusement park.”

Perhaps it was a holiday in Fuba Port, as there were more people in the amusement park than on the commercial street.

Laughter and screams filled the air everywhere. Couples walked hand in hand, and at every few steps, there were stalls selling balloons and cotton candy. The huge pink ferris wheel turned slowly, passing by fluffy white clouds.

They walked hand in hand, enjoying the warmth and smiles from strangers in a strange city, occasionally amused by drifting bubbles or the sound of a toy puppy.

Just like an ordinary couple seen everywhere in the amusement park. 

A couple.

When this word entered Shelley’s heart, it stirred a small ripple, and the resulting ripples continued to reverberate in his chest.

The pirate ship soared high, followed by a series of loud screams from the passengers. Irey had to raise his voice to talk to Shelley amidst the deafening noise.

“Have you ever had cotton candy?”

“What?” Shelley couldn’t hear clearly.

“Cotton candy, have you ever had it?” Irey raised his voice and pointed to a nearby stall, “Not the roasted kind, but the pulled kind!”

Shelley shook his head, and Irey immediately dragged him to the stall and bought a tuft of cotton candy, stuffing it into his hand.

Shelley looked at the soft thing in his hand in surprise, carefully took a bite, and accidentally got some melted syrup on his shirt collar.

“Not tasty,” Shelley frowned and commented, “It’s only sweet without any other flavor. Your roasted cotton candy is better.”

“I know,” Irey smiled, “You haven’t tried it before, right? It’s not a loss to taste it. Hey, have you had malt sugar? They sell it over there too.”

Shelley teasingly pulled Irey’s hand, “There are so many things I haven’t tried, are you going to buy them all for me?”

Along the way, Irey kept stuffing him with a bunch of snacks, and Shelley’s stomach and taste buds were reaching their limits.

Irey momentarily showed a somewhat regretful expression, but still nodded, “Well, forget it then.”

Just as Shelley let out a sigh of relief, Irey leaned down amidst the deafening screams and whispered in his ear, “Have you ridden the pirate ship?”