Chapter 375: The Mysterious Taoyuan Store

Sophie Thorne was lost in thought for a moment before saying slowly, "I think I saw a drone... Maybe that’s how it was delivered..."

What Sophie Thorne didn’t mention was that the delivery drone had vanished in an instant!

The whole thing was just too bizarre. To this moment, Sophie Thorne still couldn’t figure it out—’Was the blizzard so heavy that my eyes played tricks on me, and I didn’t see the drone fly away? Or was I hallucinating that there was a drone in the first place...?’

In short, Sophie Thorne was utterly bewildered.

She couldn’t figure out what had happened, but she was leaning toward the theory that the blizzard had been so severe that it had obscured her vision, preventing her from seeing the drone fly away.

Hearing this, Ronan Rhodes shook his head and said firmly, "That’s impossible! Our family works with the world’s leading heavy-lift drone company, and their consultants have all said that drones simply can’t fly in extreme weather like this!"

As the leading enterprise in indoor agriculture, Rhodes had also been researching and developing drone delivery to solve the problem of logistics during natural disasters. Unfortunately, in extreme weather, electronic devices like drones are prone to malfunction, and so far, their R&D had stalled.

Ronan Rhodes thought for a moment, then added, "This seafood looks like it was just caught. It wasn’t even frozen; they sent it directly..."

"...But Anworth isn’t a coastal city, and the snow has blocked all the roads. How did they transport the seafood from the shore? Don’t tell me they used a drone to deliver it directly from the coast to The Nimbus Hotel in under ten minutes? That’s just absurd!"

"If this online shop has that kind of technology, they should just forget selling seafood and sell their heavy-lift drone tech. They could ask for tens of billions and someone would buy it!"

Just as Ronan Rhodes finished speaking, his phone rang.

Ronan Rhodes picked up his phone and saw that the call was from Zane Simmons.

He answered the call, and Zane Simmons’s teasing voice came from the other end. "President Rhodes, I just bought a batch of seafood, and guess what? Every last piece is live and kicking!"

"Stuff like this is a real rarity these days. I’ve already sent it to the chef to prepare. Why don’t you come over for a drink later? I also invited President Jennings and Mr. Lynch. We can all get together."

Hearing Zane Simmons’s words, Ronan Rhodes was silent for a moment, then asked, "You bought seafood from that online shop, too?"

Zane Simmons, on the other end of the line, was stunned for a moment before replying, "Yeah, from The Arcadia Store. Everyone in our circle knows about it. They were selling matsutake and other wild mushrooms last year. Just think about it—a company that can cultivate matsutake indoors? How incredible is that! Too bad no one’s ever been able to dig up any dirt on them."

Thanks to the high quality of its goods, The Arcadia Shop was famous among Anworth’s wealthy elite and was their top choice for gift-giving.

Zane Simmons paused for a moment before adding, "Their stuff is really top-notch, truly high quality. They even listed chicken and duck this morning. I was planning to buy a few for my mom to make soup with, but unfortunately, our housekeeper wasn’t able to snag any."

"...Anyway, I just casually mentioned that it was a shame our housekeeper couldn’t get the chicken and duck, and Lucy White went and wrote a script, saying she could buy them with it. I thought she was just kidding, but what do you know, she actually managed to get them..."

There was a hint of a boast in Zane Simmons’s tone that he himself didn’t seem to have noticed.

Ronan Rhodes, however, was in no mood to listen to this nonsense. He cut Zane Simmons off directly. "Simmons, don’t you think The Arcadia Shop is a little odd? The oceans are frozen over. Where are they getting this fresh seafood? And how are they delivering it?"

Zane Simmons fell silent for a moment after hearing this, then answered, "Actually, we investigated this shop last year but couldn’t find anything. Even its bank account is based overseas. We tried to trace the account abroad, but we hit a dead end..."

At Zane Simmons’s words, Ronan Rhodes’s frown deepened.

He thought to himself, ’Even if it’s an overseas account, how could The Simmons Family fail to trace it? This is so ridiculous it’s starting to feel like a supernatural event...’

Hearing Ronan Rhodes fall silent on the other end, Zane Simmons tried to persuade him, "Alright, Rhodes, don’t overthink it. I’ve noticed that The Arcadia Shop’s sales volume is very low. It seems like just a small farm, and the owner often goes a month or two without listing any products..."

"The owner seems to be just dabbling; opening the shop to sell things is probably their pastime. A lot of people have reached out about partnerships or investments, but they never reply. You can tell they have no intention of going big. This shop and Rhodes are in completely different lanes; they’re no competition for you, so don’t waste your energy worrying about it."

Ronan Rhodes replied, "No, I’m not worried about that. I just think this shop is strange... For them to be able to deliver seafood to The Nimbus Hotel in such a short time, in this weather... that’s beyond the realm of technology. It’s practically a miracle..."

Zane Simmons was silent for a beat. He had been curious too, of course. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have ordered his people to trace The Arcadia Shop’s overseas account or look up the online store’s registration address and IP.

But he had come up empty-handed.

The matter was indeed beyond the realm of science, and Zane Simmons had agonized over it for some time.

But not long after, hundreds of volcanoes erupted across the globe simultaneously, and Zane Simmons instantly let go of many things. He realized that these days, there were far too many things that couldn’t be explained by science. Why get fixated on The Arcadia Shop?

’As long as the shop’s products are genuinely good, that’s all that matters! This is a good thing for me, so there’s no need to sweat the other stuff!’

Zane Simmons replied in a somewhat nonchalant tone, "A miracle? Isn’t this whole cataclysm a miracle? Can this disaster be explained by science?"

"Give it a rest, Rhodes. The world is full of things that can’t be explained by science. You shouldn’t think so much. I’ve noticed you’re becoming more and more like that uncle of yours!"

Hearing this, Ronan Rhodes pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

After hanging up, Ronan Rhodes thought for a moment. He still felt the matter was too unbelievable to let go. It was best to find a way to investigate.

He then composed a text message outlining the whole story and sent it to Roman Rhodes, intending to have him get someone to investigate the shop.

A short while later, a message came back from Roman Rhodes.

Ronan Rhodes quickly opened the message and began to read it word by word.

Sophie Thorne watched as Ronan Rhodes’s expression grew more and more peculiar. Confused, she asked, "What’s with that face? What did your uncle say?"

Ronan Rhodes was silent for a beat, then answered, "...My uncle said he’s on it and will find a way to investigate..."

He said as much, but Ronan Rhodes’s expression remained peculiar.

Sophie Thorne paid him no mind, simply acknowledging his words with an "Oh."

She glanced down at the plump, beautiful mantis shrimp in the delivery box, the corners of her lips curling into a slight smile.

She turned to Ronan Rhodes and said, "You’re going over to Zane Simmons’s place for drinks and seafood, right? In that case, I’ll be enjoying this batch all by myself."

Ronan Rhodes looked at the seafood on the table, his expression growing even more peculiar.

He was silent for a moment before raising a hand to wearily wipe his face. In a muffled voice, he said, "Where did you buy this seafood? Send me the link."

Sophie Thorne was taken aback. "What do you want the link for?"