"You are the guests Hal mentioned, right? Please come in." Martin stepped aside and shouted back into the room, "Jessica, the guests are here, is dinner ready?"
An older lady emerged from the kitchen, followed by another young man, Hal introduced, "This is my younger brother, you can call him Jim, he's studying at university in Los Angeles and dreams of becoming a Hollywood star."
Jim gave a cheerful grin; he didn't look much like Hal, with a face full of freckles, yet he had a handsome and charming look about him, indeed, something of a star quality.
Lucifer approached Jim, shook his hand, and said: "I'm sure you will realize your dreams; I've met many Hollywood stars, none of them as handsome as you."
"Sir, if you keep praising him, his head will be in the clouds", Martin joked while walking back to the kitchen with Jessica, then slipped out the kitchen door into the yard, only to return a while later with a live fish, throwing it onto the chopping board.
Jessica, who was chopping vegetables, turned her head and said: "Looks like you're going to put on a show for our guests again."
With a thud, Martin stunned the fish with the stick in his hand, decapitating it with a knife while saying, "Indeed, a secret of the Martin family recipe... Gentlemen, does anyone have a problem with spicy food?"
"Throw in a little extra chili for me!" Hal shouted towards the kitchen.
Rushing to remove his thick jacket and dab the fine sweat off his forehead, he invited Shiller and Lucifer to sit down on the sofa.
As Shiller surveyed the room, it was a stereotypical fisherman's home. A large stone fireplace sat in the center of the living room, a Christmas wreath still hanging above it, in front of which was the visitor's sofa.
To the left of the sofa was a window, to the right was a staircase, and on the wall of the stairwell were all family photos of the Jordan family holding various sizes of fishes. Below the stairs was a closet with a fish skeleton, and behind it were the dining room and the kitchen.
"My parents aren't very talkative. My dad was a pilot, my mom was a fisherman's daughter, but you can count on their hospitality and cooking skills. Everyone in the Jordan family knows how to cook."
Lucifer spotted a photograph hanging on the wall; it stood out amongst the many photos of the Jordans with fish – it was of two young men wearing aviator's helmets, posing with a plane.
Noting Lucifer's gaze, Hal began to speak, "That's not me, it's my father and his comrade, or should I say his commander."
Hal stood up and walked over to the photograph, brushing his fingers over the frame, "My father was a pilot recruited during World War II. At the time, he was still young and nearly killed in an air crash. Fortunately, his commander saved him."
Shiller too approached the wall and peered at the unusual photograph amongst the countless others - the two young men with pilot helmets were all smiles, evoking a unique vibe from the war era.
Then Hal began introducing the other photographs on the wall - family members who had caught a huge fish, and so on, until the steaming hot food was served.
Shiller noticed surprisingly that the dishes here didn't primarily consist of seafood, but of plenty of beef, mutton, and staple food. Hal, while setting the plates, explained, "Most indigenous people of Seashore City have experience with deep-sea fishing. If you've been on a boat for three months, eating seafood every day, you wouldn't want to see a fish for the rest of your life."
Lucifer immediately nodded in agreement and cut himself a piece of chicken leg.
Hal motioned to Shiller pointing at the middle of the table to a dish made from fish, explaining, "My father noticed that you're not a fisherman, so he specially added a seafood dish. It's one of my father's specialties - a flavor you won't find anywhere else."
Shiller looked at the fish placed in the center of the table; he noticed that it didn't look like the way Americans usually prepared fish, not in the form of a fish filet or fish pieces. Instead, it was a whole grilled and stewed fish, garnished with a generous amount of chili and spices.
"This is a technique I learned from a comrade who survived a plane crash. They filled the belly of the grilled fish with herbs before stewing it. The taste is quite good, not fishy at all," Martin commented.
Shiller picked up a piece of fish with his fork, and tasted it, outing that it was indeed as Martin had described; the fish meat was tender, the skin crispy, not fishy, and the spicy flavor made him break into an instant sweat.
By the end of the meal, the fish dish surprisingly turned out to be the most popular. Hal, Jim, and Lucifer, despite their cries from the spicy flavor, still couldn't stop themselves from eating more.
Shiller had a light palate, but the Gray Mist seemed to love chili very much. Gray Mist told him that chili provides a unique neural stimulation to the symbiont. So, despite Shiller keeping a calm demeanor, Gray Mist was howling inside his brain from the spiciness.
After the meal, Mr. and Mrs. Jordan went for a walk and to walk the dog outside while Jim went to the town to shop for items needed for school. Meanwhile, Shiller, Hal, and Lucifer sat down by the sofa next to the fireplace, with Hal grabbing a bottle of wine and some glasses from a nearby cabinet.
"I heard you're looking to open a bar in Seashore City? That's actually a great idea. But do you plan to cater to the local people or target the tourists?"
"I don't know, do you have any suggestions?" Lucifer leaned back onto the sofa, resting his hands on the back of it and asked.
"You can only choose one of these two customer groups, as they have entirely different consumption styles. Among the west coast cities, Seashore City is relatively conservative. Most of the indigenous people here are early risers and early sleepers, and so, their nightlife is not that vibrant."
"If you want to cater to their tastes, you can't just sell alcohol in a bar, you also have to sell snacks, desserts, and even pet food. You can think of it as a comprehensive convenience store."
"Of course, to sell these things, you need various kinds of permits. It's not hard to get a permit, but you have to get audited every year, and there will be inspections."
"Furthermore, if you want to survive locally, you need to maintain a good reputation, you can't go against the locals, you have to talk about popular topics, and ideally understanding fishing. For a foreigner, this is rather difficult."
"Targeting tourists is much simpler. What out-of-town nightclubs are like, is what this one's like, with wild drinking, dancing, and rolling. Tourists travel long distances to such a faraway city, but they still love this stuff."
"If you can hire a few popular West Coast singers to perform regularly, and set up a cool graffiti wall, you'll attract students from nearby universities."
Hal assumed that Lucifer would choose the latter model to avoid trouble, but Lucifer stroked his chin and said, "I just want to know, which type of bar has a higher and more stable revenue?"
"During the tourist season, of course, nightclubs targeting tourists are more popular. Tickets can sell at a high price, alcohol can also be sold at high prices, but if the high season is over, it might get very quiet. The upside is you can take the time to go on vacation."
"Running a bar catering to locals is trickier. The revenue is steady all year round, which means you have to constantly restock and manage the inventory."
"Let's go with this one then," Lucifer agreed readily.
Hal took a sip of alcohol, somewhat surprised, and said, "Didn't expect you to be an old school type. Running this kind of pub isn't easy, you have to deal with all sorts of locals, and you have to make yourself likable."
Shiller shook his head and said, "I can tell, you didn't want him to choose this one."
"Because running this kind of bar is labor-intensive and thankless, the yearly profit might not even exceed a nightclub's quarterly earnings." Hal didn't seem to agree, so he turned to Lucifer and advised, "Moreover, a pub is not something one person can manage. There needs to be someone in store when restocking supplies, and locals trust bosses with stable family relationships more."
"That's fine." Lucifer waved his hand and said, "I can have Wheat come watch the store, oh, she's my girlfriend...well, you could also say ex-girlfriend."
"Haven't you realized yet? The thing he fears most is being idle." Shiller shook his head with a smile and said, "The reason his bar in Los Angeles couldn't survive wasn't because of a loss, but because it was too quiet during the off-season. He was bored to death."
"Then why didn't he use that time to travel?" Hal asked.
"I have been traveling for tens of thousands of years." Lucifer replied helplessly, "I have measured every inch of this planet with my steps. I know every tree, every stone's grandfather and great grandfather here."
"Never mind, let's drop this. Shiller, you mentioned before that a business you and Hal partnered on could possibly help my bar, what is it?" Lucifer asked with a little confusion.
Shiller and Hal exchanged a look. Shiller leaned on the armrest and said, "You should know. Hal has another job, the Green Lantern maintaining cosmic peace. Of course, you've been on Earth for so many years, you should understand that every Earthling has a profound sense of civil duty and collective honor."
"Therefore, even if he could become the greatest Green Lantern, Hal still chooses to stand firmly by humanity, working for the welfare of all humans, and has taken a series of positive actions."
"What did you guys do?" Lucifer had a bad feeling.
"At the same time, Hal's good social image has made him many friends in the Green Lantern Corps. His understanding of greater justice inspires his friends and arouses their racial honor."
"So the Green Lanterns cooperated and, without endangering cosmic peace or affecting their duties, they put Green Lantern energy and the Green Lantern Ring to use in more microscopic fields..."
"Speak English."
"We stole electricity."
Lucifer's eyes widened. He stared at Hal and Shiller in turn and he had an increasingly bad feeling. So, he asked, "…How much did you steal?"
"Not much." Shiller broke into a smile.
"How much is 'not much'??"
Hal snapped his fingers.
Lucifer saw, through the window opposite the sofa, a green mountain appearing out of nowhere on the calm sea surface.