Supermarket Thief, Protection Mechanism

"Isn't there any?" Nick observed the landlady's expression and asked.

"Why does a human like you need this?" the landlady handed the note back and retorted.

"Actually, I'm an employee of the Strange Tales Restaurant. They sent me to buy this ingredient," Nick said.

The landlady laughed, "It's no different from a death sentence for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Even if I give you Ingredient No. 8, you, a human, won't be able to take it back. You'll lose your life instead," the landlady sat down and poured a glass of water.

"This ingredient is very dangerous. Humans can hardly control it. They might even be controlled by it instead."

Nick's face showed surprise.

Damn! Is this ingredient or a monster? That's too scary!

"Moreover, I won't sell it to you."

"Why?"

"It's too precious. Those guys from the Strange Tales Restaurant send an employee to buy ingredients from No. 1 to No. 8 almost every once in a while."

"This isn't something you can buy with ghost coins," the landlady said calmly.

"If this is all you're here for, you can go back now."

Nick looked distressed. "I'll die if I go back."

"Can I buy it with something other than ghost coins?"

The landlady glanced at Nick's body and smiled, "Although you have a nice figure, sister here isn't interested in that sort of thing."

"Besides, human flesh isn't worth much here."

Nick fell silent.

He suddenly understood. The hardest part of this mission wasn't reaching the WL Supermarket alive. The hardest part was that they simply weren't willing to sell Ingredient No. 8!

Perhaps Pinocchio never expected Nick to bring it back.

Bang! Bang!!

Suddenly, a loud commotion erupted inside the supermarket.

From a distance, Nick saw a bunch of goods flying around, shelves collapsing, and instantly that area was in a mess.

Bang!

The door to the darkroom was smashed open, and the boss, covered in injuries, rushed out. He headed towards a cleaver, shouting furiously, "It's that damned thief again! I'll chop it up!!"

With that, he grabbed the cleaver and charged into the shelf area.

Not long after, he came back looking disheveled.

Gripping the cleaver, he gnashed his teeth in anger. "Idiot, don't make the store even messier!"

"If you're so capable, you would have caught it already. What are you fussing about now?" The landlady grabbed her husband's ear and scolded him.

The boss slashed at the landlady's arm with the cleaver in a fit of rage. "Why don't you go catch it then, instead of blaming me?"

The landlady didn't argue with him. She went over to the shelves, and soon a furious scream came, "It stole 8 more items, worth 500 ghost coins in total!"

Hearing this, Nick roughly understood what had happened.

How could a thief have sneaked into a supermarket like this?

And from the sound of it, this wasn't the first time. It was a repeat offender.

"Can you tell me about it? Maybe I can help," Nick asked tentatively.

"You? Get lost, don't get in my way!" The boss disdained Nick, or rather, he disdained humans. The boss's wife came over, pushed the boss aside, and stared at Nick. Suddenly, she smiled meaningfully and said, "Tell you what, if you can help us catch the thief who stole the ingredient No.8, I'll sell it to you!"

"Deal!" Nick didn't hesitate.

What other choice did he have but to agree?

"Heh." The boss sneered and said nothing more.

"Boss, give me two pieces of human-donkey hide," a passing customer stopped and called out.

"Can't you get them yourself? Do you have no hands or feet?" The boss turned around and shouted angrily.

"Fuck, what a rude way to do business. Who would shop here!" The customer swore and left.

The boss's wife stabbed the boss in the back again, her eyes fiercely narrowing. "Do you still want to keep this store open?"

Nick ignored the loving couple who resorted to violence easily and walked towards the shelves. The supermarket was actually quite large.

There were no less than a hundred display shelves, and as Nick walked along, he noticed that the goods were either covered in dust or scattered on the floor. In short, it was very messy and seemed to have never been organized.

Suddenly, Nick heard some movement.

He quickly located the source of the sound, pulled out his bone-crushing hammer, and turned around to swing it.

"Brother, calm down!"

The figure quickly spoke up.

"A human?" Nick was startled and smelled the scent of a human on the other person.

"Yes, I'm human. I'm a player here, a stock clerk named Jim. Like you, I was sent here to participate in the horror game," the man said with a smile.

"Stock clerk..."

Nick stared at the messy shelves and the chaos on the floor. "Is this how you manage the inventory?"

Given the boss's irritable temper and tendency to brandish a knife at the slightest provocation, Jim should have been torn to pieces long ago if he had seen this scene.

How had Jim survived with such a work attitude?

"Hehe, there's a national protection mechanism in place," Jim said with a grin.

"The boss and his wife only come to check once a week. I slack off for five days and clean up for two days, and that's enough," Jim said, scratching his head.

Nick was astonished.

So this was the national intervention, a forced protection mechanism!

The supervision was too lax!

No wonder the irritable couple ignored the mess on the floor and only got angry about the goods that the thief had disrupted!

Thinking about his own experience working at the Strange Tales Restaurant these past few days, being harassed by the chef, groped by ghosts while sleeping, and targeted by perverted customers, Nick realized that if he hadn't been smart and lucky, he would have lost his life long ago!

The slightest negligence or slow service could anger the customers.

Slow food delivery, clumsy movements, or even a slip of the tongue that ruined a customer's dining experience could cost you your life!

Compared to Nick's situation, Jim's job was like a flower in a greenhouse!

This comparison made Nick feel extremely frustrated.

"I was forcibly sent here," Nick said with a dark face.

"I sympathize with you," Jim looked at Nick with pity.

Although he had only participated in the horror game twice, he knew that being forcibly sent here meant there was no national protection mechanism.

The danger level was high!

The mortality rate was high! Only those with ancestral blessings could return alive!

Jim stared at the boss, who was still arguing outside, and whispered, "I heard your conversation with the boss's wife. You should just go back where you came from."

"You can't catch that thieving ghost."

"And don't think the boss's wife is easy to deal with. Even if you catch the ghost, she definitely won't give you ingredient No.8!"

Nick's face darkened. "Why?"

"Are you really stupid or pretending to be stupid?" Jim looked Nick up and down.

"You're a human, and you want to cooperate with a ghost? Let me tell you the truth, your superiors at Strange Tales Restaurant have screwed over our boss's wife before, and she hates you guys."

"Even if she wants to sell it, she won't sell it to you!"

Nick's face grew heavier.

Pinocchio hadn't mentioned any of this to him and had even sent him to the Wangliang Supermarket, which was obviously a big trap. Nick closed his eyes, seemingly making a decision.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and said, "Tell me about the thief in your store."

"Aren't you listening to me?" Jim was startled.

Nick said, "Anyway, I can't go back empty-handed."

"I have my own way."