Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 184 Strangers in a Strange Land
"A beehive built on top of a building?" Liu Shuyue also noticed this unusual sight.

Thinking back to the giant centipede I just encountered, it's not impossible for bees to grow to the size of a room.

After hearing their description, Elori couldn't help but shudder. "How about... we look somewhere else?"

"It's alright. Whether it's bees or wasps, they only attack people when disturbed. If we don't run upstairs and just search the shops downstairs, there shouldn't be any major problems," Chen Xuan said confidently.

How could he possibly turn back halfway because of a few bugs?
If all else fails, there's always the invisibility charm available.

But are these insects simply gigantic?
He was reminded of the coin formed from the mutated reptile, and the "host's hands" destroyed by the fission and remelting in a poker game, which were also covered with a large number of maggots under their skin.

Chen Xuan vaguely felt that there might be some kind of connection between them.

"Let's finish searching and get out of here." He looked up at the sky, which was still incredibly overcast, as if a large amount of fog was lingering in the air. The light was even dimmer than before, perhaps because the sun was beginning to set. "If we don't find anything here, then we'll have to consider finding a place to spend the night."

It took another twenty minutes or so for the three of them to finally reach the bottom of the building.

Because of the numerous high-rise buildings standing here, the lower levels are quite dark. A dense network of shadows, interwoven with the thicket of wild vegetation, creates a dark forest atmosphere.

The first floor of the podium building is entirely made up of various glass display walls, some of which contain many figurines, presumably because it used to sell clothes and jewelry.

“When I came here before, I only dared to look from the outside.” Elori lowered her voice, afraid of disturbing the residents in the hive above. “Anything sold in here can be worth several years of my income.”

"Now you can go in and take a look without worry," Chen Xuan said with a smile.

He first entered a jewelry store, where many shelves were overgrown with vines, and the condition of the store was far from ideal. He summoned his sword and began clearing away the vines and weeds while searching for a counter or checkout area.

“The shelves are all empty…” Elori carefully examined the shelves. “The glass has also been smashed. Someone must have stolen the merchandise.”

"The whole city probably descended into chaos when the disaster struck," Chen Xuan said dismissively.

"But where can they run to? If even the capital isn't safe..."

"I do not know then."

It doesn't seem like a disaster caused by demons. After all, they're not outside the realm of humanity; desires like eating, drinking, and having fun are basic necessities. There's no reason for them to turn a perfectly good city into this state.

"Chen Xuan, is this what you're looking for?" Liu Shuyue suddenly asked.

Upon hearing the sound, Chen Xuan went to the row of cabinets where she was and found a barcode scanner lying in the drawer, along with several unopened batteries.

"This is it!" he exclaimed with delight.

After removing the old battery from the gun and inserting the new one, Chen Xuan silently prayed for the Bodhisattva's blessing and then pressed the power button.

The indicator light on the barcode scanner miraculously lit up.

Wow, it didn't spoil!

"You came to the business district just to find this?" Elori asked in surprise. She couldn't fathom how a barcode scanner could have anything to do with returning to the world.

"She's not a guest," Liu Shuyue whispered.

The implication was that if they went back, Elori would be abandoned here.

"It's alright, just make her a guest too."

"Can you connect to crooked magic?"

This stumped Chen Xuan; without accessing the inventory page, the trading function couldn't be used. It has to be said, Liu Shuyue is really learning more and more.

However, he quickly came up with a solution: "No problem. I'll go back first and then send you a customer follow-up invitation. As long as you keep the shop in mind, it should appear in one of your rooms."

The store itself can also travel through multiple worlds.

Liu Shuyue gave him an approving thumbs-up. Chen Xuan activated the barcode scanner's pairing mode and began connecting it to his phone. All barcode scanners are pretty much the same; for example, although this one didn't have a small screen, the usage was identical. After pairing the data port, he could transfer the old barcode scanner program backed up on his phone to the new scanner, letting the latter replace the former. For someone with his experience working in a fast-food restaurant, this process was second nature.

With a soft beep, the transfer was complete.

Chen Xuan immediately scanned himself, but the expected option box did not appear in his field of vision.

He aimed at Liu Shuyue again and pressed the trigger, but there was still no response.

"How is it? Is it working?" the other party asked.

"There seems to be a problem..." Chen Xuan could see on his phone that the device was indeed connected, and the barcode numbers inside were all for products sold in the Ability Store. There shouldn't be any problem scanning the codes to pay.

Could it be that... the barcode scanners matched in this way can only be used for checkout?

Chen Xuan was startled. He took out the broken barcode scanner and summoned the Thousand Thoughts Sword. He inserted the tip of the sword along the crack and pried off the outer shell on the back little by little.

When the internal structure was revealed, he almost laughed out of anger.

This isn't just a barcode scanner, it's futuristic technology!

Inside the small gun barrel lay a dense network of circuits and cables, connected to several silver crystals of unidentifiable material—a structure of astonishing complexity. If a mobile phone's integration level is a "one," then this is at least a "ten"!
Such a technologically advanced product, yet the store gave it an incredibly plain plastic shell. Were they deliberately teasing the store manager?
"Miscalculation..."

It's really his own fault; he never thought to check the internal condition of the barcode scanner.

It now seems that the computers, counters, roller shutters, and even coffee machines used in the store may all be hiding complex technologies unknown to the public.

Although Elori didn't understand why he was sighing over a barcode scanner, she guessed that the situation was not optimistic. "We can't go back for now?"

"There's probably no way to get around to this today." Chen Xuan shook his head. Unless someone knew how to fix this thing, they only had one option left: find an entry point to leave this world. "Let's find a safe place to spend the night... hmm?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a box of rolled-up banknotes in another cabinet right next to it.

I picked it up and took a look, and realized I hadn't misread it.

These banknotes were probably meant to be used by customers for exchanging small change. They were mostly large denominations like 20 and 50, which is very much in line with the positioning of a luxury store. Because they had been neglected for a long time, thick mold had grown on the banknotes.

“Strange…” Chen Xuan muttered to himself.

It's perfectly normal for a shop to keep some loose change on hand, but it's quite strange that the euros were left behind after the shop was completely looted.

It wasn't hidden very well; it was just placed openly in the storage cabinet. People who buy things for free will definitely take a look, as a box of euros is quite a lot of money.

"Shh." Lin Qing suddenly made a shushing gesture, then took out an invisibility talisman and enveloped all three of them.

"Huh, I'm... gone?" Elori was shocked.

Chen Xuan turned around and pressed down on her shoulder. "Don't panic, squat down, we're all here."

Then he heard a series of thuds, as if something was falling from the sky.

Several figures appeared swaying around in front of the shop.

The moment Chen Xuan saw who it was, he couldn't help but gasp.

At first glance, they look much like ordinary people, with hands and feet, wearing suits and ties. However, their faces are insect-like, with two huge compound eyes that take up almost a third of their faces, mouths that resemble locusts, and serrated pincers on both sides of their lower jaws.

In addition, their exposed hands have been mutated into insect-like shapes, with hooks and barbs, making them quite unsettling.

If they were just simple monsters, it wouldn't be so bad, but these people were dressed properly, and their clothes were carefully taken care of and did not look worn at all, which made the scene quite absurd.

It's so absurd it's terrifying!
(End of this chapter)