Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 640 Reaction
Honestly, the shop owner has been very busy every day lately.

Especially after the blood moon rises and the dry tide approaches, the leisurely days are gone forever. Every day he has to process the materials that are delivered to him, classify them one by one, make them into qualified products, and then contact various customers to sell these things. And most importantly, he can't sell them all. He always has to leave some for the humans. Otherwise, like fish in a pond, these materials will all go to other places if they can't get any profit.

Of course, if that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. But unfortunately, everyone under him is a handful. The managers on the first and second floors have been absent for quite some time since they were eliminated. While Master Hu on the third floor is loyal, he seems to still have some remnants of humanity and refuses to work diligently. As for the fourth floor…
Needless to say, if given the chance, even the shop owner would want to take it down himself.

"Talent is rare, what a pity. If that girl hadn't been so insistent, changing her status would have saved so much trouble. Rules are made by people, and I'm not inflexible. I could have just changed her husband and child as well. Why did she have to try to kill herself?"

Shaking his head, the shop owner patted the bone tissue shelf next to him.

The shelf remained silent, naturally offering no response.

Just as he was sighing in silence, the phone next to him suddenly rang.

Damn it, is he coming after me again?

The invisible face instantly darkened, but as the only person in charge here, the shop owner still held his nose and answered.

"Hey?"

A series of gibberish sounds came from the phone.

It sounded like a pheasant drowning in a pond; all you could hear was the sound of oxygen deprivation and the bubbling of dying water.

Harassment calls?

The shop owner had the idea on his mind—but then he chuckled at his own idiocy.

In this world where communication is cut off, my phone line is maintained by biological tissue. Apart from a few customers, no one can call in. So where would I get nuisance calls?

Sure enough, a few seconds later, a hoarse voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Qi San?"

"First of all, my surname isn't Qi. Secondly, I'm not the third child in my family. Could you please stop calling me that?"

However, the guy on the other side was not polite at all.

"Then why should I care what you're called? Can you even remember your original name?"

The shop owner fell silent instantly.

Ever since he turned his beloved wife into an object, he has gradually forgotten his own name—yes, that's right, his memories of his human days are still vivid, but he just can't recall this name no matter what he tries.

After being momentarily speechless, he awkwardly changed the subject.

"Chef Zhao, what do you want by calling? And why are you making all this weird noise? Are you deliberately trying to cause trouble?"

The guy on the other end of the phone scoffed.

"Why would I pick a fight with you? It's just that a new waiter recently joined, and I haven't gotten him set up yet."

As they were speaking, a scream mixed with coughing suddenly came from the receiver.

"Master Zhao, Master Zhao! Please kill me! I beg you, please give me a quick death! For the sake of our long-standing friendship, please have pity on me!"

The words of pleading were heart-wrenching, but 'Chef Zhao' seemed completely deaf to them, and said with a smile.

"First of all, it's only right to pay back debts. Secondly, it's precisely because we've spent quite a bit of time together that I admire you so much. You're truly immortal now, so why don't you smile?"

The crying stopped.

A moment later, a series of maniacal laughs came from the other end.

Accompanied by this music, the shop owner's voice grew increasingly impatient.

"I know you like these things. But can we talk about business first? I have a lot of things to do and can't afford to waste any more time."

"You can say there's 'a lot of work' in your run-down shop that hasn't seen a single person in half a month?"

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'm hanging up."

Upon hearing this threat, the person on the other end chuckled.

"It's nothing, it's just that I've had more customers lately, and my kitchen utensils are wearing out quite a bit, so I wanted to order some from you."

When a customer came in, the shop owner patiently and coldly said...

"How many sets?"

"Give me five sets first."

"Five sets? Is this for opening a restaurant or a slaughterhouse? Although your place is pretty much like a slaughterhouse on a regular basis, what do you need so many for?"

Chef Zhao only gave one answer.

"Because the low tide is coming, we have to be prepared to meet it."

The shop owner fell silent.

For the next three or four minutes, he didn't speak again, and Chef Zhao didn't urge him either, just waited quietly.

After a while, the shop owner spoke again.

"Normally, dry and damp conditions shouldn't affect this area, even if we're a designated tax district. Do you have any leads on this?"

Amidst the seemingly endless, frenzied accompaniment, Chef Zhao chuckled.

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? Anyway, since we're here, we have to put up with it. Aren't you also trying to find a way out lately? How's it going?"

"What else can I do? With such a competitor standing in my way, I can't make any progress no matter what I do."

The conversation abruptly stopped.

Seemingly not understanding why he suddenly stopped talking, Chef Zhao called out several times on the other end of the phone—but still received no response.

The shop owner put down the conversation and stared intently out the window.

The streets remained pitch black and eerie, yet within its field of vision, a bright flame shot into the sky, dispelling the thick, inky darkness—

After a full three or four minutes, the shop owner muttered to himself.

"This guy actually succeeded?"

Then, incredulously, he added another sentence.

"Such a short time?"

The person being referred to is self-evident. It knows the guy in the apartment building is indeed weaker than it, not to mention the entire family in the store attacking together. However, due to the presence of that mutated motor, this guy has a clear home-field advantage, and it can't really do anything about it.
But it never expected that what was originally just a casual, unremarkable move, a step it hadn't been planning, and one it had even prepared for to recycle the goods, would actually...
It actually got it done for him in less than a day?
—No, that's not right, this isn't the time to be surprised.

The shop owner shook his non-existent brain, grabbed the phone, and quickly spoke into the other end.

"It's just five sets of goods, right? I agree, but I'm afraid we don't have enough materials right now. You'll have to come and pick them up in a while, okay?"

"What's wrong with you? Have you lost your mind? Never mind, let's just leave it at that. I'll come pick it up in a while."

Before the guy could finish speaking, the shop owner hung up. But instead of being in a hurry, he thought for a while and then dialed another phone number.

This time the wait was exceptionally long; after a long while, a voice finally rang out from the other end.

"Hey?"

Unlike the previous chef Zhao, this voice was very polite, even respectful.

The shop owner, however, didn't have as many tricks up his sleeve when it came to this guy.

"It's me, so there's no need to mention my name, right?"

The other person immediately responded with a smile.

"Of course, of course, I remember everyone's phone number clearly. I can immediately know who it is no matter who calls. But now is not the time to contact you. May I ask what you need?" The shop owner snorted and then said.

"It's nothing. How's the stuff I gave you a while ago? Is it enough?"

"That's enough, that's enough. Thanks to your help, we've gotten through this urgent situation."

Before the other person could finish speaking, the shop owner interrupted him rudely.

"You have enough on your end, but what about me?"

"? Didn't I already send over the payment?"

"not enough."

One sentence shut down everything the other person wanted to say.

After a long pause, the person on the other end spoke in a voice that was barely suppressing their anger, yet still remained polite.

"How could it not be enough? It's all according to the number you said! Besides, we have limits; if it's too much..."

"When I say it's not enough, it's not enough."

This time, a decision has finally been made.

The person on the other end seemed about to get angry, but after a few seconds, they seemed to deflate and said something else.

"Then can you give me a number? How much would be enough?"

"Double the first batch, triple the second batch, and triple the rest."

A high-pitched voice suddenly came from the microphone.

"No, you're crazy! How much more would I have to borrow from elsewhere to make up for that much money?! And you're not the only one asking for things; I have to supply many other families."

"—I'm offering five times the reward on my end."

"."

The person opposite gasped.

Seemingly feeling that this was still not enough, the shop owner added more.

"I can also help you make connections in other places. I can't guarantee that your plans will be successful, but I can at least increase your chances by 20% to 30%."

"."

There was no response on the other end of the phone, and the shop owner wasn't in a hurry—he knew the guy definitely wouldn't be able to refuse the offer.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the other party spoke with difficulty.

"Okay. I'll figure something out. When will the first batch arrive?"

"Today, or tomorrow."

Having already agreed to those outrageous conditions, this was naturally no problem for them either. The other party readily agreed and then said...

"Alright, shall we do it the same way as before?"

"Let's stick to the old rules."

After saying that, the other party hung up the phone.

The shop owner also made a sarcastic remark at the opportune moment.

"A fool who's all talk and no action, but he's quite clever."

It shook its head and looked out the window again.

The flames were still burning fiercely, and it seemed unlikely that they would be extinguished anytime soon.

"That is indeed a variable. Well, although I don't want to break the contract, I have to think about my family's future."

The third time I picked up the phone, this time I dialed an internal line to the store, and all I said was one sentence.

"All employees, listen to my orders! From this moment forward, no one will be allowed to escape. All intruders must be turned into raw materials. All floors must work overtime to produce more materials, and..."

"When we encounter that special 'guy' again, we must kill him without hesitation, at all costs."

Zhou You slowly awoke from his coma.

He had lost too much blood before, and the punch he had poured all his strength into caused him to lose consciousness after falling into the drain.

Fortunately, it seems I haven't been eaten by those strange creatures yet.

Sharp, stinging pain shot through his limbs, and his mana, which had just begun to recover, was depleted again—this was compounded by the damage inflicted by the tall, thin figure and the burns from the fire.
It can be said that, apart from the moment he was resurrected, he is currently in his weakest state.

However, Zhou You had no regrets.

That's just how he is; his personality is always unreliable, or rather, capricious. He does whatever he wants without considering the consequences.

But at least it was a success, wasn't it?

Taking a deep breath, Zhou You laboriously opened his eyelids.

The first thing you see is still that bright red blood moon.

That maniacally laughing face was as eerie as ever, with two streams of bloody tears flowing down its cheeks, and its neurotic eyes constantly scanning everything below—but for some reason, Zhou You had a strange feeling about it.

Sometimes, this guy seems to glance at me unintentionally?

How could that be? To an existence of this size, I am but a drop in the ocean; it would be a miracle if it could even see me.

Shaking his head to shake off the unease, Zhou You opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a bottle was placed in front of him.

"Brother Zhou, you're finally awake! Um...would you like some water?"

Turning around, sure enough, Wang Xiaoer's face, filled with surprise and excitement, came into view.

Looking to the side, the apartment building was already far away. It wasn't even the hole that the drainpipe led to anymore, but rather a vaguely visible street.

Zhou You frowned and spoke.

"Where am I? And how did I get here?"

Wang Xiaoer was stunned for a moment, then immediately lowered his voice and answered.

“Brother Zhou, I waited outside for ages before I saw you slide out of the drainpipe. But you were already unconscious, and I couldn’t wake you up no matter what I did. The place was burning up again, and I was afraid of attracting some strange things, so I tried to drag you out.”

Carefully observing Zhou You's expression, he immediately spoke again.

"But don't worry, Brother Zhou, once the apartment building is gone, that area will be passable. I'm heading towards the safe zone, so I won't let you encounter any danger."

Zhou You looked at the thin body and then at the muddy clothes.

Even though I'm not exactly strong right now, how much effort did this kid expend to pull me this far?
After thinking it over, he picked up the water bottle first, took a sip of water, and then patted Wang Xiaoer on the shoulder.

"Thank you for your hard work. I've basically finished what I needed to do; all that's left is..."

The words abruptly stopped.

This wasn't because any danger suddenly appeared, or because of any unexpected situation, but rather...
Zhou You tilted his head back and looked around at the scenery.

For some reason, I suddenly feel a sense of familiarity with this place.

(End of this chapter)