Forge a path to success.

Chapter 273 Searching for the Store Manager
"My hometown, Dust Island, is very remote, and so far I haven't found a way back home. I have a fellow countryman who may also be drifting in the Dust Island, but I've found no clues. So I'd like to use the bookstore's channels."

He had already conceived of this idea when he told Vande he was going to the city-state of Thorn Robe. The Flooded Realm was vast and contained countless islands, making it impossible to search for them one by one. Throughout history, finding people has always relied on efficient information dissemination channels, and in the Flooded Realm without the internet, a widely circulated newspaper was an excellent choice.

The boss, in particular, isn't interested in video games but loves reading, so if she's also active in medium to large Dust Island events, the chances of her coming into contact with her would be much greater.

"No problem," Bangbangji readily agreed. "It's nothing, I'll add an extra page for you in the next issue—"

The venomous otter reached out its paw and patted it, while the crucian carp manager covered its mouth and rolled its eyes.

Poison Otter took a sip of tea, squinted, and smiled, “We can see you’re eager to find the person, and we’d be happy to help. But this involves information outlets outside of Dust Island. The cultures of each Dust Island are different, and there’s a lot of sensitive information, so we have to do an internal review first. Also, the bookstore’s publications are written by the store manager, so we need to discuss with the store manager how to publish the missing person notice and what format the content should take before making a decision.”

The editor, Otter, spoke frankly, and Chu Hengkong understood his concerns. Those in the arts value reputation above all else; if good intentions lead to bad outcomes, it's a painful experience for both themselves and others.

"I understand. Can I speak directly with the store manager?"

"I think the store manager would be happy to talk to you, but he's currently on a business trip..."

The venomous otter gave Gulibo a look, and Gulibo ran to a corner of the room, picked up a conch shell, and muttered, "Found it, Bo? Uh..."

Gulibo shook his head slightly, the Poison Otter's smile a little stiff: "Its business trip, well, it might take a while longer to finish..."

Ji Huaisu tried hard to suppress a laugh: "Is the shop manager's schedule that full?"

The fish, already as stiff as a stick, straightened its body even more, its face displaying the honest, unyielding expression of a simpleton: "The shopkeeper—he is indeed quite busy—and responsible for his work—often needs to travel to various, um, um, mysterious places—to gather materials—"

"For example, dessert shops and cafes?"

Vande took out the Leopard-Spotting Tube and shook it. The relic originated from the aquatic bookstore of the Thorn Robe City-State. The notes clearly stated its main purpose:

Looking for a shop manager who's slacking off.

The editor of the Poison Otter slapped him on the head with his paw.

"Sigh, yes," the otter said sadly, "that fat guy is skipping work and slacking off again."

The manager of the seafood bookstore is known for two things: his large size and his voracious appetite. While the animals he feeds aren't exactly lazy, they are undeniably gluttonous. Most gourmets are meticulous about their food, but the manager is different: he not only eats carefully, but also in large quantities. His culinary range is quite extensive; he eats what's good, doesn't mind trying what isn't, eats fresh food, and even takes a second bite of what he's already tasted.

Its second characteristic led to its first, and so, once the weight reached a certain critical point, the bookstore's animals unanimously decided to implement strict weight management for the manager. Specifically, this meant only being allowed to eat out once a week, strictly controlling the intake of high-calorie foods, and eating a diet plan for at least three days a week.

However, where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure. The store manager readily agreed, and a few days later, he began secretly going out for extra meals. During these meals, he was surprised to find that he could use this opportunity to skip work, giving him even more of a reason to eat. So, he tried these extra meals more and more, and the store manager grew heavier and heavier until finally everyone in the bookstore gave up on their diets, but the store manager had already developed a habit of skipping work to eat, and that habit continues to this day.

“This must be a version from over a hundred years ago.” The poison otter examined Vandal’s leopard-sighting tube. “Back then, the shopkeeper didn’t even weigh over 300 kilograms.”

"Holy crap, what about now?"

"Don't ask anymore, symmetry is bad."

The venomous otter took out a small wooden knife and carved some wavy patterns on the leopard-gazing tube. It then took out a map of the third vein sequence from the bookshelf, stood the leopard-gazing tube upright on the table, and stretched out its paw, shouting, "Find the seal!"

The leopard-gazing tube rolled around, projecting a paw print onto a bustling urban area in the north. The venomous otter observed for a while, then flipped through a special edition of Restaurant Week magazine released at the end of last month, concluding, "It's most likely enjoying a meal at a restaurant."

"Why the kiss?" Gulibo asked.

The otter opened the magazine and pointed to a page with a tempting-looking photo of fig desserts: "Because Changxiang released a new dessert at the end of last month that received good reviews."

“But it didn’t tell us anything,” said Bangbangji. “It just shouts out what it wants to eat.”

“Yes, why didn’t it tell us?” The poison otter made a gesture of supporting its belly.

"Damn, this fatso!"

Gulibo looked at the door, which was as wide as a bridge arch, and asked worriedly, "Will the store manager be able to climb in?"

“I think we should expand it a bit earlier, around the end of the year. I really don’t want to see it blocking the bookstore entrance anymore,” the Poison Otter sighed. Just then, its conch shell started chiming again—actually, it had been chiming all along while everyone was chatting, but this time it was unusually loud—it listened for a while, then apologetically tucked its paw in: “I’m so sorry, I have some urgent business to attend to…”

"I've already taken up half a day of your work, it would be bad to keep going like this." Chu Hengkong laughed. "It's my personal matter anyway, would you mind if I helped catch the store manager?"

"Be careful not to tire your hands," said Bangbangji.

·
Enjoy restaurant opened about three years ago and carved out a niche for itself on Fu Bao Avenue, a street lined with upscale restaurants, thanks to its unique menu design and generous portions.

The restaurant's exterior resembles a piano without legs. The "keyboard" is a small coffee table outside, the first and second floors are indoor tables, and the open "lid" leads to a rooftop garden on the third floor. When Chu Hengkong arrived at the restaurant entrance, he noticed several workers loitering around, seemingly assessing whether the restaurant's evening set menu was worth buying.

"Dinner set meal for four people, 100 yuan for Cuizhi..."

The Emerald Branch is the currency of the city-state of Thornsa, and it looks like an emerald green leaf. Vande calculated, "About 550 Flowing Pearls, quite a bargain." "That's not a good deal for the workers."

“This is the barbarians, manual labor can earn just as much as an office worker. Look at how dirty they are, their actual income is probably not much less than yours, Chief Inspector.” Van Der sniffed the air with his skin. “I’m getting a little hungry after eating canned food for two weeks. How about we grab a bite together?”

"Sure, pack one for Huaisu."

Captain Ji showed little interest in catching Fatty, claiming she wanted to browse some books at the bookstore. Chu Hengkong suspected she just wanted to take the opportunity to pet various small animals. He walked into the restaurant and said to the waiter, "Hello, we have a table."

The waiter was a cat with deer antlers, clearly a descendant of interracial forest dwellers. He hopped around as he spoke: "Which table are you looking for?"

“The largest table.” Van der revealed his leopard-spotting tube.

The antlered cat couldn't help but chuckle; judging from its expression, this was clearly a common occurrence locally. It led Chu Hengkong towards the stairs: "Table 8 on the second floor. Would you like to take away or eat here?"

Taking it to go means you're practically carrying the manager away; eating here means you're eating with the manager.

"Let's eat some together too."

“Great! We’re sure you’ll be satisfied with our food,” said Deer Antler Cat. “The manager is having dinner with friends today, so I think we should let it finish its meal—it’s not like it’s any different from another meal.”

"Manager Ji Yu previously doubted that I could lift it," Chu Hengkong said. "Do you think it was really that serious?"

The antler cat glanced at the grotesque wrist and said tactfully, "The craftsmanship of your prosthetic body is absolutely top-notch, it's just that there aren't enough of them..."

Chu Hengkong laughed. This city-state was quite interesting; everyone had a delightful air of friendliness on their faces. The citizens of the city-state seemed to know nothing of shyness; they could chat with anyone as if they were old friends. No one questioned whether this delayed work efficiency; everyone was less anxious about time and faced life with a relaxed and carefree attitude.

On the first floor, some small animals were adjusting equipment, as if preparing to film a food program. Chu Hengkong walked up to the second floor and knew at a glance that he didn't need to look for his target anymore. The target's features were so obvious that anyone with eyes could not possibly fail to recognize it.

How to describe it...

If I had to describe it in one word, it would be "round".

Very round.

It is perfectly round.

This round, plump creature has grayish-black fur with irregular light gray spots, while the fur on its belly is a beautiful milky white. It has short limbs, a round head, and large eyes; when it lies on the table, it resembles a bouncy gray spindle. It is about one and a half adults tall and roughly the width of three people standing side-by-side, taking up more space than a large table, so much so that the restaurant had to raise the tables to serve the food.

This beast is the famous animal of the third lineage, the owner of the seafood bookstore, known as the Great Seal.

“It’s really big!” Vande exclaimed.

"Mmm?"

The large seal, which was happily munching on something, tilted its head back upon hearing this, its round body arching like a giant banana. Through the curve of the banana, Chu Hengkong saw a very distinctive black face. The profile of that face was extremely handsome, and the person was playing and singing on a guitar across the table:

"The tide is turbulent, fate is cruel, let us all go to the frontier to seek the divine tree."

One act ends, another begins; the mantis stalks the cicada, the sparrow follows.

The abandoned disciple of Longxiang flaunted his power, but misfortune has brought him to prison.

Heroic spirits bear witness to the righteous path, starlight and purifying fire sweep away evil spirits~

After the song ended, the restaurant crowd cheered. The poet took a delightful sip of his wine, quickly strummed the strings, and continued:

"Who knew that fortune and misfortune could strike in an instant, as the swarm of bats screeched and the fog thickened."

Leaving the battlefield and entering the prison realm, ghostly figures appear in the desolate wilderness!
Natural disasters are cruel, demons are poisonous, and a two-headed ferocious dog takes lives.

Fortunately, a wise person pointed out the way, and I was able to break free from all obstacles and pursue my old dreams.

Enemies join hands to become comrades, and demons convert to the righteous path.

Slaying demons and vanquishing evil, battling the heretics, the nightmare slumbers in the Heavenly Prison are broken!

The restaurant diners applauded in unison, and the waiters, forgetting to serve the food, put down their plates and cheered. The bard put down his guitar and raised his cup to the distant Chu Hengkong.

"Have you heard of this new legend that has shaken the land?" Sriel said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)