Chapter 568: Chapter 567: Protection Fee, Anyone?

The betrayer killed someone, and still had the time to drag the body strategically, knocking over a shelf, letting strong-smelling condiments like vinegar and soy sauce spill next to the corpse to cover up the scent.

Everything looks orderly; what kind of professional would have such patience?

Mu Qiu raised two fingers.

"Brother Huai and Brother Chen Yi, or Brother Cheng and Brother Shen. The latter two have more sacred professions, so they seem less suspicious for now."

Zhao Yu picked up a yogurt cake, tore it into two halves, and shared it, speaking while eating,

"So our next action guide is to keep a close eye on Brother Huai and the others, and diligently search for the monster archive card. Only by holding the archive card in our hands can we avoid falling into passivity."

"Exactly."

Mu Qiu took a bite of the small cake and pinched each pocket on her cargo pants.

"Still got two pockets left; besides finding some water, we can also look for other food. Who knows, we might survive until tonight."

"Let’s head over there," Zhao Yu said, finishing his cake in two bites and patting off the crumbs,

"At the very end, there’s bagged snacks; some small bags are hard to grab, so there should be some stray ones waiting for us."

"Okay, I’ve had enough of small cakes, I do crave something more flavorful."

So the two of them, along with a few photographers, crouched and moved with difficulty to the end of that aisle.

Cheng Zhirang stood up from beside some mannequins, scanned around, and froze for a moment when he looked to his right.

Behind a shelf, a camera facing them seemed to be moving by itself.

From outside an empty shelf, it slowly moved towards the wall, without a stand or anyone around, just a round lens floating low across.

He raised an eyebrow, his eyes following the camera’s movement.

When the camera stopped, not far away, a slender hand emerged, precisely reaching for a pack of spicy chicken feet on the shelf.

"..." He recognized the hand and couldn’t help but find it amusing.

Suppressing a smile, he greeted Shen Zhousong and walked over there.

Shen Zhousong was turning over a mannequin corpse, thinking he had discovered something important when he heard Cheng Zhirang speak, and looked up.

Then he realized that almost all the shelves around were empty.

He remembered that when they first came in, there were still some small things on the shelves.

The mannequin corpse was let go, and with a thud, it fell back into the pool of vinegar. Shen Zhousong covered his nose, stood up, and said to Shi Yuhuai and Chen Yi:

"Their wounds have indeed been resewn, but not in a life-saving way; more like they were tidied up for appearance. This kind of thing probably only you doctors could do."

Shi Yuhuai frowned and exchanged a glance with Chen Yi.

Shi Yuhuai: "Are you the twisted doctor?"

Chen Yi: "Why not you?"

Shi Yuhuai: "I’ve never done such a thing, nor have I had such a hobby."

Chen Yi: "I don’t have such a hobby either!"

Shi Yuhuai: "But if the suspect is one of us two, and it’s not me, it must be you."

Chen Yi: "...Amazing logic. I don’t even want to mock you with the same logic. Let’s think from another angle; who says only doctors could do this?

A surgery room appeared in a fast-food restaurant; maybe the chef used to study medicine. Medicine students who don’t become doctors are more likely to become twisted; it could be him too!"

Shi Yuhuai nodded: "Makes a lot of sense. Where’s the chef?"

Shen Zhousong answered helpfully: "They’re hoarding supplies."

The chef hats were already packed full.

Chen Yi stood and looked over, seeing Guan Yu and the others collecting along the way, their arms too full to hold anymore. Li Yang, Guo Yin, and Han Xizheng had run off at some point, rummaging and searching everywhere.

"We made a mistake; we’re neither looking for the archive card nor gathering food."

Shi Yuhuai seemed unconcerned: "I’ve got some crispy noodles."

"... But I don’t!"

"You can go snatch some."

"Whose?"

"Anyone’s, as long as you can take it," he said confidently, even offering advice to Chen Yi, "But it’s harder to snatch from the three girls."

"Why? I’ve seen you snatch most from the female guests."

Shi Yuhuai glanced at him: "Because when pushed, they can do anything."

"..." That sounds quite experienced.

Shen Zhousong, who hadn’t left yet, listened to their conversation, pondering.

Are girls really that hard to snatch from?

On the other side.

Cheng Zhirang lightened his footfalls, already reaching the shelf by the wall.

In a narrow aisle, there was a group of people crouching, two of them reaching up to grab items, whispering to each other.

"Spicy chicken feet are too big, hard to tuck in the pocket."

"Then let’s deal with it right here. Want one of these marinated eggs? Take it; there are only two left."

"Those snatchers are really crazy; they’ve taken all but one of the five-spice tofu."

"All that’s left is instant noodles... and only shiitake mushroom chicken flavor."

"Pfft... That’s the biggest insult to shiitake mushroom chicken noodles."

"Hey, there’s actually a bottle of electrolyte water here!"

"Wow, a hidden gem! Quick, grab it! And there’s a bottle of Lao Gan Ma!"

"Let’s leave that one. Hiding it is fine; stuffing it in the pocket would weigh too much, and we’d lose our pants after a few steps."

"I’ll stash it under this shelf here; later, if we find some bread or buns, we can get it out and eat it together."

"Today’s been quite the harvest."

Cheng Zhirang heard it all, then walked a couple more steps inside, reaching the photographers behind them, politely knocking on the top of a lens.

Mu Qiu and Zhao Yu turned their heads warily, simultaneously hiding what they held behind their backs.

Cheng Zhirang gave them a polite smile.

"Hello there, what are you up to?"

This question sounded a bit conniving.

Zhao Yu nudged Mu Qiu with his elbow, Mu Qiu let out an awkward laugh and looked at Cheng Zhirang, "We’re looking for food. Isn’t that the most crucial thing right now?"

"Oh? What have you found?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Not much, just some snacks."

"Not going to share?"

"Share... We’d like to share, originally, but in this apocalypse, there’s no food or lodging, and we’re not a team; sharing with you would upset my teammates, it’s not appropriate."

"It’s okay," Cheng Zhirang crouched down, extending his hand as his black t-shirt clung to his chest in front of Mu Qiu,

"Consider it a protection fee; give me some food, and I promise not to rob you for the next hour."

Mu Qiu’s mouth fell open.

"... Brother Cheng, since when did you learn such tricks?!"

Cheng Zhirang thought for a moment and said, "Necessity? Want to talk about it? Want to pay the protection fee?"

Mu Qiu and Zhao Yu exchanged glances and reached a mutual unfamiliar understanding.

"We’ll pay."

Mu Qiu, as if having a piece of her heart gouged out, took a dry bread out of one of her pockets.

"Here you go."