Chapter 119 - 116: Worker’s Department Store

Chapter 119: Chapter 116: Worker’s Department Store

Second floor, study.

Jiang Chaosheng sat in his chair, staring at the ceiling, his mind slowly turning.

The appearance of the sixth rule on that piece of human skin explained many things.

First:

Taboo Item 0-01, the Emperor, actually controlled the rules of Antique Shop Zero.

’Could that Emperor be the founder of Antique Shop Zero?’ Jiang Chaosheng wondered.

From the clues and experiences so far, the purpose of Antique Shop Zero’s existence was to extend the Emperor’s life and suppress the world’s Taboo Items.

’No matter how I look at it, it seems to be carrying out some kind of will of that Emperor.’

Second:

’If that’s the case, why would an Emperor that powerful become a White Jade Skull, imprisoned on the Golden Throne?’

’What was the "variable" he spoke of?’

A variable that even he had to mention must be extremely dangerous and unpredictably bizarre.

’The sixth rule was clearly meant to motivate the Manager to contain Taboo Items and increase the Manager’s own Combat Power.’

’Could it be that because of this variable, it’s necessary to accelerate the containment of Taboo Items from around the world and also strengthen the Manager’s Combat Power?’

Jiang Chaosheng felt a bit uncertain.

’Why did that old Emperor have to speak so cryptically?’

’The unknown is truly the most terrifying thing.’

"No matter what, getting stronger is the most important thing. If I become stronger, I’ll have more confidence to face the coming variable."

A variable that even the Emperor took seriously was definitely not as simple as a financial crisis.

Perhaps the entire Human World would suffer a terrifying event in the future.

The kind of disaster where dozens of Taboo Items awaken at the same time.

Jiang Chaosheng took a notebook out of his desk.

For him, there were two ways to become stronger.

The first was to strengthen himself.

Opening the Spiritual Aperture, or, according to rule six, comprehending the mysteries of a specific Taboo Item.

If he had to choose a Taboo Item to comprehend, Jiang Chaosheng wanted to comprehend the Scythe of Death.

The Taboo Items in the sequence starting with the number zero (0) were all related to Deities, and each one was incredibly powerful.

The Scythe of Death was third in the (0) Taboo sequence. Besides the Emperor, it was currently the Taboo Item with the highest Taboo Level.

The second way was to strengthen the Taboo Association.

Currently, besides the Old Dragon King, Evil Crow, and Daji, the Taboo Association only had four members.

Jiang Chaosheng wrote in his notebook:

"The focus from now on must be on the Taboo Association. I don’t lack money right now; I lack true geniuses."

In terms of money, he had Xia Li, his Female Wealth God.

The antiques collected by previous Managers of the antique shop were also worth a fortune.

In terms of connections, the Anomaly Administration Bureau was one such connection. At least for now, the Bureau seemed to hold him in high esteem.

Furthermore, if he recruited some geniuses, the connections and resources behind them were not to be underestimated.

The geniuses he was talking about weren’t just the so-called young talents, but also those long-famous prodigies.

For example, a biology professor who had published major papers in internationally renowned journals, or a physics expert with countless patents.

If such people possessed Taboo Items, their control over them would definitely be stronger than that of ordinary people.

A physics genius specializing in electrical studies holding the Thunder God Hammer... the scene would surely be spectacular.

Having set his next main objective, Jiang Chaosheng put away his notebook, planning to enjoy a pleasant session of diary writing.

Suddenly, Jiang Chaosheng raised his head. His gaze pierced through Antique Shop Zero, across the street, and landed on another city near the South Sea.

He slowly frowned, a look of disbelief in his eyes.

’A Taboo Item has awakened?’

Normally, a Taboo Item awakening occurred in the Xia Kingdom once every ten years on average.

But now, not long after the Sea Coachman incident, another Taboo Item was awakening?

’Isn’t this frequency a bit too high?’

Jiang Chaosheng was silent for a moment, then muttered to himself after a while:

"The variable..."

...

「Two in the morning. Wanbei City, on the outskirts, in front of the ruins of the Worker’s Department Store.」

"Look everyone, this is the location for tonight’s ghost-hunting stream: an abandoned department store."

Two young men were carrying a camera, filming the Worker’s Department Store in front of them.

They were from a very small media company.

The company office was small, only a few dozen square meters, and they didn’t have many signed streamers.

The company was called Rose Media Company.

The two young men: one wore a Red Hat, the other a Blue Hat.

Their KuaiDou short video account name was: Red and Blue Hat Take You Ghost Hunting.

Red Hat faced the camera and introduced the situation:

"This place was once the only department store supermarket in the Worker’s Village.

Later, a huge fire burned it to ruins.

Ten years ago, a boss bought this place and rebuilt it.

The strange thing is, just a year later, another fire broke out here.

The Sheriffs said the cause of the fire was that nearby residents were setting off firecrackers, and a firework accidentally shot into the department store, igniting a gas tank."

Red Hat paused, looked left and right as if wary of someone:

"But I’ve also heard another version."

He leaned closer to the camera and said mysteriously:

"The other version is...

When the department store first caught fire, several clerks and security guards who couldn’t get out in time died in the blaze.

Their resentful souls were very strong, so they took revenge on the department store, causing the second fire!"

Red Hat pulled two sheets of Talisman Paper he’d bought online for 9.90 from his pocket:

"Today, Red Hat is going to take you all to check this place out and see what’s really going on inside!"

After speaking, Red Hat turned and started walking toward the department store.

"CUT!"

Blue Hat shouted "CUT!" and stopped filming.

They weren’t doing a live broadcast; they had to do post-production editing after filming.

Only by doing it this way could they manipulate the music and pacing to build a terrifying atmosphere for this kind of ghost-hunting show.

Red Hat glanced at the dilapidated department store.

The building looked like a sickly, giant Old Cat crouching there.

It was an uncomfortable sight, and he felt a sense of foreboding.

Red Hat said:

"There aren’t really any ghosts in here, are there? I’m getting a little spooked, bro."

Blue Hat shot him a harsh glare.

"Don’t start with that! Let’s get to work. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can clock out. I have a date!

Our boss is something else, making us come to this godforsaken place to film a show in the middle of the night.

It just proves the old saying: the prettier the woman, the crueler the heart!"

Blue Hat grumbled as he adjusted the camera, saying:

"After we go into the department store, I’ll film on the first floor, and you film on the second floor with your phone.

Try to make it a little shaky to create the feeling that we’ve run into a monster and are splitting up to escape."

Red Hat glanced at the department store, feeling very uneasy. He swallowed hard.

"Alright, I get it."

Blue Hat said suddenly:

"Oh right, I heard there’s a jewelry shop in this department store.

The owner might have been careless and left some gold behind when they were cleaning up the mess.

If we’re lucky enough to find any forgotten gold, we’ll be set!"

Hearing this, Red Hat suddenly felt the department store wasn’t so scary anymore.

Two years ago, when they had just joined Rose Media Company, they found a gold necklace while ghost hunting.

Ever since that windfall, the two brothers had been hoping to find another treasure.

They had checked out this department store before coming; there were several small jewelry shops inside, so the probability of finding some forgotten gold wasn’t low.

...

The two of them entered the department store.

Blue Hat shouldered the camera and began filming various spots on the first floor.

Later, Red Hat would add voice-over based on the footage Blue Hat was shooting.

To clock out early, they had already decided to slap together a half-assed video for their boss.

Red Hat stood at the top of the stairs to the second floor, staring into the pitch-black space above, his hair standing on end.

He sighed.

"This is a real dog’s life!"

Red Hat turned on his phone’s camera and walked toward the second floor, saying nervously as he went:

"Oh no! Folks!

We’ve really run into something nasty! Blue Hat and I got separated!

The thing is still chasing me!"

Red Hat panted heavily as he ran quickly:

"But to uncover the secrets of this Ghost, I’m willing to keep filming for everyone!

This might be my last video.

You might not see this on my account, but on the news instead!"

Red Hat’s camera panned across the dilapidated shops on the second floor.

The shops were burned beyond recognition, like piles of abandoned, rotting flesh.

A place that had been through a fire like this didn’t need any special effects to create a gloomy and terrifying atmosphere.

Just then, Red Hat’s camera suddenly caught something. His eyes widened, and he snapped his head up to look ahead.

At the far end of the second floor, Blue Hat was standing there, watching the camera film him.

Red Hat frowned.

"Didn’t we agree you’d be on the first floor and I’d be on the second, so we could finish early and go home?"

Blue Hat shouted loudly:

"Holy crap, bro, we’re rich!

I found the jewelry shop, it’s on the third floor!

Holy crap, there’s so much gold! Hurry up!"

Red Hat’s eyes lit up, and he cursed with a laugh:

"So you split up from me just to look for gold, you brat! I’ll give you credit for this one. Now, take me there!"