I Steal

Zhu Yan activated [Acting].

In places where the horror creatures couldn't see, a faint wisp of fog barely thicker than nothing slipped along the carpet and quietly seeped into the interior of the serving cart.

This was a piece separated from Zhu Yan's own body—

The price was probably some part of his body, maybe his appendix or something else temporarily missing. He didn't care.

As long as he could walk and jump, whatever.

Everything was going smoothly. The thick [Trembling Ecstasy] and raw player meat were more than enough to mask that faint trace of living-player scent.

The goat-bearded horror creature's order to him had been spur-of-the-moment, so turning [Acting] into [Fog] was also a last-second adjustment Zhu Yan made.

This wisp of thin mist was already enough for him to manipulate the puppet, grab the [Key Fragment], and shout out the dormitory password.

At the same time, another version of himself—incomplete but unaffected—would follow the orders and withdraw, then go search for the [Chaos Order] fragment.

Zhu Yan bent at the waist in a bow, and following his own plan, calmly asked one final question before leaving.

"Honored sir, according to our original design, [Chaos Order] was supposed to take effect before the feast descends."

"That way, you sirs might get to enjoy one more layer of chaos."

The head chef had explained the [Chaos Order] fragment situation to him before dying.

It had said that this item was guarded by a dedicated keeper and was an important procedure.

But as for details beyond that, it didn't know.

So Zhu Yan deduced that the head chef probably didn't have the authority to ask further questions.

The only option was to use this kind of reminder tactic, to see if he could pry something out.

The horror creature twisted its goat beard.

"Take effect before the feast descends?"

Its tone curled upward in a twisted way, clearly not endorsing that view.

"Too early. First the rewards should descend, then chaos breaks out across the land."

"Who allowed you to add this extra remark?"

Zhu Yan quickly lowered his head and admitted his mistake, hearing the goat beard snort coldly.

"Mr. Ji, so this is the key procedure you arranged?"

"Of course not!"

Ji Xiting stabbed a vicious glare at Zhu Yan: "It's this stupid thing that forgot!"

Zhu Yan fell silent for a moment.

Well, he had still overestimated Ji Xiting's mental capacity.

This was clearly a child who had never been properly raised; expecting normal human standards from it was still too much.

Zhu Yan seized the opportunity to shift with the flow and make up for his misstep: "Apologies, two honored sirs. Sir, I'll take note of it and tell them there's no need to rush the procedure."

Another gamble.

He could only hope the head chef at least had access to that place, or that this procedure wasn't personally arranged by a high-level horror creature like this one...

Ji Xiting moved his fingers.

He wanted to tear off this head chef's head, but there was still the food-serving procedure that hadn't been completed.

Ji Xiting carefully glanced at the goat-bearded creature's expression, then snorted at Zhu Yan.

"Fine." It smiled with great malice. "Second-to-last door at the end of the corridor. Make sure you deliver the message."

"After you deliver it, you..."

Ji Xiting fixed its gaze on Zhu Yan's left arm.

"Take this arm off, slice it into thin pieces in front of the sirs, and serve it along with the other dishes in the feast."

The lady burst into giggles, and a hint of satisfaction appeared on the goat-bearded horror creature's face.

"You really do know how to have fun." It gave Ji Xiting an appreciative look. "Good idea. What would horror creature meat taste like to a player?"

Zhu Yan memorized that sentence deeply.

He was curious about that too.

What would Ji Xiting's and that goat-beard creature's meat taste like?

Later, no matter what, he'd find a chance to boil some up and give it a try!

Zhu Yan put on a cowed and frightened expression and lowered his head.

"Yes, sir." He said sincerely, "Then I'll take my leave. Please wait a moment, sirs."

After saying this, Zhu Yan stepped forward and placed the two silver lids back over the corpse and the puppet's head.

"The dishes need to be kept warm." He explained earnestly.

Mm... he also needed cover for his escape.

The puppet would stay here for now—after all, there was a bit of his clone keeping an eye on it.

His gamble had paid off, at least. Regardless, he had managed to pry out the location of the [Chaos Order] fragment.

This time, Ji Xiting didn't stop him.

He watched Zhu Yan retreat with full deference, then, like a peacock being admired, fanned his feathers and returned to his seat.

...

Zhu Yan exited the banquet hall and hastily checked the time.

He had used less time than he'd expected—there were still exactly five minutes left.

Zhu Yan immediately took off his coat to stop the time drain, threw on the [Demon Cloak], and strode swiftly toward the end of the corridor.

What serving dishes? At a moment like this, forget the dishes.

Once the [Chaos Order] fragment was in hand, he'd manipulate the puppet's mouth to shut, press the [Key Fragment] under its tongue, shout the password, and just run.

Zhu Yan almost broke into a jog.

Only when he was a few meters away from that closed door did he remove the cloak and slip back into the chef's coat.

It was a thick, smooth wooden door.

Zhu Yan lifted the door knocker and rapped it. A response came quickly from inside.

"Who is it?"

"The head chef," Zhu Yan said respectfully. "Mr. Ji Xiting sent me. I'm here to discuss the procedure regarding [Chaos Order]."

A creaking sound scraped through the air, and the wooden door was cautiously pushed open a crack.

A massive eyeball swiveled around at Zhu Yan in the darkness, and then the gap opened wider—wide enough for one person to enter.

"So it's you, head chef."

"You're not supposed to have the authority to come here and stick your nose in things. Go on, what's the matter?"

Zhu Yan immediately seized the initiative, stepping forward into the room.

He spared a sliver of attention toward the puppet's situation, and found that the puppet's vision was still pitch black.

That meant the horror creatures hadn't yet thought to lift the silver lids.

Zhu Yan relaxed inwardly and immediately began surveying the place.

A dim lamp hung high from the vaulted ceiling, barely illuminating this keeper's bizarre form.

It had a very small body, and from it, countless tentacles jutted out like stiff wires, with all sorts of strange eyes at their tips.

The eyes surrounded a transparent glass display case.

Inside the case, an item shaped like a shuttle floated silently.

"[Chaos Order] fragment," the eye-creature said proudly.

"Speak up, head chef. What's the problem?"

Four minutes left.

Zhu Yan silently activated his ability [Telekinetic Retrieval].

He explained briefly: "We made [The Hunter] into a dish. So the game-start procedure has been moved up."

"Oh?"

Some of the eyes turned toward him with interest from the edge of the display case.

Zhu Yan took the opportunity to reach out, and to his own astonishment, he grabbed the shuttle-shaped object with effortless ease.

Contrary to the cold touch he'd imagined, it was scorching hot, burning his palm with an itchy sensation like acid.

Zhu Yan's mind moved in an instant. As he swiftly stored the thing into his ring, he smiled at the eyes.

The situation was tense—no time for showing off.

So—

"Stay safe," he murmured.