Gain a Little, Take a Little

Zhu Yan walked out the door holding the cat and looked back at the [Witch Department Store].

This shop had no signboard. The building as a whole looked like a giant broom, with glass and wooden doors embedded among chaotic branches.

[Carnival Paradise] had no sun. There was only the dark night illuminated by small street lamps and the light spilling from the windows of bizarre buildings.

Zhu Yan remembered the warm sunlight he had seen when he woke up, and a grotesque sense of inversion instantly enveloped his mind.

Looking out, he found that this place was much darker than what he had seen from the [Monster Tram].

Some sections of the road were completely devoid of light, while others were viscous, bubbling swamps.

In comparison, the [Witch Department Store] was somewhat normal. Right next to it was a patch of intangible, thick fog and a gigantic octopus tentacle.

Zhu Yan thought of the [Demon] that had no physical body but could condense into black mist.

So, the [Demon Department Store] must be this thick fog.

Zhu Yan stroked the cat a couple of times to ease his tension, checked his hood once more, and tentatively stepped into that dense gray fog.

The fog was incredibly heavy; he couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face.

Zhu Yan tentatively reached out his right hand to feel for obstacles, but a powerful force domineeringly sucked onto his arm, scaring him into immediately hiding the bow and arrow mark on his palm.

In the next second, Zhu Yan was dragged into a gloomy, damp space.

The force pulling him had disappeared. Zhu Yan looked left and right but couldn't find the culprit.

Unlike the bright and warm [Witch Department Store], this place was very small, featuring only a tiny counter and four walls covered in display cabinets.

The cabinets stretched from the floor all the way up to the high ceiling beams, neatly stacked with all sorts of things Zhu Yan had never seen before.

Behind the counter floated a [Demon]. Its cloak was styled like a uniform, but it was tattered and torn.

Compared to the [Witch Department Store], business here seemed quite poor.

"Hello, this is the [Demon Department Store]."

The [Demon] seemed very impatient.

"Pick your own restocks for your treasure bag. If you don't have money, don't try to haggle."

Treasure bag... that should be the pocket where [Demons] store their things, right?

Zhu Yan was a bit pleased.

Sure enough, goods could be purchased personally!

"Who pulled me just now?" Zhu Yan asked it.

The [Demon] snorted disdainfully.

"The store's automatic mechanism, you country bumpkin. What exactly do you want?"

Since it wasn't the [Demon] that pulled him, there was absolutely no chance of his identity as a [Hunter] being exposed.

"Do you have a product catalog and instructions on how to check out?" Zhu Yan breathed a sigh of relief and asked brazenly.

His money was all in his player account. If cash was required, he would have to find a way to make a trip to the [Hall of Mourning].

If the spatial dimensions here were the same as on the surface, then Zhu Yan was by no means close to the [Hall of Mourning].

Without any means of transportation, making the trip would take a lot of effort.

The [Demon]'s hood dipped slightly. Even though it didn't speak, Zhu Yan still felt its obvious disdain.

A tattered hardcover book was slammed onto the counter with a thud. The book wasn't thick, but it was a full half-meter long and thirty centimeters wide.

Zhu Yan leaned in and painstakingly deciphered the blurry, strange handwriting on the cover.

Just like the landlord's [Lease Contract] in the [Devouring Villa] instance, he clearly didn't recognize these characters, yet he could perfectly understand their meaning.

"[Demon Department Store] Product Catalog"

"Note: Purchasing above your level is strictly prohibited. Haggling is strictly prohibited. You may only purchase items less than or equal to your own level; otherwise, you will be devoured by the store owner."

"This store accepts cash payments. You may also just take the items and leave; [Carnival Paradise] will automatically deduct the amount from your account."

"If you do not have cash to pay and your account lacks sufficient funds to deduct, you will be devoured by the store owner."

Automatic account deduction, without even needing to present the relevant mark.

This wasn't just convenient; it also meant his identity would remain completely hidden.

Zhu Yan's mood brightened.

He opened the catalog. The top of the first page read, "Applicable for Level 1 Demons."

It seemed each page of the catalog corresponded to a level, and the number of products for each level was about three or four times that of the online mall.

The items that appeared on every page were the [Straw Bottle], [Fake Currency], and [Walking Corpse]. Out of curiosity, Zhu Yan read the fine print attached to these three names.

"[Straw Bottle]: A storage container. Aim the tip of the straw at a human whose life force channel is open, and it will automatically and rapidly extract their life force, storing it inside the bottle for long-term enjoyment."

"This model has a capacity of 2|."

The vertical line after the "2" was drawn like a centipede. Zhu Yan leaned closer and realized it was actually a human spine.

A capacity of two people?

Zhu Yan thought of the cheek pouches hamsters use to store food.

Of course, hamsters were much cuter.

The key point was the life force channel being open.

What did it mean for a life force channel to be open?

He didn't dare to ask more and instead continued to scan quickly.

"[Fake Currency]: Satisfies human desire for money. A Level 2 [Demon] can obtain a quota of 500,000 in any currency, including [Carnival Paradise] currency."

"Once a human accepts any amount, their life force channel will be completely open to you."

"Once their life force is completely drained, the quota will be automatically returned to you."

"Note: Neither you nor the human can actually spend this currency; it is fake."

Holy crap.

Zhu Yan didn't dare show any emotion on the surface, but his mind was blown.

What kind of incredible item was this?

It was a perfect match with the [Straw Bottle]!

If he could extract human life force like a [Demon], then this was a reusable, ultimate weapon.

Although he couldn't use it on ordinary people, the apocalypse was never short of individuals with malicious intentions.

Buying one for self-defense would be more than enough.

Zhu Yan flipped straight back to the page for Level 4 [Demons] and found that the quota for [Fake Currency] had increased from 500,000 of any currency to 2 million, and the capacity of the [Straw Bottle] had increased from two spines to four.

Of course, their combined price had also risen from 30 bone coins to 60 bone coins.

60 bone coins, a mere six thousand bucks.

That was much cheaper than his [Silver Storage Ring]!

Zhu Yan resisted the urge to splurge immediately.

He wasn't particularly wealthy right now anyway. Since he was already here, he might as well take the time to look through all the products and only buy what he needed the most.

"[Walking Corpse]: Satisfies human desire for health. After a human accepts this gift, their body will be disguised to look healthy, and their life force channel will be completely open to you."

"Once their life force is completely drained, the power of the [Walking Corpse] will be returned to you."

"Note: A Level 4 [Demon] can only reuse this 4 times."

The price for this was 10 bone coins.

So, with such a cost-effective price, why didn't that [Demon] from before use this, but instead insisted on giving them the [Plague Potion]?

Zhu Yan skimmed through the rest of the catalog and found that, aside from these few items, the rest were just assorted trinkets.

For example, the medicines available for a Level 2 [Demon] included [Wound Cleanser], [Bone-setting Potion], [Painkiller], and the [Panacea] that was identical to the one in the online mall.

The only difference was that the [Panacea] here cost one bone-copper coin, while the one in the online mall cost two bone-gold coins.

Furthermore, all medicinal items could be used on oneself, but if used as trade items, they came with the added function of opening a person's life channel.

Calculating it all, [Carnival Paradise] had wildly ripped Zhu Yan off by well over 199 bucks.

Upon reaching Level 4 [Demon], one could buy [Plague Potion] for three bone-silver coins.

Zhu Yan finally understood.

The [Demon] hadn't used [Walking Corpse] on him and Guan En back then probably just because the item was simply too expensive.

With a "high-level thriller creature" like Zhu Yan present, it naturally wanted to save its resources wherever possible.

"Have you finished picking or not?" the [Demon] clerk asked impatiently. "How long has it been? I've never seen anyone dawdle this much."

"Don't tell me you're broke?"

Zhu Yan guessed that the thriller creatures here probably treated customers based on their perceived status, which was already evident from the fake humans in the [Witch Department Store].

He nodded and listed a string of items to the [Demon].

Ten minutes later, Zhu Yan walked out of the gray mist, completely unable to suppress the grin on his face.

His [Storage Silver Ring] was stuffed full of strange packages, including the [Straw Bottle], [Walking Corpse], [Counterfeit Currency], and various medicines he wanted, along with a full thirty bottles of [Plague Potion].

And all of this had cost him less than 100 bone-gold coins in total!