Ch 190: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Lu Yao was slightly taken aback. “Are you saying that a zombie has developed self-awareness?”

Tina shook her head. “It’s probably just a heightened predatory instinct. Occasionally, magical creatures also produce unique individuals. For example, Mumu is a unique variant among slimes, possessing special abilities and evolving in a way ordinary slimes cannot.”

This discovery was beyond expectations. If zombies had the potential to evolve, the survival environment for humans would only deteriorate further.

Moreover, it raised new questions about how zombies should be defined and regarded in the future.

Lu Yao felt a vague sense of chaos and uncertainty. “The line between humans and zombies is becoming blurred. It’ll make work much more complicated.”

Tina shrugged. “Humans often have peculiar ethical theories. I think, for now, there’s no need to worry about that.”

Lu Yao asked, “What do you mean?”

Tina explained, “Edward mentioned during a casual chat that Mumu was a unique individual from birth. But it was only after meeting you that it began to develop human-like consciousness and emotions. The evolution of consciousness is far rarer than physical evolution and must require a specific catalyst. In my view, these walking puppets are no different from the slimes, goblins, or pig-people commonly seen in the valley. Even if there’s suddenly a unique individual with special abilities, just take it down.”

Tina’s reasoning partly convinced Lu Yao, though she still had her doubts.

The zombies that had been aimlessly wandering nearby began to gather toward the direction of the crowd. Lu Yao temporarily put aside her thoughts and said, “Let’s focus on completing the task first.”

Tina’s gaze shifted to the group clustered at the store entrance. “What about those people?”

Lu Yao replied, “During working hours, if anything happens, our priority is to fulfill the task. Since we accepted the clients’ order, we have a responsibility toward them. Priorities matter—let’s handle what needs to be done first, then consider the rest.”

The dragon race was born strong. Often, a casual gesture from them could change a human’s life.

But even in a world without dragons, humans were nearly at the top of the food chain.

Lu Yao didn’t intend to turn her courier shop into a “hero agency.” She enjoyed the freedom of running a business without imposing too much responsibility on herself.

The human heart harbored countless dark, complex, and twisted feelings. Most of the shop’s runners were powerful, enthusiastic, and young, but Lu Yao always worried they might encounter irreversible trouble during work.

By emphasizing the importance of their tasks repeatedly, she hoped to provide a guiding principle for them to rely on when making future judgments.

Xu Hongmei and Li Heping finished packing and walked toward Lu Yao and Tina.

The members of An Xia and her squad watched quietly. They didn’t step in to help, nor did they stop them, giving off a faint air of spectatorship.

Lu Yao positioned the two behind her while Tina approached the glass barrier.

The small sparrow perched on Lu Yao’s shoulder flew to Tina.

As Tina examined the area around the glass barrier, the sparrow occasionally let out a raspy chirp.

When Tina extended her hand forward, the sparrow became visibly excited, calling out sharply.

Sparrows didn’t have melodious voices, and its harsh, grating cries were particularly jarring in the suddenly silent space.

Tina clenched her fingers into a fist and punched the spot the sparrow had indicated.

Crash!

The transparent wall cracked like a spiderweb, and chunks of white debris fell to the ground like snow. Behind the opening, a faint outline of a black staircase emerged.

Tina retracted her hand and shook it off. “This is much harder than when we first came in. Looks like it’s trying to close its net.”

Lu Yao approached and picked up a piece of debris from the edge of the opening, rubbing it between her fingers. “When we came in, there was indeed a momentary unnatural resistance—it does feel like a spiderweb.”

The sparrow returned to Lu Yao’s head, but suddenly spread its wings and flapped violently. Its neck craned upward as it let out a series of sharp, urgent cries.

Xu Hongmei and Li Heping’s eyes widened in shock, pupils constricting as they instinctively stepped back several paces.

An Xia and her team also caught sight of the massive creature above Tina and Lu Yao. Their expressions reflected both astonishment and confusion, as if they had just witnessed something utterly beyond their comprehension.

“What… what is that? Is it a zombie?”

“I’ve never seen a zombie take on that form before. Could insects also get infected by the zombie virus?”

“Insect? Something that size can’t still be called an insect. Compared to it, we’re the bugs.”

An Xia shouted, “Above! It’s right above them!”

A gigantic white spider, roughly the size of a human, clung to the webbing above Tina and Lu Yao. When it revealed itself, the ceiling seemed to explode in a flurry of white threads, covering the shop shelves and filling the entire area with spider silk. From the roof, more than a dozen large white cocoons dangled ominously.

The spider’s body was entirely snow-white, save for its head, which was pitted and hollow like the shriveled shell of a decayed insect. Its mandibles trembled incessantly, while remnants of a human leg, shriveled and drained of all fluid, hung from its mouth like a deflated balloon.

This creature had just been feeding.

Lu Yao frowned slightly, her first time encountering such a peculiar zombie.

She tapped into the system. “Is that a zombie too?”

The Dream Fulfillment System answered, “Yes.”

Lu Yao: “It’s ridiculously large.”

System: “As Tina mentioned earlier, this is a unique entity among zombies. The cause of its mutation is untraceable now. I analyzed its silk earlier—there’s a trace of neurotoxin. Any creature touching the web experiences gradual paralysis of visual nerves, making it increasingly difficult to perceive the real environment around them.”

Lu Yao: “The fact that we couldn’t see the exit earlier can’t just be attributed to the poison.”

Even for her, let alone Tina, the toxin’s effect would be negligible.

For humans, such a neurotoxin required prolonged exposure to take effect. For a dragon, it was practically harmless.

Tina, a young fire dragon, had a particular fondness for eating toxic magical creatures that lived on volcanic cliffs. Sometimes, she even brought cooked portions back to share with Lu Yao as a delicacy.

For humans, eating such meat required meticulous preparation to remove poison sacs and skin.

Dragons? They’d simply grab, roast, and devour—skin, bones, and all.

The system continued, “The silk has another property: under light, it’s nearly invisible. The spider spun layers of it around the escalator, leaving just a thin, weakly covered opening to entice prey. As soon as prey entered and tore through the web, they’d be coated in silk. Once inside, the spider would quickly reseal the entrance, waiting for the next victim.”

Lu Yao sighed, “For this spider, this mall is the perfect hunting ground.”

System: “Too bad it ran into us.”

The zombie spider, enraged at these intruders trespassing in its self-made buffet, launched a direct attack. Its assault was surprisingly straightforward—it leapt from its web, mandibles spread wide, targeting Lu Yao directly below.

This spider moved far faster than any regular zombie, closing a three to four-meter gap in the blink of an eye.

Lu Yao barely had time to take in the sight of its hairy mandibles and the putrid stench of decay emanating from its body before a wave of nausea hit her, forcing her to retch uncontrollably.

Before it could reach her, Tina intercepted it with a devastating punch to the head, sending its head flying clean off. She swiftly pulled Lu Yao out of the way with one arm while kicking the now-headless spider’s body aside.

The force of Tina’s strike sent the spider’s body hurtling across the room, smashing into a storefront sign with a wet splat. The impact was reminiscent of an overripe tomato bursting open, spraying its insides all over the ground.

Behind them, Xu Hongmei, Li Heping, and An Xia‘s team stood frozen in utter disbelief. For a solid half-minute, they remained rigid, unable to utter a single word.

Lu Yao calmly retrieved an alcohol wipe from her bag and handed it to Tina. “Here, clean your hands.”

As the webs around the escalator crumbled, the previously vanished escalator gradually reappeared.

Zhao Ye stood at the escalator entrance. “Handled?”

Tina nodded. “A minor magical creature, slightly stronger than a slime.”

Lu Yao, already calling Xu Hongmei and Li Heping to follow, turned back at Tina’s comment. “Mumu would cry if he heard that.”

Tina replied firmly, “Mumu is different.”

Once they exited the Golden Plaza, sunlight hit their faces. Only then did Xu Hongmei and Li Heping finally shake off their daze, the weight of their near-death experience catching up with them. They almost broke down into tears of relief.

Lu Yao’s team’s electric scooters were parked 300 meters away along the roadside outside the plaza. Tina and Zhao Ye carried the travel bags, while Xu Hongmei and Li Heping leaned on each other for support as they prepared to leave.

Behind them, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed. An Xia and her squad had followed them out.

Now that the spider zombie was destroyed, the sixth floor had reverted to normal, and the squad was no longer trapped.

An Xia stood at the plaza’s entrance and shouted toward Tina, “Hey, red-haired sister, wait a moment!”

Lu Yao’s group stopped and turned back.

The squad quickly approached, with An Xia and Xie Yu at the front.

An Xia bypassed Lu Yao and Zhao Ye, walking straight up to Tina. “You’re incredible. Why don’t you come with us to Hope Base in Jinyao City? With your abilities, you could join and instantly become a team leader.”

Xie Yu glanced at Lu Yao nervously. They hadn’t expected Tina, who looked so young, to be so powerful—she was clearly professionally trained.

Back on the sixth floor, the sharp aura Tina had exuded was strikingly similar to their white-haired instructor back at the base.

As luck would have it, their instructor also had a pair of blood-red eyes like Tina’s.

After defeating the spider zombie, An Xia and her squad had hurriedly scavenged some supplies upstairs before An Xia suggested recruiting Tina to their base, leading them to give chase.

The short-haired girl beside Tina didn’t seem nearly as exceptional in comparison, lacking any value for recruitment. However, it was obvious she held authority within the trio, making An Xia’s direct approach feel a bit heavy-handed.

Zhao Ye glanced at Lu Yao, his brows furrowed, and glared at An Xia.

The little sparrows perched on his hair and shoulders also turned their sharp gazes toward her, chirping pointedly.

Lu Yao, well acquainted with the mischief of these small creatures, lightly patted Zhao Ye on the back and reached out to stroke the head of one of the sparrows on his shoulder.

Tina’s expression didn’t change, but she asked with mild curiosity, “What’s Hope Base?”

An Xia immediately launched into a detailed explanation of Hope Base’s benefits. “Hope Base is the largest survival camp in Jinyao City. For just 50 grams of food, you can get a residence permit. The base regularly provides food and water to meet basic survival needs and offers a safe place to live. Our base has the most skilled instructor in Jinyao City. With his training, even ordinary people can join the search teams. But you? With your abilities, you wouldn’t even need training—join us, and you’d immediately become a team leader.”

Tina listened patiently and, when An Xia finished, shook her head. “Thank you for the invitation. But being a courier sounds much more fun. Besides, I don’t need food or water, and I never feel unsafe.”

“…” An Xia was left momentarily speechless. She had expected Tina might hesitate, but she hadn’t anticipated such a blunt response that outright dismissed all her terms.

Frustrated yet unable to express her anger toward someone as capable as Tina, An Xia’s gaze shifted to Lu Yao and Zhao Ye. Suppressing her irritation, she softened her tone and made another offer. “Fine. How about this? If you’re willing to come with me to Hope Base, we’ll let your two companions come along too.”

Zhao Ye immediately declared, “I have already sworn allegiance. I won’t leave the shopkeeper’s side for anywhere else.”

An Xia‘s squad members exchanged odd glances, their eyes darting between Lu Yao and Zhao Ye, as if they had just uncovered a juicy secret.

Before they could process this, Tina added, “I’ve signed a symbiotic contract with the shopkeeper as well. My wish is to protect her until the end of her days. Since your base already has capable individuals, I doubt you’d need me.”

The squad’s expressions turned even stranger as they stared at Lu Yao.

What was this girl doing—cosplaying as a protagonist in some fantasy story? Swearing loyalty and talking about contracts? The whole thing screamed middle-school syndrome.

At that moment, Lu Yao received a message from Zhang Shu, informing her that Harold’s team had encountered some trouble during their task.

She focused on the report, entirely unaware of what Tina and Zhao Ye had just said.

The Dream fulfillment System overheard everything but decided not to alert her. Not like it’s a big deal, the system thought. Besides, the real issue seemed to be with Harold’s team.

…

After completing tasks for Tang Anqi and Jiang Yifei, Harold’s team returned to Ping’an Community.

Harold had grown significantly over time, enough to persuade Si Jin and Qiu Yu, despite their grumbling, to go back to Ping’an for more work.

The three young dragons managed to sell over twenty business cards in Ping’an Community. However, just as they were preparing to start their tasks, trouble arose.

A group of residents from five different households, totaling nearly twenty people, tried to exploit them. They claimed to be relatives, demanding that Harold’s team transport all of them along with their numerous suitcases to a safer location—all while only wanting to use two business cards.

Harold firmly refused.

But within the group were elderly individuals and young children. The elders sat on the ground, wailing and pounding the floor, while the children clung to Harold’s legs, crying loudly and creating a scene.

Following Lu Yao’s guidance to avoid overreacting, the three dragons found themselves at a loss.

Harold’s hand trembled with suppressed anger as veins bulged along his knuckles, barely holding back the urge to fling the clinging child away.

Meanwhile, residents from neighboring units who had legitimately purchased business cards began peeking out from their apartments to see what was happening. Si Jin and Qiu Yu crossed their arms, their tempers barely contained, trying to keep their frustration in check.

Ignoring the troublemakers risked souring their reputation with legitimate customers, but giving in to the absurd demands went against their pride as dragons. The sheer injustice of it all left them seething.

When Lu Yao was updated about the situation, she immediately reached out to Harold.

“It’s me,” Harold said in a low voice, clearly struggling to hide his frustration.

Lu Yao calmly instructed, “Retrieve the cards. You don’t need to take any tasks from those five households. Refund the gold they’ve paid and, as compensation, gift each household an additional five grams of gold. Tell them the shop regrets its inability to meet their expectations and apologizes sincerely.”

Harold was taken aback. “Won’t this harm the shop’s reputation?”

Lu Yao chuckled softly. “Running a business isn’t always about profit without loss. Sometimes, taking a hit is unavoidable. Indulging customers like that will hurt us more in the long run. A runner’s job is to handle tasks—not to tolerate unreasonable demands or be subjected to moral coercion. Do what needs to be done without overthinking.”

With that, she ended the call and looked up to find everyone staring at her.

Lu Yao addressed the group, “Harold’s team ran into a bit of trouble, but it’s been sorted. If we’re done here, let’s get back to work.”

An Xia wore a conflicted expression, while Tina nodded, saying, “Let’s go.”

But before they could leave, Xie Yu suddenly blurted out, “Were you just communicating with someone far away?”

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️