Doomsday Grocery Store – CH20

Chapter 20 – Initial Stage of Parasitism

In truth, Black Pearl had awakened the moment she was released from the pet slot.

After confirming there was no immediate danger, she chose to feign unconsciousness, allowing the human boy to gently place her limp body on the sofa.

Warm, soft, comfortable.

This place called a sofa felt very similar to the sensation the boy gave her.

Strangely, upon seeing the small and slender human boy again, her instinct wasn’t to bite through his throat or tear the flesh from his bones but rather an inexplicable desire to be close to him.

Black Pearl found this very odd.

Equally strange was her now smaller body.

Mutant creatures possessed considerable intelligence, and Black Pearl was no exception. She quietly contemplated, her golden eyes observing the two boys.

Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi didn’t notice her gaze.

Seeing that they couldn’t color the Shadow Umbrella with paint, Tang Yu’an put it away and then took out another card.

Traffic Boost Card (24 hours): Increases the number of people appearing around the grocery store within 24 hours, enhancing the probability of potential customers discovering the store.

This card was definitely not usable for now.

They currently lacked the strength to protect the grocery store adequately. The more people who knew of its existence, the more dangerous it would become.

Tang Yu’an had no intention of using this card at the moment. He brought it out mainly to tally their gains for the day and to share with Brother Qi, letting him know of the card’s existence.

At Zhou Qi’s suggestion, he carefully put the card away, then excitedly rubbed his hands together.

“We have three lucky draw chances left!”

These were also rewards for completing the task [Clear Dangerous Creatures (1)].

“Shall we use them now?” Tang Yu’an asked eagerly.

Zhou Qi looked at his flushed cheeks, a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. “Is there an option for a ten-times draw with increased probability?”

“No,” Tang Yu’an shook his head.

“Then go ahead.”

“Great!”

Tang Yu’an cheered and quickly opened the Lucky Wheel. He blew into his palms for luck before clicking to spin.

[Congratulations! You’ve won 63 credits.]

The first draw yielded credits—over 60 points—not bad.

[Congratulations! You’ve obtained a special item: ‘Daily Task Refresh Card.’]

Tang Yu’an blinked. Although it was a special item, it was a refresh card… On second thought, he realized it was quite useful.

Completing daily tasks also granted achievement rewards. For example, completing all daily tasks for 30 consecutive days would earn the “Diligent Little Bee” beginner title.

This title came with 1,000 credits and three Daily Task Refresh Cards.

But for tasks like “Attract New Customers”… if they couldn’t find new customers in time, wouldn’t their combo be broken?

So having such a refresh card was indeed valuable!

Tang Yu’an nodded to himself, feeling satisfied with the draw. However, for the last chance, he didn’t hold out much hope.

After all, he’d never drawn good items twice in a row before. Before getting the Shadow Umbrella, he’d even drawn the consolation prize of 1 credit.

He casually clicked to spin again, watching the Lucky Wheel rotate. The pointer finally landed on a tiny segment where the text was almost unreadable.

[Congratulations! You’ve obtained the special skill ‘Remote Item Retrieval Lv1.’]

Tang Yu’an: 0.0

He’d drawn another skill!

Excitedly, Tang Yu’an opened the skill panel to check.

[Remote Item Retrieval Lv1]
[Description: Within a straight-line distance of 1 kilometer from the store, the merchant can remotely retrieve or place any goods from or into the grocery store. No cooldown time. (Skill level cannot exceed the merchant’s level and can be downgraded for employee authorization.)]
[Upgrade Method: Increases with the merchant’s level.]

Wow! Another super practical skill!

Previously, aside from items in his portable warehouse, Tang Yu’an couldn’t remotely access goods from the store. He had to use the item list function to transfer items to the shelves for quick retrieval.

Moreover, once he left the store, he couldn’t transfer items from the grocery store to his portable warehouse.

That’s why he tried to bring all necessary items when going out, fearing unexpected situations where he couldn’t return promptly.

This Remote Item Retrieval skill could solve such problems!

According to the skill description, it seemed he could not only retrieve items from the store but also place items back.

Wasn’t this equivalent to carrying the entire grocery store with him?

Although the 1-kilometer range was a bit limited, the skill could be upgraded. He couldn’t imagine how useful it would be at higher levels!

“Brother Qi, I got another skill!” Tang Yu’an excitedly told Zhou Qi.

Hearing the skill’s description, Zhou Qi was a bit surprised but not entirely shocked.

Because An An always had good luck. Uncle Tang used to love taking him to buy lottery tickets, and they always won something, big or small.

“Too bad it can only be downgraded for employee authorization at Lv1… Wait, that’s not right.”

Thinking of something, Tang Yu’an quickly opened the employee panel and saw that under Zhou Qi’s page, besides the already authorized Portable Warehouse (Slot 1), there was now an additional “Remote Item Retrieval Lv0.”

Yes, the system started from Lv0!

Tang Yu’an promptly confirmed the authorization, and a prompt appeared before Zhou Qi.

[Congratulations! Due to your outstanding work performance, the mysterious merchant has granted you the special skill ‘Remote Item Retrieval Lv0.’ You can equip it in the skill panel.]

On Zhou Qi’s system homepage, a “Skill” section appeared.

[Remote Item Retrieval Lv0]
Description: Within a straight-line distance of 100 meters from the store, you can remotely retrieve or place any goods from or into the grocery store. No cooldown time. Can be used 10 times per day.

Additionally, under the skill was an “Item List,” showing the items Tang Yu’an had authorized him to access.

As for placing items back, there were no restrictions.

“Ah, this is too nerfed! It’s only 100 meters, and you can only use it 10 times a day?” Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but grumble.

Zhou Qi didn’t mind. He smiled and comforted, “It can be upgraded in the future.”

“Mm…”

Tang Yu’an nodded. Then he glanced at Zhou Qi’s employee information and suddenly froze.

He saw that Zhou Qi’s evaluation information had somehow changed to—

Overall Ability: A+
Potential: SSS

Wow! He remembered that these two values were previously “A” and “S”!

“Brother Qi, you’ve become stronger!”

“So when you dodged Granny Guo’s attack today, you used a special ability? Also, your injuries heal really fast.”

Tang Yu’an was pleasantly surprised to realize that it wasn’t his imagination—Brother Qi had indeed become stronger.

“When did you get this ability? Did it come automatically after arriving in this world?”

Tang Yu’an felt no jealousy, only pure joy and curiosity.

With Brother Qi becoming stronger, their safety was more assured. Moreover, to return to their original world and resolve the apocalyptic crisis at home, they needed to gain power.

If Brother Qi could become superhuman, he wouldn’t have to worry about how to gain strength himself.

Zhou Qi pressed his lips together. Looking into the boy’s sparkling eyes, he finally said, “Is there any other change in the employee information?”

Tang Yu’an gave him a puzzled look and then carefully reviewed his employee information.

[Zhou Qi]
[Employee Level: Lv0 (7/10)]
[Age: 15]
[Height: 179 cm]
[Skills: Remote Item Retrieval Lv0]
[Title: None]
[Overall Ability: A+]
[Potential: SSS]
[Special Status: Early Stage Parasitism]

Tang Yu’an was stunned. He looked up at Zhou Qi in disbelief.

From his slightly reddened eyes, Zhou Qi had already guessed the answer. He asked, “What does the employee information say?”

Tang Yu’an hesitated but finally said, “Early stage parasitism… Brother Qi, you’ve been parasitized by some strange thing?”

Zhou Qi was taken aback, clearly not expecting that answer.

So the worst-case scenario had happened. The thing that entered his body was indeed a living organism. It had given him powerful abilities, but what price would it ultimately demand?

“I don’t know either.”

Zhou Qi shook his head and finally told Tang Yu’an the truth.

“Why are you only telling me now?” Tang Yu’an’s eyes reddened further, like a little rabbit’s. He was a bit angry but more heartbroken.

“If you hadn’t gone out to earn credits to exchange for medicine for me, you wouldn’t have been parasitized by that creature…”

Tears streamed down Tang Yu’an’s face. He reached out to hug Zhou Qi but noticed that his usually close brother was now avoiding his touch.

He stared blankly at Zhou Qi, momentarily forgetting to cry.

Zhou Qi sighed helplessly. “You did nothing wrong, and I’ve never blamed you.”

“Then why are you avoiding me?” Tang Yu’an pouted, tears starting to fall again.

Zhou Qi extended his hand, intending to wipe away his tears, but hesitated and stopped midway.

He said somewhat sadly, “I’ve been parasitized, which means that whatever entered my body is alive. I don’t know if it’s contagious…”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Tang Yu’an angrily retorted, “We sleep together every night and are inseparable during the day. Isn’t it a bit late to say this now?”

Zhou Qi’s face turned pale at his words.

Seeing this, Tang Yu’an directly threw himself into Zhou Qi’s arms, hugging him tightly. He shouted, “I’m perfectly fine, not hurt at all! Even if something happens, you can’t push me away!”

“Brother Qi, I only have you now… Without you, I can’t survive either…”

Zhou Qi was stunned but eventually reached out and hugged him back.

“Don’t say such silly things.”

He rubbed the boy’s head vigorously, his eyes filled with infinite tenderness.

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