Don't follow the rules

Chapter 473: Haojiu Home City (Forty-nine)
"So~ga!" Ning Yao smashed his right fist into the palm of his left hand, making a crisp "pop" sound, and a look of sudden enlightenment appeared on his face.

"It turns out that the large item pick-up area mentioned in the customer notice posted at the entrance of the home furnishing mall is here, right next to the underground garage. Emm... But it makes sense when I think about it. Customers can load the items and take them away immediately after picking them up."

"That being said, where are the goods?" Tan Ai stood next to the car, looked left and right, and even walked around the car, but did not find any goods for customers to pick up.

Although Ning Yao had fanned away some of the fog near the car and under Tan Ai's feet, the distance was still shrouded in a thick fog. Apart from the sign in front of him, there was no clue about "self-pickup".

Chi Nian didn't dare get out of the car, but just leaned against the window and raised his hand to answer: "Could it be because we haven't registered the goods to be picked up, and we don't need to pick up anything, so the self-pickup area is not really open to us?"

"You're right. I think it's very possible." Ning Yao said, pondering his chin.

"Hey, hey, hey, you two aren't going to get out of the car? Leaving me wandering outside alone is too dangerous." Tan Ai walked around the car outside for several circles, turned around and found that Ning Yao and Chi Nian seemed to have no intention of getting out of the car. The courage he had finally mustered evaporated in an instant, and he quickly got back into the car in shame.

After closing the car door, everyone suddenly fell into silence.

"Ahem," Tan Ai said helplessly, "Say something at least? You guys are making me feel embarrassed..."

Ning Yao raised his eyebrows: "You can't drive this broken car at all, right?"

"New car!" Tan Ai corrected. "This is my new car. It just ran out of gas."

"This new, broken car without oil is completely undriveable, right?" Ning Yao readily agreed.

Tan Ai: ...

Chi Nian took over the conversation: "The fuel tank is empty."

Ning Yao kicked the car seat: "Useless thing."

Before Tan Ai could get angry, Chi Nian quickly reached out and held him down, then turned around and added, "Don't worry, brother. It should be able to run a little longer. I see that this car seems to be a hybrid. It can run without oil, only electricity. In other words, it can be used as a pure electric car, but there will be some damage to the interior of the car."

Tan Ai shook his head repeatedly: "This is my new car!"

"It's okay. It will depreciate if you drive it again. Every old car was once a new car." Chi Nian advised.

Tan Ai was about to cry, hugging the steering wheel: "I won't!"

Seeing that persuasion was of no use, Chi Nian could only look at Ning Yao helplessly, but found that Ning Yao didn't seem to be looking at them at all, but squinted his eyes and stared carefully at the fog in the distance.

"what happened?"

"Shh." Ning Yao signaled the two to be quiet.

Chi Nian clamped Tan Ai's mouth, and Tan Ai, who was still whimpering, was forced to shut up. For a moment, the air was so quiet that one could almost hear the sound of fog rolling.

The sound of fog?

Tan Ai and Chi Nian seemed to realize something, and followed Ning Yao's example, focusing their attention on the place where the fog intersected with them.

The mist that Ning Yao had waved away earlier did not dissipate with the wind. Instead, it was blown high up, like waves in the sea of ​​clouds, and came towards the car very slowly but unstoppably.

"It doesn't look good..." Chi Nian was a little panicked. "Is it some kind of poisonous fog or corrosive gas?"

"No," Ning Yao said confidently, "If it was harmful fog, we should have been hit when we just came in."

He let the fog spread again and submerged the car. He reached out from the window and grabbed a handful of fog in the air, twisting it between his fingers and feeling it carefully.

"It doesn't have any special abilities. Judging from its texture, it's just ordinary water mist, but it seems to be controlled by something and looks like it has consciousness." Ning Yao stared at the water marks between his fingers and said. "By the way," Ning Yao tilted his head, "if this is the product pick-up area, does it mean that we have returned to the home furnishing city?"

"I guess so." Chi Nian answered unconfidently.

"The product pick-up area is part of the home furnishing city," said Tan Ai. "I asked the staff when I was trapped in the quality inspection game. Although the pick-up area is not included in the game, it is before the checkout counter. The quality inspection game must be completed at the checkout counter, so the pick-up area is part of the home furnishing city, or even the first half."

"The first half?" Ning Yao asked.

Tan Ai said: "A complete shopping mall must have at least two parts. The first half is open to customers, and the second half is open to employees. Some more advanced shopping malls will also be equipped with a professional administrative building, which is only open to administrative staff."

"Although it is not clear how many open levels there are here, it is certain that the self-pickup area is open to customers. Brother, you have indeed returned to the Home Furnishing City now."

"But brother, why did you come back so quietly?"

Ning Yao smiled bitterly, "I originally wanted to sneak back in so that I could find someone secretly, but I didn't expect so many things to happen in the underground garage. Now, let alone 'quietly', I'm afraid the surveillance cameras in the entire building are rushing towards us, right?"

Tan Ai: "Oh, right, that's the one you mentioned..."

"Chun Yu." Ning Yao said.

"Well, anything is fine. Anyway, I have no recollection of it at all." Tan Ai waved his hand. "I only remember seeing you."

Ning Yao didn't say anything, and the atmosphere became awkward again.

Chi Nian tried to ease the atmosphere again: "Well, how about we take action first? Now that we have left the underground garage, can we go home along the normal route?"

"That's right!" Tan Ai also became happy. "This is the self-pickup area, so the cashier should be in front. We haven't bought anything, so we can just walk past the cashier and go out!"

"Great!" Chi Nian cheered, "When I get out, I must try the most famous one-dollar ice cream in Haojiujia!"

"Where can I sell it?"

"It's just outside the cash register!"

Ning Yao leaned against the car window, holding his chin with one hand, and poured a bucket of cold water on it: "I'm afraid this place is not much safer than the underground garage."

"What?" The two people in the front row were silenced instantly.

Ning Yao lazily reminded, "If this is a normal self-pickup area, why are there no products and no customers?"

"Yes, yes, where are the other customers?" the two realized belatedly.

Ning Yao restarted his cell phone which he had turned off. Originally, there was still a signal for communication with the ground in the underground garage with a ghost wall, but now it completely disappeared in the self-pickup area.

"Do you have any signal on your cell phones?"

Tan Ai and Chi Nian hurriedly checked.

"I do not have……"

"My signal is gone too."

"You see, this is indeed not an area open to customers. I'm afraid we are not entering the pick-up area, but a maze deeper into this horror home furnishing city than the underground garage."

Thanks to Zhongyun, Unfinished Symphony, and the two treasures for the monthly tickets! Love you guys~