Chapter 1390: The Proper Use of Restaurant Staff
"Can you dismantle it?" Xu Huo asked.
"I knew you'd agree." Li Kun chuckled. "I've studied a bit of this technique. You keep watch for me, and I'll take as much as I can. We'll split it fifty-fifty later."
Xu Huo had no objections. While Li Kun was busy, he turned his attention to the wall of badges nearby. Putting on gloves, he picked out a slightly familiar ore badge.
In the game, families with some strength liked to use badges to represent themselves—first as a symbol of identity, and second to show family unity. Not only in Fresh Flower City, but even the nobles in District 011 had them for every household. The raincoat cleaner's badge wall held at least five hundred badges. Although District 001 didn't have random instances, considering the holder of this instance might have backdoor access, the Bauhinia Restaurant might have also appeared as a fixed instance in District 001.
After a brief pause, he put the badge back in its place, then carefully examined everything in the room and took photos.
"I'm going out," he said to Li Kun.
Li Kun, busy with his work, didn't even look up. "Do your thing."
Xu Huo left the room and chose an inconspicuous spot. Before he could wait long, the raincoat cleaner appeared nearby.
The knocking props Li Kun had placed around didn't have much effect. Even the Lame Butcher wasn't loitering outside anymore.
Chef Feng's room itself was a mental interference zone, so Xu Huo had gotten out smoothly, but the raincoat cleaner's room might not be the same...
After a moment's hesitation, he found Zhou Donghe, who was sneaking toward the garbage room.
Truly, people will risk everything for money. The raincoat cleaner had just discovered the theft, yet this guy wasn't lying low—he actually dared to go again.
But this solved Xu Huo's immediate problem. He opened a door from the corridor and, while the man was testing the entrance, kicked him inside.
Catching a sudden kick, Zhou Donghe couldn't stop himself and tumbled directly from the stairs into the garbage room. When he turned around, the door behind him wasn't a spontaneously appearing portal but the raincoat cleaner, whose anger couldn't be hidden even behind half-covered face!
Zhou Donghe didn't know Xu Huo had set him up. He thought the raincoat cleaner had directly discovered him. Accepting the situation calmly, he turned and ran, shouting as he went, "The one who stole your stuff was Number 172! Go find him..."
He should have kicked harder.
Xu Huo stood in the garbage room with slight regret. He took two inflatable puppets and stuffed some "trash" into them. After finishing, he returned to the corridor and subtly interfered with the raincoat cleaner, making sure Zhou Donghe, as bait, wouldn't be devoured too quickly.
"How much longer?" He diverted his attention to check on Li Kun's progress. Li Kun had already removed the outer shell of the water maker, but the internal assembled parts weren't so easy to separate. The device was quite large, so it had to be split into at least two pieces to fit into the luggage compartment.
"Still a while." Li Kun kept working and added, "If time runs out, I'll have to forcefully break it in half, but that'll cut the price significantly."
Xu Huo kept an eye on the outside situation and said, "I'll leave the door open for you. The raincoat woman is nearby. If the delay isn't enough, find your own way to escape."
He left the room again. Zhou Donghe had already hidden in an empty room and was temporarily safe. The raincoat cleaner couldn't enter the room, so after standing outside for a few seconds, she headed for the garbage room.
Xu Huo hadn't bothered to cover his tracks, so when she entered, she immediately found her things had decreased again. The raincoat cleaner angrily smashed the rubber bucket prop in her hand, then stormed toward the first floor.
Xu Huo guessed she was heading to Room 172, so he warned Dai Song that a second person couldn't be in the room—others couldn't enter, but the high heels could.
Dai Song didn't reply. Xu Huo frowned and casually stuck two knocking props out. When the knocking sounds started, he returned to the first floor. Sure enough, there was more than just the raincoat cleaner outside Room 172—there was also a pair of large high heels. But now the number on the door had changed to 171.
The large high heels didn't enter the room.
The two stood futilely at the door for a moment, then split up. The rubber bucket reappeared in the raincoat cleaner's hand as she stomped "bang bang" into the depths of the corridor.
The slaughter in the restaurant hadn't stopped, and there was still plenty to clean.
This distraction bought some time, but upstairs, Li Kun still couldn't separate the central assembled parts of the water maker. Staring at the device with its shell and a few parts removed, he was at a loss. He had to take everything out of his luggage compartment—including the parts he'd already removed—and barely managed to squeeze the main body in.
But what he took out included not just food and water, but also valuable items he'd accumulated, like ores and precious metals. He was considering how to carry them when a tall shadow suddenly loomed over him. A strong gust of wind carried a thick smell of blood... Li Kun slipped under the newcomer's armpit, dodging the descending cleaver, then bolted for the door!
"Thief!" The Lame Butcher, whose forehead hole from the "Holder's Demise" hadn't fully healed, roared with wide eyes. Just the sound of his voice made Li Kun, who had already run out the door, involuntarily weaken in the legs. In that brief pause, the Lame Butcher slammed into his back, sending him crashing into the corridor wall!
Li Kun had been wearing a defense prop, but the barrier shattered the moment the Lame Butcher struck. Completely unprotected, he hit the opposite wall. Before he could adjust his posture, a second impact followed. His back caved in, his head and feet sticking out. Even though he managed to block with a prop in time, he couldn't avoid injury.
"Cough!" A spray of blood burst from his mouth. Li Kun's eyes nearly rolled back. Gritting his teeth, he spat out a "Be flexible," barely escaping the Lame Butcher's grip. But he wasn't fast enough—even using a teleportation prop to buy a moment, he was quickly found again in this restaurant.
The red-eyed butcher spotted his trail and charged—not bothering with the knife, intending to ram Li Kun to death alive!
But just as he lunged at his target, his vision inexplicably blurred, and Li Kun vanished!
"Where is he?!" The Lame Butcher spun in place, finding no clues, then suddenly remembered something and rushed back to the raincoat cleaner's room. The pile of Li Kun's belongings on the floor was gone.
In Room 201 on the first floor, Li Kun knelt on the ground, leaning on the bed and coughing up several mouthfuls of blood. It took him a while to catch his breath. He thanked Xu Huo, who stood beside him. "If it weren't for you, I'd be dead today."
Xu Huo pointed to two large bags. "This is your stuff."
Li Kun smiled at that, then said, "My luggage compartment is full. I'll have to leave it with you for now. Brother Xu, you're a true friend. When I sell it, I'll give you an extra ten percent!"