Chapter 71
The Everlasting Debt Supermarket
The moment the contract was reached, an unprecedented sense of control surged into Shi Mo's heart.
He seemed to become a sense that extended out of this space.
Every corner of the shelves, every inch of the light's trajectory, every energy fluctuation in the air, even the faint breaths of the candidates working diligently (or rather, painfully) in their respective positions, and the awe and fear newly born deep within the hearts of all the strange employees... all this information, like a trickle, flowed into his vast spiritual ocean.
He is the new core of this "Eternal Debt Supermarket," the embodiment of the new rules. A single thought could change the pricing of goods; a single intention could adjust the wages for work. But he didn't do that. For him, maintaining the existing rules was more interesting and more "fair."
With a slight thought, he used the newly acquired authority to issue a crystal-clear mental summons to all the candidates in the supermarket: "All candidates, assemble in the central hall immediately."
The command resounded directly in everyone's mind, carrying an irresistible authority.
Those still cleaning corrosive stains, tidying up bite-inducing goods, forcing smiles to greet guests, or desperately queuing at the recruitment center... all the candidates were stunned. Then, an indescribable excitement and ecstasy surged into their hearts!
It's that white-haired man! He summoned us! He really is here to save us!
Was he finally moved by our pleas?
Are they going to give us vouchers, or just let us leave?
I knew it! He wouldn't just stand by and watch someone die!
Hope spread like wildfire across the desolate wasteland. They dropped their tools (drawing eerie glares from the overseers, but the eerie figures seemed to have received some kind of instruction and did not stop them) and ran frantically toward the most magnificent and spacious central hall of the supermarket.
Soon, more than sixty candidates, looking haggard and dressed in tattered clothes, gathered in the brightly lit atrium. They looked up, their eyes burning with fervor, at the figure standing on a slightly elevated platform—silver hair and heterochromatic eyes, still wearing that simple dark gray hoodie, his expression indifferent, as if detached from everything.
Shi Mo looked down at the faces below, faces filled with anticipation, longing, and even a touch of madness. He saw the old man who had knelt and begged earlier, saying he had a wife and children; he saw the young man who claimed his mother was seriously ill; and he saw the mean woman and the elite man whose eyes hid jealousy and calculation.
He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears, carrying a cold, rule-like quality: "I am now the master of this place."
One sentence, like a reassuring pill, caused the crowd below to erupt in a huge cheer! It worked! He bought this place! We're saved!
However, Shi Mo's next words completely extinguished this newly ignited flame of hope.
"The rules here remain the same." His heterochromatic eyes swept over the crowd, devoid of any emotion. "Work, save money, buy goods, and then leave. This is your path."
The cheers stopped abruptly, like a duck being choked. Everyone was stunned, staring at him in disbelief.
"I will not help you forgive your debts," Shi Mo said calmly and firmly. "That would be pointless."
"Why?!"
"You own the whole supermarket! Why don't you help us out?"
"Please! Have mercy!"
"You stood by and watched someone die! You cold-blooded animal!"
"Who do you think you are, master!"
Pleading, questioning, and cursing instantly filled the courtyard. Some people knelt down and wept again, while others, their faces contorted with despair, hurled insults at Shi Mo.
Ignoring the noise, Shi Mo continued, his voice drowning out the chaos: "Supermarkets don't intentionally kill those who work honestly. This place will become your eternal prison for laborers."
He paused, then gave his last and only statement that could be considered "hope": "But at least, there is the 'hope' of leaving."
Having said that, he ignored the despairing cries, hysterical curses, and utter sobs erupting below, turned around, and left from the other side of the display case. His figure quickly disappeared among the luxurious shelves.
More than sixty candidates were left behind, falling from the peak of hope into an even deeper abyss of despair.
They finally realized that the man was never their savior.
He may have bought this place on a whim. He maintains the rules because he feels it's "fair."
He gave them a "prison" where they wouldn't die immediately, but would have to pay for eternal labor in exchange for a slim chance of freedom.
Hope has not completely disappeared, but it has become so distant and heavy that it is almost indistinguishable from despair.
"Eternal Debt Supermarket" has ushered in its new, indifferent monarch, which has also definitively cemented its fate as an "eternal working prison."
For Shi Mo, all of this was nothing more than a trivial asset acquisition in his long and endless life, a way to pass the time.