Managing the Sweet Shop with Nai Ya Zi

Sen Ouwa leaned against the large armchair, tilting his head to look at the sky outside the glass window.

During the previous night of chaos, an out-of-control aircraft had crashed directly into the Gangkou Mafia building, and this place was the most directly affected point. The leader's office was almost completely destroyed; if not for possessing an ability himself, he feared he would have found it hard to survive.

What was worth mentioning was that his ability, which had been swallowed by the "Hat," suddenly recovered on that very day, causing doubt to arise in his heart. Although emergency repairs were completed, the current office had become much simpler than before, like a constant reminder of that horrific accident.

And then there was that shop owner, Li Nai. Just thinking of this name caused a chill to rise from his spine. It was a terrible practical joke to the point where one couldn't laugh.

Sen Ouwa turned his head, looking toward the subordinate kneeling on the ground: "Continue."

"Yes." The subordinate immediately reported, "Recently, our actions have not achieved effective results. Besides our insufficient capacity, investigation shows many external causes exist..."

Basically, they were all meaningless excuses to shift responsibility. Sen Ouwa interrupted indifferently: "I don't need explanations. Tell me the result."

The subordinate faltered, his lips trembling; it seemed this was not an easy answer to voice. Sen Ouwa narrowed his eyes: "Are you afraid? Even more afraid than facing me?"

The subordinate shuddered, slamming his head hard against the ground: "It's... it's the believers. They appear and disappear unpredictably, their influence is spread both wide and deep... Even low-level members have joined them after contact..."

"Believers?" Sen Ouwa said slowly: "I haven't heard of any newly emerged cult in Huangjin recently."

"The core members seem to be patients of the 'chaos aftereffects.' But they are expanding too fast, like a virus, like spider eggs, like lumps of flesh..." The subordinate's voice grew lower and lower, like he was delirious, "I know why. Yes, I know, because their god truly exists..."

Sen Ouwa frowned, and Alice immediately appeared behind the subordinate, her gaze cold as she raised a syringe. But the subordinate was completely unaware; he suddenly looked up, kneeling forward, and fervently raised both hands.

"Our god! Descend upon the world! Destroy all these boring and meaningless things! I call upon your name, that great existence, which is—"

Fresh blood erupted. Alice withdrew the syringe, and the corpse fell with a thud to the ground.

"—Li Nai."

In the air thick with the smell of blood, Sen Ouwa's pupils reflected the pool of blood on the floor, his dark gaze even deeper than the color of blood. The door opened. Light footsteps approached from afar, stopping before him.

"Taizai-kun," Sen Ouwa said.

"Long time no see, Sen Leader." Taizai Zhi glanced at the corpse on the ground, "It seems the internal troubles of the Gangkou Mafia are not few."

"Just a small bit of trouble." Sen Ouwa didn't want to say much and asked indifferently: "So what does the Wuzhuang Zhengtan Agency want to discuss by sending you as a representative this time?"

Unexpectedly, Taizai Zhi did not avoid the topic but directly exposed it: "It's not a small trouble. The activities of Li Nai's believers have seriously hindered your actions. Your prestige was already declining after the building explosion; now it's like a wall falling while everyone pushes..."

"Those believers have no reason to target us." Sen Ouwa's face darkened, "This is just temporary chaos."

"No. They will not stop. Because they are believers of chaos, they will inevitably destroy all order. And Sen Leader, what you represent is the order of the 'night'." Taizai Zhi's kite-colored eyes looked straight at Sen Ouwa. "If the cult is allowed to expand, there is only one result—the balance of day and night in Huangjin will completely collapse, and this place will become a back garden for Li Nai and his worshippers to play in at will."

Sen Ouwa silently looked at Taizai Zhi and suddenly gave a mocking laugh: "Does Taizai-kun want to persuade me to have the Gangkou Mafia and the Agency join forces again?"

The leader standing at the peak of power tilted his eyes, interlacing his ten fingers under his chin, and said in a deep voice: "Although believers share a spiritual faith, they lack a leader who can condense them into action. Before a core leadership figure appears, they are nothing more than a disorganized mob. This bit of threat is not enough for us to provide unconditional help."

Sen Ouwa stood up: "Present your exchange conditions, or use another reason to persuade me."

The two faced each other, the atmosphere tense with undercurrents. Taizai Zhi was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "It's nothing much, I just want to ask you to help find a person."

"Then..." The Agency rarely had times when they needed him; Sen Ouwa immediately prepared to set harsh conditions.

"A person created from Li Nai's book pages." Taizai Zhi added calmly.

Sen Ouwa: "..." Why didn't you say so earlier? Is this a small matter! This isn't some game of those believers; that's Li Nai's book page!

"Give me all the relevant characteristics." Sen Ouwa immediately changed his tone, "The order to investigate this person will become the top priority for all affairs."

Taizai Zhi observed Sen Ouwa's expression and suddenly asked: "Sen Leader, why are you so panicked? You know how terrifying Li Nai is—have you met him in person?"

Sen Ouwa was silent. Taizai Zhi's eyes rolled, his expression changing subtly: "As long as you have personally experienced it, it's easy. Sen Leader, have you ever considered... driving Li Nai out of Huangjin?"

Sen Ouwa was horrified: "Li Nai merely existing means the world will eventually be destroyed." Taizai Zhi's gaze was calm, "We cannot obediently be toys in his palm... If we don't struggle, it will be too late."

Sen Ouwa looked away, the pool of blood on the floor reflecting in his pupils: "I naturally understand. But that is Li Nai." No matter how one calculated, directly opposing him brought extremely low benefits. Finding ways to stop his influence was like drinking poison to quench thirst, but direct confrontation was like a moth flying into a flame.

"Simply using our own strength certainly won't work. But what if we borrow something else? After all, Li Nai will follow 'rules.' That shop just put completely new goods on the shelves."

Sen Ouwa remembered something, his pupils constricting: "You mean..."

"This is my true purpose today. As I said before, Li Nai only needs to sell 3 more types of goods before he appears in Huangjin again. But in other words, we still have two chances to buy goods."

Sen Ouwa quickly understood Taizai Zhi's deep meaning: "In that meeting, to protect Huangjin, the three sides agreed absolutely not to buy any goods from that shop. It turns out you want to tear up this agreement."

"'Goods' may be strange, but as long as one understands the 'rules,' they can be used normally. And when facing Li Nai, whichever side possesses 'goods' will certainly have more initiative." Taizai Zhi smiled. "Sen Leader, you think so too, right?"

Sen Ouwa pondered for a long time then nodded: "I agree. The pressure from the Special Operations Division later, the Gangkou Mafia will bear it together with the Agency. But in exchange, the first item will be held by both sides with equal rights to use. One more thing, the use of goods must be mutually supervised to avoid... falling into the abyss."

A strange-sounding sentence, but Sen Ouwa only faltered for a moment before nodding in approval. After all... it was Li Nai.

"If it's decided, we shouldn't delay; it's best to set out immediately. The Special Operations Division could notice something unusual at any time." Sen Ouwa mused, "As for our side, I have already chosen the person."

A knock sounded on the door. "Come in." Sen Ouwa said with a smile, "It is him."

The door slowly opened, and Zhongyuan Zhongye's figure appeared. Taizai Zhi reacted in time, instinctively leaning to avoid. Zhongye was about to speak, but seeing Taizai Zhi, his eyes widened: "Taizai Zhi?!!"

But what Taizai Zhi didn't expect was that along with that questioning shout, an orange figure charged forward valiantly. Zhongye was like a great firecracker, fiercely slamming into Taizai Zhi's chest, making him retreat several steps. Next, Zhongye the cat extended his claws, nimbly climbing onto Taizai Zhi's shoulders, standing there to unleash a powerful "meow meow punch" to his head!

"Wait..." This punch was much stronger than Taizai the cat's; Taizai Zhi was beaten into a daze, "Why are you hitting me..." Twice in one day he had been beaten by a cat, and by two different cats at that!

But the matter didn't stop there. Zhongye the cat looked around, quickly jumped down, pulled the Taizai cat that was playing dead from the trench coat pocket, and added an identical punch to the black cat's head!

"Meow!!" Taizai the cat clutched its head and glared at Zhongye the cat. It's fine if you hit him, why hit me?!

Because although the details weren't clear, I already know that most of the reason I had to enter the Gangkou Mafia is because of you, brat!! You wait until tonight, I must make you confess the whole cause and effect! Furthermore, after seeing it with his own eyes, he was truly desperate—it turned out he really couldn't grow any taller! Hateful!

In a state of tragic indignation, Zhongye the cat continuously brawled with Taizai the cat; the black cat fled everywhere, and the two cats running back and forth over Taizai Zhi caused him to be hit several more times by accident.

Sen Ouwa briefly summarized the situation and said to Zhongye: "That's how it is. We won't discuss later matters for now, but currently, Zhongye-kun, please go with Taizai-kun to Li Nai's shop to buy a piece of 'goods'."

Summary: Connect with different space-times, receive all kinds of customers, find ways to sell strange goods, use the money earned to upgrade the shop, unlock more goods... Like any normal business game, to save Nai Ya Zi and help him repay a massive debt, let's manage this sweet shop with Nai Ya Zi!

Do you want to sell overpriced bandages to the youth executive to make a killing, or sell a strange hat to him to secretly spark conflict between the Double Black? Or sell cursed sunglasses to some white-eyed, white-haired guy to make the world in his eyes more interesting? Or do you want to sell a rejuvenation potion to the girl who is good at Karate? Oh... of course, you also have the chance to buy or sell something at this sweet shop. You will weave this unique story with Nai Ya Zi, but please note the following: 1. At...