Chapter 17: Alienated Objects

"Well, excuse me...how much did you spend to hire that female investigator?" Chen Ke suddenly asked.

Li Bo was stunned, not knowing why Chen Ke would be interested in this.

"The hiring fee is 10,000 Lianbi first. The daily cost of the investigator is 3,000 Lianbi. The investigator is D-level, so it's cheaper...she investigated for a total of 8 days, and I spent a total of 34,000 Lianbi."

Chen Ke took a breath, damn Pihom cheated me...

Li Bo didn't know why a trace of disappointment flashed across Chen Ke's face. He said: "In fact, the investigator himself doesn't get much. I heard that the share between D-level investigators and companies is 1:9, and this share does not include the introduction fee."

Chen Ke heard this and calculated secretly in his mind.

Excluding the 10,000 introduction fee, the eight-day hiring cost of this female investigator is a total of 24,000 Lianbi. After the 190% share with the company, there are only 2,400 Lianbi left.

Calculated in this way, Pihom's remuneration is not low, and he also provides weapons and ammunition for free. But Chen Ke still didn't think that Pihom only came to him to save money. He must have his own reasons behind it.

After all this trouble, Li Bo's noodle shop completely lost its customers, and he didn't know why he was entangled by monsters. When Li Bo was at a loss, a mysterious note suddenly slipped through the crack of the door, telling him that if he didn't want to be harassed by monsters, his noodle shop would provide food for the poor people in the lower city for free, and repeatedly warned that if Li Bo continued to ask for help from any force, these monsters would take action.

In this way, from that day on, the noodle shop welcomed customers.

Most of these poor vagrants in the lower city were illegal residents who smuggled into the United Federation from the Alliance or the Phoenix Republic, and some local residents who lost their jobs during the factory closures.

They couldn't even smell the stink in the noodles, and they didn't care that the noodles were getting worse and worse. After all, Li Bo wanted to save money, and of course he couldn't let these poor people eat for free according to the standards on the menu.

When Chen Ke stepped into the noodle shop, Li Bo had a glimmer of hope. As a result, when he realized that Chen Ke could not smell the stench, he also thought that Chen Ke was a homeless person who came to eat free noodles.

It seems that there is something complicated behind this matter. Chen Ke has not been exposed to many extraordinary things and phenomena since he came to this world, so he cannot judge whether the note threatening Li Bo was from a human or a monster.

It is a common behavior for humans to achieve their goals through coercion. Under the inertial thinking, Chen Ke tends to think that there is a person or force behind the scenes controlling these monsters. But if these behaviors are purely from monsters, then Chen Ke really has to look at them with new eyes.

Regardless of whether the initiator of the matter is a human or a monster, at least from the current results, the motivation behind it actually comes from a certain degree of justice and kindness, but for the victim Li Bo, this justice is almost the same as evil.

No one has the right to do good things in a way that damages the legitimate interests of others, and the cost of doing good things should be paid by oneself. Chen Ke deeply agrees.

Moreover, Li Bo honestly opened a noodle shop to make money, and he has no obligation to help these poor people. After Li Bo's property is all lost, he will join the ranks of these homeless people.

So, no matter what the motives of these monsters or the controllers behind them are, these actions are all fishing in the pond.

"I feel like I am helping the Federation to support a bunch of trash now, and I even paid protection fees! Look at my current situation. Every night, those things will monitor near my house, and I have long wanted to leave..." Li Bo was indignant.

"Those diners ate your noodles and began to become a little deformed. Those monsters have done something in your kitchen." Chen Ke said.

"I also think they were affected by the noodles... But neither the county police nor the investigators can find any problems." Li Bo said helplessly.

"I want to go into your kitchen to take a look, take me there quickly." Chen Ke said while putting away the Colt Python.

"So, you are here to help me? Are you really from the Investigation Bureau?" Li Bo asked expectantly.

The two walked to the back door of the noodle shop one after the other, from where they could avoid the diners and go directly to the back kitchen.

In the face of Li Bo's doubts, Chen Ke pretended to be profound and told him his fabricated identity.

"No, but it's almost the same. I'm a... demon hunter."

The two entered the back kitchen. There were only two cooks cooking in the whole kitchen. Counting the two waiters working in the store, the scale of this noodle shop is really small.

A big pot was boiling water, and piles of noodles were piled in a bucket beside. The cook used a colander to put the noodles into the boiling water for a few times, and then skillfully poured it into an empty bowl with half boiling water next to it. Another cook used a small spoon to sprinkle some salt on the noodles, and a bowl of noodles was ready. Even oil was saved.

Chen Ke glanced at the kitchen and didn't find anything unusual for the time being. Through the wall, he saw dozens of red human outlines. It seems that anyone who has been hostile to him will be permanently marked by the murderous radar.

The two cooks looked at Li Bo in confusion. Others were not allowed to enter the kitchen, but Li Bo waved his hand and let them continue working.

This kitchen is not big to begin with. Chen Ke checked it like rummaging through boxes and cabinets. He didn't know what he was looking for, but as long as it was suspicious, he could always see it at a glance, right? For example, an inconspicuous amulet, a line of incomprehensible spells carved on the wall, and other things that do not belong in the kitchen may be the source of the curse.

But unfortunately, Chen Ke did not find any of them.

Just then, Chen Ke saw an orange-yellow glowing outline from the corner of his eyes. He looked towards the outline and saw a big pot of boiling water.

Chen Ke came to the big pot. It turned out that the light was coming from the colander used to scoop noodles. He looked back at the two cooks and Li Bo, and realized that only he could see the abnormality of the colander. He took out the colander by the long handle, and a line of text appeared in the corner of his eyes:

"Unidentified alien"

"Identification requires 20 minutes of life"

Alien? Chen Ke guessed that it was something completely different from the holy object, but it also required life to identify. Maybe this was the source of the abnormality in the noodle shop.

Identify it! If you can find the monster, your life can be restored!

"-20 minutes"

"You have 3 hours, 29 minutes and 52 seconds left in your life..."

The orange-yellow outline on the colander gradually disappeared, and a message box appeared in front of Chen Ke...

[Alienation level: ordinary]

[Alienation effect: The ingredients that have been touched by the alien will emit a rotten odor, which only people who are poor cannot smell. 】