Chapter 7: Buying the Midnight Diner with a Single Move!

“The Midnight Diner has great potential; I have high hopes for it,” Chen Mu said with a satisfied nod.

The Skeleton Boss’s face lit up with joy, initially thinking Chen Mu had been completely taken in by its pitch. Hastily, it said, “Mr. Chen, but the Midnight Diner… it’s a bit expensive. I’m not sure if you have the means…”

It was worried Chen Mu couldn’t afford it.

“Give me a number,” Chen Mu replied calmly.

“Eight million… no, seven million! Seven million underworld coins!” the Skeleton Boss ventured.

Generally, despite its poor management, the Midnight Diner would be worth around ten million underworld coins. However, due to severe losses, the Skeleton Boss was eager to offload this hot potato quickly and had slashed the price by three million.

This was already close to the Skeleton Boss’s bottom line—six and a half million underworld coins was the absolute minimum, or it wouldn’t sell.

“I’ll add fifty thousand more. I’ll pay seven million five hundred thousand underworld coins to buy the Midnight Diner,” Chen Mu said.

“Maybe fifty thousand less… or just thirty thousand off, you know…” The Skeleton Boss began to protest but abruptly stopped, thinking it must have misheard.

What?

Add fifty thousand more?

The buyer actually volunteered to increase the price?

It had thought Chen Mu wanted to negotiate the price down by fifty thousand, but now Chen Mu was offering to pay extra. The Skeleton Boss was utterly baffled.

Had Chen Mu not casually pulled out a hundred thousand underworld coins, it might have assumed this was a joke.

Chen Mu nodded. “That’s right, I’ll pay you fifty thousand more, but I have a small request—all the employees at the Midnight Diner must stay. You can’t take them with you.”

This left the Skeleton Boss even more stunned.

The Midnight Diner was poorly managed, and employee wages had been unpaid for over half a year.

Chen Mu could have chosen to take over without these employees, thus avoiding paying off the back wages.

Naturally, the Skeleton Boss wouldn’t want the staff either—it would rather pack up and run.

As for the employees owed wages, it would just abandon them, letting them become lost souls to fend for themselves.

Yet now, Chen Mu was voluntarily agreeing to keep these employees, willingly accepting this scorching hot potato.

This meant Chen Mu would have to cover the unpaid wages—an enormous sum of half a million underworld coins!

First, he voluntarily paid an extra fifty thousand on top of the price, then agreed to take on the staff. Altogether, that was a loss of a million.

What a rare and generous fool!

The Skeleton Boss looked at Chen Mu with growing admiration, thinking he was a godsend, born to take over its burdens.

“Mr. Chen, your insight is impeccable! I assure you, buying the Midnight Diner will be the best decision you’ve ever made!” the Skeleton Boss gushed, showering Chen Mu with praise. In its eyes, Chen Mu had become the wisest person alive.

Chen Mu enjoyed the flattery but knew he was no fool.

He had his own plans.

The extra fifty thousand wasn’t because he had money to burn.

Mainly, he had snagged something originally worth ten million for just seven million—a huge bargain.

When you make a fortune, leaving a little for others to savor makes both parties happier. By offering the Skeleton Boss an extra fifty thousand, he ensured it felt content.

Otherwise, the Skeleton Boss might sulk and stall for a month or two. Given the rapid changes in this strange apocalypse, that time would be enough for the Midnight Diner to turn profitable.

If the Skeleton Boss then reneged and refused to sell, Chen Mu would suffer a great loss.

As for taking on the employees, some showed promise—two of the five future chefs for the hotel already worked there.

Plus, Chen Mu wouldn’t have to recruit anew, saving himself much trouble.

He believed that by rescuing these staff from becoming lost souls in their time of need, their loyalty to him would be unwavering.

All things considered, spending an extra million was an absolute steal.

Just as Chen Mu expected, those nearby looked at him in disbelief upon hearing his words.

Chen Mu’s simple sentence spared them from a bleak fate as wandering spirits, filling Lì Xiǎoxiǎo’s eyes with gratitude.

“Mr. Chen, when would you like to make the payment?” the Skeleton Boss asked cautiously.

In its mind, Chen Mu was now the generous fool who had taken over its burden, and it must treat him well, avoiding any chance of angering him.

Thus, a peculiar scene unfolded within this strange mission—

The Skeleton Boss, the ultimate big boss of the eerie task, wore a fawning expression as it gazed at Chen Mu, as if Chen Mu were the true overlord and it merely a cautious servant afraid to break the rules.

“I’ll pay you now—seven million five hundred thousand,” Chen Mu said.

He stroked the ring on his hand, and with a thought, stacks upon stacks of underworld currency appeared in the private room, neatly piled against the wall.

A dense aura of ghostly energy emanated from the bills—brand-new underworld notes from the Netherworld Bank, radiating an irresistible allure!

The Skeleton Boss’s eyes widened in disbelief at the sheer amount.

After a moment, it looked at Chen Mu with a click of its tongue, marveling at how wealthy humans had become.

“Let’s sign the contract. Once signed, this money is yours,” Chen Mu said calmly.

“All right, Mr. Chen, please wait a moment; I’ll bring out the contract now.”

The Skeleton Boss had originally planned to stall, hoping to sell off some assets from the Midnight Diner before transferring ownership to Chen Mu.

However, Chen Mu’s willingness to pay extra and his promptness moved the Skeleton Boss.

Putting itself in the buyer’s shoes, it didn’t hesitate and immediately produced the contract, signing its name.

Taking the contract, Chen Mu noticed the paper was unusual, imbued with a strong ghostly energy.

Within this spectral aura was an irresistible force—

The power of the rules!

In this eerie apocalypse, the force that superseded all others was the power of the rules.

Breaking them, even the Ghost King would pay a heavy price.

Besides the mission’s rules, many others existed throughout this strange world.

For example, the contract before them was an embodiment of such rules.

Once both parties signed, they accepted its terms. Should either break the rules and try to reclaim the Midnight Diner, the power of the rules would punish them.

Chen Mu signed his name on the contract.

As he did, a surge of potent ghostly energy flooded his body, and he suddenly felt a strange sensation—like a sovereign, commanding the entire Midnight Diner.

The Midnight Diner was now his!

At this moment, Chen Mu became the true master of the Midnight Diner, and his words became the law within this eerie domain.