[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-shadow-empire":3,"chapter-the-shadow-empire-the-shadow-empire-chapter-28":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Shadow Empire",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2267648,4428,"Chapter 28: A Smelly Day","the-shadow-empire-chapter-28",28,"\u003Cp>On Monday, Mr. Anderson rose early and ordered all apprentices, cooks, and waiters to arrive at the restaurant ahead of schedule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last night he had someone make a notice board overnight—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to the restaurant’s booming business, dining time is limited to two hours; customers who exceed this time may be asked to settle their bills and leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Additionally, when tables are scarce, the restaurant reserves the right to require solo diners to share tables with other solo diners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There is also a rule: the restaurant may refuse service to any customer who appears suspicious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the general content—the notice board was large and stood at the entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anderson watched all day long, but Lans never showed up, and nothing unusual occurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Monday is an important day for people: office workers receive their weekly assignments from their superiors and must prepare for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Factory workers on assembly lines face the restart of production after one or two days of rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They must closely monitor changes on the line, while supervisors use intense work to shake workers out of their holiday laziness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those laboring at docks or warehouses, after weekend inventory, faced a flood of cargo vehicles entering and leaving the port this morning—they were too busy to even stand straight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most people were busy; by noon, four tables had arrived at the restaurant, totaling less than sixty dollars—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although this was a mid-to-high-end restaurant, not all dishes were expensive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A meal set with two people ordering a main dish—like a cheap combo of fish steak and beef steak, or simply an ordinary beef steak, plus a clear soup—cost at most ten dollars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The special feature of a mid-to-high-end restaurant is that you can spend little here, yet also spend a great deal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Business in the evening was decent: nine tables, 133 dollars total; calculating by gross profit, the day barely broke even, losing ten to twenty dollars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every Monday was roughly like this; Mr. Anderson was not surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought Lans was just bluffing; since he didn’t show up today, Anderson relaxed his guard slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t know that Lans also knew Monday’s business was poor, so he had planned his “next stage” for Tuesday.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Tuesday morning, Mr. Anderson rose even earlier; today was the day when workers gathered for meals—after a weekend apart, they had much to say, chatting about where they’d gone, and sharing a meal to strengthen bonds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today’s business would be better than Monday’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until eleven, he saw no one come in alone to claim a table; he happily took a cloth and wiped the notice board at the entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Across the street in a narrow alley, Lans stood at an inconspicuous entrance, watching Mr. Anderson and his restaurant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That one over there… yes, the one wiping the notice board.” Lans lowered his gaze and looked at the people beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each of them emitted a foul odor—a group of homeless men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last night, when Lans found them, he treated them to a good meal: beef, pork, and refined noodles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These foods ensured their excrement would be extremely stinking; now was the time for them to defecate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his hand, Lans held a bucket filled with water laced with powerful laxatives—within minutes, it would force uncontrollable expulsion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This morning, he had made them drink even more thin porridge to maximize the effect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With eleven approaching and customers due soon, Lans poured the first cup of laxative water and handed it to the first homeless man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go to their restaurant entrance, defecate on the ground, then go to the alley we agreed on—someone will give you two dollars.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you do it in a particularly disgusting way, I’ll give you an extra dollar.” He glanced at the rest of the homeless men. “Same for you all: two dollars, plus one extra if you do it well.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first homeless man was nearly fifty, his hair matted, occasional cockroaches crawling out from beneath it and back in again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His blackened face made it impossible to tell whether he had once been a cotton picker or had always been this dark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mr. Lans, rest assured—I’ll make them all vomit thinking about it all day!” He slapped his chest, grinning with a mouth full of yellow teeth that repulsed others, but Lans admired him—he was truly foul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He downed the laxative in one gulp; the taste was strange, then he stood quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a little over ten minutes, he suddenly clutched his stomach. “Here it comes, Mr. Lans—I’m going… ssshh… now!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans immediately poured the second cup of laxative and handed it to the next man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, two tables of customers had entered the restaurant; Mr. Anderson felt a sense of relief—he thought today would be another quiet day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned to rest in the break room; he’d been rising early and sleeping late for two days, his mood poor, and he was utterly exhausted—he needed rest most of all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he could lie down, he faintly heard the manager shouting loudly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He froze, then sprang up and sprinted toward the entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he stepped outside, a thick stench nearly knocked him unconscious!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sun blazed, making the odor unbearable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the restaurant entrance, a homeless man was arguing with the manager while smearing his feces onto the notice board Anderson had just cleaned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aren’t you going to clean this up?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced at the man smearing feces on the board and could no longer bear it—he gagged and nearly vomited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Call the police… puke… call the police!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The homeless man, hearing the restaurant would call the police, bolted away—before running off, he let out a fart and sprayed another pile at the entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, three customers who had been walking toward the restaurant turned, crossed the street, and entered the one across the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr. Anderson shouted wildly; apprentices carried two buckets of water, rinsed the ground clean, then scrubbed it thoroughly with brushes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It all happened so suddenly—he just ran over, pulled down his pants, bent over, and then…” The manager shuddered as if recalling something horrific.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...BAM! I thought his intestines had burst out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr. Anderson felt slightly better, then gagged again. “Wash it clean!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He and the manager stepped aside; the manager continued, “I told him not to defecate at our door, then somehow he slipped and fell—and you saw what happened. He claims I pushed him…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr. Anderson’s face turned grim—another table of customers had just changed their minds about dining.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the manager remained uneasy. “Could this be their new trick?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr. Anderson grew uneasy. “Get two more waiters to watch. If any homeless men come near, keep them at a distance…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>?C〇\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he finished speaking, a homeless man suddenly charged across the street—just like the first one, running while pulling down his pants. Worse still, when he reached the sidewalk, he turned his backside toward them!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Passersby stared in stunned disbelief; the apprentice at the front slowly turned and violently vomited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr. Anderson gagged and cursed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That goddamn bastard—this had to be that son of a bitch’s doing!\u003C\u002Fp>",1183,"2026-06-19T21:10:27.799Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","c6f19b1e980cd9ba667e6e5c59adf4f73d31865759755b89302d3076d5e915c1","the-shadow-empire-chapter-29","the-shadow-empire-chapter-27",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-shadow-empire-cover.jpg"]