"Take them all, give me the lowest price!" Qi Xu had probably figured out the game strategy for this dungeon. She wasn’t entirely sure at first, but after the black three-tailed fox spoke those words earlier, everything clicked.
Interesting. Really interesting! Unplayed dungeons are always the most thrilling!
"Esteemed guest, if you purchase this entire group of animals, the total will only be 31,500 Survival Coins! This is already the lowest price—I swear on my feathers!"
With that, the owl raised its wing, blinking its eyes with exaggerated sincerity.
It flapped its wings excitedly, spinning in circles, looking at Qi Xu as if she were the ultimate sucker—nothing like the "esteemed guest" it claimed her to be.
Qi Xu had often splurged before, whether on the rabbit muscle monster or Ah Snake, whom she’d only just met. But compared to this owl, they were downright honest.
Qi Xu stood up decisively. "20,000 Survival Coins. I’ll take all 20 animals. If not, I’ll just take the black three-tailed fox."
The owl’s expression faltered. Who taught you to haggle like this? Have some manners! Show some respect, will you?!
After a long hesitation—even exchanging a subtle glance with the tiger licking its wounds in the back—the owl finally relented.
"I can agree to this price, since you’re a VIP. But I’m really losing money here, so I must require you to spend at least 10,000 Survival Coins before you can enter the rehearsal hall."
Qi Xu raised an eyebrow. Not even pretending anymore, huh? You think I’m stupid?
"No problem. I’m a tycoon, wild and unrestrained. What’s a few Survival Coins? Spend ‘em if you got ‘em!"
She continued playing the role of the brainless big spender, swaying her head theatrically.
"Very well. Please follow me. I’ll now take you to the zoo store, where you can purchase many magical little props to assist with rehearsals and performances. As for the animals, they’ll be delivered to your VIP rehearsal space shortly."
Once inside the store, the owl pushed a shopping cart toward her and then parked itself to the side, letting Qi Xu browse freely.
She casually picked up a few items to examine.
〖Obedience Whip〗500 Survival Coins: Crack the whip at an animal, and it will instantly fear you, becoming more cooperative during rehearsals. (Zoo-exclusive)
〖Ballet Slippers〗200 Survival Coins: When used on an animal, it will instantly master all ballet skills. If not removed, the animal will dance until death, performing the bloody finale of its life. (Zoo-exclusive)
〖Clown’s Nose〗200 Survival Coins: When worn by an animal, it will gain the ability to amuse humans with various antics.
〖Tightrope Walker’s Wire〗300 Survival Coins: A 500m-high wire act—a visual feast! Such an outstanding performance is sure to win high marks!
〖TikTok Viral BGM〗100 Survival Coins: Dance is always the grand finale of any gala!
〖Zhang Paopao’s Bestseller Collection from Tomato Novel〗100 Survival Coins: "A skit might also be a good choice."
Qi Xu chuckled as she flipped through each item, then walked straight out of the store. "I don’t need any of this junk. Take me somewhere else I can spend money."
The owl was stunned. This human player was completely unpredictable—rich yet stingy, bold yet cowardly, rational yet utterly unhinged...
"Y-you don’t need these? How will you rehearse without them?"
Qi Xu shot back, "With my sheer charisma, those animals will be groveling at my feet in seconds. Do I really need props? Please. And who am I? The lead performer of the Huaguo Song and Dance Theater! What can your cheap props do that my professional expertise can’t?"
The owl was speechless, its eyes glazing over in disbelief. By the time it snapped out of it, Qi Xu was already striding away, forcing it to scramble after her.
"There’s also the cafeteria. Would you like to go now? It mainly sells food for you and the animals."
Qi Xu nodded. "Of course. A man is iron, food is steel—what’s more important than eating? You should’ve taken me here first. That store was full of garbage!"
She clasped her hands behind her back, embodying the art of answering nonsense with nonsense, spinning wild tales while indulging in a little madness. And honestly? It felt great.
Being polite to NPCs depends on who they are. If all you want is to screw me over, why bother bribing or humoring you?
The owl strained to keep its expression neutral, visibly struggling. "Then... please follow me."
The cafeteria offerings were actually decent—all special foods and ingredients. Qi Xu spent over 10,000 Survival Coins in one go, easily hitting the spending quota.
The owl was stunned again. "Guest, the animals can just eat pet food. You didn’t need to buy this much..."
"I’m rich. I do what I want. Shut up."
"You—you—fine, whatever..."
Food and ingredients could be taken out of the dungeon. Master Chef was always short on special ingredients, so of course she had to stock up for the kid.
Thousands of scallions, hundreds of bags of rice, along with all kinds of vegetables, fruits, and meats—she’d take it all home and feast on a full table of gourmet dishes made from special ingredients!
It wasn’t easy to splurge like this on the Survival Highway.
"Esteemed VIP, allow me to escort you to the rehearsal hall now."
"Not yet. Take me to your scrap warehouse first."
"What? The scrap warehouse? Why?"
The owl nearly thought it misheard.
Then the human pulled out a 〖Scrap Collector〗 work permit.
The owl’s eyes nearly popped out of its head, its disdain and frustration now completely unconcealed. "We have no scrap to recycle. Please proceed to the rehearsal hall."
Qi Xu sneered. "Impossible. Hurry up, or I’ll report you."
Once you understood the rules of the Survival Game, exploiting them became effortless.
If 〖Princess’s Banquet〗 had a scrap warehouse, then a large-scale human-animal gathering like 〖Zoo〗 would definitely have one too. As long as she showed her permit, she had the right to collect scrap—that was the player’s privilege tied to the job.
So the owl could only bluff, trying to trick her. In the end, it had no choice but to lead Qi Xu to the scrap warehouse.
Qi Xu pulled out a hazmat suit from her backpack, similar to the one she wore in 〖Princess’s Banquet〗—not just for dirt and bacteria protection, but most importantly, to block the stench!
Fully geared up, she rubbed her hands in excitement and strode in with her head held high, as proudly as if she were heading to a five-star restaurant.
............
