CHAPTER 296: CHAPTER 228: THE SHADOW IN THE CAFETERIA_2

Perhaps the devil has already learned the skill of possession, hiding in what seems to be a peaceful life.

Rosen walked over, snatched the lollipop from the older student’s hand, and said, "Since these were stolen anyway, I’ll just confiscate them for myself."

With that, he threw all the lollipops into his mouth and refused them, then spat out the wrappers in pristine condition.

The wrappers unexpectedly folded into paper cranes in mid-air and attacked the older students.

"He’s a master! Run!"

The older students immediately fled in disarray.

"Waaah, give me back my lollipop!" cried the younger students who had their lollipops taken.

Rosen quickly went up to comfort them, saying, "Don’t cry, when you grow up, you can snatch lollipops from their kids in return!"

Rosen’s words instantly brightened the kids’ mood: "Right, why didn’t I think of that?"

As they say, a gentleman takes revenge, even after ten years. Since the older students took the children’s lollipops, when the children grow up, they can snatch the lollipops from the older students’ kids, forming a cycle.

Rosen’s method temporarily solved the current problem, but he also realized that this wouldn’t eliminate the devil, as the devil only grows stronger in each cycle, strengthening its power through this method.

"It seems the solution should be to drive the devil out of people’s hearts and then eliminate it."

At this moment, Rosen also walked into the alley, knowing that strange things easily breed in the dark.

After taking just a few steps, a drunken bum holding a can of alcohol staggered toward him.

His swaying walk, combined with the alley’s narrowness, meant it was highly likely he’d bump into Rosen.

Rosen was unsure how the children managed to avoid being hit, but given his larger build, he needed to be cautious to avoid a collision.

Through observation, Rosen mapped out the bum’s movements and trajectory in his mind.

"That’s right, based on the pattern, when the drunkard reaches me, he’ll swing his arm towards my upper body, so all I need to do is duck and I’ll avoid the hit."

After planning his strategy, when the drunkard approached, Rosen saw the man indeed swing his arm, holding the alcohol bottle, at his upper body.

Following his plan, Rosen ducked, successfully avoiding what seemed an unavoidable collision.

But what Rosen didn’t expect was that the drunkard deviated from the usual pattern, and the bottle slipped from his hand, smashing into Rosen’s face.

While Rosen was ducking, his torso was already bent and in a precarious position, then the bottle’s impact on his face created a strong explosive force.

The downward force dislocated Rosen’s spine with a crack.

"Ah, my old back!"

Rosen only had time to cry out in pain before realizing the bottle had stunned him into unconsciousness.

When he regained consciousness, Rosen found himself in a hospital.

After asking the nurse, he discovered he was in a psychiatric hospital.

Rosen asked, "Didn’t I suffer a head injury? Why was I sent to a mental hospital?"

The nurse said, "Ten years ago, you suffered a head injury, and later on, the injury led to mental illness, which is why you’ve been transferred to our hospital."

"No, that’s impossible! I just arrived in Capital City yesterday to eliminate the devil. I’m not a mental patient. Did you mistake me for someone else?" Rosen asked, somewhat frightened.

"No, we didn’t mistake you for anyone else. You are Zhang San, aren’t you?"

"No, I’m not Zhang San."

"Then, are you Li Si?"

"I’m not Li Si either."

"Then you must be Zhang Long?"

"..."

"...Zhao Hu?"

...

After forty-nine days of questioning, the nurse finally found Rosen’s name in a dictionary of names.

"So you are Rosen?" the nurse asked for confirmation once again.

"I told you, you must have the wrong person," Rosen replied.

"No, we didn’t make a mistake. I wasn’t wrong, you are Rosen, our patient?"

"Ah, this!"

Rosen realized that the nurse had been fishing for his name the whole time, obviously trying to trick him.

"Oh well, you could just treat me as your patient, then. Do you serve food here? I eat a ton of food for each meal," Rosen drooled.

"Sorry sir, we made a mistake and thought you were Zhang San."

"Oh, right, we have no patient named Rosen here. You can go now!"

With that, the security guard was called, and Rosen was thrown out.

But being forcibly expelled made Rosen realize there was something suspicious about this hospital.

"I always felt that this hospital was hiding some sort of secret, and it seems related to the food here. Why else would they kick me out when I said I eat a lot?"

Rosen thus speculated that the devil he was searching for might be in the hospital.

And it was highly likely that the devil was in the cafeteria, worrying that he’d discover it, so they expelled him.

"Also, it’s strange how the hospital seemed to treat me as a patient, but kicked me out when I mentioned my appetite."

Connecting all the clues, Rosen came to a very accurate conclusion.

Which is.

Because Rosen can eat a ton per meal, he’d need a long time to eat, continuing after the cafeteria closes.

After closing, the cafeteria might engage in some shady dealings, involving the devil.

Thinking of this, Rosen went to the window to listen to the situation inside.

The nurse was reporting to the director.

"Director, there was a patient named Rosen, and I drove him away."

"Why drive away a patient? Patients are our source of income!" asked the director, puzzled.

"You see, Director, that Rosen eats a lot, up to a ton per meal, and I was worried he..." the nurse hesitated.

The director asked, "Worried about what?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" the nurse immediately said, "Worried that he’d overeat and contract digestive diseases, then wouldn’t our hospital have to incur additional medical costs?"

The director flashed a sly smile and said, "Right, after all, Master Devil doesn’t like sick patients."

Upon hearing this, Rosen rubbed his ears to confirm he wasn’t hearing things wrong — they indeed mentioned the devil.

"It seems my speculation was correct; the devil is inside this hospital."

Thus, Rosen intercepted a patient along the way, swapped clothes with him, and donned a patient’s outfit to infiltrate the hospital.

During the day, Rosen dined regularly in the hospital cafeteria.

But to avoid exposing his identity, Rosen always ate just a little, leaving him drooling with hunger, but he couldn’t indulge himself, or he’d surely be discovered.

After all, consuming three extra tons of food daily would quickly show a financial deficit, leading the accounting department to him.

At night, Rosen would sneak into the cafeteria to check if there were any evil deeds happening.

He only uncovered a secret affair between the cafeteria auntie and uncle, but nothing else.

Just as Rosen was about to give up and consider monitoring elsewhere, a dark shadow suddenly flashed by.

"Master Devil!"

"Master Devil!"

The cafeteria auntie and uncle quickly separated, dressed up, and asked the shadow respectfully, "We didn’t expect Master Devil’s sudden gracious visit. What can we do for you?"

The shadow spoke, "Today was a bit over the top, and I’m hungry. Could you prepare something for me to eat?"

The cafeteria auntie and uncle wickedly grinned and said, "But Master Devil, we’ve already packed up. There’s no food left. How can we cook for you?"

"Hehehe!" The shadow chuckled ominously and said, "Isn’t there a ready-made rat? It’s my favorite meat!"

Saying this, he turned towards the darkness, right where Rosen was hiding.

The shadow floated toward Rosen’s hiding spot, sinisterly saying, "Little mouse, don’t hide! You can’t escape!"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

A rat under Rosen’s feet, frightened, quickly ran out.

At that moment, the shadow leaped forward and caught the rat, grabbing it by the tail and saying, "I told you, you couldn’t escape. I’m like a cat; can you get away?"