In the kitchen, several employees were scrambling to clean up the spoiled ingredients, but the situation seemed to be getting worse.
The once-fresh meat and vegetables had turned into disgusting sludge bubbling with green foam, giving off a nauseating stench. Xiao Yi looked around, his expression growing uglier by the moment.
"What's going on?! Why is there Sea King Paste all over the floor? Did Boss Plankton come here?"
An employee with a large nose was mopping up the stains on the floor. Hearing Xiao Yi's words, he looked up and asked in astonishment.
"Young master, you've heard of Phantom Thief A Pi too? That one-eyed phantom thief who specializes in ruining his competitors' businesses?"
The big-nosed employee put down his mop, walked over to Xiao Yi, and lowered his voice.
"He originally wanted to open a restaurant too, and made his own special seasoning. But that stuff turned every kind of food into unbelievably awful sludge. Nobody ate there, so his restaurant went under. After that, he took to stealing and deliberately ruining other people's businesses."
An employee with large buck teeth came over as well, wiping green slime from his hands as he added.
"I heard he even has an abacus for a wife. Apparently, he's so madly in love with that abacus that he takes it everywhere and even dresses it in little skirts."
After hearing all this, Xiao Yi's gaze went unfocused, and he froze in place. His expression shifted from shock to confusion, then to a strange realization. The corners of his painted mouth twitched slightly, as though he were struggling to digest this absurd information.
Only after a long while did the cosmos behind Xiao Yi's head fade away. He took a deep breath, then broke into a violent coughing fit from the stench.