Doomsday Dealer

Chapter 9: Biological Research and Exploration

The store was filled with the scent of plastic wrap mixed with old paper. The owner stood behind the counter holding a disc case, searching through movies while asking, "Disaster films are pretty niche. What specific type are you looking for?"

"Virus outbreaks, mutant beasts, alien invasions... you know, the kind where ordinary people survive before the world ends..."

"Got it, got it. Just wait a moment, I'll find some for you."

Standing in the store, Marcus's gaze continuously swept across the 'movie' wall. Though they were simple movie covers, they contained quite a bit of information. Movies could basically be seen as a condensed part of society. Coming here to rent disaster films was also to understand this world's approach to handling disasters. When real disasters struck, how to solve them - perhaps searching through real-world materials himself would be far slower than absorbing knowledge from movies.

He had talked with Sophia before, and she mentioned that she often rented discs at home to watch some animated films. Later, he could find an opportunity to visit her home and borrow her disc-watching equipment.

However, judging from the owner's words, disaster films seemed quite niche in this world... Most of the movie covers on the wall were romantic posters. This wasn't surprising - it was probably because there weren't any outstanding special effects films, movie technology hadn't developed that quickly, and the technical capabilities weren't there yet.

Two minutes later, the owner emerged from behind the counter carrying three discs. He handed them to Marcus, saying, "Here, these three absolutely meet your requirements!"

"Just three?" Marcus took the discs and examined them. "They're all scratched up. Won't they skip?"

"Just these three. Don't worry about watching them - if they skip, I'll refund your money." The owner smiled. "Brother, I've been doing this for so many years, don't I know what you want to watch? I like this type too. The others are all lacking something, but these three have no romance plots - pure disaster!"

"You know your stuff! How much to rent?"

"Same price as posted outside - five dollars per disc, ten dollar deposit."

"Alright, I'll take them all."

Marcus readily paid, and the owner pocketed the money with a smile. "Want to pick out anything else? I've got all the latest films here, guaranteed to satisfy you!"

"Help me pick out some historical, urban, and military war films. The content must be realistic - I don't want any trash movies."

"Don't worry, buddy, I don't have any trash films here!" The owner turned around, picked up the disc case, and began searching again.

Soon Marcus had three more discs in his hands. After briefly looking at the covers, he paid and said, "Not bad, I'll take them all."

"Want to look at anything else?" The owner asked with a smile.

Usually, plenty of people came to rent discs, but they all rented just one or two, and spent half an hour dawdling around the store picking. This young man today was interesting - he didn't pick through anything and was quite decisive. He must be a seasoned movie buff.

"Hmm..." Marcus's eyebrows twitched slightly. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Boss... do you have, you know, that stuff?"

The owner raised an eyebrow, his voice unconsciously lowering as well. "What?"

"Good films."

"I have good films - aren't all of these good films?"

"That~ kind~ of good films."

"I don't have those. This is all legitimate business." The owner straightened up and shook his head.

Marcus stared at the owner and clicked his tongue. "Boss, I've already rented six discs from you, and I'll be coming back in the future."

The owner looked Marcus up and down, probing, "What type are you looking for?"

"Beautiful and exciting will do... I'm serious about buying, don't worry. But there's one thing we need to agree on upfront - you have to let me preview it. I don't trust covers."

Not trusting covers... this guy was a real connoisseur.

After thinking for a few seconds, the owner nodded. "Alright then, come with me."

Following the owner's footsteps, they pushed open another door in the store. Behind the door was a small room with simple furnishings - a mattress on the floor, a low table with an old tube TV, and clothes and disc cases scattered on the ground. It looked like the owner's living quarters.

The owner bent down to pick up a disc case from the floor and opened it for Marcus. "Here, pick for yourself. Twenty-one discs, selling only, no rentals."

Flipping through the discs in the case, they were covered with images of women in swimsuits. After looking through them all, Marcus asked, "Are these explicit enough?"

The owner laughed. "Brother, what a fresh question! If adult films weren't explicit, wouldn't that be criminal!"

"Alright, pick one for me to see."

"No problem! These are all premium quality - you'll know once you watch!"

The owner randomly selected a disc, bent over, and inserted it into what appeared to be a VCD player. The disc reading sound started up, and the old tube TV began displaying images.

"I'll fast-forward it for you." The owner picked up the remote and aimed it at the TV, beginning to speed up the playback.

As the video progressed and the content appeared at accelerated speed, Marcus watched intently. The two people on the TV were going at it quite enthusiastically - verbal sparring, physical action, scheming and plotting, making false accusations, completely lacking in class!

Honestly speaking, this level of content was nowhere near enough for a warrior like him who had been through the cultural impact of Japanese media.

But when the camera began to zoom in, Marcus immediately widened his eyes and moved closer to the TV. Just then, an action close-up appeared! Zoomed in, then zoomed in more - every detail was crystal clear.

Seeing Marcus practically pressed against the TV, the owner behind him watched his originally upturned mouth corners gradually droop, and he reached out to pat Marcus's lower back.

"Hey, hey, hey! Is it really necessary, buddy? How long have you been holding back? You're practically diving into the screen."

Marcus lifted his head and rubbed his eyes, feeling quite satisfied internally. The human body structure in the footage was completely normal - just ordinary humans, and the muscle formations perfectly matched his expectations. The actions were all normal technical movements too.

This further confirmed from the side the high degree of similarity between this place and Earth. If there really were zombie mutations, he now had some expectations in his mind - there probably wouldn't be any strange mutated organs appearing.

"Sorry, I got a bit absorbed watching." Marcus smiled awkwardly.

"How about this one? If it's good, just take it." The owner asked, holding the disc.

Marcus shook his head and tightened his grip on his bag. "I'll pass for now. Maybe next time. Thanks, boss."

"This film is really good! Store manager's recommendation! You were watching so intently just now, how come now you..." The owner's words stopped halfway as his eyes went wide.

He stared directly at Marcus's hand concealed under his trench coat. Under the coat, the other person's hand seemed to be fiddling with something, then quickly returned to stillness.

"Wait..." The owner tilted his head, exclaiming in shock, "You're done already?!"

"What do you mean I'm done..." Marcus stopped abruptly, following the owner's gaze downward, his face turning dark.

"Thanks, may good people live peaceful lives. Farewell."

With those words, he turned directly and left the room, quickly walking out of the store.

The owner was left alone in the store in confusion, watching Marcus's retreating figure and cursing loudly.

"Damn... he finished in less than three minutes! This young man, holy s**t! Three minutes? People mooch rides, mooch meals, and now there are people who mooch films too?! Stop watching films and go see a doctor instead!"