*Chapter 33: Odd Jobs on Halloween Night*

Two days later, Cody still went to work at the restaurant, but this time he listened to his supervisor's suggestion and bought a second modified wheelchair to get there.

When he arrived at the restaurant, he could feel his colleagues collectively breathe a sigh of relief when they saw he hadn't driven that car to work.

Santos and the others saw him come in and immediately waved him over. "Cody, have you seen the news?"

He looked at the newspaper in Santos's hand and asked instinctively, "What's up? Did the Richard Daniel thing break?"

Santos's previously excited expression immediately dropped. "Huh? You already know?"

"On my way home from target practice over the weekend, I ran into a poor guy who'd been shot full of holes. Then I got dragged into the Gotham P.D. in the middle of the night for half an hour of questioning, and found out the poor guy's name – the president of Gotham Bank, right?"

"Whoa, that's you alright." Santos immediately perked up again. "You actually stumbled onto something like that right on the spot? Did you see anything?"

"I wish I hadn't run into it... No, besides half a gun barrel sticking out of the window and a black car with no plates and tinted windows, I didn't see anything." Cody shook his head. "Those are tough guys who aren't afraid to kill someone in broad daylight. Curiosity killed the cat, and I don't have nine lives."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that's true..."

Castro joined the conversation smoothly. "Instead of worrying about that, how about we think about something else, like what we're doing for Halloween?"

"Oh, speaking of that..." Rick's interest was piqued. "Anyone want to come to my Halloween party? It's the kind without the supervisor or Donald."

Castro immediately responded, "Awesome!"

Cody had never attended an American-style party before, but he knew perfectly well that a party thrown by gang members probably wouldn't have any decent people there, and the refreshments would likely be more than just beer and pizza, probably including wild parties and drug binges.

"Yeah, hard pass." He shook his head. "As you can see, I'm flat broke, so I have to work on Halloween night."

"Hey, don't be such a buzzkill!" Rick complained. "We finally get some time off, why would anyone actively go work odd jobs at a time like this?"

"Gotta make a living, you know." Cody sighed. "You guys know I just bought a car recently..."

"Alright, alright." Castro immediately surrendered. Cody was absolutely sure that all three of them shivered when he mentioned that car.

It was hilarious. They were just talking about the Halloween party, and as soon as he mentioned driving his deathmobile over, they all chickened out. Classic case of talking the talk but not walking the walk.

But saying he had to work wasn't a total lie. The system actually gave him three odd jobs.

*"Halloween Pumpkin Lantern"*

Task Description: Don't overthink it, a customer just needs a pumpkin lantern. Good work gets a reward, bad work gets no penalty.

Note: Low risk, high reward. This job is specifically for you.

Status: Pending (0/1)

Reward: A small portable pumpkin lantern that never goes out. Carrying it can scare away some weak demons – don't worry, it's not a magical item from this world and requires no cost.

*"Halloween Heartbreaker"*

Task Description: Mr. Harvey needs to do some unplanned work tonight, which means he doesn't have time to spend with his family. Maybe you could do this job for him?

Note: In Gotham City, some jobs pay based on guts. Mr. Cody, do you want to be a nobody? Or become famous?

Status: Incomplete (0%)

Reward: Calculated based on completion percentage. Every one percent is worth 200 USD in asset points.

*"Halloween Delivery Service"*

Task Description: You might not believe it, but in Gotham City, some people are actually worse off than Gordon, Harvey, or even Batman. For such poor folks, a super-sized Burger King delivery is like Christmas.

Note: Born on Monday, baptized on Tuesday, married on Wednesday, took ill on Thursday, worse on Friday, died on Saturday, buried on Sunday – that's a life lived to the end. Remember to bring a gas mask.

Status: Incomplete (0/1)

Reward: Intermediate Cooking Proficiency, plus the customer's friendship.

Working three jobs in one night, even the King of Hell would praise my health.

But the mission rewards were really good: an undying little demon-repelling pumpkin lantern, up to twenty thousand USD in asset points, and Intermediate Cooking Proficiency – Intermediate Cooking Proficiency in the system store costs a full three thousand USD asset points, which is five hundred more than Intermediate Driving Proficiency.

"One delivery mission is worth half a month of my hard labor – sigh, there's a difference even between temp jobs."

Gotta do it. Anyone who could resist this gig would be a saint.

So, during their meal break, the colleagues at the restaurant noticed someone holding a pumpkin and a carving knife, constantly gesturing.

"Hey, Cody, where'd you get the pumpkin?" Santos sat next to him with an apple. "You didn't swipe it from the kitchen, did you?"

"This is mine. Aren't we not supposed to take ingredients from the kitchen?" Cody replied casually, his carving knife dancing up and down, peeling off pieces of skin and flesh from the small pumpkin.

"You're making a jack-o'-lantern?"

"Yeah, it's Halloween today. Maybe someone will buy them if I make some jack-o'-lanterns to sell."

"Uh..."

"What?"

Rick, passing by, glanced at the pumpkin in Cody's hand. As the carving continued, a twisted, grimacing face slowly appeared on it.

"Are you... carving a jack-o'-lantern for the first time?"

"Doesn't it look good? I think I did a pretty decent job?"

Cody looked at the small pumpkin in his hand. Amidst the distorted, pained expression, there seemed to be a unique artistic flair, a bit of the classical style of Millet, a touch of Monet's Impressionism, Matisse's Fauvism, Munch's Expressionism, Balla's Futurism, and Picasso's Cubism, even Dali's Surrealism seemed to be reflected on this small pumpkin. To put it simply...

"That's one ugly jack-o'-lantern..." Rick mercilessly roasted him. "It's honestly the ugliest jack-o'-lantern I've ever seen."

Cody shrugged. "Anyway, it's just a jack-o'-lantern. If it's funny-looking, maybe more people will buy it. After all, there are so many good-looking ones, but hardly any this ugly. You gotta go off the beaten path to stand out."

"Alright, well, Gotham's not short on weirdos anyway. Maybe someone really likes jack-o'-lanterns like this... Speaking of which, have you considered carving a big pumpkin? A pumpkin head this ugly would be pretty scary."

"Good idea. Then I'll wear this pumpkin head and steal candy from kids."