Diners · Chefs · Ingredients

There's really no skill involved in preparing these dishes.

Bai Zhi's barbecue is okay, but his cooking is terrible.

His so-called cooking was simply throwing all the ingredients into the pot, adding water, and boiling them—quite straightforward.

His cooking, which resembled preparing pig feed, drew frequent stares from those around him... especially from Li Changsheng and his Earthly Homeland, who were separated from him by the Fireworks of Romance.

Both Li Changsheng and Earthly Homeland are clearly skilled cooks. What was supposed to be an absolutely terrible dish was transformed into a gourmet meal by the two of them. Li Changsheng even used a dagger to carve a decorative radish...

"Is it due to a depletion of energy and spirit...?"

While Perception his current physical condition, Bai Zhi took out the [God of Cooking’s Seasoning Jar], then lifted the lid and added a billion bits of seasoning and a billion bits of salt to the pot, as a way to replenish the God of Cooking's glowing state.

After finishing this breakfast dish, he felt like he had run a 50,000-meter race non-stop. Even though his Constitution was over 20, he still felt like he couldn't keep up.

--And this was the result of the two of them sharing the burden.

In ancient times, swordsmiths forged swords with their own bodies; today, Chef feed their food with their own bodies. That's roughly the same principle.

Would you like a bite?

After transferring the unidentified substance from the pot into an earthenware jar, Bai Zhi turned around and asked Fireworks of Romance, who was sitting in a chair looking quite tired and pressing his forehead with his hand.

"If the concept of Positive and Negative is correct, these dishes can help us recover quickly. You can try a little and see the Special Effect."

"No, keep that away from me. I don't want to end up eating this kind of thing to fill my stomach."

His face darkened slightly, and he decisively refused any advances Fireworks of Romance.

"Instead of all that, you should pay more attention to how much Sanity you're spending. Your Level isn't as high as mine, and cooking will also consume Sanity."

With a slight pursed lip, Fireworks of Romance raised his head and looked calmly at the ceiling.

"Don't let your Sanity be depleted too much. If your Sanity drops to half, it will put a huge strain on your mind, and this is only in the morning. If your Sanity is depleted too much, do you think you can recover in the two hours between morning and noon?"

This is probably the Unique thing she can be proud of.

Your Skill are definitely cooler than mine, but your Level and Sanity aren't as high as mine. I'm the Senior!

"Hmm... I think you make a lot of sense."

After thinking about it for a moment, Bai Zhi nodded in agreement... and then gave the other person a thumbs up.

Five menus, five dishes, and the preparation time for each dish is basically within a few minutes of each other.

The ones who put in a little more effort were Li Changsheng and Earthly Homeland; at least what they made looked like a dish.

As for the dishes made by the others, they were basically unrelated to the word "dish" at all.

The most typical example is Cloudfall Illusion and Two Lives Cycle. When they cook, they don't even wash the food. They throw the blood-soaked ingredients and intestines covered in yellow unidentified substances directly into the pot and just cook them until they are done.

Fortunately, August Desolation turned on the kitchen exhaust fan when he sensed the situation was getting out of hand; otherwise, the entire kitchen would have quickly been filled with the smell of boiled durian.

As for Positive and Negative, to be honest, Bai Zhi and the others were very curious about how the other party could turn their dish into a green, viscous paste that kept bubbling, and even take a bite with a spoon without changing their expression... Actually, it was mainly the latter.

While it's true that eating vegetables can replenish energy and restore vitality, is it really possible to bring oneself to eat them?

Compared to the other groups, Bai Zhi's group was quite considerate.

Considering that some Diner might prefer strong flavors, he added a bowl of salt; considering that some Diner might like spicy food, he added a bowl of chili powder; considering that Diner might like sweet food, he added a bowl of rock sugar...

A true Special-Grade Chef is one who can fully satisfy the demands of all kinds of Diner!

Therefore, Bai Zhi specially gave his dish a brand new name: Life.

After all, life is a mix of sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty flavors.

Finally, taking into account that some people in the Stone Carving might be germaphobic, Bai Zhi added an extra large bowl of dish soap as a way to disinfect it.

Chef like him, who always puts the needs of Diner first, is someone you only see once every 100 years, if I'm not bragging.

"No... aren't you sure you won't file a complaint?"

Looking at the earthenware pot of "life" that Bai Zhi was holding, August Desolation asked with some hesitation.

As an uninvolved bystander who witnessed everyone cooking, August Desolation was completely stunned from the moment someone smiled and poured a large bowl of salt into the pot.

"The Diner are the ones who get hurt, the restaurant is the one that has to pay compensation, what does it have to do with me, a cook?"

With a slight purse of his lips, Bai Zhi closed the earthenware pot in his hand and placed it on the table.

"Besides, what if a Customer happens to have a particular taste for it?"

The August Desolation was speechless.

After everyone had finished their assigned menu, the time quietly ticked down to 8:52.

Considering the unknown dangers at the Dish-Out Window, all five completed dishes were handled and placed there by Fireworks of Romance.

Even the most unsociable Cloudfall Illusion and Two Lives Cycle Hui had no objections to this matter.

Putting aside the fact that the exertion from completing the dishes meant they weren't at their peak condition, it would be truly idiotic to recklessly charge into an unknown danger.

Ten Dish-Out Window, five dishes. According to the numbers on the menu corresponding to each dish, Fireworks of Romance skillfully placed each of the five dishes in front of its respective Serving Hatch.

The first four dishes were placed down without incident, but when the last dish was placed down, a pale, swollen hand, soaked in water, suddenly shot out from the Dish-Out Window.

After reaching out, the hand instantly expanded tenfold in size, grabbing at the dish and the large space behind it before rapidly retracting.

This happened extremely quickly, almost like lightning. Some people didn't even have time to react before the dish disappeared in the blink of an eye.

If it weren't for his Pluto- like dynamic vision and enhanced eyesight, Bai Zhi wouldn't have been able to see what that thing that suddenly expanded and then suddenly disappeared was.

One can imagine that if it weren't for the Fireworks of Romance, and if any of the others had gone forward to place the dishes at the Serving Hatch, given the lightning-fast speed displayed by that swollen hand, one of them would definitely have fallen victim to the trap.

"Are Chef also among the ingredients used by those Diner...?"

Looking at the scene before him, Bai Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he had thought of something.