Food Chain

Although the entire trip didn't take long, the rewards far exceeded Bai Zhi's expectations.

They acquired some key information about the restaurant, a menu suitable for their use, and an Epic Level Item that they had borrowed... all in all, a very fruitful haul.

Bai Zhi also gained a deeper understanding of the world and the situation Outside the World. From now on, he will probably start to think about the purchase of his Talent Core.

Although Fireworks of Romance had explained some of it to him before, he still only had a superficial understanding of these things. From what the middle-aged man had said, he knew that only after completing this part of the Talent Core construction could he be considered to have officially left the "Newbie Village"... well, the Newbie Village.

"Have you finished talking?"

She hadn't gone too far. Fireworks of Romance kept glancing over there out of the corner of her eye. When she saw Bai Zhi stand up and walk towards her, she quickly turned around.

It wasn't until Bai Zhi walked up to her that she, who was pretending to admire the scenery, seemed to just notice him and casually asked Bai Zhi a question, as if nothing had happened before.

"That's about it. We've got some key information. We should go back to work now."

Pretending not to notice the other person's subtle movements, Bai Zhi shrugged slightly.

Dinner time is almost here.

When Bai Zhi and Fireworks of Romance returned to the kitchen, everyone else, except for Positive and Negative whereabouts were unknown, had arrived.

Cloudfall Illusion and Two Lives Cycle remained unchanged; one was cold and aloof, unwilling to communicate with anyone, while the other sat in a chair, lost in thought, with an extremely low profile.

As for August Desolation and Li Changsheng, they were gathered together, talking quietly about something.

August Desolation and the Earthly Homeland were alright, but Li Changsheng's face was slightly pale, as if he had just been through a battle.

"... We had a fight with the Chef from the other kitchens."

In response to the inquiry from the Fireworks of Romance, the Earthly Homeland spoke up and gave an answer.

"The Chef in the other kitchens... a duel of dark culinary skills?"

After a moment's thought, Fireworks of Romance's mind suddenly went blank with inspiration.

--The Chef's code of conduct states that all acts of violence against non-food items are prohibited in the restaurant.

"... The Chef here aren't just humans; Anomaly can also serve as Chef."

After a moment of silence, the Earthly Homeland Renjian spoke.

"By a twist of fate, we ended up in a place similar to this kitchen, and had a minor conflict with the Chef there... The Chef in that kitchen was an Anomaly writer."

"Anomaly Kitchen?"

After hearing what the Earthly Homeland say, August Desolation couldn't help but turn around and glance at Bai Zhi.

"If we humans cook for Anomaly, then does the Anomaly Kitchen cook for humans? If that's the case..."

"You wouldn't want to know what their ingredients are."

Interrupting August Desolation's words, Earthly Homeland shook its head.

"When we arrived there, we happened to see them preparing dishes."

What are the ingredients?

August Desolation looked on with curiosity.

"Humans, perhaps."

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zhi answered before the Earthly Homeland.

"Just like in our kitchen, some Anomaly are used as ingredients for food, in the Anomaly kitchen, the only thing that can be used as ingredients is humans. In the eyes of the Anomaly, humans are ingredients, which is why battles occur."

"... That's right."

Looking up at Bai Zhi, Earthly Homeland's expression was rather complicated.

"They used humans as food, putting them on their tables, mostly common humans, children and women making up the majority. Their kitchens were horrific. Player, on the other hand, were considered high-class food... We couldn't resist and a battle broke out with them."

"..."

(... It was you who couldn't resist, wasn't it?)

After saying this in his Earthly Homeland, Li Changsheng turned his head and glanced at the Young Girl beside him with a slightly strange expression.

If the other party hadn't lost their temper, he wouldn't have been forced into a fight before returning... He sees himself as Assassin, but have you ever seen an Assassin face-to-face in a direct confrontation?

I'm Phantom Assassin, not some Bloodthirsty Rogue...

"... Are Player high-grade ingredients?"

Slightly narrowing his eyes, Bai Zhi asked about the Earthly Homeland and Li Changsheng.

What does this sentence mean?

"Literal meaning."

Li Changsheng exhaled a breath from his mouth and the book.

"These are the exact words of those Anomaly Chef. common don't suffer much because their Life is too low, but Player there are really skinned, dismembered, and boiled alive, because that makes the dishes fresher..."

"It's nothing unusual. In this restaurant, Anomaly feed on humans, and humans feed on Anomaly. There's nothing wrong with that."

No sooner had Li Changsheng finished speaking than a nonchalant voice came from the side.

When Earthly Homeland and Fireworks of Romance turned around with furrowed brows, they found that Positive and Negative had returned to the kitchen at some point and were now habitually putting their hands in the pockets of their white coats, looking in their direction. It was obvious that they had heard their previous conversation.

"It's perfectly natural for humans to raise animals and put them on the dinner table, because humans are superior to animals. If that's the case, then isn't it also perfectly normal for Anomaly to include humans on the dinner table?"

The Positive and Negative tones are ridiculously bland.

"It's just a very simple food chain, nothing to discuss."

How can these two things be compared?

Fireworks of Romance retorted with considerable dissatisfaction.

"Humans are intelligent beings, animals..."

"In the eyes of some Anomaly, humans are simply animals."

Positive and Negative glanced at her.

"The dishes in this restaurant are divided into three Type: one for humans, one for Anomaly, and one for the human menu. A large part of the menu for humans is made from ingredients found in Anomaly, so why can't the menu for Anomaly use humans as ingredients?"

"Don't forget, you're human too."

Looking at the Young Girl in the white coat in front of him, Earthly Homeland frowned.

"From a human perspective, your personality is far too cold-hearted."

"... It's boring."

He glanced at the Earthly Homeland, seemingly losing interest in continuing the argument, shook his head slightly, Positive and Negative, starting to do his own thing.

The hands of the wall clock pointed to 6:50.