Deeper Secrets

The specific amount of food consumed in preparing a dish depends on the ingredients chosen.

Although Bai Zhi himself didn't feel anything special about today's cooking experience, the others did manage to glean some hidden rules.

Regardless of what dish you're making, the physical and mental exertion is secondary; the Sanity strain is the most severe.

However, this is something that Bai Zhi can basically ignore.

When Bai Zhi and the Figurine arrived at the kitchen, Bai Zhi was surprised to find that he was the only one who had been approached by hungry Diner that night.

At the very least, he thought he would see Dawn Lord · Positive and Negative here.

Without much delay, looking at the figurine in front of Figurine that was about to go berserk due to hunger and the book, Bai Zhi began to prepare the dishes.

His cooking skills weren't anything special, at best they were barely edible, but you can't be too picky about cooking for a Figurine, can you?

Relying on tasting the dishes he made to restore his physical and mental strength, and without worrying about the loss of Sanity, Bai Zhi unhesitatingly entered the "burning the midnight oil" mode.

If it were anyone else, they could only cook 3 to 5 dishes at most before their Sanity recovery couldn't keep up with the consumption. But Bai Zhi multiplied that result by ten.

Although no detailed counting was done along the way, Bai Zhi estimated that the final number of dishes he made was at least between 40 and 50.

This may sound easy, but in reality, almost no one but him can do it... unless the other person also possesses an immeasurable Sanity Value.

While physical exertion can be replenished through food, there is ultimately a limit to how much that can be achieved.

Therefore, halfway through, when his stamina was almost completely drained, he had to use his life-saving Title Skill [The Dominator] to restore himself to his peak condition before he could continue.

The process was arduous, but the results were remarkable.

Originally, he only needed to cook one dish. After that, the Figurine would have no reason to bother him anymore. This was one of the rules of late-night snack time.

However, Bai Zhi naturally wouldn't spend so much time and energy on something meaningless. What prompted him to make this decision was the change that happened to the Figurine.

Starting from the tenth dish, some strange changes occurred in the other person, not in their appearance, but in their physique.

The figure, which was originally the Figurine of a palm, began to evolve into the size of a normal person.

--But that's about it.

In fact, due to the change in body size, the other party looked even more bizarre and terrifying...

In the end, the other party's body size had completely returned to normal, but it was precisely because of this that Bai Zhi could see very clearly the many stitches and patchwork marks on the other party's body, and in some places the loose threads were still there.

Now... actually, halfway through the process, Bai Zhi was already able to clearly confirm that the other party was human.

But what kind of deep-seated hatred could have transformed the other person into such a grotesque, inhuman creature?

If it weren't for my unique status as someone who doesn't need to worry about the drain on my Sanity, the other person would have remained in that state in the restaurant forever, wandering through the endless night.

Providing forty or fifty dishes in just one night—who else but myself could provide that?

Clearly, regardless of what kind of being transformed the other person into this state, this practice is obviously motivated by a desire to torment them.

Watching the Grotesque Girl in front of him, waving two tentacles and eating her food, Bai Zhi vaguely felt that he had touched upon a deeper secret about this mysterious restaurant...

To be honest, his initial thought was actually to stuff the other person until they were stuffed... no, I meant to make sure they were full.

After finishing the last dish, the Grotesque Girl let out a long breath, her bee-like compound eyes and arthropod-like jaws looking towards Bai Zhi, and she spoke her first complete sentence.

"Whoever you are, leave this restaurant, the farther the better, and never come back."

--During the meal, the two of them did not exchange any words.

"What, I'm your savior, aren't I? And this is how you treat me?"

Looking at the Young Girl in front of him, who seemed more like a disgusting and bizarre Monster than a human, Bai Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly.

"So what do you want?"

Looking down at her own body, the Young Girl's tone remained calm and composed.

"If you stay in this restaurant, death is the best outcome, or do you want to end up like me?"

"Wait a minute? I remember this restaurant being quite friendly."

Bai Zhi spread his hands, his face showing a look of nonchalance.

"Although there are all sorts of strange rules, the benefits here are quite good. I'm thinking of staying here to try and get a permanent position, and then all the way up to Special-Grade Chef."

"There's no need to try to trick me into revealing anything. You're too weak right now; telling you those things will only hurt you."

Looking at the two tentacles that had replaced her hands, the Young Girl responded calmly.

"However, it's undeniable that you gave me the opportunity to recover, so feel free to ask me anything you want to know. I'll tell you what I can, and I won't tell you what I can't."

What is the origin of this restaurant? Who built it? What was the original intention behind its construction?

Without hesitation, Bai Zhi asked the biggest question that had been on his mind about the restaurant.

The other person did not respond, but simply stared at him calmly with a pair of intimidating, bee-like compound eyes.

"Uh... what is the purpose of this restaurant? Why did you become like this? And who turned you into this?"

--As always, no reply was received.

"No, you tell me to ask, but you don't say anything yourself. Don't you know that's very insincere?"

Seeing the Young Girl's reaction, Bai Zhi rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Are you really sure you're not deliberately making fun of me?

"I'm not interested."

The Young Girl's tone was flat.

"The answers to those questions you just asked are not that I don't want to, but that I can't."

"So what else do you have to say?"

Bai Zhi pouted, looking rather annoyed.

"Acting so arrogantly, who do you even know? You've become such a grotesque, inhuman creature..."

"The Previous Shopkeeper of this restaurant."

The Young Girl in front of me spoke calmly.