Welcome to Barbie Restaurant

About half an hour later, the dense fog shrouding the sea gradually dispersed, and the illusion woven from that enticing fragrance crumbled away with the clearing clouds and mist.

As the illusion vanished, those aboard the Bauhinia whose minds had been ruled by hunger also woke up. The moment they came to their senses, a chaotic uproar erupted. Some had been stuffing themselves with greasy food in the illusion, only to wake and find themselves gnawing on table legs, several teeth already chipped away; others woke to discover they were clutching their companions and tearing into them, their mouths full of blood. More terrifying still, some had been bewitched by the illusion into eating candles with burning wicks. Only upon waking did they discover that their hair, eyebrows, facial skin, tongues, and lips had all been roasted crisp on the outside and tender within.

For all the ordinary people aboard the Bauhinia, this was nothing short of a disaster.

!

But to the transcendents, it was merely a game without so much as a ripple. Since no one had died in the end, even the guides from the three great organizations could not be bothered to warn them.

Thus, the ones who suffered were still those ordinary people unable to grasp their own fate.

On the deck, when the dense fog finally dispersed completely, cheerful children's chanting drifted over from the southeast.

All the transcendents turned their eyes toward its source.

There, as the mist receded, a magnificent and exquisite structure upon the sea revealed its dreamlike true form.

Colorful conch-shaped spires, walls painted in a twisted style brimming with childish charm, and balloons of every shape floating through the sky—puppies, hearts, cats. The air was filled with sweetness. That sugary scent, those innocent chants, and those dreamlike bubbles made Barbie Restaurant shine brilliantly. Like the castle of a princess described in a fairy-tale book, every inch of it overflowed with elements that would melt a young girl's heart.

"It has appeared... Barbie Restaurant." Sanders gazed at the glittering, childlike amusement-park structure on the sea and murmured softly.

Barbie Restaurant's enormous circular foundation supported the dreamlike castle. Rings of ripples spread along the foundation's edge, while joyous waves leaped merrily amid them, as though welcoming everyone's arrival.

Other than Sanders and Flora, everyone was visiting Barbie Restaurant for the first time. At the sight of this restaurant resembling a fairy-tale castle, they were all stunned.

Many of the men shook their heads.

Even Heloline, a woman herself, frowned slightly at it.

Everyone inwardly mocked the rumored gourmet wizard. They had never expected her taste to be this bizarre.

"La-la, la-la, la-la-la..."

"Bang-cha, bang-cha, bang-cha-chiang..."

Two bands of toy soldiers in red-and-white uniforms, each only reaching everyone's knees, suddenly sprang out from Barbie Restaurant's flamboyant, brightly colored main entrance.

The row on the left carried tin drums; the row on the right beat red-ribboned gongs.

Amid the clanging gongs and pounding drums, the two groups of toy soldiers arranged themselves into two lines. With crisp, fixed marching steps, they put away their instruments and saluted toward the center, as though awaiting an inspection parade.

"Nyehahahaha—nyehaha—" A strange, shrill laugh came from inside the doors. Then, someone walking with a peculiar splay-footed gait emerged.

After stepping out, the strange man suddenly began dancing with ballet-like movements. He spun in place a full 1,080 degrees before everyone, then finished with a gentlemanly hand-over-heart bow.

"Nyehahahaha! Welcome, honored guests, to Bar—bie Restaurant!!!"

His voice was shrill and theatrical, with strange pauses between his words. As his voice fell, the toy soldiers on both sides began playing music and beating drums. Balloons rose into the sky, followed by falling streamers and colorful paper flowers.

When all the streamers had fallen and their vision cleared from the multicolored curtain, everyone finally saw the splay-footed man's true appearance.

He was a humanoid creature with long limbs and a slender body, but an enormous head.

His huge triangular head had upturned baggy eyes, hair standing in bristling spikes like a hedgehog's, and a mouth that split almost to his ears when he smiled. Several long, beastlike whiskers grew from his cheeks.

Put together, his features were both comical and terrifying.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Once again, welcome to Barbie Restaurant!" The splay-footed man leaped into the air, spun 360 degrees like a ballerina, and upon landing somehow produced an alchemical microphone. Dropping into a full split, he did not forget to introduce himself: "Nyehahahaha, I am Barbie Restaurant's captain of the guard, responsible for receiving all honored guests—Soup Weasel!"

Everyone, stunned by the flamboyant performance: "..."

After Soup Weasel finished speaking and saw no reaction from the crowd, he turned to the toy soldiers on either side without the slightest embarrassment and roared, "You pieces of junk, applaud!"

"Clap clap clap—" Scattered applause came from the ranks of toy soldiers.

Satisfied, Soup Weasel performed another 720-degree ballet spin and finished with a backward kick to the Golden Crown. Then, with his splay-footed gait, he walked to the platform closest to the crowd.

"Showy, flamboyant, childish." Sanders pressed down the brim of his hat and sneered. "Gloria's freakish taste truly has not changed one bit."

Upon hearing Sanders' words, Soup Weasel looked up toward Sanders atop the Falcon Demon's back.

"Nyehahahaha, so it is Lord Sanders! No wonder Soup Weasel could sense the aura of the Nightmare Realm from so far away. Compared to our last meeting in the Soul Highlands, my lord's power has become even more concealed and formidable!" Soup Weasel said theatrically. When he spoke the word "formidable," he even excitedly danced a bit of ballet.

Sanders did not reply. He merely looked away, too lazy to bother with him. Everyone from Barbie Restaurant was this strange; it was impossible to communicate with them through normal logic.

Soup Weasel paid no mind to Sanders' attitude and simply spun and leaped with his eyes closed.

When sunlight shone through the restaurant's main entrance and the sound of ocean tides replaced the chanting, Soup Weasel made an exceedingly gentlemanly gesture toward everyone.

"Honored guests, the time has come. Welcome inside." Soup Weasel suddenly became serious, and his voice was no longer frivolous.

As his words fell, the flamboyant, brightly colored doors of the restaurant slowly opened. A peculiar scent drifted out from within.

The scent was not fragrant. Yet it seemed to possess magic, carrying a hidden meaning as it overturned everyone's senses of smell and made them unconsciously swallow their saliva.

There was clearly no fragrance, yet it stirred everyone's appetite.

"This appetite is true appetite, unlike the one in that earlier illusion, which used bizarre means to directly stimulate the brain to release information, something unreal." Sabo smiled at those behind him. "Gloria truly has a knack for this. It seems we are in for a feast today."

As Sabo spoke, he followed Sanders into Barbie Restaurant.

Sanders led Flora through the colorful doors with an expressionless face. At that moment, Flora suddenly turned around and flashed Sabo, who was following behind her, a brilliant smile.

Before Sabo could understand what Flora's smile meant, the toy soldiers on both sides suddenly leaped out. A gun from the left and a sword from the right blocked Sabo and the others before the entrance.

Having been forced back by toy soldiers and made a spectacle of before the juniors behind him, Sabo's face alternated between green and red.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sabo looked coldly at Soup Weasel, suppressed fury swirling in his eyes. "Could it be that you have some objection to me?"