The Cook Who Cooks, A More Dangerous Situation

Chen Mingyu clenched his fists, his voice filled with suppressed rage.

He said sadly, "It happened so close to the city—have all our monitoring systems failed?"

In the past, Warcraft's active periods strictly adhered to the nighttime pattern, and players would be detected and investigated in advance outside the city's defensive perimeter.

The area within several hundred meters outside the protective magic array is, in fact, the default patrol Safe Zone.

After all, a safety buffer is needed to prevent anyone from accidentally leaving the protective array.

In his view, this incident was undoubtedly a serious oversight in defense.

"We have submitted an urgent report to our superiors."

"No unusual energy fluctuations were detected prior to this attack."

The investigator said with a grave expression, "Our initial assessment is that the area affected by the Warcraft invasion has expanded further."

"Luo City Command has now decided to increase patrols in unsafe areas."

Before he could finish speaking, the ground suddenly began to shake continuously.

Dozens of tentacles, sticky and damp, burst from the ground, attacking the crowd like living nooses.

Chen Mingyu and Chen Xiao exchanged a glance, both seeing a resolute look in each other's eyes—these strange creatures were very likely the culprits who killed Chen Qing.

They want revenge for their family!

The battle broke out suddenly in the desolate countryside.

Meanwhile, the alarm about the appearance of the tentacle monsters had been relayed back to the Luo City command center.

"A large number of tentacle-like Warcraft have been discovered three kilometers outside the protective wall of the West Third District and are attacking the investigation team! Requesting immediate support!"

"Warcraft dares to attack openly in the sunlight... its infiltration has already reached the edge of the city?"

"Their strength is growing, and they are no longer limited to nighttime raids!"

The Luo City commander realized the situation was dire.

He slammed his fist on the control panel: "Dispatch the emergency response team immediately!"

Then he muttered, "Damn aliens, I hate aliens!"

Clearly, he knew a little bit of the inside story.

"Aliens? What aliens? Could it be the legendary the Three-Body Problem?" a subordinate who loved science fiction blurted out instinctively.

"Shut up and get back to your work!" the commander snapped angrily.

Everyone immediately fell silent, trembling with fear.

In fact, several days ago, missing persons cases began to appear in the surrounding areas of the city.

Due to the remote location of the incident, the initial investigation failed to make substantial progress.

No one expected that in just a few days, the threat would spread to the outer perimeter of the protective array.

This is undoubtedly a major blunder in the defense system.

The crisis is not limited to Luo City.

At the same time, alarms sounded in cities around the world— Warcraft attacks had occurred outside the Safe Zone.

In this situation, apart from the core area which is stably protected by the formation, all other areas have been officially designated as high-risk locations by the authorities, and players are strictly prohibited from setting foot in them without authorization.

The warning immediately triggered panic, which spread rapidly among the people like ink dripping into clear water.

"I heard people have been murdered in the city... Is the urban area no longer safe?"

"Our city's guild safe zones are already full."

"Damn it, what will happen to the farmland outside? What will happen to our food?"

"Yeah, we should have listened to advice and moved to Harvest City. At least there's a base and Protection area for our guild there."

Is it too late to move now?

"Now you want to move? Moving to another city is practically suicide."

"Unless you can hire an elite squad of players to escort you the whole way—but these days, leaving the Safe Zone without a fixed team is practically impossible."

"We didn't apply for resettlement housing because we thought the official Safe Zone was too crowded and our homes were close enough to the shelter... Now all the spots are filled, what should we do?"

"The official Safe Zone is already operating beyond its capacity."

"Perhaps we could try applying for shelter from other guilds; some guilds might have vacant safe houses in certain cities."

"Dream on. Why should anyone accept you?"

"The official acceptance threshold is already the lowest standard. Without special skills or combat contributions, which guild would be willing to support an idle person?"

"Perhaps there's another way: try applying for a bodyguard position with a wealthy man's private army."

"I've heard that some conglomerates possess private Protective Formation, allowing them to live in villas instead of the city center."

"Those kinds of opportunities are only for the strong; weak players with families are simply not even considered."

"Moreover, they typically only recruit elites with military experience, who meet physical fitness standards, and have clean backgrounds; the entry requirements are even higher than those for guilds."

"Are we facing a dead end? Is there any way we can get out of the country?"

"Go abroad? The situation in other countries is even more dire than in Dragon Han."

"The situation is even worse in the neighboring Stone Kingdom."

"It is said that there are fixed groups of Warcraft roaming outside each city, and residents dare not even step out of the protective array, making the living environment extremely harsh."

"It's still in the early stages, and we have enough food. But when we run out of food, things will be much worse!"

"It's not like there aren't players from those factions in the God's Domain Game; you can just ask around and find out."

"Now they wish they could stay in the God's Domain forever; the real world is nothing but overcrowding and danger."

The players were all filled with worry.

"Actually, there's more bad news... the nutrient solution production capacity can't keep up."

"The inventory keeps running out, haven't you noticed that prices have increased several times over?"

"We noticed it a long time ago, but what can we do? Now even purchases are being limited."

"The end of the world... this is the real end of the world."

"We won't die at the hands of Warcraft, but we'll starve to death..."

Players on the forum kept posting disturbing messages.

Official attempts to reassure the public have had little effect – nutrient solution reserves are running low.

Almost the entire human population of the planet has devoted themselves to the God's Domain, which has led to a surge in the demand for nutrient solutions.

At the same time, the invasion of Warcraft is constantly shrinking the living space of mankind and seriously affecting the production scale of nutrient solution.

The main issue is the decline in grain production.

Nutrient solutions ultimately require organic matter, and the large-scale supply of organic matter still relies on farmland.

Although some industrialized hydroponics has emerged, it is small in scale, consumes a lot of electricity, and is costly.

Agriculture is inherently low-profit, so industrialized agriculture makes it even less profitable.

Compared to relying on free solar energy and rainwater, the cost of producing organic matter through industrialization is not going to be reduced.

Unless the legendary nuclear fusion technology is put into commercial use.

Today, all parties are striving to find ways to increase production and explore the possibility of developing new alternatives.

At the same time.

Inside Ling City, Zheng Yingjie was telling his father, Zheng Guohua, about the family's predicament. "Dad, we're running low on our nutrient solution; we need to find a way to restock."

"In addition, we need to find ways to stock up on food in advance, just in case."

The shortage of nutrient solution is indeed worrying.

The family's livelihood is not in immediate danger—as core members of the guild, they regularly receive nutrient solutions from the guild as a benefit, which is barely enough for the whole family.

However, for the long term, it's always wise to have more reserves.

Zheng Guohua had already placed orders with both official and underground private channels, but neither side could supply large quantities of goods.

Moreover, transportation is also a problem; even if there are goods, they cannot be transported.

He could only offer words of comfort, "I'll continue to pull strings to get it done."

"Right now, our family's energy levels are just right."

He then typed on his phone. "By the way, Lao Jiang, your guild should also distribute nutrient solutions, right?"

Jiang Donglai replied, "They're issuing rations, but only the minimum standard. They can't sustain long periods of time lying in the game pods."

"I heard that the authorities are researching something that can replace nutrient solution; hopefully, there will be progress."

He paused, then suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "But I've noticed that you cook quite often at your house, yet I rarely see you sit down to eat."

The Zheng Guohua family had long since stopped employing servants.

Nowadays, most gamers rely on games for survival and don't need much care in real life.

Because Jiang Donglai lived nearby, he often caught glimpses of Zheng Yingjie busy in the kitchen, but he never witnessed the family eating together at the same table.

Zheng Yingjie has no problem cooking everyday dishes.

Since the shortage of nutrient solution, urban Safe Zone have been overcrowded with residents, and natural foods such as vegetables and meat have become less popular due to their impracticality, short energy supply time, high price, and high production cost.

Most people are unwilling to spend money to indulge in food, and are also afraid of delaying their leveling progress in the game.

However, there was one exception.

Since learning of that person's identity, the Zheng family noticed that he would occasionally hire a chef to prepare meals at his home—clearly, he preferred the original flavor of food to monotonous nutrient solutions.

However, with most residents moving into Safe Zone, food delivery services have long since ceased.

Families still residing in the Little Shirt District are all capable of exchanging for defensive formations on their own.

These high-end Safe Zone exist in every city and are designed specifically for advanced players.

Little Shirt District is one of the areas in Ling City.

Almost every household has a defensive magic array, and even the gardens of villas have been turned into vegetable plots; if you want to eat fresh vegetables, you have to find Human Stock yourself.

So every time Zheng Yingjie cooked a meal, he would have Zheng Yingcai secretly deliver it to the door of that villa.

To avoid attracting wasp Warcraft, I only dared to place it lightly outside the gate.

After several attempts, it was confirmed that the food had indeed been taken away.

The family thought this method might work, so they kept expressing their feelings silently, but unexpectedly, Jiang Donglai noticed it by chance.

"Haha, young people just love to try new things. I'm not used to those kinds of foods."

"They probably ate it in secret; as long as it doesn't affect their combat strength," Zheng Guohua said with a smile, giving a vague answer.

Zhang Mingzhen did indeed accept the food.

Why not eat something that's free?

As for owing favors, that's impossible.

He has already saved the other family.

Moreover, drinking nutritional drinks all the time is really bland, so occasionally changing the flavor can satisfy the cravings of the palate.

He doesn't lack nutrient solution—the official team even trades supplies with him regularly in the game, and when he leads a team, other guilds often include a few boxes when paying him Gold Coin.

"Are they worried I'll starve to death someday?"

Looking at the ample supply of nutrient solution beside him, and thinking of the meals delivered by the neighbor, Zhang Mingzhen, though indifferent to personal favors...

However, it was decided to exchange them for an equal amount of nutrient solution.

In this way, neither party owes the other anything.

"Dad, I told you long ago not to live so close to them; you can't keep any secrets."

"Why do they keep watching us cook?"

The Zheng family members gathered in Zheng Guohua's room and discussed in hushed tones. Zheng Yingcai was still resentful that Jiang Donglai through him.

"You think we can acquire the defensive array by our own family alone?"

"They provided equipment and medicine back then, otherwise we would have moved to the Safe Zone in the city center long ago."

Zheng Guohua waved his hand, "Don't worry, Lao Jiang isn't the type to pry."

"But this isn't a long-term solution. Maybe next time we encounter an operation to exterminate dragon beasts, we should replace their protective array. Living so close together, there's no privacy at all... Good heavens, what's that outside the window!"

Zheng Yingcai suddenly pointed out the glass.

There was a giant bee-like creature there.

It is as tall as a person.

This is Zhang Mingzhen's pet Sting Bee Queen.

It was flapping its wings, slowly rising to the height of the third floor of the villa, hovering just outside their room's window, its compound eyes staring straight in.

There seemed to be something at its feet, which it was clearly trying to bring into the window.

"That thing... looks like the swarm of wasps at the villa next door, only much bigger."

"Should we open the window and take a look? The system says this is Silver Tier leader." Zheng Yingcai hesitated.

"Should we just stay in this stalemate? Or should we drive it away?"

"We can't send it away!" Zheng Guohua immediately refused. "If it really wants to come in, none of us can stop it."

"Since it didn't attack immediately, it means it wasn't hostile—it's no longer considered a wild monster and won't attack people on its own initiative."

"Don't worry, I don't think the villa across the street will hurt us. Maybe something's wrong," Zheng Yingjie said, opening the window.

As they got closer, the queen bee's figure appeared even more terrifying.

Sure enough, they saw the Sting Bee Queen throw a cloth bag she was holding in her forelegs at Zheng Yingjie, and then flap her wings and fly towards the villa.

The three of them breathed a long sigh of relief only after it disappeared from sight.

Unwrapping the cloth bag revealed more than twenty bottles of nutrient solution neatly stacked inside, enough to sustain the three of them for nearly a month.

"Dad, do you think this means he acknowledges us?" Zheng Yingcai's voice trembled with excitement as he stared at the nutritional supplements.

The nutrients themselves weren't that important; the key was what it would mean if word got out—they were living next to a big shot like "Chongxing" and exchanging supplies with each other; it was like a dream!

Although everyone calls each other Cheater in the game, in real-life post-apocalyptic world, having a Cheater by your side would be incredibly safe!

"Yingjie, continue to send the meals as usual. Try to hone your cooking skills when you have time, and make more meat dishes! Should we raise some poultry like chickens and ducks? The menu shouldn't be too monotonous either," Zheng Guohua said excitedly.

Zheng Yingjie listened with a sense of helplessness.

He's not a professional cook, why bother learning so many fancy techniques? He's already too busy with things in the game, where would he find the energy to raise livestock?

"I'll do it," said Chen Suxin, the mother, taking over. "I'm not like you guys who can fight in games."

"No, I'll take it. After all, it's still a bit dangerous outside." Seeing how excited his father and younger brother were, Zheng Yingjie had no choice but to agree.

Being a chef isn't so bad.

Moreover, being able to cook for that gentleman would open up even more possibilities.