Plain, Simple Ramen

Zhao Bai quietly warned her, but Kiana struggled with all her strength as if she had not heard him.

Her hearing, like her vision, had failed and needed time to recover. But Kiana was far too strong; Zhao Bai felt as though his ribs were about to break. He turned to the pale-faced girl and recalled every weapon except Judas into subspace.

"Now, who is blind and foolish?"

Zhao Bai stroked the cross and silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since earlier, he had been dancing on the edge of a blade. If this girl born from the flower had merely tried to attack, Zhao Bai's lie would have been exposed at once. But now, the most dangerous moment had passed. All that remained was the harvest.

"Reveal your true form."

Zhao Bai declared, "You are not a Herrscher. You cannot possibly maintain a human appearance. The human growing from that flower is merely an organ; your true body is hidden here. I am a merciful man, so I will give you a choice."

"Will you die while maintaining this appearance, or reveal your true form and fight with everything you have? Perhaps you might even manage to escape."

Zhao Bai's rhetoric was flawless.

If this creature had continued to maintain its human form, he truly would not have had much of a way to deal with it. But if it revealed its inhuman true form—no matter what it was, as long as it was not human, it was an ingredient in Zhao Bai's eyes.

When that time came, the thirteen spears would end its misbegotten life.

The girl clutched her cheeks, her face drained of color. "Impossible! With so many powerful weapons, just who are you?"

"Just a passing chef."

The instant his words fell, the entire greenhouse began to tremble.

Every vine writhed wildly. The beautiful girl gradually melted away and vanished completely into the flower's pistil. At the same time, the enormous flower slowly rose. The vines that had originally wrapped around all of Senba Academy contracted and gathered beneath the flower, forming a massive body.

It was both animal and plant, yet neither of the two.

Four pillar-like legs swung as the giant beast fled madly. Yet that swift figure looked entirely different in Zhao Bai's eyes.

Four legs, a long neck, and roses covering its body like a shell.

Isn't that just an old turtle?!

Since it did not look human in the slightest, it was an ingredient.

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Chapter 10: Plain, Simple Ramen

Zhao Bai's expression suddenly changed.

The spears silently slid down, each wrapped in chains. That was their innate ability: once thrown, they pursued and locked onto their target. The chains would bind the prey layer by layer, turning them into lambs awaiting slaughter.

"A green turtle with flowers on its back. I know what you are now—you're an ingredient."

Zhao Bai muttered to himself as he pulled out a spear. "Judas is a good thing. The rack is a weapon storage bag, and these thirteen chained spears were practically born to be harpoons. Whenever I hunted deep-sea fish, I always liked using them."

"Now, die."

Zhao Bai's voice was utterly emotionless. His arm carved a powerful arc through the air as the spear shot forth.

The fleeing monster sensed that it had been locked onto. Seeming to realize that escape was hopeless, its massive body suddenly turned. It bared its fangs at Zhao Bai—not to flee, but to rush toward him at high speed.