Meeting Someone Extraordinary

Although Lin Ran was underage, the restaurant still hired him. With how tall he was, outsiders would think he was an adult anyway.

Lin Ran was indeed troubled by his age. At his age, he could not work a proper job and could only take part-time work, otherwise it would be troublesome.

After working at this Chinese restaurant for a week, Lin Ran finally understood what exhaustion was. The customers had been relatively manageable for the first few days, but after they tasted his cooking, they started coming more often and even brought relatives and friends along to try it.

The Boss was overjoyed, smiling so much every day that he could not close his mouth. But Lin Ran became the most exhausted person there, working nearly from morning until night every day. After returning to the dormitory arranged by the Boss at night, he would wash up briefly and go straight to sleep. His days were truly fulfilling.

A week later, Lin Ran decisively quit. This was not making money—he was helping the Boss make money while working himself to the bone.

But the Boss refused to let Lin Ran leave no matter what. After finally getting his hands on such a superb chef, how could he possibly let him go?

Lin Ran understood the Boss's feelings, but the Boss had been quite generous before, paying him more than other restaurants did. Now, however, he was only willing to offer him a little more, and Lin Ran definitely was not having it.

Eventually, Lin Ran noticed that the Boss's mood and expression had changed. If this continued, things would definitely end badly.

As it turned out, the Boss of this restaurant was not from Huaxia. He had gone to Huaxia to learn the craft, but unfortunately, he had failed to grasp the essence of Huaxia cuisine. As a result, after returning to Japan, his restaurant had remained unremarkable and had barely managed to break even.

It was only after Lin Ran appeared that he realized what the true essence was. So not only did he want Lin Ran to stay and cook, he also wanted Lin Ran to teach him his skills.

In the Boss's eyes, someone who was not studying at that age surely did not have much money or anyone to rely on. He wanted to tie Lin Ran down here for good and have him make money for him.

Unfortunately, although the Boss had calculated things perfectly, he had failed to consider the person involved. Lin Ran grabbed his belongings and left directly with a Time Flash.

"Boss, that kid ran away! He's gone!" Several burly men rushed into the restaurant, which was already getting ready to close for the day.

The Boss's expression changed after hearing that. "That's impossible, isn't it? The three of you couldn't keep watch over one brat? Part of his money is still being held by me. How could he possibly run away?"

"He really did run away. We're confused too. The fourth floor is so high—how did he get out?" one of the burly men said, unable to figure it out.

"This is troublesome. Hurry up and search the surrounding area. I was too impatient. If I'd known, I would've been gentler." The Boss was filled with regret afterward. How had he driven away such a god of wealth?

The burly men split up to search the area, but Lin Ran had already left and gone to work at another restaurant.

And so, over the next half month, Lin Ran worked briefly at one place after another, switching through quite a few restaurants. In the end, he arrived in Tokyo's central district. He planned to work for a few more days before heading back; he had been away for rather too long.

If he remembered correctly, those upperclassmen had come to this campus district for something, right? It seemed there was supposed to be some kind of exchange event between the two schools. But Nobara Kugisaki had not contacted him even now. Had something happened?

This time, Lin Ran did not work as the head chef. The troubles he had encountered before told him that being a head chef was simply not suitable right now. So he only worked as an ordinary waiter. It was part-time work anyway, and he could leave whenever he wanted.

That day, after Lin Ran served a customer their food and turned around, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He had seen someone extraordinary.

"Excuse me, are you alone?" the waitress standing at the entrance asked with a smile. Before her stood a long-haired man wearing earrings, with a row of what looked like stitching marks across his forehead.

"Yes." The man smiled faintly and walked inside.

Lin Ran clicked his tongue inwardly. How is he alone? There are clearly four of them.

"How could I run into these people in a place like this?" Lin Ran quickly circled around to the kitchen. None of these people were easy to deal with. He had to leave; this was not the time to come into direct contact with them.

The Long-haired Man took the lead in sitting down. Three Cursed Spirits were beside him, though ordinary people could not see them and could only see the Long-haired Man sitting alone.

After the four sat down, they began talking, while Lin Ran tried to figure out how to get away near the kitchen.

Although he could use Time Flash now, it required him to release cursed energy. The moment he used Time Flash, those four would definitely notice.

So, to be safe, it would be better to leave through the front door. With that in mind, Lin Ran prepared to leave.

"So, your leader wants to overturn the current positions of humans and curses. Is that it?" the long-haired man named Suguru Geto asked the Cursed Spirits across from him calmly.

"More or less, but it is still somewhat different. Humans are full of lies. Their outward emotions and actions always conceal hidden motives..." Jogo said. "But negative emotions, hatred, and killing intent are indisputable truths. We curses, born from them, are the pure and true humans. The fakes should disappear!"

Something resembling a volcano sat atop Jogo's head. As he spoke, red sparks and heat erupted from it.

Suguru Geto glanced at the volcano on his head, then closed his eyes and smiled. "Yet the ones being exterminated right now are you."

"That's why I came to ask you: what must we do to defeat the Jujutsu Sorcerers?" This was what Jogo cared about most.

Suguru Geto suddenly opened one eye and looked at Jogo. Slowly raising his hand, he held up two fingers. "Before the war begins, victory can be ensured as long as two conditions are met."

Jogo immediately asked, "What two conditions?"

"First, render the man known as the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, unable to fight. Second, bring Ryomen Sukuna and Yuji Itadori into our ranks."

"Uh... wait a moment. Wasn't that brat Yuji Itadori dead?" Jogo scratched his head. They had learned that news long ago.

"Well, who knows?" Suguru Geto revealed a mysterious smile.

After thinking for a moment, Jogo changed the subject. "Satoru Gojo... even if we work together, can't we kill him?"

Suguru Geto answered decisively. "He would escape. Worse still, all of you might be exorcised by him. Rather than 'killing' him, I suggest you find a way to 'seal' him."

"Seal him? With what?" Jogo asked with a frown.

"The Special Grade Cursed Object, the Prison Realm."

"The... Prison Realm!"

Jogo's expression changed, and the volcano on his head continuously emitted hot vapor, as if he had heard something terrifying.

"Lin Ran, where are you going?" The bearded Shopkeeper spotted Lin Ran acting suspiciously, not at all like he was working. "There's only one person at table five, and they still haven't ordered. Go see what's going on."

"Me?" Lin Ran had been about to leave, but of all times, the Shopkeeper had to come over now. Wasn't table five Suguru Geto's table?

"What, is there a problem? If you won't go, I'll send someone else." The Shopkeeper looked toward another waiter. "You, come here."