They were restaurant staff. Once they finished speaking, some players sat down with practiced ease.
As soon as someone sat down, their number automatically appeared on the back of their chair. It didn't matter whether they'd been seen in the restaurant during the day; everyone had a number.
"You two sit down as well," Xu Huo said to Dai Song and Li Kun behind him. There were enough seats, and it was obvious that everyone had to sit. Only seat 115 remained empty.
All twenty-five players sat down, looking perfectly ordinary.
Seeing that everyone was cooperating, the woman standing at one end of the table curled her red lips into a smile and said in a soft, melodious voice, "Welcome to tonight's banquet. On behalf of Head Chef Mr. Feng, I'd like to extend my greetings to you all."
"I'll be tonight's server. You may call me Miss Mary."
As she spoke, she lightly tapped the table with one finger. Black ink slowly seeped across the red tablecloth, gradually forming words.
"Here are tonight's dishes."
"The first dish is an appetizer: intelligent frogs from C19 Wormhole Point, a species that evolves three times faster than humans and is both delicious and said to prolong life. We've selected the plumpest legs for cooking. They're tender and springy like cheese, with a sweet-and-sour aftertaste."
"The second dish is fish soup. The deep-sea fish used to make the broth are different species selected from among the top three ingredients on this year's list at C1 Wormhole Point. We remove the meat and heads, keeping only the bones, which are ground by hand into powder and simmered with the Bauhinia Restaurant's special secret seasoning. The soup is fragrant and smooth, and has beautifying properties."
"The third dish comes from our restaurant's regular menu. It's