Yan Hai's face darkened. He already knew how this would end, but he still stared at Hong in disbelief. "Why? For some little girl who's a High-Level War God, you're really going to turn on us—the veterans who came through the Great Nirvana?"
Hong hadn't even spoken when Thor scoffed. "Veterans? You? Yan Hai, you must've skipped your morning piss and missed the chance to take a good look at that old chrysanthemum face of yours!"
With that, he snapped his fingers. The giant screen in the War God Palace conference hall lit up with documents and videos, all submitted by the Inspectors of the Two Great Dojos. They showed Yan Hai and his cronies using their power and influence to commit all sorts of shameful acts over the years.
"Take a good look for yourself! You persecuted Martial Artists' families, embezzled funds meant for Base City construction, and, worst of all, enslaved your own kind! You're savage and brutal—what, are you trying to become tyrants? Huh?" Thor roared, his eyes bloodshot.
Hong sighed too, then lifted his head to gaze at the virtual starry sky above the War God Palace. "When I founded the War God Palace, it was to unite humanity and stand against the Monsters. I hoped that one day we could reclaim our ancestral lands. All these years, Thor and I have spent our time in seclusion, never daring to slack off for even a moment. We left the War God Palace in the hands of the three councilors and you council members, yet I still underestimated human nature."
His gaze turned sharp as a spear as he announced his decision. "From today onward, the Two Great Dojos will oversee the councilor and council member seats, and the Elite Guard will oversee the Two Great Dojos. If anything this inhuman happens again, you all should know how I, Hong, became the strongest person on Earth!"
He looked at Yan Hai, his eyes cold. "By my reckoning, the Monsters should be at your place by now. Whether you surrender or put up a last-ditch resistance is up to you. Understand this: I simply have no interest in power. But when necessary, I, Hong, won't hesitate to become the dictator who guides Earth!"
Yan Hai was about to say something when his virtual body suddenly flickered and vanished. The same happened to the other cronies shown in the files. Everyone still seated felt a storm of shock rise within them. The whole world was about to change!
Hong's expression gradually eased. "From today onward, you should all hold yourselves to a higher standard. The war between humanity and the Monsters is far from over. But the Cat Ear Restaurant has given us hope. It has plenty of food that accelerates cultivation, and the prices shouldn't be a problem for you. So don't even think about trying anything underhanded. This is humanity's hope for a resurgence!"
No outsiders knew what had happened in the War God Palace. The news only reported that a council member had turned against humanity and been killed on the spot by a powerful member of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall. It also announced an online address for reporting abuses to the Dojo, inviting anyone who had suffered mistreatment to come forward. The Dojo's vast inspection team would investigate every report.
In an instant, people who had suffered abuse began bringing their evidence to their local Extreme Martial Arts Halls. The leaders of the five great nations also cooperated enthusiastically. For a time, with the threat of Monsters set aside, human society on Earth found a brief period of peace.
Xue Xi had heard about it too. Martial Artists came in every day to chat about all sorts of things, and when she learned that Yan Hai, the man behind Li Yao, had been punished, she raised her little fist and said, "Serves you right! All you ever did was plot to steal my food. You're so old, yet you didn't want to pay for your meals and even wanted to kidnap The Chef. You acted like a little kid!"
Then she put it out of her mind. There were simply too many people! Ever since she rescued Little Wolf that day, she'd been running the restaurant nonstop for over half a month—without sleep, no less. After all, they were Martial Artists. Who cared whether it was day or night?
With a steady supply of Highland Barley Wine and Combat Meals, the authorities had even managed to reclaim the county and incorporate it into Jiangnan Base City. The area had become the most prosperous frontier county, thanks to the huge number of Martial Artists gathering there. Military medical and supply trains passed right through it, lending the place a vibrant air.
That day, Xue Xi announced she'd be taking a day off to restock her ingredients. The diners waiting in line understood and dispersed, returning to the rebuilt hotels and guesthouses nearby. As it happened, the old restaurant had also been rebuilt with help from a kindhearted national engineering team—this time, to Military Base standards.
For that, Xue Xi recruited a group of impoverished civilians to work as servers in the plaza of her restaurant, which had expanded countless times over. She still handled the kitchen herself, of course. But with her strength at the peak of the apprentice level, the workload was a piece of cake. Her powerful Spiritual Force even let her cook while surfing the internet with part of her attention, and she occasionally dropped into the War God Palace to relax.
She took off her apron and stepped out of the kitchen where she'd been cooped up for over half a month, then hurried to enjoy a fragrant bath. She felt as if the smell of food had seeped right into her. Lying comfortably in the tub, she looked at the 6,000 new progress points in her mind and wondered whether she should check out the new menu.
After mulling it over, she decided to save them for now. It was like drawing cards: single pulls left you forever alone, while a ten-pull brought two golds. She really coveted the effects of the dishes on those golden pages. So far, aside from Luo Feng, no one had gotten a Gene Multiplier boost from Braised Pork Knuckle, but Highland Barley Wine's powerful effects were plain for all to see.
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