Never Strike Out

A heavy fishy stench seeped into Liu Zheng's nostrils.

In his daze, he seemed to see a huge Salmon lunging at him.

Liu Zheng instinctively raised his tentacles to block it, only to find a harpoon in his hands somehow.

"Harpoon it."

A voice reminded him.

He took a deep breath and drove the harpoon toward the Salmon's head.

Grayish-white blood trickled out.

"Ah!"

The Salmon thrashed its tail in pain, letting out a baby's cry.

"Warning: Sanity decreasing."

Liu Zheng reached out to grab it, but caught only a clump of cat fur.

"Why are you grabbing me, meow?"

Calico Cat turned around, looking puzzled.

"Nothing."

He smiled and wiped his hand at the same time.

The system notification appeared again.

"Player has obtained the 'Never Strike Out' status, lasting for one instance."

"Never Strike Out: Greatly increases fishing success rate and improves resistance to sanity contamination from fish."

Well damn, fishing fanatics would be ecstatic.

Although he had lost some sanity, Liu Zheng felt it was worth it.

There might not be a chance to fish right now, but that did not mean there would not be one later.

Besides, plenty of takeout dishes included fish.

With this status, he would not have to worry about losing San again.

After washing several more baskets of vegetables, Liu Zheng was stopped by White-Feather Chicken.

"Come taste the food."

It scooped up a spoonful of soup and handed it to Liu Zheng.

The soup was faintly yellow and thick, with several thin black strands swimming through it, complete with heads and tails.

"My sense of taste is gone. My boss knows about it."

He hurriedly said.

"That is true."

Cow-Horse nodded.

"Stop pretending. Your sense of taste has already recovered."

White-Feather Chicken exposed his lie.

With his high constitution and Flesh Rebirth, Liu Zheng's sense of taste had recovered that morning.

"But I don't know how to judge food."

He tried to struggle one last time.

Even without a system notification, he could tell at a glance that this soup was no ordinary concoction.

"The customer is human, so I can't get a handle on it."

White-Feather Chicken said frankly.

"Then you could let—"

Liu Zheng looked around and found himself staring at a crowd of monsters.

"Ugh."

Resigned to his fate, he took the spoon and put it in his mouth.

"What does it taste like?"

White-Feather Chicken asked.

"Spicy."

Liu Zheng bared his teeth.

"Mm, what else?"

White-Feather Chicken took out a little notebook and wrote it down.

"Sour."

Drool flowed uncontrollably from his mouth, with Ra stretching it into a strand as it fell toward the floor.

"What else?"

"Numbing."

He spoke with a thick tongue, feeling his head buzz.

"What else?"

White-Feather Chicken continued pressing him.

"A little salty, and there's a fishy taste I can't describe."

"William, add two sprigs of rosemary and a small handful of bay leaves. Then toss in two Salt Leeches to soak up the salt. Three seconds will do."

White-Feather Chicken turned its head and shouted.

The duck named William made an OK gesture, took out two fat leech-like creatures from a culture dish beside him, and tossed them into the soup.

"Uh..."

The sight made Liu Zheng's eye twitch.

"How is it now?"

White-Feather Chicken asked again.

"No taste."

He smacked his lips, then his expression changed.

"I feel like something is crawling down my throat."

"That is normal. Don't panic."

As White-Feather Chicken spoke, it pulled out a gas mask.

"Then why are you wearing a gas mask?"

Liu Zheng narrowed his eyes.

"That is normal procedure too. Don't panic. Is everyone ready?"

White-Feather Chicken shouted.

"Ready!"

Responses rose one after another.

He looked around and saw that every Kitchen employee had put on a gas mask.

Except him and Cow-Horse.

"Alright, you can let it out."

White-Feather Chicken said.

"Let what out?"

The moment Liu Zheng asked, his stomach began making violent rumbling sounds.

His eyes flew wide open. His glutes clenched and released, and a blast of foul gas immediately erupted.

"Pfft-pfft-pfft! Pfft-pfft-pfft!"

The sound came in bursts like a heavy machine gun firing, puffing Liu Zheng's pants up.

A suffocating stench rapidly spread through the air, burning his eyes so badly that he could not open them.

"Turn on the ventilation! Full power!"

White-Feather Chicken ordered.

A Kitchen employee immediately turned on the ventilation system, and the roar of a huge motor filled the room.

It took a full half-minute before Liu Zheng finally stopped passing gas.

The instant he saw his pant legs deflate, he nearly burst into tears.

Luckily, none of these guys were human. Otherwise, he would never be able to face anyone again.

"My mistake. I forgot you aren't entirely human."

White-Feather Chicken removed its gas mask with a solemn expression.

"No, but won't the other customers have a problem with him eating this?"

Liu Zheng questioned.

"That is a VIP customer. He has his own private room."

White-Feather Chicken explained.

"Wouldn't he be miserable smelling it himself?"

"Who knows? I only cook. Customer experience is the Service Department's business."

White-Feather Chicken shrugged and walked away on its own.

Liu Zheng curled his lip and was about to continue washing vegetables when he saw Cow-Horse charging toward him with a vicious expression.

"Oh no!"

Liu Zheng shuddered in alarm.

Cow-Horse had not been wearing a gas mask just now.

He immediately threw down the vegetable basket and ducked to the other side of the counter.

"Come here. I promise I won't beat you to death."

Cow-Horse gripped the tabletop, panted heavily, and spoke.

There were still tear tracks at the corners of its eyes. It had clearly been choked badly by the stench too.

"You think I'm an idiot?"

Liu Zheng scoffed at its promise.

"Besides, it's not like I wanted to fart. Every debt has its debtor. Go find Napoleon."

"The fart came out of your asshole. If I don't come after you, who should I go after?"

Cow-Horse glared and spoke.

"You're the one who brought me into the Kitchen. If you hadn't brought me in, how would I have farted?"

He shot back.

"You little punk, I think you're asking for a beating."

Cow-Horse flew into a rage, took two steps back, and was about to leap over.

"Enough. Why are you arguing over a little fart?"

White-Feather Chicken came over to mediate.

"You've got some nerve saying that. Why didn't you give me a gas mask?"

Cow-Horse shifted targets.

"Why the hell should I give you one? We still haven't settled the score over that bottle of Vlad III."

White-Feather Chicken became furious, its comb turning blood-red.

"What, want to have another round?"

Its chicken claws scraped against the floor, gouging furrow-like marks into the stainless steel.

"Hey, that's all in the past. Why keep bringing it up?"

Cow-Horse said with an awkward grin.

"Hmph. Not fighting, right? Then get out there and receive the shipment."

"Smuggled goods?"

Cow-Horse frowned.

"That's right. I accepted the loss on the last shipment because it wasn't inspected properly. But after losing so many people, there's no way I can just keep quiet."

"Since you're not Kitchen staff, help me vent this anger."

White-Feather Chicken nodded heavily.

"Those people aren't easy to deal with. What's in it for me?"

Cow-Horse asked.

"The Vlad III matter is settled. As for your subordinate, I can give him a cup of Golden Mead."

White-Feather Chicken glanced at Liu Zheng and spoke.

"Feeling generous?"

Cow-Horse looked at Liu Zheng too.

"Are you going or not? Just so we're clear, if a real fight breaks out, I might not be able to look after you."

It said.

"What is Golden Mead?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"You've gone mad once already, right?"

White-Feather Chicken asked in return.

"Yes."

He answered frankly.

These days, being sick was nothing to be ashamed of. Being healthy was what made someone inhuman.

"If you go mad again, you'll probably hear the Gospel once more."

White-Feather Chicken said darkly.