Round God Sect

Somewhere in the unseen, Liu Zheng seemed to hear that endless chanting again.

"Golden Mead can help me?"

he asked.

"It can."

White-Feather Chicken said with certainty.

"Fine, I'll go."

Liu Zheng agreed.

He still had a long time to spend in this world. There would probably be more chances to use sick leave slips and lose sanity.

"You're too weak right now. Going out will only disgrace the people of the Restaurant."

White-Feather Chicken shook its head vigorously at him.

Then why are you telling me to go?

Liu Zheng curled his lip.

What choice did he have? He couldn't exactly make Novelist order takeout again.

White-Feather Chicken paced over to a separate knife rack and took down a Western chef's knife.

"Borrow this for now. I hope it will be full by the time it comes back."

It held the knife by the blade and placed the handle in Liu Zheng's hand.

Name: Gluttony

Type: Equipment

Quality: Perfect

Effect 1: Ingredients cut by this chef's knife will be restored to their optimal state (limited to Fine quality and below).

Effect 2: Enemies struck by this chef's knife will have a portion commensurate with its appetite devoured.

Effect 3: After the chef's knife is full, the player can transform into the "Gluttony Demon" for one minute.

Note: If it tastes good, eat more.

Can be taken out of the instance: Yes

Why did this knife look so familiar?

Liu Zheng looked thoughtfully at Cow-Horse's chest.

After it had returned from snatching the Vlad III Limited Edition last time, this seemed to be the knife stuck in its chest.

"What are you looking at? Keep staring and I'll smash your head in."

Cow-Horse raised a hoof threateningly.

"Tch."

It was fine with being stabbed, but not with him bringing it up.

"Salmon, you're coming too. You'll only be responsible for inspecting the ingredients. Let those two handle the negotiations and fighting."

White-Feather Chicken said to Calico Cat.

"Okay, meow."

Calico Cat jumped down from the stool and came over to them.

"I think it can fight better than I can."

Liu Zheng sighed.

"Paws that wash vegetables aren't for grabbing people."

White-Feather Chicken said coldly.

Though it was only a chicken, it displayed the bearing of an emperor at that moment.

The emperor of the Kitchen.

Liu Zheng could not help feeling a little impressed.

"Don't listen to it brag. These guys were all desperadoes back in the day. They've killed more people than you've delivered takeout orders."

Cow-Horse revealed the truth.

"You talk too much. Hurry up and pick up the goods."

White-Feather Chicken turned and left, tossing them a dashing silhouette.

"It's the biggest poser in the whole Restaurant."

Cow-Horse shook its head and led the man and cat toward the Kitchen's exit passage.

Unlike the absolute darkness of the takeout passage, the Kitchen passage was spacious and brightly lit, with marble tiles covering the floor.

Faintly, Liu Zheng could even smell incense.

"Boss, isn't the difference a little too extreme?"

He could not help complaining.

"What the hell do you know? They stink, so they need incense to cover it up. Their hearts are dark, so they long to stand in the light."

Cow-Horse replied in a tone like an aria.

Liu Zheng could not help looking at it in a new light.

This guy usually had nothing but crude words in its mouth. Who would have thought it could say something so philosophical?

"Wow, you've read Bai Langzi's poems too, meow."

Calico Cat cut in.

"Bai Langzi?"

That name sounded familiar too.

Oh, right. Wasn't he the author of that poetry manuscript Cow-Horse had given him?

Liu Zheng took out the Snakefolk Poetry Manuscript and, sure enough, found the two lines Cow-Horse had just quoted.

He looked at Cow-Horse with a strange expression, while the latter looked guilty.

"Move it, move it. Why are we talking poetry while working? So vulgar."

It swung its hooves and strode forward.

Liu Zheng and Calico Cat exchanged smiles and hurried after it.

Before long, they emerged from the passage.

By then, dusk had fallen outside.

The dark-red sun was on its last breath, while the blood-red moon watched hungrily.

In the shadows near a distant wall, several people in linen cloaks and iron masks stood silently.

Cow-Horse did not walk over directly. Instead, it drew a quarter-circle in the air.

An iron-masked person stepped out of the shadows and responded by drawing a quarter-circle as well.

"It's them. Let's go."

Cow-Horse said.

"Are you close with them?"

Liu Zheng asked curiously.

"Very close. They were the ones who sold me to the Restaurant in the first place."

Cow-Horse sneered.

Hearing that, Liu Zheng felt a faint doubt rise in his heart.

He remembered Cow-Horse saying that it and Oink had both come from a farm.

A farm sounded like a legitimate channel, clearly at odds with the image these people gave off.

Liu Zheng kept the question to himself, planning to ask when he had the chance later.

The two groups walked toward each other and met in the middle of the road.

For a smuggling operation, they were being rather open about it.

"These are this time's goods."

The leading iron-masked man pointed to a wooden crate beside him.

His accent was somewhat strange, carrying a trace of Latin inflection and a slight trill.

His mask was also different from the rest. A cross was painted on it, with a quarter-circle in each quadrant.

Liu Zheng secretly examined the other masked people. The most any of their masks had was two quarter-circles.

"Garcia, you've really made it. You're even a high priest now."

Cow-Horse's tone brimmed with mockery.

"Because I offered all pain to my lord."

Garcia said calmly.

"Other people's pain, right?"

Cow-Horse said coldly.

"One is all, and all is one. There is no difference between your pain and mine. When the appointed day arrives, we shall all become wax for my lord."

Garcia raised a hand and drew a quarter-circle over his iron mask.

"Holy is my lord."

"Holy is my lord."

All the iron-masked people chanted devoutly.

"Go burn yourselves. A false god that can't even bestow Gospel has no business pretending to be a savior."

Cow-Horse said without the slightest courtesy.

"Sigh."

Liu Zheng sighed and quietly tightened his grip on the chef's knife.

White-Feather Chicken had told them to pick a fight, but wasn't this escalating a little too quickly?

At least inspect the goods first.

But to Liu Zheng's surprise, even after being insulted to their faces like that, the iron-masked people showed no intention of falling out with them. They did not even argue back.

They merely watched Cow-Horse silently, like a row of statues.

"Pah. Hand over the goods."

After several minutes of standoff, Cow-Horse spat on the ground and said.

"Good."

Garcia made a gesture, and several iron-masked people carried the wooden crate before Cow-Horse.

Judging by their laborious steps and trembling bodies, the crate's contents were clearly extremely heavy.

"Thud!"

The iron-masked people released it, and the wooden crate crashed to the ground.

Even a block of granite of the same volume would not have made such a commotion when dropped.

Liu Zheng could not help growing curious.

"This is the manifest."

Garcia took out a sheet of paper and handed it to Cow-Horse.

"Show him."

Cow-Horse jerked its chin toward Liu Zheng.

Garcia said nothing and turned to offer it to Liu Zheng instead.

Then he stared hard at Liu Zheng for several moments.

"Sir, have you heard the Gospel of an evil god?"

"That's right."

Liu Zheng nodded.

It seemed Mr. Li had not handled things very cleanly either. Anyone could tell.

"Interesting, interesting."

A trace of excitement entered Garcia's voice.

"Could you spare a little time, sir? I would like to introduce you to our Heavenly Father and Savior."

"The great Round God."