Can They Even Fight Over a Meal?

Seeing even Noelle, the aristocratic young lady who had seen it all, eating so happily, everyone immediately began looking forward to Carl's cooking.

Almost everyone was scrambling for food, and they drank even more fiercely, their glasses clinking constantly.

But at that moment, Charmy and Noelle's table manners were truly indescribable.

Vanessa, on the other hand, seemed somewhat quiet.

She continued drinking, looking at the egg fried rice before her and finding it pleasing to the eye, yet she showed no intention of touching it.

Seeing this, Charmy fell silent for a moment before lowering her head and continuing to gorge herself.

Asta beside her had practically shoved his entire head into his bowl.

Noelle felt a little annoyed, looked at Vanessa, and asked:

"Why aren't you eating, Vanessa?"

Vanessa let out a sigh.

Her appetite had long since been ruined by alcohol. She wasn't like Yami, who could somehow keep his appetite intact by extending his life in the bathroom.

Having drunk too much, she genuinely had little interest in ordinary food right then.

Or rather, even if it tasted exceptionally good, she simply couldn't eat much.

Seeing this, Carl fell into thought.

Vanessa was his biggest favorability customer.

If this ancestor wasn't around to rack up favorability points for him, how was he supposed to fulfill his dream of becoming the Wizard King anytime soon?

Carl immediately put on a thoughtful expression.

The next moment, he put the egg fried rice back into the pan.

Vanessa stared blankly at Carl's actions.

Seeing Vanessa's puzzled expression, Carl smiled.

"Why don't you give it a try?"

Vanessa truly had a favorable impression of Carl.

This man excelled in every respect, and he was now her captain. Whenever she thought of him, an inexplicable shyness always rose in Vanessa's heart. Moreover, as long as they were close enough, they could sense each other's thoughts.

Naturally, this was an extremely strange experience for Vanessa.

Seeing Carl's gaze, Vanessa found it unusually hard to refuse.

She then picked up a spoon and took a bite of the egg fried rice.

She had originally intended to offer Carl a few casual compliments, but the moment the rice entered her mouth, a rich fragrance completely filled her mouth.

But that wasn't the important part.

She only felt that with every bite, her appetite rose another level.

Such a thing was completely unheard of under normal circumstances.

After a while, she finally tasted the tiny bits of sour plum and minced meat mixed into the rice.

Vanessa was genuinely moved.

She immediately began frantically showering Carl with favorability points.

Noelle, Charmy, and the others, seeing Vanessa's reaction, immediately felt a sense of crisis. Everyone only had one plate of rice. If Vanessa kept eating like this, there probably wouldn't be enough for her alone.

As the saying went, three women made a show.

Right then, three women made their stomachs growl.

Their eating manners completely stunned everyone nearby.

"This is mine! Mine! Carl, can I have another bowl?"

"Carl, give some to me too! I'm hungry!"

"You're fighting over food too?"

"Three Strikes of the Silent Sheep!!" Charmy's eyes practically burst into flames.

"Do you want one strike, two strikes, or a tragedy?"

Watching the women fight and scramble, the people around them felt their hair stand on end.

Carl, on the other hand, kept smiling at the side, taking a drink from time to time.

Of course, Asta and Yami beside him didn't dare challenge Carl at all.

They had already learned their lesson. Outdrinking Carl was simply impossible.

This guy was practically a wine vat reincarnated. He simply couldn't get drunk.

Meanwhile, Carl listened to the constant system notifications in his mind announcing increased favorability, feeling utterly delighted.

In an instant, he smiled.

He had finally gathered enough.

He had never expected that in such a short time, he would gather enough favorability for the third gate of the Eight Gates—the Gate of Life.

It was a threshold of more than a thousand favorability points.

Carl had originally thought it would take a long time, but these people before him had taken turns frantically farming favorability points.

Carl smiled and spoke in his mind.

"Eight Gates, Third Gate—the Gate of Life, open!"

As his aura erupted, endless magic power gathered from the surroundings.

Yami was the first to react.

The next moment, Dark Magic trembled, and the main gate of the Black Bulls was actually severed by a single slash.

The outside air connected with the Black Bulls' base.

The magic power throughout the surrounding forest seemed to have been stirred, constantly gathering toward Carl.

Around Carl, dense green life magic power formed a whirlpool like an ocean, pouring wildly into him.

Feeling his physical attributes soar at an incredible speed, Carl revealed a trace of joy.

Host: Carl Locke

Luck Level: SSS (top-tier child of fortune)

Charm Level: SS (Yan Zu + Eddie Peng)

Vitality Level: B+

Magic Power Level: C (Magic Stone bonus)

Magic Attributes: Purple, all attributes MAX; Gold (Dark Magic, World Tree Magic, Gluttony Magic)

Eight Gates Progress: Fourth Gate of Pain (Completion Progress: 1%)

Current Skills: Purple, Common (Dragon Fist, Dragon Claw, Divine Dragon Tail!) Gold, Legendary (Morning Peacock)

Bonded Close Friends: Charlotte x2, Vanessa x5 (becoming bonded close friends can multiply favorability gains)

Special: 3,000 Gold Vitality Points

Long-Term Tasks Activated:

Task 1: Hundred-Victory Wizard King!

Use my strengths to attack your weaknesses. Defeat opponents with special magic talents in any field to obtain Gold Legendary magic attributes. (Repeated victories can improve quality)

Task 2: Redemption of Good and Evil!

Purify the souls of Elves or demons to obtain Imperial Arms Armor: Unmatched components (0/7).

Binding a single Imperial Arms Armor component can increase a selected ability by 200%, with no upper limit to stacking.

Task 3: Master of Nero!

Absorb the energy within Magic Stone Fragments to obtain special skills (Purple) or Eight Gates exclusive skills (Gold)!

Absorb magic power from Magic Stones of every attribute to become the Master of Nero.

Task 4: Time-Space Summoning of the Wizard King!

Consume Eight Gates vitality to summon the Eleventh Wizard King, Wizard King Princia, from a time-space node to fight! (First summon: 10,000 Gold Vitality Points)

Task 6: Vanessa's Red Thread of Fate

Help Vanessa activate Fate Magic. Reward: 3,000 Gold Vitality Points.

Task 7: Noelle's Three-Stage Valkyrie Form!

Defense, attack, ultimate transformation; help Noelle complete her transformation to receive the reward: Loyal Water Spirit!

He was another step closer to becoming the Wizard King.

And this was not the end.

The most important reason he had agreed to become captain alongside Noelle and Vanessa and take part in that mission was the information mentioning the lingering souls of elves.

Among the core tasks attached to his Favorability Point System and the Eight Gates, what he coveted most was undoubtedly the so-called "Imperial Arms Armor."

To obtain components of the Imperial Arms Armor, the most important prerequisite was evolving the souls of Elves and demons, thereby receiving Imperial Arms Armor fragment rewards.

If he could complete that step, wouldn't he possess a truly suitable piece of equipment?

That was his true goal.

At present, his strength had already risen to the level of the Eight Gates' Third Gate, the Gate of Life.

Given the density of magic power in this world and the degree of improvement to his physical attributes, he could now barely use the Eight Gates' exclusive skill—Morning Peacock.

And aside from Morning Peacock, the Third Gate, the Gate of Life, itself possessed powerful sustaining capabilities.

Furthermore, if he could obtain Imperial Arms Armor components in the future, his strength would undergo exponential growth.

As his strength increased, he would be able to participate in more and more matters, and naturally obtain more benefits.

His dream of becoming the Wizard King, wielding power, surrounded by beauties, and ruling the world was practically within reach.

Carl was incredibly excited.

The people around the table all stared at Carl as though he were a monster.

Even Noelle, whose total magic power was terrifyingly immense, stared blankly at him and said:

"This... how is this possible? This guy... did he break through?"

"But with such dense magic power fluctuations, how did he do it?"

As her words fell, the Grimoire beside Carl automatically floated up. That Grimoire had only a cover, but the Four-leaf Clover upon it was incomparably dazzling.

The Grimoire flew up and settled above his head.

An enormous amount of magic power surged wildly into the Grimoire's cover, as if it were being completely sealed within.

Carl let out a breath, feeling every bone and tendon in his body ring in unison.

An indescribable soreness and exhilaration swept through his entire body.

He had a powerful feeling at that moment. He truly had the confidence to punch several bulls to death with a single fist.

This feeling was simply amazing.

Farming favorability points was indeed worth going all out for.

This meal had been an absolute jackpot.

The way Yami looked at Carl completely changed as well.

Of all the geniuses he had ever seen, Carl was definitely the most outrageous.

In such a short time, his strength had improved more than once.

Asta fell completely silent at the side.

He had originally believed that the gap between himself and Carl could be closed little by little through hard work.

But now, Carl had actually broken through right in front of him.

This truly exceeded his imagination.

Carl seemed to have experienced something similar when they were drinking earlier.

Comparing people only brought death; comparing goods only made one throw them away.

Asta's sense of crisis was now completely maxed out.

They had clearly joined the squad together, yet Carl had thrown everyone far behind him like this. Had he considered how everyone else felt at all?!

Asta frantically reflected on himself.

But no matter what, even if he couldn't surpass Carl, he had to defeat Yuno and become the second candidate for Wizard King!

Asta suddenly roared:

"I am the true Wizard King!"

The instant those words fell.

He suddenly sensed that the Sheep Head Chef behind him had red light glowing in her eyes.