Tomato sauce

The existence of the Great Purge both weeded out some of the people coasting along and unlocked others' potential, driving them to climb as hard as they could.

Even if they had still been slacking off the day before, once they learned about the Great Purge, they would force themselves to train and enter dungeons.

But judging by how things had gone when he questioned the players who knew the details earlier, newcomers probably had a hard time even learning that the Great Purge existed.

By the time they found out, they would already have missed their golden window for improvement.

With his questions answered, Zuo Cheng'an thanked Wang Guangfei and was just about to close the interface,

when he noticed more new friend requests.

He opened them and found, to his surprise, that they were from Zheng Ren and Li Yueqiu, the players he had met in the beginner dungeon Screaming Night.

As for the two older players, He Jinmei and Zhao Chengyuan, neither had sent him a friend request.

That made sense. They were from different age groups and had little in common to talk about.

He accepted the requests, and Li Yueqiu immediately sent him a greeting. Put into plain English, her messages amounted to-

Carry me, carry me, carry me, carry me...!

There was no activity from Zheng Ren, though. The system showed that he was in a dungeon.

Another dungeon already? Pretty hardworking.

The friend list let players see each other's current level.

For example, beneath Li Yueqiu's avatar were the words "Not Yet on the Ladder."

She had probably already seen the "First Heavenly Ladder" label beneath his avatar, which was why she had approached him to ask for a carry.

Thinking of Li Yueqiu reminded Zuo Cheng'an of her Double Kick skill.

Having cleared a beginner dungeon, she should at least have allocated enough points to raise her constitution to the skill's minimum requirement of 7.

The skill packed a punch, and she was stupid... innocent, kind, and obedient, making her easy to direct.

Being left on his own in the Farm's five-player dungeon had taught Zuo Cheng'an to be more cautious.

Fortunately, the Farm's mission had neither opposing factions nor any competitive elements.

The viewers in the scrolling comments had mentioned

that the NPCs in some dungeons loved dividing players into different teams and watching them kill one another.

A lone player who entered a dungeon like that would be the first target, focused down and eliminated before anyone else.

Zuo Cheng'an wasn't afraid of being targeted in dungeons with fewer than ten players, but what if he entered fifty-player or even hundred-player dungeons in the future?

If ninety-nine people belonged to the same guild and worked together as one, how was the remaining person supposed to play?

Even if he had godlike abilities and could take on a hundred opponents single-handedly,

he would still be done for if they refused to cooperate when teamwork was required.

So while he could do without joining a guild, he really couldn't enter dungeons without teammates on his side, even if they were only there to fill a slot.

Taking everything into account, Li Yueqiu was a good choice.

He knew her background, she could fight, and most importantly, she was kind and obedient.

As for any malicious intentions... Zuo Cheng'an thought of those clear eyes of hers, so stu-scratch that-innocent and unworldly.

She might have little selfish desires, as was human nature, but she would never do anything truly malicious.

With that in mind, Zuo Cheng'an agreed to take her along the next time he entered a dungeon.

Li Yueqiu assumed that by taking her into a dungeon, Zuo Cheng'an meant a relatively new level 1 dungeon.

Delighted, she showered him with flattery so extravagant that calling it flowery didn't do it justice-it was a whole rainbow.

Little did she know that Zuo Cheng'an meant taking her into a level 2 dungeon.

And one that had only opened a handful of times, with the highest returns, at that.

Li Yueqiu: danger!!

By the time he finished the private chat, Zuo Cheng'an had returned to his rented room.

Mo Dou eagerly tore open the packages of fodder and other vegetables, taking a bite of crisp radish, then a mouthful of fodder, and washing them down with water, thoroughly enjoying the meal.

Meanwhile, Zuo Cheng'an took an empty bowl, opened his Personal Panel, and tried using the ingredients to craft [Muchou Brand Tomato Sauce].

The panel said this tomato sauce was a popular, long-established Ladder City brand and a must-have gift.

Translated into terms players could understand, that meant it could be used to trade with NPCs.

As for eating it, he would have to make a batch first and see what effects it had.

The jar he had dug out of the Farm's warehouse had spoiled and lost its effects after sitting there too long, so it couldn't serve as a reference.

Following the recipe, Zuo Cheng'an put Fragrant Tomato ×1, white sugar ×1, Electro-Stinging Honey ×1... and the other ingredients together in order.

Sure enough, the game immediately brought up an option asking whether to begin crafting.

[Yes]

A golden light flashed, and the pile of ingredients before him turned into a puddle of orange-red tomato sauce.

Perhaps because of the honey, the Muchou brand's sauce was slightly paler than ordinary tomato sauce. It resembled sweet-and-sour sauce, but was a little redder.

-

[Muchou Brand Tomato Sauce]

[Category: food]

[Effect: restores injuries upon consumption. Can also be added when cooking to make healing dishes.]

[Restriction: a weakened body cannot handle excessive nourishment. Consume small amounts at frequent intervals.]

[Description: as long as tomato beef brisket lives, all other dishes will forever remain mere crown princes!]

-

Zuo Cheng'an scooped up a spoonful to taste it. The instant the sauce touched his tongue,

the rich flavor unique to tomatoes exploded across his taste buds, while the texture retained a cottony quality.

It was sour at first, but quickly turned sweet. Once he adjusted to it, the flavor remained a balanced blend of sweet and sour.

Even someone like him, who didn't normally like sweetness, found it agreeable.

It was no exaggeration to say that he could polish off two bowls of rice even if this sauce were served over shoe soles.

Paired with a little bread or added to a stir-fry by the spoonful, it could instantly take the flavor up a notch!

With this recipe, even if Zuo Cheng'an stopped entering dungeons, he could make a fortune setting up a street stall like the people selling jianbing.

Of course, that was out of the question.

More than its taste, Zuo Cheng'an valued the tomato sauce's healing effects.

If it was powerful enough to replace healing items, he could portion it out and use it as one.

Then he could set up a stall at the market selling sauce...

Wait, why did this always come back to running a stall!?

Zuo Cheng'an took out the Swift Rat Dagger and gave his arm a swift, vicious, precise slash.

The dagger was so sharp that he barely felt any pain as he cut.

Only after blood covered his arm, with the combined stimulation of sight and smell, did he belatedly register the burning pain of the wound.

In the real world, an injury like this would definitely require four or five stitches, but in the game...

Zuo Cheng'an decisively scooped up another heaping spoonful of tomato sauce.

He swallowed the sauce, and before the tomato flavor had even fully spread through his mouth,

the wound trickling blood down his arm had already scabbed over, and the burning pain had vanished.

By the time the sauce's flavor faded from his mouth, the scab on his arm had turned dark brown. Picking it off revealed fresh, tender white skin beneath.

And the blood that had dripped onto the table hadn't even fully clotted yet!!

"Good stuff! Seriously, seriously good stuff!"

Zuo Cheng'an instantly stared at the remaining half bowl of sauce as though it were a treasure!

The spoonful he had just eaten was roughly the same amount as a packet of ketchup that came with a burger.

And the sauce remaining in the bowl could fill seven, eight, nine... ten packets with plenty to spare.

The only drawback was that, compared with items from the real world, the department store's game-produced goods

were not only expensive, but also limited in quantity!

He had bought every jar of Electro-Stinging Honey on the shelves, yet it had only been enough to make one bowl of tomato sauce.

He did have two Fragrant Tomatoes left, though, and he had bought some meat too. Tonight would be the perfect time to try making some game-style tomato beef brisket.