The magnificent Fresh Food City had nine floors in total.
In Magic City, where buildings stood in dense ranks, that was not particularly tall, but its footprint was fairly large.
The first floor was a dining hall, while the other eight consisted entirely of private rooms, each floor corresponding to a different cuisine.
The eight great cuisines each had their own floor. Of course, in the first-floor dining hall, you could order dishes from any cuisine.
Although dining here was expensive, there were still plenty of customers, especially in the first-floor hall.
The service charge was cheapest here, and Lu Wu had likewise chosen the first-floor hall.
"Hey, beautiful, I have a private room upstairs. Want to come sit with me?"
While Lu Wu was looking at the menu, a very jarring voice rang out.
Although this was a dining hall, its layout was still very elegant. Each table essentially had a sizable area to itself, partitioned off by screens over a meter high, making it quite comfortable.
Unless people knew each other, they could barely make out conversations between the different sections.
Frowning slightly, Lu Wu looked up at the speaker and discovered there was more than one person.
The two men wore suits and polished shoes and looked to be in their thirties. One was fat, the other thin. They seemed like successful professionals, and both appeared somewhat drunk.
Although he was not yet officially a mage, awakening his magic element had already brought him across the threshold.
A mage's body was far stronger than an ordinary person's, whether in strength, senses, or reflexes.
Lu Wu could tell at a glance that these two looked drunk but were actually perfectly sober. Apparently, they were a pair of cowards pretending to be drunk.
"Get lost. Don't make me say it twice," Lu Wu snapped. "You pair of scumbags."
Mu Nujiao had remained calm throughout. She was beside Lu Wu, with one empty seat between them, but she did not seem surprised at all by his reaction.
Nor did she show any intention of stopping him.
After spending two years together, they understood each other to some extent.
"Hey, kid, you bring a beautiful girl out to eat and leave her sitting here in the draft, with all this noise, and now you're being so rude?" the slightly fatter man complained.
"I don't need to be polite to you." Lu Wu was not afraid. He simply picked up the sturdiest drinking glass on the table.
"So young, and already you don't know what's good for you. Looks like I need to teach you a lesson on your elders' behalf." The thin man's feigned drunken expression began turning angry.
He reached out, intending to push Lu Wu, who had stood up, back into his seat, only for a sharp pain to shoot through his arm.
"Ah! Hiss!"
Pain seared through the thin man's arm. Although he had been about to teach someone a lesson, his eyes had still been on the girl in the white dress.
Who could have expected such an intense pain in his arm?
"You're fucking asking to die!!!"
Only after the thin man screamed in pain did both men truly turn their attention to Lu Wu, and the fat man roared.
They had thought these were merely two teenage students who would be too frightened by their words to speak.
Who could have expected that seemingly mild-mannered brat to be so reckless and actually strike!
"Gentlemen, this is the dining hall. No fighting here. You mustn't disturb the other customers." Several security guards had already arrived beside them and pulled the two men away.
It seemed they had noticed what was happening earlier.
The two men had not expected to be pulled away before they could even throw a punch. Seeing the several security guards, they roared, "That brat was the one who hit someone! Why are you grabbing us?"
"Everyone who comes here is a guest. These seats belong to these two guests," the leader of the three security guards said. "If this were at your table, we would be pulling them away."
"We're spending far more in our private room than they are out here," the thin man said, thoroughly displeased.
But he knew very well that the families controlling the businesses here were not people he could afford to offend, so he could only use his spending as a private-room customer as leverage.
"These are Fresh Food City's rules."
"Fine. If we're in our private room, then whatever we want to do is none of your business, right?"
"Our staff cannot enter a private room without permission. Even when serving food, we ask first." The security guard was very polite, but still blocked the two men.
Lu Wu had not spoken at all. Fresh Food City did indeed have its own rules.
This was not his first fight in Magic City, but many shopping complexes did indeed have security guards.
The more upscale the shopping complex, the stricter its security, with even mages stationed out of sight.
"Kid, third floor, room 108. Come up if you've got the guts. If you don't, you'd better never run into us outside for the rest of your life." Knowing they could do nothing with the shopping complex's security guards present, the fat man issued a threat.
Worried Lu Wu would not dare come up, the two exchanged a glance. The thin man dropped his act outright and stared straight at Mu Nujiao. "A cheap bitch like you isn't even fit to carry my shoes. It's your honor that I want to play with you."
"I'll come find you in a bit." Lu Wu laughed in sheer anger.
The Mage Convention did indeed state that ordinary people were forbidden from attacking ordinary people, but he was not a mage yet!
As he spoke, Lu Wu raised the glass in his hand, preparing to hurl it at them. Seeing this, the two immediately fled.
They knew they had angered this greenhorn.
Once the two left, the security guards also departed. The pair's final words had soured Mu Nujiao's previously calm expression.
"What a shame. I thought after the fight, you'd take me back to the school infirmary for treatment like last time." Seeing Mu Nujiao's dark expression, Lu Wu knew she was truly angry.
"Are you really going up there later?" Mu Nujiao asked.
Had she not known perfectly well that she could not beat them, she would have already taught those two men a lesson.
Although this was not the first time someone had hit on her, it still made her angry.
"Of course." Lu Wu nodded and smiled at Mu Nujiao. "They went to such lengths to provoke me. They succeeded."
"Be careful, then. Don't get beaten to death." Mu Nujiao sat back down. "Let's order."
"Okay." Lu Wu nodded, set down his glass, and summoned a server. "Hello, we'd like to order."
"Hello, sir. What would you like?"
"One serving of Azure Wind Python gallbladder sashimi. The whole portion, please. Don't cut it open or damage it." Lu Wu did not consult Mu Nujiao. This meal was no longer just an ordinary meal.
"A whole portion is very large. It takes ten people to finish one," the server reminded him.
"One whole portion," Lu Wu said evenly. "Just that dish for now."
A whole portion was normally ordered by a group. One large portion cost seven thousand five hundred, emptying all his savings at once.
The reason Lu Wu wanted a whole portion was to ensure the Azure Wind Python's gallbladder remained undamaged.
Although sacrificing it would yield a random reward, whatever he received could make him stronger.
Whether he awakened another magic element or strengthened his stars again, his body would also be strengthened.
If he was lucky, having his shadow turn into a demon would be even better!
"..." Seeing that Lu Wu had ordered without asking her, Mu Nujiao knew he was probably thinking about what had just happened.
"Why don't I call my older brother over?" Mu Nujiao said as she watched the server leave.
"No need. I'll make them pay."
"But I don't want you to end up like last time, teaching someone else a lesson only to get hurt even worse yourself."
Mu Nujiao had never asked Lu Wu why he had ordered that dish, but she knew he had not originally planned to do so.
It was only after those two fellows came over that Lu Wu made this choice.
"Wouldn't that be perfect? I could go back and stay at school a little longer..."