[Welcome to Eastsea City. Eastsea City welcomes you.]
The speeding train gradually slowed along the tracks, coasting for quite some time before finally pulling into the terminal.
As soon as he stepped off, Zhou Yang could see Eastsea City's welcome signs towering on either side. He took a deep breath, and as the natural sea breeze brushed gently past, he could taste the sea's salty tang.
"Finally here."
Sitting on the train with nothing to do had bored Zhou Yang to tears. Now that he had gotten off, he was finally free.
He stretched to loosen his muscles and followed the crowd out of the station, drifting like duckweed on the wind.
He was in no hurry to head to his lodgings. After all, this was not his first visit to Eastsea City, though his previous visits had mostly been on business, leaving him little time to look around.
Having come on a whim this time, he planned to relax properly and reward himself after the harsh training that had nearly killed him.
As it happened, it was summer vacation as well as a holiday, and many parents were taking their children traveling. Eastsea City was a fine destination.
Naturally, corresponding businesses sprang up as well.
A food festival happened to be taking place here. Several streets were decked out in lights and decorations, with lanterns hanging along their entire length. Almost every kind of food stall was packed with customers, bustling with a particularly festive atmosphere.
The lively warmth of everyday life drifted out on a breeze through the city, mingling with the fragrance of food and making mouths water and appetites soar.
Zhou Yang did not stand on ceremony either. As a Soul Master, his appetite was naturally far greater than an ordinary person's.
Zhou Yang: "I won't hold back! Someone, bring me a bigger bowl!"
As he passed one shop after another, the things in Zhou Yang's hands gradually piled up. He ate as he walked, sampling a wide variety and soaking in the bustle of the moving crowd.
Finally, he stopped in front of a chicken cutlet shop.
He had quite a connection with this shop.
"Hao Dada chicken cut-let~ Hao Dada chicken cut-let~"
Only Zhou Yang could have thought up such a bizarre, maddeningly catchy mondegreen and brought it to the Douluo Continent.
Originally, it had merely been a food in one of Zhou Yang's fictional stories. But one day, on a whim, he had learned about the Douluo Continent's food culture from his grandmother, sparking an idea and prompting him to seize this business opportunity.
After all, the most unbearable part of Chinese class back in the day had been those inevitable essays about food, such as "Gaoyou Duck Eggs," "Village Opera," and "Lychees."
They practically made people die of craving.
Powerhouses like Mu Ye who studied food were still in the minority. More importantly, most of them studied rare soul beast ingredients.
The stronger the soul beast, the more its unique habitat honed the quality of its flesh. It could practically be said that the stronger it was, the tastier it became.
Compared with this sort of soul beast cuisine, perhaps because of a certain beetle Rider's influence, Zhou Yang actually preferred studying everyday dishes that even ordinary people could make. Food everyone could savor-that was what he wanted.
In this world geared toward combat, such things were still far too rare.
For that reason, recreations of the foods described in Zhou Yang's writing were widely welcomed in this world. Combined with the cooking skills he had honed until even Kabuto acknowledged them, they became an absolute sensation.
Zhou Yang quietly joined the queue to check the place out and ordered a portion himself.
A longtime employee who had met Zhou Yang quickly recognized him.
The boss is here?
He did not reveal Zhou Yang's identity. He simply packed up everything left, stuffed it into a large food bucket, and placed it in Zhou Yang's hands, nodding at him with eyes full of eager, ambitious fervor.
Zhou Yang cast him a glance.
This kid already knows the way to a promotion.
After all, they were not operating inside the shop and had not expected such a flood of customers. They also discovered that they had already fried this entire batch of stock. Preparing another would probably take several dozen minutes.
This would naturally cost them quite a few customers, but for an already wildly popular shop, it was no great matter. By the time most people returned from a stroll, the food would naturally be ready.
Still, there were those who could not bear to wait. For example, right now-
"Wait! You're out of chicken cutlets?!"
A girl's startled cry came from behind, and a cute girl with short hair rushed up to the counter to ask.
Unfortunately, to ensure the boss enjoyed himself, the longtime employee had already packed everything remaining for Zhou Yang. He could only lower his head helplessly and apologize.
The other customers were also somewhat resigned and accustomed to this. After all, as a must-visit snack shop in Eastsea City, Dada Chicken Cutlet's reputation for popularity was known to quite a few people.
It was only a wait of several dozen minutes. Many people simply turned to other food stalls.
Only the girl remained reluctant.
What a joke! She had finally gotten her teacher's permission to roam freely and had been ready to enjoy the food festival.
She had waited so long and stood in such a long line! And then some boy up ahead appeared, and the employee packed up absolutely everything?
What a joke! What kind of joke was this?! She couldn't accept it! QAQ!
"Wait!"
Zhou Yang was stopped by this silver-haired girl just as he was about to open the lid and happily dig into the chicken wings.
"Y-you, are you going to eat that bucket of fried chicken?" Looking at the large food bucket before Zhou Yang and smelling its fragrance, Na'er was practically drooling.
Hearing her, Zhou Yang suspected nothing and simply took out a large chicken wing and handed it to Na'er.
"If you want it, take it."
One or two made no difference to Zhou Yang anyway. Seeing how badly the girl craved it, he simply gave her one.
Na'er was delighted. She took the chicken wing and promptly began gnawing away.
Even Zhou Yang failed to see it clearly. In just an instant, she had finished the chicken wing.
Was this girl eating chicken wings in fast-forward...?
A human meat-stripping machine?
Even he could not help marveling at that speed.
"Could you give me a few more?"
Yet after finishing it, the girl was clearly not satisfied. Instead, it was as though the doors to a whole new world had opened. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the large food bucket before Zhou Yang, like a Soul Master spotting a rare soul bone, drooling with craving.
"No. I need to eat too." Noticing Na'er's gaze, Zhou Yang decisively moved the bucket away.
Giving you one was out of the goodness of my heart. Not giving you any is only natural.
Hearing this, Na'er pulled out a thick wad of federation currency and held it up before Zhou Yang.
"I'll pay for it."
"No."
"But big brother, you can't eat that much anyway, right? Let me help share the burden."
"No, I'm from the 'tastes so good' tribe. I can eat it all."
But Zhou Yang still firmly refused. No matter how Na'er wheedled and pestered him, he would not give her any.
In fact, Zhou Yang had recognized Na'er. After all, with silver hair, a foodie appetite, and a little girl's appearance all stacked together, it would have been hard for him not to.
It was just that this girl, who for some reason had not appeared on the little Red Mountain set, had shown up here.
OI, Comrade Na'er, failing to make it to the set on time is a dereliction of duty, you know.
But Na'er's unwavering gaze, fixed on the large bucket of fried chicken in Zhou Yang's hands, also made him understand what she wanted.
Hoho, you want to obtain this delicacy from this king's hands?
Oh, if you want it, come and try. Take it with your own hands.