CHAPTER 1313: CHAPTER 153: THE HEAD CHEF’S IDENTITY

The mysterious veil surrounding the clumsy, reckless, and stupid head chef is, in some ways, greater than that of Chris, who plays the Viscount.

At least they know the Viscount is Chris, whereas the identity of the head chef remains unknown.

The Lizard Maid can appear in every corner of the castle, including the Viscount’s bedroom and study, but not the kitchen. That territory belongs to the head chef, and the Lizard Maids can only reach the kitchen’s edge when fetching food.

"Can’t the Dreamwalker help you infiltrate the kitchen?" Wenger asked when Lu Li visited from the dream realm.

"It might get discovered."

If the Viscount is keenly perceptive or has collaborated with the Earth Dwellers.

Thus, Lu Li refrained from releasing the Dreamwalker after entering the castle.

During the illusion, there was a moment Lu Li could have glimpsed the head chef’s soul, but he couldn’t foresee the events to come.

"I could order a midnight snack that only the head chef can prepare," Claire suggested when Lu Li woke up in the tower.

"Have you done this before?"

"No, the head chef’s cooking isn’t to my taste."

"That’s too deliberate."

The simplest yet most inconspicuous method: In the morning, get the Lizard Maid to take Lu Li near the kitchen, and Lu Li quietly sneaks into the kitchen, waiting for the head chef preparing breakfast to appear.

"Will you act alone?"

"I have the Dreamwalker; if I want to leave, it can’t stop me."

The power Lu Li possesses was enough to be seen as a malevolent spirit—a weak entity but with enigmatic rituals.

There was still some time until morning, so Lu Li curled up in the bed to rest, with Claire accompanying him.

The Bat Guards, which had left last night, returned not long ago. The lords might leave at any moment, maybe right after breakfast—Lu Li needed to make the most of the time.

As morning approached, Margaret walked into the tower with a bucket and mop, then left soon after.

Lu Li hid unnoticed in the bucket.

Storage room.

A few minutes later, Margaret paused briefly here, following the Lizard Maid’s usual activities, then picked up the bucket and burlap containing Lu Li and headed towards the kitchen.

The castle’s residents had yet to awaken, but the Lizard Maids had already begun their daily morning cleaning.

Merging with them, Margaret nodded to acknowledge the Lizard Maids carrying dusters or rags as she moved through the corridors, nearing the kitchen.

Passing a crossroad with no Bat Guards, Margaret hissed, and Lu Li leapt out of the bucket, slipping like a shadow into the corridor leading to the kitchen.

Margaret didn’t pause, leaving the area with the swaying empty bucket and the sound of her footsteps.

...

The darkness outside the stained glass window was like midnight, but the castle was gradually awakening.

The odor-tainted chef matron brought a stench into the corridor, with wheels rolling over carpets and heavy footsteps approaching from outside the hallway.

As the cart filled with minced meat passed recessed statues in the wall, a shadow silently flowed under the cart.

The heavy cart stopped at the iron door at the end of the hallway. The chef matron took out a key, unchained it, and pushed open the groaning kitchen door, continuing to push the cart inside.

At that moment, Lu Li slipped from the cart, darting under a nearby kitchen table, as dirty aprons and sturdy, furry legs passed by.

Successfully infiltrating a kitchen into which outsiders were not allowed.

The chef matron, with her back to the kitchen table, stealthily ate as she unloaded minced meat. Lu Li moved to a more concealed corner, quietly waiting for the head chef’s arrival.

The chef matron hadn’t touched the minced meat placed on the table. When the cart was empty, she reluctantly scooped a handful of minced meat from the bottom of the cart, then leaned against the cart to doze off.

Soon, a snore resembling a rolling thunder sounded.

Not long after, the locked iron door at the far end of the kitchen suddenly shook.

The snoring wasn’t disrupted, but after a brief silence, the iron door shook again, the chain rattling against the iron panel, as if something restless was pushing it.

The chef matron finally awoke from the noise, grumbling as she crawled up to unlock the iron door with the key on her belly.

Another chef matron appeared behind the door, muttering indistinctly, and the second chef matron returned to the deeper kitchen with minced meat, while the lazy chef matron relocked the door.

During the brief opening of the iron door, Lu Li heard busy noises from deep within the kitchen. He realized the head chef was already there.

He hadn’t entered through the main door.

The chain wrapped around the door handle, and the chef matron returned to the cart, leaning against it to fall asleep again.

Lu Li emerged from his hiding spot, approaching the locked door.

The gap in the iron door wasn’t wide enough for a cat paw to fit through. To enter, Lu Li would need to use the Dreamwalker, or...

Lu Li raised his head, his black cat eyes falling on the keyring at the waist of the sleeping, mountainous chef matron by the cart.

Lu Li crept towards the cart, raising his head, his hind legs crouching slightly before leaping onto the cart.

The chef matron continued to sleep, but her thick-furred paw covered the keyring like a prison.

Lu Li maneuvered to the edge of the cart, his tail snaking out, gently stroking the chef matron’s nose.

The irritated nasal cavity made the chef matron wrinkle her bear-like face, scratching it unconsciously, revealing the keyring.

His tail hooked the keyring, silently slipping it from the oblivious chef matron.

Lu Li jumped back to the ground, the keyring on his tail making barely audible clinks. Maintaining brief silence, confirming the snoring continued, Lu Li stretched onto the door, inserting the key into the lock with his two cat paws and tail.

Click.

The chain was unfastened, heavy links sliding down abruptly.

Clatter——

Alongside the harsh "click" of the door handle, the chain serpentined downward.

The snoring stopped, the noise waking the chef matron, who scanned the kitchen drowsily and warily, patting her belly a few times—the keyring was still there.

Relaxed again, the chef matron resumed her slumber. The gradually quieting kitchen was once more filled with snores.

Lu Li quietly slipped from beneath the cart. Returning to the iron door heaped with chains, he confirmed the chef matron was deeply asleep and nudged the door with his head, slipping through the gap.

Compared to the outer kitchen, the part of the kitchen preparing breakfast was much busier—chef matrons carrying ingredients to wash or process, unaware of the iron door opening a crack, through which a shadow darted under a table.

Lu Li navigated between the slow-witted chef matrons and the tables, reaching the deepest part of the kitchen, once again glimpsing the back of the head chef he had briefly seen before.

Its corpulent body was devoid of a soul.

The head chef was not a survivor of Midnight City.

Lu Li didn’t immediately believe what he saw; he extended a cat paw to touch the bowtie hiding the True Vision Orb, then leaped near a bucket when the head chef and chef matrons weren’t looking.

Reflected in the water was the glow of the oil lamp and the reflection of a black cat; Lu Li could see his own soul curled deep within the black cat.

The head chef was indeed purely aberrant.

Is that why Claire had then unhesitatingly smashed it into minced meat?

Even though the result wasn’t desired, he should leave now.

Dodging along the way the chef matrons and the head chef who never turned around, Lu Li returned to the iron door. Just as his cat paw stretched into the gap to pry the door open, the iron door was suddenly pulled open from outside.

The awakened, burly chef matron grinned viciously, looking down at the ground.