Chapter 744: Chapter 743: War Drums Beat (Part 1)

This mission information is pretty scary.

Rewards 10 Talent Points, one Gold “Evolution Crystal Stone”, at first glance, it seemed the system was generous, but a glimpse of a row of penalties stunned Xia Yu.

Defeat would erase the highest level of his culinary skills?

Does that mean there’s a risk of “amnesia” for his trump card, “Bursting Flame” (Complete)? How come this feels like a déjà vu of skill reset in online games!

Xia Yu complained, “This mission is like roasting me over a fire! So mean, totally sinister!”

“… Please ensure the task is completed,” the system responded mechanically. “If the host successfully cooks a dish that meets the ‘Lin’ standard and creates the first ‘Lin’ recipe of their own, a super reward will be triggered!”

“Stop tempting me already!” Xia Yu’s forehead bulged with veins, thinking to himself, no matter how beautiful a girl is, she is only his if he can win her over.

“System, can you predict my odds of winning?” he asked.

The system fell silent.

“Phew!”

“Damn it, at least 50%, right?” Xia Yu exhaled, trying to bolster his courage.

Kneel!

Apologize!

These two words summed up Xia Yu’s additional conditions, and not to mention how strongly Lei Zhe, the Westerner, reacted, even the big shots present were shocked.

Don’t apply the views of animations or TV dramas to the reality of Japan. “Kneeling” is indeed a traditional Japanese custom, but here it merely refers to sitting on one’s knees while eating normal dining etiquette. Actually, kneeling, for Neon citizens, can be considered a disgrace too, as it represents an apology or a plea for mercy. Street interviews show that only about 30% of Neon citizens admit to having knelt down before.

“Alright!” A deep voice called out, halting the commotion inside the room. Lei Zhe stared directly, no longer hiding the ferocious look in his eyes, “I agree!”

Thus, all eyes turned to Shinohara Shigetaro.

A bead of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, Minister Shinohara carefully asked, “Regarding the Food Dominator’s clause, do you both have any other additions?”

“None!”

“No!”

Having received the responses, Shinohara took a deep breath, approached Xia Yu and Lei Zhe, and soon there were signatures and red hand prints on the document.

The Food Dominator’s document came into effect!

Closing the folder, Shinohara returned to the four big heads at the main seat and knelt down, bowing slightly, “Then, I’d like to ask the four of you to serve as temporary judges for this Food Dominator.”

Master Yizhen, Master of Yuchuan, and Chiyoda all nodded their heads.

“Wait!”

A voice from the side interrupted the Food Dominator segment.

“How about adding two more judges?” Andrea said with a grin, pointing to Catherine next to her, “Just her and me. Two Food Tyrant experts, definitely qualified to participate in the tasting session for ‘Lin’ grade dishes, right?”

“Why not add one more, to make it seven, odd numbers!” Xia Yu interjected.

“Sure!”

Andrea clapped her hands, completely indifferent to the astonished looks nearby, acting as if she owned the place.

Xia Yu then said, “This seventh judge, I nominate Main General Liangzi to serve, don’t forget this is her home, she is the host!”

The big heads looked at each other.

Shinohara was taken aback, but seeing Master Yizhen and another exchanging a meaningful glance, he eventually said, “Then it’s decided like this!”

Thus, three more stands were added to the judges’ panel, totaling seven people, including three younger female Lin Chefs, which was quite a beautiful scenery.

Shinohara Shigetaro acted as the presenter, and once the judges were seated and the Food Dominator venue was set up, he checked his watch and said in a low voice, “It is now 9 PM, the Food Dominator will last for 3 hours, until midnight, please both Food Dominator chefs make the best use of your time!”

“The outcome will be decided by voting—”

In front of the seven judges, a small table held a fresh green bamboo branch each, freshly picked by a maid from the courtyard.

“These are the ballots!” Andrea picked up a bamboo branch, waved it around, her eyes sweeping over the two Food Dominator contestants, a subtle smile curling her lips, “Whoever captures my stomach gets my vote!”

Lei Zhe understood this as some sort of “fair” hint.

“Hmph!”

Lei Zhe coldly declared, “This battle, I will undoubtedly win!”

After saying this, regardless of the outside world, he lifted a metal box beside his hand and cast a mocking glance at Xia Yu, who was looking over from the opposite side, “Curious? I think you should be quite familiar with it, right?”

Clack!

The four metal locks were completely undone, and the lid was suddenly flipped open, making the surrounding people cover their noses all at once, as a strange fishy stench spread, giving the illusion of having entered a cave beast’s lair.

Inside the metal box, there lay a complete giant egg!

Xia Yu uttered a sound, his face immediately showing a strange expression.

He was very familiar with this egg.

The egg was large, this was its only distinctive feature; relying solely on the fishy smell and size, it was hard to determine which monster’s egg this was. Shinohara Shigetaro, acting as the master of ceremonies, stepped forward and asked, “Chef Lei Zhe, could you explain a bit?”

Lei Zhe patted the giant egg, his eyes conveying mockery, “This is… ‘Five-headed Bird Egg’!”

The noise in the room immediately grew.

“Eh—”

“‘Five-headed Bird Egg’! No wonder it’s so fishy!”

“I remember Chef Xia Yu once used a ‘Five-headed Bird Egg’ to create the extraordinarily classic recipe ‘Gold and Jade’ on the Sapporo stage. This type of egg ingredient has almost been branded with his unique signature, Lei Zhe is deliberately displaying this egg as a warning, right?”

“Hiss, could it be that Lei Zhe has also mastered the ‘Five-headed Bird Egg’?!”

The atmosphere of the cooking duel, upon Lei Zhe revealing the ingredient, suddenly turned tense like a furnace, causing everyone to sweat with excitement.

“Using the spear of another to attack the man… Lei Zhe’s confidence must be swelling, right?” In the side hallroom, Yan Qi was unexpectedly there, standing with his hands behind his back in front of a viewing niche.

He had actually been invited too, and furthermore, by Priest Senzaimon himself, but with Yan Qi’s identity, it wasn’t appropriate for him to appear openly in front of the magnates, only a few knew that the leader of the Dark World had been in Tokyo for some time.

“Fuck!”

Xia Yu really wanted to give Lei Zhe the middle finger.

Oh, he wasn’t angry, on the contrary, a small sense of stealthy joy bubbled in his heart, simply overjoyed!

Having mastered the ‘Five-headed Bird Egg’, Xia Yu understood the egg’s characteristics very well; one word summarized it—wild.

Food Tyrant Chefs pursue the original flavor; the flavor of the ingredient is maintained in the dishes as much as possible, designed and described to captivate the taste buds.

Catching this point, Xia Yu could say that he had roughly figured out Lei Zhe’s dish style, and the information was crucial, the reason for his concealed joy being, “This guy is really swollen-headed, using an ingredient I’m familiar with to attack me, treating me like a dead man?”

He snickered secretly to himself; Lei Zhe would pay the price for this inflated confidence.

Xia Yu shook his head, casting aside extraneous thoughts, calmed his mind, and began to inspect the ingredients prepared on behalf of the main general.

His eyes swept over the stacked egg cartons, stopping on the seafood ingredients piled on top of the ice—too many shrimp, scallops, clams, and mussels. Of course, aside from two packaged fish fins, there were also seaweeds and others.

No wonder the main general had previously described these ingredients as a mess—it was indeed messy!

While cleaning the ingredients, Lei Zhe took a specially made opening device, carefully created a notch on the surface of the giant egg, and when a piece of the eggshell was removed, the viscous egg fluid surged into the bowl, the air in the room immediate filled with a rich fresh fragrance.

The judging panel was very close to the cooking station; the main general took a breath of the fragrance, but her eyes reflected a lush, primitive flower sea.

She saw a flower field, but one of the stunningly beautiful flowers, taller than humans, as the main general felt an alarming sensation seeing a flower vividly devouring a grass-eating animal like a gazelle.

Primitive, wild!

In the scent, the magnates saw a similar scene.

“This egg is very fresh, where did he get it from?”

Xia Yu was also disturbed by the fragrance, looking up and murmuring to himself.

It was just a fleeting thought, he didn’t ponder further, focusing his mind on the dishes he was about to present—

The first step, soup!

From the beginning, his ‘Xia’s Tea Bowl Steamed’ was greatly different from the main general’s Japanese tea bowl steamed.

“Bang!”

The sound of a heavy object falling on the stove.

It’s worth mentioning, Xia Yu specifically requested a large charcoal stove, and a broth pot was set upon it, but this seemed not to be his primary cooking utensil, as Xia Yu turned around, went back to the counter, and moved another relatively smaller pot.

This uniquely shaped pot was quite eye-catching, and everyone was stunned by its appearance as they glanced over it.