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The silent night had settled over the docks, and people had already returned to their homes.
Yet outside the small houseboat, a bright oil lamp still hung.
Inside the boathouse.
Tap tap tap tap!
Chen Qi was cutting beef and glanced back at the three people in his little broken boat.
An, Little Maro, and Mayor Maro were sitting at the dining table, holding spoons and forks, their eyes filled with anticipation.
The three of them had helped Chen Qi tidy up the boathouse and even redecorated the kitchen, bringing ingredients.
Why? Why had things turned out this way? Why was I suddenly cooking for three people?
Chen Qi shook his head, dumped the cut beef into the pot, added green onion and ginger, and blanched it.
Then he took out potatoes and celery, along with dried tofu, squid, and chicken, and silently started chopping.
Chen Qi recalled the earlier events.
After he had dealt with Iron Hand, An was instantly alarmed and immediately started looking through documents.
Iron Hand turned out to be a well-known fugitive from Moonstone City's Black Rabbit Gang, with a bounty of two hundred thousand Shell Coins!
An dismantled Iron Hand's mechanical arm and handed it over to the bounty department.
According to her, the money would arrive tomorrow.
However, regarding why Chen Qi was targeted by Iron Hand, An still had many questions.
In a way, Chen Qi had also been tricked by the Black Rabbit Gang.
So, he made up a story:
"He got involved with the Black Rabbit Gang because he was greedy during a job, then coincidentally obtained the Collector, and with the help of the Collector, ran all night through the Black Rabbit Gang territory, and managed to escape the criminal gang's lair in an inspirational story.
Gang members often seek revenge.
And this Iron Hand had come after him because of the Collector."
He had indeed experienced similar events, only he switched 'Black Whale Group' for 'Black Rabbit Gang' and 'the treasure of the Deep Sea Hunter' for 'the Collector'.
Upon hearing this, An expressed deep sympathy.
A young man, sick, who went to work in a big city and mistakenly joined a gang, was indeed too pitiful.
She had a vivid imagination.
She could picture a young, tender-skinned Chen Qi in a dungeon within the Black Rabbit Gang, helpless and suffering humiliations.
Thus, An decided to offer psychological counseling to Chen Qi and to guard against potential unknown accomplices.
Then, naturally, she took a seat at the dining table.
Mayor Maro came upon hearing the noise.
He had heard about Chen Qi killing a fugitive and was instantly stunned!
Although he had guessed that Chen Qi must have been involved in something significant while away from Maro Town,
he had never imagined that Chen Qi was capable of killing a member of a gang with a Blade Phase, but considering Chen Qi had a gun, he reluctantly accepted it.
Two hundred thousand Shell Coins was not a small sum!
Moreover, Chen Qi had also become a First Order Transcendent today.
This boy was terrifyingly talented— he was destined for great things!
Therefore, he brought four bottles of wine, deciding to celebrate.
Then, just as naturally, he took a seat at the dining table.
Little Maro, upon hearing about Iron Hand's sudden death, finally realized what was going on.
So it turned out Chen Qi was a fierce man from a gang—that's what the newspaper reports about gang conflicts were referring to.
Recalling his earlier casual attitude towards Chen Qi and his disrespectful tone, fear instantly sprang up within him!
However, fearful as he was, the meal he planned to mooch was still on the table—Chen Qi surely wouldn't actually cook him.
So, claiming he was hungry, he naturally took a seat at the dining table as well.
This small, dilapidated boat, seemingly unable to bear its unexpected weight, now harbored three guests.
Chen Qi turned again, looking at the expectant eyes of his three guests.
The profession of chef seemed to be more popular than he had imagined.
Although he was a chef, this was his first time cooking in an alternate world.
Pressure mounted... Chen Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He did not know if the coastal people of this other world would take to his cooking.
Chen Qi glanced at the ingredients, which, although they belonged to another world, were commonly found on Earth—beef, potatoes, parsley, tofu, along with a fish, a chicken, and two squids.
"Not much seafood, I hope it won't turn out too bad…"
Chen Qi set the chopped vegetables aside and began to cook.
The chef profession increased the speed of learning cooking-related knowledge and also improved his cooking skills.
He would make the potatoes and beef into a delicious and simple stew.
Chen Qi heated the chef's pan, threw in green onion and ginger, added the commonly used soybean paste from Maro Town, and sautéed everything until fragrant.
Then, he added the chopped beef to the pan to stir-fry.
While Chen Qi was cooking, An sniffed and spoke to Chen Qi:
"By the way, did you sense something was off before you entered the boathouse?"
An suddenly remembered how Chen Qi had glanced back at her before entering the boathouse.
Thinking about it now, she realized his glance wasn't simply inviting her to dine.
His look had a deeper meaning!
"Hmm..."
Chen Qi nodded.
An shook her head, saying earnestly:
"That's too dangerous, you should have told me first. As a First Order Transcendent, if I had handled it, it would have been much better, and you wouldn't have had to be scared."
"..."
Chen Qi stirred the beef again.
Indeed, An was right, turning to her to deal with Iron Hand was an option.
After all, with An's strength, a simple Fireball Technique would have sufficed to take Iron Hand down instantly.
Hmm... It might even accidentally take his boat down as well.
But there were many dangers in this world, and if he shied away from facing a First Order Transcendent whose information and location he knew, the journey ahead would be even tougher.
Of course, the main reason was that he wanted the bounty.
Also, he initially thought An had noticed it.
An swallowed a peanut, preparing to continue speaking.
Chen Qi thought for a moment and directly used a question to stop her:
"By the way, do you eat spicy food? I got a little bit of devil chili at the Monster's Kitchen."
Chili! That was a rare seasoning!
An had stayed in the capital and loved spicy food.
An swallowed her saliva and nodded:
"Yes."
Once heated to the right temperature, Chen Qi added the seasoning and potatoes to the pot.
Let it cook!
Beef tastes better after it has been stewed for some time.
Following that, Chen Qi headed outside the boat to start preparing other ingredients.
For squid and chicken, go for grilling!
Chen Qi secured a barbecue grill on the dock, ready to make grilled chicken and barbecued squid.
After a busy session.
Potato stewed beef, grilled squid, and grilled chicken — all three dishes were almost cooked.
There were still the parsley tofu and the pan-seared fish left to make.
This should be enough for four people...
Chen Qi returned to the boat, looking at the stewed potato beef with satisfaction — he hadn't eaten all day.
However, before serving, he had one important task to complete.
That was to use his skill "Soul Seasoning"!
Chen Qi looked into the pot, grabbed a small handful of scallions, mixed in Spiritual Power, and sprinkled it down.
As the Soul Seasoning and scallions touched the food, the fragrance of the potato stewed beef was further enhanced, releasing a delicious aroma.
With the Soul Seasoning, the dish of fragrant, rich-sauced potato stewed beef was successfully completed.
A notification also popped up before his eyes.
"Successfully cooked 'Potato Stewed Beef,' obtained eighty Spiritual Points!"
Chen Qi's lips curved up, smiling happily:
"As expected of me!"
Eighty Spiritual Points!
That was an exceedingly high number.
Just as he had thought, Soul Seasoning could significantly enhance the deliciousness of the ingredients.
If not for Soul Seasoning, achieving eighty Spiritual Points with ordinary ingredients would require at least the skill of a five-star chef.
Following that, Chen Qi grabbed a handful of cumin and sprinkled it over the grilled squid and chicken.
The aroma of cumin mixed with the scent of grilled meat, quickly spreading all over the small dock.
An and the mayor of Maro Town swallowed their saliva, both had been working all day and were famished.
However, they had overlooked one thing: the time Chen Qi spent cooking was longer than they had anticipated!
They had been smelling the delicious aroma for over an hour now.
The night was already deep!
"I'm so hungry..."
An muttered to herself, lying exhausted on the table like a tired little cat.
Chen Qi served the potato stewed beef, grilled squid, and grilled chicken.
"Sorry for the wait."
It was finally time to serve the food, if not, I would starve to death! An perked up instantly as she smelled the beef.
Next, Chen Qi quickly prepared the stir-fried celery tofu and the pan-seared fish, bringing them to the table.
Chen Qi looked at them and clapped his hands:
"Everyone, let's eat, I just became a chef, so I'm not sure how it turned out."
Chen Qi eyed his dishes, fearing that the lack of many seasonings might make the taste unsatisfactory.
He wasn't sure if it would suit their tastes.
"Great! I'll start eating then,"
An couldn't wait any longer, and carefully scooped up a small portion of beef and potato, placing both into her mouth.
"How is it?"
Chen Qi asked curiously.
An savored the taste.
The tenderness of the beef and the softness of the potato intertwined on the tip of her tongue, along with the rich sauce and a slight spiciness, creating a wonderful taste sensation.
Why is it so delicious! An's face flushed slightly, showing an expression of enjoyment:
"Delicious, what seasoning did you add?"
It's the soul, I added the soul!
Chen Qi confidently touched his nose.
When the technique and seasonings aren't enough, Extraordinary Power compensates.
The spicy flavor is because he added a little bit of devil's pepper.
"Let me try it too."
The mayor of Maro Town, being a wealthy man, had tasted many delicious dishes.
He too curiously took a bite of the beef.
He immediately felt a warm flow throughout his body, as the delicious flavor erupted on his tastebuds:
"Delicious, I have heard that food made by Transcendent chefs is so good it could blow your clothes off, and it seems that's not just a rumor."
Blowing off clothes... Chen Qi thought about it.
In this world, food that is delicious to the point of blowing off clothes indeed exists.
However, this happens because some Transcendent ingredients can enhance the body, causing muscles to expand instantly.
If diners wear rather tight clothing while eating such food, their clothes can indeed blow off, creating an extremely stunning visual effect.
Of course, without Transcendent ingredients, he could not create such explosive food effects.
As everyone began eating, Chen Qi also placed a piece of beef into his mouth.
The flavor of the beef and the sauce slowly spread across his tongue.
Delicious!
Too delicious!
It turns out that even a different world can have such delicious food.
These past few days, he had been eating only dry bread.
Now, being able to have a bite of beef was indeed a pleasure.
Even ordinary ingredients could taste this good, he wondered how much more delicious food prepared with Transcendent ingredients would be!
Thinking this, Chen Qi then picked up a slightly charred piece of grilled chicken and placed it in his mouth.
And so, everyone started feasting.
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...
Bang!
The mayor of Maro Town brought a slightly sweet wine, and everyone drank directly.
When An was almost full, she took a sip of wine and said:
"I'm so full!
By the way, Qi.
Why don't you open a small bar in Maro Town? I think your cooking is much better than my father's.
When that time comes, it will definitely beat my father's bar."
Due to professional tasks, chefs often end up opening a restaurant.
Beating the only dock bar in Maro Town? With his Transcendent chef identity, he might actually be able to achieve that.
Chen Qi thought for a moment and took a sip of wine:
"No, I don't plan to open a bar in town, um... I might start a dining boat instead."