The noise downstairs started getting louder again, and Mo Bai had no choice but to drag himself out of bed.
He hadn't slept well that night. He'd already been woken up once at three in the morning and had been forced to go check on the situation.
The result—the scene was like this:
Chef, chef, chef, chef.
Chef, Harano Katsuya, chef.
Chef, chef, chef, chef.
Harano Katsuya had lost all of his refined and gentle demeanor, swaying like a piece of seaweed in the compressed tide of people.
He could only shut down the hotel's other functions and divert all power to the fish storage, temporarily alleviating his predicament of being swarmed by men.
For the noise to be starting up again could only mean one thing: the backup power had officially given out.
Honestly, Mo Bai couldn't even bear to look at the miserable scene unfolding downstairs for Harano Katsuya.
Once the cold storage lost power, the temperature would inevitably rise rapidly.
The chefs from Group C in the morning might be okay, but those from Group D in the afternoon would have to find another solution.
The power company had already come to inspect last night. The problem was with the main underground cable that supplied the Harano Hotel and the surrounding residential area. The fastest estimated repair time was three days.
"Do I have some kind of jinx attribute?" Mo Bai muttered to himself as he walked into the fish storage to check on the yellowtail's condition.
"I go to buy a phone and run into thugs." That sweet-smiling salesgirl had witnessed Cuckold Green turn into a red-and-green mess; she probably wouldn't be able to smile so easily from now on.
"I stand in for someone, and two members of the Wang family go down." Wang Xiaoji was knocked out, and the culprit wasn't caught. Wang Xiang supposedly fainted and was hospitalized after hearing about the hotel's cable problems.
"I stay at a hotel, and the Harano Hotel suffers a power outage." Harano Katsuya was probably being besieged right now, at his wits' end.
"Wow, if you hadn't said anything, I really wouldn't have known so much happened," Xiao Bai quipped.
As a mature kitchen knife, Xiao Bai had been researching broth proportions since yesterday afternoon.
"Heh." Mo Bai had no comment on that.
"Contestant Mo Bai, I've urgently arranged for several refrigerated trucks. Do you want to move your fish into one of them first?"
"I'm trying to rent a clean fish storage unit right now," Harano Katsuya said, running up to him, drenched in sweat and panting heavily.
"No need. This yellowtail already has heatstroke."
[Ingredient: Incompletely aged yellowtail]
[Ingredient Evaluation: 95 (98)]
[Reason for Anomaly: After a perfect first aging, it was slumbering through its second low-temperature aging. However, due to temperature fluctuations, the aging process has been greatly accelerated.]
[Remaining time until fully aged: 11 hours 30 minutes]
Forget lasting until tomorrow, this heat-stroked yellowtail wouldn't even make it through tonight.
"If you're free at noon, remember to come eat some fish." The Zen-like Mo Bai was incredibly chill.
"Then what will you use tomorrow?" Harano Katsuya's gold-rimmed glasses slid down his nose. He was dumbfounded by Mo Bai's level of zen.
"I'll go bargain hunting at the fish market. If I can't find anything, I can just use the ingredients provided on-site by the IGO."
"My cooking isn't highly dependent on the quality of the ingredients themselves." Mo Bai shrugged nonchalantly. To put it bluntly, from the very first match of the competition, he never considered any of these chefs—who couldn't drug people or make food glow—to be on his level.
What's the point of cooking if the food isn't drugged-up and doesn't glow? All of you here are trash!
With the fully-automatic divine blade Xiao Bai in his left hand, the Intuition skill in his right, and the Culinary Heart in his pocket, Mo Bai was getting cocky.
...Or rather, Mo Bai was already completely enraged.
So many coincidences. Did they take him for a fool?
Looking at the person opposite him, who seemed completely devoid of emotion, Harano Katsuya felt an inexplicable sense of panic despite being in the same room as Mo Bai.
"Well, I won't disturb you then. I still have to go find the other chefs..."
Harano Katsuya's communicator rang.
"BOSS! Yoshinoya is here to trash the place!" Before he could even ask, the lobby manager's voice roared from the device.
"Dammit!" With a dark expression, Harano Katsuya turned and ran.
"Let's go take a look too."
Arriving at the entrance to the lobby, Mo Bai saw a blond guy with a dozen bodyguards shouting.
"Yoshino Hotel fish storage for rent at half price! Our hotel is fully equipped with an excellent environment! All guests are welcome!" His shouts were thick with gloating and the intent to stir up trouble.
"Yoshino Takashi! What is the meaning of this!?" Harano Katsuya was like a furious lion.
"Friendly assistance, of course." Yoshino Takashi spread his hands, a mocking grin on his face. "I'm doing this for your own good, you know."
"If the contestants' ingredients rot in your hotel, it would be a disgrace for you if word got out, wouldn't it?"
"Boss, some chefs are already demanding to check out. What should we do?" the lobby manager whispered.
"Let them!" Harano Katsuya's fists were clenched, his whole body trembling with rage. After today, the reputation of both the Harano Hotel and Haranoya would surely suffer, while their rival, Yoshinoya, would undoubtedly gain praise.
But he understood the chefs' choice was beyond reproach. If he had to find a single culprit, it could only be Yoshino Takashi standing before him.
He just didn't understand, given the animosity between their two families, why Yoshino Takashi would bring people to clean up this mess. Wouldn't it be better to sit back and watch Haranoya get besieged by the affected contestants after the competition? Was he here just to piss him off?
Just as the checking-out chefs swarmed the front desk, four royal blue container trucks suddenly pulled up at the entrance.
Driving the first one was none other than the collector of notes from pretty policewomen with whom Mo Bai had fought and enjoyed VIP treatment at the station: Wang Yao.
"Old Mo, heard you had a problem with your fish storage. I'm here for a Martian rescue!"
"The North Star No. 1 Refrigerated Truck. Minimum rapid cooling to minus 70 degrees, with over 24 hours of super-long battery life."
Wang Yao, radiating a dazzling aura, opened the door, jumped down from the truck, and gave a thumbs-up.
"My Hua nation's black tech is the best in the world."
The chefs swarming the front desk made a sharp ninety-degree turn and sprinted towards the fish storage. Why go the long way around when a solution was right here? Unless they had no other choice, who would want to offend a major local power?
Even a mighty dragon can't crush a local snake.
The chefs who came from established shops mostly understood the art of survival; every one of them was cunning as a fox.
"Thank you for your assistance." Harano Katsuya was no longer flushed, his breathing was steady, and he gave a stiff, ninety-degree bow to express his utmost gratitude.
"Don't mention it," Wang Yao said with a smile as warm as a spring breeze, then turned his head, his expression instantly changing. "Old Mo, who's he?"
"Harano Katsuya." Wang Yao's face-changing skill made Mo Bai feel a twitch in his cheek.
"Ah~ the heir to Haranoya. A pleasure to meet you." After returning the greeting with a cupped-fist salute, Wang Yao's expression changed in a flash again.
"Old Mo, remember how I said I'd give you a big gift the next time we met? I'll give it to you in a bit."
As he spoke, Wang Yao walked with a faint smile toward Yoshino Takashi, whose eyes were shooting daggers.
"Stop!" The bodyguard Tahei stepped forward to stand in front of Yoshino Takashi, but in the next moment, Tahei's sturdy body instantly collapsed.
No one saw how Wang Yao had struck.
By the time the remaining bodyguards came to their senses, Wang Yao had already bent down and hooked an arm around Yoshino Takashi's shoulder.
"Did you know? A murder occurred not far from Akihabara last night."
"A middle-aged onmyoji in a black kariginu was split in two, from head to groin, with a single slash."
"I thought you might be very interested."
Yoshino Takashi felt a chill on his neck. He looked down and saw that the object next to his face was the very same bank card with five hundred million yen that he had sent out yesterday.
Yoshino Takashi's legs went weak, and he fell to the ground.
"Young Master!" The bodyguards hurriedly ran over.
"You... you... you are?!" But to their surprise, Yoshino Takashi, his face ashen, shoved them away and pointed a trembling hand at Wang Yao.
"Sorry, I'm not." Pocketing the bank card, Wang Yao returned Yoshino Takashi's terror with a smile.
"Let's go!" Yoshino Takashi didn't dare stay a moment longer, cutting a rather pathetic figure as he was escorted away by his bodyguards.
"Tsk, he's leaving already? I thought I'd get another fight in before grabbing some tonkatsu," Wang Yao said, pursing his lips with a lack of interest.
Mo Bai's mouth twitched. "What did you say to that little blond troublemaker to make him run off like that?"
"Some inter♂esting things." Wang Yao put a heavy emphasis on a pecu♂liar place.
"..."
"Damn, you're slick." Tilting his head and narrowing his eyes, Mo Bai had a sudden realization.
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