The next day, the Akihabara Summit Battle was held as scheduled.
Perhaps because the viewership ratings were unexpectedly high, and in keeping with the principle of coming from the masses and going to the masses, the organizers—the IGO and Chiba Shrine—moved the finals to Kanda Shrine.
"Holy crap, are all the IGO employees robots or something?" Mo Bai muttered under his breath, clicking his tongue. Yesterday evening they were helping repair power cables, and this morning they've already set up the arena at Kanda Shrine? Their efficiency really deserved a thumbs-up.
And then there were the crowds, which had already formed layer upon layer of spectators. In the pre-show interview footage, Mo Bai could see a sea of black-haired heads, and he could hear the outside noise even through the glass of the break room.
Cooking under the gaze of so many people, Mo Bai's palms couldn't help but get a little sweaty.
Sitting across from Mo Bai, Harano Katsuya wasn't faring much better. He was shaking his leg to hide his nervousness.
"Mo Bai-kun, where's your little assistant chef?" The atmosphere in the break room was truly stifling, and Harano Katsuya couldn't resist breaking the silence with some awkward small talk.
"Her parents heard she was going to be in a televised competition and rushed over from Chiba City. She's probably explaining the situation to them now."
Suddenly hearing that your naive daughter is going on TV, any parents who weren't completely carefree would become wary, right?
Especially in the Far East, where the first question is: What kind of television show are you going on?
Mo Bai figured that by the time they arrived, Gokou Ruri's parents already saw him as a con artist, so he hadn't even thought of dropping by.
"Contestant Mo Bai, Contestant Harano Katsuya, all the ingredients for the competition have been prepared, and the equipment has been checked. You may now enter the venue." An IGO employee in a blue uniform pushed open the break room door. "Please follow me."
"Thank you."
Following the staff member into the entrance tunnel, they could hear the host, Kasuga Yanagi, on the high stage, passionately introducing the entering chefs in a voice an octave higher than usual.
Deafening cheers echoed throughout the entire venue.
"Whoa, the atmosphere of the finals is completely different from the elimination rounds." Witnessing this scene, Mo Bai felt a boundless sense of aspiration.
"Hey! You two are blocking the way." An annoying voice came from behind. Mo Bai turned to see a head of brilliant blond hair.
"Yoshino Takashi!" Harano Katsuya spat out the newcomer's name through clenched teeth.
"The manager of a little hotel that can't even guarantee its power supply should get the hell out of the way."
"What did you say?" Just as Harano Katsuya was about to erupt, Mo Bai pressed down on his shoulder. "He's just trying to provoke you. Don't let it affect you."
"You need something from me?" Mo Bai's gaze toward Yoshino Takashi was ice-cold.
"I heard the dish that got you through the eliminations was sashimi?" Yoshino Takashi, his eyes slightly dark-rimmed, wore a mocking expression. "Do you, a person from the Hua nation, really understand what sashimi means to the people of the Far East?"
"I really don't. But you do?" Without waiting for Yoshino Takashi to answer, Mo Bai unleashed a burst of High-Speed Divine Words (Street Cursing).
"You dye your hair blond and you've got the gall to call yourself a man of the Far East? Are you trying to suck up to your American daddy? Forcing your own father to wear a cuckold's green hat? Why didn't your dad just shoot you onto a wall back then?"
"If I were your father, I would have drowned you in a toilet bowl and then hung myself, just to repent to my ancestors for giving birth to a dumbass like you."
After the tirade, Mo Bai felt refreshed and straightened his collar.
"Idiot. You think I'd fall for such an obvious provocation?"
Xiao Bai vibrated slightly in her sheath. Mo Bai's expression changed, and he broke into a smile, one that carried a chilling, bone-deep malice.
"Very good. I accept your challenge."
"Next, let's welcome contestant Mo Bai from the Auspicious Fish Shop, who advanced from Group A with a perfect score, and contestant Harano Katsuya from Haranoya, with a high score of 255 points!" On the stage, Kasuga Yanagi was already calling for the two to enter.
"Before I go, let me educate you a little."
"In the Hua nation, there's a saying: 'Never tire of fine food, never tire of finely prepared meat.' The 'finely prepared meat,' or 'kuai,' refers to fish that is thinly sliced and chilled. A thousand years ago, Hua nation chefs used this technique of slicing fish into fine slivers to remove its fishy smell."
"Before you go on stage, why don't you guess whether I, a chef from the Hua nation, might just have a recipe for that?" Looking at Yoshino Takashi's dark circles, Mo Bai was inwardly delighted.
"Having all three judges show up at the Harano Hotel must have been rough on your guilty conscience, right? Let me collect a little more interest, then."
It was like a cat toying with a mouse, waiting for its prey to exhaust the last of its strength in a panic before devouring it whole to satisfy its hatred.
"Old Harano, let's go."
Stepping out of the entrance tunnel, the applause and cheers grew even more thunderous.
"Mo Bai-kun, Sugoi! Do you really have that 'kuai' recipe?" Just as Mo Bai was feeling a flicker of pleasure, he was surprised to see Harano Katsuya had already entered a state of over-the-top excitement.
"A recipe passed down for a thousand years, it must taste incredible, right?"
In a daze, Mo Bai thought he could see the three characters for "honest guy" written across Harano Katsuya's face.
Not wanting to crush Harano Katsuya's excitement, Mo Bai could only play along. "I don't know if it tastes good, but I heard that during the Three Kingdoms period, a man named Chen Deng loved to eat it. You can look him up when you get back; you might find some records."
"Really? I'll definitely look it up when I get back."
"Am I being too mean? Ah, well, I hope he doesn't get depressed." Watching Harano Katsuya walk toward his cooking station, Mo Bai offered him a second of silent mourning.
He wouldn't take the blame for this one. It was the mischievous Xiao Bai who provided the information.
"Contestant Mo Bai, are there any special requirements for the sardines on your request list?" a staff member asked after checking the material list Mo Bai had submitted.
"You have special varieties of sardines?" Mo Bai was caught off guard.
"No, no, you jest. We have some roe-bearing sardines that just arrived yesterday in our warehouse. If you need them..."
"Yes! I'll take both!" For no particular reason, Mo Bai felt that the roe-bearing sardines could elevate today's dish to another level.
At the same time, Wang Yao's words echoed in his mind.
"Your knife skills are solid. You could totally pull off some flashy moves just for fun."
"Flashy... huh?" Mo Bai closed his eyes and stood still in front of his cooking station.
"Holy shit!" Xiao Bai exclaimed. She could see that the Intuition skill on Mo Bai's status screen was starting to glow again.
"Xiao Bai, since the broth is the main component of the seafood soup, then getting creative with the side dishes shouldn't disrupt the overall harmony, right?"
"Theoretically, yes, but don't you go messing around!" Xiao Bai was on edge.
If it weren't for the Intuition skill glowing like a lightbulb, Xiao Bai would have been convinced Mo Bai was hurtling down a one-way road to disaster without a second glance.
"How can you call it messing around? I've never felt better." Mo Bai recalled a news article pushed by some stupid webpage a long time ago. "Wait, I also need some Kona deep-sea water and some ice-making equipment."
Desalinated deep seawater from Hawaii. Perhaps it would pair well with a seafood soup?
"That... we'll need a little time for that," the IGO employee said, embarrassed.
"No problem, as long as it arrives before the competition ends." Today, Mo Bai was determined to play with something flashy.
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