Chapter 42: Cooking – A Delicious Spicy Chicken Pot
The underground base was completely empty. Gu Cheng’an and the others stood there in a daze, staring at the scene before them.
At this moment, the area appeared especially deserted—almost nothing remained.
There were still some traces on the ground indicating where supplies had once been stored, but now everything had vanished.
“Boss, come look over here!” Suddenly, An Ruoru shouted loudly.
Everyone rushed over to a nearby cave entrance, where a deep, unfathomable pit stretched before their eyes.
Ma Feng couldn’t help but exclaim, “Are these guys a bunch of rats? Not only did they dig tunnels, but they also moved so many supplies? Could one of them have the same spatial ability as the one from the First Shelter?”
Gu Cheng’an focused his energy, using wind elements to sense the surrounding environment.
“Something’s off… why is there a trace of zombie presence here?”
Upon hearing that, Ma Feng immediately became alert and asked nervously, “Zombies? Where?”
However, after a thorough search, they found no trace of zombies throughout the underground base.
Ma Feng looked at Gu Cheng’an doubtfully. “Boss Gu, are you sure you’re not mistaken?”
Gu Cheng’an furrowed his brows, still feeling something wasn’t quite right.
Meanwhile, Su Ning had already emerged onto a main street, her pack full of loot.
She carefully covered the dug-out hole and stored the five gifted zombies into her scavenger backpack.
To her surprise, just one gifted zombie occupied an entire slot in the backpack.
Because she had collected so many supplies from the underground base, more than half of her backpack was now full.
Su Ning sighed, “Still too little space… I must get that planting space ability.”
Now that she no longer feared the zombie virus, and armed with the lethal Gunfire Rain weapon,
the task kill 100,000 Zombies actually seemed doable.
But right now, Su Ning just wanted a break—pretending to be a delicate little white flower had truly drained her energy.
Using her ability had made her quite hungry.
The sky was already lightening with the first signs of dawn.
Su Ning slowly walked into the city center. Like the towns, the city was bleak—but filled with even more zombies, making the scene even more terrifying.
Keeping her head down, she carefully maneuvered through the hordes of zombies. She wore unremarkable, bloodstained clothes that helped her blend into the environment. This way, even if other players noticed the zombies, they wouldn’t be able to tell she was actually human.
Without hesitation, Su Ning entered a luxurious mall, only to find it was actually a furniture store, filled with various types of home appliances and furniture. However, as everything had been abandoned for so long, a thick layer of dust covered it all.
Su Ning went straight to a model room, planning to cook a meal there. She summoned her Culinary Zombie and activated its unique talent, Culinary Arts, while she prepared the ingredients.
From her backpack, she pulled out fresh chicken, potatoes, seasonings, and vegetables.
“Put on a mask and a chef’s uniform—then you won’t even look like a zombie!”
After dressing the Culinary Zombie, she instructed it to begin cooking.
Meanwhile, Su Ning began converting Death Worms into Corpse Worms and gave two Star Fruits to be consumed by Emerald Bees and the Corpse Worms to awaken their abilities.
Before long, a rich aroma filled the entire space.
Even Su Ning couldn’t resist the enticing smell. She had asked the Culinary Zombie to make a Spicy Chicken Pot, using meaty chicken thighs, hotpot base, potatoes, and instant noodles, all stewed together.
As soon as it was ready, the intense aroma overwhelmed her senses.
“So fragrant!” Su Ning couldn’t wait to dig in with her chopsticks.
The chicken was tender and juicy, melting in her mouth and leaving a lingering taste.
The spicy hotpot base blended perfectly with the chicken’s freshness, delivering a thrilling and satisfying burst of flavor. The potatoes were soft and infused with the rich broth, and each bite was full of taste. The instant noodles absorbed the spicy base, becoming chewy and flavorful.
Everything about the dish was intoxicating—like being in a paradise of gourmet food.
“If only I had a bowl of rice to go with this, it’d be perfect,” Su Ning murmured as she savored the meal. Though there was no rice, she still felt deeply satisfied.
Next, she picked up an ice-heat conversion kettle, gently pressed the switch, and poured out a pot of chilled Energy Soup.
She sipped from her cup—coolness spread instantly throughout her body.
The sweet and refreshing Energy Soup made her feel relaxed and blissful.
Elsewhere in the furniture store, which Su Ning had thought was unoccupied, there was actually a family of three.
The little boy, who had been sleeping quietly in his mother’s arms, suddenly opened his eyes, face full of excitement and anticipation.
“Mommy, something smells delicious!” the five-year-old said excitedly.
His sudden words startled both his parents. Even the black kitten in his arms was woken by the noise.
“Tao Tao, what did you say? You smell food?” his father asked in disbelief. He looked at his son in shock, filled with doubt. After all, in this dangerous dungeon world, how could there possibly be the smell of food?
But he knew his son had a unique ability—an exceptionally keen sense of smell. It was thanks to Tao Tao’s gift that they had found a relatively tolerable place with less corpse stench to hide—this very furniture store.
When it came to smell, his son was never wrong.
Tao Tao continued sniffing, drooling at the mouth.
“It really is food! So good! Mommy, I’m hungry!”
Clutching his small belly, Tao Tao said pitifully.
Seeing her son like this, his mother took out a pack of biscuits from her bag. “Here, Tao Tao, have this to fill your tummy first. When we get some food, I’ll make you something delicious, okay?”
Tao Tao accepted the biscuits, knowing he couldn’t act recklessly. There were man-eating zombies outside, and they had to remain in hiding.
As head of the family, how could the father bear to see his wife and child go hungry?
Ning Wu turned to his wife. “Should we go check it out? If someone is cooking nearby, they probably have food. Maybe we can trade some of our supplies for a little something.”
Little Tao Tao looked pitifully at Zhang Feifei. Clearly, she held the final say.
After some thought, Zhang Feifei nodded. “Alright—but we must be extremely cautious. We don’t know who they are or whether they’re dangerous. We need to stay alert.”
Ning Wu picked up his weapon—a long sword. Zhang Feifei grabbed her weapon too—a long spear.
Both were former athletes, so wielding these weapons came naturally to them.
(End of Chapter)
