Chapter 82: Useless at Everything, Number One at Eating
While the crowds gathered in the city plaza, regular customers had already arrived at the Chinese Restaurant.
Whoa, the boss rolled out even MORE new stuff!
The once single-story restaurant had visibly grown into a two-story building.
Its distinctive architectural style gave the two-story structure an elegant, imposing flair.
The open clearing outside had expanded considerably. Beyond the wider array of benches, a prominent new signboard caught everyone’s eye:
[Chinese Restaurant – Lounge Area]
Whoa, the Item Exchange Box had clear signage too:
[City Coin Exchange (Please Queue Orderly)]
Anyone stepping through the perimeter of white light couldn’t miss it.
“Whoa… isn’t the boss working alone? How did she… wait, am I seeing things? Did an entire second floor pop up overnight?” someone mumbled, rubbing their eyes.
Rhodes, a middle-aged man, scoffed, “Hey, were you born yesterday? The boss raised this entire building overnight in the first place! Don’t make a fuss over nothing.”
“Overnight?! That’s insane! Churning out all those delicacies was already incredible, but she can do this too?” someone else gasped in sheer disbelief.
“Naturally,” Rhodes declared with puffed-up pride. “The Malatang skewers, the farmland out back—all conjured by the boss overnight! Don’t look so shocked. When I first came here, this little building didn’t even exist! The boss was out here hawking roasted potatoes from a tricycle!”
“Wait, she actually pedaled a tricycle?”
“Of course! I’m one of her earliest day-one patrons. You latecomers… tsk.”
“Hey, we’re not that late! Give it time and we’ll be veterans too!”
“Heh, still a step behind me,” Rhodes smirked.
Long Shi propped his hands on his hips. “Hey, Rhodes! When you first showed up, didn’t you keep swearing we were running a scam? How are you turning around now and calling other people jumpy?”
“Wait, really?”
“Every time Old Rhodes heads back into the city, he spins heroic yarns about how they ran off the Mad Dog gang! We’ve never heard this chapter—young man, spill the beans!”
“Ahem—” Long Shi cleared his throat.
“P-people change!” Rhodes blurted defensively. “I still showed up way back when! Have you greenhorns ever seen rendered pork cracklings? I have! I am a bona fide, seasoned veteran customer! Seasoned! Hmph!”
The middle-aged man muttered words like “seasoned” and “founding member” under his breath as he scurried toward the entrance.
The crowd chuckled good-naturedly and surged into the restaurant right behind him.
Up close, they spotted even more changes.
—A larger set of House Rules had been mounted right outside the entrance.
You couldn’t miss it upon approaching.
Inside, a suspended sign pointed toward the staircase on the left: [2nd Floor: À la Carte Dining Area].
Huh? Beside the landing stood… a robot?
“Welcome~”
The square-headed robot’s screen lit up with a cheerful (∩_∩) as its mechanical voice piped up brightly.
Incredible—the boss even had a robot now!
Then again, this was the Chinese Restaurant… so perhaps it wasn’t that bizarre after all.
“What’s… for sale on the second floor?” someone ventured.
“Stir-fries, steamed rice, and braised master-stock platters—everything you could desire!”
The robot answered eagerly.
Stir-fries? What kind of fries? And what was a braised platter…? The crowd only recognized “steamed rice.”
That did nothing to dampen their excitement for the new menu.
She had built out an entire second floor for this; could the food be anything less than extraordinary?
No, wait—nothing the boss touched ever fell short of perfection.
Shouldn’t they hurry up and see for themselves?
A heavy rumble of footsteps echoed as patrons trooped up the stairs.
Whoa— the second floor was remarkably spacious.
Tidy rows of tables and chairs filled the room, each table holding a neat, upright mini-menu.
Every new dish was detailed with its full description.
Refined! Meticulous!
Hiss… but damn, it was pricey.
Flipping through the menu, many faces pinched with genuine heartache—the cheapest offering was 18 City Coins, while the others hovered between twenty and thirty. The most expensive was a staggering fifty!
“Aside from the steamed rice, I’ve never seen any of these dishes before. What are they?”
“No clue… but the buffs and status effects look absurdly strong. It’s easily worth the coin.”
“Sure, it’s worth it, but I only started earning yesterday… I can’t quite bring myself to pull the trigger.”
“Haha, same here.”
Also browsing the second floor was Zhou Xue and her squad, their faces wrapped in cloth.
They didn’t waste time debating. A single glance at the menu was all it took for them to trade meaningful looks—buy it!
The buffs were simply too potent.
Setting aside the three stir-fries, the three higher-priced braised platters offered staggering utility:
[Braised Meat Platter — 50 City Coins
(For 6 hours post-consumption: Attack Power +20%)
Braised Trait: Poison Resistance +5% for 24 hours post-consumption.]
[Braised Offal Platter — 45 City Coins
(For 6 hours post-consumption: Immunity to Parasitism, Mental Corruption, Mind Control, and Mutation debuffs; 2% chance to dodge incoming attacks)
Braised Trait: Poison Resistance +5% for 24 hours post-consumption.]
[Braised Vegetarian Platter — 30 City Coins
(Purges 8% Toxicity. For 4 hours post-consumption: Cleanses internal paralysis, parasitic traces, bloodborne corruption, and radiation accumulation)
Braised Trait: Poison Resistance +5% for 24 hours post-consumption.
Note: Please drink plenty of water after consuming braised dishes.]
Three platters covering raw offensive firepower, status immunities, and deep detoxification—all exceptionally high-grade.
Not to mention the stir-fries, which granted pest dispersion, bonus armor, and mitigation against various toxins.
The more mutated monstrosities they faced in the field, the clearer the value of these buffs became.
“How do we order?”
Zhou Xue asked aloud without hesitation.
“Coming, coming!”
The robot trundled up the stairs, repeating “Excuse me, coming through” as it rolled right up to Zhou Xue.
“What may Caicai get for you, esteemed guest?”
“One Braised Meat Platter, one Braised Offal Platter, one Garlic Broccoli, and one Di San Xian. Add three portions of steamed rice.”
“Loaded…”
Envious murmurs rippled through the onlookers nearby.
“How do I pay?” Zhou Xue asked the machine.
“You may hand payment directly to Caicai!”
“Do you accept energy crystals?”
“Affirmative! Paying Caicai is identical to depositing into the Cash Box!”
Caicai’s screen beamed: (^▽^)
This little machine… was oddly adorable.
Following instructions, Zhou Xue counted out the crystals from her pouch and handed them over.
“…Your change!”
After a momentary pause, several City Coins clinked into the robot’s mechanical hand. It chirped, “Dine-in or takeout?”
“Takeout.”
“Right away!”
The robot was remarkably swift, whirring downstairs and out of sight in a flash. Moments later, it glided back up and set two packed plastic bags onto Zhou Xue’s table.
Its pace rivaled a brisk human jog.
“Your order is served, guest! (^▽^)’
“Understood. Thank you.”
…Even tied shut inside bags, the aroma couldn’t be fully contained.
A deep, savory fragrance of rich stewed meats.
Mingled with an earthy, wonderful scent of wok-tossed greens.
Nothing like it had ever crossed their senses before.
With envious eyes, the crowd watched the big spenders head down the stairs.
Long Qian followed Zhou Xue’s exit with her gaze. Before the squad had even cleared the bottom landing, a loud slap rattled the table beside her ear:
“Hey, little robot! We want to order too!”
The bellow came from a puffed-up, swaggering Long Shi.
Long Qian: “…”
Useless at everything, number one at eating.
