Chapter 9: Dining at This Restaurant Guarantees Absolute Safety
Faced with the sudden appearance of the colossal mutated plant, the hearts of Long Qian and her group sank like stones. They steeled themselves for a fight to the death.
Seed City—one of the Frontier Cities they hailed from—was theoretically an area where mutated plants of such extreme danger, exceeding safety zone parameters, should never appear.
The Four Frontier Cities were sheltered by the Three Great Cities.
Long Qian’s squad ventured beyond the walls almost every single day; over the years, they had seen their fair share of mutated flora and fauna.
Those with writhing tentacles, unnaturally agile vines, razor-sharp leaves capable of slitting a person’s throat… They appeared like ghosts, and the squad had to deal with them daily while scavenging for crystals.
Not to mention the countless stealthy toxic insects and venomous beasts lurking in the shadows.
Stepping beyond the walls meant facing perilous danger; a single slip-up meant losing your life.
Those who had survived to this day were all battle-hardened veterans.
Yet a mutated plant far exceeding safety zone parameters was something none of them had ever encountered before.
Possessing enough raw strength to shatter a boulder to pieces was utterly terrifying.
Had something gone wrong with the safety zone? Would this mutated bamboo shoot monster swallow them whole in a single gulp?
Lately, the mutated flora and fauna seemed noticeably more active. Were the Three Great Cities keeping secrets from them?
…Could they truly stand a chance against a mutated plant of this scale?
Countless questions weighed heavily on everyone’s minds.
Yet with the enemy bearing down on them and their lives hanging in the balance, no one wasted breath on such pointless inquiries.
Only the living had the right to march to the city magistrates and demand answers about what was “theoretically supposed to be.”
Even the youngest, Lina, set her jaw tight. She adjusted her and her sister’s face cloths, scrambling to her feet to flee alongside Old Hu.
Her face was paper-white, completely terrified.
The others were in no better shape.
They gripped their weapons tightly, acting swiftly on Long Qian’s orders.
Even with no certainty of survival, all they could do was steady their trembling hands around their blades, fighting for that sliver of hope in this harsh wasteland.
This was simply their everyday reality.
Therefore, when the boss said, “Please remain calm; feel free to continue enjoying your meal,” none of them could comprehend what the words meant.
Long Ya even reached out in a panic to grab Ling Jing’s sleeve. “Run with me, hurry! Your cart is so huge, it’s a sitting duck!”
“Incoming!”
Long Qian suddenly roared, alerting the companions fighting alongside her to face the threat.
In the blink of an eye, the massive mutated bamboo shoot had loomed right before them. Its pyramid-shaped trunk was covered in spore-like protrusions. One of the protrusions abruptly shot forward like a spear, lunging straight toward the tops of their heads—
Fast. It was terrifyingly fast!
Old Hu had barely lifted Geli onto his back, Lilin and Lina hadn’t even begun to run, and Long Ya hadn’t even managed to budge the boss!
Damn it! With just the few of them, buying even a few seconds would be nearly impossible.
Long Qian’s heart plummeted to the very bottom.
“Strike!”
Gritting her teeth, she put all her weight into her sword arm, swinging her machete with every ounce of strength toward the oncoming shoot!
The others barely had time to raise their weapons, doing everything they could to parry the blow.
Whoosh—
Long Qian’s blade cleaved empty air.
She struck nothing at all.
The same was true for everyone else.
The moment that lunging protrusion thrust into their space, it seemed to dissolve like a snowflake… vanished?
No.
Their eyes went wide as they looked above their heads.
To be precise, the moment the mutated bamboo shoot touched the hemispherical dome of white light centered on the tricycle—which had unknowingly enveloped everyone present—every portion of the protrusion that entered the boundary disintegrated into fine powder.
…What was going on?
Stumbling from her missed swing, Long Qian caught her balance.
Just like all her companions, her face went utterly blank with bewilderment.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Giving them no time to process, the spore-like nodules all over the mutated bamboo shoot sprouted rapidly, detaching from its colossal trunk and firing toward them like a barrage of projectiles!
Blisteringly fast, shooting forward at breakneck speed!
Intercepting them was out of the question!
Before that thought could even finish crossing their minds, those twisted, sickly-green mini-shoots met the white light—and were instantly pulverized into nothingness.
“???”
“?????”
Everyone was thrown into deeper confusion.
“This white light…”
“Could it actually…”
Someone spoke up in disbelief.
Before the sentence could be finished, a thunderous BOOM shook the ground.
The mutated bamboo shoot leapt violently, using the ground beneath it to launch its massive body straight at them!
It was furious!
Not only had it failed to snatch the tiny ants for nourishment, but it had also lost a chunk of its own body!
It wanted to grind these defiant ants into bloody pulp and swallow them down!
Fsssshhhh——————
Because the mutated bamboo shoot monster was much larger, the process of turning into powder lasted a little longer.
This time, every single person saw it with absolute clarity.
—Starting from the bulbous, rounded base that breached the white light, it was pulverized into dust as if pushed into a massive woodchipper.
Its chunky, thick midsection, its sharp pointed tip…
When the rushing noise settled, nothing remained.
Aside from a faint haze of settling dust just beyond the white light, it was as if that attacking monstrosity had been nothing more than an optical illusion.
An eerie silence fell over the area as everyone stared at the scene in sheer shock.
No one spoke. You could have heard a pin drop.
Was it relief after escaping death? Or sheer disbelief at the spectacle they had just witnessed?
None of them could tell, nor could they find the words.
Only Ling Jing broke the silence.
Tapping the “Restaurant Rules” placard, she reiterated calmly, “Please have faith in Rule 2 of this establishment.”
What Restaurant Rules?
The crowd turned their gazes toward the cardboard sign beside the stall.
Indeed, the placard had been posted there from the very beginning; quite a few of them had glanced at it when they first arrived.
Looking was one thing, but in a life-or-death crisis like that, who would ever remember a sign…
Having witnessed the boss’s unfathomable power, they took a few steps closer to the placard.
—”2. Diners within the premises of this restaurant are guaranteed absolute safety.”
Someone read it aloud in a hushed murmur.
Absolute.
Safety.
Before seeing the fate of that mutated bamboo shoot with their own eyes, people might have sneered at such a ridiculous claim.
In the middle of an apocalypse, who could possibly guarantee absolute safety?
Their city couldn’t guarantee it, the other Frontier Cities couldn’t guarantee it, and the Three Great Cities, teeming with powerful Awakeners, certainly couldn’t guarantee it.
Yet this “Chinese Restaurant”…
First, it showed them a haven completely sealed off from the emerald mist. Then, it fed them precious food capable of purging deadly toxins. And now, it had shown them how a terrifying mutated plant—one that even high-tier Awakeners would struggle to handle—could effortlessly vanish into thin air before their eyes…
They had no choice but to believe.
“Are you an envoy sent by the heavens in answer to our prayers, come to save us?”
Geli, clutching his sweet potato, muttered dazedly.
He had voiced the very thought echoing in everyone’s minds.
“No.” Ling Jing smiled and shook her head.
She opened the roaster, casually pulling out the freshly baked sweet potatoes.
“I’m no envoy. I’m just the owner of a Chinese restaurant.”
“Chinese Restaurant…”
Long Qian repeated the name under her breath, staring at the signboard in front of the boss.
The others focused their gazes on it as well.
“What does ‘Chinese’ mean?”
Someone asked tentatively.
Ling Jing looked up, her expression earnest and sincere: “It is my homeland.”
