CHAPTER 740: CHAPTER 739: THE CURTAIN OF CONFLICT (PART 1)

The female protagonist showcased her precious "Food Justice."

Speaking of which, it was Xia Yu’s first time to truly taste the complete Food Justice of a Lin Chef. A count on his fingers revealed, setting aside the Food Dominator path, how many Lin Chefs had he met?

Zhu Qing was secretive, hiding too much from him.

Shinohara’s group and the Far Moon’s group, mostly stuck at the special rank bottleneck, and even the "Food Demon King," who just taught him the ramen recipe a few days ago, had reservations.

"Power!" Xia Yu mumbled as he chewed.

The room was quiet, everyone savoring the egg custard as if it were a smooth-skinned, beautiful woman with an enticing charisma whose plush couch made one indulge and linger.

A round of applause.

Saito Chiyokuro, on the cusp of a breakthrough, sighed, "This is the true Food Justice. My ’Shura’ is still somewhat lacking."

"Maybe I know what path I should take next!"

Dojima Yin, full of gratitude, bowed deeply at his seat like a samurai bowing before the bar.

The precious thing of the female protagonist also awakened him.

Sometimes, it’s just the final step that’s missing.

Another silence.

At the head seat, Tiqie Xianzuowen appeared hesitant, but eventually decided to speak up. His gaze swept towards the silently sitting female protagonist and then glanced at Xia Yu, who was deep in thought, "Reiko, your ’Food Justice’ gives me a sense of familiarity..."

His words were very tactful.

Familiarity?

The other three giants, clueless, exchanged surprised looks.

"Tiqie old man, have you eaten similar Food Justice?" The Master of Yuchuan asked.

Suddenly, the whole room looked at him, and not just Xianzuowen, but Shinohara, Dojima Yin, and others who took part in Zhonghua Building’s recent commotion also had strange expressions, as if they had words on their hearts but held them back.

The atmosphere began to feel a touch eerie.

"Speak clearly!"

The Master of Yuchuan frowned severely. By nature, she was hot-tempered, clearly seen from her facial features. Perhaps only such a temper could suppress those odd things in Yuchuan Temple.

"Reiko, you should say it—" Xianzuowen said with a smile.

"Yes!"

Thus, the female protagonist shifted her posture, changed her angle to no longer face the four giants but to face Xia Yu, who was deep in thought. A pair of eyes watched, and Xia Yu sensed it and looked up, uttering an "Eh?" and blinking.

"What’s the situation?"

Especially those beautiful eyes of the female protagonist, which undisguisedly showed gratitude and joy.

Without a doubt, the female protagonist who was unanimously recognized by the four major figures of the Japanese Food Industry had truly earned the title "Qilin," becoming a rare new Female Qilin Chef in recent years!

Nearby whispers.

More food industry giants in the dark pondered what role Xia Yu played in the female protagonist’s ascent. They were not fools; it looked like a powerful benefactor had descended.

"Hmph!"

A cold snort landed harshly in the room.

The sound stopped immediately.

"I don’t care about any Food Justice!" Lei Zhe, unconcerned with others, said stiffly with a stone face, "Food is food. Flavor and ingredients are its essence!"

"And fundamentally speaking, this Japanese steamed egg dish is nothing more than an ordinary steamed egg. You can taste it, right? Eggs, ordinary, discount supermarket goods, and I don’t want to talk too much about the other seasoning details... Anyway, this dish is utterly ordinary! I haven’t seen any cooking that could be subsumed into the ’Qilin’ level."

Lei Zhe, Catherine, and Andrea all had a similar reaction.

Especially, if you pay attention, on their tables, some of the egg custards in their tea cups had only been scooped once. Andrea actually ate two spoonfuls, but most of the food was still left untouched!

Can’t eat it?

The so-called "Food Tyrant’s Stomach" hasn’t opened?

This, being the full embodiment of food justice, still can’t move these three people—isn’t that a bit shocking!

Hearing this, the crowd reacted differently.

Tiqie Xianzuowen’s face showed a slight change; he probably hadn’t expected the three Food Tyrant Chefs to be indifferent to the essence behind the steamed tea bowl. But he remembered that he had just said he had tasted similar food justice, his eyebrows twitched, and a flicker of realization appeared in his eyes.

Dojima Yin inhaled sharply from his seat, "Mr. Lei Zhe, the taste, the ingredients are indeed very ordinary, but..."

Bang!

The sound of a table being slapped—Aoki Motota, the ’Ghost-faced Monk,’ whose temper was also not that great, stood up angrily and glared at Lei Zhe, "What exactly are you trying to say? Are you questioning Reiko’s promotion to Qilin level? Or do you want to point at the food and say—this is garbage?!"

Indeed, the ritual had invited guests who shouldn’t have come; there were signs that it could turn into an arena.

The atmosphere immediately became tense as drawn swords and ready crossbows.

Catherine and Andrea, swept by the implicitly hostile glances of the Japanese food industry’s giants, had a slight smile on their lips as if their schemes had succeeded, their smiles subtly concealing their cunning.

The time goes back to the evening.

At Lei Zhe’s residence.

The three giants of the ’Gourmet Club’ gathered in the closed space.

An invitation lay on the table.

"This is an invitation sent over personally by Liangzi Lina..."

Catherine and Andrea’s gazes flashed. They, too, had received a similar invitation—there was certainly deep meaning within.

"A Qilin Chef’s promotion ceremony? Let me think, it seems like at least ten years since Japan had a newly promoted Qilin Chef, so you can imagine how grand this ceremony will be, even if it’s low-key, it will gather most of the Japanese food industry’s giants..." Andrea said with a playful tone.

She clearly felt the ill-intentioned nature of the event, but her face still bore a smile. After all, the ’Burning Purple Rose,’ who also had the nickname ’Smiling Angel,’ was well-known to those familiar with her as someone who loved chaos and sought to stir up trouble behind that smiling face.

Catherine glanced at Lei Zhe and spoke coldly, "The task set by the leader, how do you plan to..."

Lei Zhe waved his hand to interrupt.

"Isn’t the opportunity coming right at us?" With a trace of mockery on his lips, to be honest, Lei Zhe had been very annoyed these past days, feeling irritated. On one hand, he didn’t know what method to use to get rid of this thorn in his eye.

On the other hand, he hadn’t found the right opportunity to do something big within the somewhat closed Japanese food industry and intimidate the powers that be.

"Hm?"

Noticing the eager tone in Lei Zhe’s words—a sure sign he was keen on causing trouble—Andrea’s smile became even more nuanced.

"The curtain of conflict is finally about to be drawn!" she murmured.

Returning to the main hall of ’Zen Residence.’

Aoki Motota stood up and asked Lei Zhe in a harsh tone, instantly tensing the atmosphere in the room.

Xia Yu, too, was awoken by the noise, raising her head and scanning towards the still quietly kneeling main chef. In her clear, sky-like eyes, Xia Yu saw only a transparency and cleanliness, unfazed by Lei Zhe’s provocation.

Secretly giving a thumbs up, his lips silently moved as he mouthed words across the room to the main chef, saying, "Leave it to me, Teacher Reiko!"

This title of teacher was tinged with teasing and jest, which the main chef understood, her eyes revealing a touch of reprimand.

Garbage?

Faced with Aoki Motota’s questioning, Lei Zhe coldly said, "This is what you said yourself!"

Even Saito Chiyokuro, the ’Food Demon King,’ who was known for his good self-control, grew angry at Lei Zhe’s unreasonable provocation, saying in a deep voice, "This is a dish of Food Justice, and it does not require a Food Dominator Lin Chef’s acknowledgement! The precious ingredients within it are not to be blasphemed!"

"That’s right, the level standards of Food Dominator and Food Justice dishes are fundamentally two different systems!"

"He’s too presumptuous!"

Other giants spoke up, unanimously turning their spearheads towards Lei Zhe.