Chapter 21
Note: Apologies for the delay. I took a short break after I finally finished translating Plug-in Delivery System. Anyway, I'll make up for all the missing chapters (5, I think?) over the weekend. Enjoy reading!
Unable to refuse the warm invitation, Wen Xingze finally encored two songs, “Butterfly” and “Bluebird”. (Note: I'm not familiar with these, sorry. They're probably anime theme songs?)
When he used to live in the basement, Wen Xingze didn’t dare to play the suona because it would disturb the residents. The loud and penetrating sound of the suona is undeniable. When Wen Xingze played it on the set, the entertainment reporters outside were startled.
Moreover, the reporters were hooked. After it ended, they asked Wen Xingze if he could post on Weibo.
Wen Xingze said, “I’m not sure about that. I need to ask Sister Ye.”
The reporters started to whimper, “Tears in my eyes.” “It’s worth squatting for so many days. Although we didn’t catch the late Emperor, it’s worth it tonight.” “My youth is back.”
Wen Xingze, “… Is your youth really the suona version of Bluebird?”
Reporter, “Yes, it’s that, Naruto.”
Wen Xingze, “???”
“Being able to be a ghost and drive away ghosts, you’re really amazing, the first person in the idol world.” Another reporter gave Wen Xingze a thumbs up.
Wen Xingze modestly said, “One-stop service, 20 percent off for acquaintances.”
After saying that, he realized that something was wrong. He had never admitted that the vampire brother in “Ghost 100% ” was him. Damn it, was he being tricked?
However, the reporters had already run away with their cameras. Wen Xingze had no choice but to leave it to fate.
Although the three songs were short, the whole crew enjoyed them. After it ended, they didn’t throw away their glow sticks. When they returned to the guest house in twos and threes, they looked like audiences dispersing after a concert.
That night, even the citizens walking at the foot of the mountain saw a large unknown fluorescent blue light appearing on the top of the pine mountain, and the sound of the suona and the call came out.
This became one of the hot topics of urban legends, saying that there were groups of ghosts partying on the mountain…
________________________
After listening to the suona played by the Cub, the thirteenth princes did not go to fight with Chi Yan, although they did come here for that.
The communication from the butler quickly made them realize the urgency of the matter.
“Your Highnesses,” the butler reminded, “the priority is to complete the task. Otherwise, once the time limit of the Soul Casket is up, we will fall into passivity.”
The people who can become the monarch of a country are not fools. If the princess and Chi Yan fight, regardless of whether they win or not, it will definitely take a lot of time.
And the time limit for the PK task is one week, and the time of each day can be roughly divided into three categories: from seven to nine in the evening, the Dragon Clan can communicate with His Majesty, and during the day in the crew, it is the absolute home court of director Chi Yan. They only have the three hours given by the Soul Casket.
This is a battlefield!
A slight misstep will lose make you lose the advantage. And on the matter of His Majesty, the Blood Clan does not want to make any concessions.
And this time everyone was teleported over, the time of the Soul Casket was shortened to one hour, there was no time to waste… even if Chi Yan was really annoying.
Lilith pondered for three seconds and made a decision, “You’re right. What’s the strategy?”
The difficulty of this task is that it requires genuine feelings and they cannot let His Majesty know the existence of the PK task. And His Majesty is not a person who can be moved by money, they have known this a long time ago.
With a ‘pop’, Soren closed the book, “Let's talk.”
The Blood Clan is a race that despises cooperation, unless the situation is extremely special, just like today. Not only the princes, but even ordinary members of the Blood Clan served as rear support.
In the eternal night, the main star of the Blood Clan became noisy.
“…”
Not long after, the thirteen princes who had completed the division of labor disbanded on the spot.
________________________
The kitchen of the guest house rented by the crew.
The kitchen of the guest house is still clean, and all kinds of cooking utensils are quite complete. After using the banknote ability to clear the field, only the Prince Isabella and Prince Soren, were left in the kitchen.
Unlike Lilith, Isabella is a gentler and charming… At least that’s how she appears on the surface.
She asked, “So what do you want me to do?”
The subordinate in the earpiece replied, “In this task, the mission of the two Highnesses is crucial. You are responsible for cooking.”
“That’s not difficult,” Isabella flicked her long hair and said, “I’m good at cooking. Are the ingredients those humans outside the window?”
The subordinate: “?”
After a moment, Isabella added, “They don’t look delicious enough. I guess His Majesty won’t like them.”
The subordinate: “???”
The subordinate began to worry about the success rate of this task. Moreover, will this part be deleted? It feels too inconsistent with the core values.
It must be solemnly stated that the Blood Clan and humans are equal, and there is no anti-human behavior.
Soren: “No, the ingredients are being collected by Os. Let’s start the fire first.”
No matter the season, Soren is neatly dressed in a three-piece suit. He prefers top hats, black cloaks, high-collar shirts, and long canes. He is the most rigorous, old-fashioned gentleman of the Blood Clan.
The two princes stood side by side, staring solemnly at the cooking hearth.
They didn’t know how to use it.
A pale blue soul fire lit up in Soren’s palm, but he quickly extinguished it.
This is the fire for cooking for His Majesty. How can such inferior flames be used?
Ten seconds later, Soren quickly gave up. He couldn’t waste time in such a place. After a while, a human chef who had been hypnotized walked in dizzily and lit the fire.
Soron and Isabella stared at him seriously. After seeing the fire, they were even more disappointed, “This flame is not even as good as the soul fire. Its purity is very low, like the fire of inferior alcohol lamps.”
Soron: “Human, what is the most noble flame in your world?”
The chef in the illusion answered, “…the Olympic flame?”
The subordinate in the earpiece gave the detailed address of the holy fire.
As soon as the voice fell, Isabella snapped her fingers, disappeared on the spot, and reappeared three seconds later.
She shook her head disappointedly at Soren, “There’s no difference between this fire and that one.”
Soron pondered for a moment, “Then there's only one way.”
Five minutes later.
On the stove of the ordinary kitchen in the guest house, a pale flame was burning.
The seed of the white flame is hidden deep in the ancient castle of the Blood Clan. The Blood Clan has a long life, and death is a relief to them. When their souls fall into eternal sleep, they will become the fuel for this flame, which will last forever.
In addition, every time one of thirteenth princes ends his seclusion period, he will also consume a lot of energy to feed it. The flame will only appear on two occasions: one is the once-in-a-thousand-years sacrifice, and the other is when His Majesty arrives, as a guiding light.
Except for His Majesty, no one is qualified to see it. Or rather, no one can see it and still live.
In the underground auction of the Universal Alliance, someone once paid hundreds of millions of star coins, only to buy a wisp of white flame that was extinguished in half a second, and was able to glimpse the fleeting light.
Because it is a soul fire, even though they are in a spiritual state, they can also bring it from there.
Soron and Isabella were finally satisfied: “It’s barely enough.”
________________________
At the same time, in another universe. In a remote planet.
There are few humans in this universe, and they have not joined any country. However, they also have strong combat power — they are not as naturally strong as the Dragon Clan and the Blood Clan. If they want to survive, they must have a skill. Their heavy weapons are very developed.
However, no matter how developed the weapons are, they are helpless when facing absolute, unquestionable power suppression.
The young human administrator felt that his life was coming to an end.
Before him was the prince of the Blood Clan. Although he looks like a cute little boy of a few years old, he just pressed lightly with his bare hands, even without using any magic, and crushed their proud protective shield.
That’s the barrier that other human armies would have to attack for at least three days to see a crack.
The administrator felt despair. It’s too late to ask the Universal Alliance for help now. Moreover the Universal Alliance can’t beat these monsters.
“Don’t be nervous,” said the little boy holding the doll, “I’m not here to kill people, you guys here…”
The administrator caught a glimpse of a lifeline, “Gold and silver treasures and weapons, energy stones are all in the underground warehouse. You can spare us, anything is fine!”
Lan showed a look of disdain, “Who cares about those? Do you have any top chefs?”
Five minutes later, several chefs stood in front of Lan, their legs trembling.
“I need a recipe,” Lan said, “A delicious and nutritionally balanced recipe. It can’t be too salty or too bland, the sugar content can’t be too high or too low, the taste should be just right, and it can’t be too cold or too hot.”
The chefs: “…” Colorful black?? (Note: 五彩斑斓的黑色 [Wǔcǎi bānlán de hēisè] = colorful black. This is a mocking internet slang for someone who doesn't really understand what they want. The term originated from a graphic designer complaining on Weibo about a customer who asked them "Can the logo be enlarged and reduced at the same time?")
The little boy stared at the chefs and took out a stitched toy, “Can’t you do it?”
“!!!”
The chefs shook their heads frantically.
________________________
At the same time, on the other side of the Earth, in a place of extreme cold.
Os was carrying out another crucial task, finding ingredients. Soren called and asked him to process the ingredients before bringing them back, so as not to run out of time. His Majesty might have a stomachache after eating.
Os thought it made sense. He thought that no humans would pass by such a tundra, so he didn’t deliberately hide his spiritual body.
Thus, a middle-aged man who was pulling a sled not far away saw a scene that he would never forget.
The red-haired prince of the summoned his exclusive soul weapon. Os is one of the rare pure-blooded martial arts prince among the princes.
Compared to using illusions, he prefers physical attacks.
So his weapon is a shoulder-mounted particle cannon with a caliber of more than one meter.
The deep gray gun barrel with a metallic luster, without any calibration and compensator installed. Every screw is precise and cold, with an unquestionable aggressiveness. The fluorescent blue screen replaces the position of the calibration mirror, and various positioning data flashed quickly.
When the energy is full, just one shot is enough to vaporize a medium-sized planet directly at high temperature.
The middle-aged man next to him fell to the ground all at once, a handful of snot and a handful of tears, tremblingly looking for his phone, “Help, help!”
Then, the next second.
The middle-aged man watched the red-haired youth charge the particle cannon and aim it at a snow pit on the ground. Steam rose from the snow pit, and the snow melted into boiling water. The youth nodded in satisfaction, and then began to boil eggs in the water.
Boiling eggs…
The middle-aged man’s eyes rolled white, and he passed out.
The same thing happened in many places in two universes. The various strange behaviors of the Blood Clan made the Universal Alliance think that they were going to perform some forbidden technique, or that Muse finally decided to wage war on the entire universe.
But in fact, the Blood Clan just formulated a ‘love dinner’ plan. To make an unusual and delicious dinner for the tired Cub after a day’s work, and then add a little hint, it is expected to win his favor.
And now.
This meal is right in front of Wen Xingze.
Wen Xingze: “…?”
________________________
Eight plates are placed on the dining table.
Four are black and mushy, three are bright red, and another deep bowl seems to contain soup. Wen Xingze watched as the shrimp in it jumped out and then jumped back in.
The story begins with the recipe that Lan obtained.
In that universe, the chefs were indeed high-level chefs, but the food culture, culinary heritage, and ingredients of the two universes were separated by a wide chasm. The chefs were nervous and didn’t know how to satisfy the picky party A. In a short time, they were highly stressed and created such a recipe.
The name seems to be Volcano Snow Dragon Crossing the River, Welcoming Fortune, and Jade Meal.
With the help of this recipe, and Soren and Isabella overestimating their cooking skills, the final result was as it is.
Wen Xingze was silent for half a minute.
Under the hopeful gaze of the little bats, he took a deep breath and then served himself a bowl from each plate without changing his face, except for the soup where the shrimp jumped out.
Wen Xingze said a prayer in his heart, “May Buddha have mercy,” and tried all seven bowls.
Then he brought out all his acting skills and praised sincerely, “Not bad, it’s quite delicious.”
The princes’ emotions visibly soared.
They were very happy.
Lilith turned half her body to comb her long hair, and Soren coughed lightly to hide his smile. Then the thirteen princes came forward one by one and paid a hand-kissing ceremony to Wen Xingze.
“Do you like it? I’ll make it for you next time,” Soren said.
Wen Xingze paused for a second.
It was this second of hesitation that let Lan discover the clue.
“Hold on,” the boy made a pause gesture, frowned, and walked to the table with a stern face, “Your Majesty, I want to taste it.”
Of course, Wen Xingze couldn’t let him taste it. He quickly picked up the bowl closest to Lan and poured it all into his mouth in a hurry.
Unexpectedly, Lan took advantage of this gap to reach for another dish. After trying a bite, he ran to the toilet, “Ugh…”
The other princes’ faces changed.
Wen Xingze: “Wait…”
But it was too late. Every prince came forward, each took a spoonful, and then they also: “Ugh…”
“…”
It was messed up.
Even if you put in 120,000% effort, not everything can be done.
Wen Xingze knew that the Blood Clan must have worked very hard to prepare this meal. They were nervous about finding a recipe, carefully prepared the best ingredients, and then cooked. Although the result was not very good, as an Emperor, he also wanted to give them the praise they deserved.
Wen Xingze knew how much the Blood Clan valued him. A simple look and a word from him can make them happy for a long time, and likewise, it can also make them sad for a long time.
He didn’t want the Blood Clan to feel sad, not even for a second.
He hoped that everyone could be happy. Who could have thought that things would turn out like this, so it’s said that life is full of disappointments.
It was a hot and long summer night.
The princes were silent, Lan sniffed, and tears rolled down like broken beads.
“Your Majesty, wait a moment, I’m going to kill a few people in the next universe.” He turned around and left with his doll.
Wen Xingze: “Wait!”
Wen Xingze rubbed Lan’s hair and said, “I think it’s delicious. When I cooked Mao Xuewang for you on the capital star, didn’t you also think it was delicious?”
That was the first time Wen Xingze tried to replicate a real-world recipe in the game. He couldn’t taste the flavor through the screen, but the Blood Clan was very happy to eat it all, and even almost fought over who would eat the last bite.
Wen Xingze was once complacent about his talent for life skills, until the second time he made it, he ate it, and then all the values started to drop… He then realized that he probably made a dark cuisine.
Most of the time, Wen Xingze is not a considerate person, but he wants to give gentleness to gentle people and love to those who love him.
The princes didn’t speak.
“Because I like you,” Wen Xingze said.
The princes: “?”
The keyword made the princes who were mired in self-blame and dazed suddenly come back to their senses and pricked up their ears.
“Your Majesty, I just ordered a pizza delivery… What’s wrong, why is the atmosphere so heavy?”
At this time, Isabella came in from outside the door with a pizza box. She had just received an emergency communication and went out. The butler advised her to order a takeaway.
Wen Xingze: “Takeout?”
Isabella nodded and opened the takeout box.
The pizza crust was baked to a crisp, the cheese on top was rich and creamy, cut into thin strips. The bacon, shrimp, tuna, and tender corn kernels were evenly sprinkled on top, giving off a delicious aroma with each bite.
Wen Xingze’s eyes widened.
Without comparison, there is no harm.
Compared to the previous dark cuisine, how delicious is this earthly delight! He held a piece of pizza and sincerely said, “I really like you guys.”
The system sound of Cub Raising Program suddenly rang out.
Ding Dong! Congratulations to the Blood Clan parents for successfully meeting the conditions and winning the first PK task, with a total time of 1 hour! Zai Zai has obtained a ‘Double IQ Tool Card1’ and an 'Infinite Volume Mustard Space Card1’.
The Blood Clan parents have obtained ‘72 hours of alone time with Zai Zai on a summer island’, ‘priority in choosing Zai Zai’s career plan within three months’, and ‘one extra delivery opportunity per month’.
The Blood Clan filter has been upgraded! The current level is lv2 (Viscount).
The princes: “?”
The princes: “???”
The princes: “!!!”
The entire Blood Clan’s main star was in an uproar, they originally thought they had lost this time, but…
“The world is really uncertain, we're dark horses.” The little bats cried out in pain.
“…”
________________________
In the same guest house, the director’s room.
Chi Yan stared at the picture on the screen, his lips slightly pursed. After a moment, he took off his glasses and casually placed them on the table.
As a result, he didn’t control his strength for a moment, and with a click, two cracks appeared on the lens.
Chi Yan: “…”
Chi Yan expressionlessly closed his palm and simply crushed the pair of glasses.
Really. Very. Jealous.
________________________
Muse Empire, Lancer Star.
This is a deep blue planet. Looking down from the sky, 95% of the area is covered by the ocean.
The Merfolk settled on this planet.
In terms of appearance alone, almost no race can compare with the mermaids except for the elves. Both men and women are beautiful and ethereal, and their singing voices are unmatched.
However, the Merfolk is not an extroverted race. If it weren’t for His Majesty’s summons, they could live in the dark deep sea for decades.
And the signal in the deep sea is not good, which caused only the tribal chief, Xia, to successfully make a reservation during the first beta test of Cub Raising Program.
But not this time.
In the silent deep sea, the once prosperous city-state is already covered with moss, this is the city of the mermaids. The lost civilization, the unknown ancient city, for a long time in the past, this seemed like a sarcastic joke, hinting at the sad fate of this race abandoned by civilization.
At this moment, in the darkness, there appeared dots of lights.
It has been a full fourteen years since they last saw the Emperor face to face. Although it has been a long time, they still remember what he looked like when he smiled.
Lantern fish led the way in front, and the priest Wu Zhu also carried a never-extinguishing lamp, with thousands of mermaids following him.
He has a beautiful blue fishtail, the same color ear fins, hair like satin, casually tied with seaweed, this is a common dress among young mermaids. The sea current is like wind, sweeping up the mermaids’ long hair.
The mermaids rode the ocean current, climbing upwards in the wind.
They can’t wait.
…They want to see him.
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Thank You!!! I can't wait for the next chapter!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hard work~
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