What was going on?
Why was he smiling like that?
The chef could no longer stand the sight of Lin Ye's smile. Every time that smile appeared, it meant he was about to suffer a loss, about to be cornered and worn down by Lin Ye.
Could it be that Lin Ye had found the right way to deal with him?
No, impossible.
The chef didn't believe it, didn't dare believe it. Subconsciously, he gripped the cleaver in his hand tightly.
Only the cleaver in his hand could give him a greater sense of security.
After his brief shock, the chef recovered his confident posture. Even with no real confidence, he still put on a bluff, determined to make Lin Ye give up the struggle.
"Come on! One on one. Let me see how much strength you have."
'Crack, crack, crack...'
The crisp sound of cracking bones rang out, echoing through the dining room, unusually loud.
The chef straightened his back. His burly frame looked even taller, the muscles of both arms tensing, becoming firmer and more powerful.
The aura from his body alone was enough to make one cower, not to mention the cleaver reflecting a cold metallic glint under the lights.
Lin Ye watched calmly, his gaze gradually moving down from the chef's face to his body, then to his feet, and finally back up to the intimidating cleaver in his hand.
That cleaver—
who knew how many corpses it had dissected and killed,
how many bodies it had sliced into chunks of meat, into portions of ingredients.
Even ten meters apart, Lin Ye could smell the crimson, bloody stench staining that cleaver.
"Heh heh, scared now, aren't you!"
The chef raised his head, looking even more arrogant. "Resist less, suffer less."
This was his friendly reminder to Lin Ye.
Lin Ye frowned slightly. "For a chef, your acting really is quite something."
"Hm?"
He made a puzzled sound.
"What are you trying to say?"
"My showing myself means I've found a way to deal with you."
"..."
He had indeed thought of that, but this was also his chance.
This time,
he would definitely kill this man before him, dismember him into chunks of meat, into ingredients.
He wanted to hear his struggling cries, wanted to hear his screams for help and pleas for mercy, wanted to witness the beautiful sight of him bloodied and mangled.
"Cut the crap, come on!"
With that,
this time the chef unleashed the full strength of his body. His massive frame charged forward with a 'boom', like Mount Tai crashing onward, unstoppable.
The cleaver in his hand once again gave off a 'whoosh, whoosh, whoosh' as it tore through the air.
Lin Ye softly murmured, "Time Stop."
Everything once again fell into silent stillness.
Lin Ye could clearly see the rage and murderous intent in the eyes of the charging chef.
It was completely different from the start. At first, the chef had always been full of confidence, with the look of someone holding all the cards.
It was the mindset of one who knew he was safe and could toy with his prey at will.
As for the guests who came to the dining room, he didn't believe these guests, bound by the rules, could pose any threat to him.
Up until now, he had never encountered a single guest who could pose a threat or cause harm.
Over the long years, he had formed this kind of mindset.
Until Lin Ye appeared,
only then did he realize that among humans there were also extraordinary existences, players strong enough to bring a sense of threat.
And because of this,
the chef felt a sense of urgency too, wanting to kill Lin Ye as quickly as possible to ensure his own safety.
All the more because Lin Ye had set his sights on the dining room, which made him all the more determined to deal with Lin Ye and eliminate this threat.
If he lost the dining room, he would lose everything.
The dining room alone—he would never allow anyone to covet it.
Therefore,
when he made his move, it was laced with more anger and murderous intent. Every strike was aimed to kill, no longer toying with his prey, enjoying the process and keeping the ingredients fresh as he had at first.
But as for Lin Ye,
in the Time Stop state, no matter how powerful the enemy, they could pose no threat to him.
The chef's combat power was high, and Lin Ye couldn't break his defense.
But now,
he had found a method.
Though he couldn't be certain, it was always worth a try.
"I should have tried it during the last Time Stop,"
Lin Ye shook his head as he came to the chef's side.
"This cleaver is so obvious, so sharp—why didn't I think to try using it? Even if it didn't work, there'd be no loss at all."
Lin Ye secretly regretted not having thought to make use of it the first time, during his last Time Stop.
He reached out both hands, one gripping the chef's wrist, the other grasping the cleaver's handle.
"So tight..."
It was stuck in there.
Lin Ye spent quite a while, 'tug, tug, tug', before he managed to loosen the chef's tightly clenched right hand a little.
He successfully obtained the cleaver.
A silver-metallic blade, streaked with strands of red bloodstains.
Who knew how many times this cleaver had slaughtered.
This time,
he was going to use this very cleaver to finish off and kill its owner.
Lin Ye gripped it tightly, his eyes turning sharp, his muscles tensing.
The next second,
he brought it down hard against the chef's neck.
'Swish...'
The cleaver swept through, splitting the air with a sound.
The blade sank into flesh,
completely different from the bouncing-back sensation of the Dagger before.
Lin Ye broke into a triumphant smile.
The key item of this dining room was the cleaver—this one and only cleaver.
Earlier, while invisible, Lin Ye had gone to the back kitchen. There were many utensils and cooking tools in the back kitchen, but no cleaver—
not even a fruit knife.
This was one of the reasons he had placed his suspicion on the chef's cleaver.
A unique item was often given special rules.
Combined with the fact that the chef had used the cleaver to dissect who knew how many corpses,
this led Lin Ye to believe the cleaver was the key item to dealing with the chef.
And now the feedback of it sinking into flesh was the best proof.
His analysis was correct.
Immediately after, Lin Ye chopped at the chef's shoulder, chest, abdomen, and thigh.
He chopped at the head too, but whether due to the rules or some issue with the chef's own forehead, the cleaver failed to cut in.
Within the brief Time Stop,
Lin Ye poured all his strength into it, chopping blow after blow across the chef's body.
Until the second before the Time Stop ended, he pulled away from the chef at top speed.
The Time Stop ended.
"Boom..."
Following his charge and momentum, the chef kept crashing forward, slamming into the wall with a 'boom'.
"It hurts..."
It hurt a lot.
Everywhere on his body hurt.
Just slamming into a wall hurt this much?
The chef kept feeling baffled.
He didn't understand, didn't understand at all.
This made no sense.
With his Constitution, even crashing a few times shouldn't hurt this much.
The chef blinked, propped himself up with one hand, and discovered four blood marks on his arm.
He was even bleeding?
And this much?
The moment he moved, his whole body felt like it was tearing apart.
Blood stained everything; in some places there was nothing left but red.
How was this possible?
And the few waiters in the distance were also dumbfounded.
As bystanders, they observed the chef's condition more clearly.
The chef, unharmed just a second ago, was now covered in wounds all over his body, red blood streaming down endlessly. His abdomen had even split open, intestines spilling out, and the gash on his neck was especially striking.
They couldn't figure it out either, completely unable to understand what had happened in that brief instant.
"I..."
"What happened to me?"
"My cleaver, my cleaver!"
He turned his head and saw Lin Ye holding his cleaver, blood dripping down drop by drop.
That was blood—that was his own blood.
In this moment,
he seemed to understand something.
Lin Ye had found the key item and successfully snatched it from his hand.
His spinning mind still couldn't imagine how Lin Ye had done it.
Even if his opponent could figure out the cleaver was the key item, it would be impossible to snatch it away soundlessly and chop him so many times in such a short period.
"You..."
"A skill... a Blessing..."
What on earth was it?
He wanted an explanation.
"Tell me... how... did you do it,"
"Let me die... a little more clearly."
'Clang...'
He knelt weakly on the ground, his burly frame now stripped of all its intimidating power.
But Lin Ye stayed where he was, not rashly approaching.
He was cautious, trying his best to avoid any possibility of being counter-killed.
Who could guarantee the chef no longer had the ability to resist and struggle?
He couldn't guarantee it.
What he could guarantee was not placing himself in possible risk.
Right now, there was no need for Lin Ye to approach and take on unnecessary risk.
"Te... tell me..."
The kneeling chef raised his hand, wanting to get that answer, but Lin Ye stood still, lips pressed tight, his attitude cold, showing no inclination to answer at all.
The light in the chef's eyes gradually dimmed.
With a 'thud'.
His whole body collapsed heavily onto the floor, no longer moving at all, a patch of red blood spreading, the bloody stench thick and pungent.
Even so,
Lin Ye still didn't let down his guard and rashly approach to confirm whether the chef was alive or dead.
"You all..."
He looked toward the waiters not far away. "Come here."
But no one dared to move.
If even the chef had ended up like this, would they end up the same?
"If you don't come, I wouldn't mind..."
As he spoke, Lin Ye flicked the cleaver, sending a few drops of blood flying off to land on the floor.
The few waiters still stood hesitantly in place, until one waiter couldn't help but walk toward Lin Ye, causing this stand-off alliance to collapse outright.
The three waiters hurriedly trotted up before Lin Ye.
"You... what are you...?"
"Check whether he's still alive."
"Uh!"
"If you don't, I'll have you lying down next to him."
The next second, the waiters sprang into action, scrambling to be first, afraid of falling behind the others.
They were the dining room's waiters. In terms of permission registration, they should actually rank higher than Lin Ye. As long as he followed the dining room's rules, Lin Ye normally couldn't deal effective harm to them.
However,
seeing that even the chef, who was stronger than them, had met such a tragic end, if they opposed Lin Ye and angered him, their fate likely wouldn't be much better.
Therefore,
obedience was important.
The waiters quickly stepped over to the chef's body and crouched down.
"Head Chef,"
"Head Chef."
The waiters flipped the chef's body over and shook it hard,
but the chef gave no reaction at all.
Dead?
the waiters couldn't help but think.
The few of them felt a weight lift in their hearts.
This Head Chef who had always oppressed them was dead.
In some ways, this was a good thing for them.
But they now had to face someone even more terrifying than the chef.
How would this person deal with them?
Everything was unknown.
"He's... he's dead,"
a trembling voice sounded as they looked toward Lin Ye.
"Move aside."
The few of them immediately retreated, even taking several extra steps to ensure the distance between them was far enough.
What they feared was that being too close would make it easy for Lin Ye to hurt them.
Looking down at the chef who had died with his eyes closed, Lin Ye gripped the cleaver and swung it down.
'Swish, swish!'
The ear-piercing sound of air being split.
"Thud,"
"Thud..."
The sound of it sinking into flesh kept on.
Blood splattered, flesh blurred into chunks.
Finally, Lin Ye confirmed the chef was dead.
"You remember the agreement between him and me, right!"
A waiter had just been shaking his head vigorously, not wanting to get involved, but immediately noticed the reactions of the waiters beside him and quickly nodded to show he knew.
Bullying the weak and fearing the strong—
this principle held true even in the Strange world.
"After he died, I can leave the dining room,"
The waiter being stared at by Lin Ye immediately nodded.
"You, you can leave now, you can leave anytime. I, I'll take you out right away."
With that,
this waiter was about to lead Lin Ye out, but found that Lin Ye was standing still.
"Guest, why... why aren't you leaving?"
"These Strange Coins of mine..."
'Swish!'
Without Lin Ye even having to say it, the few waiters immediately sprang into action, picking up the Strange Coins on the ground as fast as they could.
"Here you are."
"Not enough,"
"Ah!"
"All the Strange Coins... are right here,"
They had counted them and were sure there was no problem.
But seeing Lin Ye's cold expression, it seemed like there really were some Strange Coins missing.
"He did say he would compensate me with Strange Coins,"
The waiters: ???
The compensation the chef promised—what does that have to do with us, and besides, he's already dead.
"I, I'll bring the Head Chef's personal belongings over right away."
With that,
the waiter immediately ran off, which made the remaining waiters secretly grumble in displeasure.
They had been one step too slow.
Soon,
the waiter came carrying a bag.
Inside were Strange Coins.
Lin Ye estimated there were over a hundred of them.
That wasn't a small amount.
He also knew that his own situation of possessing over a thousand Strange Coins was absolutely extremely rare.
For this dining room's chef to have over a hundred Strange Coins, he must have saved them up over a long time.
"Very good,"
With that, Lin Ye tossed two Strange Coins to this waiter.
This made the other waiters terribly envious!
Such a good thing—why didn't it fall to them?
Lin Ye's goal was achieved; a waiter had taken the initiative to show goodwill.
So, what came next would be even simpler.
"The agreement between him and me is valid, right!"
The waiter nodded vigorously.
"Very good. Two hundred Strange Coins to buy this dining room—that's a valid promise,"
"From now on, this dining room belongs to me,"
A single sentence
left the waiter flustered.
Wasn't the agreement you mentioned that 'after defeating the chef, you can leave the dining room'?
How did it suddenly change?
"From now on, you all are my employees,"
The waiters found it hard to accept.
"From now on, you're the one in charge of the waiters. I'll make you the floor manager."
This waiter who had just received two Strange Coins was astonished, overjoyed beyond all expectation.
There was such a good thing too—
now he was the floor manager, the one in charge as well?
"Thank you, sir."
He accepted it and expressed his gratitude.
At Lin Ye's signal, this newly promoted waiter launched into a lecture at the other waiters.
His eagerness to show off made even Lin Ye a little embarrassed.
But since this was something he didn't have to do himself, he was happy to take it easy.
"Guest..."
"Guest?"
Lin Ye's rhetorical question startled this waiter.
"My lord, manager, you, if you want to become the true owner of this dining room, you still need to do this..."
He began to explain some things.
This information was something they had received from the dining room after the chef's death—contact from the dining room itself.
It was a message echoing in their minds.
Each of the waiters had thought only he himself knew this information—that as long as they saw Lin Ye off and acted according to this message, they could gain the dining room's recognition and become the next manager.
However,
under Lin Ye's intimidation, one waiter couldn't hold out and compromised, defecting of his own accord.
Only then did Lin Ye learn what the situation was.
Very good,
the smile of the Hypnosis superpower still worked.
Now he had switched to a different approach, choosing methods like suggestion that were easy to go unnoticed, methods that wouldn't draw attention, to achieve his goals.
For instance, this waiter was affected, harboring a psychological suggestion to ingratiate himself with Lin Ye.
All of this would be more natural and less likely to draw the attention and resistance of the dining room's rules.
What Lin Ye now had to contend with and handle was not the waiters themselves, but those invisible rules.
"Very good."
After hearing the waiter's explanation,
Lin Ye understood.
He glanced at the other waiters who had lowered their heads.
"Wanting to be the manager—that's fine, that's the most normal way to think,"
Lin Ye smiled, not dwelling on this matter any further.
"Drag him into the kitchen for me."
As his words fell, the waiters immediately sprang into action.
The chef was dragged into the back kitchen,
and finally Lin Ye dragged him into the firewood stove.
With a 'whoosh'.
The chef's body immediately caught fire, the flames quickly growing into a raging blaze.
In just three short minutes.
The chef was reduced to ashes, vanishing forever.
And Lin Ye heard a voice from the system.
[Congratulations, you have become the official manager of 'Akasaka Yakiniku Restaurant.']
In this moment,
Lin Ye felt at ease.
With the system's notification, it showed there was no problem with this identity; this yakiniku restaurant had become his possession.
That chef,
was actually the manager of this dining room. Calling himself Head Chef was probably just a way to hide his identity.
Going by the current situation,
burning the manager allowed one to inherit the identity and become the new manager.
If the manager's identity were exposed, it would be easy to be targeted.
Only, not many people actually knew this information.
This time too, because the chef had been killed, the dining room had automatically contacted its staff, informing them of the method for the new manager to emerge.
"Tidy this place up,"
"Manage this place well,"
"I'll be back later."
Lin Ye left a few words, made his arrangements, and walked toward the entrance door.
In this moment,
the dining room's doors could no longer restrict his coming and going.
And outside.
A girl with short blue hair was waiting, her expression growing more and more worried and guilty.
She felt that she really shouldn't have left first after all.
...
...
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