Su Chen carried the tray in one hand, expression solemn as he walked toward Anaxagoras, accompanied by Acheron and Kiana.
Aglaea sat far away at another table.
Su Chen gave a slight nod and placed the tray in front of Anaxagoras. "Hello, Anaxagoras. This is the Dawn-Breaking Egg Fried Rice—made with thoughts of the coming light! Please enjoy!"
"Dawn-Breaking Egg Fried Rice?" Anaxagoras's lips curved slightly upward. "Very much my student's style. Then let me see what kind of egg fried rice emerges under Ms. Aglaea's guidance."
"Mm…" Su Chen nodded and slowly lifted the metal cover from the tray.
Instantly, golden light burst forth, blinding everyone present.
And a familiar BGM—The Great Wall—suddenly echoed realistically in everyone's ears.
"Huh?! This is—!" Anaxagoras removed his eyepatch. "Such special effects… but could you turn off the lights inside?"
"Oh, sorry. I wanted to add a little flair." Su Chen switched off the blinding flashlights he'd borrowed from Silver Wolf.
"And please turn off the restaurant speakers too."
"Sorry." Hyacine pressed the remote in her hand. "Teacher Na, Gray-bao said it would increase immersion."
Anaxagoras shook his head helplessly. "Food is meant to be eaten, not listened to or watched."
"Actually, it was all Ms. Aglaea's idea." Su Chen leaned close to Anaxagoras's ear and whispered.
"Hahahahaha…" Anaxagoras laughed. "As expected of her. Truly low-level tactics."
Kiana pulled a cucumber from her pocket, rubbed it on her shoulder, and took a crisp bite. "Boss Su Chen, that move was ruthless."
Acheron found it somewhat amusing. "Anyway, all the bickering is kind of fun."
At the same time.
Anaxagoras picked up the spoon, scooped a small portion, and carefully separated the grains one by one.
After examining it, he took another spoonful and put it in his mouth.
After a full minute of slow, deliberate chewing, he finally swallowed.
Anaxagoras put his eyepatch back over his left eye.
Kiana squinted at him. "Acheron-neesan, I remember he wasn't wearing it on that eye earlier. Why'd he switch?"
Acheron shook her head—she had no idea either.
"Little girl, I do this to give my eyes proper rest. Normally I only need one eye. Only when I truly need to focus do I use both. Understand?"
Anaxagoras spoke calmly with his back to Kiana.
"You could hear us from that far?" Kiana gave an awkward laugh. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to."
"I'll let it slide since you didn't intend it." Anaxagoras glanced at Su Chen. "Mr. Su Chen, tell Phainon his egg fried rice passes. He may now begin learning other dishes.
However… it is merely passable. There is still great room for improvement in this egg fried rice."
"Should I relay it word-for-word, or interpret it first before passing it on?"
"That depends on what you expect of him…" Anaxagoras slowly stood and gave a nod to everyone except Aglaea. "Thank you all for giving me a rather pleasant dining experience."
Finally, Anaxagoras walked over to Aglaea.
Aglaea's brows furrowed slightly. "You're leaving? Thank goodness."
"It seems I misjudged you—at least Phainon hasn't regressed under your care. Before I go, I'll leave you with a token of appreciation."
Anaxagoras slowly reached his right hand into his pocket.
At that moment, Hyacine, Kiana, and Su Chen huddled together, ready to witness a historic scene.
Acheron, however, remained indifferent and didn't join in.
"That motion… is he about to propose?" Kiana offered her first guess.
Su Chen instantly shot it down. "That's a bit much, isn't it? If those two got married, would they hold the wedding in an octagonal cage? Fighting while exchanging vows?"
"Ki-bao, your imagination is way too wholesome. Gray-bao, yours is downright sinful." Hyacine thought for a moment. "I think maybe Teacher Na and Ms. Aglaea could reconcile."
"Reconcile?" The moment gossip was mentioned, Su Chen and Kiana instantly perked up. In unison: "What untold story is behind this?"
"It's basically just a clash of philosophies. Teacher Na believes chefs should center themselves and not blindly follow trends, while Ms. Aglaea thinks following the mainstream is essential—if you can't keep up with the meta, everything's pointless.
So whenever they invent a new dish, they end up arguing nonstop!"
Su Chen mulled it over. "Actually, neither of them is really wrong. If each takes one step back, wouldn't it be fine?"
"Sigh… the problem is neither is willing to step back." Hyacine let out a helpless sigh.
Suddenly Kiana patted both their shoulders. "Here it comes! Here it comes!"
The three immediately widened their 24K gold-shiny eyes, staring fixedly at Anaxagoras and Aglaea, unwilling to miss a single second.
Anaxagoras fumbled in his pocket for a long time before clenching his right fist and extending it toward Aglaea. "Watch closely, Lord of the Golden Grand Restaurant."
Aglaea's brows knitted completely together. For some reason, she suddenly felt inexplicably nervous.
Anaxagoras's fingers twitched—then, with lightning speed, he raised his middle finger. "Magic↗ Trick↘!"
Aglaea: "…"
The next instant, veins bulged on her forehead—she was clearly furious. "You're dead!"
Anaxagoras spread both hands and instantly bolted out of the dining hall.
Aglaea snatched a spoon and chased after him even faster.
Kiana: (;一_一)
Hyacine: (;一_一)
Su Chen: (;一_一)
Acheron: ┐(︶▽︶)┌
"Sigh… I really underestimated the bond between them. Come on, back to the kitchen to keep washing dishes."
As he spoke, Su Chen hooked his arm around Kiana's neck and dragged her back to the kitchen.
"Hey! I haven't seen enough! I want to see rivers of blood!"
Su Chen tsked. "This is a lawful society—where do you think all the killing and fighting comes from? Those two can't actually fight for real."
——
Outside the hotel.
In a quiet corner with no passersby.
The atmosphere between Anaxagoras and Aglaea was surprisingly calm—no longer sword-drawn.
"What do you think our odds are?" Aglaea asked softly.
"Not great. It's obvious that expecting a few rookies to reach the top is extremely difficult." Anaxagoras gently pushed aside the soup spoon pressed against his neck. "Next time use a knife. Everyone can see you're just putting on a show with a soup spoon."
"I think you were genuinely emotional just now, weren't you?"
"Yeah. After all, the two of us have never gotten along." Anaxagoras let out a heavy breath. "To win the competition, you still have one variable left."
Aglaea instantly understood. "You mean Su Chen?"
"Exactly—Su Chen. The boss who owns all of Hoyoverse, yet can't even pay a thousand-credit bill and volunteers to wash dishes for you. Don't you find that strange?"
"I don't understand what calculations are going on in his head. I just hope he's not on Caenis's side."
"You're thinking too small. His ambitions are surely much grander."
Aglaea frowned. "But then what exactly does he want from us?"
"No idea. Maybe the hotel, maybe the people here, maybe even you… We still remember the Sweet Dreams Hotel incident vividly." Anaxagoras pondered for a moment before continuing,
"There are three judges this time. One is me, another is Caenis's person, and the third is Veritas Ratio."
Seeing Aglaea's blank look, Anaxagoras explained impatiently, "Ratio—the man with 52 academic degrees. More importantly, in Honkai: Star Rail he plays Dr. Ratio."
"The HSR web drama… so he's Su Chen's man?"
"You finally connected the dots. Try to keep up with the times. By the way—recommendation: the HSR web drama is actually quite good.
Especially Honkai Impact 3rd—it's full of positive, wholesome, heartwarming stories. Every one of them moved me. You'll regret missing it for the rest of your life."
"Mm. After the competition, I'll watch it. If Professor Ratio is Su Chen's man, then we have one more bargaining chip. Now it all comes down to your stance—but knowing your personality, I'm not sure which side you'll take."
"I stand with neither. I only believe in myself."
——
Hoyoverse Film Interactive City.
"Brother, I remember Black Swan's psychological counseling room is right here, right?"
Lumine led the way, advancing cautiously step by step.
Aether still kept Furina protected behind him. He sighed helplessly. "I can't even imagine—in this so-called era of peace, we're still getting palace intrigue plots. Are the security officers just decorations?"
"If that's the case, then let's hurry and find Black Swan to end this farce."
"Mm." Aether gave a soft acknowledgment and continued following Lumine.
Not long after.
Lumine stopped. She checked the doorplate, confirmed it was correct, then turned back. "We're here. This is Black Swan's clinic."
"By the way, is she really still inside? Elysia started her coup hours ago."
"Shh!" Lumine pressed her ear to the door, listening carefully. "There's sound!"
Lumine and Aether exchanged glances. The siblings instantly understood each other.
Aether quietly placed his hand on the doorknob. Then the brother-sister pair silently counted down with lip movements: "Three, two, one!"
Click——
Aether pushed open the door. Lumine instantly rushed inside.
But the next moment, the Aether-Lumine siblings froze in shock.
"Don't move!"
Belle had already grabbed a book and raised it. "Move again and don't blame me for smashing you with this book!"
"Belle, look carefully—who they are." Wise stared at Aether and Lumine like a lifeless NPC.
"Phew~" Belle let out a long breath. "It's you guys? Wait—no, how do I know if you three have been controlled?"
"We haven't been controlled. On the contrary—why are you two in Black Swan's office?" Lumine asked back.
Belle quietly leaned toward Wise's ear. "Brother, do you think those three might have fallen for Elysia's trick?"
"Probably not. If they were really controlled, they wouldn't talk this much."
The five of them entered the room, sat down, and began exchanging information.
Since Belle was the producer of the HI3 project team, she was most familiar with the HI3 situation.
Currently, Kevin and the others had been completely assimilated.
Most of the HSR group wasn't in Interactive City—only a small number remained.
As for the good citizens of Sixth Street—some had left, others had simply vanished.
"Sigh… I guess the only ones still clear-headed right now are us." Wise gave a soft sigh. "That's why we thought of looking for Black Swan, but she wasn't here either, so we've been searching for any clues."
Belle added from the side, "If Kafka were here, things probably wouldn't be this bad. But the Stellaron Hunters are nowhere to be found either. It's really strange."
"This is seriously dangerous. And Su Chen—who knows what he's doing right now? I have no idea when this farce will end!"
Just then.
The door slowly creaked open.
Instantly, Aether and Lumine noticed the movement outside.
"Brother, didn't you lock the door when you came in?"
"I did!"
"Everyone, no need to be nervous. Since you've come to my office, you must need psychological counseling, right?"
The door fully opened. Black Swan leaned against the frame, giving the five people inside an alluring smile.
"It's Black Swan!" Belle smiled happily at first—but then she immediately sensed something wrong. "Why is the timing so perfect? The moment Aether and Lumine arrive, you show up?"
Her words instantly put Wise and Aether on high alert.
Both stepped forward, shielding the others behind them.
Black Swan kept her smile in place. "So… do you need psychological treatment?"
——
Two days later.
Golden Grand Restaurant back kitchen.
"After putting on gloves, your handling of ingredients has indeed improved a lot. However—gloves are gloves. Since they're not your bare hands, there will always be a gap. It's like there's still a layer of window paper between you and true mastery."
After tasting Castorice's dish, Jane gave her evaluation.
Slurp~ Kiana lifted the bowl, licked the plate clean, and ate everything spotless. "I think it's delicious! At least way better than the cake on the first day! Castorice, another bowl!"
Castorice said apologetically, "Sorry, Kiana—it's all gone. You ate everything."
"Huh? I'm only half full." Kiana rubbed her stomach—she was so hungry her front was practically sticking to her back.
"I'll steam some buns for you." Mydei stood and went to the freezer, taking out a tray of steamed buns.
Phainon followed right behind, grabbing over a dozen eggs. "If that's still not enough, I'll make you another big batch of egg fried rice."
Kiana happily clapped her hands. "Awesome! You guys are so nice to me!"
Seeing this, Jane slowly stood up. Tomorrow was the competition—her task was complete.
"Wait, Master Jane!" Castorice called out to stop her. "Thank you for teaching me."
"No need to thank me. No matter what you learn, the most important thing is always yourself. Still—I hope one day you'll find a chance to take off those gloves."
Jane patted Castorice's head. "Don't worry. I know Su Chen's style. There will be plenty of chances to meet again."
With that, she left the kitchen.
But the moment she opened the door, she found Su Chen already waiting outside.
"You still have another task for me?"
Su Chen didn't hide it. "Thank you for helping with Castorice. But now there's one more job."
"What is it?"
Su Chen took out a picture. "Find a 3D printing shop, print this, and add the right coloring."
Jane took the picture and examined it carefully. "Is this a Spinosaurus? Wait—it doesn't quite feel like one."
"It's called an Earthbeast."
"Probably a prop for the web drama, right? But why do you want me to make it?"
Su Chen's lips curved into a slight smile. "I'm going fishing."