Chapter 333: Cook (A+), Deployment Begins! (3.5K+)
"Li Xianhou wants to see you."
Li Qingzi hesitated, but finally spoke.
In her eyes, most of her vast family were good-for-nothings, a bunch of useless people who were simply born into a good family. Even her own father, she believed, only had a knack for maintaining the status quo.
But her grandfather, Li Xianhou, who single-handedly propelled the March Conglomerate to its current position, was different. Although stubborn and arrogant, he had almost always chosen the right direction in every major transformation of the conglomerate.
Now, even without knowing the truth about Reincarnators, he accepted it much faster than the second generation of uncles in the family, directly demanding that the conglomerate transition into new fields.
That was a truly talented old man… just like, this guy in front of her.
Li Qingzi drank her coffee, her peripheral vision on the muscular man wearing only a pair of shorts. Fortunately, after arriving at the manor, he hadn't done anything excessive to her.
"Li Xianhou? Then tell him to come see me later."
Bai Cangshu remained unperturbed, listening to music with his headphones on.
Li Qingzi hesitated for a moment, then continued, "This time, our summoning times are consistent. It's very likely we'll be deployed to the same mission world. Wouldn't it be better if you formed a team…?"
The two had a master-servant contract, but they didn't belong to the same team, and their mission progress was originally completely different.
But this time, although the space notification nodes were a day apart, the deployment time was exactly the same. Combining this with rumors in the space, Li Qingzi guessed they were probably going to be deployed to the same world.
Therefore, she suggested Bai Cangshu create a team so they could be deployed together.
However, Bai Cangshu chuckled twice, looking at the woman who had her hair coiled up and was dressed even more beautifully and maturely, and mocked, "What, are you scared…?"
"Since we're going to be deployed to the same world anyway, why bother forming a team? Ha~ Do you think you can betray me without a team contract?"
Li Qingzi suddenly realized his thoughts and stopped speaking.
She had cleared out everyone in the manor early, leaving only herself and Bai Cangshu to await the mission's start.
As the conversation ended, the two fell silent. The clock ticked, quickly approaching the deployment time.
Both were simultaneously enveloped by a stream of information, instantly returning to their private spaces. They would begin their deployment after final preparations.
Bai Cangshu returned directly to his stall. He saw a very interesting offer: a Reincarnator codenamed "Lark" wanted to trade a silver plot-tier equipment for a Martial Arts Specialization for a cultivation manual for Dust Release.
[Krillin's Weighted Shirt]
[Quality: Silver Plot Equipment]
[Description: A special training undershirt from dragon ball and its derivative worlds. Extremely heavy, absorbing quite miraculous power.]
[Wear Requirement: Strength > 20, Constitution > 15]
[Effect 1: After wearing, Strength -2, Agility -2, Constitution -2]
[Effect 2: After wearing, Martial Arts Specialization level -1]
[Effect 3: After removing this item, for ten minutes, all attributes +5, Martial Arts Specialization level +2]
This was a completely black undershirt-style training uniform with a unique effect. Bai Cangshu guessed it was a special silver plot equipment forged from the information that the Turtle Hermit School members always trained and fought in high-weight training uniforms, and removed them to enhance their combat power when at a disadvantage in battle.
However, Bai Cangshu considered it for a moment but did not accept the offer.
Instead, he accepted another offer from a person codenamed "White," who wanted to exchange a special ability crystal for Dragon Ground Cave Sage Arts and Dust Release, or Dragon Ground Cave Sage Arts plus a b-class special point.
[Special Ability · Cook (A+): Freely control the deliciousness of food you cook.]
This ability seemed very mediocre at first glance, but its ability rating was unexpectedly high, an A+ rating, identical to Divine Finger Flick (Shen Zhi Gong).
However, Bai Cangshu knew that this ability, in a sense, had even more terrifying potential than Divine Finger Flick (Shen Zhi Gong).
This was a special ability from the "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime" world. Although Cook superficially appeared to be an auxiliary ability that allowed one to cook delicious dishes, only usable in conjunction with other special abilities like Gourmet Cell.
But in essence, Cook (A+) was actually a terrifying ability that could modify reality and rewrite causality.
Beneath that mediocre description, this ability could allow the user to "cook" a pile of excrement, and it would become delicious.
Even if such a thing could never be associated with deliciousness, the result was that it had become a delicacy in everyone's hearts.
In the original work, this ability was considered to have the potential to end Rimuru's existence, who had already surpassed the creator god.
Bai Cangshu didn't think this trade offer was too high; instead, he felt as if the other party was bestowing a gift upon him.
"I can trade now."
He contacted "White" through the offer, and soon, a flash of light in the space, a young girl-like Reincarnator appeared in front of the stall. Her long white hair almost covered her ankles, her figure was slender, and she floated in the air.
One eye was red and the other blue. Even when viewed as an avatar, her posture was very peculiar, almost unlike a real living creature.
Bai Cangshu instinctively felt that the other party was probably an unimaginably powerful Reincarnator.
"Trade."
"White" spoke like a robot, her voice devoid of inflection.
[You have lost Dragon Ground Cave Sage Arts Cultivation Method * 1]
[You have lost b-class special point * 1]
[You have obtained Ability Crystal · Cook (A+)]
Bai Cangshu naturally wouldn't trade Dust Release, this ability, as a b-class special point. He paid another b-class special point from Li Qingzi's special points, combined with Dragon Ground Cave Sage Arts, to obtain this special Cook ability.
For Bai Cangshu, this item, without considering its potential to modify reality or rewrite causality, was currently much needed.
He hadn't forgotten that in the Naruto World, he had barely gained enhancement from Gourmet Cell by relying on Pingzhong Hua's cooking ability.
This Cook ability would allow him to fully utilize the characteristics of Gourmet Cell in various worlds. If he wanted to, he could even use anything to feed his Gourmet Cell bit by bit to upgrade it.
After receiving the Dragon Ground Cave Sage Arts Cultivation Method, "White" looked at Bai Cangshu with her peculiar eyes and said, "Be careful of Fate Theory."
"This is a gift from the trade."
The next moment, "White" disappeared.
Bai Cangshu frowned and consulted Black Butler, but the latter stated that he didn't know of such a powerful Reincarnator in the East District. The only one whose appearance description was close was Solomon, the leader of the Far East Magic Society, but Solomon was undoubtedly a male avatar.
His style of action was also not as Bai Cangshu described.
Bai Cangshu recorded the name "Fate Theory" in his mind, then rejected all other offers.
The most valuable items at his stall right now, a scarlet drop card from Qilin Temple and a Dust Release cultivation manual, were normally things that most Reincarnators in the Slum would fight over.
But because of rumors of an impending bloody large-scale transfer, a large number of Reincarnators had put their resources into life-saving abilities. The Chosen One's scapegoat straw men had been hyped to nearly the level of a double b-class special point, yet were still in short supply.
His two items, on the other hand, were ignored.
Bai Cangshu had no intention of selling them cheaply. He quickly swept through the Slum, finding that almost all healing items and abilities had disappeared, and their prices had also been greatly inflated.
Conversely, the prices of other types of items and abilities had not increased.
He spent c-rank special point * 1 and 5000 dimensional points to obtain a special item.
It was a black disc.
[Ghost Disc · Shared Fate]
[Quality: Rare]
[Description: A disc from the Pokémon and its derivative worlds that records special abilities, possessing miraculous effects.]
[Effect: After crushing, you can link yourself with any visually captured target into a shared fate state. Damage suffered by one party will also affect the other.]
This was a special item that could only be used once, but its effect was quite powerful.
Especially for a Reincarnator like Bai Cangshu, who possessed a certain degree of immortality, this item had many application scenarios.
Bai Cangshu even wanted to buy a few more, but he was told that the other party had no more of them.
[Special Reincarnator Ex051, deployment is about to begin. Please confirm the environment is safe.]
With a thought, Bai Cangshu returned to his private space. He also put the Demon Fruit, Superhuman System · Heart Fire Fruit, which he hadn't eaten or listed for trade, into his backpack.
[Deployment begins now.]
[3…]
[2…]
[1…]
A silver-white stream of information instantly engulfed Bai Cangshu's body. This time, the loss of sensation seemed to last longer than expected.
The overwhelming amount of information made Bai Cangshu feel as if he had lost all his sensory abilities.
It wasn't until a slimy sensation glided across Bai Cangshu's body that his eyes trembled twice, and the stiffness in his body gradually disappeared.
Pfft!
Bai Cangshu flicked his hand, and foul-smelling blood spurted out.
A black long snake was slithering on Bai Cangshu's body, but as if an internal force exploded, it broke in half at the waist.
After fighting Tao Bai Bai for a long time, Bai Cangshu's Martial Arts Specialization advanced further, reaching Lv8 with the blessing of Tao Bai Bai's pink robe.
[Martial Arts Specialization Lv8: The realm of a Martial Arts Grandmaster where internal force flows freely and can explode within dozens of meters without ceasing.]
He merely tapped it once, and thousands of pounds of force erupted multiple times within the long snake's body. The snake's flesh couldn't withstand it and was directly torn apart.
Bai Cangshu moved his limbs. The surroundings were pitch black, and his feet felt as if he was stepping in some kind of liquid.
In the silent darkness, only the sound of soft-bodied creatures moving could be heard.
Bai Cangshu clicked his tongue. This deployment location was surprisingly "fresh."
The next moment, scarlet light emanated from Bai Cangshu's eyes. Long snakes were marked in the darkness. On his right fingertip, golden qi instantly lit up.
Hiss!
In the darkness, a large number of long snakes were instantly stimulated and began to writhe. Bai Cangshu, at the same time, used the light of his qi to see this place, which resembled a sewer. Over a dozen pale corpses floated in the sewage.
There was no foul smell, and the corpses hadn't decayed. They just stared wide-eyed at Bai Cangshu.
[Ghostly Roar, Hero's Swan Song]
[World Loading Complete: Sub-World B711 (World Distortion 31%)]
[Mission Type: Team Survival]
[World Difficulty: High ~ Hell] (Reincarnators, please explore carefully while ensuring survival.)
[Time Limit: 30 Days]
[Note: Based on the effect of the Mark of Sin, your appearance and identity information have been modified (appearance and identity will be subject to hidden three-dimensional correction).]
[Note: In this world, you have been granted constant language comprehension.]
[In this world, you can obtain and unlock the following milestones. Milestones will affect mission rating and title acquisition.]
[Martial Arts Grandmaster (Rare): Create any martial arts style and gain over 1000 disciples.]
[Monster Slayer: Kill over 20 monsters.]
[Evil gourmet: Accumulate consumption of over 50 dark dishes in different worlds.]
[Exorcist: Eliminate over 10 vengeful spirits.]
[UFO: Contact aliens.]
[Hero: Save over 30 civilians in any event.]
…
The complexity of this bizarre world could be somewhat felt from the nearly hundred unlockable milestones that appeared.
However, the more important matter at hand seemed not to be those…
[Main Quest Activated: Survive for 30 days]
[Quest Reward: Obtain b-class special point * 1, 10000 dimensional points]
"Ah!"
Above Bai Cangshu's head, a tragic scream rang out. Bai Cangshu also simultaneously felt a cold touch float over his head. He looked up and only saw a pale phantom sweeping past his head.
[You have triggered a side quest · Cursed Captive Institute.]
[Mission Details: Within seven days, find a way to leave the Cursed Captive Institute and successfully escape.]
[Mission Reward: Randomly obtain Material * 1]