Chapter 255: Chapter 255 – Officially Verified, the Food Goddess of the Heavenly Palace

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation  Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After the group of assassins who ate ‘garbage’ meals finally left, business returned to normal for the fleeing ghost stall.

 Subsequently, whenever a customer sat down, they would first glance fearfully at Little Nine-Tailed Fox, the mascot, then look strangely at Stanley, the ‘gatekeeper’, who was standing beside the fleeing ghost stall, before placing their orders.

 After the 13 Spades turned over a new leaf, Stanley’s admiration towards the female stall owner developed into respect. He proclaimed himself to be the best subordinate and insisted on guarding the fleeing ghost stall.

 After all, he was once a half-demon, and truly a half-ghost. He was certainly not weak in combat, given that he had managed to evade capture by the 13 Spades for such a long time, so Ren Suo let him do as he wished.

 Nonetheless, just before the new customers left the stall, he asked: [Did you hear the gunfire in this area as you were coming over? Was the police surrounding this area?]

 A half-demon who had been beaten by a man, a woman, and a fox replied honestly: [No.]

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 He added: [The park is absolutely quiet, and there is nothing unusual.]

 Ren Suo nodded as he fell deep in thought. He had long thought that it was strange—if the battles near the fleeing ghost stall created noise, the sounds of gunfire and the battle should have attracted the attention of those who were nearby.

 However, no one came to disrupt the operations of the fleeing ghost stall. Apart from the fact that the fleeing ghost stall was purposely set up in a more secluded area, it seemed that there was a boundary for the fleeing ghost stall in order for the game to proceed smoothly. There even seemed to be a ‘vision shield’—unless they walked very close to it, ordinary people would not be able to discover the fleeing ghost stall.

 With Little Nine-Tailed Fox and Stanley, Ren Suo decided to rely on himself to clear the night. He did not spend many merit points on the Holy Water and instead seasoned the food himself, based on the stories that the customers told. Naturally, however, it also resulted in many battles.

 During the battles, the female stall owner, Little Nine-Tailed Fox, and Stanley were allies, but Ren Suo could not control Little Nine-Tailed Fox and Stanley; he could only control the female stall owner.

 Stanley’s damage output was decent, while Little Nine-Tailed Fox did not deal any direct damage but instead contributed extremely powerful debuffs on the enemy—

 [Chaos: 30% chance of the enemy not attacking but throwing out valuable items instead];

 [Fear: 30% chance of the enemy not attacking but fleeing instead];

 [Lost Mind: Obey Little Nine-Tailed Fox’s commands].

 Ren Suo was starting to understand why Little Nine-Tailed Fox was able to live well in New York and grow to such a cute size…

 Subsequently, perhaps because too much of the game time was spent on those in the black cloaks, many easily ‘triggered’ customers who were difficult to deal with appeared during the last hour of the night in New York!

 They were not true demons who wanted ‘garbage’ meals but were merely half-demons. Their life experiences were not much more complicated than that of the assassins, but their demands with regard to the ‘extent’ of the seasoning were extremely high—

 [This tastes so greasy that I feel disgusted. It reminds me of that lover who betrayed me.]

 [This is such a familiar taste, it’s as if my mother made it. Oh, how much she loved me… so much so that she treated me as if I were her clone. All of the things she was unable to accomplish herself turned into pain which I had to bear on my shoulders…]

 [I don’t like this, it tastes too intimate that I feel so unbearable. I want to be able to enjoy both loneliness and friendship, why did you only give me one?]

 What could Ren Suo do? Well, along with a man and a fox, the female stall owner crushed them to ashes, jolting them to their senses.

 Ren Suo felt that it was a sign that the difficulty level was increasing. After all, there were surely not many true demons in large cities—since even cities like Mumbai, where law and order were atrocious, did not have many true demons. Most of the customers who appeared subsequently would certainly be half-demons whose emotions were greatly suppressed or even those who were depressed.

 However, 1% concentration Holy Water could only extract keywords and their approximate importance. Ren Suo still had to guess how strong the customers desired the taste of the different seasonings to be, and he was not always accurate.

 Just as the 4 hours during which the stall was open was about to pass, the boss of New York finally appeared—

 It was a middle-aged man.

 He was dressed like a typical, middle-aged white man. Sitting in front of the food stall, he looked at the signboard hung on the stall and a fierce smile emerged on his scarred face.

 Then, the mascot, who had been curled up and lying down on the table, stood up. It stared intently at the man and said: [He is too strong for Xiao Jiu.]

 At the same time, Stanley, who was standing at the side, began trembling slightly as he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

 Ren Suo naturally recognized who the customer was—

 It was Zach, the Angel!

 In terms of combat power, he was not the strongest creature in the world, but he was nonetheless the strongest human Ren Suo had seen before.

 If a battle resulted, Ren Suo could not be certain that the female stall owner would be able to win against him! The angel Zach had unparalleled recovery and combat abilities, as well as extraordinary movement speed. Even if the turn-based battle could limit his attack power and movement speed, his recovery ability was simply unmatched, considering that he was able to revive countless times when he was beaten by the Monkey King. It was clear that he could not be subdued using ordinary methods.

 Zach said: [Don’t be afraid. This is truly an intriguing feeling… I heeded the calling in my heart and found my way here. Now, I can’t resist my desires anymore: I want to eat here.]

 Could Zach actually break free from the subconscious calling of the fleeing ghost stall?

 Zach looked at Little Nine-Tailed Fox and Stanley and said: [Relax, I won’t bite. Moreover, I don’t think I would be able to influence this lady here anyway. The power she possesses is much more profound than mine.]

 Stanley immediately returned to his senses and nodded his head. He said: [Of course, she is the Food Goddess from the Heavenly Palace. She came to save the people of this world, how would you be able to hurt her?]

 Ren Suo finally felt that it was worth saving Stanley—at the least, the female stall owner did not need to brag about herself.

 The look on Zach’s face changed, and he was obviously dumbfounded.

 The Heavenly Palace and the World Tree, those were two names which pressured Extraordinaire organizations around the world. It was especially so for Zach, who was utterly beaten by and treated like a punching bag of the pet Monkey King of the Heavenly Palace. No one else in the world could understand just how terrifying the strength of the Heavenly Palace was, better than Zach.

 Zach said: [Well then, please make a salad for me. As for telling the story of my life… I’m sorry but as a member of the Watchmen of the Federation, such information is confidential and I cannot disclose information about myself to other people so easily.]

 Ren Suo was slightly stunned, but the female stall owner started preparing the salad, which meant that Ren Suo needed to season Zach’s food without first listening to his life experiences.

 Generally speaking, only evil customers who wanted ‘garbage’ meals would refuse to tell their life stories, but Zach had also made it clear that he would not turn violent.

 It was either a matter of luck or otherwise, the player was required to analyze for himself.

 Ren Suo suddenly had an idea: since Zach came alone, it meant that he was a half-demon who was under immense pressure, and that was what resulted in him harboring twisted desires. In that case, what was causing him to be facing such immense stress?

 The female stall owner finished preparing his salad more quickly than other meals would have taken. Ren Suo had also made a decision, and he added the most important seasoning of all—

 [Confidence].

 Then, he supplemented the salad with a small amount of [Justice] + [Compassion] + [Passion].

 Zach took his first bite of the salad, and his hideous appearance changed.

 He quickly finished the bowl of salad and smiled meekly, saying: [You’re truly a Food Goddess. I have never admitted it, but the fears hidden deep within my heart has actually…]

 Zack paused. He laughed out loud and said: [I am no longer afraid. One day, I will meet the Monkey King and confront him again, even though I still feel pain throughout my body whenever I think of it.]

 Ren Suo did not know much about Zach, and neither would there be much information about him on the intranet. The Federation took care of Zach dearly, as if he was a panda, so they certainly would not allow any information about Zach to be leaked.

 As such, Ren Suo could only infer from Zach’s past experiences about his fears. There was no doubt that the event that put Zach under great pressure was when he was beaten by the Monkey King.

 It was no ordinary ‘beating’ at that—in front of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, as well as billions of netizens around the world, he was thrown into the air and crushed to the ground again. It was as if he was thrown around like an animal by the Monkey King.

 While it was true that the Monkey King was excessively powerful, Zach was nonetheless the best in the Federation. The fact that he did not even have a chance to retaliate was a major blow to him, even though he subsequently participated in the battles in “The Mage Under the World Tree”.

 Now, however, it appeared that Zach had been jolted free of his ‘shadow self’.

 Zach said: [Thank you very much, the Food Goddess of the Heavenly Palace. If not for this meal, I might have gone astray.]

 He asked: [Can I bring other people here to eat?]

 Ren Suo replied: [I would no longer be here tomorrow.]

 Zach said: [It’s a pity then.]

 He smiled as he removed the cross hanging around his neck and placed it on the table. He said: [I have nothing that fully expresses my gratitude toward you. This is the cross that has accompanied me for over 30 years. My reason tells me that this should be the best gift I have for you.]

 The female stall owner nodded and took Zach’s cross:

 [Cross of Inferiority: HP +300; used automatically upon death to instantly revive the player with full HP.]

 He was indeed the boss of the night; the present he gave was simply amazing!

 Zach apologized: [Please allow me to express my apologies in advance. As a member of the Watchmen, I am obliged to report the information about you, Miss. About the Food Goddess of the Heavenly Palace, it is simply too important to be kept secret.]

 Ren Suo replied: [It’s alright.] It naturally did not matter to him, though the character of ‘Food Goddess’ would soon be officially verified as the truth, given that Zach was a member of the Watchmen of the Federation who would then announce that information.

 After Zach left, the time was up and the female stall owner started closing the stall. Stanley walked over and asked: [Are you leaving?]

 The stall owner replied: [Yes.]

 He asked: [Would I be able to find you somewhere else?]

 The stall owner replied: [No.]

 Stanley looked down, then said suddenly: [I am going to foil the plans of The Cards and none of them shall be left alive… Regardless, I believe that tonight, as well as the night when I fled the camp, will become the two indelible memories of my life.]

 [With these two memories, my dull life has been filled with some colors.]

 [Thank you… Can you tell me what is your name?]

 The female stall owner said: [Since you think that I am the Food Goddess, I shall be the Food Goddess.]

 Stanley replied: [Alright, thank you, Food Goddess. I hope that you will remember my real name, I am Stanley Gur.]

 After Stanley left, Little Nine-Tailed Fox jumped onto the shoulder of the female stall owner and asked: [Will you still come and visit Xiao Jiu?]

 The female stall owner replied: [Not anymore.]

 Little Nine-Tailed Fox asked: [Where would Xiao Jiu be able to find you?]

 Ren Suo thought for a moment and told Little Nine-Tailed Fox: [When you are able to conceal your nine tails and appear as an ordinary animal, come to Lianjiang City in Xuan Nation.]

 Ren Suo’s suggestion did not actually make much sense. Even when Xiao Jiu went to Lianjiang City, he would not know. Nonetheless, it was still beneficial if the straight-line distance between him and Xiao Jiu was shortened—Ren Suo believed that one day, he would be able to touch the fur on Little Nine-Tailed Fox!

 Little Nine-Tailed Fox nodded its head, then leaped to the ground and left quietly.

 Ren Suo stretched himself. One night in the game was originally only four hours long, but due to the conversations, pauses, battles, and other events in the game, that night had taken him eight hours. After he went to Dong Chengling’s house for dinner, he returned home and Practiced until 12 midnight. Then, Ren Suo went out to walk the streets of the night alone, pretending that he was a night owl unlike any other.

 Ren Suo did not notice that someone was looking at him as he walked into the distance, from the roof of another dormitory building.