Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 310 - 238 Chef Federation, Gourmet Competition - Part 2

Chapter 310: Chapter 238 Chef Federation, Gourmet Competition - Part 2

However, the residents and business associations of Bed City had already savored the sweetness of gourmet food—whether eating or selling it, even the resistance from a distinguished two-star chef couldn’t shake the established concept in Bed City.

Bashi wasn’t stupid either. After his investigation, he discovered the "bonds" between the residents of Bed City and the gourmet area.

But he wouldn’t admit defeat so easily. In the end, he actually decided to hold a culinary exchange here, where his apprentices would use normal ingredients, definitely not from the gourmet area, to create exquisite dishes in public. His goal was to defeat the gourmet area in terms of taste!

To outsiders, it seemed a bit inexplicable. Even if you could defeat the gourmet area, what else could you prove besides your culinary skills? People would still continue to go to the gourmet area. Not everyone has the time or money to eat your dishes.

But for Bashi and his apprentices, being able to surpass the recently popular gourmet area in taste was enough!

It was a form of validation, and they could even use it to promote themselves and increase their fame in the future.

More importantly, it satisfied Bashi’s sense of victory and vanity.

Their actions were swift. With the help of the magician, they quickly set up a stage in the center of town, with dozens of stoves operating together, aiming to continuously produce dishes that could surpass those from the gourmet area.

The dishes they made were free to taste... how was this different from charity?

Free, crafted by masters, free... these words together brought in a flood of people.

The only condition to eat the feast was to praise the taste of their dishes over those from the gourmet area.

As it turned out, many people were willing to comply, as it was just a matter of saying a sentence, and the chance to eat a meal from a star chef wasn’t common.

Plus, it wasn’t entirely against their conscience, because Bashi and his apprentices were genuinely skilled. The level of their culinary creations was exceptionally high, higher than any chef in Bed City, which was also why they attracted such a crowd.

A magic tool store owner, Mr. Madar, who wished to remain anonymous, enjoyed the food immensely and praised every chef with blessings from a certain blue planet.

People from the otherworld had never seen such a scene, feeling so flattered that they almost floated away.

Then, Mr. Madar went off to secretly incite the supporters of the gourmet area to come up with an evil plan, which eventually escalated to...

A brawl between the supporters of the gourmet area and Bashi and his apprentices, which only ended when the Bed City guards arrived and pulled them apart.

Neither side had anyone particularly strong, so the guards could separate them, which made the guards feel useful for the first time. In the past, they only dared to verbally dissuade adventurers when they fought.

As for the supporters of the gourmet area, their leader was none other than Curipa.

Once the brawl was over, the enraged parties decided to hold a culinary competition!

One side would use ingredients from the gourmet area, while the other side would use traditional, regular ingredients. The judges would be a few authoritative three-star chefs arriving soon.

Thus, a strange culinary competition was set to unfold. There seemed to be no material loss for the loser or winner, just the intangible "reputation" on the line.

Even losing to a two-star chef wouldn’t be a big deal for the gourmet area ingredients because the opponent was a top chef, and it’s no shame for unrefined ingredients to lose to a carefully prepared dish from a top chef.

For Bashi, winning would only satisfy his vanity, as his fame no longer depended on climbing the ranks in a dungeon.

This story, initiated by a peculiar chef, would just end in his victory if no one played along.

However, he encountered another serious contender—Curipa.

"What can I say? I will use the ingredients from here to disgrace Bashi, to show him what true gourmet food is."

Curipa wiped his mouth and stood up, gazing at the extravagant area with determination:

"When I first came here and saw the trees full of roasting meat, I knew this place was my paradise."

He clenched his fist.

"I fell in love with this place! I won’t allow anyone to insult it!"

"Ahahaha..." The editor could only laugh awkwardly, also not understanding why Curipa would love an area in the dungeon.

Maybe it’s because anyone who can become a star chef has some quirks?

"However, Bashi’s culinary skills are indeed very strong, and he can get many rare ingredients. Those things might not be inferior to the gourmet area in taste."

The editor, intrigued, asked, "How do you plan to counter this?"

Curipa replied, "So, I will delve deeper into the gourmet area. As far as I know, even the frontier combatants of Bed City have neglected thorough exploration of this area. Only the guild’s exploration teams occasionally approach those enormous plants at the horizon."

"So, you are going to look for the Rainbow Fruit?" The editor, clearly having heard some information, knew the name of the gigantic plant in the deepest part of the gourmet area.

But eating it was certainly not something the editor had experienced. Currently, only the guild’s exploration teams would take the trouble to obtain it, and they couldn’t guarantee they would get it every time. More often, they returned defeated.

Even if they did gain something, they would only sneak over and cut a few small pieces when the beasts guarding the fruit were lax, never daring to take big cuts for fear of affecting their escape speed.

So, was the decisive ingredient Curipa was after the Rainbow Fruit?

"No, I don’t need the Rainbow Fruit. To be honest, I’m not good at making desserts."

He shook his head and flashed a mysterious smile at the editor.

"What I’m looking for is something that most people don’t know about yet. I also stumbled upon a bit of it by chance."

"Can’t you reveal a little bit?" The editor’s curiosity was thoroughly piqued.

"No."

After refusing the editor’s request, Curipa collected some more ingredients from the gourmet area and reluctantly left with his backpack.

He had been soaking here day and night since separating from his elf clan’s main force; this place was like a dream paradise to him.

When he left, it was still daylight. This early departure was to visit a mysterious expert in his opinion.

The Eternal Spirit Sword in his hand was something he obtained after following a clue given by that person and putting in considerable effort.

Bed City, another street beside the gourmet street.

This street was filled with shops selling various magic tools and materials, all collectively known as Magic Tool Stores.

The shop Curipa was looking for was directly named after the owner—Madar Magic Tool Store.

"Ding-a-ling..."

The clear sound of wind chimes echoed in the air as the shop door opened, and fresh air poured into the tool store.

"Yo, you’re back."

The shop owner, Madar—or Gong Qiying—lifted his head, stretched lazily, looking like he had just woken up.

Curipa’s face showed respect.

Respect? If the editor had seen this, she would be surprised because Curipa was just looking down his nose at everyone else earlier.

"I didn’t find the seasoning from the clue you gave me last time, but I found this."

He gently placed the Eternal Spirit Sword wrapped in cloth strips on the counter and said, "This kitchen tool possesses incredible power. I think it might be even stronger than [Secret Seasoning]."

"But kitchen tools can’t be eaten, can they? To win, you need better ingredients."

Gong Qiying took out two small bottles, one filled with unknown powder and the other with a colorless liquid.

As soon as he saw the powder and the liquid, Curipa immediately showed an extremely eager expression, exclaiming, "You found it again!?"

"This is my stash. There’s a little left from what I gave you last time."

Gong Qiying smiled as if he completely controlled the negotiation, saying to the eager elf:

"If you win the competition, I’ll let you have another taste of [Century Thick Soup]."

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