The instant the blade stopped at Wu Yong's fingertips, Vladimir's heart also stilled for a moment.
Soon, a dozen men in black cloaks were herded into a corner, not only bruised and battered but also stripped of their once-stylish cloaks.
"All of you, squat down properly with your hands on your heads!"
"I'm talking to you, no whispering!"
"If you spout any more nonsense, I'll chop off your balls!"
Wu Yong swung his small whip, his expression quite fierce.
Zhang Wei untied Lola and Chun Niang, and also rescued Fu Long.
Fu Long was severely injured, with a large gash across his chest. Coupled with prolonged blood loss, he was already very weak.
Zhang Wei took out a healing bandage and wrapped Fu Long's wound.
With a wave of his hand, he retrieved a bowl of porridge from the Treasury.
[Vegetable Nutritional Porridge v3.0]
A nutritional porridge prepared with the essence of vegetables from the Cloud Country. In its 2.0 version, a single bowl of this porridge saved Bogang's life.
And when facing someone like Fu Long...
Zhang Wei took a spoonful and merely waved it in front of Fu Long's nose. The latter's tightly shut eyelids began to twitch abruptly.
Lola and Chun Niang swallowed simultaneously.
Chun Niang pointed at the bowl of porridge incredulously, "Where... where did you get this bowl of porridge?"
"I brewed it."
Chun Niang asked, bewildered, "Are you a chef?"
Wu Yong, standing nearby, chimed in with dissatisfaction, "What? You don't think so? Mr. Zhang Wei is the King of Chefs in the North!"
King of Chefs in the North?
Chun Niang murmured, "Where is the North... I think there's a large region in the Northern Continent called the North. I seem to recall it being mentioned in a book on culinary competitions."
Perhaps Chun Niang's geography was not her strong suit.
However, when it came to matters of culinary arts, she was undoubtedly knowledgeable.
Moreover, the title "King of Chefs in the North" sounded incredibly prestigious!
And this bowl of porridge smelled absolutely delicious.
At this moment, Fu Long slowly regained consciousness, licked the porridge from his lips, and said weakly, "Chun Niang... this porridge... it's really delicious... Why haven't you ever mentioned it before."
Chun Niang's old face flushed, and she immediately retorted angrily, "Can't you keep your mouth shut when you're eating!"
Lola walked up to Zhang Wei, her expression full of suspicion and conjecture.
"You... for what purpose did you infiltrate my ship? What is there in the Manyo Merchant Guild that is worth your scheming..."
Zhang Wei coughed lightly, "If I said it was an accident, would you believe me?"
"I believe you."
"Hmm?"
"Otherwise, there's no other explanation."
Lola said, "With your abilities, why would you need my map?"
Zhang Wei approached Vladimir. He and his subordinates were now squatting in the corner with their hands on their heads.
The katana had been broken, and with the scars on Vladimir's face, it had a rather comical appearance.
Zhang Wei said, "Can we discuss the commission now?"
"Sure, we can talk about anything you want!"
As the saying goes, a true man can bend and stretch!
Under the circumstances, Vladimir decided to yield for now.
Vladimir confessed to being a notorious gourmet thief, with a particularly heinous modus operandi.
He specialized in lying in wait at various gourmet hunting grounds, targeting exhausted gourmet hunters emerging with precious ingredients, and then robbing them.
Later, his business grew, and he gathered many brothers and subordinates.
He heard that the capture date for the Pufferfish Whale was approaching, and an undetonated Pufferfish Whale could fetch a sky-high price of over a million. If the venom sac was skillfully removed by a master chef, its value could triple or even quadruple!
Driven by greed, Vladimir, with his team, rushed through the checkpoint, planning to set up an ambush here and intercept the gourmet hunters after they had secured their prize.
He just hadn't expected Zhang Wei to be so fast, having already been here for six hours.
"Hmm... Gourmet thieves, so you're quite knowledgeable about the produce from various regions?"
"Yes, yes, this is how I make a living, I know it like the back of my hand."
"Are you willing to work for me?"
"This... I'm willing, I'm willing!"
Zhang Wei shook his head, "I can sense you're lying. You're thinking of escaping after the immediate danger is over and fleeing far away, avoiding me forever."
Vladimir chuckled sheepishly, "How could that be possible..."
"It's alright, it's normal to think that way. I will offer you a deal you cannot refuse, making you genuinely willing to work for me."
"For example?"
"For instance, I can help you break through your current bottleneck!"
Vladimir was utterly astonished!
Break through a bottleneck?
This was something every gourmet hunter dreamed of.
It usually required an enormous amount of ingredients, combined with superb culinary skills, and the compatibility of the ingredients was also crucial.
"How could something like this be so easy?"
Clearly, Vladimir was already tempted, or he wouldn't have asked such a question.
As soon as he said that,
Wu Yong and his subordinates burst into laughter.
One of them said, "Do you even understand the caliber of the King of Chefs in the North? Mr. Zhang Wei is an absolute standout among all past recipients. Breaking through a bottleneck is as simple as drinking cold water for him!"
"Exactly. Do you really think your little bottleneck is an obstacle? Mr. Zhang Wei can break through bottlenecks of level sixty or seventy without even blinking an eye!"
Just then.
Fu Long had finished the entire bowl of porridge.
He immediately jumped up, full of vigor, and exclaimed, "It's so delicious! So delicious! I've never had such a fragrant porridge before, and my wound doesn't even hurt anymore!"
Steam billowed!
Fu Long leveled up on the spot!
Vladimir spat out his drink!
What this person said was true; leveling up wasn't difficult for him at all!
Wu Yong said, "Mr. Zhang Wei, why keep these small fry? Their strength is so pathetic..."
"Sometimes, for the sake of ingredients, I need some unscrupulous helpers."
Zhang Wei turned to Lola and said, "I intend to acquire the Manyo Merchant Guild, or invest a large sum. I won't interfere with your personnel, operations, or management methods; I just need you to fulfill my requirements."
Lola remained silent.
After a while, she said, "I don't understand, what capabilities does the Manyo Merchant Guild have to help you."
"It's very simple, our usual business, ingredient trading."
"Ingredient trading..."
Lola was a little confused.
Did this kind of matter require help?
Zhang Wei waved his hand, and mountains of ingredients appeared out of thin air, most of them perfect-grade replicas!
These were specialties of the Northern Continent. Without understanding their true form in nature, it was difficult to discern what they were.
And their levels were all from the 1-7 grade ingredients collected during this period.
When selling them, all they needed to do was invent a new name and slightly increase the capture level by 6-10, and it would be convincing enough.
In other words, for Lola, the ingredients in front of her were at least level seven, with the highest even reaching level 18!
This was already considered top-tier ingredients on the initial continent.
Zhang Wei said, "These are all specialties of the Northern Continent. I want you to trade for all the ingredients you can find, regardless of their level or taste! The more the quantity, the better! Ten percent of the transaction value can be taken as commission for the Manyo Merchant Guild."
Lola's heart pounded wildly!
Could such a good thing exist in the world?
All of them?
Anything was acceptable?
And the more the quantity, the better!
Moreover, the ingredients Zhang Wei provided were all varieties not yet seen on the initial continent, and their prices could be imagined to be sky-high!
Ten percent of the profit...
As long as the turnover was sufficient, the commission for one day could even buy another Manyo Merchant Guild!
Seeing the ingredients Zhang Wei threw out, Vladimir finally believed that Zhang Wei was no ordinary person. If he followed him, his future seemed very bright!
Furthermore, he had the means to increase one's level and break through bottlenecks!
Vladimir gave a sheepish laugh and said, "Then... what do we do?"
"Some ingredients might be very precious, unobtainable even at a great cost. At those times, we will need individuals like you."
As expected!
It was still dirty work!
But this was fitting; they were more suited to dirty work.
With a wave of his hand, he summoned the clerical staff from the Gourmet Bank, "You discuss the specific details with Lola and Vladimir. The Pufferfish Whales in the water are still waiting for me."
"Don't worry, feel free to hunt to your heart's content. I won't let any extraneous people disturb you."
...
The Pufferfish Whale's spawning period is approximately 7-15 days.
Zhang Wei had ample time. In the following days, Zhang Wei captured over 600 Pufferfish Whales daily.
By the time the Pufferfish Whales finished spawning, Zhang Wei had a total of 7,000 Pufferfish Whales!
This was more than half of the entire population!
"The reproductive ability of the Pufferfish Whale is not weak. Although I've caught quite a few, it shouldn't lead to extinction."
"If there are any impacts in the future, I'll release some perfect-grade Pufferfish Whales. After they hybridize with ordinary Pufferfish Whales, it should strengthen the species."
To avoid disrupting the natural balance, except for the Icefield Yak at the very beginning, Zhang Wei had not yet released any perfect-grade replicas back into the wild.
On the beach.
In addition to Wu Yong and his group, there were twenty to thirty new faces.
Wu Yong proudly presented, "These are all gourmet hunters who broke through the checkpoint. They are quite lucky and skilled. I've caught them all."
Indeed.
This did not affect Zhang Wei's hunting in the slightest.
Zhang Wei pondered for a moment and set aside a small portion of the perfect ingredients.
"Everyone, the Pufferfish Whale is very important to me. I apologize for any offense caused."
This kind of monopolizing a hunting area was indeed hateful.
However, Zhang Wei's strength was undeniable, so the other gourmet hunters couldn't say much.
Zhang Wei continued, "Here is a batch of ingredients, consider it compensation."
"An undetonated Pufferfish Whale is worth about one million Beli. Each of you can take ingredients worth one million from here, so it won't be a wasted trip."
Zhang Wei had recently acquired over 800 types of Northern Continent ingredients from level 1 to 7.
His daily ingredient output had surged by over a thousand tons.
If calculated at the price of perfect-grade ingredients, their value rivaled that of ingredients from level 7 to 18.
The price ranged from 12 to 500 Beli per kilogram. Even taking the average, his daily goods were worth over 250 million.
Zhang Wei's objective was to leverage these gourmet hunters' connections to open up sales channels for these ingredients!
They were the simplest form of promotional machines!
Lola exclaimed, "Are you crazy? Giving away so much money!"
For thirty people, that was thirty million!
The gourmet hunters were initially full of resentment, but after Zhang Wei's words, they felt a bit embarrassed.
After all, if the roles were reversed, they wouldn't be so generous.
One person stood up and said, "Hmph, I'll hunt with my own hands, I don't need your charity!"
This person certainly had some grit!
Another person said, "Can I really claim it? My family needs this money... I'm in a difficult situation."
This was also normal.
Zhang Wei didn't force anyone. He left behind ingredients worth about thirty million and boarded Lola's adventure and fishing vessel with Vladimir's group and Wu Yong's group!
The ship was exquisitely crafted and equipped with advanced facilities. A heavy-duty airship capable of carrying 800 people and 5,000 tons of cargo cost 6 million on its own!
This sum had emptied the Manyo Merchant Guild, and they even carried a considerable amount of debt.
Currently, the Manyo Merchant Guild urgently needed to repay creditors totaling 1.5 million!
On the ship...
The VIP area was decorated luxuriously. Zhang Wei considered the 6 million price tag to be very reasonable.
People gathered around, watching as dozens of unconscious Pufferfish Whales were neatly arranged on a clean workbench.
This was the number Zhang Wei publicly possessed.
He took out one of them and experimentally cut into it with his blade.
After about four cuts, the Pufferfish Whale began to develop dark spots!
Deterioration!
A sigh of regret rippled through the onlookers. Wu Yong couldn't believe it; even Zhang Wei couldn't solve the Pufferfish Whale problem?
However, Zhang Wei's technique remained unrestrained, and he continued to dismantle the poisoned Pufferfish Whale.
Soon, Zhang Wei divided the entire Pufferfish Whale into more than ten parts.
[Storage Complete: Poisoned Pufferfish Whale Meat]
[Replication Time: 35 days]
"Hmm?"
"The Treasury only stores ingredients with edible value. Does this poisoned ingredient also have edible value?"
"Is it because it can be used in medicinal cuisine, or is the taste truly that good?"
Zhang Wei took out a second one.
Chun Niang encouraged him, "Believe in yourself, you can do it."
Zhang Wei blinked, then reacted with a smile, "Of course, how could I lack confidence in my culinary skills? This Pufferfish Whale was intentionally poisoned by me."
"Intentionally? Why?"
"Naturally, to dissect it!"
Zhang Wei said, "Before I officially process any ingredient, I must have a thorough understanding of it. By dissecting just one, I can obtain information about its bones, muscles, fat, internal organs, etc. This is absolutely essential."
Practicing on a Pufferfish Whale worth a million?
Except for Wu Yong and his men, everyone else wore pained expressions.
But none of them knew that Zhang Wei had seven thousand Pufferfish Whales in his possession!
What Zhang Wei needed was efficiency!
The second one!
After more than a dozen cuts, the Pufferfish Whale became poisoned again.
[Storage Complete, Poisoned Pufferfish Whale Meat]
[Replication Time: 32 days]
"The location of the venom sac is different... Indeed, just like in the original work."
The processing order and technique varied depending on the location of the venom sac.
Zhang Wei closed his eyes.
A faint electrical current passed through the Pufferfish Whale's body in his palm.
In his mysterious sensory organ, the Pufferfish Whale's body became bright and transparent, with its internal organs and bones clearly visible.
Useful!
Now that he knew the location of the venom sac, everything would be easier.
[Storage Complete: Detoxinized Pufferfish Whale Meat]
[Replication Time: 115 days]
"Such a long replication time!"
After removing the venom sac and mucus, the Pufferfish Whale, which was originally pink, instantly transformed its appearance.
It shimmered and glowed!
As if cast from pure gold!
Zhang Wei chuckled and said, "Alright, prepare for the meal."