Chapter 23 Mingmei's Sigh

Mingmei was certain: Mu Chen and Lu Gui really had incompatible auras.

Perhaps it was more accurate to say that Lu Gui unilaterally disliked Mu Chen. Mu Chen hadn't initially felt anything towards him, but because Lu Gui had provoked him overtly and covertly multiple times, Mu Chen had now successfully taken the bait.

Right up until class in the afternoon, they exchanged "what are you looking at? I'll smack you!" glares.

After that, it escalated to veiled insults and sarcastic remarks. Their back-and-forth, incomprehensible to outsiders, was a sight to behold.

Even in the afternoon, before starting their cooking class in the classroom, Lu Xiaoyao couldn't help but say something to her brother about his antagonism towards Mu Chen.

Lu Xiaoyao: "Brother, listen to your sister's advice."

Lu Gui: "What?"

"Tearing apart CPs will be punished by heaven."

Lu Gui: "..."

As a result, during the afternoon cooking class, Lu Xiaoyao received a slice of pseudo-mother meat from Lu Gui that was not only made by his own hands but also overcooked.

Dry, hard, and impossible to chew!

Mingmei, watching Lu Gui "bully" Lu Xiaoyao through the live stream, almost died laughing.

[Pfft, hahaha, a real brother! Seriously, anything that tastes that bad should definitely be given to his sister first~]

[Zaizai is fierce! She's willing to say anything to defend the CP she's shipping.]

[So, is this indirectly confirming that her brother also likes the Mysterious Merchant lady?]

[Who doesn't like the Mysterious Merchant lady? I like her too!]

[But didn't you hear Zaizai's brother say at the beginning that he also knows General Mei Qiu's sister? I remember Mu Chen and that lady were dating offline, right?]

[Is this... poaching?]

[Um... if you guys didn't mention it, I almost forgot about that. The Mysterious Merchant lady's face is modeled after General Mei Qiu's sister...]

[Hiss! Is this the so-called melodramatic love triangle of the rich and powerful?]

...

Seeing the comments in the live stream turning back to her again, Mingmei couldn't laugh anymore.

What was going on?

Was the Pseudo-Mother Eighteen Ways not stunning enough?

Why were they talking about her again?

Mingmei secretly complained about the direction the live stream was taking, but soon, she realized that the players in the classroom weren't laughing either.

"Only one person per class from now on?"

As the class was about to end, each player received a schedule for the Chef God's daily classes, with a note at the bottom saying "Number of students per class: <2". Everyone was full of question marks.

"That's right. You've all had your eyes opened today, and you've tried different cooking methods yourselves. Next, you need to think about what you're good at, then bring your favorite ingredients and come to me for one-on-one guidance."

"What does 'favorite ingredients' mean?"

Mu Chen immediately noticed the "favorite ingredients" mentioned by the Chef God.

"It means you use whatever ingredients you think you can use to make the most delicious dish. By the way, I don't provide ingredients for one-on-one guidance here. You have to get all the ingredients yourself, and prepare a portion for me, by the way."

After the Chef God finished speaking, the players in the room and the audience outside the live stream all fell silent.

"Are you saying we have to catch Zerg ourselves?!"

Lu Xiaoyao reacted quickly this time. While other players thought about the Chef God's meaning, still wondering if this possibility was real, Lu Xiaoyao directly asked the question, and her voice cracked!

What was this all about?!

For Lu Xiaoyao's doubtful question, the Chef God simply nodded in response.

"That's right~ Our school provides Grade A mecha and battleships. You can go to outer space to catch them yourselves." As the Chef God spoke, he met the increasingly confused eyes of the players, and a smug smile appeared on his face. "It doesn't matter, there are thousands of types of Zerg, and I know how to cook thousands of Zerg dishes! As long as you can catch them, I can teach you~"

Players: !!?

Was the main point whether or not you knew how to cook them?

The main point was whether or not they could catch them!

Also, why did a chef school have fighter mecha and starships?!

At this moment, Mingmei outside the classroom was almost doubled over with laughter at this game's wicked sense of humor.

"I think I understand why this game is a survival game. It's not because of the cooking, but because of the difficulty of obtaining ingredients!"

The players also realized the problem that Mingmei had realized. Watching the Chef God NPC pat his butt after class and leave in a carefree manner, everyone felt even more depressed.

Sure enough, they had been careless!

After class, Mingmei also followed the game's settings and sent the students back to their dormitories to rest.

Along the way, Mingmei watched them walk in silence, and she sighed in her heart for these players. They were really suffering this time!

So much so that Lu Xiaoyao, knowing that Mingmei was the Mysterious Merchant but unable to confide in her, grabbed her hand and asked, "Miss, why does a chef school have mecha?"

"Because they cook Zerg here, maybe... for self-defense? After all, the Zerg aren't happy about being caught~"

Lu Xiaoyao: "..."

That answer seemed to make sense.

However, Lu Xiaoyao was still upset: "But, but why do we have to get the ingredients ourselves?"

"If you don't get them yourselves, where will you get the ingredients to learn? Why do you think our school provides them? We're just an ordinary chef school. We're only responsible for teaching people how to cook~ Of course, whoever needs to catch bugs goes to catch them.

You're the ones who want to learn how to cook, you need bugs, so you're responsible for catching them. Besides, you can catch whatever bug you want to learn to cook. How free is that~"

Mingmei had never thought she could say so much in one breath, and so fluently.

So fluently that Lu Xiaoyao listened, vaguely pondering the logic in her words, thinking, it seemed like that was how it was~

A look of consolation actually appeared on Lu Xiaoyao's face as she murmured, "It seems, it seems that's what it means? We catch whatever we want to learn, and, and it's pretty free? It'll be great if we catch something easy to cook~"

"But, we can't just catch whatever Zerg we want to catch. Do you think you're catching Gugu beasts? Do you have the ability to catch them however you want?"

Zhen Po, sometimes, was really annoying.

The little heart that Lu Xiaoyao had just been comforted by Mingmei was now, *splat*, shattered again!

"Wuwuwu, that's right. It's not up to us what we want to catch, it's up to us what we have the ability to catch QAQ!"

Lu Xiaoyao realized at this moment that it seemed to depend on what Zerg they could catch while staying alive.

All the players fell silent.

"Has... anyone here fought the Zerg before? Simulation class doesn't count, I mean in real combat."

If Zhen Po's words shattered Lu Xiaoyao's naive thoughts, then Lou Jia's words were directly stabbing knives into the players' hearts.

Everyone was a student entering military school, and the oldest one was only Lou Jia, a third-year student. Basically, none of them had any real combat experience.

"I have."

However, what surprised everyone was that two people actually spoke at the same time.

Mu Chen and Lou Jia looked at each other. Even Mingmei looked at them curiously.

"You two..."

"I was forced to fight back when I was a kid," Lu Gui honestly replied, thought for a moment, and added, "Pseudo-mother larvae, yeah."

"I was at school."

Mu Chen's answer was even more surprising. "I have to thank General Mei Qiu for screening out the hidden Zerg beforehand. I accidentally encountered one trying to escape one night while I was walking around the school."

As he spoke, he looked in Lu Xiaoyao's direction. Lu Xiaoyao's game live stream wasn't a secret.

Just like how Lu Gui looked at his sister when he spoke, as if announcing something to the live stream, Mu Chen had the same intention at this moment.

His cold, dark eyes carried a hint of provocation as he stared in Lu Xiaoyao's direction, speaking at an even pace, clearly and distinctly: "However, that Zerg spy was truly unfortunate~"

"And, just like General Mei Qiu said, this hidden Zerg really doesn't have a bug core in its body when it maintains its human form."

"However, their blood is very different from humans. Perhaps the bug core is scattered throughout the body, so under the moonlight, it actually reflects a very beautiful light. That blood looks like it has crushed diamonds in it, radiant and dazzling~"