Chapter 105 – Launch of the Energy Package Meal
Bored on the return trip, he decided to open a blind box.
Lin Jiu said, “Give me five lucky numbers. I want to open a blind box.”
Si Xu glanced at him, smiling, “3, 5, 7, 7, 4.”
Lin Jiu stayed in the cockpit and started opening his blind boxes.
For the first draw, he picked 3.
[Congratulations, host, you have obtained Intermediate Demon Hunter Chef skills.]
Lin Jiu: “…”
Should he be happy or not?
Although intermediate Demon Hunter Chef skills were useful, they weren’t what Lin Jiu needed most.
For the second draw, he picked 5.
[Congratulations, host, you have obtained a blueprint for a magic energy gun.]
Lin Jiu: “…”
None of this was what he wanted!!!
For the third draw, he picked 7.
[Congratulations, host, you have obtained several energy stones.]
Lin Jiu: “…”
Lin Jiu: “…”
Lin Jiu: “…”
When Si Xu turned around, he saw Lin Jiu sitting on the floor, kicking his legs in frustration, his face filled with despair.
Si Xu couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “What’s wrong? Did you not get anything good?”
Lin Jiu pulled a face, “It’s not that they’re bad, but none of them are what I wanted.”
He collapsed on the floor in the shape of a star, eyes blank. “There are only two left. I’m not opening them anymore. You can do it when we get back. Your lucky numbers can’t overcome my bad luck. I’m hopeless.”
Si Xu found it amusing. “What do you want?”
Lin Jiu suddenly sat up, “A high-grade gene enhancer! It’s worth 1 million magic points! If we manage to get it, we’ll be rich!”
Si Xu’s expression became complicated. “Don’t get your hopes up. The chances of drawing that are almost zero.”
Lin Jiu: “Even you can’t get it?”
Si Xu: “No one can.”
After all, that was the whole point of the system.
As it turned out, Si Xu was completely right. Even when Si Xu took over and opened the remaining two blind boxes himself, the results were no different. Forget about a high-grade gene enhancer—they didn’t even manage to pull a mid-grade one.
If they had been able to pull one, it would’ve been practically free, which was clearly impossible. Si Xu had long suspected that the Demon Hunter System valued energy too much to give away a high-grade gene enhancer for free.
Even though they didn’t get the high-grade gene enhancer they wanted, the other items they got were still useful.
Of the five blind boxes, aside from the intermediate Demon Hunter Chef skills, the other four items were things Si Xu could use.
Si Xu had a weapon manufacturing system that he hadn’t officially used yet, but he’d been using it to make potions instead. Now that he had the blueprint for a magic energy gun, Si Xu could finally start making that weapon.
Si Xu had firsthand experience with the power of a magic energy gun, and he knew it far surpassed any small weapon from Earth.
The energy stones Lin Jiu pulled were exactly what Si Xu needed. With these energy stones, the power supply issue for the spacecraft could finally be resolved, although Si Xu still needed to turn the energy stones into usable power cells. This was beyond Lin Jiu’s expertise and would have to be handled by Si Xu himself.
The two items Si Xu pulled using Lin Jiu’s hand were practically tailored for him.
One was a smart pharmaceutical space, and the other was a collection of magic herbs. With these two items, Si Xu could now make potions on his own, provided he had the right formulas.
Although they didn’t get exactly what they wanted, Lin Jiu was still quite pleased with the haul.
So in their spare time, their small room now featured three independent spaces: Lin Jiu would be in the smart kitchen experimenting with his new cooking skills, while Si Xu would either be in the smart pharmaceutical space working on crafting basic gene enhancers for the demon sea realm, or in the weapon manufacturing space, researching how to make the magic energy gun.
When Lin Jiu released the dozen mutated Haijias, it wasn’t just to eliminate their Haijia genes; he also had the system place tracking devices on them so they could find the location of the Cecil family’s research base.
The system tracked their movements, and to Lin Jiu’s surprise, the research base was located far from the Cecil family’s usual territory, even across the sea, on a snow-covered mountain that remained frozen year-round.
Once their position became fixed, Lin Jiu immediately sent the coordinates to the Elton family.
The Elton and Limo sea monster families harbored deep hatred for the Cecil family. Given the opportunity, they would tear the Cecil family apart.
With the Cecil family suffering such a significant loss of mutated Haijias, their power was greatly diminished, making this the perfect opportunity for the Elton family to exact their revenge.
Before the Elton family acted, Ansael had his wife, Nadia, bring Lottie and Hailey to Country Z. Accompanying them were some younger members of the family who hadn’t awakened their bloodlines yet. To prevent the Cecil family from assassinating them, they were sent to Country Z, the safest place for them.
With Lin Jiu in Country Z, the Elton family felt confident that Lin Jiu would protect them, allowing them to act without any concerns.
The powerful Cecil family was brought to its weakest point by the combined efforts of Lin Jiu and Si Xu. If the Merfolk clan doesn’t seize this opportunity to rise again while the Haijia clan are down, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Although Lin Jiu and Si Xu could intervene directly, doing so could escalate the issue to an international crisis unless no evidence is left behind. However, if the Elton and Limo families take action, it would be seen as an internal ancient clan dispute, unrelated to outsiders.
Lin Jiu didn’t have to worry about Lottie and their living arrangements. The Elton family had business dealings with Z Country, so it was easy for them to rent a few properties there. The Elton family would handle their security unless they faced issues they couldn’t resolve themselves, at which point Lin Jiu would step in.
Lottie had officially completed the paperwork to transfer schools and could now continue studying in Z Country.
When Lottie arrived at the MoYu Shop to report in, he was almost scared to death upon seeing Vera. He had seen her photo online and was familiar with her face, so seeing someone believed to be dead suddenly appear in front of him was indeed frightening.
Vera’s situation wasn’t something to be publicized. Lin Jiu had only mentioned it to Ansael and Lawson. While they were glad Vera was alive, they also added her grievances to their hatred of the Cecil family. Lin Jiu didn’t expect the former and current heads of the family to be so straightforward, not even mentioning their next heir, which only scared the poor child even more.
Lottie was truly frightened—his face turned white.
Once he gathered himself, he immediately and clearly addressed Vera, “H-hello, Auntie!”
Vera: “…”
Lin Jiu: “…”
Since Vera was old enough to remember, her only relative had been her mother. For so many years, this was the first time she’d seen another family member.
Vera’s temperament didn’t allow her to resent a junior. Strictly speaking, the person most at fault all those years ago was her grandfather, but he had long since passed away. After Veena’s death, her grandfather had fallen into deep remorse and eventually followed her in death.
Sometimes Vera would reflect, realizing that her grandfather wasn’t unfeeling towards Veena. However, bound by circumstances and long-established norms, he lacked the courage to defy the rules, leading to such a tragic end.
Lawson, who witnessed all this but couldn’t change anything, held the Cecil family responsible for his sister’s tragic death and his father’s passing. He remained single for years, never marrying, devoting all his time and energy to fighting against the Cecils. From his generation onward, there were no marriages between the Elton and Cecil families, allowing Ansael to have a stable marriage.
When Vera learned that the Elton family hadn’t killed her biological father and that it was all Vannes’ scheme to frame them, which led Veena to hate the Eltons for so many years, her hatred diminished. The grandfather she might have resented had long passed, so what was left to hold on to?
Before sending Vera on the ship, Veena had said one final thing to her, which remained the last words she heard from her mother.
Veena had told Vera, “Staying alive is more important than revenge.”
Veena never demanded that Vera take revenge, only that she live well. She entrusted all her hatred to Vera, hoping she would seek vengeance when strong enough, but if she couldn’t, she should at least protect herself and live well. It was her way of reminding Vera of the constant danger she was in, urging her to live cautiously.
Vera had followed her mother’s wishes. When revenge was possible, she wouldn’t hesitate; when it wasn’t, she lived freely.
Now, there was nothing left she couldn’t let go of.
Vera saw Lottie’s unease and smiled as she acknowledged his greeting of “Auntie.”
Strictly speaking, Lottie should have called her “Great-Aunt,” but in international languages, family terms aren’t as detailed as in Z Country. Vera didn’t bother correcting him, finding “Auntie” more intimate.
Under Lin Jiu’s hands-on guidance, Vera was finally recognized by the God of Cooking system and officially gained the status of “apprentice.”
Vera had a culinary foundation, but Lin Jiu still spent considerable time teaching her to meet the system’s standards. Lottie, on the other hand, would likely find it even harder to become an apprentice.
Lin Jiu decided to leave him to Vera, letting her guide Lottie in his training.
Lin Jiu instructed the system to pass on the basics of demon-hunting culinary arts to Vera. This transfer of skills was gradual, embedding the techniques directly into her mind, allowing her to learn faster than others. From Vera’s perspective, it seemed she had a natural talent, though the system’s assistance remained a secret, and she believed it was all her own ability.
When Lin Jiu wasn’t around, Vera could now handle the kitchen. With Lottie helping out, Lin Jiu felt reassured even when he wasn’t at the shop.
After thoroughly studying the intermediate demon-hunting culinary arts, Lin Jiu found that these skills focused on processing ingredients from four- to six-star dangerous creatures. Basic demon-hunting skills could only unleash the magic power from up to three-star sea monsters, but four-star creatures required more advanced techniques.
Lin Jiu once prepared a meal from a four-star giant demon stingray, believing he had extracted most of its magic power. However, after acquiring intermediate skills, he could unleash ten times more magic power from the same creature, realizing how much potential he had previously wasted.
Not many people came to the MoYu restaurant for enchanted dishes. Vera could now produce one-star meals using her voice alone, but for two- and three-star meals, she still needed more practice to avoid wasting magical ingredients.
Life had become more peaceful, with Vera and Lottie helping out in the shop, leaving Lin Jiu with much more free time.
After H Country’s verbal attacks and failed negotiations, they finally had to back off. Despite accusing Lin Jiu of controlling a giant sea monster to create a tsunami that flooded their coastal cities, evidence showed he indeed had the power to cause a tsunami but lacked the ability to control giant sea creatures. So, H Country’s lies were exposed to the world.
H Country essentially shot themselves in the foot, wishing they had never released that news. Especially after F Country stepped forward, proving that while Lin Jiu could both create and stop tsunamis, there was no evidence he could control sea monsters.
With no substantial evidence, H Country had no choice but to cease their accusations. As for the ancient clan incident, they had even less of a case, since it was their people who had initiated the attack on Z Country’s abilities. Were they not supposed to retaliate? Not only did F Country testify on Z Country’s behalf, but R and A Countries also subtly indicated that H Country had started the conflict.
Lin Jiu hadn’t expected that countries R and A would voice their stance, subtly leaning towards country Z. If they had remained neutral, Lin Jiu would have already considered it a blessing.
Si Xu, however, laughed and said, “This is the obvious choice. Danger is everywhere and ever-changing; no one can guarantee smooth sailing for their own country. It’s more beneficial to befriend country Z than to offend it.”
Lin Jiu blinked a few times in surprise.
Si Xu chuckled, “That tsunami of yours really scared quite a few people.”
Lin Jiu: “…”
He hadn’t intended to frighten anyone at the time. He just wanted to sweep those mutated sea creatures back into the ocean.
Given the overwhelming force of that event, no one would believe him if he said he didn’t mean to scare anyone. Lin Jiu felt weary.
With life calming down, Lin Jiu began tinkering with his MoYu restaurant again.
He posted a message on MoYu app and his social media accounts: Starting immediately, MoYu is introducing a new energy meal set, which contains higher energy compared to the regular set. This energy meal set is only available to individuals with special abilities. Ability users must present their new identification cards to dine.
Through nationwide surveys, the IDs of ability users differ from those of regular citizens, so by showing their IDs, people will know they have abilities.
Currently, MoYu restaurant offers one private dining room (six seats) per day for ability users. They can make a reservation up to three days in advance, but selling or transferring the reservation is prohibited. Violators will lose their reservation privileges, and the shop may consider discontinuing the sale of the energy meal sets.
People were excited when they heard about the new reservation system at the shop, but their joy was short-lived when they realized the offer was only for ability users.
Many users left comments for Boss Lin, complaining about how unlucky they were, saying they hadn’t managed to snag a reservation yet. They pleaded for a chance for regular customers to make reservations without the hassle of fighting for a spot.
These complaints were quickly shut down by more practical voices: “Do you really think having a reservation means you won’t have to compete for a spot? That’s naive. With only three days for reservations, it’s still going to be tough.”
Everyone else: “Of course!”
Lin Jiu wasn’t just trying to boost sales; he also wanted to provide a place for ability users to strengthen themselves and recharge their energy. He was also curious about how many ability users existed in the country.
The same day he made the post, the private dining room was fully booked by ability users.
Lin Jiu was surprised to see six wild ability users all at once. He had expected maybe one or two to show up, but all six spots were taken, and the energy meal set wasn’t cheap.
This made Lin Jiu think that if he increased the number of seats, perhaps even more ability users would come.
He had assumed that most of the ability users were in the “Special Security Division,” but it seemed there were quite a few in the general population as well.
The price of the energy meal set was announced in advance. The basic set (four dishes) was priced at 30,000 yuan.
The selection of dishes and portion sizes were determined by the head chef to avoid the danger of energy overload.
Lin Jiu decided to personally oversee the quality of the energy meal sets to prevent any issues.
On the first day the energy meal set was introduced, the six diners were initially shocked by how similar the energy set looked to the regular meal set, despite the huge difference in price.
Some of the ability users hesitated, wondering if they had been scammed.
But one of them, who had tried the regular meal set before, immediately noticed the difference in energy levels after taking a bite.
His excitement was evident, and the others, seeing his reaction, also took a bite. They were quickly captivated by the exquisite flavor and the abundant energy.
In their efforts to replenish energy, they had all eaten mutated seafood before. But compared to the energy meal set, it was like night and day. The price of 30,000 yuan suddenly seemed like a bargain.
Feedback from the first energy meal set quickly spread online: the energy was unimaginably high, though the price was equally steep. Even with a lot of money, no one could afford to eat it every day.
“Extremely high energy” became the new catchphrase associated with MoYu Shop’s energy meal set.
When Lin Jiu heard the feedback, he couldn’t help but laugh. They clearly hadn’t tried the higher-tier magic meals yet, or they wouldn’t think that way.
Of course, Lin Jiu didn’t dare think about intermediate and advanced magic meals either. The ingredients for intermediate-level hunter-chef skills were from four- to six-star sea demons. Just thinking about the difficulty of hunting these ingredients made Lin Jiu want to give up on any thoughts of using seven- to nine-star sea demon ingredients for advanced-level dishes.
Better to just sleep and forget about it. Lin Jiu himself wasn’t going to hope for that, and neither should anyone else. As far as Earth was concerned, beginner-level magic meals were probably the highest one could expect.
