"No way, right?" Sena Hiromi remembered his status as a judge, terror revealed in his eyes.
Damn it! Chefs nowadays can't be that hard-headed, right!? Tōtsuki Detached Palace's evaluation of a chef might not necessarily influence the IGO, but it was certainly enough to cause significant impact within the Far East culinary world.
Chapelle threw Sena Hiromi a glance. "Have you forgotten that he has already passed the assessment?"
"Fuck!" Sena Hiromi swore. "Wait! Since he's already passed the assessment, why is he still making Madeleine cakes?"
"Nobody stipulated in the precautions that one could only be assessed for a position at a single restaurant." Chapelle vaguely wanted to hang the rule-maker up and beat them; the latter's negligence had led to his current dilemma.
Staff members were still clearing away the pile of ominous black charcoal on the cooking station that had caught fire. That color, that aura—Chapelle didn't even dare to imagine what it would be like to eat it.
My stomach hurts.
Chapelle's unflappable poker face began to twitch.
"Instructor Chapelle, what's wrong? Stomach acting up? I'll go get you some medicine." Sena Hiromi, wearing a fake smile, was just about to bolt when a powerful arm pinned his shoulder down the next moment.
"Sit down." Chapelle's hand clamped onto Sena Hiromi like an eagle's talon, the force of his fingertips penetrating straight to the shoulder blade.
"Ow ow ow!" Sena Hiromi was pressed back into his chair with a mournful look on his face.
At this moment, Sena Hiromi could only pray in fear and trepidation that the taste of the Madeleine cakes Mo Bai served wouldn't be too bizarre.
However, Mo Bai's actions behind the cooking station sent a chill through Sena Hiromi.
That smooth operation had vanished; Mo Bai, wearing a face full of curiosity like a child playing with a toy, was poking at the oven from time to time.
"My life is over!"
Due to dealing with cuisine daily, the sense of taste of Five-Star Chefs is much more sensitive than that of ordinary people.
What does a burnt cake taste like?
Burnt taste, scorched taste... and coming from the hands of someone capable of setting an oven on fire, perhaps a rich smoky aroma as well.
(③④②⑨⑥⑦④⑥⑤)
Just simulating it in his mind, Sena Hiromi felt completely unwell.
Sena Hiromi and Chapelle weren't the only ones on the scene feeling unwell; Zhang Yu, standing right next to Mo Bai's cooking station ready to perform a firefighting rescue at any moment, was equally terrified.
"Didn't you say you were already very skilled!?" Zhang Yu's inner voice roared in frustration. Watching Mo Bai's noob-style one-finger typing, he hurriedly called over a staff member nearby and told them to go get more fire extinguishers—what they had might not be enough.
In the instant he turned his head, Zhang Yu realized there seemed to be a figure standing beside Mo Bai.
It was only for a split second; when Zhang Yu hurriedly looked back, he found nothing. "An illusion?"
"Hmm... so strange, why does the feeling cut off again as soon as it gets to the baking stage?" Mo Bai muttered with a frown as he poked at the oven's button display.
Mo Bai had intended to rely on continuity, slipping the time and temperature settings in while his Intuition wasn't paying attention.
But the result disappointed him greatly.
"Why not try abandoning the set time and adjusting the temperature during baking?" A pure white arm extended from beside Mo Bai and tapped the start button on the oven screen.
"Huh? You can do that?" Mo Bai looked dumbfounded. Having never used an oven before, he had always thought ovens were no different from microwaves, requiring temperature and time to be set in advance.
He completely hadn't expected that an oven's temperature could be adjusted.
Indeed, if one abandons setting a time and focuses on adjusting the temperature, then zeros out the time when it feels ready to come out, it's really no different from cooking with a regular stove.
"Holy shit! Then what was I doing just now!" Mo Bai wore a shocked expression as he thought of System Sprite Xiao Bai.
So you, a sprite with an innocent face, were actually watching me make a fool of myself the whole time!
"Xiao Bai, come out and get beaten!"
Xiao Bai felt bitter in its heart; as a system sprite who had switched to the gourmet path halfway through, it didn't know jack about oven operations.
It wanted to refute this, but at this moment, it didn't dare move a muscle.
Because—your deadly friend, the elusive Administrator, has logged on.
Seeing that Xiao Bai had shamefully gone into hiding, Mo Bai was just about to thank the person who gave him the hint when Ryougi Shiki's lovely smile reflected in his vision, filling him with pleasant surprise.
"Shiki-san!" Mo Bai beamed with joy.
"Shh!" Ryougi Shiki pointed at the somber-faced Zhang Yu nearby and the string of chefs around them looking at him like he was a mental patient.
"..." Mo Bai retracted his joyful expression as if changing a mask.
Ryougi Shiki winked playfully, tapped her toes lightly, leaped up high, and sat gracefully on the cooking station directly opposite Mo Bai. "I'm looking forward to your creation."
Mo Bai gazed at the oven. After discarding the psychological pressure of setting the time, that familiar feeling spread through his whole body again.
"In that case—"
Mo Bai pressed the cancel time button on the oven, opened it, and took out the tray.
Knee strike!
The shattered mold flew out accompanied by the half-baked cake batter.
"I shall present a dish for you!"
This overly idiotic action won the attention of everyone in the venue—"This young man has finally gone mad." The inner thoughts of everyone were unified.
Just as Zhang Yu was pondering whether to knock Mo Bai out and drag him off for treatment, he saw Mo Bai's blazing eyes.
That confidence, that arrogance, that momentum of not stopping until the goal is reached—Zhang Yu was dazed watching it.
"Instructor Chapelle, do we really not need to call medical personnel?" Sena Hiromi, who had been delighted a moment ago seeing Mo Bai destroy the mold with a knee strike, saw the latter heading towards the ingredient area again the next moment, and the negative energy in his heart went off the charts.
"Let's watch a bit longer. Chef Zhang Yu hasn't stopped his behavior, so presumably, it was just a simple venting of frustration." A somewhat hesitant Chapelle decided to trust Zhang Yu's judgment.
While the two were speaking, Mo Bai returned fully loaded for the Nth time.
Mo Bai closed his eyes and relaxed his body and mind.
Instantly, he fell into a marvelous state.
Even without opening his eyes, he could clearly [see] every movement of the chefs at every cooking station. Not only that, he could also [see] the temperature of every wisp of flame and the direction of every thread of airflow.
A completely different world opened its doors to him.
In his personal attribute panel, Intuition began to flash. What shocked the play-dead Xiao Bai even more was that even the Culinary Heart: [Propriety] in the Culinary Heart slot began to bloom with light; a domineering dark gold light instantly overshadowed all the text.
Mo Bai felt his condition was even better than when he made [Shattered Mountains and Rivers! Raging Tempest].
As for the recipe—a system sprite cowardly enough to play dead, I don't need it!
"Chef Zhang Yu, I need edible roses, magnolias, chrysanthemums, as well as maltose, osmanthus honey, jujube flower honey, and acacia honey."
"Okay, I'll go get them." Zhang Yu, who had just assigned staff to clean up the mess on the floor, agreed. In the wealthy and extensive Tōtsuki Resort, Zhang Yu was never polite about applying for funds, so these things were naturally prepared.
Ryougi Shiki looked up slightly at the ceiling, the corners of her mouth curling up.
"The origin of the word 'Propriety' is sacrificial activities."
"Holding rituals, sacrificing to gods to pray for blessings."
"As the name suggests, in a place where gods are present, the effect of Propriety... no, the Culinary Heart of Sacrifice will be maximized."
"Mo Bai-kun, let me see..."
"Just what level you can reach."
Ryougi Shiki narrowed her eyes slightly and refocused her gaze on the little gold man who had started to glow.
Dōjima Gin was shaken, the judges' bench was shaken, the entire venue fell into shock.
"Oi oi oi! For real!?"
"That boy—he's glowing!!!"
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