Sargeras glared at Crassus, then swallowed back the rest of his words, shrank back, and obediently sat down.
That year, outside of Luo Du, he saw a mage repel a dragon with a fireball spell and even clamor to take his mage's staff and smash the dragon's head.
And that white-robed mage was now sitting there waiting for his meal. Although he could only see a profile, he recognized him instantly. He still held a certain awe for powerful humans.
Although he felt that he could fight dragons after fully awakening and obtaining the sacred artifact, he was still countless Rou Jia Mo away from that goal. From now on, he would have to take on guild missions everyday to earn money to eat Rou Jia Mo.
"This owner is indeed extraordinary, even such a powerful mage comes to eat at his restaurant." Sargeras thought to himself, feeling somewhat fortunate that he hadn't acted rashly that morning. He looked at Mai Ge and said, "Boss Mai, I'd like three Rou Jia Mo."
After having a Rou Jia Mo for breakfast, Sargeras only ate a few wild fruits in the swamp for lunch. Killing over a dozen poison dart frogs had drained his energy, and he was now ravenously hungry.
However, today's mission reward was rather meager, far from enough for food. He needed to go to the guild early tomorrow to accept a higher-paying mission.
"Okay, please wait a moment." Mai Ge nodded. Sargeras moved his original chair aside. The chair he brought looked like a few metal strips with a metal plate on top—simple and crude, but it seemed quite sturdy. Since Sargeras brought it for meal, it must be quite fire-resistant.
Aside from the tables and chairs, Mai Ge wasn't worried about Sargeras burning the floor and walls. Even though he was engulfed in flames that morning, he hadn't left a single mark on the floor. It seemed the system had put considerable thought into the materials used in the restaurant.
"The flooring of this restaurant is made from rocks sourced from the bottom of the active volcano in Santorini, the sacred land of the Lava Demons of the Demon Islands. It has undergone multiple polishing processes and is extremely heat-resistant. The walls are made of a synthetic sound-insulating material with extremely high hardness, and the surface is coated with the flooring material, which also has extremely high heat resistance." the system's somewhat arrogant voice rang out.
"Can it withstand a dragon's attack?" Mai Ge asked, raising an eyebrow.
The system fell silent for a while before replying: "The restaurant design only considers dealing with routine situations. Host, please do not be reckless and provoke the dragon."
"In this world, isn't encountering dragons a common occurrence? System, your design skills still need improvement." Mai Ge sighed, with a hint of regret.
Although he didn't have high expectations, if the restaurant's defenses were truly astonishing, it could be used as a fortress.
"Host, please do not question the system's design capabilities. Your current permissions are too low to upgrade the restaurant, it is currently at level 0." the system's stern voice announced.
"There are levels? How do I upgrade? Do I need to complete quests?" Mai Ge's eyes lit up. If the restaurant could be upgraded, that would be interesting. With growth potential, it might truly become an indestructible fortress.
"The host can automatically upgrade to level 1 by spending 50,000 gold coins in addition to purchasing ingredients." the system's voice announced.
"You're ruthless." Mai Ge was stunned. He had thought it might require completing some kind of task, but he did not expect that he would have to spend money to level up, and it would cost 50,000 gold coins to level up once. It was outrageously greedy.
"After upgrading to level 1, in addition to a free restaurant upgrade, you can unlock several other features. Keep up the good work, host." the system encouraged.
"No money." Mai Ge pouted. He was still trying to save up the 10,000 gold coins to buy physical fitness points, and he didn't need to think about the 50,000 gold coins in the short term. Anyway, he was quite satisfied with the restaurant as it was now, and he wasn't in a hurry to upgrade it.
Mai Ge began serving the customers in order of arrival. The sixteen Rou Jia Mo in the oven were almost done, so those who ordered them first could eat first. While the second batch of Bai Ji Mo was baking in the oven, he started making fried rice for those who had ordered it.
These past two days, customers had started queuing up early, so Mo Bai couldn't get a front row anymore. Although it was right next door, he had to forge weapons everyday, but he still came over quickly after the opening and ordered two servings of Yang Zhou Fried Rice.
"Little girl, how about I take you to eat something delicious?" Crassus said with a smile to Amy, intending to lure her with food first.
"Okay!" Amy's eyes lit up, then she shook her head. "But I've already eaten tonight, let's wait until tomorrow. If you take me out to eat, you should pay, right?"
"Of course I'll pay! Anything you like is fine." Crassus's smile widened. Sure enough, this little girl was a foodie, she'd taken the bait easily.
If the two of them were alone, it wouldn't be difficult to assess her magical talent. He could even use food to lure her back to the mage tower.
Sitting to the side, Mo Bai glanced at Crassus, his slightly narrowed eyes scrutinizing him as he looked at Mai Ge, who was busy making fried rice in the kitchen. It seemed necessary to remind Mai Ge later.
"Okay, then I'll wait for you to come before eating tomorrow morning. You can just pay me for my portion. I love Daddy's cooking the most, it's the best." Amy nodded happily, her smile full of sincerity.
Crassus, who had originally intended to praise how delicious and tempting the food in Luo Du was, making Amy yearn for it, froze, feeling like he had stepped into a trap of his own making.
But upon closer reflection, it made perfect sense. Not to mention Chaos City, even in Luo Du, he hadn't found food that could make him eat two plates everyday for many years. Mai Ge's Yang Zhou Fried Rice had achieved that, and he wanted two plates every single meal.
Telling the restaurant owner's daughter that he'd take her out for a nice meal was definitely a bit thoughtless. Now he'd fallen into the trap, and he'd even jumped in willingly. He could only nod helplessly and say, "Okay, I'll pay for it tomorrow."
"Grandpa White Beard, you're so kind." Amy nodded. Eating at home and having someone pay for her felt wonderful.
Mo Bai, sitting nearby, was also stunned, almost bursting out laughing. He glanced at Amy and realized his earlier worries were completely unnecessary. This girl wasn't someone you could easily fool.
The other customers waiting for their food watched Amy with great interest. This half-elf girl was incredibly cute and had a very witty way of speaking, though she often managed to leave people speechless with just a few words. But for onlookers, it was certainly a source of amusement during their meal.
"Then I can show you some fun things, like dancing snowmen." Crassus said, still not giving up. After thinking for a moment, his eyes lit up, and he snapped his fingers. One by one, thumb-sized white snowmen jumped down from his hands and danced in a circle on the table.