Rita laughed loudly from her perch on the octopus's back, thoroughly enjoying the mont as Lania Kaia Pine Bloom was humiliated.
There was nothing particularly wrong with the phrase Pine Bloom had used, but Rita could tell—her reaction ant it wasn't sothing she personally liked saying.
If she had owned it with confidence, others might have been caught off guard by the sarcasm. But because her discomfort was so obvious, it just made the mont all the more ridiculous.
Marmang-Crab was also laughing hysterically. "Damn, I wish I could see Lania Kaia Pine Bloom's face right now!"
Once the laughter settled, the crab's expression turned serious as it considered the special event "Is This Even Your Restaurant?"
After staring at Rita for a while, its gaze turned slightly critical—then resigned, before finally settling into quiet acceptance.
Rita narrowed her eyes. "Spit it out."
The octopus continued wandering leisurely through the street, its massive body taking up almost a third of the entire walkway.
Marmang-Crab didn't hold back. "Your cooking is good enough to run a restaurant, but in a competition… you're gonna struggle. I doubt we'll get a top-tier restaurant in the new distribution. Since the ranking determines the quality of restaurants, there are definitely going to be better and worse ones."
Rita wasn't offended. She knew Marmang-Crab was right.
Her cooking talent was above average but not exceptional. She had spent at least 150 years in High Tower, constantly learning, just to stabilize her dish ratings above 92. Soone like Eleanor would have probably hit the peak of culinary mastery by now.
And in the World Battlefield, a place full of prodigies, there were bound to be players whose divine gifts were directly related to cooking.
Even the octopus's initial purchase decision was revealing.
It had originally only wanted to buy Marmang-Crab. It was only later that it asked if Marmang-Crab ca with Rita as a freebie.
Clearly, it had so pre-existing knowledge of the ga chanics and wasn't impressed with Rita's base-level cooking skill.
However, if she were truly terrible, it wouldn't have bothered dragging her along at all.
Marmang-Crab was right—she wouldn't be getting a top-tier restaurant in the reshuffle.
"I have a skill," Rita said. "As long as I'm cooking and you intentionally ss things up, it'll trigger my potential, temporarily increasing my cooking proficiency."
[Chaos Kitchen] (S-Tier):
When activated, this ability creates a "Chef's Domain." Within this domain, if a completely incompetent individual continuously disrupts your cooking process, it will trigger your full potential. For six hours, you will cook at your absolute peak. Skill cooldown: Three natural days.
With her ultimate ability boost, the description changed from "Trigger your full potential" to "Greatly enhance your culinary talent, allowing you to exceed your limits."
Marmang-Crab looked at her skeptically. "Are you sure?"
Rita wasn't keen on explaining every detail of her skill, so she simply nodded. "I'm sure."
The crab clicked its claws. "Alright then, I'll do my best to ruin your kitchen later."
As they spoke, both of them turned at the sa ti, sensing soone stopping nearby.
Maple Syrup?
She glanced at the octopus, her expression unreadable. Then she nodded at Rita. "What a coincidence."
Without another word, she flew off.
Both Marmang-Crab and Rita felt the subtle shift in the atmosphere.
Looking around, they noticed that many visitors were now accompanied by one or two players—one of whom always had the [Chef] job title.
This explained the frequent ti distortions.
Either players had been kidnapped as chefs, forcing their teams to use ti skills to get them back, or chefs had been stolen and were trying to escape their captors.
Tension filled the air.
The restaurant allocation had originally been perfectly balanced—each team of four had their own restaurant. 50,980 players managing 12,745 restaurants was a perfect fit.
But now? 49,325 visitors had joined the mix.
This ant 49,325 visitors 50,980 players were now competing for 12,745 restaurants, with a maximum of four people per restaurant.
At least 49,325 people would be left without a restaurant.
For players, losing their restaurant ant no revenue—essentially an instant loss.
And worse, this wasn't the end of the ga.
The event lasted three Starsea Days.
Rita's mind worked quickly.
Restaurants had set business hours. Which ant they must also have closing hours.
Did losing a restaurant an losing shelter?
Would sothing worse happen at night?
Otherwise, why would visitors—who weren't even part of Divine Ga's usual player reward system—be fighting so desperately for restaurants?
Before she could dwell on it further, B80234615's voice echoed in her mind.
"That's 100 tis now."
The mont it finished speaking, a system-wide notification popped up.
[Ti Disturbance: The tistream in this area has been excessively tampered with. It is becoming agitated. Players who have used ti skills in this period will be penalized. Respect ti as you would respect fate.]
The phrase "becoming agitated" felt incredibly ominous.
Rita imdiately asked her pet AI, "If I use a ti skill now, what happens?"
"It will reset the count," B80234615 replied.
Rita's fingers clenched. "So, if the tistream is already irritated… will it get even more irritated next ti? Does the penalty escalate?"
"You already know the answer."
"…So it does."
This was bad news. And it was only the first day.
At this rate, if the penalty started with a simple ban, what stopped it from eventually removing ti abilities completely?
She solidified her decision.
She would rather lose an S-Tier skill and die once than use her ti ability again.
…Wait.
"Do death penalties escalate?"
B80234615 hesitated, then responded.
"Since my creation, I have participated in sixty cooperative-competitive Divine Gas. In fifty-one of them, the death penalty increased after multiple deaths. In the remaining nine, the penalty remained the sa but each death resulted in the loss of a World Graveyard."
Rita inhaled sharply.
"…I understand."
She fell into deep thought, considering the long-term consequences of this ga.
Job reassignnts? Restaurant shutdown risks?
Just then, the octopus custor stopped outside a restaurant.
Its tentacle pointed at a miniature whale floating behind the counter.
Underneath the whale's belly, small waves rippled, occasionally splashing over its back.
Rita's eyes lit up. "Oh? Are we getting a new teammate?"
Marmang-Crab tilted its head. "Looks like it."
A few minutes later, Rita and Marmang-Crab sat beside a one-ter-long dead whale, surrounded by a misty preservation aura.
Marmang-Crab: …
Rita: …
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