The beginning is only when you become a chef

Chapter 164 Group Representative Battle (3K)

“No wonder so many people gathered here after hearing the news about the legendary kitchenware.”

"Even if it's just a replica, we must identify it clearly before we stop!"

Finish your meal at the restaurant.

The manor servant led the group to their rooms.

Coincidentally.

As soon as I reached the stairs, I saw the door of the underground passage suddenly opened, and a group of disheveled gourmets walked out.

At the same time, the light shines out.

At the end of the passage, there was actually an underground venue.

The host's voice echoed:

"The 'Mughal Brotherhood' from India, lost three out of five games, and was eliminated!"

With the sound of defeat in the background, the group from India ran into Xia An and his group head-on with embarrassment and shame on their faces.

Meng Yulu raised her lips slightly and greeted the middle-aged Indian man in a suit who was leading the group:
"Mr. Vias, long time no see."

And he sensed a hint of sarcasm in Meng Yulu's tone.

The middle-aged man snorted and led his men to evacuate at the speed of light.

Kyonina said with a sigh:

"Vyas? This surname means Brahmin, right?"

Meng Yulu nodded:
"Of course, in that ancient India, untouchables are not qualified to take the exam to become a world-recognized star chef."

Jing Nina: "Oh, there are many elite Indian chefs in North America, and many of them have worked hard to become the top or second-in-command. However, those organizations have gradually declined due to the large number of Indians joining them."

Xia An didn't care about the Brahmin Indian chef. He pointed at the underground venue with the door slowly closing with interest:
"So the fight has already started?"

Meng Yulu: "We fought for a few days, just like an audition, first eliminating some small peripheral organizations and forces."

"We, who represent China, the Democratic Association of North America, and the Gourmet Association of Europe, are equivalent to the 'top three regulars' in the food world. We have automatically qualified for the final round and do not have to participate in these trivial auditions."

Speaking of the North American Democratic Association.

Meng Yulu glanced at Jing Nina meaningfully.

"Dont look at me."

Kyonina said expressionlessly:
"We, the descendants of the Phoenix Eight Immortals, are a faction within the Republican Association."

"You can think of them as big men hiding behind the scenes, similar to big chaebols, who can influence the election of party leaders but will not directly participate in decision-making."

Xia An's mouth twitched slightly.

Democratic Association? Republican Association?
This is probably the food agency directly affiliated with the two political parties.

At the same time, Xia An was pleased to see that the descendants of the Phoenix Eight Immortals behind Jing Nina had stayed in North America for three years and three years and had quietly become the tycoon bosses behind the scenes.

In another dimension, Blue Star, Chinese people cannot stand in a high position. Without a big boss behind the scenes, their status is even lower than that of San Ge and Lao Hei.

……

Xia An was arranged to stay in a sea view room.

In the evening, draw open the curtains of the floor-to-ceiling windows and enjoy the magnificent scenery of Sagami Bay under the sunset.

Sagami Bay is right next to Tokyo Bay.

Although it is not as famous as Tokyo Bay and many people have never even heard of it, it is not inferior in terms of coastline scenery.

beep.

Stand quietly for a moment.

A message from Meng Yulu popped up on the phone.

It’s about the arrangements for tomorrow’s final round of the cooking competition.

[Meng Yulu: The other six teams in the final round have already competed. Together with us, North America, and Europe, there are a total of ten teams, fighting against each other.]

[Finally, the five teams that survived were eligible to be summoned by the owner of this mansion and to get their hands on the artifact that looked like the 'Gan Lang Pot'.]

[Xia An: That’s not right, Sister Meng. There are three teams, us, North America, and Europe. Six more teams competed this afternoon, so there are only nine teams, right? What about the last team…]

[Meng Yulu: (laughing) Didn’t you consider the locals? Neon also has a delegation! ]

Xia An smacked his lips. It turned out that in addition to the "Shang Sanchang", the host here also opened the door to the finals to local groups.

He felt seriously.

Tomorrow I will see a lot of familiar faces again, and meet old friends.

After all, in the Japanese food world, Totsuki is the undisputed overlord, and the members of the representative group are most likely that group of people.

beep.

At this moment, a video call request popped up on the phone.

Xia An couldn't help but smile when he saw the requester.

After accepting, daughter Xiaoxi's delicate little face filled the screen.

The father and daughter keep video calls every day.

In addition, the father and daughter recently added a video teaching project.

Xia An spends an hour every day to guide his daughter in practicing basic cooking skills.

Lu Jiaxin and the Douyin team stayed in Shenzhou and did not come to Neon.

With this team, Xia An doesn't have to worry too much about his daughter's daily life and education.

……

The next day.

The group met and then went to the basement of the mansion.

This venue is naturally far inferior to "Between the Moon and the Sky" and can only accommodate a few hundred spectators.

On the stage, there are two open kitchens with lights converging, four or five meters apart from each other. If the chef looks up while cooking, he can easily see his opponent's every move.

"Welcome to the Chinese food industry delegation."

The elegant middle-aged man who looked like a butler bowed to everyone who walked out of the passage.

"Everyone, please take a seat here."

The elegant middle-aged butler gave instructions with a smile.

Subsequently, several other groups arrived one after another.

The fifth group, the host-like Neon delegation, happened to sit next to the Shenzhou delegation.

The two leaders were famous, and when they sat down, they couldn't help but cast greetings at Xia An from the Shenzhou delegation.

Dojima Gin!
Saiba Joichiro!
Xia An also recognized the other three people.

They are all graduates, Hinatako Inui, Fuyumi Mizuhara, and Enka Kikuchi.

A combination of two men and three women.

Kobayashi Ryodan and Akane Kubo Momo, who were sitting behind Xia An, quickly moved over to greet their graduates.

Xia An retracted his gaze, glanced at Meng Yulu's calm profile, and couldn't help but said:

"Sister Meng, the Shenzhou delegation is just the two of us? The two of us are the only fighting force?" Hearing this, Meng Yulu looked at her phone and frowned slightly:
"No, we are still one person short. According to the schedule, he should be here by now."

The words trailed off.

The door of the venue was pushed open a crack.

Chi Xiaobai, carrying a kitchen box, nimbly entered the venue through a crack and strode towards the seats of the Shenzhou delegation.

He is obviously quite famous internationally, and his appearance attracted a lot of discussion.

"Chef Chi?"

"Heh, it seems that Shenzhou attaches great importance to this."

"In the modern world where chefs don't challenge each other easily, these famous chefs who are at the top of the special class are the ceiling of a country's culinary power."

Chi Xiaobai sat down behind Xia An, where Akane Kubo Momo and Kobayashi Ryodan had sat just now.

He patted Xia An's shoulder carelessly:

"Haha, you didn't expect it to be me, did you?"

Xia An looked at Meng Yulu, then at Chi Xiaobai:

"Aren't you two mortal enemies?"

Meng Yulu said calmly: "It's okay to fight in China, but if we represent the Chinese food industry, we must stand together against the outside world."

Chi Xiaobai nodded and laughed:
"This is not the first or second time that she and I have been teammates."

Pause.

Chi Xiaobai remembered something and lowered his voice:

"Boss Xia, don't worry, this trip won't be in vain."

"After discussion, the elders above decided to grant you all the treatment that you, the members of your country's delegation, receive."

"Complete the mission and bring back this artifact that looks like the Greedy Wolf Pot. Regardless of whether it is real or fake, you will receive the highest honor reward within the association."

beep.

The [Late Night Cooking Association] app on Xia An’s mobile phone popped up background system information at the right time.

[Task: As the head chef of the delegation, participate in the competition of authentic legendary kitchenware]

[Rewards: ① Choose any one of the special gold-level ingredients (list); ② Upgrade the membership level from gold level to honor level (can purchase or exchange extraordinary-level ingredients); ③ Cash and real estate...]

Xia An raised an eyebrow.

The task and reward are straightforward, and in terms of generosity, they are no less than the local and national rewards that Olympic athletes receive after breaking records and winning gold medals.

"That's an internal reward from the Late Night Cooking Association."

Meng Yulu suddenly said:

"I have successfully applied to the higher-ups. If you represent us and win, you will receive one thousand IGO International Food Agency points."

Chi Xiaobai's eyes suddenly changed, and he felt jealous:

"Huh? Why do I only have 500 points?"

Meng Yulu said calmly:

“It’s an investment in emerging celebrity chefs.”

Chi Xiaobai said angrily: "But I am not those old guys. I still have potential to tap. The road ahead is not over yet. Why are my salary and benefits being cut?!"

Xia An asked with interest: "One thousand points? What is the specific value?"

Chi Xiaobai sighed:

"Let's put it this way. For ordinary gold-level fantasy ingredients that contain universal cells, the average exchange price is 100 points per piece."

"And the gold-level ingredients that contain special cells will be worth several times more, about 500 to 600 points."

"Going up further, it's the lowest grade of extraordinary fantasy ingredients, with an average price of a thousand points."

Xia An understood.

These thousand points were equivalent to rewarding him with an extraordinary fantasy ingredient.

Although it is the lowest grade, but from the envious tone of Chi Xiaobai's voice, you can understand that even a senior top-notch chef would be eager for this kind of low-grade extraordinary ingredients.

Association awards...

National awards...

Xia An muttered silently.

But don’t forget, he also has the God of Cooking panel.

His eyes flickered, glancing towards his retina.

At this time, on the stage, the elegant middle-aged butler, acting as the host, announced that the Shenzhou delegation would appear in the opening match of the finals:

"The Shenzhou delegation versus the Turkish delegation!"

Meng Yulu had already told Xia An about the opening match schedule yesterday, and Xia An was arranged to play in the first round.

Although the matchup has been arranged, the theme has not been revealed in advance.

Because, for each round of confrontation, the owner of this room will designate fantasy ingredients as a temporary theme.

"The chef of the Shenzhou delegation is——"

The light fell between the seats of the delegation.

The moment that everyone is paying attention to.

Xia An's face, revealing a faint smile, appeared on the broadcast screen above the stage.

"Chef Xiaan!"

Hear the sound.

Xia An nodded to Meng Yulu and Chi Xiaobai, picked up his personal kitchenware box, and stood up.

at the same time.

The chef panel triggers a new goal and refreshes the text information on the retina:

[The Chef God panel has temporarily switched to Food Battle (competition) mode. 】

[Goal has been triggered: Participate in the competition for the 'Gan Lang Pot' (fake/real) and win in the appearance round. ]

[Complete the goal to get 1 food skill point (can only be used to break through the food skill level)]

[There is a high probability of obtaining the opponent's food skills/recipe information in the current game]

Xia An stepped onto the stage, thinking silently in his heart:
"This time, your opponent must use a food technique."

"Any food skills are good!"

He pulled up the panel information that was updated after his last victory over Kyonina.

……

[First victory over a chef using 'food skills' (fake), the World Gate is charged, and the current charging progress is 50%! ]

[Open the door to the world, and the host can reach the goal of the predecessors to open up and explore the "food world". 】

(End of this chapter)