Is the closed beta test of King of Loque over? The official release is here!

“These barbecue seasonings,” Song Chen said, his voice low but confident. He turned his gaze from Mo Fan to Murong Jiao’s face. “Mo Fan got them, right? From Elder Mu Yuan’s medicine-making hut.”

This is not a question, but more like a statement.

Murong Jiao's almond-shaped eyes widened slightly for a moment, then she resumed her smug expression. She crossed her arms and raised her chin even higher.

"Hmph, you're smart!"

Her voice was loud and clear, and she didn't care at all if those around her heard her: "But don't even think about it! This was personally developed by Mo Fan, an exclusive formula! You won't get your hands on it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the only sounds in the air were the crackling of the charcoal fire and the buzzing of the natives.

Song Chen looked at Murong Jiao's face, which was full of "what can you do to me?", and then at Mo Fan's busy figure in the distance without looking up. His lips twitched slightly.

Pharmaceutical technology.

This is something they can never replicate.

Niu Kuang fell silent. A rare look of helplessness appeared on his rugged face. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he only let out a heavy snort and turned away.

The two stood there for a moment, then looked at each other.

One had a livid face, the other was as black as the bottom of a pot.

In the end, he could only leave disappointed.

-

As a result, the situation became one-sided from then on.

The queue in front of the Mu tribe's stall grew longer and longer, and some locals who had already bought skewers from Niu Kuang and Song Chen even came back to queue up again after finishing their meals.

“Those two places are edible, but compared to this place…” A native shook his head, his expression complicated, “The difference is too great. It’s like we were just chewing wood before.”

While this statement may be somewhat exaggerated, it truly reflects the feelings of most indigenous people.

Once your taste buds have been opened up to a new world by spices and honey sauce, going back to eat ordinary grilled skewers seasoned only with salt feels like falling from the top of a mountain to the bottom of a valley.

Niu Kuang and Song Chen could only watch helplessly as the flow of customers in front of them gradually disappeared.

Bone Clan stall.

Tie Dan anxiously rubbed his hands together and moved closer to Niu Kuang, his shiny head covered in sweat.

"Boss! What do we do? All our customers have been snatched up! If this continues, we won't earn a single penny this round!"

Niu Kuang stood with his arms crossed in front of the empty stall, his face looking like he'd swallowed a fly. He glared at the long line in the distance, his chest heaving violently, then suddenly turned and roared at Tie Dan and Er Mao.

"What can I do? You guys figure something out! You guys have to figure out how to make that seasoning!"

Tie Dan and Er Mao exchanged a glance.

Tie Dan scratched his bald head, looking distressed, and said, "Boss, that's something they made using pharmaceutical techniques. Where are we going to get it..."

"..." Er Mao stared blankly at the skewers on the grill as they gradually cooled down.

Silence is the best answer.

They can't do it.

This is not something that can be copied simply by plagiarism.

-

Stone family stall.

Song Chen stood behind the stall with his hands behind his back, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

His team members didn't dare to breathe loudly, each one with their head down pretending to be sorting ingredients, but their eyes would occasionally sneak glances at their team leader's face, which seemed ready to explode at any moment.

Lin Sen pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, walked to Song Chen's side, and lowered his voice.

"If all else fails... we'll have to drastically reduce the price."

His tone was calm, but the content made Song Chen's brows furrow even more.

"Lower the price?" Song Chen turned his head, his teeth grinding. "Wouldn't that mean we'd earn a lot less points?"

Chapter 228 Distributors

Lin Sen sighed, his gaze behind his glasses fixed on the endless line of the Wood Clan in the distance.

"There's no other way." His voice carried a hint of helpless acceptance. "If we don't lower our prices, we've completely lost our competitive edge. The taste isn't as good, and the prices are the same, so customers have no reason to come to us. Lowering prices will at least retain some price-sensitive customers."

Song Chen remained silent.

He stared at the flow of people between the two stalls, his lips pressed into a thin line.

After a long while, no one spoke.

The wind blew through the empty market, carrying the laughter and shouts from the Mu tribe's stalls to his ears without missing a single word.

......

......

As the sun sets, torches are lit one by one in the market.

Orange-red light replaced sunlight, casting swaying shadows between the stalls. The aroma of grilled meat still lingered in the air, but the situations of the three teams were now worlds apart.

Wood Clan Stall.

Murong Jiao stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the counter in front of her where only a small pile of ingredients remained, her smile almost reaching her ears.

"Fang Xu! Once this last batch is baked, it should be almost done!"

"Understood, boss!" Fang Xu's voice was filled with undisguised excitement, and his movements as he flipped the skewers were many times more skilled than when he first started in the afternoon.

Murong Sha finished stringing the last bunch of bamboo skewers, placed them on the table, and wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Her blue ponytail gleamed softly in the firelight.

After working all afternoon, all four of them were exhausted. But the numbers on the books made all the fatigue worthwhile.

"Ha!" Murong Jiao jumped up and down, her yellow twin ponytails whipping out two beautiful arcs. "We've won a complete victory this time! Did you see Niu Kuang and Song Chen's faces? They're green!"

She made a funny face, mimicking Niu Kuang's exasperated expression, which made Fang Xu chuckle.

Mo Fan squatted beside the grill, flipping the last few skewers of meat that had been brushed with sauce. The firelight reflected off his face, making it difficult to see his expression.

“I have an idea,” he said.

Murong Jiao's laughter stopped abruptly, and she turned her head. Fang Xu and Murong Sha also looked at him at the same time.

Every time Mo Fan said "I have an idea," what followed was anything but simple.

"What are your thoughts?" Murong Sha asked.

Mo Fan stood up, dusted off his knees, and glanced at the stalls of the other two teams not far away.

On Niu Kuang's side, Tie Dan was waving listlessly at the passing natives, but they only glanced at him before hurrying away. On Song Chen's side, it was even quieter; several team members sat behind their stalls, lost in thought, too lazy even to shout out their wares.

“I want to sell them the spices and honey sauce.”

silence.

It lasted for about three seconds.

Then--

"What?!" Murong Jiao's voice rose eight octaves, her yellow twin ponytails bouncing up like a frizzy mess. "No way! Absolutely not!"

She rushed up to Mo Fan, her almond-shaped eyes wide open.

"If we give it to them, won't they be able to sell it too?! We worked so hard to win over all the customers, and you're just going to give away our advantage for nothing?!"

“Sister.” Murong Sha’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was just enough to make Murong Jiao stop. “Let Mo Fan finish speaking first.”

Murong Jiao puffed out her cheeks and reluctantly shut her mouth.

Mo Fan looked at her, his tone calm.

“We’ve almost sold out of ingredients. Even if we keep the seasonings, we have nothing left to grill. But they have a lot of leftover ingredients.”

He held up one finger.

"First, sell the seasonings to them and let them use their points to buy them. Even if they sell all the remaining ingredients with the seasonings, their total points will not exceed ours, because we will earn some of their points."

The second finger is raised.

"Secondly, for the final Easter Egg Festival's Sacred Tree Ceremony, the more points you get, the better. This means that points are not just a ranking tool; they have value in themselves. There's no reason for us not to earn the points we can."

He paused, then added.

"Holding the seasonings in your hand is worthless. Only selling them makes money."

Murong Jiao opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She lowered her head and thought for a while, her brows slowly relaxing from their furrowed brows.

"...That seems to make sense."

Fang Xu nodded frantically beside him: "Right! We've already won anyway, wouldn't it be better to earn more points?"

Murong Sha did not express her opinion, but looked at Mo Fan with a slight smile on her lips.

Murong Jiao took a deep breath and spread her hands.

"Anyway, you got both of these things, so you're in charge."

Even as she said that, her eyes darted around, and she leaned closer, lowering her voice to ask, "So how much are you planning to sell it for?"

“Ten percent,” Mo Fan said. “They’ll give us ten percent of the points they earn from the barbecue today.”

"Only one-tenth?" Murong Jiao frowned, feeling it was too little.

"That's enough." Mo Fan had already turned around and was walking towards the Bone Clan's stall. "If it's too high, they won't agree; if it's too low, we'll lose out. One-tenth is just right."

Murong Jiao watched his retreating figure and muttered, "I don't want them to make money," but in the end, she didn't object anymore.

Chapter 229 Transaction Completed

......

Bone Clan stall.

The atmosphere was like a stagnant pool.