Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

Zhao Hao slammed a stack of large denomination Japanese yen bills on the table. "Zhao, are you worried we can't afford it or what? I'm definitely eating here today!"

Upon seeing the real money, the manager, relieved that he no longer feared being charged a dine-and-dash, forced a genuine smile: "It was wrong of me to upset you, sir. But it's not about the money; it's simply that our restaurant has a truly generous amount of beef. What do you think?"

Zhao Hao said, "Then you don't need to worry about that. Just go ahead and cook. We can eat it all, so your family will be paid for the meal!"

It felt a bit like the saying "Three bowls of wine and you can't cross the hill," or "Wu Song wants wine to drink."

Once the manager saw the money, he was worried that the big client would leave, mainly because he was concerned about the impact on his reputation, so he relented.

"It really isn't about the money... How about this, if you can all eat 20 kilograms of beef, I'll give you a 50% discount!"

Zhao Hao slammed his hand on the table. "Alright! It's settled then!"

Once the deal was settled, the mustachioed manager smiled a few times and left, while on the other side, the waiters kept serving meat.

In Japan, people eat very meticulously, with a dozen or so small dishes. Someone with a big mouth can eat two dishes in one bite. If you're not hungry, you'll mostly eat cold vegetable dishes.

It's a sight to see stacks of steaks weighing over a pound, like Zhao Hao's, served one after another – a spectacle we haven't seen in years!

You know what, ever since Japan began to Westernize, some Western customs have really spread widely.

I learned how to eat steak from the Ami people.

It started as a favorite food of Ami's workers, and later it even developed into a food culture.

Of course, their beef cattle farming industry is also well-developed, and large beef steaks aren't expensive, so you can eat as much as you want.

Later, they got really creative with the cooking methods, like specifying how well-done it was, but at first they always ate it fully cooked.

Two waiters remained in the small private room, ostensibly to provide service, but they were most likely just there to watch the steaks.

Zhao Hao didn't mind and said to everyone, "Eat to your heart's content today, and teach this mustachioed guy a good lesson!"

Therefore, Er was gritting his teeth when he ate it, as if he had a grudge against beef.

Superhumans generally have much stronger physical abilities than ordinary people, and normally they also have a greater appetite and larger food intake.

However, superhumans don't rely on nutrient intake for energy, so aside from those who focus on physical strength, most others aren't too frightening in moderation. The black giant, Black Lincoln, however, had a huge appetite, eating a whole table full of food in one sitting.

Among the people present, Tayama Dojo ate five large steaks, Chosokabu ate four, Aotabo Mujō, who was transformed into a strong man by Ramenmaru, ate six, and Ramenmaru, who had become a little fat man, could only eat two and couldn't eat anymore. What a loser!

Although the young monk Zongchun tried his best, he had to stop after eating the second piece.

The shrine maiden Chika ate a piece, while Miyoshi Shochu only ate some side dishes and a small piece of meat.

However, the second one once again impressed everyone. As we all know, in the magical land of Japan, the simpler your mind, the bigger your appetite!

He proved his pure heart once again when he ate Kobe beef for the first time and devoured eight large steaks, weighing about ten kilograms!

He ate more than half of the twenty pounds of meat all by himself!

Chosokabu: Is this even human? He eats more than the demon Mujang!

Even so, he glared angrily as he cut the steak on his plate, making crunching noises, stuffing it into his mouth with difficulty, chewing it fiercely, and then swallowing it down.

Now when he opens his mouth, you can see the beef sticking out of his little tongue!

"Forget it! Don't waste this good stuff!" Zhao Hao advised. "Just eat until you're full, don't force yourself to eat more."

"This won't do... Burp!" Er let out a burp before he could finish speaking, and everyone was afraid he would spit out his steak again.

In fact, Zhao Hao and his group had already eaten twenty-eight large steaks by this time, which weighed about 42 pounds!

This is already twice the weight of twenty kilograms. The extra amount of beef would have to be paid for by the mustachioed manager, enough for half a month's salary.

At this point, the man with the mustache was practically crying his eyes out in the bathroom, biting his tie and pounding the wall with his fists. Why did he have to be so stupid?! The other party paid him, so he just went for it! Why act like such an idiot?!

Zhao Hao slowly and methodically placed a large steak onto his plate, skillfully rolling it up with his fork like a giant meat roll.

"Eating beef is such a wonderful thing!" he said, stuffing the whole thing into his mouth!

He chewed about a pound and a half of meat a couple of times in his mouth and swallowed it down with a gulp.

Not to mention the two waitresses, everyone else was stunned.

These two waitresses have really seen something amazing today. Ten people eating forty pounds of beef is already terrifying enough, but they didn't expect the real show to be yet to come!

Zhao Hao began his performance, which consisted of about 30 seconds per large steak. After a few minutes, the kitchen couldn't keep up with the demand.

The pretty waitress's expression was now contorted; her eyes were wide open like saucers, her mouth was stretched taut, her head was tilted to the side, and she was tightly tearing at her clothes—she had begun to put on a dramatic facial expression performance! (Mingmei! Don't you know when you're talking?!.jpg)

At this point, someone found the mustachioed manager and told him about the situation.

The mustachioed manager, sweating profusely and looking terrified, ran into the private room and witnessed Zhao Hao's impressive steak-eating performance. He immediately collapsed to the floor.

He couldn't remember if he had eaten twenty or thirty pieces of meat. The two waitresses next to him were already burping from hunger. Zhao Hao felt his desire to eat meat was gradually being satisfied, so he stopped eating and picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth.

"I knew your meat supply wouldn't keep up with demand, and it was true! Thank you for the 50% discount. We'll definitely come back again!"

The mustachioed manager, who was slumped at the door, suddenly convulsed, foaming at the mouth.

……

"Master, you're amazing! You actually ate...ate..." Er paused for a moment, unable to remember exactly how much Zhao Hao had eaten. "He ate so much steak! Is this the secret to getting stronger?"

Zhao Hao nodded: "It's alright. How can you get stronger if you don't eat?! I only ate about half full today, after all, eating too much isn't healthy."

"By the way, since we're full and the topic of getting stronger came up, let's do some light exercise!"

Zhao Hao led them to the terrace outside the presidential suites he had booked on the upper floor of the hotel. "Hey, you guys have been pretty well-behaved lately, so I've been giving you extra training~"

Er immediately wailed, "No way! I'm being so good, and I still have to do extra training? What will happen if I'm not good?"

"Oh, if you misbehave, I'll teach you a lesson myself~ (killing intent spreads)"

Chosokabu +2 (standing obediently and bowing): "Teacher, we will definitely be good and listen to you!"

"Well, today I'm going to give you the secret weapon I used to train my swordsmanship. It will help you improve your strength quickly."

"Really?!" Er exclaimed excitedly. "Please give me a good beating, teacher! I can't wait!"

"Hmm, very energetic." Zhao Hao nodded, and pulled a barbell out of his pocket (?).

It's like those 20-kilogram barbell bars in the gym, with one end empty and about four or five weight plates fixed to the other end. It weighs a whopping 50 kilograms!

"Hey, I used this secret weapon to train my swings back then. The thousand slashes you're focusing on are for training your willpower and spiritual energy, while these thousand barbell swings are for training your physical strength and arm strength. You can decide how to allocate them!"

Zhao Hao left behind the barbell and two disciples who had turned to stone.

Two people: In this river?

That makes sense. Although the two of them can now have a basic understanding of the power of wind and thunder, it's still too superficial.

Although Chosoga no Bu was a Black Iron 5-star, Zhao Hao thought his foundation was too weak.

With average physique, above-average swordsmanship, and low-grade psionic energy, Zhao Hao considered this kind of Black Iron 5-star to be cannon fodder among Black Iron 5-stars.

Physical strength is the foundation of progress. If your physique is not strong enough, you can't even withstand strong wind and thunder power. What are you doing?

Although most extraordinary individuals have flaws and shortcomings due to their extraordinary path and growth process, their disciples must not have such flaws.

You have to be a well-rounded individual, right?

Only when you reach the upper or even top level of Iron 5-star in all aspects are you qualified to try to break through to Bronze. Otherwise, how can you possibly break through? You won't succeed!

Zhao Hao didn't have any methods to directly reach the Bronze level, and he couldn't take shortcuts like other lineages that had been paved by predecessors. So he could only choose to break through with sheer strength.

So train like crazy!

Zhao Hao: Don't even mention that my medical ninjutsu is already quite exquisite. Even if someone were to actually die from practicing it, I would still have the Great Human Transformation Resurrection Technique!

……

That evening, the shrine maiden Chika returned from outside and happened to meet the young monk Munejun in the corridor.

"Amitabha, did Miss Chika go out to relax? I also feel stifled and want to go for a walk."

"What a coincidence, I went out to buy some things." As she spoke, Qian Ge gestured to the small bag in her hand, indicating that it contained women's items.

The two chatted for a few minutes and then parted ways.

The young monk watched the shrine maiden's retreating figure disappear into the distance, muttering, "Amitabha, well done, well done~"

The Kotohira-gu Shrine on Elephant Head Mountain, where Chika hails from, enshrines the god Kotohira, also known as the crocodile god. Kotohira is the guardian deity of the sea.

After a good rest the next day, it was time to set off.

Unexpectedly, someone came to my door while I was having breakfast.

Yesterday, that bald, mustachioed manager suddenly did a three-meter slide tackle and stopped right in front of Zhao Hao's feet.

"What's going on? Don't you have the money to pay for yesterday's 50% off beef? I don't care about that."

One of the men on the other side, looking serious, bowed and said, "Jisheng has failed to manage its subordinates properly, causing trouble for Yasuo!"

As he spoke, he actually pulled out a knife, intending to cut off a piece of the mustachioed man's finger as atonement.

Zhao Hao waved his hand. "Forget it. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Tell me, what do you want from me?"

Even though that guy with the mustache is a bit sleazy and not very likable, you can't just cut off his finger over something like that! He's not some kind of yakuza.

Besides, this isn't northern Myanmar, why go to such lengths? Who are you trying to scare?!

The leader of the Jisheng Association immediately bowed and invited everyone to the reception room for tea...

The Jisheng Association is a local gang. Although it has only been established for thirty or forty years, it has already involved superhumans from the underworld.

They were quite lucky. After all, this place wasn't far from Kobe, and it wasn't without powerful forces, but they had influential backers who helped them gain a foothold.

The secret realm at the dock that Zhao Hao and his group passed through yesterday was jointly controlled by Ji Sheng Hui and several other forces.

The Jisheng Association and the Shikoku Seido Association have a good relationship. They probably heard the rumors about Yasuo, the great swordsman, from the Shikoku underworld, so they come here at night and only do so if there's nothing wrong.

"Lord Yasuo, we have come here unannounced to ask for your help. Please forgive our rudeness..."

The leader spoke respectfully and recounted the events in detail.

It turned out that Jishenghui was extremely lucky and discovered a clue to an unexplored secret realm in a shrine. After several investigations, they found the secret realm.

Of course, it's best to enjoy such a good thing all to yourself, so they didn't inform anyone else and just went ahead and did it themselves.

The chairman's son led three extraordinary individuals from the association inside, but they haven't come out yet after three days.

At this point, Ji Shenghui panicked, because after spending money on divination, they discovered that the secret realm was definitely not simple and could actually interfere with divination.

Now that the fate of the four extraordinary individuals is unknown, Ji Shenghui is at a loss. They have no choice but to seek help.

Zhao Hao and his group of powerful outsiders wouldn't stay here for long; in fact, they would be more suited to this place than other forces.