Star Forge Titan

Looking down at the pillow in her arms, Heidi felt that the urge to complain was almost overwhelming. Even the appearance of this inherited item made her want to complain.

After all, the 'Dream Silk Pillow' is a Tier 4 item. Placed within Virtual Paladia, it's the ultimate reward for an entire, lengthy quest chain, and even a group of Tier 3 players might not be able to successfully obtain it. If one attempts to complete the normal process, not only will they have to contend with the various traps and puppets used by the Mad Mage to protect the laboratory, but they will also have to contend with numerous hidden risks, including the various dangerous elements inherent in the lower level middle ring area.

But the reality was different from the virtual Palladia. It was clear that even if gang members were brainless, those who managed to become gang leaders at least knew how to distinguish between strong and weak. If they lacked even this basic ability, they would have long since perished in the conflicts and accidents that plagued the lower-class Central District.

Aside from the gangs, the other dangers lurking in the lower-level Central Ring were more powerful, but their understanding of supernatural powers was actually deeper. When Ivan and Afrediya entered the Central Ring, the latter slightly relaxed her control over her magical pressure. The aura of a third-level upper-level supernatural being was enough to deter 99% of the dangerous elements.

Seriously speaking, the answer to which side is more dangerous is beyond doubt.

So, even when they saw this group of people entering a dangerous restricted area and obtaining items that were obviously valuable, no one jumped out and shouted to keep the items.

However, for reasons of confidentiality, Ivan glanced around before leaving. The golden light emanating from the Titan's pupils swept across the scene like a searchlight, instantly igniting all those contaminated by the power of Chaos lurking in the shadows.

The others didn't know what the other party had done, but when they saw the living person ignited by the bright red flame of positive energy, they chose to charge back without hesitation. The screams of those chasing them were like a whip swung hard, urging them to run as fast as they could.

"There are indeed their people here." Shaking their heads, several people left the chaotic area as if they didn't see anything.

Because knowledgeable insiders either kept silent subjectively or objectively, the accident that occurred in the lower-class Central District was not spread immediately, and the relevant intelligence was artificially delayed.

Far away in the Central Tower District, the Archmages were enthusiastically attending their weekly Monday meeting. Like many administrators, the Archmages, members of the Spire Council, the highest governing body of the Thousand Towers City, also held meetings. However, while the theoretically full thirty-person standing council seats were only half present, this number included Archmages who were participating indirectly through puppets and projections.

The remaining empty seats are not unoccupied, but the seat owners have asked for leave for various reasons and do not attend the regular meetings.

Looking at the sparsely populated seats, the speaker, whose beard reached down to his feet, widened his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Anyway, let's have a meeting first."

"Is there anything important that we need to discuss? If not, let's just disperse early." A congressman said boredly, yawning.

The Spire Council was nominally the highest governing body of the City of a Thousand Spires, but the mages' common introverted nature had caused regular meetings to gradually become a formality. Matters requiring true emergency attention were often resolved in private meetings of a few school leaders.

"The mobile temple of the Temple of Knowledge is about to arrive. Why hasn't this been made public?" Suddenly, a member of parliament asked a very abrupt question. He was quite young among the members of the Spire Council, and he wore a pair of ordinary thin-framed glasses on his face.

"Oh, they went through the normal approval process, and the relevant notice has been posted on the bulletin board for more than three days. Oh, could it be that the youngest among us, the Honorable Mr. Riley, has started to lose his memory early? Or have you never paid attention to the parliamentary bulletin board?" The Speaker skillfully kicked the "ball" back to the member who asked the question.

"..." The MP, whom the Speaker 'affectionately' called Mr. Riley, was speechless.

What a joke! Ever since the mages invented wide-area multi-target communication, the bulletin board has gradually fallen into obscurity. Yet, a matter as important as the entry of the Mobile Temple was quietly approved through the standard immigration approval process. The simplicity and directness of the other party's tactics made Councilor Riley's face turn grim.

But he quickly adjusted his attitude and continued asking questions while pointing at the ceiling above his head.

"Okay, what about that extra bright star in the sky? I've said before that we can't completely trust the heavens. After all, they are not from the same world as us."

"Wait a moment," another council member interrupted Riley's subsequent speech. The council members knew each other well, and everyone knew he was about to unleash his awful celestial threat.

"First of all, according to my observation, there is not an extra bright star in the sky." The mage councilor who specializes in astronomy and divination lightly denied Riley's words, and immediately followed up with a personal attack without a single swear word.

"Secondly, the Celestials are certainly not the same people as us. They are guardians created directly by the gods. You can't use human thinking to judge the Celestials. If you even get this kind of common sense wrong, I'm going to be honest and question how Councilor Riley even passed his mage qualification."

"What did you say? You are insulting my dignity as a mage for so many years!"

"Oh? So your dignity is just that pitifully thin certificate of qualification?"

"I want to duel with you!"

"Welcome."

Facing the rapidly arguing factions of parliamentarians, the bearded Speaker sighed heavily and shouted in a tired voice, "At least don't use magic!"

But what was thrown before the dueling gloves was not an offensive spell, but an old leather shoe that had just been taken off and was still steaming and smelling bad.

Chapter 178: Within the Same Day

There are so many shops to explore, and there are so many strange things in this small country.

If divided by area, the city-state of Genoa certainly belongs to the category of small countries.

A completely neutral and independent city-state like the City of Thousand Towers is even a smaller country among smaller countries.

If Alvin saw the lively scene in the Spire Council at this moment, he would probably express such emotion.

Leather shoes and water cups flew everywhere, and there were several footprints on the wizard hats and robes. The elegant high-back chairs did not overturn, but there was no one sitting on them obediently. Even the long-bearded Speaker sighed and skillfully crawled under the conference table.

This situation and scene are not only strange, but also bizarre. It makes people speechless and choked. There is an old saying stuck in the throat that cannot be spit out or swallowed.

Originally, considering that the atmosphere in the parliament was prone to radical behavior, someone proposed to install spell suppressors throughout the room, but this was immediately rejected by the parliament.

First of all, spell suppressors are unlikely to work on great wizards. Using soul power to assist in casting spells can directly break through most conventional spell suppressors that target magic.

Secondly, even if they installed a suppressor that would also be effective against archmages, regardless of the cost, and regardless of whether it could last longer than the lengthy parliamentary deliberations, what if someone took advantage of the situation and stormed the parliament? Wouldn't the distinguished mage councilors be in danger then?

The result was that the parliament collectively voted not to pretend, relying entirely on personal intuition and morality to remain calm, or at least not to use offensive magic.

However, human nature cannot withstand the test. After the ninety-third parliamentary explosion, more and more academic research mages refused to serve as members of the school, believing the entire process was too time-consuming and dangerous.

In the very end, the then Speaker of the Parliament, the Archmage, roared loudly, "I shouldn't be the Speaker!", and raised his hand to cast a set of powerful multiple oath-binding curses on the entire parliament hall.

After that, anyone who used magic to attack a member of parliament in this hall would be cursed immediately.

Curses like these, with their strict prerequisites, are often massively amplified by the complex binding rules, unleashing terrifying power that even archmages find difficult to resist. Incidentally, the speaker at the time was himself an archmagus specializing in curses. The powerful, multi-binding curses he unleashed were bound to be unstoppable and impossible to defend against.

As for the specific effects of the curse, to be honest, it can't be said to be too serious.

It's just a toothache, that's all!

"Ahhh!!!!!!" A mage councilor howled miserably and could not utter the rest of the sentence.

Under the effect of the curse, his cheeks were swelling rapidly at a rate visible to the naked eye. He then covered his cheeks with his hands and began to roll around on the ground.

Another council member stood there in a daze, still holding the metal water cup he'd bought in advance. Before he could even throw away his specially prepared item, he gasped in shock at the sight before him.

"I saw him take out the Fireball Staff just now..."

"Oh, too young! Too naive! The previous Speaker was the chief mentor of the Curse School. How could he have left such an obvious loophole?"

The Spire Council, apparently no more than a hundred people, was bustling like a market. Fights and insults were commonplace, with many hiding under tables. Some even cheered and watched, while others sat back and drank tea. While there were voices of reason, they were far too weak compared to the broader clamor, and crucially, difficult to maintain.

"Gentlemen, please stop! This is extremely rude and not like the behavior of a spellcaster! There are still many important issues that need to be discussed on today's agenda... Who threw the socks! Ugh—" The congressman who opened his mouth to speak was hit in the face by the socks. After being stunned for three seconds, he began to dry heave on the spot, and then tried to lift the carved high-back chair with red eyes. As a result, he seemed to fail due to physical reasons, oh no, because the solid wood carved high-back chair was too heavy.

With the physique of a high-level transcendent, even a spellcaster shouldn't be unable to lift a mere chair. However, all the furniture in this room is magically glued to the floor, clearly a lesson learned from past generations. Perhaps this is just another aspect of the world of magic.

All in all, today's Spire Council was still a day in which nothing was accomplished.

Well, we can't say it too absolutely. At least the Speaker drank the first cup of tea of ​​the week under the table without any expression, and the mobile temple affiliated with the Temple of Knowledge also entered smoothly on the pretext of "borrowing the passage". According to the declaration form of the Temple of Knowledge, they are going to the Great Wilderness Forest to investigate the abnormal magic riot that occurred earlier.

For the Temple of Knowledge, responsible for handling extraterritorial intrusions from outside the Palladian realm, investigating and handling such incidents was commonplace, commonplace across the world for over a century. However, the deployment of the Mobile Temple this time certainly piqued the Genoese Confederacy's curiosity.

The so-called mobile temple is said to be a super-large temple fortress designed and supervised by the God of Wisdom himself. It has all the functions of a normal temple and a medium-sized fortress, and can continue to move as a whole with the help of a unique walking mechanism. It has always been a magnificent wonder-level building from the past to the present.

Taking into account the cost and the response of various countries to foreign forces, even most confirmed demon invasion incidents do not require the deployment of such a powerful device.

However, the data from the previous magical fluctuation in the Great Desolate Forest was so bizarre that the peak value actually reached the limits of the wide-area measuring instruments. Based on this, it seemed quite normal for the Temple of Knowledge to respond at the highest level. After all, this was a major anomaly that only occurs once in a century.

Having said that, the Genoese Confederation's allowing the mobile temple to enter the country might be a test.

It's important to note that after entering the new era, the Temple of Knowledge has modernized several of its existing mobile temples. Considering there haven't been any serious incidents requiring the deployment of these mobile temples in recent times, the various nations don't have much information about the actual combat capabilities of these upgraded mobile temples.

But these things are obviously things that the masters above need to worry about. The chefs who also chose to take the Genoa Super Chef Assessment today obviously have their own things to do.

"What is that! Oh my god, it's a pineapple! Udonna, the scaly chef, is actually cutting a pineapple! Could it be that Chef Udonna really makes Genoese open-faced pie with pineapple slices, as the rumors say? Oh, this is a complete trampling and insult to traditional Genoese cuisine. Fruit should only appear in desserts or appetizers!"

The host, clutching a secondary magic device that amplified his voice, continued explaining the current situation at the assessment competition. His tone sounded genuinely surprised, yet his words were filled with teasing and a hint of unconcealed malice.

It was obvious that Udonna's appearance and the recipes she used made many old people in the traditional culinary world feel uncomfortable, and even the host noticed it.

That's why he did this on purpose when commenting on live broadcasts.

"Can I blow that guy away?" In the stands, Afrediya narrowed her eyes, and her usually bright red pupils now revealed a hint of dragon-like dimness.

"No, you'll have to pay for it if you blow up the amplifier microphone." Alvin shrugged and told a not-so-funny joke.

"Tsk, how can a secondary magic device that relies on the unique city formation of the City of Thousand Towers be expensive? It's very cheap." Afrediya rolled her eyes at him, but did not really do anything extreme.

"But this competition is very important to Udonna." Ivan slowed down his tone and put his arm around Frey's shoulders.

"Yes, so you have to be patient." The Demon King pouted his lips and his pupils returned to their normal appearance.

"Maybe I don't have to endure it for too long." Alvin raised his eyebrows.

He noticed that despite the boos from the audience and the host's constant sarcastic remarks, Udonna remained unmoved on the field and was completely focused on cooking.

As soon as she entered the competition venue today, she started cutting pineapples and making juice, while also mixing other seasonings.

Gradually, the boos and jeers turned into a buzz of discussion, all because of the strange object that was gradually taking shape in Udonna's hands.

She only used pineapple juice and a white powder that looked like flour. After mixing the two and going through several steps, she created another very novel thing that didn't even look like food.

Because, it was a completely transparent and very thin piece of...paper?

Chapter 179 Passing the Assessment

Can great force really work miracles?

This situation made Alvin make such a guess.

Although she said she wanted to defeat everyone with "leftovers", when Udonna actually participated in the special chef assessment, she showed an extremely serious attitude.

The first dish she was going to make was actually a novel dish in which the ingredients were completely crushed and then reshaped.

Ultra-low temperature, elemental magic comes into play.

Spherification technology transforms liquid ingredients into spheres, using alchemy to create the result.

Emulsification technology, using emulsifiers to make ingredients into foam, can be used with the help of potions.

Deep grinding, using a grinder to completely pulverize the ingredients, is actually much simpler than the previous ones. I didn't expect Udonna to be a high-ranking warrior. Crocodile's martial art, Death Spiral, isn't just aesthetically pleasing; it can also be used for beating and powdering ingredients.

Sous-vide cooking combines low-temperature cooking with vacuum technology. By using a vacuum, ingredients are quickly and evenly heated at low temperatures, preserving their nutrients and flavor to the greatest extent possible. To achieve this, Udonna uses a new type of kitchenware, custom-made from Linde Workshop and powered by the principles of magic engineering.

The constant emergence of new technologies and new recipes has changed everyone's attitude. Even if they haven't actually tasted the dishes, Udonna's dazzling operation alone is enough to shock the audience.

Even in Alvin's previous life, this method was very avant-garde and was even given the new name of molecular cuisine.

Finally, Udonna finished all the dishes, including foamy potatoes that looked like rolling waves, spherical juices that looked like caviar, and grilled cheese wrapped in transparent paper that looked like glass and exuded the fragrance of pineapple.

In comparison, the steak that was slow-roasted for more than ten hours in the huge vacuum low-temperature cooker looked the most ordinary.

Afrediya was fidgeting in the audience, unconsciously leaning forward and swallowing, staring intently at the stage.

“I don’t know exactly what Udonna is doing, but just looking at the production process makes me curious.”

"I think that even if Udonna fails to pass the special chef assessment this time, there will definitely be no shortage of customers visiting her restaurant in the future." After thinking about it for a while, Ivan realized that Chef Crocodile had been invincible even before the assessment began.

Leveraging the appeal of the Grand Chef Examination, Udonna and the new breed of chefs she represents will undoubtedly establish themselves. Ultimately, the restaurant industry is still a service industry; customer interest and enjoyment are what bring real profits and true voice within the industry.

"Speaking of which, she knows a lot about alchemy, potions, and magical engineering." Alvin sighed, muttering in his heart that this crocodile probably also knows marketing.

"After all, she also came from the Archmage's Tower, although Udonna is not the teacher's graduate student but a student of the graduate school." Afrediya's mouth twitched, and she almost managed to hold back her laughter.

At the competition, the judges were amazed by the unique taste of molecular cuisine and gave high scores one after another, some of which were full marks.

But what Udonna finally served was not some fancy dish, but a plain plate of fried noodles with leftovers.

The judges looked at each other in bewilderment. Compared with the dazzling molecular cuisines that had appeared before them, this home-cooked dish seemed particularly mediocre.

After a long time, the old man sitting in the middle silently picked up the fork.

From beginning to end, no matter what kind of molecular cuisine he saw, he didn't show any emotion at all. But when the forkful of fried noodles entered his mouth, the old chef froze in place as if struck by lightning.

After chewing carefully for a while, he looked up at Udonna, who looked a little nervous.

"Did you add vinegar?"

"For an old man with a deteriorating sense of taste, adding a little black vinegar to noodles is just the right way to whet his appetite."

The two-meter-tall albino crocodile was actually standing there proudly with its neck erect. In the audience, Ivan and Afrediya couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

Ignoring Udonna's irrational words and attitude, the old chef snorted softly and calmly put down his silver fork. He then turned his gaze back to the disciple before him.

Yes, this old man is Udonna’s teacher, the old-fashioned man who is inflexible as described by the crocodile chef.

"Modify the menu for the sake of the diners themselves." The old chef paused.

"I acknowledge this kindness."

"Ga!?!" The unexpected comment made Udonna's eyes widen instantly, her bloody mouth full of sharp teeth slightly opened, and her originally ferocious appearance actually revealed a bit of stupidity.

"What's that expression on your face?" The old chef blew his beard, then stood up, walked around the judges' table, and hung a golden medal on Udonna's chest.

The medal looked exactly like a pizza, and Alvin could only say that he was worthy of being a Genoese.

"Congratulations, Uluna Waqia Qia Gelulu Guoye Hailu, you have become the new Genoa Grand Chef."

"You can actually remember my full name." It took Udonna a long time to utter these words.