Ripen Eggplant

In theory, the human body could only support the operation of one evolution ability; otherwise, the body would be overloaded and unable to endure it.

Being able to possess two evolution abilities was unheard of, and Xiao Feng had never come across such a concept.

Staring at the rigid crystal core, Xiao Feng decided against the idea of directly consuming it.

"What if I eat it and end up with a stomach perforation? That would be troublesome!"

But then, the system suddenly gave a notification.

[Notification: The host can check the recipe. The recipe contains dishes that can fuse with crystal cores.]

"A recipe? You have a recipe?"

Xiao Feng was astonished.

In the next moment, a thick book appeared in his mind, labeled with just two words: "Recipe."

"Why didn't you show me this earlier?"

[Notification: Dishes need to be unlocked through tasks.]

As expected, when Xiao Feng opened the recipe, he found that the colored items were the ones currently unlocked, and the others were grayed out.

He slowly flipped through the book.

The dishes listed in the recipe primarily used Chinese cooking methods, emphasizing Shandong cuisine, Suzhou cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Anhui cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, and more.

There were also many regional cuisines such as Northeastern cuisine, Northwestern cuisine, local cuisine, Xinjiang cuisine, and various other regional culinary styles.

However, these were not traditional dishes but rather dishes made with unusual and mystical ingredients using the cooking methods of these regional cuisines.

For example, there was a dish called "Spicy Titan Giant Ape Brain," and the main ingredient appeared to be the brain of a Titan Giant Ape. There was also "Charcoal-Grilled Scarlet Flame Dragon Tendon," which used the tendons of a Scarlet Flame Dragon as its key component.

On the book, Xiao Feng discovered what he was looking for: "Home-Style Spicy Tripe Soup."

This Sichuan dish was primarily made with pig's blood, but the cooking process required breaking up the desired crystal core's ability and mixing it into the pig's blood. This fusion would counteract the side effects of the crystal core and integrate its abilities more effectively.

However, the effectiveness of the dish was dependent on the level of the mutant pig. The higher the level, the better the blood's effects. Xiao Feng immediately thought of the Bloodfang Wild Boar.

The Bloodfang Wild Boar was a second-tier mutant beast, while the crystal core was third-tier. In theory, it wouldn't be enough. To integrate the psychic crystal core, Xiao Feng needed to find a mutant pig with a level of three or higher.

Furthermore, the prerequisite was that he needed to unlock the "Home-Style Spicy Tripe Soup" dish before he could proceed with fusing the crystal core. Without the recipe unlocked, even if he had the ingredients, he wouldn't be able to cook it.

Slightly disappointed, he put the crystal core away.

At that moment, Xiao Feng recalled something. He couldn't understand why Professor Wang had been in relationships with so many female students and what kind of enhancement it provided for psychic abilities.

He later learned that the enhancement of psychic abilities required the energy within the crystal core of a psychic type. However, psychic type crystal cores were extremely rare, and Professor Wang had developed his abilities purely through his own efforts.

And through these relationships, Professor Wang could significantly stimulate his spirit, making him more excited. In this state, the enhancement of his psychic abilities would progress rapidly.

.....

.....

As for the cooperation with Shelter No. 9, Xiao Feng calculated the benefits. They provided the ingredients for free, and he charged them half of the processing fee. In the end, Xiao Feng would earn about one-third more compared to his previous earnings. It was a profitable arrangement.

However, Xiao Feng's production capacity was limited, even with the assistance of Mr. Gao and Gao Ya. In a day, he could produce around 3,000 buns. This meant he could earn roughly 30,000 energy a day, not counting labor costs.

He offered to pay Mr. Gao and Gao Ya for their assistance, but they initially refused. Xiao Feng insisted, stating that as evolutionaries, even in their role as life-type evolutionaries, they should be compensated as it would motivate them to improve their abilities. He eventually agreed to pay them a monthly salary of 10,000 energy each.

In addition to fulfilling the needs of Shelter No. 9, Xiao Feng also had to prepare fifty Braised Pigeon dishes for Wang Qiang and the birdmen. They had negotiated a price of 5,000 energy for each Braised Pigeon, resulting in a substantial income of 250,000 energy.

In certain instances, Xiao Feng even considered specializing in Braised Pigeon rather than buns, as the earnings were significantly higher. While he was busy with these tasks, the Mutant Eggplants grown by Mr. Gao finally ripened.

[Task Completed: Cultivate qualified Mutant Eggplants]

[Task Reward: Unlock the dish: "Home-Style Spicy Tripe Soup," Special item: "Bun Flow Water Machine"]

[New Task: Raise the restaurant level to Tier 3]

"Ha-ha, the eggplants have finally ripened!" Xiao Feng, who was busy making buns, heard the system notification and rushed to the backyard in excitement.

At this moment, Mr. Gao was also thrilled, gazing at his successful cultivation. He couldn't help but ask, "How did you know the eggplants were ready?"

Xiao Feng was glad to see Mr. Gao's excitement because his hard work in the restaurant was finally paying off. Throughout his life, Mr. Gao never wanted to be a freeloader at the restaurant, so he had always been eager to contribute. Now, his efforts were bearing fruit, and it put his mind at ease.

"I've been farming for my whole life, but this is the first time I've seen eggplants this big and yielding so many," Mr. Gao responded with pride.

The mutant eggplants, known as long eggplants, were impressively over two meters tall, with each eggplant being over a meter long. Each eggplant felt heavy, weighing around ten kilograms.

"Mr. Gao, in the post-apocalyptic world, many things have undergone mutations, and these are mutant eggplant seeds I happened to come across. That's why they've grown like this," Xiao Feng explained.

Upon hearing Xiao Feng's explanation, Mr. Gao realized why these eggplants were so exceptional. He then exclaimed, "And I suppose the potatoes will be as enormous as the watermelons, right?"

Judging from the size of the eggplants, Xiao Feng was confident that the mutant potatoes would also be of substantial size.