Chapter 46

Buffalo, with a strawberry ice cream over a meter tall in his hand, was eating with his mouth full, looking utterly satisfied.

Baby-5, on the other hand, was holding a bunch of snacks and didn't even know which one to start with.

Fortunately, Abel, the king of freeloaders, was there to help share the load.

He first took a box full of octopus balls as big as fists and tried one.

"Hmm, it tastes pretty good, and most importantly, it really contains chunks of octopus, and quite a lot too!"

"The accompanying sauce is also refreshing, surprisingly, it's not greasy at all."

Hence, he enjoyed another one, and then another.

When he noticed Baby-5 next to him, unable to free a hand to eat and about to burst into tears, he finally had a pang of conscience and fed the last octopus ball to Baby-5.

The young girl's mouth was instantly filled to the brim, making her look adorable, just like a hamster.

Once she chewed and the flavor spread in her mouth, the teary glint in her eyes disappeared, and a happy smile bloomed on her face.

"She's such a easy girl to appease~"

"With this kind of personality, what if someone deceives her in the future?"

While eating, Abel began to worry about Baby-5.

"Hmm, I've decided. From now on, anyone who dares to have designs on Baby-5, other than me, is absolutely doomed!"

Seeing them enjoying the food so much, even Senoir, who initially wasn't interested, couldn't help but take a couple of camel skewers.

He didn't know what kind of camel it was, but the meat burst with juices as soon as he took a bite. Delicious!

By the time Senoir came to his senses, he found that Abel and the others were all staring at him.

It was then he realized that all the skewers Baby-5 had bought for him were finished. All by him.

Suddenly blushing, he awkwardly coughed a couple of times, "Those skewers were pretty good. I'll buy more in a bit."

"Never mind, save some room. We're almost at the food festival venue."

Abel quickly helped Baby-5 finish the remaining snacks and headed straight for the food festival venue.

Even these snacks from vendors outside the food festival venue were at such a high level; it was hard not to anticipate what the real delicacies inside would look like.

But as soon as they entered the actual food festival venue, they were immediately surprised by the bustling crowd.

"Wow, there are so many people!"

Abel nodded, feeling as if he was visiting popular tourist spots during holidays in his past life.

"Tears all around, better left unsaid!"

"But there seem to be fewer stalls and shops here than outside?"

Abel noticed an interesting thing. Even though there were fewer stalls and shops inside, the queues at each spot were not short, far exceeding those outside.

This was ample proof that the entry threshold for this food festival was quite high, showing a preference for quality over quantity.

"When will we get through all these people? Why don't we just kill everyone here? Then we'd be the only ones left, and we could eat whatever we want," Baby-5 proposed with an innocent tone.

Abel quickly confiscated the grenade in her hand, unsure of where she usually hid such dangerous things, despite her apparent innocence.

"There's no need for that. I have a way. Just watch me."

Abel walked straight towards one of the stalls, enticed by the tantalizing aroma surrounding it.

Upon a closer look, it turned out to be a shop selling fish soup udon.

The delightful aroma of the snow-white, unidentified fish soup was a clear testament to the superior ingredients used.

"Boss, what kind of fish is used to make this soup? It smells so good," someone from the crowd asked, voicing the shared curiosity.

The shop owner, probably accustomed to such questions, answered expertly, "I'm sorry, it's a secret recipe. I can only say it's a super nourishing fish soup slowly cooked using dozens of precious fish types and some Sea King meat!"

"This soup revitalizes the skin when consumed by women and boosts vitality when consumed by men. It's absolutely top-notch!"

The crowd immediately got excited at his pitch, and many began to queue up.

However, someone asked an untimely question, "If your soup is so good, why don't you just sell the soup?"

The shopkeeper smiled but remained silent, implying the secret should be understood by the patrons themselves.

Abel also chuckled. This was nothing but a classic bundling sales strategy.

If he only sold the soup, he could only earn the price of a bowl of soup.

But if he sold the soup with udon, he could also earn the price of a serving of noodles!

And with such a delicious soup, how could the noodles sold with it be cheap?

Noodles that cost two thousand berries elsewhere would be at least twenty thousand berries here in this fish soup. If you take the soup with the noodles, it'll cost you a hundred thousand berries a serving. That's not expensive, right?

Do you want to have a good replenishment?

If so, stop the talk, get in line and pay!

However, Abel was not one to wait patiently in line. He approached the first person in the queue and said in a low voice, "I'll pay for your noodles, and in return, you buy me four bowls. How about that? If not, I'll just ask the person behind you."

The acne-faced young man, seeing Abel as a child, initially intended to haggle. However, he quickly agreed upon hearing Abel's proposal, considering a hundred thousand berries was not a trivial amount to save.

In no time, each of Abel's companions held a serving of the incredibly fresh fish soup udon.

The noodles were merely average, but the soup was truly exquisite!

So exquisite, in fact, that even Buffalo, who usually only enjoyed sweets, was captivated.

Upon consuming a bowl of soup, Abel could vividly sense the agitation of the gourmet cells within his body, making them more active than usual.

But that was all.

He felt a slight enhancement, but not much.

Moreover, he had tasted the "Century Soup" before, and compared to it, this condensed fish soup was rather lacking.

Nonetheless, using their wealth to pave the way, Abel and his group moved on, eating and enjoying various delicacies.

Some were able to stimulate their gourmet cells, while others could not.

Most of the ingredients were just 'ordinary.' To encounter dishes crafted from rare ingredients, they'd have to wait until the last day of the food festival.

On that day, a culinary competition would take place.

The winner would not only receive a hefty cash prize but also appear on the cover of a gourmet magazine, gaining fame throughout the North Blue.

Such an opportunity for both fame and fortune was rare.

The competing chefs would undoubtedly bring out their best ingredients and skills.

Abel was already contemplating how he might sneak into the judge's panel.