The Food is Just Too Fragrant

Chapter 69: The Food is Just Too Fragrant

In the gourmet capital, the aroma of various dishes filled the air. It wasn't the scent of perfume but rather the delicious aroma of sweet, salty, sour, and spicy flavors that made one's mouth water.

Rodney, Robin, and Reiju had just disembarked from the sea train and couldn't resist the temptation to indulge in the delicacies of this food paradise.

"It smells amazing!" Robin exclaimed. "No wonder it's called the gourmet capital. Even at the station, there are so many street food stalls."

Along the roadsides of the station, a long line of food stalls tempted the arriving visitors with their mouthwatering scents. Rodney's appetite was already stirred just by these smells.

"If Luffy were here, he'd probably eat everything without paying and then the rest of the Straw Hat crew would have to foot the bill, right?"

"Octopus balls! Freshly made octopus balls!"

"Seafood fried noodles! Delicious and free if you don't like it!"

"Hyde Family's grilled meat! Guaranteed to make you want more!"

...

The hustle and bustle of the scene made the street lively. Tourists gathered around the food stalls, pondering what to eat. Some stalls already had long queues.

"Captain, which one should we try first? Or should we find a chef?" Reiju asked, but she received no response. When she turned her head, she saw Rodney already at one of the roadside stalls.

Robin smiled and said, "The captain has a few major hobbies, and eating is one of them. Let's follow him. Look, there and there." She pointed to several queues formed by people.

Reiju glanced over and saw Rodney's figures in each line. He actually made his clones stand in line for him. This guy was something else.

"Alright," Reiju said. She initially found Rodney a bit unreliable, and now, even more so.

"I've gotten used to it. Although the captain is sometimes unreliable, he's still someone we can rely on. Just ignore his occasional mental lapses and crazy talk."

"Uh... I don't know what to say," Reiju chose to remain silent.

"Lady, six servings of octopus balls!"

"Sure thing!"

"Boss, four servings of Sea King grilled meat!"

"No problem!"

"Boss, give me more grilled sea cow snake!"

"Please wait, sir!"

Rodney and his clones returned with their snacks, each of them looking satisfied. Robin and Reiju also got their snacks from him. Robin said, "Captain, we haven't even left the station yet. Shouldn't we leave now?"

Indeed, it had been half an hour, and they were still surrounded by street food stalls. While Robin and Reiju enjoyed the snacks for a while, they didn't get carried away like Rodney, who hadn't stopped eating.

Hearing this, Rodney stopped eating, pondered for a moment, and said, "Impossible, I remember walking quite far and eating a lot."

"It's not possible. We've just been walking in a straight line. How could we not have covered the distance?" Reiju said.

"No, Captain, take a closer look. We're only about fifty meters from the platform. Don't ignore important reference points," Robin added.

"Am I under some illusion?" The clones looked serious. They hadn't realized they were getting carried away by the food.

"Only you could be like that," times two.

"Uh, it seems so... Alright, let's go." Rodney acknowledged his mistake and led the way conscientiously.

After a few steps, he said, "Wait, it smells so good. I'll be right back."

Saying that, he tried to leave, but his legs went numb, and he collapsed, his feet completely numb.

"Reiju?" Only Reiju could have done something like this. She put away her pink poison arrows and said, "Captain, it's just regular anesthesia toxin. I did it so that we wouldn't be stuck here until it gets dark. As for your clones..."

The clones remained silent, trying to hide their lack of self-awareness due to their indulgence in the food.

Two of the clones propped up the original Rodney and carried him out of the irresistible attraction of the food stalls.

However, once outside the station, Robin and Reiju fell silent. Truly, the gourmet capital lived up to its reputation.

The streets were almost entirely restaurants, and they didn't even know where the hotels were. Rodney's eyes sparkled with excitement, and all he could think of was food.

"This is bad," Robin whispered.

"Yeah, we're hopeless," Reiju agreed.

As expected, Rodney's foodie nature overcame the effects of the anesthesia toxin. He rushed back in, and his clones followed suit.

"Let's find a hotel and our targets," Robin said.

"Yeah, hopefully, Rodney won't be eaten to death by the food," Reiju added.

The two strolled around, hoping to encounter their captain or his clones. After a while, they stopped in front of a restaurant that was hosting a competitive eating contest.

Rodney had already made it to the finals.

By now, he had become rather plump from the continuous eating, but the delicious food was just too tempting.

"Burp—"

Having eaten so much, he felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Captain, it's time to work."

"We've found our targets."

"Oh, where are they?" Rodney was relatively reliable when it came to work.

"Follow us."

"Alright, I need to do some exercise now. I've eaten too much."

It wasn't that he was greedy, but the food was just too fragrant...

Ah, so delicious!