"Your performance will be evaluated by chefs employed within the Tōtsuki Resort acting as your team leaders."
Mo Bai extended his hand towards the side door, and a file of chefs in pristine white uniforms entered one after another.
"Pfft!" Mo Bai couldn't hold it back and mentally spat out a mouthful of old blood.
He thought Chapelle and Auxis were playing hardball, but he never expected the true finishing move to be waiting at the back!
These guys are chefs employed at Tōtsuki Resort?
Yes, that is indeed correct, but they probably forgot to add a few prefixes, right?!
Chefs employed at Tōtsuki Resort who are [General Managers of Theme Restaurants]!
Seeing this uniform lineup of High-Star Head Chefs made Mo Bai's scalp tingle.
Mo Bai could already imagine the tragic devastation that would befall any blind, rebellious student who dared to jump out and disobey.
Doubting the meaning of life would be getting off lightly!
Mo Bai could perceive the aura of 'trouble-making' seeping from the very bones of these Head Chefs, who had thick waists, broad shoulders, and smiles full of philosophical implications on their faces.
[Regardless of whether you jump out or not today, you will be beaten to death by us.]
Mo Bai hurriedly managed his facial expression and surreptitiously gave them a thumbs-up behind his back.
"Now, we will divide the thousand-plus students present into twenty groups. Please follow the staff's instructions to find your group number and proceed to your designated locations. We will not wait for latecomers."
Walking back behind the curtain, Mo Bai handed the microphone back to Chapelle and let out a long breath.
"Mentor Chapelle, you guys really played a big hand this time." Only after the curtain fell on his first stimulating act of pretentiousness did Mo Bai feel a belated sense of fear.
"Thank you for your hard work." The eyes of Chapelle and Auxis held a trace of strange reverence.
Mo Bai's wry smile froze.
"Wait! Did you guys make me go up and explain it just because you were afraid of getting beaten up?!"
"No, no, no, how could that be?" Auxis shook his head hurriedly, though his eyes still held that reverence. "However, those lines of yours were originally supposed to be explained by Head Chef Zhang Yu."
"..." Mo Bai compared the difference in actual combat power between the two men and that dark sea of people, and his face turned green on the spot.
If the scene spiraled out of control, whether the result would be 'Dynasty Warriors' or 'brutal tragedy' was really up for debate.
Realizing this belatedly, he furiously slammed the script onto the ground. "Damn it! How dare he set up an innocent youth!?"
"That bad old man is very wicked!!"
Sitting quietly on a chair, Luo Ziyan looked up at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle, her face full of bright and beautiful sorrow.
I am just a child; why must you make me see the filthy world of adults?
By the way, when Mo Bai learned that there were shuttle buses within Tōtsuki Resort, he threw the script down once again.
What have I been doing running around everywhere on my little electric donkey for these past few days?!
I'm pissed to death!
Sitting before the lectern in the cooking classroom, Mo Bai closed his eyes and crossed his arms, continuously releasing low atmospheric pressure. The students sharing the room with him were all trembling with fear, terrified that making a sound would result in him making life difficult for them.
The only one unaffected was Luo Ziyan, who had put on black-rimmed glasses and picked up a pen and paper, pretending to be an adult acting as a secretary. However, the black-rimmed glasses she found somewhere seemed a bit too big, sliding down her small, fair bridge of the nose from time to time.
The ordinary Tōtsuki students didn't dare to move; after all, this was someone officially arranged by Tōtsuki Resort.
The students from Phoenix Academy, and the few first-year elites from the exchange group, dared to move even less. Unlike the ordinary Tōtsuki students who arrived the next day and didn't know about the Shokugeki, they had watched that Shokugeki in its entirety.
Even Mark, ranked NO. 3 at Phoenix Academy, was singing about being finished and done for; let alone them.
Moreover, anyone capable of devising those kinds of rules was definitely not a normal person.
In their perspective, the person sitting before the lectern closing his eyes to rest was clearly a Demon King with ox horns growing from his head, his body shrouded in a suffocating evil aura.
Then, the Demon King opened his crimson eyes.
One-third of the people in the cooking classroom took a step back in unison.
Just as their companions beside them were wondering and about to whisper a question, Mo Bai, who had been resting his eyes, finally spoke.
"Welcome, everyone, to Group 7, led by me."
"I am Mo Bai, about the same age as you. Due to some personnel changes, I was temporarily transferred to lead this group."
"Ah, right. By the way, speaking on stage earlier was also me filling in for a senior who couldn't attend."
"So, everyone, please don't think of me as that terrifying."
Mo Bai revealed a hearty, refreshing smile. The ordinary students looked at Mo Bai, whose style had changed drastically, and were stunned.
"Someone my age couldn't possibly have the authority to change the rules, right?"
The ordinary students pondered for a while and nodded hesitantly.
"My reputation is safely laundered."
Don't look at how Mo Bai appeared steady as an old dog on the surface; in reality, he had already devised three hundred escape routes from the classroom in his heart.
The corners of his mouth outlined a smile of relief as Mo Bai scanned the youthful faces around him.
So, youths and maidens are truly cute.
However, seeing the smile of genuine emotion at the corner of Mo Bai's mouth, everyone in the exchange group immediately demonized it.
That was a smile from the top of the food chain; that scanning gaze was like choosing suitable prey in a hunting ground.
"This Demon King is about to start trouble!"
They instantly felt a chill rise from the soles of their feet, spreading through their limbs and bones in a split second.
"Here, I congratulate the fifty-three students assigned to Group 7."
"As for not giving ingredients or deliberately making things difficult—after all, I'm not some kind of devil." Mo Bai tossed out the theme of the class. "The theme is simply 'Deliciousness'. No matter what method you use, or what ingredients you use, presenting a delicious dish in the end is all that matters."
"I will assign a score based on the deliciousness of your cooking."
"You may freely use the ingredients in the ingredient storage room next door."
"Of course, if you are willing to go to the ingredient supply area to choose fresh ingredients yourself, that is also fine."
"The time limit is three hours. There is no limit on the number of evaluations." Mo Bai extended three fingers.
"Of course, for every evaluation, regardless of whether the score is high or low, it will replace the result of the previous evaluation."
Seeing the relieved laughter and chatter of the surrounding students, the hearts of the exchange group were bleeding for these innocent and naive companions.
No theme and unlimited ingredients—that is the greatest terror!
And that system of overwriting the previous evaluation score—this Demon King clearly wants to watch a battle that squeezes out every drop of your blood!
They wanted to warn them, they wanted to cry out, but the predatory gaze always locked onto them first.
They could understand the meaning within that ferocious gaze.
"Either you die, or they die."
"There will always be sacrifices, right?"
"Heh heh ha ha ha ha ha~" The Demon King's maniacal laughter echoed.
The unblemished tiles became stone slabs soaked in blood, the incandescent electric lights transformed into a setting sun releasing a dim, bloody hue, and even the wind blowing from outside seemed to carry the rusty scent of blood.
At this moment, how was this still a clean and tidy cooking classroom? It was clearly a Colosseum using blood and life to please the Demon King!
Bodies trembling, hearts ice-cold, even their consciousness was nearly frozen!
"Well then, begin!"
Gu gu gu~
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