Chapter 149: This Is a War of Dignity
Chapter 149: Chapter 149: This Is a War of Dignity
Perhaps sensing her carefully crafted persona had crumbled, Dragon Ball gave Lu Wu a shy smile, her little face flushed red.
’I should have been more ladylike.’
’Mother said that the women of the Human Clan are dignified and elegant.’
The moment her tongue tasted the crab roe burger, Dragon Ball regretted eating it so quickly.
The delicious flavor had only lingered in her mouth for a fleeting moment before vanishing. Dragon Ball hadn’t been able to truly appreciate its essence.
Luckily, she still had one left.
Cradling the crab roe burger as if it were a beloved treasure, Dragon Ball began to eat it in small, delicate bites.
The sight was just too adorable.
But all Lu Wu could picture was that gaping mouth, wide enough to see down her throat.
As for Long Zhen, he had buried his face in his crab roe burger the moment he got it, occasionally mumbling some muffled words of praise, completely oblivious to anything else.
Even when his mother shot daggers at him with her eyes, Long Zhen ignored her.
’None of my clansmen ever told me the food on shore was this good. If I’d known, I never would have let my stupid little brother have this mission.’
"..."
Seeing her children acting so disgracefully, Queen Zhang felt a pang in her stomach from sheer anger.
But anger was one thing; she couldn’t let it hurt her own stomach. Queen Zhang turned to Lu Wu, sizing her up with a scrutinizing gaze for a long moment before speaking slowly.
"Give me a combo meal."
’Only by personally tasting the vileness of that snail noodle soup can I find the evidence to make the humans hand over my youngest son.’
Faced with the noble and aloof Queen Zhang, dressed in red and green, Lu Wu once again went to work with both hands.
Amidst clouds of steam, the rice noodles were fished out.
The snow-white rice noodles made Queen Zhang frown. ’These noodles don’t look all that strange.’ But when the heavy-hitting pickled bamboo shoots made their appearance, she became even more convinced of her initial judgment.
’Indeed, humans are just that vile!’
Watching the pristine white noodles being submerged in the bright red broth, topped with those bizarre-smelling ingredients, Queen Zhang sighed heavily.
’How could humans have learned to waste food like this?’
’Don’t they say that food is the most important thing to the people?’
When the bowl of uniquely fragrant snail noodle soup was placed in her hands, she wanted nothing more than to pinch her nose and run for the hills.
But how could she, the great Queen Zhang, lose face here?
With a dark expression, Queen Zhang sat on the chair and pondered for a long time before finally picking up... the crab roe burger.
The moment she truly tasted the crab roe burger, Queen Zhang understood why her children had lost their composure so completely.
As the Queen, her daily meals were all meticulously prepared, but even they couldn’t compare to the small crab roe burger before her.
As the rich oils bloomed on her tongue, Queen Zhang’s very soul seemed to ascend.
In that moment, she forgot all about her "suffering" youngest son, clutching the crab roe burger in her hands like a priceless treasure.
She simply couldn’t stop eating the savory delight.
But a crab roe burger has an end. After swallowing the last bite, an expression of sheer bliss remained on Queen Zhang’s face.
It was the smell of the snail noodle soup in front of her that jolted her back to reality.
In that instant, Queen Zhang felt as if she had fallen from heaven straight into hell.
After tasting the delicious crab roe burger, Queen Zhang now despised this bowl of snail noodle soup with a passion.
’If it weren’t for these noodles, I could have had another crab roe burger.’
With this heavy heart, Queen Zhang picked up her chopsticks.
When she was young, she had snuck ashore and learned human dining etiquette. She was quite skilled with chopsticks.
Twirling a few strands of rice noodles, Queen Zhang decided to simply block her sense of smell.
Without the smell, the snail noodle soup before her didn’t seem so unbearable.
With this thought in mind, Queen Zhang took a bite of a noodle.
The springy noodles were slippery, having absorbed the rich broth. A piece of river snail meat, tangled in the noodles, also found its way into Queen Zhang’s mouth.
The plump, juicy snail meat was incredibly satisfying to eat.
After a few chews, the food went down her throat with a swallow.
It wasn’t until the food was completely swallowed that Queen Zhang belatedly realized the taste of the snail noodle soup had nothing to do with the horrid flavor she had imagined.
She paused in surprise, staring at the bowl of noodle soup. Suspiciously, she unblocked her sense of smell.
In an instant, the aroma assaulted her.
The familiar scent told Queen Zhang that the food in front of her hadn’t been switched.
But that flavor!
Sensing the lingering feedback from her taste buds, Queen Zhang, refusing to believe it, picked up another mouthful of noodles and ate.
This time, she didn’t block her sense of smell.
The smell that filled her nostrils was still hard for her to accept.
But the deliciousness in her mouth made Queen Zhang feel as if she were caught between two extremes.
The starkly different sensations, the clash of smell and taste, was like an iceberg meeting lava, leaving Queen Zhang in a state of profound shock.
"Delicious" was not enough to describe the food before her.
Queen Zhang completely abandoned her prejudices and began to bury her head in the bowl, slurping down the noodles.
’I think I understand now. Those people I saw earlier with tears in their eyes must have been crying because the snail noodle soup was just that good.’
Lost to the world, focused only on slurping her noodles, Queen Zhang was unaware that she had become the target of numerous astonished and envious gazes from the other customers.
Unlike them, who were all talk, Queen Zhang ate spicy food as if it were a simple home-cooked meal.
Her bowl was covered with all sorts of peppers, and Queen Zhang even treated them like a side dish, carefully savoring their fiery intensity.
The sight of her eating such spicy food without batting an eye made many customers realize they had met their match.
"This person doesn’t seem to be from the Bun Sect."
"I’ve never seen her before."
"We can’t let an outsider take the top spot, can we?"
The disciples of the Bun Sect began to spread the word. Seeing Queen Zhang’s completely unforced expression, they felt the dignity of the Bun Sect had been challenged.
’How could a mere outsider possibly compare to us, the faithful?’
The customers, who had been wary of each other just moments before, now exchanged glances, their thoughts finally aligning.
They would join forces to take down this customer who dared to challenge the dignity of the Bun Sect.
Victory must be theirs.
"Let’s go. We’ll come back tomorrow."
One customer gave Queen Zhang a deep look, engraving her face in his memory, before turning and heading toward Yuanhai City.
They had one more day. They could go back and continue their training, increasing their tolerance for spice.
As for why they didn’t settle the score today?
It was because that detestable Boss Lu had a purchase limit.
And then there was that annoying big yellow dog.
His memory was way too good. If any customer who had already bought something tried to sneak back in, they would be mercilessly sniffed out by Dahuang.
And then what awaited them was a blast of fire from Huohuo.
They had no desire to go streaking butt-naked in front of Boss Lu.
It’s definitely not because they were scared!
After finishing the bowl of snail noodle soup, Queen Zhang rubbed her overstuffed belly, her expression one of pure satisfaction.
She had to admit, she had thought of humans in too dark a light.
Since her foolish son wasn’t being held hostage by the humans, Queen Zhang could finally relax.
She called over to her two children, who were squatting to the side and staring at the other customers with predatory looks in their eyes, and gestured for them to return to the palace.
’We can’t just rob her.’
’If we scare this little boss away, how will I come back for more snail noodle soup and little burgers tomorrow?’
Perhaps from overeating, Queen Zhang’s brain was running a bit slow. She simply swaggered right into the sea.
Lu Wu really wanted to ask, ’Are all members of the Sea Clan this clueless?’