Many important figures were in attendance at the mid-year banquet held by the Chamber of Commerce. As such, it wouldn’t be a difficult task to pick a few neutral judges among them.

  Hence, a judging panel was soon assembled, consisting of City Lord Michael, President Jeffree, Scheer, Camilla, and the Roth Empire ambassador, Cayrols. Mag nodded with satisfaction at the sight of this judging panel.

  None of them were professional chefs or food critics, but their neutrality could be ensured. It would be very difficult to find a more extravagant judging panel for a cooking contest in Chaos City.

  Two portable cooking benches had already been positioned at the center of the banquet hall. On those benches were all types of utensils, kitchenware, and condiments. Beate was already standing in front of the cooking bench on the left.

  “Who would have thought that we’d be able to witness a cooking contest at the banquet tonight? And to think that one of the competitors would be Head Chef Beate of Ducas Restaurant; I sure am glad I decided to come tonight!”


  “I didn’t think that this Mag would actually dare to accept the challenge. If he loses, he’s going to have to cough up an entire store!”


  All of the customers began to discuss spiritedly among themselves. They were very much looking forward to this prestigious cooking contest.

  “I think Boss Mag should cook grilled fish. As soon as the delicious spicy grilled fish is presented to the judging panel, his victory will be ensured!” Vivian had her arms crossed with a serious expression on her face.

  “I think all of Mag’s dishes are very delicious, but in a cooking contest like this, it’ll be easier to compare and judge the dishes if they use the same main ingredient.” Luna was holding Amy’s little hand with a slightly nervous look on her face.

  “Mr. Mag is definitely going to win!” Gloria also wore a rather tense expression. She had absolute confidence in Mag’s food, but she still couldn’t help but be nervous.

  “Go, Father! Go!” Amy was cheering Mag on with her little hand raised aloft. She was the only one who wasn’t nervous at all.

  It may not hit the spot like fresh blood, but Beate’s food is still quite good. This guy doesn’t even look like a chef; will he really be able to make anything delicious? Camilla was appraising Mag with a skeptical look.

  This contest may transform the entire gastronomic industry in the Aden Square. I wonder what the wily old fox is going to do. Scheer took a glance at the expressionless Jeffree before turning to Mag with a grim expression. However, a smile quickly returned to her face upon seeing Mag’s relaxed and carefree expression.

  What an arrogant fool! How dare you accept Beate’s Challenge? I’m going to ensure your reputation is swept to the ground tonight! Cyril was looking at Mag with a cold sneer, feeling as if he could already predict the results of the contest.

  “Mr. Mag, if you require any more kitchenware or condiments, you can tell me now and I’ll get my people to prepare them,” Beate offered.

  “That’s alright, I won’t be making my roast beef kebabs today. I wanted to try out a new dish I invented just recently, and all I’ll need for that dish is a frying pan.” Mag shook his head as he turned his attention to one half of a freshly slaughtered cow hanging from a rack beside him.

  This was a superb Ironhide Bull, and the blood that was still dripping from the carcass was a sufficient indication of its freshness. It was going to be perfect for steak.

  “A new dish?” Beate looked at Mag with a meaningful expression. This young man seemed to be even more arrogant than he had imagined

  “That’s alright. I wonder if your new dish or my new dish will be more to the liking of the judging panel,” Mag said with a smile.

  “We’ll see,” Beate replied with a serious expression.

  “Alright, let’s begin, then.” Mag’s expression was still very relaxed.

  “Sure.” Beate turned round and grabbed onto the hilt of a long and thin blade on his knife rack.

  The sharp blade sliced through the beef, and a portion of lean beef without any fat soon appeared on his chopping board. The knife had cut through the beef so quickly that it was almost too fast for the eyes to follow. After a few precise and confident strokes, the beef had already been sliced into cubes of a uniform size.

  “Such exceptional cutting skills!”


  The spectators couldn’t help but exclaim.

  Mag also nodded upon seeing this. Such exemplary knife skills really were befitting of a chef of Beate’s status. However, he wasn’t in a hurry to begin his own cooking.

  After cubing the beef, Beate set his knife aside and took the lid off the heavy spherical pot beside him. The walls of the pot were three inches thick, and had almost entirely sunk into the cooking bench, leaving only the lid exposed on top.

  Beate placed all of the beef in the black pot before tossing in many types of condiments all at once. He then brought out a bamboo tube before taking off its lid, upon which the aroma of wine intermingled with the fresh scent of bamboo wafted through the air.

  “Is that wine brewed in bamboo? It’s so fragrant!” Everyone’s eyes lit up with incredulity as they looked at the bamboo tube in Beate’s hand.

  Who would have thought bamboo wine exists even in this world? Mag was also appraising the wine container in Beate’s hand with a hint of surprise on his face.

  Beate slowly tipped over the bamboo tube in his hand, upon which faint golden elixir-like wine poured into the black pot, emitting an even richer aroma.

  “That’s exceptional wine! Looks like the season for bamboo wine is upon us again.” Michael inhaled deeply as his eyes lit up.

  “Using bamboo wine to cook beef; as expected, Head Chef Beate’s creativity is unmatched. Looks like Ducas Restaurant is going to add another iconic dish to its menu,” Ambassador Cayrols praised.

  “What’s bamboo wine? It certainly smells quite good.” Camilla nodded in agreement.

  A moderate amount of bamboo wine was poured into the black pot before Beate replaced the lid on the bamboo tube. He then pulled out another wooden barrel and poured some water into the pot before putting the lid on the pot, turning a few times to completely seal it in place.

  The spherical black pot was almost entirely under the cooking bench, with only its curved lid visible from above.

  Beate pressed a yellow button nearby, and the entire cooking bench suddenly began to tremor. A few streaks of crimson fire suddenly erupted around the black pot as a scorching aura emanated through the air. The black pot then rose into the air as if propelled by some sort of mysterious power before beginning to rapidly rotate.

  “Holy f*ck! You can do that? A magic stove and a spherical rotational high-pressure cooker?” Mag’s eyes widened with shock.

  He had thought that his cooking utensils were already super high-tech, but who would have thought that Beate would bring out magic kitchenware? This was like using hacks!

  “System, get me a bottle of black pepper powder!” Mag was initially planning to observe how Beate was going to cook his dish, but he didn’t think that his opponent would employ such high-tech equipment. It would be bad if he completed his dish too long after his opponent.

  “Black pepper powder, 10 gold coins per bottle,” the system replied calmly.