Chef (A), Deployment Begins!

"Li Xianhou wants to see you."

Li Qingzi hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

In her eyes, the vast majority of her enormous family were useless parasites, a bunch of trash who had merely been born into privilege. Even her own father, she believed, possessed only a little talent for maintaining what already existed.

But her grandfather, Li Xianhou, who had single-handedly pushed the March Group to its current position, was different. Though stubborn and arrogant, he had headed in the right direction through nearly every major transformation of the group.

Now, even without knowing the truth about reincarnators, he had accepted it far more quickly than the family’s second-generation uncles and elders, directly demanding that the group transition into new fields.

He was an old man with truly astonishing talent… just like the guy in front of her.

Li Qingzi sipped her coffee, glancing from the corner of her eye at the muscular man wearing nothing but briefs. Fortunately, after arriving at the estate, he had not done anything excessive to her again.

"Li Xianhou? Then tell him to turn around and come see me."

Bai Cangshu sat there with the calm of an old sage, wearing headphones and listening to music.

Li Qingzi hesitated before continuing.

"This time, our summons times match. We’ll most likely be deployed into the same mission world. Wouldn’t it be better for you to form a team…?"

The two of them had a master-servant contract, but they did not belong to the same team, and their deployment mission progress had originally been completely different.

But this time, although the Space’s notifications had come a day apart, their deployment times were exactly the same. Combined with the rumors in the Space, Li Qingzi guessed that they would probably be deployed into the same world.

That was why she suggested Bai Cangshu create a team, so the two could be deployed together.

But Bai Cangshu merely sneered twice. Looking at the woman who had pinned up her hair and dressed herself ever more beautifully and maturely, he mocked her.

"What, are you scared…?"

"Since we’re being deployed into the same world anyway, why bother forming a team? Ha~ Without a team contract, do you think you can betray me?"

Li Qingzi suddenly understood what he meant and said no more.

She had long since cleared everyone out of the estate, leaving only herself and Bai Cangshu to wait quietly for the mission to begin.

With the topic over, the two fell silent. The clock ticked away, and before long, it was nearly time for deployment.

An information stream enveloped them both at once, returning them to their Private Spaces in an instant. They would begin transmission after one final round of preparations.

Bai Cangshu returned directly to his stall. He found a rather interesting offer: a reincarnator codenamed Skylark wanted to trade a silver plot equipment focused on physical arts evenly for the Dust Release secret technique training manual.

Krillin's Weighted Shirt

Quality: Silver Plot Equipment

Description: A special training undershirt from Dragon Ball and its derivative worlds. Extremely heavy in texture, it has absorbed rather miraculous power.

Wear Requirements: Strength >20, Constitution >15

Effect 1: After wearing, Strength -2, Agility -2, Constitution -2

Effect 2: After wearing, physical arts specialization level -1

Effect 3: After removing this item, all attributes +5 and physical arts specialization level +2 for ten minutes

It was a completely black undershirt-style training garment with rather unique effects. Bai Cangshu guessed it had become a special silver plot equipment because it had absorbed the information of the Turtle School members always training and fighting in heavily weighted garments, then removing them to boost their combat strength when battle went poorly.

But after considering it for a while, Bai Cangshu did not accept the offer.

Instead, he accepted another offer. Someone codenamed White wanted to exchange a crystal containing a special ability for Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode and Dust Release, or Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode plus one B-rank Anomaly Point.

Special Ability · Chef (A+): Freely control the deliciousness of food cooked by oneself

At first glance, this ability seemed exceedingly mediocre, yet its rating was unexpectedly high. Its A+ rating was the same as the Divine Finger Technique.

But Bai Cangshu knew that, in a sense, this ability had even more terrifying potential than the Divine Finger Technique.

It was a special ability from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. On the surface, Chef was merely a support ability that allowed people to cook delicious food, and it could only be used alongside other special abilities, such as Gourmet Cell.

But in essence, Chef (A+) was actually a terrifying ability capable of modifying reality and rewriting causality.

Beneath that mundane description, the ability could allow its user to "cook" a pile of shit and make it delicious.

Even if such a thing could never possibly be associated with deliciousness, the result would be that it had become a rare delicacy in everyone’s eyes.

In the original work, this ability was considered capable of potentially ending Rimuru, an existence that had already surpassed the Creator God.

Bai Cangshu did not think the trade offer was overpriced. On the contrary, it felt as if the other party were giving him a gift.

"I can trade now."

He contacted White through the offer. Soon, light flashed in the Space, and a girl-like reincarnator appeared in front of the stall. Her white long hair nearly reached past her ankles, her figure was slender, and she floated in midair.

One of her eyes was red and the other blue. Even judging by her Avatar, her appearance was exceptionally peculiar, almost unlike a real living creature.

Bai Cangshu instinctively felt that she was probably an unimaginably powerful reincarnator.

"Trade."

White spoke like a robot, her voice utterly flat.

You lost Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode Training Method ×1

You lost B-rank Anomaly Point ×1

You obtained Ability Crystal · Chef (A+)

Naturally, Bai Cangshu would not trade Dust Release for a mere B-rank Anomaly Point. He paid another B-rank Anomaly Point from Li Qingzi’s Singularity, and together with Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode, obtained the special ability Chef.

For Bai Cangshu, even without considering its potential to modify reality and rewrite causality, it was something he urgently needed right now.

He had not forgotten that in the Naruto World, he had only barely gained enhancement from Gourmet Cell through Hiranaka Hana’s cooking ability.

Chef would allow him to fully bring out the traits of Gourmet Cell in all kinds of worlds. If he wanted, he could even feed anything to Gourmet Cell bit by bit to level it up.

After White obtained the Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode Training Method, those unusual eyes looked at Bai Cangshu before she spoke.

"Be careful of Fatalism."

"This is a gift from the trade."

The next moment, White disappeared.

Bai Cangshu frowned and consulted Black Butler, but Black Butler said he did not know of such a powerful reincarnator in the East District. The only person whose appearance remotely matched the description was Solomon, leader of the Far East Magic Society, but Solomon was undoubtedly a male Avatar.

His conduct did not resemble what Bai Cangshu had described, either.

Bai Cangshu committed the name Fatalism to memory, then rejected all the other offers.

The most valuable items in his stall right now were a Scarlet Drop Card from Qilin Temple and a Dust Release training manual, both things that would ordinarily have caused most reincarnators in the Slum Area to fight over them.

But because rumors said a bloody large-scale transmission was about to begin, huge numbers of reincarnators had put their resources into life-saving abilities. The Chosen’s Scapegoat Strawmans had already been bid up to nearly the price of two B-rank Anomaly Points, yet demand still exceeded supply.

His two items had instead drawn no interest.

Bai Cangshu had no intention of selling them cheaply. He quickly swept through the Slum Area, only to find that healing items and abilities had almost all vanished, and their prices had been driven extremely high.

By contrast, the prices of other types of items and abilities had not risen.

He spent one C-rank Anomaly Point and 5,000 Dimensional Points to acquire a special item.

It was a black disc.

Ghost Disc: Shared Fate

Quality: Rare

Description: A disc from Pokémon and its derivative worlds that records a special ability and possesses miraculous effects.

Effect: Upon crushing it, you may link yourself with any visually captured target in a Shared Fate state. Any damage suffered by one party will affect the other.

This was a special item that could only be used once, but its effect was extremely powerful.

Especially for a reincarnator like Bai Cangshu, who possessed a certain degree of immortality, it had many possible applications.

Bai Cangshu even wanted to buy several more, only to learn that the other party had no more of them.

Special Reincarnator Ex051, deployment is about to begin. Please confirm that your surroundings are safe.

With a thought, Bai Cangshu returned to his Private Space. He also placed the Paramecia Type Devil Fruit, the Heartfire Fruit, which he had neither eaten nor listed for trade, into his Backpack.

Deployment begins.

3...

2...

1...

The silver-white information stream instantly flooded Bai Cangshu’s body. This time, the loss of sensation seemed to last unimaginably long.

The overwhelming amount of information made Bai Cangshu feel as if he had lost all sensory perception.

Only when a slick touch crawled across the surface of his body did his eyes tremble twice, and the stiffness in his body gradually fade.

Pfft!

Bai Cangshu flicked a finger, and foul-smelling blood spurted out.

A long black snake crawled across Bai Cangshu’s body, but it seemed as though a force had exploded inside it, severing it at the waist.

After fighting Mercenary Tao for so long, Bai Cangshu’s Martial Arts Mastery had advanced another step. With the enhancement of Mercenary Tao’s Pink Robe, it had already reached Level 8.

Martial Arts Mastery Level 8: The realm of a martial arts master whose force flowed at will. Their force was endless and could erupt freely within dozens of meters.

He had merely tapped it once, yet several thousand jin of force erupted repeatedly within the long snake’s body. Its flesh could not withstand it and was directly torn apart.

Bai Cangshu moved his limbs. The surroundings were pitch-black, and his feet seemed to be standing in some kind of liquid.

In the silent darkness, he could only hear the sound of mollusks writhing through the water.

Bai Cangshu clicked his tongue. The place he had been deployed to this time was surprisingly "fresh."

The next moment, Scarlet Sheen radiated from Bai Cangshu’s eyes. Long snakes were marked one after another in the darkness, while golden qi lit up at the tip of his right finger.

Hiss!

The countless long snakes in the darkness were instantly provoked and began thrashing. By the light of his qi, Bai Cangshu also saw that this sewer-like place contained more than a dozen pale corpses floating in the filthy water.

There was no stench, and the corpses had not decayed. They merely stared at Bai Cangshu with their eyes wide open.

Ghostly howls, a hero's final song

World Loaded: Secondary World B711 (World Distortion 31%)

Mission Type: Team Survival

World Difficulty: High ~ Purgatory (Reincarnators, explore carefully while ensuring your survival.)

Time Limit: 30 days

Note: Due to the effects of Proof of Sin and Karma, your appearance and identity information have been altered. (Appearance and identity will be modified by hidden three-dimensional attributes.)

Note: You have been granted Permanence: Language Comprehension in this world.

In this world, you may obtain and unlock the following milestones. Milestones will affect mission ratings and title acquisition.

Martial Arts Grandmaster (Rare): Create a martial arts school of any style and gain more than 1,000 disciples.

Monster Slayer: Kill more than 20 monsters.

Heretical Gourmet: Eat more than 50 dark dishes across different worlds.

Exorcist: Eliminate more than 10 Grudge Spirits.

UFO: Make contact with aliens.

Hero: Save more than 30 civilians in any event.

...

From the nearly hundred unlockable milestones that had appeared, Bai Cangshu could get some sense of just how complex this strange world was.

But at the moment, something else seemed more important…

Main Mission activated: Survive for 30 days

Mission Reward: B-rank Anomaly Point ×1, 10,000 Dimensional Points

"Ah!"

A miserable scream rang out above Bai Cangshu’s head. At the same time, he felt an icy touch drift over the top of his head. He looked up and saw only a ghastly pale phantom sweeping past overhead.

You triggered Side Mission · Cursed Captive Institute

Mission Details: Within seven days, find a way to leave the Cursed Captive Institute and successfully escape.

Mission Reward: Random material ×1