The sounds of swords being drawn came as a surprise to Urien"s trio, and they all halted in their steps as they turned to look at the line.Coincidentally, Ricky had also just arrived on the scene with his employee. He was going to expose this unknown restaurant"s shady dealings, and recover the 29th spot that was meant for his restaurant. However, he was also startled by the scene that greeted him there, and came to an abrupt halt.
After the swords were drawn, deathly silence ensued. Many people in the line were a little scared upon seeing the drawn weapons, but they refused to back down, and drew determination from their undying loyalty to the tofu pudding of their chosen flavor. Thus, both factions glared at one another, and neither was about to concede.
"Ugly Duckling, do you think they"re finally going to fight? I"ve been waiting every single day; they"ve finally drawn their swords." Amy was sitting on a little stool at the entrance with Ugly Duckling in her arms. She was supporting her chin with one hand, and her eyes were wide with antic.i.p.ation.
Ricky was a little confused by the sight of the farcical scene outside the restaurant, but a thought quickly occurred to him. Why are there so many people lining up? And they"ve all drawn their swords? Could it be that we"re not the only ones trying to expose them?
The worker behind him was a little frightened, and asked in a low voice, "Boss, what do we do now?"
"At times like these, someone needs to step up and rally the troops! Our Ricky"s Rotisserie is the main victim in all of this, and that duty falls upon me as its boss!" Ricky could feel his heart rate accelerating as blood flowed straight into his head. His cheeks were flushed as he swaggered toward the two opposing factions. He spread his arms open, and yelled, "Boycott the Aden Square food compet.i.tion! Smash this f*cking restaurant!"
The situation outside the restaurant was very tense, and it was so quiet that one could hear even a pin drop. As such, Ricky"s vehement cry was clearly heard by all of the customers.
"Hmm?"
Everyone turned to look at him in unison, all of them with benevolent looks in their eyes—the same type of benevolence afforded to children with mental disability.
The sweet and savory factions were indeed in conflict with one another, but no one wanted to boycott the food compet.i.tion or smash Mamy Restaurant!
They had voted diligently during the compet.i.tion, and were very displeased that the restaurant"s dishes had been ranked so low. Was this guy trying to pour salt over their wounds?
And he wanted to smash the restaurant?
Many people recalled the roujiamos awarded to the Burning Legion, and wanted to step up to take care of that rabble-rouser for Mag. Perhaps their actions would also be rewarded by free roujiamos!
With that in mind, many of the sword-wielding customers began to appraise Ricky with animosity in their eyes. The werewolves from the day prior were too powerful, but this fat mortal seemed to be an easy target.
Amy also turned her gaze on Ricky, and thought to herself, Is that a bad person? Father has only just replaced the door, so I won"t allow him to go in this time.
Thus, she lifted her chin off her hand, and a burst of bluish violet flames began to dance along her fingertips.
Ricky"s heart rate continued to spike at the sight of everyone turning to look at him. He was thoroughly basking in the feeling of commanding such widespread attention, and there was so much adrenaline pumping through his veins that he couldn"t see the enmity in everyone"s eyes.
He was already beginning to envision himself as the leader of a revolution, charging at the forefront as everyone stormed through the doors of that unreasonable restaurant. They were going to raze the establishment to the ground, and then give the heinous boss a brutal beating before making him admit in front of everyone that he had manipulated the food compet.i.tion"s results.
He hadn"t experienced that kind of hot-blooded pa.s.sion in many years, and it was an extremely exhilarating feeling!
"Boycott the food compet.i.tion! Smash this f*cking restaurant!"
Ricky raised his fist to the sky, yelling at the top of his lungs. His eyes were bloodshot as he advanced toward the door of the restaurant, attempting to lead the charge.
"Smash it! Smash it!"
His employee was influenced by his pa.s.sion, and also echoed his cries with vehement fanaticism. He hadn"t thought that the boss was such a courageous and righteous person. Just thinking about smas.h.i.+ng the restaurant with those customers was getting his blood boiling.
Xixi looked at the two "revolutionaries" with an adorkable expression, and asked, "Those two… Are they already drunk so early in the morning?"
"Some people simply want to die." Urien pursed his lips as he took a glance at the fat Ricky.
Ricky quickly made his way to the door of the restaurant, and only then did he turn around with a confused expression to look at the eerily silent customers behind him. He had thought that his words would light the fuse, and all of them would heed his call, smas.h.i.+ng open the door before laying waste to the restaurant.
… Why were they suddenly so quiet?
"Looks like everyone is quite civilized, but there is a time and place for manners, and this is not one of those settings! You all need someone courageous to lead you, and I will be happy to fill that role!" Ricky could see that everyone was looking at him, and felt like a hero that was being revered and wors.h.i.+pped. As such, his confidence was bolstered further, and his entire body was filled with power and pa.s.sion.
"Don"t be scared! I am the boss of Ricky"s Rotisserie, Ricky Berman. I am the manifestation of justice and fairness! I trust that everyone must have seen the strange dishes on the Aden Square food compet.i.tion rankings!
"You are all correct to be angry! I have never even heard of this shabby restaurant, so how can it possibly have two dishes in the top 30 for its first time partic.i.p.ating in the food compet.i.tion? How can it have five dishes in the top 100? That"s a feat that even the well-established restaurants cannot accomplis.h.!.+
"As such, I"m sure that this restaurant"s rankings have been fixed! What is this braised chicken and rice trash? La zhi roujiamo? Just the names of those dishes make me want to barf! How could they be worthy of the spots in the top 30? His blatant manipulation of the voting system is absolutely disgraceful!
"As a loyal follower of the Aden Square food compet.i.tion, I cannot allow something like this to happen! We must vent the rage in our hearts, and tell these deceitful businesses that we are not idiots! So let"s smash this restaurant, and restore the order of the Aden Square food compet.i.tion!"
Ricky became more and more excited as he yelled, and at the conclusion of his stirring speech, he rushed directly toward the door of the restaurant.
Right at that moment, the door suddenly opened outward.
"What"s going on? Who"s causing all this ruckus here?"