1373 The Rescue Mission
“Someone is watching me?”
Alpha glanced at the empty void. The corners of his mouth curved upward slightly into a disdainful smile. He was not concerned by those people watching him from a dark corner. As an emissary of the Divine Dynasty, they posed no threat to him. Moreover, he had his silver wars.h.i.+p, which was extremely tough with formidable offenses. He did not think that anyone from this remote and backward place could kill him when he was protected by the s.h.i.+p. Besides, he was not weak at all.
The walls on either side of the silver s.h.i.+p parted into many holes, then the puppets grabbed the metal nets and upended them. The captured natives immediately rolled out of the nets and fell through the holes into the cages at the bottom. After that, the puppets landed on the s.h.i.+p and stood motionlessly like statues.
A metal door opened from the bottom up with a hiss. Alpha put his hands behind him and walked through it, down a spiral staircase, and came to the s.p.a.cious interior of the s.h.i.+p. He had bought the s.h.i.+p under the table at a great cost. Its exterior had changed drastically after he modified it, but its interior was extremely luxurious, similar to the divine s.h.i.+p used by the Divine Dynasty’s high ministers.
This was the moment he enjoyed most every day. He sat down on a wooden dining table and clapped his hands. A few moments later, another metal door opened, and out of it came a burly figure.
“It’s time for dinner. May I know what my lord would like to try this time?” the burly figure asked respectfully. He was clad in a chef robe and a chef hat.
A faint smile brushed Alpha’s lips. At the thought that he was about to taste something delicious, the gloomy mood brought to him by the destruction of his puppet seemed to lighten. “What are the food choices today?” he asked, smiling.
The burly man straightened up. His huge body stood over two meters high, and his head almost touched the ceiling. But he paid it no mind. He handed a small menu to Alpha and said, “Today we have three dishes: True Dragon Steak with Secret Sauce, Immortal Fruit Salad, and Honey Roasted Pork Knuckle.”
Alpha had hired this man from the Divine Dynasty to be the chef in this wars.h.i.+p. He was a good chef. Although he wasn’t famous in the Divine Dynasty, he was the chief chef in a restaurant before this.
Alpha read the menu and thought for a long time. Sometimes, choosing what dish to eat could be plain torture. After all, men were greedy, and they wanted to taste everything.
“I’ll have the True Dragon Steak with Secret Sauce today. I remember you’re best at cooking dragon steak, aren’t you, Ah Zhuang?”
The burly man, Ah Zhuang, nodded and puffed out his chest, but then his head hit the ceiling, making him dizzy for a moment.
“Oh, cook one more steak today,” Alpha said in a serious voice as if he suddenly thought of something. “I promised to reward Ah Zi.”
Ah Zhuang nodded again. He produced an empty gla.s.s, filled it with orange juice, and handed it to Alpha. After that, he turned and walked toward the kitchen in the wars.h.i.+p.
Alpha sat in his chair, playing with the metal plate. “Immortal Cooking Realm… A small world inhabited by chefs? Interesting… One of my hobbies is eating delicious food. This world suits me very well. Soon, I will visit it and ask Ah Zhuang to bring a few helpers back.
“Also, I’ve tried all the dishes on the s.h.i.+p. Ah Zhuang’s cooking is delicious, but it gets boring to eat them every day. I hope this world of chefs won’t disappoint me.”
…
Lord Dog flew across the sky in Nether Prison, his fat jiggling. He made no secret of his mighty aura, which almost blotted out the sky. Before long, a figure shrouded in a black fog emerged in front of him.
Di Ting looked indifferently at Lord Dog. This was the second time the two dogs met after their first encounter nine years ago. No one knew what they had talked about, but this time, they did not fight, and the atmosphere between them was rather harmonious.
…
The jade talisman in Meng Qi’s hand broke into pieces, and wisps of white smoke rose from it. The man in the image had done that with just a glance.
Bu Fang narrowed his eyes. The man gave him tremendous pressure. It was a kind of suppression in terms of mental force. Without a question, the strength of the man in the image was extremely fearful.
“That’s the man who captured Er Ha? He’s not sent by Di Ting. Why did he capture so many people?” Bu Fang asked doubtfully, frowning.
The others did not understand as well.
Tian Cang clenched his fists, his eyes filled with killing intent. “That man is as strong as Di Ting… When did Nether Prison produce such an expert?” he said.
That was the same question everyone had.
After remaining silent for a while, Meng Qi finally spoke again in her pleasant voice. “Realm Lord asked me to tell you all that the crisis is approaching, and you must take care of yourself. Also, he asks Owner Bu to return to Immortal Cooking Realm. He said he has something important to discuss with you.”
Everyone froze momentarily upon hearing that.
Bu Fang nodded. He knew that that might not be Realm Lord Di Tai’s request, but the Immortal Tree. Though equally mysterious, the Immortal Tree in the Immortal Cooking Realm was different from the one in his farmland. Its intelligence was much matured than his Immortal Tree.
Because there was no time to waste, Bu Fang did not ask Meng Qi to eat in the restaurant. He closed the door, then hung a wooden plaque on it that read ‘Temporarily Closed for Business.’ He had done this many times. After that, he left the restaurant with Nethery, Foxy, and Flowery. They boarded the Netherworld s.h.i.+p, which then tore through the void and left Earth Prison, heading straight for the Immortal Cooking Realm.
Tian Cang stood in front of the restaurant with his hands clasped behind his back. When he saw Bu Fang leave, his eyes flickered. “How dare he hurt my son?” he murmured under his breath. “Even if that wars.h.i.+p is an extremely dangerous place, I’ll have to visit it.”
The previous Nether King’s eyes turned cold. He picked up the fragments of the Nether King Halberd gathered by Ying Long and sent out his divine will. The fragments began to glow, then they gradually melted and turned into the halberd once again.
After that, he glanced at Ying Long and the many experts of Earth Prison’s aristocratic families around them. Without saying anything, he took a step forward, rose into the sky, and rushed into the clouds. When he was in the starry sky, a jet of air shot out from his back, pus.h.i.+ng him into the distance. He held the halberd in one hand as his killing intent swept out in all directions.
The silver wars.h.i.+p was suspended in front of Nether Prison. Tian Cang was very familiar with the place. After all, he had once attacked it. Before long, he arrived at the boundless starry sky outside of Nether Prison. His eyes grew colder as he looked at the huge wars.h.i.+p.
“Are you in there, Little Ha? Don’t worry, dad is coming to rescue you.”
He slightly raised his chin, took a deep breath, and approached the wars.h.i.+p. To his surprise, it did not have any defensive mechanism, and he was able to land on it. The floor felt soft under his feet, but there was toughness in it as well. There was no question that the s.h.i.+p was made with some divine-grade materials.
…
Inside the wars.h.i.+p, a metal door opened. Ah Zhuang stepped through it, holding a large plate with a cloche on it.
Alpha sat at the wooden dining table. A white square of cloth was stuffed at his collar, which made him look graceful and n.o.ble.
Ah Zhuang put one hand behind him, bowed slightly with a respectful look on his face, and said, “My lord, your True Dragon Steak with Secret Sauce is ready. Please enjoy it.” After that, he produced a silver sauce boat and poured the sauce in it over the steak, which sizzled in an instant. A rich aroma spread and permeated the whole room.
“It smells delicious… The fragrance of pure True Dragon steak is always so intoxicating,” Alpha said as a smile came over his face. He picked up his fork and knife and gently stirred the sauce over the steak, making it glitter and blend with the meat. Then, he cut a piece and brought it into his mouth with the fork. He narrowed his eyes.
“It tastes excellent! Ah Zhuang, your cooking skills have improved again. I don’t regret spending so much money hiring you.” Alpha was very happy.
Hiss…
The metal door opened again, and the girl in revealing clothes walked out of it. Her eyes were as dead as two pools of still water, and like a puppet, she sat at the dining table. Ah Zhuang set a small plate in front of her and removed the cloche to reveal a small dragon steak.
Alpha cut another piece of dragon meat with the knife and stuffed it into his mouth. After wiping his lips with the cloth on his chest, he asked, “Have you fed all my pets?”
The girl nodded with a blank face.
“Very good. You may eat now. This meal is your reward,” Alpha said, smiling.
The girl’s eyes lit up when she heard the word ‘eat.’
Ah Zhuang withdrew from the room. No one talked, and the only sound was the sound of eating and the sc.r.a.ping sound made by knives cutting at plates.
All of a sudden, Alpha’s movements paused, and his eyebrows arched slightly. “A bug is trying to intrude my wars.h.i.+p? How could he disturb my meal…” He sighed. The next moment, his divine sense surged and spread out of the wars.h.i.+p. After that, he continued to gracefully cut the dragon meat and enjoy it.
The movements of the girl sitting at his side were neither fast nor slow, equally graceful. However, when she put a piece of dragon meat in her mouth, she chewed at it rather fast. It showed that she had a strong desire for delicious food.
…
Tian Cang held the Nether King Halberd in one hand and walked slowly across the deck. According to the image shown over the jade talisman, Er Ha was trapped in this wars.h.i.+p. However, it was really huge, and he was slightly shocked after seeing it up close. He didn’t feel that when looking at it in the image, but when he was here in person, he realized how enormous it was. It was almost as large as Yellow Spring City. Of course, he knew that now was not the time to be shocked. His goal was to rescue Er Ha.
The previous Nether King narrowed his eyes and raised his hand. A clanging sound rang out as a muzzle emerged on the arm. The next moment, a crimson energy beam shot out of the muzzle, hitting the deck. He wanted to cut a hole in it so he could enter the s.h.i.+p.
Buzz…
An invisible fluctuation spread. Tian Cang felt that, and he abruptly moved to one side. The next moment, a metal puppet thrust a spear at the spot where he stood just now.
Tian Cang focused his eyes, while those metal puppets raised their heads, their mechanical eyes bursting into a red light.
Rumble…
The puppets were awake, and in a flash, they surrounded Tian Cang, drowning him with terrible killing intent.