A panda, a cat-like creature, occupied five bowls made of banana leaves, devouring meat and soup with gusto.
Unbeknownst to them, the panda’s belly had already begun to swell considerably.
Jiang Fan felt his choice was spot on. A panda’s sense of taste was far less acute than a human's.
These mushrooms were exceptionally tender and fresh. To the panda, they tasted no different from meat.
This allowed him to fill the panda’s stomach with minimal actual meat.
Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei, however, were more discerning. They specifically sought out the superior ingredients, as with careful eating, the taste of meat and mushrooms could still be distinguished.
To make them indistinguishable, one would need advanced technology and a large quantity of additives.
Soon, large chunks of meat disappeared into Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei’s stomachs.
Yao had been busy by the bonfire, coating the outer layer of the roasted pig-rabbit with honey.
The pig-rabbit was already fragrant and savory. With the addition of honey, its color turned golden, resembling liquid gold.
Just the sight of it was enough to make one’s mouth water.
Seeing the pig-rabbit was almost roasted, Yao approached with the roasting fork.
As Yao brought the pig-rabbit over, Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei, catching the alluring aroma,’s eyes widened, and they rushed forward to snatch it.
“Wait a moment!”
Jiang Fan stopped their unseemly scramble. He broke off the largest leg of the rabbit and handed it to Yao.
The team had to have clear rewards and punishments, otherwise, no one would roast meat in the future.
Yao accepted the pig-rabbit leg and gave an embarrassed smile.
“Master… how is my cooking…”
Jiang Fan slowly nodded, adopting the demeanor of a judge.
“Very good. You have reached the threshold of a novice chef.”
Yao felt a bit disappointed. Only a novice chef.
Even a feral child recently integrated back into human society would know that ‘novice’ was just the beginning.
He had no idea that this title was actually high praise from Jiang Fan.
Jiang Fan couldn’t help but chuckle. This was a running gag. By the standards of "Chūka Ichiban!", a novice chef was capable of dominating the culinary world.
The protagonist had to strive for a long time just to barely qualify as a novice chef.
In real-world terms, a novice chef was equivalent to a three-Michelin-star master chef.
Netizens in the live stream were salivating.
They could practically smell the aroma of the pig-rabbit through their screens.
With the honey brushed on, the pig-rabbit seemed to be clad in golden armor, its brilliance so dazzling through the screen it almost blinded their eyes.
Major food delivery platforms were abuzz, preparing for another wave of orders.
Since Jiang Fan started his live stream, they had already extracted considerable profits from the netizens.
Many businesses had silently increased their prices or discreetly canceled their discount promotions, preparing to fleece the netizens once more.
Unexpectedly, this time, the netizens seemed to have coordinated, and no one placed any orders.
“After seeing Jiang Shen’s delicious food, the takeout I ordered tastes like chewing on wax.”
“Chewing on wax is still good. What I tasted was the flavor of a sewer.”
“So I’d rather just calmly eat instant noodles at home.”
“Yeah, instant noodles taste the same anyway.”
“Let’s not enrich those capitalists.”
The owners of the major delivery platforms were stunned. They had never encountered such a tactic.
Indeed, one could not keep shearing the same flock of sheep indefinitely, or their wool would eventually run out.
However, where there was commerce, there was cunning. Many businesses had already started creating products that closely resembled the pig-rabbit in appearance.
Some had even frantically registered trademarks and domain names for 'pig-rabbit,' intending to profit from them.
This action, however, further enraged Jiang Fan’s loyal fans.
“The ‘Pig-Rabbit’ trademark belongs only to Jiang Shen!”
“That’s right, I’ve already registered several trademarks and domain names. When Jiang Shen returns, I will offer them to him unconditionally.”
“Only with such awareness can one be considered Jiang Shen’s fan.”
“Anyone who dares to profit from the ‘Pig-Rabbit’ trademark will be boycotted until death.”
“Yes, let them go bankrupt.”
At this moment, Jiang Fan’s influence had also alerted some leaders and behind-the-scenes magnates from various factions.
They had all sent people to infiltrate the live stream to observe Jiang Fan’s every move.
Meanwhile, Jiang Fan and his group had finished eating and were lying on the ground, burping contentedly.
Even the panda was full, gnawing on a pig-rabbit skeleton with lingering satisfaction.
Yao was the most industrious, already heading to the river with the clay pot to wash dishes.
The clay here might not be encountered again in their subsequent explorations, so the pot needed to be preserved for future use.
Jiang Fan already regretted it; they had set out in such haste that many essential items were left behind!
Zhou Niannian suddenly pondered a question.
“Why are there pig-rabbits both outside and inside here?”
Dai Xiaomei scoffed.
“What’s so strange about that? Maybe the pig-rabbits from the outside world escaped from here.”
Jiang Fan shook his head. Based on common sense, this seemed unlikely.
If the pig-rabbits here wanted to get out, they would first have to pass through the volcanic zone, which would be a near-death experience.
After passing through the volcano, they would still need to find the black hole to reach the secret chamber they were just in.
Then, they would have to evade numerous traps to reach the outside.
Even if these pig-rabbits were intelligent and agile enough to bypass all the traps,
how would they solve the Zhenlong chess puzzle? It was unheard of for pig-rabbits to play chess.
“I believe this is not a real world. What we are seeing is a replica of the real world’s structure.”
Jiang Fan voiced his thoughts, and everyone listened with astonishment.
If all of this were an illusion, how could they fill their stomachs by catching these illusory pig-rabbits?
Jiang Fan elaborated on his idea.
The Matrix was a famous movie. Besides the panda and the feral child, Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei had definitely seen it.
In the movie, people were immersed in nutrient tanks, with ports plugged into their brains, connecting to a central computer.
Through this connection, they lived in a virtual reality within their minds and believed it to be real.
In the illusory world, they could still perceive the taste of food and live and die normally.
“That makes sense.”
“Perhaps the illusion here is an even more advanced mode.”
“Haha, if it’s an illusion, we can do whatever we want.”
“You’re thinking too much. In the illusions of The Matrix, dying is real death.”
“…”
After a period of discussion, they reached a consensus: regardless of whether it was a real world or not, they had to continue exploring.
They needed to traverse this forest and explore it first to find essential water sources and food.
Meanwhile, the netizens in the live stream began to murmur.
“This… this shouldn’t be an illusion at all!”
“If it’s an illusory world, there’s no reason why we should be able to see it too.”
“Exactly. If it were like The Matrix, from their perspective it’s an illusion, but from ours, we should be seeing them in nutrient tanks.”
They pondered for a long time but could not come up with a satisfactory answer.
Over there, Jiang Fan’s team had already resumed their exploration.