Chapter 18 The Demon King's Gift Restaurant

"Bachelor, perhaps you could simply lead us to the corridor where the Demon King's Gift Restaurant is located, then go to your regular class. After the second class ends, come find us again and continue guiding us. Whether it's a Difficulty 2 or Difficulty 3 classroom, I'll get you through it."

Lan Qi looked at Bachelor, his tone calm, but he couldn't hide the confident light in his eyes.

Bachelor obviously didn't want to spend his precious credit coins either. After all, for a student like him who was on the verge of being expelled, every extra credit coin was extremely valuable.

"Okay, okay."

Bachelor quickly bowed to Lan Qi in gratitude.

Even during the time he fainted in the music classroom earlier, this Radiant Demon hadn't coveted his two credit coins.

What Bachelor feared most was being targeted or enslaved by powerful higher demons.

In this world, the weak are often prey.

However, contact with Lan Qi, a strong individual, surprised Bachelor. This Radiant Demon, although terrifying, possessed a high degree of rationality and a reasonableness that didn't seem like a demon.

Demons with this kind of aptitude are often the highest-ranking and most terrifying.

But correspondingly, as long as you don't actively provoke them, they won't bother targeting weaker demons.

Next.

Bachelor completely entered his tour guide mode again, leading Lan Qi and Hyperion to their new destination with a respectful voice and a sense of certainty.

After about ten minutes, the scenery before them gradually changed, from a purgatory-like teaching corridor to an elegant and leisurely indoor architectural environment.

Arriving in the functional area, the air in the corridor was fresh, as if it were a completely different world compared to the dark classroom hallways just now.

Here, the aura of the pitch-black abyss didn't seem so strong, but was replaced by a purer tranquility.

"This is the place you wanted to reach. I'll come find you again during the next class break."

Bachelor stood at the entrance of a bright corridor and bowed to Lan Qi.

His voice carried a hint of relief, as if he had completed a difficult task.

"Okay, be careful."

Lan Qi replied, waved his hand, and watched Bachelor's back disappear around the corner of the corridor.

Then, he and Hyperion walked together on this corridor, which was filled with dim and soft light, and soon saw the [Demon King's Gift Restaurant] with its floor-to-ceiling glass walls.

The name seemed to promise them a noble-like enjoyment.

[Time Remaining: 9 hours, 36 minutes]

[...]

[Challengers Lan Qi & Hyperion are in s02 Corridor, Demon King's Gift Restaurant]

Passing through the automatic revolving glass door, you could see that the overall decoration of the restaurant's interior adopted a high-quality pure black style, with details full of unconventional and ingenious little rebellions—for example, the branches and stones on the table, upon closer inspection, turned out to be part of the tableware.

Large floor-to-ceiling windows made the hanging scenery outside the Purgatory Corridor Academy the restaurant's backdrop. It was only here that one finally realized that this school was a corridor castle built above purgatory.

When night fell, the starlight seemed to be reflected on the dining table, giving people an absurd and dreamlike feeling.

"Guests, please take a look at this first."

The demon waiter, while leading them to their seats, handed them a carefully crafted black leather guide.

The guide's cover had a unique diamond pattern, and the faint smell of leather seemed to carry a vintage charm.

Lan Qi turned his gaze to the writing on the cover.

Several lines of delicate text were arranged on it, which were the precautions for the Demon King's Gift Restaurant.

[Improper attire is prohibited in the restaurant]

[Fighting, brawling, and causing trouble are prohibited]

[Pets, summons, and familiars are prohibited]

[Dine-and-dash is prohibited]

[Insulting other customers is prohibited]

[Violators will be executed by the restaurant manager]

[If you suffer a bad experience due to other customers' violations, the restaurant will compensate you]

The烫印 (tàngyìn, hot-stamped) words were arranged neatly and orderly on the cover.

"As expected, it's still very Demon Realm style."

Lan Qi couldn't help but exclaim to Hyperion beside him.

It must be said that the fact that violations directly lead to execution has resulted in truly excellent etiquette and customs in the Demon Realm.

"Indeed."

Hyperion nodded.

She felt that she was gradually beginning to adapt to the rhythm of the Demon Realm, not because she had half-demon blood, but because she was following Lan Qi, who was more like a local demon than the local demons themselves, and was rapidly adapting under his influence.

The lights in the restaurant were soft, and the air was filled with a rich aroma of food.

At this time, only a few scattered students were sitting in various corners of the restaurant, looking down at the menu or quietly waiting for their dishes to be served.

The existence of each figure added a unique atmosphere to the restaurant.

After Lan Qi and Hyperion looked at the menu for a while.

The demon waiter who had received them came to them again with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, I was a little slow because I was too busy. Please forgive me."

The waiter sincerely apologized to the two, and her attitude towards Lan Qi, who was a teacher, was obviously very respectful.

"It's okay."

Lan Qi held a delicate menu in his hand, his fingers gently sliding across the paper, his eyes sweeping over the text and pictures on each page, trying to understand the characteristics and flavors of each dish.

Finally, his gaze stopped on one of the pages.

This Demon King's Gift Restaurant combined the flavors of Demon Realm style and local ingredients from the Purgatory Land, creating a unique new-style Demon Realm cuisine.

Although he didn't recognize the specific names of the Demon Realm ingredients, this dish that could increase attributes looked like grilled potato balls and smoked eel, and the sauce was roughly similar to smoked onion sauce and eel consommé, with a sprinkle of dill oil to add a touch of freshness.

There was also a black chocolate soufflé, which should be the final dessert. The black chocolate soufflé looked fluffy and warm, with ice-crystal-like custard sauce. The taste must be alternating between hot and cold, rich and light.

The two limited dishes were a must-order. The price was 5 credit coins each, and they could specialize Hyperion's attack attribute, allowing her to reach the fourth rank of combat power tonight.

In this way, with a super fighter capable of rivaling the Shadow World's rank, they would have more room to maneuver.

Other dishes that were merely delicious but didn't come with any effects weren't so expensive. They could order some depending on the situation.

However.

Seeming to have noticed Lan Qi's intention, a hint of trouble appeared on the demon waiter's face, and her melodious voice carried an undisguised regret:

"Sir, both of these have already been sold out today."

"The limited dishes are all gone?"

Lan Qi frowned slightly, a look of doubt appearing on his face.

It was only just after the first class break. How could the limited dishes be sold out so quickly?

What made him even more puzzled was that the seemingly spacious and luxurious restaurant only had a few customers, but the waiter seemed so busy.

The demon waiter helplessly nodded and explained to Lan Qi:

"No, and there aren't many ingredients left to make the regular dishes either. Currently, there are only..."

As she spoke, she carefully pointed out the remaining dishes on the menu that could still be chosen.

Lan Qi was confused.

He looked around the restaurant.

And soon discovered the problem—

At a luxurious long table sat a rather eye-catching demon.

His silver-white hair seemed to be dotted with stars, exuding a noble elegance and coldness.

However.

In that almost negligible, fleeting moment, one could feel the undisguised pickiness and dissatisfaction in his eyes.

The restaurant's waiters were like ants bearing heavy burdens, busily surrounding him, constantly delivering exquisite dishes to him.

However, the silver-haired demon merely lowered his head slightly, casually picked up a fork or a spoon, lightly tasted one or two bites, then frowned, pushed the plate in front of him aside, revealing an extremely dissatisfied expression.

Then, those foods would be directly taken away by the waiters and dumped into the trash can.

Those dishes that he discarded had hardly been truly enjoyed, and the waiters' busyness and his pickiness seemed to form a strong contrast.

All the demons were looking for the next instruction in the silver-haired demon's eyes and gestures, like a hamster being driven in circles, extremely busy.

Even the restaurant manager had no choice but to come to his table and accept his sharp comments and accusations.

Lan Qi silently watched his dining behavior, and seemed a little unhappy.

This kind of direct gaze was quickly noticed by the silver-haired demon.

The silver-haired demon turned his head, and his eyes met Lan Qi's for a while, as piercing as ice.

Immediately, a hint of displeasure flashed in the demon's eyes, as if he was dissatisfied with Lan Qi's gaze.

The corners of his mouth drooped slightly, forming a cold arc, and at the same time, he let out a contemptuous snort.

The silver-haired demon's gaze swept over Lan Qi and Hyperion, as if he were sizing up two cheap commodities, his expression full of disdain.

Then, he pointed to the restaurant manager next to him, signaling him to come over.

Immediately afterwards, he said a nonchalant sentence:

"Today, how many high-end ingredients do you have? I'll order them all."

The domineering aura in his words, like the noble temperament on his body, couldn't be ignored.

Obviously, he wanted to show Lan Qi and Hyperion the absolute difference between them, and even deprive them of the opportunity to enjoy delicious food.

It seemed that because of Lan Qi's glance just now, he had decided not to allow these two impolite demons, Lan Qi and Hyperion, to enjoy the same level of food as him today.

However, Lan Qi still looked at the silver-haired demon's long table with a slight frown, without saying a word.

"Lan Qi, forget it."

Hyperion's tone was gentle, as if she wanted to resolve Lan Qi's predicament.

She was very sure that the silver-haired student, who had an exaggerated number of credit coins, was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

In this kind of functional area, there was almost no room for action.

Lan Qi's most proficient taunt-and-love-poet tactics, or his silence-and-word-control tactics, would not work in this restaurant where summoning creatures were prohibited.

Silence enveloped the tables of the silver-haired demon and Lan Qi, which were separated by a distance. Lan Qi seemed to have heard Hyperion's advice. His eyes moved away from the silver-haired demon's table and turned to Hyperion's face.

"Saving food and eliminating waste requires the joint efforts of everyone."

Lan Qi finally said,

"We should consciously promote the fine virtue of thrift and frugality, establish the idea that saving is glorious and waste is shameful, increase publicity on practicing thrift and opposing waste, and strive to create a good social atmosphere of civilized dining and rational consumption."

Lan Qi seriously explained his values to Hyperion.

Hyperion: "..."

She always felt that.

Lan Qi's ideas were generally not a problem.

But coming from his mouth, it inexplicably had a bit of a 黑话 (hēihuà, underworld slang) feel to it.

Because this person's understanding of things like virtues was somewhat unique!