64: Cafeteria disaster! Auntie, your spoon is of poor quality!

Tianqiong War God Academy, Second Cafeteria.

The high noon sun was intense and unrestrained, much like the primal and wild craving for carbohydrates and protein felt by the freshmen who had just finished their hellish morning training sessions.

The air was thick with the rich, savory aroma of Braised Lion's Head meatballs and the tantalizing sweet and sour scent of Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs.

Usually, this was just an ordinary energy replenishment station.

But today, it was destined to be recorded in the academy's history, becoming post-meal gossip for countless people and a nightmare that would wake certain cafeteria aunties in the middle of the night.

"Grumble..."

A loud rumble, like muffled thunder rolling through the clouds, abruptly exploded at the noisy cafeteria entrance.

The sound was so loud it even drowned out the "Athlete's March" playing over the speakers, causing the students waiting in line to subconsciously clutch their stomachs, thinking they were so hungry they were hallucinating.

However, when they looked toward the source of the sound, they saw a familiar yet strange figure.

It was a youth.

He wore the exact same school uniform as Gu Fan, had the exact same face as Gu Fan, and even his hairstyle was identical down to the last hair.

The only difference lay in his eyes.

Those eyes held no human reason, nor the pride of a Martial Artist (as everyone assumed Gu Fan was); there were only two green, shimmering glimmers, like a hungry wolf spotting a little white rabbit.

It was the purest, most extreme craving for food, one that even transcended species boundaries.

This was Gu Fan's second Clone, ordered to come out and "collect malice"—Nickname.

"Meat... Fragrant... Hungry..."

Nickname muttered simple syllables, his nostrils flaring as he greedily captured the aroma of food in the air.

The next second.

"Boom!"

A gust of wild wind whipped up from where he stood.

Nickname, who had been at the entrance just a moment ago, instantly turned into an afterimage. In a posture that completely defied aerodynamics, he forcibly "squeezed" a bloody path through the crowded throng, instantly teleporting to the front of the most popular "Braised Pork" window.

He was so fast that several students he passed felt their hairstyles being blown into a mess.

"Holy crap! Who is that? Rushing to be reincarnated?"

"Cutting in line! Someone's cutting in line! Where are your manners!"

"Eh? Isn't that Gu Fan? Wasn't he sleeping? Why did he come to the cafeteria to snatch food again?"

Bursts of dissatisfied commotion erupted from the crowd.

But Nickname was deaf to it all.

In his eyes, there was only the giant stainless steel basin behind the window and the mountain of bright red, fatty-and-lean Braised Pork inside it.

The person in charge of this window was the most senior, fastest-handed, and most terrifying person in the academy—the "Hand-Shaking Nun," Auntie Wang.

Auntie Wang had held this post for twenty years, developing a transcendent "Parkinson's Scooping Technique."

No matter how much meat you saw in the spoon, after her seemingly casual shake, what finally landed on your plate would always be just two tiny cubes of meat and half a scoop of potatoes.

This was an art.

A Peak art form involving quantum mechanics and cafeteria economics.

"What do you want?"

Auntie Wang didn't even lift her eyelids. Her large iron spoon clanged against the edge of the basin, radiating impatience.

"Meat!"

Nickname's hands gripped the glass window, his face nearly pressed against it as he drooled with greed. "All... all of it! I want it all! Fast!"

Auntie Wang froze for a moment and finally looked up.

When she saw Nickname's glowing green eyes, her heart skipped a beat for no reason.

How long has this kid been hungry? Three days? Or three years?

But her professional discipline allowed her to quickly calm down.

"All of it? In your dreams. One portion per person. Swipe your card."

Auntie Wang snorted coldly. Her iron spoon expertly dipped into the basin, scooping up a large, full portion of Braised Pork.

Just as Nickname's eyes sparkled, ready to receive this great gift.

Auntie Wang's wrist moved.

It was an extremely subtle, extremely rhythmic tremor.

Like a willow branch swaying in the wind, or a spasm from an electric shock.

With her shaking, the Braised Pork in the spoon began a cruel process of natural selection.

A large piece of fatty meat fell back.

Two pieces of lean meat slid off.

In the end, only two scraps of meat no larger than a fingernail remained in the spoon, along with a full scoop of sauce.

"Here."

Auntie Wang prepared to dump the spoon onto Nickname's plate with an expressionless face.

At that very instant.

In the dormitory, Gu Fan's main body—who was sleeping—suddenly heard an alarm in his mind.

[Ding! Intense malice directed at Clone 'Nickname' detected.]

[Source of Malice: Withholding rations, mocking the hungry.]

[Judgment: For a Clone with the 'Gluttony' attribute, this is no different from the grievance of killing one's father.]

[Backlash triggered! Multiplier: 80x!]

[Law of Karma Loading: Metal Fatigue · Absolute Fracture.]

[Description: Since you love shaking so much, let the spoon shake until it's had its fill too.]

In reality.

Just as Auntie Wang was about to dump the spoon.

"Crack!"

A crisp, somewhat ear-piercing sound of metal snapping was exceptionally clear in the noisy cafeteria.

Auntie Wang felt the weight in her hand lighten.

She looked in shock at the remaining half of the bare spoon handle in her hand.

Meanwhile, the other half—the head of the spoon containing the meat and sauce—traced a parabola through the air, and then... "Splat!"

Spoon and meat together landed with pinpoint accuracy onto the large tray Nickname had already held out.

Furthermore, due to inertia, when this half of the spoon fell, it struck the edge of the tray, splashing up a wave of sauce that actually dragged even more meat out with it.

Auntie Wang: "???"

Her eyes widened as she looked at the neatly snapped handle in her hand, her face full of disbelief.

This was a specially made 304 food-grade stainless steel spoon!

It hadn't broken in five years; how did it snap today just from one shake?

"An accident... it must be an accident."

Auntie Wang swallowed hard, forcing an explanation.

She quickly grabbed a spare new spoon from the side.

"That one didn't count. I'll serve you again."

Auntie Wang refused to believe in such bad luck and scooped up another portion of meat.

This time, to be safe, she deliberately reduced the amplitude of her shaking.

However.

Just as her wrist exerted force, preparing to perform her "micro-management."

"Snap!"

Another crisp sound.

This time it was even more ridiculous.

The metal neck of the spoon directly shattered, and the spoon head, as if it had eyes, happily leaped into Nickname's tray again.

And because Auntie Wang had used too much force this time, the spoon head even knocked over a nearby tray of Braised Beef as it flew out.

Crash.

Half a basin of beef followed into Nickname's tray.

"..."

Auntie Wang's hand froze in mid-air, shaking uncontrollably.

The students waiting in line were all dumbfounded.

"Holy crap! What's the situation? Telekinesis?"

"Auntie Wang's 'Spoon-Shaking Divine Technique' has been broken? This is the scene of a Martial Forest myth collapsing!"

"Gu Fan... does he know sorcery? Even the spoons don't dare to withhold his meat?"

A cold sweat broke out on Auntie Wang instantly.

She looked in terror at the youth before her with the glowing green eyes and the wide grin (actually, he was just delirious with hunger).

Wicked!

Too wicked!

As soon as she thought about shaking the spoon, the spoon would commit suicide!

"I don't believe it! I don't believe I can't handle you!"

Auntie Wang also had a fiery temper. She threw away the handle and pulled out a giant plastic water ladle used for serving soup from under the counter.

"Let's see how this breaks!"

She was determined, directly using the ladle to scoop up a portion of green vegetables, intending to give this wicked brat some greens to cool his fire.

However.

The moment the plastic ladle touched the vegetable soup.

[Ding! Continuous malice detected. Backlash upgrade: Polymer Degradation.]

Sizzle, sizzle... the originally sturdy and thick blue plastic ladle, as if encountering a strong acid, instantly softened, decomposed, and turned into a pool of blue liquid, merging into the vegetable soup.

Auntie Wang was left with only a bare handle in her hand.

"Ghost... GHOST!!!"

Auntie Wang finally broke down.

She let out a scream, threw the handle away, and collapsed onto the floor, her face deathly pale.

"I'm not serving anymore! I don't dare serve anymore! This meat is poisoned! This spoon is haunted!"

She pointed at the untouched basins of food and shouted at Nickname with a sob, "Eat! Take it all and eat! Just stop torturing my spoons! Those are public property!"

Nickname tilted his head, seemingly trying to understand the meaning of these words.

Two seconds later, his not-so-bright brain reached a conclusion:

He could eat now.

All of it.

"Roar!"

Nickname let out an excited low growl.

Under everyone's terrified gazes, he jumped directly onto the counter.

He picked up the basin of Braised Pork with his left hand and the basin of Braised Beef with his right, opened his mouth wide, and poured them directly in.

That's right, poured.

Chewing? That was a lack of respect for food.

A true master of eating performs direct esophageal transport.

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

Several pounds of meat, along with the sauce, disappeared into the depths of his throat within seconds.

After finishing these two basins, he didn't stop.

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs? Mine now!

Kung Pao Chicken? Too little, take the whole basin!

White rice? Directly hug the rice cooker and gnaw!

In a short five minutes.

All the reserves of Window Two—portions for two hundred people—were swept clean by Nickname.

Even the stainless steel basins were licked so clean they shone like they were fresh from the factory, even reflecting people's faces.

"Burp—"

Nickname let out a satisfied burp and rubbed his stomach, which had only bulged out a tiny bit. A look of lingering desire appeared on his face.

"Seventy percent full... that's about enough..."

He jumped down from the counter, not even sparing a glance for Auntie Wang, who had fainted from fright, and turned to leave.

Leaving only silence behind him.

Hundreds of students holding empty plates stared blankly at the empty window, then at the coolly departing figure, nearly in tears.

"My Braised Pork..."

"My spare ribs..."

"Is that feeding a pig? Even a pig can't eat that much!"

"Gu Fan... are you the reincarnation of a starved ghost?!"

[Ding! Resentment triggered by collective 'extreme hunger' detected.]

[malice points +1000!]

[malice points +800!]

In the dormitory.

Gu Fan looked at the crazily rising malice points and rolled over with satisfaction.

"It seems Number Two is working very hard; he even knows to help the cafeteria clear its inventory. Truly a thrifty and industrious good child."

He just didn't know that from today on, a new legend began to circulate in Tianqiong Academy:

Gu Fan is the God of Cooking descended to earth.

Wherever he is, within a hundred-mile radius, not a blade of grass grows, and not a slice of meat remains.

Even stainless steel spoons would sever their own Meridians out of fear.