Chapter 33 The Battle of the Rebels [The Last Meal]

The night at the Dusk Underwater Restaurant was silent.

Inside a cylindrical ocean world made of glass, a five-meter-tall crab was crawling on the glass floor at the bottom of the cylinder, where the forest below could be clearly seen through the glass.

The Human Armor Willow Crab had its eyes tightly shut, its blue-gray abdomen contracting rhythmically with its breathing, while the four crab legs on one side were curled beneath it, steadily supporting its massive body.

On the other side, however, only two mangled crab legs remained; dark brown, filthy blood still oozed from the severed wounds, slowly diffusing into the seawater with a pungent, fishy stench.

In the center of its hard, blue-gray carapace, a hideous fissure had split open. Inside the fissure, a slender willow tree grew eerily, its willow branches drooping and winding around the carapace.

If someone were to lean in close at this moment, they would be able to see through the fissure that it was densely packed with pale human heads, the willow tree's roots piercing deep into the skulls like vipers, while countless shrill wails and desperate screams drifted out from the fissure in wisps.

Suddenly, a ripple spread through the quiet seabed. The Human Armor Willow Crab slowly opened its eyes, stared silently at the empty seawater in front of it, and opened its mouth to ask:

"Kid, what business do you have with This Great One?"

"I am here to collaborate with you." As soon as the words fell, a crystalline bubble suddenly appeared in the seawater ahead. Inside the bubble, the figure of Xu Yuanmo emerged, looking down at the giant crab with a calm expression.

"This Great One has no interest in collaborating with humans. You..." Before the Human Armor Willow Crab could finish speaking, it impatiently raised a thick crab leg and stabbed fiercely at the bubble. A glint of greed flashed in its eyes; human souls were excellent nourishment.

But the next second, its crab leg felt as if it had stabbed into cotton; no matter how much force it exerted, it couldn't advance a single bit, and the bubble remained intact.

Xu Yuanmo looked at it with a half-smile. The Human Armor Willow Crab calmly retracted its crab leg, finally looking at Xu Yuanmo properly, and asked curiously:

"What do you want to collaborate with This Great One on?"

"Do you want to devour Him?" Xu Yuanmo pointed his finger upward. The Human Armor Willow Crab instantly understood his meaning. It abruptly stood up in the seawater, its massive body causing the seawater to churn violently, and more dark brown, filthy blood gushed out from the wounds of its severed crab legs.

"Just you and me?" After the excitement, the Human Armor Willow Crab quickly calmed down, its tone carrying a hint of wariness.

"If He were in His prime, the two of us combined wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps in His teeth, but you know, He is now split in two, and His strength is greatly reduced."

"Not enough, I..." It had only helped one half of Him against the other half back then and ended up in this current state; recalling that battle, it still felt lingering fear.

"I know it's not enough, so I brought this." Xu Yuanmo pulled out a card. Upon seeing its effect, the Human Armor Willow Crab remained silent for a long moment before making up its mind:

"Fine, I agree to collaborate with you."

"Tomorrow, the sound of an explosion will be the signal." After saying this, Xu Yuanmo left the seabed in satisfaction. The Human Armor Willow Crab stared at his disappearing back, slowly crouched down, closed its eyes, and continued to sleep:

"Humans cannot be trusted, and This Great One has no credibility to speak of either."

Two hours later, in the kitchen cooking area.

"Boom~" The Human Armor Willow Crab opened its eyes and complained irritably:

"It's tomorrow once it's past midnight, right? It's only 3 AM now; are crabs not allowed to sleep?"

Despite its complaints, it still wobbled to its feet and slowly swam upward.

"Larson, hand over the the last meal, or none of us will be walking out of this door today." Kassian and Yuri blocked the only exit of the cooking area, confronting Chef Larson and the others.

Larson's meticulous attire now appeared very disheveled, his gloomy eyes staring fixedly at the flames igniting in Kassian's hands.

"You actually dare to betray the restaurant!!"

"Larson, we all know now; the ingredients for the the last meal were brought by Him, not the trash ingredients we use for our petty little dishes. The the last meal can allow us to evolve into a supreme existence like Him."

Larson took off his glasses, which were slightly damaged from the explosion, and said, enunciating every word:

"I do not allow anyone to betray the restaurant, so please just go and die."

With that, the suit on his body tore apart inch by inch, revealing his sturdy upper body. The eyeballs on his octopus tentacles spun wildly, locking onto Kassian and Yuri.

The two, Kassian and Yuri, remained calm, and the battle was about to erupt. Yuri shouted coldly:

"Do it."

Just at this moment, a cold light flashed suddenly!

"Puchi~" A small kitchen knife was precisely inserted into Chef Larson's heart, and black-red blood instantly gushed out. Soyer, standing next to Larson, had his pupils shrink, looking at the owner of the knife in disbelief, stuttering: "You... you..."

"Pastry Chef Samus, even you have betrayed the restaurant!!" Larson turned his head abruptly, looking at Samus behind him in disbelief. The severe pain coming from his ruptured heart made him tremble uncontrollably. Tentacles struck at him fiercely, but Samus dodged, and in a few leaps, he stood within Kassian's team.

"Betrayal?"

Samus looked ferocious: "Larson, do you know! For so many years, every day has been so agonizing; my wife died right before my eyes, yet I was helpless. Every day, I still had to prepare side dishes for the man who killed my wife. I have had enough of this life."

"I hate you for holding me back, for not letting me go to hell with Anna. I hate Him for coming to the restaurant, and I hate myself even more for being a coward."

"This time, I don't want to wait anymore. I don't want to be a coward anymore. I want Him to die." Samus's eyes were filled with hatred.

Hearing what he said, Larson was silent for a while, and finally sighed helplessly:

"Come on then!"

...

"We are still missing one blood core." Gu Ye picked up the card-making materials dropped by the giant rat. When the explosion sounded, they had left the room and come to the ingredient area to hunt for blood cores for Chu Ling and the other two.

Yan Shuangling held the restaurant's map in her hand: "The direction where the explosion just sounded should be the kitchen cooking area."

"Right now, only the staff accommodation area on the third floor of the restaurant still has monsters; the monsters in other places have all been summoned to the cooking area, where a massive melee is taking place."

"Alright, let's go to the third floor."

The journey was smooth and unimpeded. The group arrived at the third floor. The spacious corridor had already become blood-stained, but there was not a single monster in it.

"Let's search!" The group split up to search the various rooms.

When the two of them came up last time, they hadn't observed carefully. Gu Ye browsed the information on the doorplates of each room. Starting from the stairs, they were basically rooms for food runners and waiters, interspersed with some rooms for chefs.

At the end of the corridor, there was a room without a doorplate, and on its left and right sides were the rooms of the Head Chef and the Manager respectively.

"Manager?" Gu Ye searched his memory, but the Manager had never appeared.

"What are you looking at?" Chu Ling's hand patted Gu Ye's shoulder as he walked up to look at these three rooms.

"We searched all the rooms and didn't find any monsters. According to the information from School Beauty Yan, the monster must be in one of these three rooms."

"Open the doors!"

Yan Shuangling and the other two also walked over. Gu Ye walked to the Manager's room, grasped the doorknob, and twisted it gently.

With a "click," the door opened. Gu Ye reached out and pushed hard, and the entryway inside came into view.

Zhang Fei and the others took the lead, slowly walking into the room. Passing through the entryway and entering the living room, a man who looked very refined was hanging in the center of the living room.

"Hi! You've finally come in. I've been observing you for several days."

"Quick, let me down; I can't wait."

"Bronze peak!" Everyone present could perceive his aura. Seeing that he should not be able to break free from his restraints, Gu Ye asked:

"Are you the Manager?"

When the man heard this, he was instantly stunned and said in surprise:

"You don't know me?" Everyone shook their heads. Seeing this, the man explained:

"I am formed from the transformation of a bodhi grass, and I am not the Manager either."

"Then where did the Manager go? And what is a bodhi grass?" Chu Ling asked the question in his heart.

"The Manager said he had some mission, so he left the restaurant. As for what a bodhi grass is, let me down, and I will tell you."

"Left the restaurant?" Everyone looked incredulous; the idea that monsters inside a Card Domain could leave the Card Domain was unheard of by everyone.

"Don't talk about that, hurry up and let me down."

"Hurry up." The bodhi grass's tone was urgent, urging them repeatedly, and his expression was becoming increasingly ugly.