Primordial Draconic Incubus With A Gourmet Chef System

Chapter 197 Thirty Seconds

[The ground black pepper tinged with red and blue is called Frostfire Black Pepper. Compared to the other two garnishes, it's only a Grade 1 Ingredient, but its flavor and potency are no less than theirs. It's harvested from a planet named Pyrofrostia. A place where the Elements of Fire and Ice battle for dominance. A single twist from the pepper grinder is all you need.]

After Lucian's lengthy explanation, despite not wanting to, he asked Duan Mu, [Any questions?]

However, Duan Mu remained frozen with an unreadable expression.

Seeing this, Lucian nodded in satisfaction. His disciple understood his Master's personality well.

'He's not bad.' Lucian inwardly praised him as he glanced at the equally stunned chefs, who had remained still ever since he plated the poached Siren's Melody Eggs.

"You, five. What are you all waiting for? An invitation? Quickly move away from the countertop. Or do you think you can perfectly chop the chives for my disciple?"

"Brat. You need to learn to respect your seniors. Who do you think you are? Just because you're the personal chef of Sir James, you think you're better than us?" The young female chef, who was worried the guests would ask for a refund, was ashamed and infuriated.

"Dark red colored chives or green chives, they're still chives."

"It's just chopping chives!"

"That's right. Move aside. We'll show you how it's done."

"Brat, give us some chives, we'll chop them." The young female chef demanded.

Lucian blinked, staring at the chefs with a bit of surprise. "You'll chop them?"

The young female chef smilingly asked, "What, are you scared?"

She had absolute confidence in her knife skills. The other four were also confident. After all, with age came experience, and each boasted decades of time spent in the kitchen. Discover stories with empire

Lucian snickered. "Scared? Why would I be scared?" He then asked the System via Voice Transmission, [How much time is left?]

[From the initial five minutes The Branch Leader obtained, exactly two minutes and ten seconds remain.] The System replied.

"Thirty seconds. I'll give you five thirty seconds to impress me."

After saying so, Lucian summoned five Netherbane Chives onto his palm.

"Take one each. Show me what you 'seniors' can do." He said nonchalantly.

Lucian was not angered by their words nor was he the slightest bit scared.

If Lucian were asked if he thought the five chefs could perfectly chop the Netherbane Chives. He would laugh in their face.

Cutting Netherbane Chives was no simple task. It was not just about cutting prowess that determined whether one could cut the chives, it was about possessing the right skill and knowledge.

But unfortunately for the five chefs, they were in over their heads, unaware of such an important detail.

As the five chefs each took a Netherbane Chive, Lucian turned to Duan Mu.

[Watch them intently.]

Duan Mu nodded with a confused expression. He was unsure what his Master wanted to show him. Nevertheless, he did as he was told.

Meanwhile, Mei and Carlton exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

[Naive and arrogant.] Mei said.

[And ignorant.] Carlton added.

"I'll start." An old man in a chef uniform said confidently.

"I don't have the time to watch you lot go one at a time. Go together or step aside." Lucian interrupted him, just as the old man began rolling up his sleeves.

The old man became incensed. With a furious expression, he glared at Lucian, wondering what was wrong with the young man.

Did his parents not teach him to respect his seniors?

But before he could snap, he felt a hand placed on his shoulder.

The hand on the old man's shoulder belonged to none other than the young female chef. Her eyes were narrowed as she muttered, "There's no point in arguing with him. Action speaks louder than words. Let's show him."

The old man reluctantly nodded as he joined his fellow chefs around the counter.

Lucian expressionlessly watched them with his arms behind his back.

"Thirty seconds." He reminded.

Immediately after Lucian spoke, the chefs got to work. Their preferred kitchen knives flashed onto their palms.

Moments later, their hands moved with fluid motion, showing their decades of experience.

Each chef sported a confident expression, assured of their victory.

However, what they did not realize was that Netherbane Chives were not a normal ingredient. As soon as the steel blades made contact with the chives, something strange happened. The chives resisted the cut.

"WHAT!?" The chefs screamed in unison, shocked by the display. Unwilling to give up, they continued. They lifted their knives and chopped down…

After what felt like an eternity, the old man, who was infuriated with Lucian's disrespect was gritting his teeth as his knife had difficulty passing through the delicate-looking chive.

"Just what the Hell is this chive made of?"

Lucian inwardly chuckled. [Hellfire.]

The young female chef was also in a similar condition. The confident and smooth-cutting skills she had developed over the years seemed useless. Against the chive, her knife… no, her entire arm was trembling. It was like she was attempting to cut into a Grade 16 Ingredient.

Even trying to brute force the knife into the chive was meaningless.

The other three chefs were in a similar condition. Soaked in sweat and red-faced faced from anger. The time was closing in, and it was clear even to them they were far from impressing anyone.

Duan Mu was dumbfounded. He had already expected the chefs would not be able to chop the Netherbane Chives, but this was not how he imagined the scenario. The Netherbane Chives were special, far beyond any regular ingredient. It was obvious to him that the chives had a will… or a special property that required more than just brute force to chop.

'I think I understand… Master wants me to learn experience in the kitchen only takes a chef so far. To even handle an ingredient above Grade 1, a deep understanding of the ingredient is required.' Duan Mu was in awe of his Master, feeling thankful he had such a considerate Master.

In truth, Lucian's reasoning for allowing the chefs to show off their knife skills was for his amusement. However, it would be a lie if he said he did not want to use the clown show to teach his disciple a thing or two.

Just then, Lucian's voice rang out, "Twenty seconds left."

The old man trembled and pushed his knife harder, but the harder he pushed, to his growing frustration and confusion, the less progress he made. His knife was barely making any contact.

The others were still in the same state, faring no better than the old man.

"To Hell with this." One of the younger chefs, enraged by his failure to cut a simple chive coupled with the amusement in Chef Lucian's eyes as though he was enjoying a show, did the unthinkable. He placed his knife down on the chopping board and summoned a two-foot-long knife with eighty razor-sharp teeth.

'...' Duan Mu, Mei, Carlton, and the other chefs went wide-eyed at the young chef's choice of 'knife'… No, anyone with eyes would know upon seeing it that it was a saw.

"If you're going to pull out a saw, at least take out a chef's saw," Lucian commented from the side, then yawned. A chef's saw and a saw built for construction were two entirely different tools.

A chef's saw was used to cut and tenderize meat and bones. While the saw in the young chef's hands was designed to cut through wood.

Despite Lucian's nonchalance, he was enjoying every second of the spectacle.

'If only Lily was here too. Her cute and melodic giggles would be like a cherry on top of this otherwise beautiful performance.'

Lucian gave him a nod, "Go ahead. I'm genuinely curious if brute force can achieve what skill couldn't."

The young chef blushed from anger. He would be an idiot if he could not tell he was ridiculed. Left with no other choice but to push forward, he grabbed the saw with both hands and began sawing through the chive.

*Screeeetch*

The sound was harsh, loud, and completely out of place in the kitchen.

To everyone's astonishment, for the first time since the chefs had started, the chive gave way. It no longer resisted. The saw managed to bite into the ingredient, leaving a jagged, uneven mess behind.

"Hahaha! It's working!" The young chef widely laughed.

But his victory was short-lived. While he was lost in his manic laughter, his fellow chefs' expressions changed from astonishment to disappointment.

Mei and Carlton exchanged another glance and shook their heads in pity.

[This is just sad now.] Carlton sighed.

[Pathetic.] Mei chuckled disdainfully.

The reason for their expressions and ridiculing words was painfully clear to anyone who looked at the scene with a clear mind. The saw was not cutting the chive at all. It was mangling it, turning the once Mana-rich chive into crumbled and uneven chunks. Even worse, the ingredient had lost all of its Mana.

"Ten seconds," Lucian announced.

The young male chef's so-called success was nothing more than a clumsy destruction of an ingredient. He possessed neither the knowledge nor the skill required to handle the Netherbane Chive.

Hearing that there were only ten seconds left, the young female chef took a deep breath. She surged the Mana from her Mana Veins into her palms and covered her knife in a layer of transparent Mana.

She was a Mage, and like any Mage, from the very beginning the chives were summoned, she had sensed the powerful aura emanating from the chives.