798 Hire

Lez looked at Lumian with confusion and asked, "Can you make decisions for the owner here?"

"Yes, because I am the owner now," Lumian replied with a smile, pointing to himself.

The human meat chef, Lez, was even more perplexed. "Weren't we just exiled to Morora together?"

It had been less than an hour since they arrived.

Lumian tilted his head and pointed his chin towards the destroyed bar area. "I had a duel with the previous owner and won this bar from him."

Lez's eyes suddenly lit up. "Is he dead? Where's his body?"

"The enforcers took it away, probably to be buried in the cemetery," Lumian said, walking to the edge of the hall and picking up a relatively intact chair, placing it next to the ruined bar.

Lez sighed regretfully but followed Lumian's suggestion and went into the kitchen to start cooking.

Lumian wandered to the bar area, searching for the two "steaks" he and Albus hadn't eaten.

They were torn to pieces in the violent explosion, scattered among the debris, completely charred and carbonized.

After examining them for a while, Lumian noticed that the steak fragments showed no signs of writhing or regeneration. The fire had destroyed any subtle connection to the corpse, making them seem entirely dead and no longer part of the Abscessed Hand.

These probably don't need to be recalled...

High-temperature flames can restrain the self-healing ability of the separated rotten flesh, but it's unclear how much it affects the corpse itself...

Besides, the separated rotten flesh must only have a limited self-healing ability; otherwise, each piece could grow into a new Hand Bro, and there'd be no need for Hand Bro to find the whole corpse...

After pondering for a while, Lumian brought over a small overturned round table from the edge of the hall and placed it next to the chair.

He sat down, patiently waiting for Lez to prepare lunch.

As time passed, Lez brought out a mixed salad, creamy mashed potatoes, and other dishes.

Lumian took a spoonful of mashed potatoes and tasted it, finding the texture unusually smooth and the flavors of starch, cream, and fat deliciously combined.

"Not bad," Lumian said, raising his left hand and giving a thumbs up.

Lez stood beside him, smiling humbly.

"I used to own a restaurant."

"A restaurant specializing in human meat?" Lumian teased provocatively.

Lez shook his head.

"Back then, I was a normal chef with excellent, but still human, cooking skills."

"Then why did you start eating people?" Lumian didn't directly ask when he started worshiping an evil god.

He didn't know which evil god corresponded to the Gourmet pathway.

Lez's expression gradually darkened.

"My wife had a friend who always filled her head with the idea of a luxurious lifestyle, introducing her to so-called high society members, even encouraging her to have affairs and squander money. She secretly mortgaged our restaurant; her goal was our restaurant from the start.

"After losing the restaurant, that friend stopped associating with my wife. My wife finally came to her senses but was too weak. She burned down the restaurant, killing herself in the process.

"Then a regular customer, who admired my cooking skills, approached me and asked if I wanted revenge. He offered to help, saying someone with my high-level cooking skills should worship the God of Cuisine, the great 'Devouring Whirlpool.'

"After that, I received a boon and slowly grew stronger.

"After becoming a true Chef, I found that woman and made her into the most satisfying meal of my life.

"From that day on, I enjoyed eating the flesh of the damned and gained the ability to discern who deserved to die."

"Was that woman also a follower of an evil god?" Hearing this, Lumian strongly suspected that the first person Lez ate was a bestowed of the Broker pathway.

Perhaps Lez's restaurant was part of a transaction.

"Yes," Lez confirmed, "She worshiped the so-called Truth. When she met my wife, she was still weak."

As expected... Lumian smiled.

The ability to discern who deserves to die is quite useful. When I capture a Broker pathway Sequence 7 or higher, I'll leave it to Ludwig to handle.

After finishing the meal Lez prepared, Lumian nodded in satisfaction.

"I'm willing to hire you as the chef for this bar. Let's discuss your compensation and responsibilities."

"Alright," Lez said, assuming a listening posture.

Lumian picked up a white napkin and wiped his mouth.

"There's quite a bit of wine left in the cellar. Clean up the bar, rebuild it, and display the wine. After that, you'll be responsible for hiring and managing bartenders and waitstaff, as well as reestablishing contact with suppliers."

"That's the job of a manager," Lez noted, having run a restaurant before.

Lumian chuckled in response.

"Yes, chef and manager.

"The bar's revenue, after costs, will all be yours."

"What about you?" Lez had never seen such an owner.

Not even wanting the money?

Lumian stood up, stretching his body, and casually said, "You'll be responsible for my meals, cleaning my room, and if there are special ingredients, making dishes or cocktails that give me the corresponding traits. Also, I don't eat human meat."

Lez stared at Lumian for a few seconds and said in a deep voice, "You seem to know a lot about a Chef's abilities."

Lumian glanced at the now-stopped rain outside and walked towards the bar's entrance, smiling.

"The previous owner of this bar was a Depriver, but unfortunately, I deprived him of his life, so he can't share his culinary skills with you."

Moreover, my godson is an Angel of your pathway.

Lez fell silent. As Lumian was about to leave the bar, he finally spoke, "I'll take good care of this bar."

Lumian didn't look back, raising his right hand and waving lightly in acknowledgment.

There were still some deep pools of water on the street outside, with pedestrians mainly walking on the sidewalks. The sky was now bright and sunny, as if there hadn't been a heavy rainstorm.

Following the subtle connection from the contract mark, Lumian walked towards the suspected location of the Abscessed Hand's head.

Turning a corner, he saw a drenched corpse lying under a book-engraved obelisk. It was Vijepan, the gloomy rapist-murderer who had been exiled to Morora with Lumian and others.

At this moment, his hands and feet were severed at the joints, his pants stripped off, and his groin a bloody mess with the most important part missing.

His eyes were wide open, frozen in pain and despair.

Lost the duel, huh? Lumian murmured with a silent laugh.

He almost whistled in admiration for the duel he hadn't witnessed.

It must have been exciting; whoever died deserved a toast.

Looks like that collector named Julie is stronger... Both she and Vijepan had ulterior motives, no, open intentions to provoke a duel... Lumian thought Julie was likely a Beyonder. Such knife skills weren't something an ordinary person could possess.

As for whether Vijepan was a Beyonder, Lumian couldn't tell for now.

Even if he was, his Beyonder characteristic should have been taken.

"That woman is formidable," a voice suddenly said beside Lumian.

A gentleman had come from the side of the small square.

He wore a half-high silk hat, a white shirt, a cashmere sweater, and a woolen suit jacket, with a bow tie and a cane in hand.

He looked just over thirty, with a thin face and gentle blue eyes, like a well-educated upper-class person.

Of course, in Morora, there were no good people, only bad people and worse people.

"Did you see their fight?" Lumian asked casually.

The gentleman smiled. "They initially wanted to borrow revolvers for a duel from the restaurant over there, but the waiter told them that there were too many duels today and all the guns were borrowed, leaving only two long swords.

"That woman was very skilled. This man blocked three strikes before being knocked down, having his hands and feet cut off, and his pants removed."

So Vijepan wasn't likely a Beyonder... Lumian shifted his gaze from the corpse to the gentleman and asked with a smile, "What's your name?"

The gentleman placed a hand on his chest and bowed.

"You can call me Gusain, or Count. I heard you killed Worms?"

"Worms, the thief?" Lumian laughed. "He was struck by lightning, nothing to do with me. If I had killed him, the enforcers would have arrested me."

Gusain smiled slightly. "There are ways to deceive the enforcers."

So you've noticed their rigidity and procedural nature too? Lumian thought for a few seconds before deciding to be "honest."

"Worms died because he wasn't lucky enough. The item he stole from me attracts lightning during rain."

"Then you can't be blamed," Gusain said understandingly.

He asked warmly, "How should I address you, and where are you staying now?"

"Louis, staying at the Carnivore bar," Lumian replied truthfully.

Gusain nodded slightly.

"Be wary of Bainar, the bar's owner and chef. He's dangerous and cannibalistic."

Lumian smiled. "He's already dead."

Gusain paused for a moment before smiling. "You're more interesting than I expected. I hope you bring long-lost vitality to Morora."

Lumian didn't continue the topic, instead taking the opportunity to gather information.

"In Morora, apart from Heraberg from the Church of Knowledge, who else should I watch out for?"

Without hesitation, Gusain replied, "Wanak, the owner of Dades Agricultural Company, has a monopoly on the grain supply from the surrounding farms to Morora. He had become an experimental subject but suddenly escaped and now behaves like a normal person.

"He is the most dangerous one in Morora."

Can someone really return to normal after becoming an experimental subject? And the Church of Knowledge didn't do anything about Wanak leaving the experimental group? This is exactly what I need... Lumian thought to himself and nodded. "Who is the second most dangerous person in Morora?"

Gusain's smile remained unchanged as he answered, "They say it's me."