Xyrin Empire-Chapter 664: The King of Gluttony, and the Psychological Shadow of the Jackal

Chapter 664: Chapter 664: The King of Gluttony, and the Psychological Shadow of the Jackal

The Carnival Festival was scheduled to last two weeks, an entire fourteen days of celebration, yet just the morning of the first day had already been heart-stoppingly intense.

The stage play we just witnessed was simply too horrifying, the heroes of Azeroth were incredibly terrifying.

Walking down the street, I recalled the dodgy production we just endured; I’m still occasionally breaking out in cold sweats, especially when thinking about the sobbing Andersen and the Grimm Brothers: truly, those guys had faced a real tragedy.

Without lifting a finger, their daughter had escalated from a self-annihilating family to a national war criminal.

What should I check out next—although wandering around as the highest responsible person of the organizing committee at this time is a bit like shirking my duties, seeing all the joyous scenes around me, I suddenly thought it might be a good idea to continue in this hands-off approach: after all, this Carnival Festival is all about freedom. The Imperial Military Department has no mission other than maintaining public order on site, while the dispatching of the world transportations is managed by the Governor of the Time-Space Administration. Hmm, it seems that at least on this first day, right after the opening ceremony, I have nothing to do.

As I was holding a guide I had procured from the City Management Team leader, deciding whether to watch the massive group exercise between the Skytopians and Ultraman or to enjoy the PK match between the Light Music Department and the Hatsune family, Sandora suddenly popped up in front of me, clamoring,

"Ah Jun, you’re free, let’s go have some food!"

Pandora also pulled on her sleeve; when I looked down, the little loli was looking up at me with a pure 45-degree angle view, her grey eyes calm and tranquil: "Hungry."

"Is it noon already?"

I looked up at the sky; in the simulated sky of Shadow City, there hung a warm sun with the words "Noon 12 o’clock" next to it. Although I really wanted to criticize what the heck the theme bundle Bubbles had attached to the Artificial Sun of Shadow City was all about, I couldn’t deny that this way of keeping time was awesome.

"Then let’s go here!"

Lilina then brought out her special book, which she used to skip work, and pointed to the line of large characters, "All Worlds’ United Culinary Contest, accompanying Glutton competition, unlimited supply of delicious cuisine, unlimited registration at any time, open to everyone—the only requirement is that teams or individuals who register for the Glutton competition must ensure that they finish all the food in front of them!"

As soon as Lilina finished speaking, we immediately focused our gaze on Sandora.

The championship is ours!

To hold this kind of competition within ten kilometers of Sandora, you’re asking for trouble! This is asking for trouble!

"Eat, eat, eat~!~!" Sandora’s eyes literally sparkled as she dragged me up and shot out more than ten meters away. Hunger had caused our Queen to lose her sanity, but not long after she dashed off, she came back, "Ah, Lilina, where’s the competition venue?"

Lilina looked at us, "First, the competition venue is 200 meters ahead, turn left; second, the angle of the boss’s arm seems pretty strange..."

She should have said the second part first!

A hungry Queen is terrifying, when feeding Sandora you must always remember one thing: never let this girl go hungry for more than sixty minutes, otherwise the mountains and rivers change color and all living things turn to ashes—which certainly includes yourself.

"Is this the legendary... Culinary Contest and Glutton competition venue?"

A few minutes later, our gang of famished ghosts was shocked by the sight in front of our eyes—a battle ring that looked just like the World’s Number One Martial Arts Tournament and several banners fluttering in the wind.

It’s no wonder it’s said to be a venue rented by many worlds in union. We’ve made it here today, after the culinary competition, are they going to pass it on to Turtle Immortal and his crew? freёnovelkiss-com

Lilina was already hurriedly heading off to register for the Glutton competition—naturally as a team entry. According to the rules, whether registering as a team or as an individual, no food is allowed to be left over, otherwise, it’s considered a failure. I’m confident that with Sandora here, even if we had a group of ten thousand, we would still win easily.

It’s a pity that we couldn’t drag Anwina over as well. That little maid, who is extremely shy, was so scared at the thought of at least a million visitors cramming into Shadow City for the Carnival that she stubbornly refused to come out of her nest, like a dead crow. Otherwise, we could have won two prizes today...

Looking at the list of contestants from both sides not far away, I couldn’t help but feel disdainful towards the likes of Liu Angxing, Sebastian, and Sanji: Do you know how to season a Reinforced concrete block to achieve the flavor of Yangzhou fried rice? Do you know how to fry the communication cables of a warship to make them deliciously crunchy? Do you know what heat setting is needed to steam Yushan white marble to achieve the texture of soft tofu?

If you can’t manage the three things I’ve mentioned, don’t even think about mentioning "cooking" to our World’s Number One Maid!

Anwina’s ability in certain aspects had become so fierce that it felt like she was challenging the Divine Race with her mere mortal body.

But it was no big deal if Anwina didn’t show up. We had another almost as fierce individual here. As soon as Monina saw the cooking utensils, she immediately ran off to register with glee.

"Come to think of it, besides eating, this cooking contest seems pretty good too," Sandora said, her eyes gleaming as she watched the chefs from various worlds getting ready for the competition. "If I learn how to cook, I could make meals for Ah Jun!"

I immediately welled up with tears: "Baby, the people here have done no wrong by you..."

"Chen? What are you guys doing here?"

While we were critiquing the list of competing chefs, an unexpected voice suddenly sounded from behind, which made me freeze for a moment.

Turning around, I saw a strand of golden Dai Mao hair spinning in the air before pointing straight toward the big eater competition ring on the other side. And just beneath the Dai Mao stood a King, "Could it be..."

The girl known as Altoria, the King’s Girl, spotted Sandora, who was busy cutting her teeth, and her face immediately showed a grave expression.

"That’s right," I nudged Sandora beside me. "The Queen is hungry. Speaking of which, are you also here to compete?"

Saber’s face showed a solemn expression: "I just heard there was an unlimited and free lunch here. To ensure I have enough physical strength for this afternoon’s competition, I came here to eat!"

Well, I should’ve guessed. How could a scene like this lack the presence of Shadow City’s second Glutton, a magical creature famed for its ability to reproduce an entire colorful row of Saber squads in less than half a month, provided it’s given enough food and light.

"To be honest, I feel a bit sorry for the poor souls competing in the cooking contest," Bingdisi, who stuck close to us today at my insistence, stuck out her tongue, looking at the confident chefs from each dimension. "They are definitely going to be exhausted - even though they can’t compare to Sandora, Lin’s appetite is definitely no less than that of the Dai Mao!"

Me: "... We’re not here to cause trouble, are we?"

Perhaps many of those who came to this purely recreational big eater competition did so for fame and prizes. However, when there were three genuine hungry ghosts participating, the event turned into a private gluttonous feast for some unscrupulous freeloader, purely to fill their stomachs. No need to go into details of how the competition went. The last image I have in my mind was just chowing down, chowing down, and more chowing down.

The results of the competition were beyond doubt. Sandora dominated with a terrifying advantage. Once she was done eating, only a couple of judges and a few competitors were left onstage. The organizers, with tears in their eyes, moved: "Ladies and gentlemen, our Queen has won the champion of the big eater competition. However, we regret to inform you that the award ceremony must be canceled. Please understand our difficulties, Your Majesty... The last thing you ate was the trophy..."

It was a good thing it was Sandora who won the contest; otherwise, we’d have to compensate for a trophy!

"Indeed, an amazing appetite," Altoria expressed her sincere admiration to Sandora, who had surpassed her in this aspect, and had not wasted any food. "As a king, you are truly excellent!"

The two Queens with astounding appetites looked at each other with mutual understanding while Monina behind me stretched her wrists contentedly: "Ahh, it’s been a long time since I’ve had such a satisfying cooking session. Lin, you did good today, too. That guy, Liu Angxing, looked like he was about to faint just from making fried rice for you!"

"Um..." The Dragon God who had spent the competition eating her heart out let out a distressed groan after Bingdisi teased her a little earlier. "Did I eat too much?"

"Eating a full meal gives you strength!" Saber immediately spoke sternly to the strong Dragon God.

Aren’t you afraid your words might frighten her off eating for the rest of her life? The word "strength" is taboo in front of Lin!

"By the way, Altoria, you mentioned a competition this afternoon. What have the Heroic Spirits prepared?"

Suddenly I remembered what Altoria had mentioned earlier and became curious.

"Ah, it’s just for our own amusement," Altoria said generously. "We’re planning to have another Holy Grail War..."

Everyone: "..."

The King of Dai Mao, completely oblivious to the mood, continued, "Although it’s a friendly competition, it’s still worth going all out."

I raised my hand, "I dare ask, are you sure this is a ’Holy Grail’ war? Do we need such a distressing name for a regular ring match?"

King of Dai Mao chuckled carelessly, "Because the top prize for the ring is a cup: the kind my master uses for baths. Didn’t you donate one to the temple?"

Me: "..."

So, the sixth Holy Grail War was just a bunch of well-fed, idling Heroic Spirits at the Carnival Festival fighting over a five-yuan plastic cup?

"Ah, the competition!" While I was internally ridiculing the ferocity of the sixth Holy Grail War, Visca, who had been quietly hugging my arm while listening to the adults talk, suddenly exclaimed, "Brother, brother! Dumb Sister and I have a competition this afternoon too!"

Silence fell over everyone in an instant.

It took me five seconds to translate what Visca had said into various languages, finally confirming one fact: I wasn’t hallucinating.

"The competition... you two?"

With a conflicted expression, I looked at the violent Twin Sisters and couldn’t imagine them signing up for a competition during the Carnival: Could it be that behind the bright, harmonious, and happy carnival, there was a hidden hellish coliseum, violent deathmatches, and revolting organ feasts?

"Sports day."

Perhaps my facial expressions were too obvious because even Pandora couldn’t help herself, and after headbutting her own brother in the stomach, the little girl succinctly said three words.

"It’s just a few competition events at the Military Academy festival," Visca swung my arm, "Misaka girls had a preliminary round, and as a result, all events combined produced more than two thousand tied for first place. So, the rules were changed, requiring Misaka girls to invite transmigrators who came for the Carnival Festival as allies for the competition. Whoever has the most powerful allies represents victory for their class... yep, that’s the gist of it!"

I was flabbergasted: Can it even work like that? Are the Misaka sure this kind of competition still holds meaning?

"Since it’s a Carnival Festival entertainment match," Visca blinked her red, cat-like eyes, full of excitement, "whether it’s fair or not is beside the point. The important thing is for everyone to have as much fun as possible!"

"So, the last question," Big Sister raised her eyebrows and looked at Visca, who was brimming with excitement at the prospect of fun, and Pandora, who was being dragged along with a face full of helplessness, "Isn’t it against the rules for you two to compete?"

That was an understatement!

It was no surprise to me that the Misaka girls got along with Visca, thanks to their somewhat similar destinies. After settling into Shadow City, they quickly became familiar with my cat-eyed sister. Unlike her standoffish big sister, Visca is a thoroughly curious and active child, quirky in personality, perhaps, but you can’t deny her enthusiasm in making friends with the Misaka. With time, a few of them naturally became friends with the cat-eyed Loli. Plus, with her innate curiosity, it was possible that Visca was persuaded to compete and even brought her sister along.

But the problem was: If these two powerhouses were competing, did anyone else even stand a chance?

"Of course there are restrictions!" Visca explained eagerly as she pulled us toward the Transporter, "All competitors will be limited to the physical fitness of ordinary Humans. Apart from personal skill, everything including speed and strength will be limited. After all, we have all sorts of participants, and Class 2-4 even roped in two young Ultras for the long jump..."

"The Technology Department has the strength adjustment lockers ready, so there’s no problem." Pandora spoke without any expression, her tone heavy with resentment. She was definitely dragged here by her persistent little sister.

During the Carnival Festival, Shadow City provided a large number of public Transporters for the more "ordinary" visitors or those too lazy to move locations quickly. Riding on these vehicles, modified from small transporters, we soon arrived at the gates of the Imperial Military Academy.

Although the main assembly area for the Carnival Festival was on the great plains at the edge of Shadow City, the city itself was also a sea of festive cheer. Most visitors were, of course, very interested in the events on the plain, but many were also curious about the customs and culture of the Imperial Capital itself. Therefore, the flow of people inside Shadow City was substantial as well, with most of them being latecomers for various reasons: They had yet to recover from the novelty that this City of Ten Thousand Worlds had brought to them.

At the entrance of the Military Academy, however, we first encountered someone familiar.

"Ah! Alien uncle!"

I’m really sorry about this utterly disappointing nickname, Miss Tohsaka.

Yes, the person who appeared before me, dressed in a red casual outfit, with her hair tied in twin ponytails - the beautiful girl was none other than Tohsaka Rin, whom I hadn’t seen for some days.

"You should’ve called me ’brother’!"

It took less than a second to charge up and aim, as I took swift steps forward, clenched my fist, and drilled it down on the head of a certain tsundere twin-tailed Miss, which immediately elicited a wail from Tohsaka Rin.

It’s worth mentioning here that although I moved quickly, the Mercury Lamp, who was holding on to my head while sitting on my shoulder, didn’t wobble in the slightest throughout the ordeal. Her riding skill had evidently reached LV5. Seriously, is this doll’s hidden class Rider?

After punishing the stubborn, sarcastic Demon Rin in front of me for a full minute, I finally let go and pressed lightly on her head, "Why did you only come now? Wasn’t the invitation sent to you a long time ago?"

"This... um... Ah ha, ah ha ha ha..."

Rin immediately looked around, "Actually, there are various reasons..."

You really are bad at lying, my Miss.

My confusion didn’t last long; a voice nearby mercilessly revealed the truth:

"Actually, she arrived two days ago but this idiotic sister got greedy and tried to pry a gemstone off the crystal sign at the Dimension Hub. She got caught by the City Management Team on patrol and ended up being suppressed and taken to their headquarters because she was too embarrassed to reveal her identity. Also, since she didn’t bump into anyone who recognized her, she wasn’t released until now—that’s what happened."

Looking in the direction of the voice, my gaze fell upon a purplish-haired girl, Makoto Sakura, looking quite resentful, and beside her, Emiya Kiritsugu, who showed various signs of amazement at everything around him.

Oh wow, you were detained by city management for two days for trying to pry off a public property at the train station? Tohsaka, have you become that poor?

"How was I supposed to know I’d get caught!" Rin’s face turned red, and she muttered to herself, "If it was Uncle Alien’s stuff, we could have taken it without any issue, right? Who knew that Red and White would be so unreasonable. Seriously, you’ve tricked an innocent girl again... Wait, who are these people?"

After mumbling to herself for a while, Tohsaka finally realized there were quite a few people at the scene whom she didn’t recognize. Needless to say about the Divine Clan’s Tiaozi Five, even Gaia was someone she was seeing for the first time. This semi-transparent beautiful Big Sister sparked extraordinary curiosity in our Miss Rin: knowing these unreliable Imperial leaders for so long, how did they suddenly get someone who seemed to still have some integrity around them?

Though the above was my own conjecture, looking at Tohsaka’s eyes, I knew what this girl was thinking.

I’m really sorry, Gaia—watching the calm, smiling projection girl, I was filled with all sorts of conflict. As the only Xyrin Apostle among us who still had some integrity, you truly had it tough.

"Alright, alright, no hard feelings. Let me introduce you," I rubbed Tohsaka’s head, knowing that beneath her stubborn exterior, this Miss really yearned for the affection of her elders, which made this tactic especially effective on her, "This is Gaia, a somewhat special Xyrin Apostle, but she’s also a good friend of mine. These few are just here for the free food..."

After diverting Tohsaka’s resentments for a bit, I greeted the good-natured Emiya, whom I hadn’t seen for a long time. Grasping the hand of this redhead boy, who was quite to my liking, I was the picture of friendliness: "Hey, Emiya, is your house still okay?"

Emiya’s face went blank: "...Yeah, it’s fine..."

"The road by your house, it’s still in good shape?"

"...Good, good..."

"No earthquakes or explosions recently, right?"

"No..."

"Then I’m relieved," I said, deeply contented, "Let’s get together at your place when I have the time. I feel pretty bad about causing you such trouble last time."

Emiya’s eyes teared up: "...Okay..."

(To be continued. If you like this story, welcome to qidian.com to cast your votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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