Grassroots Travel: The Star Lord of Another World

Chapter 52 Panic

The handwriting on the letter was a little messy, as if Boss Xu had written it in a hurry. Gao Xingchen read it word by word, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter. Nan Li watched him quietly from the side, feeling vaguely uneasy.

"Boss Xu said that this cooking competition is actually a trap..." Gao Xingchen put down the letter with a heavy tone.

"Trap? What trap?" Nan Li asked.

Gao Xingchen took a deep breath and slowly told the contents of the letter. It turned out that this cooking competition was not just a cooking competition, but a shocking secret was hidden behind it. It was said that in the Nine Stars Realm, there was an ancient cooking skill called "Soul-Captivating Cooking". The secret of this cooking skill was not the taste of the dishes, but the ability to control people's hearts through food. And this cooking competition was to select talents who could master "Soul-Captivating Cooking".

"Control people's minds?!" Nan Li exclaimed, "How is this possible?"

"The letter said that the 'Dark Alliance' has secretly controlled this cooking competition in order to obtain the 'Soul-stealing Cooking Skill'." Gao Xingchen's voice was low, "They are using various means to find the person who has mastered this cooking skill and take it for themselves."

"How does Boss Xu know all this?" Nan Li asked, full of doubts.

"Boss Xu said that he only learned about this secret recently," Gao Xingchen explained. "He originally just wanted to use this cooking competition to increase the reputation of his restaurant, but he didn't expect to be involved in this huge conspiracy."

At the end of the letter, Boss Xu hoped that Gao Xingchen could meet him as soon as possible to discuss countermeasures together.

"It seems that we are really in big trouble this time." Gao Xingchen murmured to himself, with a trace of solemnity in his eyes.

The existence of "Soul-stealing Cooking Skills" was completely beyond their knowledge. If the "Dark Alliance" really mastered this power, the consequences would be disastrous.

"What should we do now?" Nan Li asked, with a hint of panic in her tone.

Gao Xingchen was silent for a moment, then looked up at Nan Li, his eyes gleaming with determination: "No matter what, we must stop the conspiracy of the 'Dark Alliance'!"

He stood up, walked to the window, looked at the mountains in the distance, and his mind was filled with thoughts. He knew that a bigger storm was coming.

At this moment, in the corner of the room, a small paper crane was quietly flying out of the window and flying towards the distance... Nan Li frowned. The content of Boss Xu's letter was too unbelievable, but it was not without basis. She looked at Gao Xingchen and pondered, "Xingchen, do you think Boss Xu's words are credible?"

Gao Xingchen shook his head and said, "Boss Xu is a relatively upright person, but the letter came in a strange way, so we have to be on guard." Just as he finished speaking, the door was pushed open, and Xuanfeng and Ling'er rushed in in a hurry.

"Something big has happened!" Xuan Feng said breathlessly, "I just heard from outside that several masters on the judging panel of this cooking competition have suddenly disappeared!"

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li looked at each other and were shocked. This coincided with what Boss Xu mentioned in the letter about the "Dark Alliance" controlling the judges. Could it be that what Boss Xu said was true?

"Ling'er, go check right away to find out the origins of those missing judges and who they have been in contact with recently." Nan Li made a prompt decision and ordered. Ling'er took the order and left. Only three people were left in the room, and the atmosphere was solemn.

"It seems that we have to meet the judges." Gao Xingchen said in a deep voice, with a gleam in his eyes.

That night, Gao Xingchen and Nan Li sneaked into the judges' residence of the cooking competition. The courtyard, which was originally heavily guarded, was now quiet and eerie. They found a judge who had not yet disappeared, but found that this usually amiable old man now had a hollow look in his eyes, as if he had lost his soul. In response to their questions, he just mechanically repeated: "The competition is fair... Everything went smoothly..."

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li were becoming more and more uneasy. All signs showed that Boss Xu's letter was not a lie. There was indeed a huge conspiracy behind this cooking competition! They left the judges' residence and decided to go to the venue of the competition - the largest restaurant in Xingluo City, "Zuixianlou", to investigate.

The "Zuixianlou" was brightly lit, with singing and dancing, in stark contrast to the previous desolation. Gao Xingchen and Nanli disguised themselves and blended into the crowd, carefully observing everything around them. Suddenly, Gao Xingchen noticed a sneaky figure flashing from the direction of the back kitchen and disappearing into a secluded alley.

"Chase!" Gao Xingchen whispered, and exchanged glances with Nan Li, and the two followed silently. The alley was deep, and at the end was a tightly closed wooden door. Gao Xingchen was about to go forward to check, but suddenly heard a strange sound coming from inside the door, like the humming sound of some kind of instrument, mixed with a few painful groans...

The buzzing sound became louder and louder, as if it was hitting Gao Xingchen and Nan Li's nerves, making them feel dizzy. Gao Xingchen endured the discomfort and gently pushed open the wooden door. A pungent smell of medicine hit him in the face, mixed with the smell of rotting food, which was nauseating.

The scene before them shocked them even more. The small room was filled with all kinds of strange instruments, and figures in black robes were busy shuttling around in it. In the middle of the room, in a huge transparent container, a skinny figure was soaked in green liquid, struggling in pain and groaning faintly.

"What are they doing?" Nan Li lowered her voice and frowned.

Gao Xingchen shook his head and signaled Nan Li to be careful. They hid in the shadows and carefully observed everything in the room.

"The experimental subject's condition is unstable, increase the energy output!" A hoarse voice sounded, and Gao Xingchen recognized it as the figure he had seen in Zuixianlou before.

Following his command, the indicator lights on the instrument flashed wildly, the green liquid in the transparent container began to roll violently, and the experimental subject let out an even more shrill scream.

"They are conducting experiments on living people!" Nan Li clenched his fists, his eyes filled with anger.

Gao Xingchen grabbed Nan Li and signaled her to calm down. He knew that now was not the time to alert the enemy. They had to find out what these people were doing before they could find a way to deal with them.

At this moment, a loud noise suddenly came from the laboratory, the whole room shook violently, and pungent smoke quickly spread.

"Oh no, there was an explosion!" Gao Xingchen pulled Nan Li up and rushed towards the exit.

The laboratory behind them had turned into a sea of fire. The shock wave generated by the explosion knocked them to the ground. Gao Xingchen felt a sharp pain, but he knew that now was not the time to rest. He had to take Nanli away from here.

They stumbled out of the alley, the explosions and flames behind them lighting up half the sky and alarming the entire Xingluo City.

"We've been discovered!" Nan Li's face was pale and his tone was hurried.

Gao Xingchen nodded. He knew that they had now exposed their target and had to find a safe place to hide as soon as possible.

"Let's leave the sect first and not bring danger to them." Gao Xingchen made a prompt decision and pulled Nan Li towards the outside of the city.

They ran all the way until dawn, when they temporarily hid in a remote cave. Gao Xingchen treated his wounds while Nan Li paced back and forth anxiously.

"Xingchen, why do you think they want to arrest those judges? Why do they want to do those horrible experiments?" There was a hint of fear in Nanli's voice.

Gao Xingchen shook his head, he didn't know the answer either. But he knew that all this was related to the cooking competition, the mysterious letter, and even more to the "Dark Alliance" hidden in the dark.

They reviewed the entire process of the cooking competition, trying to find the enemy's flaws, but the clues were like an invisible net that surrounded them tightly, and they could not find any breakthrough.

"It seems that we must find Boss Xu, because only he knows the truth!" Gao Xingchen's eyes flashed with a gleam of light. He knew that a bigger storm was coming...