Chapter 24: Food Thief 2

"Nowadays, being able to cook great dishes meant that the individual is stacked with spirit crystals."

Allen Stryka nodded in agreement with the statement he heard. He did understand the idea behind it.

Cooking was apparently a booming business in the apocalypse. Every one was stressed with the dangers lurking around the premises of their homes. They were troubled by the harsh environment they had to live in.

And one of the most effective stress-reliever established by mankind was eating comfort foods.

No matter the how tough life gets, having a great meal would ease one's mind. This was a kind of respite that taps onto the memories of peaceful and better times. It also helps that this activity fills up your belly during the process.

Without a doubt, people who could afford the price would be willing to pay in order to experience this brief escape from their troubles. Especially now that a form of currency was being circulated once again. Anyone who could gather spirit crystals would be more than happy to spend some in order to have a taste of these once familiar flavors.

In addition, the emergence of new beasts would also mean the emergence of new tastes that one had yet to experience.

Allen wondered if he was actually in a wrong genre. What if his true purpose was to discover new tastes in the apocalypse? Perhaps this was in fact, a journey to unravel new flavors and gather some incredible ingredients around the world.

Of course not.

The young man had to return to reality as he shook off his thoughts. He began considering what the green-haired person told him. He then made a conjecture,

"That is why those who can cook will try to keep their identities secret?"

"Yes they are a walking source of luxury after all."

Gurim nodded in response. It was actually quite considerate of him to not stop the young man from his thoughts. Or perhaps he was having something similar in his mind? Whichever it was, there was no way to tell.

He then continued,

"Of course, there are ways for them to earn spirit crystals while ensuring their safety."

"Like enlisting the protection of a strong ability-user as their bodyguard."

Allen voiced out his assumption. This was confirmed by another nod from the green-haired person. But then he thought of another possibility. He further guessed,

"Or working for someone who was powerful enough to protect them."

"Haha, you get on pretty quick."

Gurim complimented. This would explain why knowing the name of a cook would be expensive. It was because the information was being restricted by the bodyguards or the backer of that person. Either way, getting past those powerful people would be more trouble than its worth.

But then Allen considered another issue. He should stop doing this if he wanted to receive more payment. Nonetheless his curiosity got the better of him. He asked,

"How about someone like me who accepts food for payment?"

This was a valid concern though. A hoodlum could not target cooks due to the powers protecting them. Then the next best thing was to go after those who carry food with them.

However Gurim refuted this idea. He shook his head and said,

"No, you're good. You eat your food as quickly as possible anyway. So there's nothing to steal from you."

Allen rolled his eyes when he heard the snarky remark. He decided to return his focus on his meal. He was about to ignore the green-haired person. But then the latter offered,

"Would you like to send your compliments to the chef?"

"Will that cost anything?"

"Haha, of course."

The young man winced when he heard the confirmation. How come giving good reviews to a cook cost as well? Since when did giving a five-star rating required the reviewer to pay-up?

Nonetheless Allen was a person who would give praise to anyone who deserved it. Who would know? Perhaps a simple 'like' or thumbs up could cheer a person who desperately needs a motivation.

Thus he gritted his teeth. He braced himself for a blow that would definitely hurt his wallet. Or rather his stomach since he was being paid in food anyway. He answered,

"Fine. But don't charge me too much. Please?"

The plea had fallen to deaf ears though. The cold-hearted information broker did not give a clear reply. He simply chuckled mercilessly.

Allen decided to finish his meal. He did not want to spend any further if he ended up thinking of another issue anyway.

Several bites and sips later, the container was emptied.

"Thank you for the meal."

The young man bowed to express his appreciation of the food he eaten. He then jumped down the window and landed on the corridor floor. He headed to the common wash area of the lodging unit. After cleaning the container, he returned it to Gurim.

The two then headed out of the city once more. Allen went to pull out the cart. Meanwhile, Gurim had taken away the food container somewhere. He probably handed it over to the city guards.

They then ventured into the grasslands which was on the opposite direction they went yesterday.

He was surprised the find out that his target was yet another mutated frog. This time however, Gurim mentioned that he was not planning on lending a hand at all.

Allen nodded and challenged the mutated beast alone. The grassland frog this time had some variations in its movement compared to the frog from before. But in terms of soul energy and physical attributes, the previous one was definitely stronger.

Nonetheless Allen was puzzled on how would he avoid the continuous water tongue whips. They were faster and came from different angles compared to before. But once he figured out how to close in the distance, he was able to settle the battle once and for all.

"You seem to have gotten stronger."

Gurim remarked. He had his arms crossed as he approached. He checked on the condition of the hunted corpse. He looked like he was taking note of something during the fight.

"That cannot be. The beast was just weaker this time."

Allen refuted the idea. Although he was indeed stronger now than two days ago. In addition, he was also beginning to get the hang of splitting his focus between the target in front of him and the green-haired person behind him.

But there was no way he would admit that. He could not explain how he was able to improve quickly without revealing the fact about his cultivation technique after all.

Make no mistake, this was not because Allen was trying to keep the technique all for himself. To be honest, he would have preferred to share this discovery to every ability-users in the world. An increase on the individual strength of the survivors would definitely increase the overall strength of humanity.

However the young man was bothered by what he had learned from Gurim. Specifically, it was the information that there were Tier 3 Ability-users or even higher out there.

The vaccination program had started a year after the lockdown. But the ones that were prioritized were the advanced cities that had access to cutting-edge technology and facilities. The Province of Shinan did not belong to this group unfortunately. They could only implement the program a few months after the first vaccine was administered.

Kinshin on the other hand had been more of a backwater town of the said province. And thus had only received supplies around nine months ago.

Despite the gap in the acquisition of vaccines, it was still improbable to have such a huge discrepancy on the Tiers of every ability-users around the world. Not unless the leading figures had a method of improving their abilities faster. Therefore a simple conclusion could be made here:

There were people up in the hierarchy that knew about cultivation.

The problem here was why did those people not made this information public yet?

There was a saying that the nail that stuck out would be hammered down. Allen had no plans of being hammered down at the moment. He would rather keep quiet for now and learn more of the situation before revealing what he knew.

Of course, he could not dismiss the possibility that absorbing spirit crystals were just that good in improving one's strength. But that was something he had to verify first once he obtained some of those resources for himself.

That was why he denied the comment he just received.

Unfortunately, Gurim did not believe this claim. He revealed,

"Not really. The grassland frog this time was definitely stronger than before. I made sure of it."

"?!"

Allen was alarmed with what he heard. He began doubting himself if his strength gauging capabilities were faulty. But he could swear that the soul energy the beast possessed was weaker than the one before. Albeit there was only a very little gap between the two. Perhaps other people would be mistaken in comparing them.

But then again, how could he explain that he could precisely distinguish the differences between the power levels of the beasts? That would not be possible unless he revealed that he possessed a second ability. And that would be another problem on its own.

What if he was just bluffing?

The young man thought suddenly. He considered the possibility that the green-haired person was simply testing him. He grasped at this option desperately. He argued,

"Don't joke around.  I just battled the beast personally. I can estimate its strength from that."

"Hmph, that may be right."

Gurim narrowed his eyes. He then turned around as he harrumphed. He began walking away. Allen could swear that he heard him say in a faint voice,

"You're someone who can fight a Tier 1 mutated beast on his own after all."

The young man was left standing alone. He decided to pick-up the hunted beast and place it on the cart. He pulled the device as he chased after the green-haired person.

Neither spoke during their way back. They then reached the gates of Nosales. That was when the strict city guard approached them.

He did not have his usual stoic expression with him though. He looked more like he was troubled of something. His eyes were also hesitant to make contact with Gurim's. He then admitted,

"Apologies, Sir. But the food you have left here was stolen."

"What food?"

Allen furrowed his eyebrows. What was happening here exactly?