Beginning to Deceive

The dragonfly remained silent for a long while, leaving Zhu Yan feeling a bit uncertain.

"Ah, is that not allowed?" Zhu Yan asked.

"...Well, I suppose it's allowed after all."

The dragonfly stretched out one of its insect legs and scratched its head, making a faint crackling sound.

It rummaged through its small toolbox, picking and choosing before pulling out a little box from the very bottom.

"This one," the dragonfly said, snapping the lid open with a click.

Inside was a sticky, paste-like substance, white as clay, not unlike old-fashioned glue.

"Ah, just the thing. Everything truly falls into place as fate intends!"

The dragonfly marveled with a sigh.

"Do you remember that toad skin you gave me?"

Zhu Yan didn't quite see the connection between the two.

He nodded, watching as the dragonfly scooped out some of the paste-like substance with a small metal spoon.

"Toad venom," it said cheerfully. "There was still a bit left on that toad skin. It's a highly toxic secretion with strong hallucinogenic properties."

"A level-14 warty toad... my, this venom base is really not half bad."

"All I need is to add a little something I collected from the wronged spirits around here, and we won't have any trouble fooling Ji Xiting."

The name Ji Xiting—Zhu Yan had heard it in the video Yang Zhanbai had sent him.

So this was the so-called "boss." The name sounded strangely human.

The dragonfly got to work, still muttering to itself as if witnessing a miracle.

"Ah, truly, nothing fate arranges is wasted. I'd thought I might secretly hold on to some of this toad venom—it's a treasure, you know."

Its large compound eyes swiveled sideways to look at Zhu Yan, its tone tinged with confusion: "Why are you still standing there? Don't you have work to do?"

Zhu Yan lifted his chin, gesturing at the mess scattered all over the floor.

"I don't know when the feast is supposed to start. I need to find a way to pass myself off as the Head Chef, so..."

He looked at the dragonfly with complete candor. "Do you have any props you'd be willing to sell me?"

He could wear the Demon Cloak over there—that had always been one of his fallback plans.

But the Head Chef had once said that those things would recognize the "Head Chef." It had even used that reasoning to try and convince Zhu Yan to spare its life.

Besides, the theme of the feast was related to "angels."

A Demon wearing an angel's halo could certainly be explained away, but just to be safe, Zhu Yan figured he'd ask this dragonfly.

The Slacker's Craft Shop—now that was a treasure trove.

The dragonfly was holding a piece of glass mirror, but upon hearing this, it immediately straightened up its expression.

"What disguise? What disguise? Aren't you already the Head Chef?"

"Chef, sir, I have no intention of getting involved in your disputes, so I don't need to know the reason you're buying anything."

Fine, then.

It looked like this dragonfly wouldn't disappoint him.

Zhu Yan crossed his arms, waiting for the dragonfly's next words.

Sure enough, those massive compound eyes scanned Zhu Yan from head to toe, and then the dragonfly slowly began to speak.

"I understand. Chef, you want to look more professional when serving the dishes, so you need a uniform that makes you look even more like a Head Chef..."

Zhu Yan agreed: "Right. Clothes make the man."

"Yes, yes," the dragonfly said. "But the uniform only lasts a total of 30 minutes of active use. Those 30 minutes can be split into separate intervals."

"In other words, once you put it on, the clock starts ticking."

"And once you take it off, the clock pauses."

The shop naturally had puppets as well.

But those weren't something an entry-level member like this Hunter could purchase.

Moreover, the being who had bought a puppet before was no ordinary presence.

If everything went as it suspected, and this Hunter had gained the favor of those beings up above...

Then selling another puppet would lower the difficulty of the game.

And lowering the difficulty would diminish the amusement in "Their" eyes.

The dragonfly was walking a very careful line.

"The uniform costs 60 bone coins. At the current exchange rate, that converts to 6,000 human currency."

"You can wear it when meeting important figures, and take it off when you're alone."

"Six thousand and no one will question your authority as Head Chef. Isn't that a good deal?"

Zhu Yan understood.

A total of 30 minutes of time—wear it to drain the clock, take it off to pause. Simple enough.

60 bone coins was honestly not expensive for him.

And besides, he could absolutely find creative ways to use this thing.

Zhu Yan extended his left hand.

"Pleasure doing business."

The dragonfly gave a slight bow, then added an extra piece of advice.

"Good luck to you, Chef. I happen to know the feast begins in two hours."

It glanced at the scattered chunks of flesh on the floor, picked up its toolbox, and headed toward the teleportation circle, crouching down to crawl inside.

"I'll have it done in ten minutes. See you in a bit, Chef."

The dragonfly lugged its tools and crawled into the next room with some effort.

Alright, so he had two hours before he needed to head upstairs and serve the food.

Plenty of time left, since all Zhu Yan needed to do was plate some finished dishes, pick out a few of the sashimi cuts the Head Chef had already prepared, drizzle on some sauce, and pass it off as his own...

Ah, but after the dragonfly came back, he still needed to ask about how to use the Changing Menu.

Zhu Yan found a clean tall stool and sat down casually by the counter.

The Tuxedo Cat reverted to its soft, fluffy form, rubbed hard against his hand, then crouched down beside him.

Zhu Yan scratched its head.

"Can you manipulate a humanoid puppet in your mist form?" he asked in a low voice. "I might need you later."

"Meow." The Tuxedo Cat gave a simple confirmation.

Zhu Yan picked up a chunk of meat from the floor and tossed it over.

Then he stared at the mark on his left hand and entered the Player Forum to check his private messages.

Eighteen minutes had passed since his last reply to Yang Zhanbai.

A few new messages sat quietly in the inbox—urgent, rapid-fire countdowns.

"Five minutes left."

"Three minutes."

"Chen Zhaoxing just answered the phone at the Slacker's Craft Shop. Some guy named something-ting called, asking whether the dragonfly had gone to the Kitchen to install the surveillance cameras."

"Chen Zhaoxing didn't say a word, then hung up after angering the person on the other end."

...Yeah, that was very much Chen Zhaoxing style.

"Zeyu, have you seen the dragonfly? If there really are cameras, then all your moves will be exposed."

"Be extremely careful!"

This boss of theirs was a godsend, helping out at just the right moment.

He'd been wondering how to give them a reason not to come charging over yet.

Wasn't this perfect?

"Two minutes..."

A brand-new message popped up.

"One minute. Zeyu, can you still type?"

Zhu Yan replied instantly.

"I'm fine," he said. "The Hunter is in greater danger than I am. Don't come here yet—it's not safe."

The surveillance camera would fool Ji Xiting into believing the Hunter was dead.

But Zeyu couldn't lie to Yang Zhanbai. Zeyu had to tell them the truth that the Hunter was still alive, and then craft a brand-new lie to cover for it.

How was he going to manage that?

...

Upstairs.

Yang Zhanbai, holding a silver pistol, rose from behind the counter.

He paced anxiously, reading the reply from Zeyu on his retinal display.

"What's the situation on your end right now? Is it convenient for you to shoot a video?"