Yu-Gi-Oh!: Zero-frame starter with a laugh! You dodge?

Chapter 18. No. 59 The Rebellious Chef!

You Feng looked up and his pupils contracted slightly.

Although the speed was astonishing, he could see clearly that the outline was much more slender and it was a birdman.

"Harpie?" he murmured.

It was a creature covered in feathers, with the upper body of a humanoid woman and the lower body of a giant eagle. Its arms transformed into wings, and its claws were like golden hooks. It was firmly gripping a goblin, as easily as picking up a field mouse, and quickly disappeared into the twilight-shrouded mountains and forests.

"Outrageous! Another elf trying to steal our food?!" Qin Jian saw it clearly and immediately cursed, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. "They do this every few days, do they really think Luoshen Village is their private kitchen?!"

You Feng frowned slightly: "I don't understand, aren't elves blind?"

He remembered that the Great Sun Maiden had said that ordinary people could hardly see the physical form of spirits unless the spirits took the initiative to appear or the spirits had extremely high spiritual power.

Upon hearing this, Qin Jian explained impatiently, "Elves can certainly choose to become invisible or materialize at will. But to interfere with reality—whether it's attacking or grabbing things—they must maintain a physical state; otherwise, their power cannot affect the material world. What you mean by not being able to see them is that they are concealing their power and in an elf-like state."

He paused, then pointed in the direction where the harpy had disappeared: "To come and rob so openly like this, they obviously have no intention of hiding anything."

"I see." Youfeng suddenly realized that the ecology of the elves in this world was far more complex than he had imagined.

They are not merely projections of card power, but real entities with their own behavioral logic, and may even compete with humans for resources.

"Then why not stop them?" You Feng looked at Qin Jian and the Sea Emperor. With their strength, dealing with a Harpy shouldn't be difficult.

"Stop? You think I don't want to?" Qin Jian rolled his eyes. "Of course we duelists can summon spirits to fight. But do you think summoning spirits is that simple?"

He gestured as he explained, "You need to sense the corresponding spirit card from your deck and resonate with it using your mental energy. This process takes time! The stronger your mental energy and the deeper your bond with your deck, the faster you can summon. For me, summoning my usual main spirit takes at least two or three minutes of preparation!"

"Two or three minutes is enough for that harpy to fly back and forth three times. By the time I summon the elf, it'll be too late!"

Youfeng blinked, then completely understood. Indeed, the bonds in this world were a real power, but not omnipotent.

During a duel, the Duel Disk seems to form a kind of rule-based area, locking the deck and preventing the player from freely sensing specific cards.

In reality, summoning is a process that requires preparation and expenditure; it is not instantaneous.

Of course, all of this is related to mental strength.

If one has sufficient mental strength, is it possible to achieve instantaneous casting?

"Then... why don't you summon the spirits in advance to guard them?" Youfeng asked again, as this seemed like an obvious solution.

This time, Liu Bingbing answered softly, gazing at the twilight, her tone carrying a hint of practical consideration: "Summoning a spirit to reside in reality requires a continuous drain on the duelist's mental energy. Short periods are manageable, but maintaining it for extended periods is equivalent to constantly engaging in low-intensity duels—no one can endure that. Unless absolutely necessary, who would keep their spirit on guard all day? Besides…"

She glanced at the villagers around her, some annoyed but mostly used to it: "The elves occasionally come to steal some food, which is annoying, but the loss isn't significant. It's not worth wasting our mental energy on such a small matter in the long run. The village has patrols and defenses, so everyone just... turns a blind eye to these small-scale disturbances."

It turned out to be the case.

Cost, efficiency, and risk trade-offs.

A very practical consideration. You Feng nodded, having gotten the answer he wanted, and stopped dwelling on the matter. His stomach, however, started rumbling from the aroma of the roasted meat.

"So who's cooking tonight?" He looked toward the source of the aroma.

"Of course it's him, who else would it be but me?" Qin Jian pointed, his tone surprisingly carrying a sense of self-righteous pride.

Youfeng looked in the direction he was pointing.

Beside a makeshift stove set up on one side of the square, stood a chef with a rather peculiar appearance.

He wore a tall, crisp white chef's hat and a neat white chef's uniform, but carried a high-tech metal can on his back. He held a gleaming frying pan firmly in one hand, while the other hand was processing ingredients at a dazzling speed—freshly prepared goblin meat.

His expression was serious and focused, and he exuded an aura of culinary expertise.

No. 59 The Rebellious Chef!

Youfeng: "..."

Well, as expected of a "chef," he's really got it right, all his skill points are in cooking, right?

To Youfeng's surprise, the old village chief was able to summon numbered monsters.

However, despite the criticisms, this master chef's skills are undeniable.

The chef's knife in his hand transformed into a flash of silver light, and the goblin meat was broken down into evenly sized, perfectly textured chunks.

Frying, grilling, steaming, stir-frying... he handles all kinds of cooking methods with ease. The metal can behind him occasionally spews out precisely controlled flames, and the frying pan seems to come alive in his hands. As the ingredients fly around, the tempting sizzling sound of oil and the rich aroma spread like a symphony.

Soon, plates of golden-yellow, steaming goblin dishes, emitting a strange aroma, were served on the makeshift long table.

The bonfire crackled, and the aroma of meat filled the air. The villagers temporarily forgot about the little incident from earlier, and laughter and cheerful chatter returned.

Liu Bingbing handed over a skewer of goblin ribs, grilled to perfection, slightly charred on the outside and tender pink on the inside, with the fat sizzling.

Youfeng looked at the skewer of grilled meat from a fantasy creature, hesitated for a full three seconds, and then cautiously took a bite.

The moment your teeth pierce the slightly crisp outer skin and touch the tender, juicy flesh—

"Hmm!"

An indescribable delicious flavor explodes in your mouth! The meat is firm and chewy, yet not dry at all. The unique aroma of fat blends with a strange flavor that is similar to vanilla and nuts, creating an amazingly rich and complex flavor.

It had none of the fishy smell I had imagined; instead, it possessed a rich and wild freshness reminiscent of top-grade Wagyu beef.

Delicious! Surprisingly delicious!

Youfeng's eyes lit up, and he took another big bite.

If this taste and flavor were in his original world, goblins would probably be eaten to the point where legislation would be needed to protect them!

"It seems Sister Bingbing wasn't lying to me; this goblin meat is indeed extraordinary." As Youfeng chewed, he gained a new understanding of the culinary resources of this world.

The wonder and realism of this world once again refreshed his understanding.

If this is the case within the village, imagine the vast continent beyond: the four great empires, the Duel Academy, the Elf Kingdom, ancient ruins, and so on.

What kind of bizarre and fantastical things must it be?

He was engrossed in the delicious food and his daydreams when he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. He turned his head and looked down.

The Great Sun Maiden had somehow broken free of her spirit form and was now sitting on his shoulder, her golden eyes wide open, staring intently at the half-eaten skewer of grilled meat in his hand. Her small nostrils twitched incessantly, and her pink tongue unconsciously licked the corner of her mouth.

(¯﹃¯)

Youfeng: "..."

Great Sun Woman: "Youfeng, I'll tell you some information, but in return, you have to let me take a bite."

Youfeng: "Speak?"

Great Sun Maiden: "That elf from earlier seems to have something on his mind."

Youfeng: "What's up?"

"So it wasn't about stealing food after all?"