Tang Long asked persmission from Zhang Fei and Zhang Ye before he decided to go into close door cultivation. If he wanted to protect his family, he needed a high cultivation.
Upon seeing how powerful Apollo is, he immediately knew that he couldn't fight against such a monster, but there was always a saying, 'If you can't beat them, join them.'
If Apollo is an enemy, he wouldn't even think of such things, but he didn't see any bad motives from Apollo, so he decided to observe it first before joining Apollo. There was still a feeling deep in his heart that if he could reach the apex again, he could stand beside Apollo without feeling like an ant.
...
Zhang Ye and Levi walked out of the mansion and went to the backyard, it has been so long since they had a good chat with each other. Ever since Elizabeth has been taken hostage by Ezra, all Levi focused on is saving his sister.
They sat the opposite of each other, in front of them is a small white round table with a bottle of aged whisky on top of it, "So he was the boss you were talking about, huh?"
"Yeah," Levi answered plainly, he was reminiscing about the time where he went to the restaurant for the first time and meeting all sorts of people along the way.
The people that had helped him and the benefactor he swore to serve for the rest of his life. The problem that even Zhang Ye couldn't solve is as easy as walking out of the restaurant for Apollo.
He wondered how long it will take to have a tenth of Apollo's power, if he had a tenth of Apollo's power, he would have no problems about such pesky opponents.
The restaurant that appeared out of nowhere became the place he could call 'home'.
Seeing Levi reminiscing, Zhang Ye smiled, he felt like a big boulder was taken off of his chest. Ever since Ezra took Elizabeth, he never saw such a side of Levi again. The side he would always see is Levi's cold and merciless gaze, as if he would massacre anyone in his way.
Zhang Ye didin't speak any more and drank the whiskey quietly, they could finally have a peace of mind after all the terrible things that happened to them.
...
Time quickly passed by and it's already morning, everyone gathered in the dining room except for Tang Long who was still in closed-door cultivation.
This past year's events are too stressful for the Zhang family because of Zhang Ye's illness. Dozens of delicious dishes quickly arrived and delivered by the maids.
Everyone took a deep inhale, the smell alone put them into a daze, except for Levi of course. He stared at the noodles infront of him with an awkward smile in his face, although the noodles is plated beautifully, it didn't have that 'pizazz' that Apollo's noodles have.
Having been so used to the dishes in the restaurant, he acquired a sense of smell and taste that could nitpick any problems in the dish.
It was at this moment that he suddenly missed the noodles in the restaurant.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Ye asked, this is supposed to be the celebration for the curing of his illness, and yet his junior only stared at the noodles with a doubtful expression, "Don't worry, it is made by Chef Kazuya, you know him,"
Realizing that the food infront of him is made by Chef Kazuya made Levi's expressions even uglier. Kazuya is a close friend of his when he was in his prime, he met Kazuya in a shabby looking restaurant while doing a mission in Japan.
Kazuya did not only impressed him with his cooking skills, it even made him want Kazuya to be his personal chef. But now, he doesn't even want to see the dish infront of him. The noodles infront of him couldn't even be compared to Apollo's, no matter how much Kazuya tried.
As he was contemplating on whether to eat it or not, a figure slowly approached them, the figure seems average with the height of 5'11, his long black hair tied in the back.
"If it isn't Levi," The figure said while throwing the towel on his shoulder.
Levi froze, but he still slowly turned his head towards the familiar voice, "K-Kazuya,"
He never wanted to meet Kazuya to begin with, a chef's pride is the dishes they made, if Kazuya knew that Levi didn't like his dish, Kazuya would of course feel down.
"I heard you've been doing pretty well now. What do you think? Did my skills improve?" Kazuya asked, looking smug.
Kazuya isn't a talktative person, but when it comes to Levi, he wouldn't keep his mouth shut and would keep boasting about how his skills have improved.
Levi turned his gaze at the beautifully made noodles again, but no matter how much he focused, he didn't find anything that 'improved' except its fragrance.
He decided to change the topic instead, "How's your son doing? I heard Haruto got accepted in the best culinary school,"
"Well, he improved a little bit since the last time you saw him. His dishes are good, but he could still improve," Everyone let out a surprised gasp.
They have personally tasted Haruto's dishes, and they thought it was the best food they tasted with the exception of Kazuya's dishes, and yet, Kazuya is still disatisfied.
Levi let out a forced laugh, he didn't know what to do in this situation. What could he reply? That Kazuya's dishes could also improve in some aspects?
"What about you, have you improved since the last time we met?" Kazuya asked, a small grin crept up his face. The last time they met is a couple of years ago, and whenever they met, Kazuya would teach Levi some pointers and they would do a competition on who's dish is better.
It is an unfair competition considering that Kazuya is titled as the best chef in the world and Levi only got some pointers from him, but it's a fun competition nonetheless.
"Let's do it next time, it's a celebration today," Seeing the scene, Zhang Ye interrupted them. It would be bad if there was a food battle when he just got cured of his illness, or rather, curse.
"Got it," Kazuya went back to the kitchen.
Levi breathe a sigh of relief, he was trying to find some excuse to get out of his predicament, but good thing that Zhang Ye butted in. Now the only problem is how he could bear to eat the noodles in front of him.
It looks delicious on the outside, and the fragrance coming from the dish could make anybody be put into a daze, but he felt that there was still something missing.
Taking the spoon beside the bowl, he took a spoonful and put it in his mouth, as he chewed, a surprised expression appeared on Levi's face, 'Not bad, I could at least force myself to eat this,'
Even though there was still something missing in the dish, he didn't mind and continued to force himself to eat it. At worse, he could just throw it all up in a bucket.
Just as he was about to eat another spoonful, his phone rang. Levi took out his phone and saw that it was an unknown number. It wasn't unusual for him to get calls from unknown number so he pressed the green button and accepted the phone call.
As he pressed the phone in his ear, a familiar voice of a woman spoke, "Boss, someone is scheming and it involves your sister," It was Val. Before Levi left, he instructed Val to take care of his sister when he was away.
It wasn't that much of a surprise to Levi, everyone would do anything in their power to get the God of the underworld to be their underling, and once they knew of the existence of his sister, they would take her for hostage.
"Who is it?" Levi's voice turned cold, even though they are only ants to him, it would be troubling if they did get Elizabeth.
"The leader of the Hero Association,"
Because of their powers, they prided themselves as 'Heroes', hence the name being 'Hero Association'. Though, they aren't as heroic as they are behind the scenes.
Levi was about to reply when a whishing sound came from the other line and then the call disconnected.