Garrett was the embodiment of a fine line between genius and stupidity.
Previously, he had gotten lucky and discovered the correct method. He had been too excited and hastily absorbed the Mana from the Mana Vortexes. Thus, the Mana destroyed his bones.
Although the correct method of destroying and rebuilding sounded simple.
Who would actively choose to destroy their foundation and thus cripple themselves?
They would only be seeking death if they chose to do so.
Therefore, until today, the correct method was never found on Arcadia.
Now that the crisis was averted, the System breathed a sigh of relief.
'That was too close. Well done Host!'
Lucian silently chuckled. He was not a hundred percent sure before, but now he knew that the System was afraid of angering the Universe. It was only natural to be afraid of the Universe; however, he had been skeptical, since the System could bypass the Universal Laws.
Then that meant, the creator of the System was most likely weaker than the Universe.
It was good to know that.
Seconds went by, followed by minutes in the quiet restaurant.
Suddenly, the Mana Vortexes covering their bodies began changing.
The Mana Vortexes began changing into their respective Elements.
Water Element Vortexes covered Hervy.
Wind Element Vortexes covered Lane.
As for the twins, their Mana Vortexes converged and became one gigantic Blood Element Vortex surrounding them.
With each passing second, the intensity of the Mana being produced from their bodies rose until a sound akin to a balloon popping was heard and the Element Vortexes around them disappeared.
"Hahahaha! Captain, I fucking love you!"
As soon as Hervy opened his eyes, he rushed at Garrett with wide open arms. While hugging him, he peppered kisses on his cheeks.
"Stop! Stop! I don't swing that way!" Garrett hurriedly shoved Hervy away and retreated a few steps.
Hervy chuckled.
"Captain, I don't swing that way either but… Heh! Heh!"
Garrett shivered when he heard Hervy's creepy laughter.
"Hervy, if your horny go to Pleasure Pavilion I'm sure your little Xu'er is waiting for you." Lane joked after standing up.
Cody and Coby walked up to the owner and respectfully bowed.
"Thank-"
"You."
Lucian raised an eyebrow. Even though he understood it was his dish that helped the twins ascend to Tendon Tempering Realm, he did not expect to be thanked.
"You don't have to thank me. Just remember to pay twenty Low-Grade Mana Stones."
The twins nodded and then fixed the mess they had created from their breakthroughs. Surprisingly, the tables had not been destroyed, let alone moved from their original place. Only the chairs had fallen over, but even then, they remained intact.
'Very-'
'Mysterious.'
They spoke via voice transmission.
Hervy, who was quietly listening to the owner, Cody, and Coby, chuckled. With a thought, hundreds of Low-Grade Mana Stones appeared on a table nearest to the owner.
Lucian frowned when he saw hundreds of Low-Grade Mana Stones.
[Why does this feel like déjà vu?]
The System chuckled in its robotic voice and spoke:
[Host, that is because Garrett had tried to bribe you just a few hours ago.]
Upon hearing the System's words, Lucian felt the corner of his lips twitch.
[... I know, it was a rhetorical question.]
"Owner, give us five plates of Siren's Melody Poached Egg, and you can have all of these Low-Grade Mana Stones."
Lucian glanced at Hervy's confident smile that was practically saying, 'This daddy is rich. In front of my money, I don't believe you will remain headstrong.'
But Lucian ignored the perverted Mage and picked out twenty Low-Grade Mana Stones, and then kept them in his inventory.
If even Divine-Grade Stones did not cause greed within him, then how could mere Low-Grade Stones cause his will to bend?
When Garrett saw Hervy trying to bribe the owner, he frowned and quickly sent a voice transmission to Hervy.
'Hervy, stop! Didn't you read the menu? The owner isn't someone who will change his rules for money.'
Even after his Captain's words, Hervy's confident smile remained. He did not believe someone could remain headstrong in the face of money.
*Thud*
*Thud
*Thud*
Even more Low-Grade Mana Stones appeared on the table, now numbering a thousand.
Had it been a non-Mage or a low-ranked Mage, they would have given in to Hervy's demands.
But who was Lucian?
He was the Ancestral God Lucian and Dao Immortal Lucian. Also, even though Chef Lucian was shameless, he had his ideals that he stuck to and would also not change his rules for money.
"Sir, if you don't want to be blacklisted then take your Low-Grade Mana Stones back. That will be your final warning." Then, without so much as a glance, Lucian grabbed the empty plates and utensils and went into the kitchen to place them in the dishwasher.
Meanwhile, Hervy was completely stunned. He could not believe that he had been refused. Who in the right mind would say no to a thousand Low-Grade Mana Stones?
If not for the fact he could not see through the owner, he would have bashed his head into a wall. Or at the very least, summoned a water bubble and covered his head, drowning him until he gave in.
"Hervy, I don't think the owner cares about money."
Hervy's eyes twitched when he heard Lane's words.
Turning around, he glanced at him, who was calmly sitting, and spoke:
"No shit Sherlock!"
"Hahaha, what I mean is just look at the decor of this restaurant." Lane pointed to various decorations and continued, "Do you think someone who could afford to have oil paintings each worth hundreds of thousands of Low-Grade Mana Stones if not more would care about your thousand Low-Grade Mana Stones?"
Garrett heavily nodded and looked at the beautiful grand piano in the back left corner of the restaurant.
"Hervy, Lane is right. Also, the oil paintings aren't even the most expensive in the restaurant. That grand piano is probably worth millions of Low-Grade or even Mid-Grade Mana Stones."