The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 262: More danger than good
"Kukuuku~"

Inside the diving device, Lomi, having removed his disguise, looked at Qin Lang and the others on the 'Leapfish' cruise ship through the telescope, a smug smile playing on his lips. "This time, our operation can be said to have gone quite smoothly."

"That's right, that's right!" Liu Chuang nodded in agreement, picked up a chicken leg that was several sizes bigger than a regular chicken leg, and swallowed hard.

"Is this the premium chicken leg? It is indeed much larger than the ordinary chicken leg. Even though it is frozen, you can still smell the deliciousness of the chicken."

"Lomi, are we handing over all these chicken legs?"

“Hmm…” Luo Mi glanced at the big chicken leg in Liu Chuang’s hand and secretly swallowed. “Then how about we keep two?”

"Losing two chicken drumsticks shouldn't affect getting the reward."

"Yay! There's something delicious to eat!" Liu Chuang excitedly grabbed two large chicken legs and waved them vigorously inside the diving equipment. But the next moment, a stream of water shot out and accurately sprayed into his laughing mouth.

“Puff—cough cough!”

Liu Chuang's face fell. He put down the chicken leg and rushed to the fish tank not far away, baring his teeth and claws at the little fish in the tank.

"I almost forgot about you."

"You dare spray water at me? Once I hand you over to the organization, you'll be cooked right away!"

Xiao Cai stared at Liu Chuang, then sprayed another mouthful of water onto his face.

“This little guy probably won’t be made into a dish.” Lomi slowly approached, a sinister smile on her face. “I don’t recognize its species; it must be some rare and special breed.”

"This kind of specimen will probably be dissected and studied..."

Seeing the little rainbow lily suddenly startled in the fish tank, Lomi nodded in satisfaction and slowly said, "Of course, it can also be made into a specimen."

Xiao Cai shuddered again, then silently curled up in the corner of the fish tank.

Oh no, this is terrible!

It's ready to be shipped!
Having successfully frightened Xiao Cai into becoming withdrawn, Lomi chuckled, "Although we didn't find Zhenling in Qin Lang's room this time, we still gained quite a bit."

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we should be able to receive a new reward."

"This is really exciting," Liu Chuang said with a dreamy expression. "Lomi, has the organization given us a rendezvous location?"

"Let me see..." Lomi casually turned on the communication device used by the hunting team, and a message popped up at that moment.

"Three days later, at the fish's mouth."

"Fish Mouth?" Liu Chuang blinked. "Why does this place sound familiar?"

"This is where the Xiayun River flows into Yueyu Lake. It gets its name from the fact that the surrounding terrain resembles a fish's mouth." Lomi casually opened her phone and looked at the pictures. "It's quite a coincidence."

“The Leapfish will make its second stop there in three days,” Lomi said, arms crossed. “So for the next three days, we’ll continue to follow the Leapfish.”

"Three days later, the 'Leapfish' temporarily anchored, and we went ashore to find our contact and hand over these precious ingredients... and this fish."

As she spoke, Lomi gently patted the fish tank.

Enjoy your last three days.
-
"Qin Lang!!!"

Zhao Qian pushed open Qin Lang's room door, panting, her face filled with shock. "Xiao Cai has been stolen?"

"Yes," Qin Lang said in a deep voice, his expression very unpleasant.

He has already taken stock of his losses.

The good news was that the sauces he had brought were not taken, and the intruders did not seem to care about the bottles and jars.

The bad news is that all the premium chicken cuts he'd stored in the fridge have been stolen. Even though the little fat chicken can still produce more, these ingredients would be worth millions outside. And even worse news is that Xiao Cai is missing too.

Food ingredients are inanimate objects, and Qin Lang could accept such a loss, but he had taken care of Xiao Cai for several days and had developed some affection for her.

They didn't even spare a single fish, that's outrageous!
"That stinky fish always squirted at me, but I'm still inexplicably annoyed that it was stolen," Cao Dongdong sighed, then his attention fell on Zhao Qian's face, and he asked in surprise, "The drawing on your face..."

"I applied some concealer and covered it up," Zhao Qian said irritably.

"What brand of concealer is so good?" Cao Dongdong exclaimed in surprise.

“Yes…” Zhao Qian was about to speak when she suddenly slapped Cao Dongdong on the back of the head. “No advertising space, don’t change the subject!”

"Don't worry, idol." Di You patted Qin Lang on the shoulder. "The cruise ship staff just came. I believe they will give us an explanation."

"This is a cruise ship, the thieves definitely can't escape."

"Mm." Qin Lang nodded slightly.

As the group was talking, a woman in a staff uniform gently knocked on the door and then quickly walked in.

"Mr. Qin Lang, I'm very sorry for the unpleasant situation that occurred on the cruise ship," she said, opening the folder in her hand.

“Our people have identified the suspicious individuals who broke into your room and committed the theft through surveillance footage.”

As she spoke, she laid out printed surveillance footage on the table, in which two figures, one short and one tall, were circled in red.

"The one who entered Mr. Qin Lang's room was the shorter one. He seemed to have some way of picking locks and easily broke through the cruise ship's security door."

"As for the other person, he was responsible for keeping watch."

As they spoke, the staff pulled out another surveillance video, which showed the short thief carrying the precious ingredients and Xiao Cai walking out.

Upon seeing the two people on the monitor, Qin Lang and the others were immediately taken aback.

“One is tall and the other is short…” Cao Dongdong couldn’t help but say, “Why do they look so familiar?”

"Lomi!" Zhao Qian gritted her teeth. "He scribbled all over my face, and he actually dared to board the ship!"

"Where are they now? Have they been arrested?" Qin Lang suddenly looked up at the staff member.

However, when Qin Lang asked the question, the other party showed a helpless expression.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Qin Lang..."

"Logically, it's impossible for thieves to escape from a departing cruise ship, but..."

Staff pulled out the last surveillance footage, which showed Lomi and Liu Chuang jumping off the deck. "The other side must have prepared a vehicle to pick them up in advance, so they had already left the cruise ship before we discovered them."

At this point, the staff member's face showed a hint of apology. "Mr. Qin Lang, we are truly sorry. We will compensate you for your losses at market value and give you a VIP cruise ticket with ten rides."

"Then let's settle the compensation as you've proposed."

Qin Lang waved his hand and rubbed his temples helplessly.

Realizing that the thieves were a rare treasure hunting team, he knew he would never get his precious ingredients back.

As for Xiao Cai…

It seems the odds are against them.

(End of this chapter)