Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 208 A beautiful competition arena on the coastline, is this what they meant by eliminating 10?? (Bonus Chapter)

"Fiji, main island, resort hotel"

A spirited Xia Ming disembarked from the boat with his exhausted teammates.

His one-and-a-half-day journey through the wilderness yielded him a considerable amount of ingredients.

Compared to other contestants, he had nearly ten times more ingredients.

Not only was his backpack full of black goat meat, but he was also dragging a black goat that hadn't been skinned yet.

There was also a bunch of sea crabs being carried underneath.
Coconut, spices, cherry tomatoes, you name it.
Seeing his abundant harvest, the other contestants were almost envious to tears.

If it weren't for the rules prohibiting the substitution of ingredients, they would have already surrounded Xia Ming.

Nearby, Astor, who had also reaped a bountiful harvest, was also surprised when he saw Xia Ming's ingredients.

It's not a problem with just two black goats, but rather that the collection is too comprehensive.

Even with his best efforts, he couldn't collect that many things.

Moreover, when he disembarked, he heard that groups 3 and 4 had encountered heavy rain.

"It's amazing that we can still maintain such a high level of profitability under these circumstances!"

Astor's gaze towards Xia Ming held even more admiration.

Koyama Seizo, who disembarked after him, had a gloomy look in his eyes.

Li Yuan originally wanted to go up and greet Xia Ming, but at that moment, the host walked over.

"To everyone who's back on the main island, on behalf of the production team, I'd like to say thank you for your hard work."

"By the way, I have some bad news to share with you all."

"Joma from Group 3 and Gu Jose from Group 1 encountered a slight accident during the one-and-a-half-day 'Fairyland Challenge' and are unable to participate in this round of the wilderness kitchen competition."

"Of course, this is just a small incident in the wilderness kitchen and will not affect our established rules."

After saying that, the host led everyone to a beach.

At this moment, under the bright sunshine of the beach, 48 outdoor tables appeared before the contestants.

The distance between each row of tables is about four meters. The row of tables closest to the sea is just a short walk away from the azure water.

Upon seeing this, Xia Ming subconsciously looked up at the sky. Judging from the position of the sun, it should be around 2:30 pm.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he had thought of something.

Several contestants present also seemed to sense something was amiss, displaying rather strange expressions.

The host, however, continued speaking with a smile.

"Look, what a beautiful view! Do you all like the kitchen we specially prepared?"

"Alright, these kitchens don't have an owner yet. Now, please submit any extra ingredients to our staff."

"Our staff will quickly perform the calculations and then rank everyone."

"Those ranked higher can choose any table on this coastline as their stove first."

Upon hearing the host's words, the surrounding staff also entered the venue in an orderly manner.

After about 20 minutes of overall calculation, Xia Ming won first place with 910 points.

Therefore, he also had the right to choose his own table.

Without much hesitation, Xia Ming chose the table furthest from the sea.

Coincidentally, Astor, who ranked second in points, also chose the table furthest from the sea.

After thinking it over, Li Yuan, who ranked third, chose a table in the same row as Astor.

The three moved so in unison that viewers in the live stream naturally noticed something amiss.

[IP Hua: The production team deliberately chose this time and place for the competition.]

[IP Eagle: Is there a problem? Is it about to rain?]

[IP Kangaroo: No, the weather looks great, but this is the coastline. According to Fiji's timing, the tide should be coming in in about an hour and a half!] [IP Hua: No wonder everyone chooses the furthest spot; they're afraid the tide will affect them.]

[“IP Gentleman”: Is the production team using the natural environment to influence the contestants?]

["IP Gaul": I think it's normal. After all, it's a wilderness kitchen, so it's normal for the kitchen to have some minor flaws.]

[IP Hua: 6, you call high tide a minor flaw?]

Just as netizens realized the problem, most of the contestants also came to their senses.

However, the selection is based on the ranking of prey obtained in the wilderness. Even if a player sees the risk of rising tide, those with lower scores are forced to choose the front row.

After everyone had made their selections, the host began to explain the specific rules.

"In this round, everyone has 4 hours. After completing the dish within the allotted time, you can present it to the judges for scoring."

"After the scoring is completed, the 10 people with the lowest scores will be eliminated."

"Now, please find a staff member to exchange your condiments for the ones you need!"

As soon as the host finished speaking, Xia Ming and the others who were closest to the staff ran towards the condiment exchange area without much hesitation.

Xia Ming knew very well that the program's time limit was indeed 4 hours, but this beach simply couldn't hold out for that long.

"In a maximum of two hours, the water will reach near my table."

"The contestants in the very front row will need to tread water about an hour and a half later."

“What’s even more terrifying is the production of black goat meat, which requires pit burning.”

"Although not many contestants got mutton, even starting a fire takes time."

"That means the first contestant, unless they light a fire on the table, can only finish cooking before the tide."

Xia Ming wasn't worried, firstly because he was far away, and secondly because he already had a portable stove.

Although the heat is not as strong as a bonfire, based on the height of the table, he will definitely not be affected for 3 hours.

But others weren't so lucky.
Although Maca hunted a lamb, he consumed some of his other resources and is now in a neutral position.

Miao Zeyang wasted too much time on wild boars and heavy rain, resulting in him only obtaining some basic materials and sea crabs. His final exchange points were in the lower-middle range, and he is currently in the second row.

Like Maka, Mori was in a mid-level position, but since she served cold dishes, her influence was not as great.

Although Koyama Seizo was very close to Xia Ming and the others, like Maka, he was preparing to make goat meat this time.

In other words, he had to finish cooking before the pit was flooded.

After exchanging the condiments, Xia Ming looked at the seasonings in his hand and then at his surroundings, but ultimately decided not to return to his table.

Instead, they turned around and went to the coconut trees on the side.

When the staff saw him coming, they quickly stopped him.

"Excuse me, contestant, picking coconuts is not allowed on site!"

Xia Ming smiled and said that what he needed was not coconuts, but some weeds to pick up and start a fire.

Seeing this, the staff stopped interfering, since the production team had no rules about it.

So Xia Ming wrapped a bunch of weeds in four or five coconut leaves and went back. Then, while starting a fire, he began to trim the coconut leaves with his small knife.

Afterwards, amidst the slightly puzzled expressions of netizens, he made a hat out of coconut leaves that looked quite decent.

After putting on his hat, he began to direct the fire lit on the beach into a portable stove that was padded with small stones.

Then, looking at the bonfires rising around him and the sun in the sky, a smile appeared on his lips.

"The coastline before us is a countdown to the end of our cooking season with the tides, but how much better can the sun in the sky be?"

"Cooking in this unobstructed environment means that dehydration is the least of our problems."

"The production team said they'd eliminate ten, but judging from the setup, the outcome will probably be much more than that."

(End of this chapter)