Goddess Kaleidoscope

Compared to the previous round, the second round was more interesting because no one knew what ingredients they would receive before the boxes were opened, which truly tested the chefs' skills. After all, some chefs only know how to cook a few dishes, or even just one, in their entire lives. Their specialty is naturally unparalleled, but when faced with unfamiliar ingredients, they might not even know how to handle them.

So Ludd didn't prepare any particularly unusual ingredients; they were all relatively common things. After all, he was sitting on the judging panel, and if he brought out something strange and unusual, resulting in the chef serving up a fancy English meal like "Stargazing," he would be the one in trouble.

After the first round of competition, the judges present could clearly see that although the twelve participating groups were competing on the same stage, their levels were obviously two different levels. Those college chefs who looked young but wore the Brewster College badge were far superior to the non-college chefs!

It is not hard to see from this that this so-called "Chef King Competition" is essentially Ludwig showcasing his students. Those non-academic chefs have become a pathetic "control group" in this competition, just like green leaves used to highlight the beauty of flowers.

Even though they understood, the judges didn't say much, because the academic chefs were indeed skilled and their dishes were truly delicious!

At this moment, Duke Gamelin, sitting to Ludwig's right, leaned to the side and spoke.

"Master, when will these students at your school graduate?"

"The senior students will graduate next year, and I've been thinking about how to solve their future employment problems."

"Oh! In that case, I can hire some. As you probably know, my castle is quite large, and with so many people eating, we naturally need many chefs. I think that little girl in the fifth group is quite good... By the way, what's that white, square thing she's dealing with?"

"That's called tofu, it's a soybean product."

"I'd really like to try it!"

In front of Ludwig, the nearly fifty-year-old Duke Gamelin made a dangerous declaration that he wanted to take advantage of a fifteen-year-old girl. If this were on Earth, Ludwig would have already pulled out his handcuffs.

"I absolutely cannot let female students work for him," Lu De thought to himself.

In the second round of the competition, Lude not only continued to showcase his students, but also took the opportunity to display several ingredients that are unique to Pine Town at this stage through blind boxes, such as the tofu that he had just introduced to the Duke.

As a Chinese, growing and eating vegetables is a cultural gene deeply ingrained in Lu De's soul, so he has put a lot of effort into this aspect over the past two years.

When he first took over Pine Tree Village, there were only three kinds of local crops, and only two mules, three pigs, and a few dozen chickens. So after Lud developed the popular medicine, he commissioned the trading guild to bring back various crop seeds and livestock from other places.

Today, Songshu Town has more than 30 kinds of crops and has achieved "full collection" of livestock. As a result, Lude has the conditions to develop side dishes that require secondary processing, such as tofu, to further enrich the dining table.

The second round of competition lived up to expectations, with the six college teams once again achieving an overwhelming victory, and Hamilton falling in love with Mapo Tofu. Meanwhile, the six non-college teams finally realized that they had only been there to make up the numbers.

Of course! The competition must continue. As the world's first "mukbang" (eating broadcast), the ten judges enjoyed their food, and the onlookers below also found it fascinating to watch them eat.

As of now, the ingredients used by each group are affordable for locals, and the open-air kitchens also make it convenient for them to observe the chefs cooking on-site. Afterwards, they can try to cook it at home. Even if it can't compare to the professionals, it shouldn't taste bad.

The third round of competition was each group's specialty. Because there were no restrictions, many groups started preparing many days in advance, each revealing their trump card.

The six academy teams, equipped with secret recipes provided by Lu De, treated this like their graduation exam, each showcasing their culinary skills to the fullest. The head chef of the eleventh team even prepared dragon beard noodles on the spot, a feat that astonished even Lu De.

You have to understand that Lu De was a cop in his previous life. Although he learned to cook a lot of dishes by watching many food videos, his own skills were far from professional level. So his limit was that he could only make hand-pulled noodles. But this boy successfully surpassed his master, figuring out how to make even thinner dragon beard noodles. His noodle-pulling technique was already far superior to his master's.

The final result of the competition was almost a foregone conclusion. After the three rounds, the top six teams were all from the academic school. Lu De presented medals and prize money to the top three teams on the spot, and the other teams also received a participation award of ten gold medals each, which made everyone happy.

After the awards ceremony, the culinary competition didn't end there. The most important step was to present the food to the gods. Each group had kept a large portion of their dishes in a special insulated box, which was now being placed on the altar, creating a huge table.

Lud, now dressed in priestly robes, stood before the altar, solemnly bowing and chanting incantations towards the sky. Behind him followed Ural of the Cult of the God of War and Winnig, a devotee of the Three Goddesses. Because this ceremony was nominally to thank all the gods in the heavens, without specifically referring to any one, these two, though belonging to different sects, were not considered taboo for standing together.

Of the three priests, Ural appeared solemn, but in reality, he was somewhat dismissive. As the bishop of the Northern Diocese of the Church of War in the Kingdom of Duran, he naturally knew that gods were incredibly arrogant beings, and that such worship was mostly the result of mortals being moved, while the gods probably wouldn't even bother to glance at it.

Ural sometimes joked that, in terms of sheer devotion to the god of war, he might not even be as devout as some of the ordinary believers in his own diocese. But he still managed to become the bishop of the diocese, because the gods needed capable people to run their sects on earth; whether you were devout or not, even the gods probably didn't care much.

However, just as Ural was pretending to pray, his thoughts drifting to questions like what to eat for dinner, an incredibly pure divine power suddenly emanated from the sky above them. Ural was immediately horrified, while Winnig beside him trembled with excitement, for he had sensed the same divine power.

A golden gate appeared out of thin air, and the crowd below was immediately stunned by this amazing spectacle. They were stunned for a long time before they came to their senses. Then, they prostrated themselves on the ground in fear and trepidation, welcoming the arrival of the supreme being.

"God, a god has descended to earth!"

Apart from Rudd, no one present expected that a deity would suddenly descend. Some people, gazing at the food that had just been offered on the altar, couldn't help but entertain a thought that seemed somewhat absurd to them.

Could it be... that the gods were tempted by these delicious foods?

Of course, this couldn't be the truth. It was all part of a pre-planned performance by Ludwig, a "miracle" orchestrated by people and featuring numerous goddesses.

As the "Gates of Heaven" opened, six goddesses descended upon the altar, walking through the air before the eyes of the crowd. The silver-haired goddess at the head of the group looked down upon the masses kneeling before her and spoke in a voice with surround sound.

"I am Avelina, the goddess of medicine and abundance. Believers, we have felt your joy of harvest through this sacrifice. Rejoice! May your diligence forever bring you prosperity!"

One by one, the goddesses made their appearances. Besides Aina, Shanis, and the three sisters, even Marigish came along to make her face known. They gave speeches to encourage mortals, and regardless of whether they were followers of these goddesses or not, the crowd in the square listened with tears of gratitude, some so moved they could hardly contain themselves.

Then these elegant goddesses took their seats on the altar and began to enjoy the food offered to them. Their graceful postures while eating, combined with their stunning beauty, made for a truly delightful scene.

The chefs participating in the competition never dreamed that their dishes would be favored and enjoyed by the gods. How prestigious would that be?

Kneeling on one knee before the altar, Lud looked up at the goddesses who were having a meal and thought to himself how fortunate he was to have been so farsighted as to give Aina and the others intensive training in dining etiquette a few weeks in advance. As for Marigsis, a goddess from the old era who was over a thousand years old, she naturally knew how to behave in a proper "goddess manner".

End of this chapter

It was yet another genuine "miracle"—the goddess, who was originally high above, responded to the worshippers' offerings and descended to earth to share joy with the people.

The believers present were overjoyed, so much so that they were moved to tears. The devout men and women knelt on the ground, calling out the name of the goddess. The goddess's collective descent overwhelmed them with gratitude, making them feel like favored children. The goddesses, in turn, were equally delighted, for the feast offered was truly delicious!

A torrent of faith emanated from the crowd, benefiting not only Aina, Shanes, and the three sisters, but also Marigis, who was making her first appearance, thanks to the information disseminated in the leaflets. She even received more attention as a "new character."

Before everyone's eyes, the goddesses enjoyed a sumptuous feast, then rose and ascended in an extremely magnificent manner, waving their hands to shower the crowd on the ground with dazzling "rain of light" before returning to the "divine realm" inside the Gate of Heaven.

This magnificent rain of light almost covered the entire town of Pine Tree. Tiny specks of light fell on every person present, and everyone immediately felt their spirits lifted, their faces and bodies becoming much lighter. They felt grateful that this was a gift from the goddess, and their reverence for the goddess who loved the world grew even stronger.

At this moment, some people noticed that the chairs the goddesses had sat in, the tableware they had used, and the huge dining table on the altar seemed to have undergone some strange changes after the gods left, emitting a faint glow.

So Lud decided to have all the artifacts moved to the temple. These were "sacred objects" imbued with divine power, and they had to be carefully preserved. They would be taken out and put back in their original state when the town held its second annual Culinary King Competition next year.

At this moment, most of the people present were still in the excitement of witnessing a miracle. But as the saying goes, the layman sees the spectacle, the expert sees the essence. Most people, upon seeing a goddess descend to earth, would temporarily lose their ability to think due to their overwhelming excitement, and some might even faint from the excitement. But Urals were an exception!

As a branch bishop of the Cult of the God of War, a high-ranking clergyman, Ural could sense divine power, so he was more certain than the average person that the six figures on the altar were genuine. But it was precisely because of this that he was genuinely terrified!

During the fight against the epidemic in Oyster Harbor, Ural had witnessed a miracle caused by Lud: the old priest had been resurrected and regained his youth. At that time, he was only shocked, and at the same time, he felt a little envious, as Ural felt that he could not enjoy the same treatment as the God of War.

But this time the situation was different. Ural admitted that the harvest thanksgiving festival was very well organized and the cooking competition was very interesting. He, as a judge, had a great time enjoying the food, but theoretically, it was far from enough to attract goddesses to descend to earth, especially since six of them came at once!

The goddess was undoubtedly real; this was not a hoax. Ural vaguely sensed that the goddess was probably not attracted, but rather invited by someone, and that inviter was none other than Rud! It was he who used his personal relationship with the goddess to invite the deity to descend to earth and make this incredible "miracle" happen.

Having figured this out, Ural was shocked, but also felt a mix of emotions. They were all priests, so why was the superior-subordinate relationship on their side so harmonious? While the Heavenly Mad War God I served was so eccentric!

Comparing the two, Urals couldn't help but feel a little envious.

The first Culinary King Competition ended in such a dramatic way that the collective appearance of the goddesses was destined to be widely talked about for a long time to come. In the foreseeable future, when the second competition is held in Songshu Town, there will definitely be even more people from other places coming to enjoy the food, turning it into a pilgrimage for those who want to savor the delicious cuisine.

Besides Ural, several other shrewd noble lords also sensed that Rudd had a close relationship with the goddess. However, unlike Ural, they did not have overly complicated feelings. They simply felt that Rudd was becoming more and more valuable to win over, and at the same time, they became more cautious and tried to avoid provoking him.

Ludwig was well aware of the nobles' ulterior motives, and in fact, this was his deliberate act to help him gain an advantageous position in the subsequent negotiations.

As night fell, in the temple's underground hall, all the "insiders" held a small celebration to commemorate the successful completion of the day's operation.

With the high-intensity faith output of over 30,000 people, coupled with the powerful amplification brought by the Primal Flame throughout, the six goddesses amassed great wealth in one fell swoop. Marigsis, in particular, was completely healed from her weakened state and hadn't felt this satisfied in a long time. Therefore, when Lud formally asked her if she wanted to join the Pantheon, Marigsis agreed without hesitation.

With this, the Pantheon now has six goddesses, plus Nidhogg and his wife, and the red dragon Emmy they just recruited yesterday. Rudd is now finally confident that he can go toe-to-toe with the Black Hand Brotherhood.

Just as Rudd was pondering how to deal with the fake god of thieves, Atropos, the eldest of the three sisters, came to Rudd and said that he had something to report to him.

"Your Excellency, I have something to report to you."

"About the maze?"

"Yes, that place... has been getting increasingly eerie lately."

"???"

Atropos's words startled Rudd. He hadn't expected her to use the word "eerie" to describe the abyss labyrinth that the three sisters had built themselves. It was indeed quite eerie.

Atropos told Rud that strange phenomena had begun to appear in the Spiral Abyss, which was still under construction, starting last month.

First, the second sister, Kloto, who was in charge of maintenance, discovered that some traps in the upper area, after being destroyed by intruding adventurers, had inexplicably returned to normal automatically before the divine messenger in charge of maintenance could arrive. They had even been optimized to a certain extent, becoming even more troublesome than before.

Meanwhile, Lachesis, the youngest sister in charge of the excavation, discovered that the internal structure of the maze had unknowingly deviated from the design drawings, and some areas even showed spatial distortion, almost causing Lachesis to get lost when she went to check the situation.

What made the goddess even more uneasy was that "paranormal phenomena" seemed to have occurred in the maze. More than one divine messenger had witnessed mysterious black shadows appearing in areas that should have been deserted while on duty.

Atropos didn't want to report these trivial matters, fearing it would make Lud think she was incompetent. However, as these strange occurrences increased, they seriously affected their project schedule, leaving the three sisters with no choice but to seek a solution from Lud.

After listening to Atropos's story, Ludwig hesitated for a long time before deciding not to comment on the three goddesses' fear of ghosts. However, he still subconsciously glanced at Eliven, who was making faces at Kanna not far away. To be honest, because this female ghost was so harmless, Ludwig sometimes even forgot she was a ghost!

However, Lud thought about it carefully and realized that after the last incident, there should be quite a few "dirty things" left in the maze. At that time, Trin and his gang fought the necromancer Dick to a standstill, and Dick disappeared without a trace afterward, neither alive nor dead. Several of his surviving undead slaves also seemed to have disappeared, and they were very likely still hiding in the maze.

To be honest, this feeling wasn't pleasant, and it reminded Lud of something that happened when he was in boarding school in his previous life.

At the time, one of their roommates secretly kept a large spider as a pet in the dorm. Although Lu De and the others didn't like this unusual pet, they couldn't resist the temptation because he was feeding them, so they didn't report it to the dorm manager. As a result, one day after class, the guy who kept the spider found that his "Jorōgumo" was gone, and the relaxed atmosphere in the dorm vanished in an instant.

For many days after that, none of the six guys in the dorm dared to stay overnight, fearing that they would be staring at each other the moment they opened their eyes. Just thinking about that scene was terrifying.

Until one day, a deafening wail came from the next dormitory room: "X Li Liang, what a huge spider!" Only then did everyone's hearts finally settle down.

The situation inside the maze should be similar, except that the "spider" hiding in the shadows is much bigger, and there might be more than one!

After thinking it over, Lud decided to send Elijah to the maze, and also bring along another female ghost who had previously surrendered, the one who had possessed the old lady and caused her to have nightmares for a long time.

This female ghost was previously one of Dick's undead slaves, a relatively low-ranking being with no special abilities. After Lude feigned an alliance with Dick, Dick "sent" this ghost to Lude, making her a liaison.

It's worth mentioning that this female ghost's real name was Lacey, and she was said to have been a noble lady from a certain family in the kingdom, but her surname was unknown.

Dick found Lacey in a cemetery, used necromancy to strip her of her name, and took her as a slave. After giving her to Rudd, Dick also gave Rudd her real name so that he could continue to enslave the ghost. However, after Dick disappeared, Rudd returned the real name to the ghost and kept her working for him, assisting Elijah on a daily basis.

In addition, Elaine shared her "bed" pendant with Lacey, which seemed to be able to house more than one undead.

After a long time of enjoying sleep, Lacey's condition improved day by day. Her originally emaciated and withered appearance, like a starving ghost, gradually became plump. It seemed that after a period of recuperation, she might be able to return to a normal human form.

Lude plans to personally take Elijah and Lacey to the labyrinth tomorrow. Undead can sense each other, and if they find Dick's lost undead slaves, they'll try to persuade them to surrender. These high-ranking undead slaves are powerful mutated undead, each possessing unique abilities.

After resting for a night, Ludwig spent the day having a little more fun, dealing with the visitors still in town, and then pretending that he needed to meditate for three days. He hid in the temple's basement and took the "private subway" to this side of the maze.

Since the labyrinth officially began "operation" a few months ago, most adventurers are still stuck on the second floor. The Dog King on the first floor and the Dog King F4 on the second floor are giving adventurers a real hard time. Only top experts like the old butler Sargin or Hamilton can consistently outmaneuver the golem.

As soon as Lud entered the maze through the "employee entrance," he immediately sensed something unusual. He had previously observed gray energy within the maze, but the total amount was not large, and he had only seen a few scattered amounts.

This time, the gray energy orbs had evolved from a few scattered ones into wisps of smoke that drifted through the maze passages.

Seeing this, Lude asked Atropos if she could see this gray energy. The older sister said that she could only sense it, but could not see it clearly. Since Lude could accurately say that the energy was gray, he must be able to see it more clearly than she could.

Interestingly, although Elaine and Lacey couldn't see this energy, they seemed to be nourished by it. They both said that they felt comfortable in the maze, which had a graveyard-like atmosphere.

As Ludwig instructed, Elijah and Lacey tried to sense whether there were any other undead wandering in the maze. Lacey, in particular, having been a slave to the dead, knew her former colleagues and was familiar with their energy fluctuations.

The two undead stood there for a moment, sensing that they had indeed smelled a trace of their own kind, but the maze was too vast for them to pinpoint the other's exact location.

Now that it has been confirmed that there are indeed undead in the maze, Lude's next task is to find these wandering ghosts.

At this moment, the three sisters brought out the design plan of the maze. The locations of the "paranormal events" that had occurred in the past half month were marked with red circles, totaling more than thirty locations. The locations where the maze was built and repaired by itself were marked with blue circles, totaling about twenty locations.

"Are all the haunted places concentrated in the central area of ​​the fifth floor?"

Looking at the red circle on the map, Lude tapped the central area of ​​the fifth level of the maze with his finger; the red circle almost circled the area.