Standing to the side, Jason Stone noticed that when the woman in the red leather jacket spoke, Summer Xia’s hands clenched even tighter. Her eyes reddened as she stared at Shelly Nie and declared firmly, “I believe our Tempest Hunter Squad will surpass your Heavenly Dragon Hunter Squad sooner or later!”
The woman in the red leather jacket let out a disdainful laugh. “Heh, if I’m not mistaken, your Tempest Hunter Squad is ranked 193rd, right? Our Heavenly Dragon Hunter Squad is 150th. Do the math—see how far apart we are? With your trash team, you think you can surpass us? That’s just wishful thinking.”
Anger flashed in Summer Xia’s eyes as she glared fiercely at Shelly Nie. “Shelly Nie, don’t go too far!”
Shelly Nie smirked provocatively. “What, you want to fight?” she challenged, suddenly releasing her martial aura.
Third-stage Transforming-Gang!
Summer Xia’s expression changed slightly. She stared at Shelly Nie in disbelief. “You broke through to third-stage Transforming-Gang?”
Shelly Nie looked smug. “What, jealous? Too bad that won’t help you. Senior Brother Wang bought me a Breakthrough Pill, and I took it. One Breakthrough Pill costs 120,000 credits—he’s just so good to me! Oh, right, he’s waiting for me at Loft Pavilion for lunch, so I won’t waste time chatting with you. Bye!”
Watching Shelly Nie strut off arrogantly, Summer Xia gradually loosened her clenched fists, but her expression held a trace of indescribable loneliness.
Seeing this, Jason Stone quietly comforted her, “Summer, you really don’t need to take that woman’s words to heart. It’s obvious she was trying to provoke you. If you actually get angry, isn’t that just letting her have her way?”
Summer Xia forced out a faint smile. “Thanks for the reminder, Jason. I know she was trying to get under my skin, but I just couldn’t let it go… Anyway, let’s not talk about it. Let’s head back—I’ll call the rest of the squad over to meet you!”
Soon after, Jason Stone and Summer Xia returned to the Inner-Sect disciples’ residential area.
Although the sect-provided courtyard was the most basic, it was actually pretty decent: two bedrooms and a living room, plus a separate kitchen and bathroom. There was also a small yard with grass and some flowers.
Summer Xia helped Jason Stone arrange all the daily necessities, then hurried off, saying she was going to call the other Tempest Hunter Squad members.
Thinking about the guests who would be arriving soon, Jason Stone made sure to boil a pot of water on the stove and had already bought some tea leaves.
About half an hour later, Summer Xia led two men and three women through the open courtyard gate.
All five were under thirty. One man and one woman were second-stage Transforming-Gang, and the other three were first-stage Transforming-Gang.
The Tempest Hunter Squad had eight members in total; now, six of them had come to see Jason, with the other two out on business.
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. These Inner-Sect disciples were all pretty straightforward, and they quickly warmed up to Jason Stone.
As noon approached, Summer Xia clapped her hands and announced to the group, “To celebrate Jason joining our Tempest Hunter Squad, I declare that we’re eating at Heavenly Fairy House for lunch today!”
“Whoa, Summer, are you planning to bleed your wallet dry?” Hong Ran exclaimed.
"Heavenly Fairy House? That’s expensive," Xie Min said.
"Exactly! Summer, aren’t you saving up to buy a Breakthrough Pill? How about we all chip in and treat Jason instead?" Meng Ni said.
Jason Stone’s voice sounded: "I don’t think there’s any need to go to Heavenly Fairy House. How about this—I bought a lot of ingredients earlier. Would you all give me a chance to show off my cooking skills?"
"Jason, you can cook?" Meng Ni asked curiously. She was said to be the youngest member of the Tempest Hunter Squad, just twenty years old, and had only recently reached first-stage Transforming-Gang.
Staying in character as Jason, he smiled and said, "Before the apocalypse, I loved traveling everywhere—most of my time was spent in the mountains, so I naturally picked up some cooking skills."
"Alright, let’s give Jason a chance to show off his cooking, shall we?" Hong Ran said loudly.
Everyone nodded in agreement—after all, money was tight and Heavenly Fairy House was ridiculously expensive.
Heavensnare City had dedicated farms for growing all sorts of vegetables and fruits.
In this respect, they were ahead of the Yanhuang Survivor Base.
Of course, only Heavensnare Sect disciples could eat fresh vegetables and fruits. Ordinary survivors were satisfied just to have enough to eat—they couldn’t hope for such luxuries.
Jason had mostly bought vegetables that kept well—potatoes, cabbage, pumpkin, and the like.
As for meat, there were several jin of pork and two jin of first-tier mutant beast meat.
Pork cost just 2 Heavensnare Credits per jin, while mutant beast meat was a bit pricier at 3 credits per jin.
Soon, rhythmic sounds began to ring out from the kitchen.
Curious, Meng Ni peeked into the kitchen just in time to see Jason toss a peeled potato into the air. His knife flashed, and when the potato landed, it was perfectly shredded.
"Amazing!"
Seeing this, Meng Ni couldn’t help but look impressed.
In just two minutes, Jason had prep-cut all the other vegetables, then turned on the gas and started stir-frying.
After about forty minutes, seven dishes and a soup were served—three meat dishes, four vegetable dishes, and a simple boiled cabbage soup.
"Wow, it smells so good—it must taste amazing!" exclaimed Hong Ran, who was a second-stage Transforming-Gang cultivator.
"Dig in, everyone! Try my cooking and see what you think," Jason said with a smile.
"Alright!"
Hong Ran was the first to reach for the food, picking up some shredded pork with green peppers. After tasting it, he stared at Jason in disbelief. "Jason, your cooking is incredible! I swear, this is the best shredded pork with green peppers I’ve ever had!"
The others quickly joined in, and after just one bite, they all looked shocked and delighted.
Soon, the meal turned into a friendly scramble for food. In less than twenty minutes, all seven dishes and the soup were wiped clean.
"Wow, I’m so full!" Meng Ni said, rubbing her slightly rounded belly. "But why do I still want to keep eating?"
"Yeah, Jason’s cooking is amazing. Even Heavenly Fairy House and Loft Pavilion can’t compare," Zhao Wei said, clearly impressed.
Hong Ran scoffed, "Can’t compare? That’s an understatement—they’re way behind!" Then he looked at Jason hopefully. "Jason, how about I buy the rice and veggies if you cook for me from now on?"
"Sure!"
Jason nodded.
"Me too! I can wash dishes and clean the kitchen!" Meng Ni said quickly.
"That works too," Jason nodded again.
"Jason, can we join too?" the other four pleaded, looking at Jason with puppy-dog eyes.
Jason grinned slyly. "Sure, but my room needs cleaning and my clothes need washing—your choice!"
The four exchanged glances.