The Last Gentleman
Chapter 518: 516: The Minor Details

As the aroma of the steaming mushroom and silky chicken noodles pervaded the room, the atmosphere grew tense.

William once again raised his hands high, not to declare independence, but to stretch his arm muscles taut, clapping with all his might.

Clap!

The moment he clapped, a powerful blast of air, accompanied by a loud boom, spread out and further focused the audience’s "attention."

"Before the lottery begins, I need to emphasize a few points.

1. Whatever food you draw, you must eat it all, leaving nothing behind, not even a single noodle or a piece of parsley.

2. The lottery and the eating must proceed normally, without the use of any abilities to cheat or be deceitful. If I catch anyone cheating, the consequences will be quite severe.

3. You must complete your meal within five minutes before the end of the intermission.

That’s all I’ll say for now. If there are any "points" I haven’t thought of, I’ll add them later. Now... let the show begin!"

William threw the magic box he was holding into the air,

and as it reached its peak and began to fall in freefall, it split into as many pieces as there were people in the audience, landing in front of everyone.

Seeing William, the ’Reserve Chef’, display such a demeanor of death and agony, the audience dared not play any tricks,

besides, the noodles from before really were tantalizingly fragrant, and many people were ravenous.

Everyone quickly drew slips of paper from inside,

Mapo tofu, braised fish, boiled beef slices, braised pork, roasted sweet potato, and Homestyle Triple Mix...

The names of the dishes all seemed very ordinary, and no one drew anything resembling a sinister culinary creation.

As they lifted the slips of paper above their heads for public display, poker-faced servers quickly brought the corresponding dishes on carts.

The moment the pot lids were lifted, an intoxicating aroma hit them in the face.

This was food they had never seen before, so exceptional that even within the circus, it could be considered gourmet food,

With their hunger at its peak, the audience couldn’t bear the sight of such exquisite dishes,

some even forsaking spoons, chopsticks, or forks, tipping the containers straight into their mouths.

But most of the audience were more rational; the inherent dangers of the circus and the odd rules set by the young man claiming to be the Reserve Chef hinted that there might be something strange about this banquet.

After all, if it were just ordinary gourmet food, there would be no need to constrain time.

Next,

whether the audience members took big bites or small tastes, they all had a strong stress response the instant the delicious food entered their mouths.

Yuck!

An indescribable feeling of nausea forced them to expel the contents of their mouths along with their stomach acid.

The amount of vomit varied with each person’s willpower and ability.

"What’s in the food..."

The dishes, which looked and smelled absolutely stunning, took on an odd flavor the moment they entered the mouth, as if some ’little ingredient’, some substance had been ground up and added to them.

Those proficient in vision quickly noticed something amiss, spotting tiny black particles among the dishes,

and as they continued to enhance their vision, they immediately saw that these black particles actually had brain sulci on their surfaces.

Just then,

Clap! William clapped again, drawing everyone’s attention back to him.

"Everyone, look this way, please! It seems some of you have already found the ’little ingredient’ in the dishes! Don’t worry, that’s the ’brain nourishment’ I’ve specially prepared for you.

It can not only repair your brains but also restore your fear value! The truth about this little ingredient is right here."

William used his own fingernails as a knife, cutting around his own skull in a circular motion.

Clang! Accompanied by the sound of the skull hitting the ground, an unparalleled, pitch-black Madness Brain was revealed.

Because so many people were staring at his brain at the same time, William even appeared somewhat excited and began to tremble.

"Last night, I ground my own brain completely, sprinkling it as seasoning on different dishes at the cost of my life. You all mustn’t waste it, oh."

Upon hearing this, the audience’s expressions became even more solemn, and a small part of them even vomited a second time.

"Hey~ I know my brain might taste a bit strong, but it is definitely the best tonic available right now... Besides, you must remember the rules, all dishes are absolutely not to be wasted.

That means, even the parts of the dishes that you vomited on the ground must be eaten completely, even a little residue will count as a violation.

If anyone is dissatisfied, you can just raise your hand, and I will provide one-on-one psychological counseling for you."

No sooner had his words fallen than one person raised their hand.

It wasn’t because this person dared to challenge the authority of William, the ’Reserve Chef’, but rather because he was a ’plant’, one of the substitutes who had been contacted a day in advance.

When William approached this ’plant’, after only a few words, the person began to bleed from all seven orifices and convulsed all over, with his pupils shrinking to tiny dots.

Then, he actually tore off his own skin to wrap the scattered food on the ground, trying his best to stuff it into his mouth.

Seeing this scene, the rest of the audience immediately dismissed any thoughts of resistance, each trying to eat back the food they had vomited, but the feeling of disgust was even stronger.

This punishing sensation of repeatedly forcing themselves to eat stimulated their baseline as living creatures,

As they knelt to eat, William would roam around in leather shoes,

whenever someone tried to be sneaky or refused to eat,

those leather shoes would stop beside them, and even a pitch-black eye might grow on the surface of the shoes, scrutinizing the eater.

This oppressive feeling was like stepping on their hearts with those leather shoes, fear began to grow, and trickled out from the corners of the eaters’ mouths.

However, this was only the First Stage of the show.

Gradually,

under this irresistible pressure, the audience began to adapt to the stomach irritation caused by the ’little seasoning’ and could start to eat normally.

Indeed, as William had said, the brains of those who ate the food became clearer, and they all seemed more spirited.

"Everybody hurry up! You have only three minutes left to finish eating."

William, as if suffering from a social superiority complex, hurried everyone and stamped his foot, even using his tongue to lick at someone’s temple to reinforce the urgency.

Finally,

before the five-minute intermission, most of the audience completed their final eating, while a small portion who failed to do so were ’marked’.

"Thank you all very much for tasting the food I meticulously prepared. In the interest of fairness, those who did not meet the standard will be punished, while those who met it will continue to enjoy the benefits of the delicious food," William said.

William raised his right hand high, and a resounding snap echoed through the arena.

Pop!

As all the audience members had consumed a part of the Madness Brain, at the sound of the snap, their thoughts were all drawn into the same influence.

By the time they came to, their consciousness had already arrived in a dark passage,

Creak!

As the iron door sealed with Iron Chains was opened, a bizarre Aquarium unfolded before their eyes, and William stood at the entrance.

"Hello everyone! I am your good friend, also the Reserve Chef who just prepared the banquet for you... It’s now time for the post-dinner entertainment. I’ll be your temporary guide, showing you around this brain Aquarium.

You might have noticed that some of the audience seems to be missing.

That’s right, because they did not meet the eating requirements, they need to accept corresponding punishment.

The punishment is simple, they will be turned into ’mermaids’ by a friend of mine to populate this Aquarium."

Standing at the entrance, the crowd could faintly hear the strange sounds of chopping meat, scraping skin, grinding bone, yet the expected screams of those who should have come along were transformed into bubbles rising continuously within the water tanks.