Seized by the System

Under the buff of true vision, the System watched as Madam Zhao’s petite body and delicate facial features completely disappeared. In her place was a snowy white, gigantic python posed as a human, its tail long as well as its body, and there were two small bundles protruding tightly from its head.

There seemed to still be a smile on that huge, oval-shaped snake head, which was gently nodding at Fang Ning. Seeing this, the hair on Fang Ning’s body stood on end, and chills shot down through his body.

Fang Ning: “Thank you, Sir System. You are right. This is, indeed, a two-in-one meal that I’m especially afraid of— a snake demon…”

Sir System was, however, not the least bit frightened. It replied, “There is no need to thank me. When the System Options appear later, just make your choice in time for me.”

Fang Ning hid behind the Celestial Weapon in the blacksmith’s shop, nodding vigorously. He dared not say a word; the scene in front of him was too shocking. The only thing that reassured him slightly was that President Zhao and his daughter were still in human form.

A notification popped out:

[You see President Zhao, his wife and his daughter coming over, but you have discovered that Madam Zhao’s true form is a snake demon. Right now, you:

One: Step forward and point out that this is a monster, shedding light on the true identity. You use your almighty skills in a great battle against it for four hours. There is no victor or loser, but the enemy is exceptionally talented, her scales are extremely hard, and her stamina is great. Your current level is far too low to even break through her defenses, and you are unable to tire her out. Fortunately, you have obtained morality upon yourself earlier on, and so you used an esoteric dodge, exhausting all of your morality to speedily escape out of this city. Becoming a fugitive. The snake demon, ashamed and angry at the revealing of her identity, begins a relentless hunt for you…

Two: You pretend not to have seen anything, and deal with them courteously. However, after you have met with them, you do not prepare the meal. Rather, you sneak out secretly through the back door of the kitchen, and from there on, you become a fugitive. The snake demon, having been made a big fool of in front of her family, begins a secret hunt to kill you…

Three: You quietly draw close to them and automatically withdraw all aura to prevent recognition of your true powers, pretending not to see Madam Zhao’s true form. You announce a holiday for all your employees to prevent an accident. You host them alone, and prepare a meal personally. Right then, you are reminded of the animal kingdom, where the python does not typically attack human beings after it has been fed well. Thus, you use up all of your experience points and raise your cooking skills to the highest level. You put out your best effort to prepare humongous amounts of cuisine fit for a god, greatly adding a variety of delicious food that snakes love, and even putting in appropriate and specially made seasonings. You take away food and beverages that contain alcohol to avoid Madam Zhao revealing her true form and causing a clash…]

“I choose option three!” Fang Ning hurriedly picked an option, choosing not to run off and stay put if it were possible. The monsters out there were aplenty. However, Sir System was still awesome. Being only at level 11, they were already equal with this great monster. He did not need to be too afraid, actually…

…

“This… This, how can we accept this, you don’t have to be so gracious to us, Xiao Fang. This is too… This is costing your shop too much. I’ve taken a look at just the ingredients, has your entire shop not spent the whole day preparing them?”

President Zhao watched as the sixth round of dishes were served. There was a huge variety of delicious entrées, including everything he could think of, with most of it being meat-based. He was so astonished that his mouth refused to come back together after parting, and he kept on advising Fang Ning not to serve any more food.

As he spoke, he seemed to turn a blind eye to his family. His wife had buried her head, consuming a whole roasted lamb, and his daughter, who had thrown off her quiet demeanor, was gnawing away at a roasted pig…

At this moment, Fang Ning placed a plate of golden, fried and juicy whole chicken on the dining table. All of a sudden, two right hands shot out…

Madam Zhao’s eyes were burning. Liu Yao’s gaze did not waver. Finally, the two of them reached a silent agreement, and split the dish into half…

President Zhao was about to open his mouth and ask Fang Ning not to serve them any more food, but seeing his wife and daughter, who had finished up the roasted chicken, shooting him glares made him temporarily feel as though he was under two huge, bloody mouths. Thus, he laughed in an embarrassed manner, “No problem, no problem, just continue on. I will have Xiao Fang serve up a few more of your favorite dishes…”

The glares were withdrawn…

“Everyone, eat well, drink well, don’t be shy. I still need to thank President Zhao for rescuing me, this is no big deal.”

Fang Ning spoke as he smiled, putting another plate of fried bullfrogs onto the table…

President Zhao had yet to see what the bullfrogs looked like before the dish was swiped clean…

“Ho ho, ho ho, my wife and daughter are simply capricious before family… Please do not mind, Xiao Fang.” President Zhao laughed in guffaws, not looking the least bit surprised.

“Good, good. It’s good to be treated as family.” Fang Ning stuttered, before going back into the kitchen to continue busying himself.

…

In the kitchen behind the shop.

“Xiao Fang, don’t you feel a little strange?”

As “Fang Ning” was busy frying chicken, the gentle voice of President Zhao wafted into his ear.

At this moment, the System pulled Fang Ning out from the System’s blacksmith shop to deal with President Zhao. No matter how scared Fang Ning was, he must not be stuck at such a time as this.

“Oh, now that you mention it, yes, that’s indeed so, but it’s fine, really. Is it because Madam Zhao and your beloved daughter have awakened some sort of strange ability, like myself, only that their strange ability is one where they can consume large quantities of food?”

“Ah, I knew that you wouldn’t be too alarmed, so I didn’t stop them. Both of them, mother and daughter, have been complaining that they are bored with the dishes I cook, so I have brought them all over the divine land to eat all sort of good food for the past few years. However, this is the first time I’ve seen their appetite grow so big, no, so well. It seems that your cooking skills, Fang, are far beyond what I have imagined. I’m afraid, your skills have become so good, they are almost a doctrine…”

“You are too kind. There is still much room for improvement.”

Fang Ning was not being humble. According to the System, when cooking skills have really reached truly high levels; it was even possible to discover lost knowledge.

President Zhao suddenly became incredibly secretive and lowered his voice to speak, seemingly with a bit of boastfulness, “A few days ago, I did not know of this as well. I was shocked silly by that fellow, and Madam Zhao, seeing that I could not sleep and kept on sighing and moaning, took the initiative to tell me that they actually possess strange abilities. Do you know what strange abilities those mother and daughter possess, Xiao Fang?”

“Could you tell me?”

“Since you are family now, there is nothing that can’t be told.”

Following which, President Zhao cast a few glances around to ensure that no one else was there, before speaking in a proud tone, with a hint of showing off, muttering, “Actually, they have not awakened any strange ability. It is their bloodline. Madam Zhao told me that she is of Dragon Princess descent, and so it is normal for her appetite to be so big. My daughter also has the blood of the Dragon Princess, only, because of her young age, it will take many years to awaken it. Nevertheless, to gather up enough nutrients beforehand, her appetite is also huge.”

Fang Ning could only feel the idiomatic crows flying over his head with a few caws. “Ho ho…”

‘You speak of such a huge, white python as a Dragon Princess? So you really do feel proud, bragging to me that your wife is a Dragon Princess, huh? You only think that she has such a huge appetite because she is of the Dragon bloodline, but do you also not know of the fact that snakes could swallow elephants whole?’

President Zhao spoke, “You’re skeptical, Xiao Fang?”

Fang Ning shook his hands hurriedly, saying, “No, no, no, I’m just too envious of you, President Zhao! To think that you have married a Dragon Princess, doesn’t this make you the son-in-law of the Dragon King? Seeing how deep Madam Zhao’s affections are for you, no ordinary man would have such luck as you do!”

Hearing this, President Zhao laughed with a “ha ha” proudly, “Xiao Fang, you really know how to pick your words. I, Old Zhao, am not a simple person either. If it were not that I, myself, was worthy enough to catch her eye, I would not be able to sustain these two ladies. Seeing the situation today, Xiao Fang, you almost have the same luck, only you must not be as proud as I am in the future.”

Fang Ning almost fell into tears. ‘Old Zhao, you can proudly bear this luck yourself, please do not drag me into this! I have been entrusted to the System now and have nothing to worry about. I’m proud enough as is.’

He shook his head, “I’m just a homebody with a bit of cooking skills. My worth is not even a hundredth of yours, President Zhao, I am not worth a second look from your family…”

Saying this, he was suddenly stunned, looking at President Zhao strangely.

“Hold on a minute. We have a situation.” The System said.

“What?”

“President Zhao and his family have turned green!”

“????”

“See the map.”

On the System’s map, in the vicinity of this restaurant, there were only the four of them, as Fang Ning had given the business a break and sent all the employees off.

One of the blue dots was Fang Ning himself. The other three, however, were all green. On the spot where President Zhao was standing, there was a very dim, unassuming little green dot; the other two were different, though. They were huge and round, in an exceptional shade of green. The dot where Liu Yao was standing was still alright as it was only the size of a cup. Madam Zhao was different.

It was as big as a washing basin, filled with a bright green.

“This is to say that they have become allies…” Fang Ning said.

“This is the first time ever we’ve encountered green mon- No, allies. What are allies?”

“It means, as long as we don’t get ourselves into fatal trouble, they’ll automatically come to save us if we are in danger, and will not attack us. They can even provide refuge for us, I guess.”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool. If we get tired out one day, we can even go and rest over at their place.”

“Oh yes. Since you’re not afraid of some snake demon or wandering all over the world.”