"A'Luo, are you carving me?" Venti, sitting at the bar, watched the statue gradually taking shape and said.
"Mhm, of course." Chen Luo nodded while carefully carving the wood in his hand with a carving knife.
The wood had gradually been carved into a shape. A careful look was enough to make out Venti's likeness.
"As the first guest of this bar, of course I have to give a small gift," Chen Luo said, rather insincerely.
"How long have I been coming to this bar? Only giving a gift now?" Venti teased.
"Just say, do you want it or not? If you don't want it, I'll just carve it into Theresa instead," Chen Luo glanced at Venti.
"I want it, of course I want it. Why wouldn't I? Best if it can be painted too," Venti raised his hand.
"Mhm, painting and such, you can do that yourself," Chen Luo rolled his eyes at Venti.
"But, A'Luo, what made you suddenly think of giving a small gift?"
"It's nothing, I just recently mastered a small skill related to making puppets," Chen Luo brushed off the question.
"I see... Then, A'Luo, don't give it to me. Can you place this thing on that liquor cabinet behind you? It's not like you put any liquor on it anyway," Venti suddenly pointed to the liquor cabinet behind Chen Luo.
"Huh? That's not a bad suggestion." Chen Luo was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.
"Then I want to be the first one placed! After all, I am the first guest," Barbatos, who did no proper work, cheered.
"No, I'll be the first one placed," Chen Luo pointed at himself.
"...Then just put your own statue on the very top, wouldn't that be fine?" Venti never expected Chen Luo to compete over even this.
"Venti, you are simply a genius." Chen Luo gave Venti a thumbs up.
After giving the thumbs up, Chen Luo continued carving the puppet in his hand.
Chen Luo wasn't carving a statue, but a puppet—a puppet with movable joints.
Due to his Furniture Mastery, all skills related to puppetry were raised to the Proficient level for Chen Luo—whether it was carving, polishing, manufacturing, body modification, thread control, puppet making, or anything else.
This had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that Chen Luo was a qualified puppeteer from the start. The disadvantage was...
Ah, it wasn't entirely a disadvantage. It's just that if Chen Luo wanted to break through to a higher realm, like becoming a Grandmaster or something, he needed to start learning from the beginning.
Fortunately, because he possessed Furniture Mastery, learning these techniques from the ground up now was like building from a high foundation. What would have taken a month to master, Chen Luo could master in half a day.
In short, Furniture Mastery is forever godly.
Of course, it also couldn't be separated from the Herrscher of Sentience's ability to alter consciousness.
Because of this, while sitting behind the bar recovering his spirit and body, Chen Luo would also practice puppet carving on the side.
Since he was starting from the basics, Chen Luo didn't immediately use Honkai beast as materials to make puppets. Instead, he started with the most fundamental wooden figure carving that all puppeteers experience.
At this moment, Chen Luo seemed exceptionally focused.
And it didn't take long. In the hands of Chen Luo with his carving proficiency, a vivid Venti puppet appeared.
This puppet was not only identical to Venti in appearance, but more importantly, it captured his spirit.
From this simple wooden statue, one could almost sense an aura of freedom.
Mhm, simply put, it captured his tendency to do no proper work.
Chen Luo's tools here were very complete, as they were all taken from a puppet-making shop. Everything was available, including dyes.
According to the Puppeteer's Manual, every qualified puppeteer needed to possess their own set of tools. Mass-produced tools like these naturally wouldn't do. Of course, it didn't mean Chen Luo needed some incredibly amazing carving knives or the like.
A person is called a puppeteer not because they can only carve puppets.
Only the most novice puppeteers choose to carve wooden puppets.
And basically, only such puppeteers need things like carving knives. Of course, if the wood material is exceptionally perfect, one could also make advanced puppets from wood.
But generally speaking, most advanced puppet making doesn't require carving knives.
And since Chen Luo already had an S-rank talent subject on hand, the direction Chen Luo focused on was humanoid puppets.
Of course, you could also call them marionettes.
However, this gave Chen Luo a subtle feeling that it was somewhat similar to a Necromancer. He didn't know if it was just his imagination.
"Ding Ling!"
"Boss, I'm here again. Another plate of Judgment Time, please. The normal portion this time is fine, too much is a bit hard to eat." The voice was heard before its owner was seen.
The longing contained in this voice made Chen Luo couldn't help but take notice.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
Reward: 100 Primogems
Difficulty: 2-Stars
Yuyuko is just too adorable.
I really love Yuyuko.
Every time she comes here to eat, she spends at least 100 Primogems. She's practically a big spender.
But thinking about it, it made sense. Yuyuko was strong, had a good personality, and was gluttonous—simply the perfect bar guest.
Besides Yuyuko's own strength and her high desire for delicious food, another reason was that what she ordered was quite difficult to make—it was a 4-star recipe, after all.
Judgment Time wasn't just simply unpalatable; it was unpalatable to the point of being lethal. And besides being unpalatable, it also required making spirits find it delicious, which made it quite troublesome.
Anyone can make something unpalatable, but reaching a certain realm of unpalatability is very difficult, especially while making a specific group of people find it delicious.
Of course, the most profitable part was that Judgment Time only used ordinary ingredients, costing only 0.1 Primogem to make.
However, Chen Luo was getting lazier and lazier lately, too lazy to make it himself. He just spent 0.2 Primogems to let the small kitchen make it itself.
It was foreseeable that as guests increased in the future, this lazy behavior would gradually grow.
So Chen Luo just turned around and entered the small kitchen. In less than a second, he came out with a bowl of Judgment Time and placed it on the bar counter.
"Oh, so this is the miraculous bar you mentioned, Yuyuko? It is indeed quite miraculous." However, behind that soft, pink-haired ghost followed another person.
And this person made Chen Luo's heart skip a beat.
A troublesome person.
A big client.
Profitable.
These three words instantly appeared in Chen Luo's mind.
"Hello, guest. My name is Chen Luo. I am the owner of this bar." Chen Luo smiled, extended his hand towards Yukari, and spoke.
"Mhm, Yukari Yakumo." Slightly surprised by Chen Luo's enthusiasm, Yukari Yakumo, feeling obliged for her friend's sake, lightly shook Chen Heng's extended hand before letting go.
Yukari Yakumo was an extremely proud Sage Youkai. However, considering Chen Luo was someone her friend highly regarded, seemed agreeable, and was also the owner of this bar, a handshake was permissible.
Yukari Yakumo
[Boundary] (SS-Rank Talent): The ability to manipulate all boundaries to a certain extent. The power to manipulate boundaries is an ability capable of fundamentally overturning everything in the world.
Price: 18000 (20000 Primogems)
[Gap] (S-Rank Talent): Instantly moves anywhere through spatial fissures, can even move only a part of one's body. This power isn't limited to physical space; one can move freely whether it's within a painting, a dream, or even a story.
Price: 11700 (13000 Primogems)
...
Discount: 10% off
Saint Chen and Friend of Non-Humans are forever godly.
So, some achievements truly are worth more than a thousand pieces of gold.
It was precisely because of those two achievements above that upon meeting Yukari Yakumo, the initial discount was 10% off.
This wasn't the first time Chen Luo had seen an SS-Rank talent either; he had seen one with Yuyuko Saigyouji before, though her talent's price was lower than Yukari's.
But Yuyuko Saigyouji's discount was higher!
Yuyuko Saigyouji was the person, besides the Herrscher of Sentience, whose favorability increased the fastest for Chen Luo.
Just by being fed Judgment Time for a few days, combined with the favorability boost from those two achievements, the discount reached 25% off.
It's just that this discount seemed to have capped out. No matter how much more Chen Luo fed her, the discount remained the same.
One could only say it was easy to become friends with Yuyuko Saigyouji, but becoming close friends was difficult.
So, don't be fooled by Yuyuko's easy favorability grind; truly raising it to a significant level was genuinely hard.
Seeing Yukari Yakumo's abilities, Chen Luo couldn't help but inwardly lament why his Crystals weren't Primogems, or why Yukari Yakumo wasn't from the Honkai world.
If possible, Chen Luo wanted to buy both of her most expensive skills.
By then, Chen Luo basically wouldn't need any other skills. It would be a massacre.
However, while her talent ranks were indeed high, they would still require gradual practice and proficiency once in Chen Luo's hands.
After getting their food, Yukari Yakumo and Yuyuko found a table very close to the bar and sat down.
Yukari Yakumo didn't order any alcohol or any other food because she still held a certain amount of curiosity and wariness towards this bar.
"Can this thing really be eaten?" Yukari Yakumo glanced at the large bowl of food in Yuyuko's bowl and instantly felt a bit scalp-numb.
"Of course, it's very delicious. If you want to try it, just ask the owner for a portion. This bar doesn't charge money," Yuyuko said, picking up a piece of unknown food and stuffing it into her mouth.
"Sigh, you're not even willing to give me a piece. It seems you really do like this food," Yukari Yakumo sighed deeply.
Yuyuko's level of food protection was notoriously high. It was basically impossible for anyone else to snatch food from Yuyuko's mouth, but Yukari Yakumo was an exception.
Seeing a delicacy that even Yuyuko was unwilling to share in Yukari's presence was truly a rare sight.
"Then, owner, one portion of the same food as Yuyuko," Yukari Yakumo turned and said to Chen Luo.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
Reward: 50 Primogems
Difficulty: 1-Star
Although Yukari Yakumo's strength was indeed considerable, she didn't crave this Judgment Time as intensely, so the Primogems given were fewer.
"Alright, please wait a moment." Although it wasn't a hundred Primogems, Chen Luo was still quite satisfied.
After all, a single transaction of fifty Primogems was also a huge sum.
While spending 0.2 Primogems to produce a bowl of Judgment Time, Chen Luo also included two servings of apple wine.
This apple wine came from a large barrel, costing 0.1 Primogems for a whole barrel, so it could be given away for free.
"Mhm, do you have sake?" Yukari Yakumo asked Chen Luo, who was bringing the wine, while frowning at that bowl of Judgment Time.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
"Of course. Just a moment." Chen Luo nodded.
"I want some too." Yuyuko raised her hand.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
"Okay."
This was also why Chen Luo had brought them apple wine initially—because he knew they weren't accustomed to it.
Another 20 Primogems incoming. Nice.
Although they weren't accustomed to apple wine, they wouldn't get angry or anything over being given it, so it wouldn't affect their discount.
Since opening this bar, Chen Luo's methods for "shearing sheep" had become increasingly sophisticated.
After buying a large barrel of sake and placing it next to the liquor cabinet, Chen Luo poured a small bottle for each of them.
"..." However, Yukari Yakumo no longer had the mind to pay attention to the wine. She was instead lost in thought, staring at the Judgment Time before her.
Could this thing really be eaten?
Yukari Yakumo's intuition was warning her that this thing was somewhat dangerous. But seeing Yuyuko eating it so deliciously made Yukari think her intuition might have failed.
Finally, out of trust for Yuyuko, Yukari decided to take a small taste. Just one small taste.
Thump!
Yukari Yakumo's entire face planted into the Judgment Time.
"Heh." Watching Yukari become like this, Chen Luo let out a cold laugh in his heart.
*What do you think you're eating? This is Judgment Time, a dish whose sheer unpalatability is enough to sublimate into a concept and become a 4-star recipe!*
It kills whoever blocks its path, god or mortal.
"Yukarin! What's wrong, Yukarin!" Yuyuko let out a heart-wrenching cry.
It's just that Yuyuko's image, stuffing food into her mouth while shouting, made it completely impossible for others to see any pain or worry on her part.
"Alright, alright, stop shouting. I'll give you three skewers of Tricolor Dango later," Chen Luo called out to Yuyuko.
"Okay, boss!" Yuyuko instantly shut her mouth.
A large portion of Judgment Time could fill Yuyuko up, but a normal portion would leave her stomach just a little bit short of full.
Whenever Yuyuko ordered a normal portion of Judgment Time, it meant she had her eyes on other things Chen Luo made, like Tricolor Dango.
As for Yukari Yakumo...
There was no need to worry. After all, Yuyuko had seen the same reaction from Youmu Konpaku when she personally tested the poison for her.
Yuyuko had thought Yukari Yakumo would be different from Youmu Konpaku, but never expected Yukari to be the same. This left Yuyuko somewhat puzzled.
Could it be that this dish was born just for me?
Thinking this, Yuyuko took a bite of Judgment Time.
Mhm, so delicious!