I Don't Agree to the Terms

"Heavenly Emperor? That's quite a grand title," Wang Qi couldn't help but muse quietly to himself, though he didn't know much about this Divine being. Well, to be honest, he didn't know much about any Divines.

"Should I offer all four at once or one by one?" Wang Qi felt it was better to ask the Divine himself.

"Well, that depends on what you want to eat. If you want ready-made dishes, then offer them all at once. If you'd like to cook for yourself or want some fresh fruits and vegetables, then offer them one by one," Gu Shanhai replied.

"Why is it all about eating?" Wang Qi's expression became serious, feeling something was a bit off.

"Because what you offer can only be exchanged for food, and then there's a small chance it explodes into a task," Gu Shanhai explained.

Wang Qi rubbed his belly; he wasn't hungry before, but now that Gu Shanhai mentioned it, the hunger began to creep up on him. If it's about eating, then so be it.

Soon, the offering of the first body was complete.

Staring at the small red fruit on the tray, Wang Qi didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Shanyuhai, what is this?" Wang Qi, not recognizing it, picked it up and asked.

"Oh, that's a Hawthorn Fruit; give it a try, it's particularly appetizing," Gu Shanhai replied.

Wang Qi, having heard the words 'give it a try,' had already popped the thing in his mouth but then heard 'particularly appetizing' and stopped, a black line running across his forehead.

Given his current hunger, did he really need an appetite stimulant?

That would only make him hungrier.

"Are there any other effects?" After storing the Hawthorn Fruit, Wang Qi was somewhat hopeful, such as gaining Transcendent abilities or that it was some kind of Transcendent item.

"There are, definitely. If you get Hawthorn Fruit, grapes, yam, and some sugar-making skills, you could make a skewer of candied fruits that taste incredibly sweet and sour," Gu Shanhai assured him it was a good deal.

"What's it good for?"

"It's delicious."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

For a moment, Wang Qi was at a loss for words. He then tucked the Hawthorn Fruit into his pocket and proceeded to offer up the remaining three bodies one by one.

He received a cucumber, a tomato, and a mango.

Each was of superior quality, yet aside from being delicious, they were pretty much useless.

"Hey, is your actual Heavenly Emperor persona a bit rough around the edges? Every reward seems to be these things," Wang Qi, who was getting desperate from hunger, had already devoured the tomato and cucumber and was now biting into the mango. As for that Hawthorn Fruit, he kept it as a last resort.

"Why do you think I'm a Good God..." Gu Shanhai teased.

Nibbling on the mango, Wang Qi pondered for a moment and seemed to understand. If what one offered to Divine beings was always food, and tasty food at that, then everyone would have plenty to eat and drink, and surely there'd be no conflicts.

That was very Good God-like.

"Then if I'd offered all four bodies at the same time before, what could I have gotten?" Wang Qi asked curiously.

"You might have gotten a plain boiled egg or a bowl of preserved egg and lean pork congee. I'm not sure, since I'm still inside this bottle," Gu Shanhai implied not to ask him everything; if his advice had been useful, they wouldn't need Wang Qi in the first place.

"All delicacies," Wang Qi managed to blurt out these four words after holding back for a long time. If anyone made an offer expecting these, they'd be crazy.

"It's not always the case, occasionally some 'dark cuisine' will appear. Be careful with what you eat; you might take off after eating it," Gu Shanhai kindly warned.

"Take off? As in skyrocketing to heaven?"

"No, it can literally be a takeoff, maybe even an ascension," Gu Shanhai said, sure that dark cuisine would not fail to live up to the 'dark' in its name.

"Then if I feed it to my enemy..."

"You think your enemies are fools? It's called dark cuisine for a reason; it must be lacking in color, scent, and taste," Gu Shanhai felt this kid was a bit off, wondering why he wanted to use everything as a weapon.

If it were the Wang Qi from before, he definitely wouldn't have had such thoughts. However, after experiencing all these unfortunate events, he realized one thing: Even if he were as honest as they come, people would still target him, not to mention he now suspected he was suffering from a terminal illness.

"Alright then, about this bloody mud..."

"Just keep offering it. You've already offered up bodies, a bit of messy stuff like this hardly matters," Gu Shanhai sighed.

"Is it really okay for you to scam your own body like this?" Wang Qi was shocked; this seemed really harsh.

"If not, you can deal with it yourself; it would save me quite a lot of trouble," Gu Shanhai didn't seem to care.

Seeing this, Wang Qi couldn't help but give a rueful smile, not daring to say more. Soon after, he offered up all the blood-stained mud and even furniture—he clearly couldn't afford to pave his floors with tiles, and he wouldn't get to cement them either, so hardened dirt was definitely all he had.

The offering process went smoothly, and afterwards, a well-sealed ceramic jar appeared.

"What is this thing, Shanyuhai? Can you tell..." Wang Qi looked it over, ready to open it.

"Dark Cuisine·Stinky Tofu Egg. Don't get curious and open it," Gu Shanhai said with a touch of schadenfreude.

The reason for his schadenfreude was that as he spoke, Wang Qi had already cracked open a small fissure.

"Blech~ I... it stinks..."

A whiff of the odor seeped out and went straight up Wang Qi's nostrils.

In that instant, Wang Qi felt like he was about to ascend to heaven; tears, snot, and saliva uncontrollably flowed out as he collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

That lingering, horrific smell left him somewhat dazed; it was just too terrible.

It took nearly ten minutes for Wang Qi to come to his senses, looking at the jar with the stinky tofu egg in horror.

He had only opened a crack just now—if he had opened it completely, one gust of sea breeze would have surely plunged the entire island into a stinky hell.

"Why would there be such a terrifying thing?" Wang Qi was once again amazed by the Heavenly Emperor, having thought previously that it was a hazard to humans and livestock, yet it turned out to be a food from dark cuisine—yes, it was edible.

"Please, did you even see what you were offering? You can't expect to get a high-quality dish in return if you offer up a pile of crap; that would be absurd. At least the four bodies you offered before could be considered meat, but that dirt you offered laced with blood couldn't even make spicy boiled blood curd, so it's right you get taught a lesson," Gu Shanhai snarked.

To Wang Qi, that comment seemed to make perfect sense. If he were in the other's shoes, he'd be upset too. The other side hadn't struck him down with lightning, which was already kind enough, and had even specially sent him some food.

Aside from the taste, color, and scent being off, otherwise it was fine—it could be eaten.

"Cough, so will you hold a grudge against yourself? The next time I offer something, won't it be dark cuisine again?" Wang Qi reckoned that from then on, his offerings would be to the Heavenly Emperor; at least he wasn't ruthless, providing Transcendent powers and Transcendent items—a little less is still something.

"If I were still around, I'd definitely hold a grudge, but I'm not around anymore. The body over there is just a shell; it definitely won't be holding any grudges," Gu Shanhai spoke with feigned seriousness.

"..." Wang Qi realized he still needed to be cautious; it would be quite the problem if the other side remembered grudges.

"By the way, how can I release you from this Transcendent item?" Wang Qi pondered, maybe to build a rapport.

"Why would you want to release me? I have nothing to do here and I can enjoy watching you; I'm not those desire-driven Evil Gods. The pleasure of staying here is beyond your imagination," Gu Shanhai intimated that the lad was too naive.

Wang Qi then understood: his attempt to suck up had backfired, but he felt more at ease—since the other party had refused him, he was even more certain of his Good God identity, with no worries about being schemed against.

'No wonder he was trapped by the Godslayer Alliance people; with such a character, if he weren't Divine, he might well have been dead already.'