I Don't Agree to the Terms

He had indeed heard that you could offer anything to the gods, but what the gods give back is another matter entirely.

With his previous actions, the fact that he received dark cuisine instead of some random useless stuff already indicated that it was a Good God. Had it been an Evil God, it might have come from afar just to show him what divine majesty is.

After all, apart from its appearance, smell, and taste being problematic, dark cuisine could still be eaten and could also grant Transcendent powers. Truly, it was a conscientious Divine being.

"There was no other way back then, had I not done so, I wouldn't have survived till now. Dark cuisine is hard to eat, looks bad, and smells worse, but it's not entirely inedible," Wang Qi said unflinchingly. The front part was true; the part about it not being inedible was a lie. Anyway, if it were stinky tofu egg, he wouldn't be able to stomach it now.

"Oh, alright then, you continue," Gu Shanhai thought, since the kid now has such a heavy taste, why not give him something really hardcore?

Like fried cockroaches costing 30 Thai Baht each?

Wang Qi was about to fetch supplies when he noticed a black dot not far away that was enlarging constantly.

With his current eyesight, he couldn't tell whether it was a ship or an island, so he had to ask Gu Shanhai for help.

"What is that thing? Can you see clearly the consequence of me going over there?" Wang Qi asked directly without any fuss.

"Oh, a small island, very small, probably just a bit larger than your mini-boat. Once you get on it..."

"Shh~"

Gu Shanhai suddenly inhaled sharply, which made Wang Qi's heart sink. He felt that Gu Shanhai must have seen some unfavorable scene, or else he wouldn't have such an expression.

"There's treasure, not sure who buried it, but it's guarded by a monster watching over the treasure. If you're caught, you'd be gradually licked clean of flesh and blood, a process which lasted for three days. Treatment almost like death by a thousand cuts."

"Oh, but the success rate is pretty high. You actually have a fifty percent chance of killing the monster and digging out the treasure. Inside is a sea chart, not sure what's the deal with that."

"It's only certain that this sea chart must also be a Transcendent item, perhaps even the key to unlocking the treasure. Wanna take a gamble?"

Gu Shanhai laid out a string of strategies, making Wang Qi's expression turn solemn: "Go, definitely have to go! But I need to make a Tribute first." Wang Qi wasn't foolish; since there's already a fifty percent chance of success, if he consumed another dish of dark cuisine, his strength could only increase further.

As long as it wasn't something like Living Maggot Cheese or similar large-scale dark cuisine, he could basically pinch his nose and finish it.

After some fiddling, the Tribute was finally complete, and then looking at the two fist-sized, fried, oily and glossy cockroach, Wang Qi was also silent.

Living Maggots were one thing, but why were there fried cockroaches, and looking at that belly, one bite might just explode with juices.

"Can this... be eaten?" Wang Qi found it somewhat unbelievable.

"You've chewed on Living Maggots, what's there to fear from a fried cockroach?" Gu Shanhai felt it was a minor issue, anyway, once it's in the mouth, it's crispy with a chicken flavor.

"No, where do such big cockroaches come from, are they crossbred with Sea Beasts?" Wang Qi still couldn't accept it, since he had never seen such a large cockroach.

"Divine beings, normal," Gu Shanhai certainly couldn't say there indeed weren't such large cockroaches, but he could fabricate; even those muscle cockroaches from Mars were fair game.

"What do you think, if I eat this, what kind of Transcendent power will I get?" Wang Qi, with a stern face, picked up the cockroach, thinking about stuffing it into his mouth, although tense, his eye still twitched when picked it up, clearly impacted by this dark cuisine as much as by Living Maggot Cheese.

But gritting his teeth, he could still eat it; after all, having eaten Living Maggot Cheese, how could he possibly be afraid of a fried cockroach?

Just because he wasn't afraid didn't mean he could accept it...

"I had no idea, but with bad luck, one might end up with a cockroach transformation ability, or if lucky, maybe directly get a cockroach's vitality, maybe not indestructible in the early stages, but still much stronger than a regular person." Gu Shanhai wasn't sure, mainly because the ability granted was random, and he generally wouldn't interfere unless it was a real crisis moment.

By this time, Wang Qi had already stuffed the deep-fried cockroach into his mouth, and sure enough, it burst with juice, tasting quite unique. It was delicious yet disgusting, but upon careful consideration, it wasn't too bad.

He felt both like spitting it out and like he had no choice but to swallow.

The surface was fried to a crisp; if he hadn't known it was a cockroach, he might have happily continued eating.

It was called dark cuisine not because of its flavor—in fact, if one didn't know, there wouldn't be any significant feeling while eating, but knowing it was psychologically unacceptable.

"Ugh~"

The feeling of disgust emerged, but the thought of spitting it out was forcibly suppressed by Wang Qi, and he swallowed it back down.

"The taste is okay, but does this thing have a special effect on the mind? I keep feeling itchy in my throat." Wang Qi thought it might not just be him; perhaps the deep-fried cockroach was also to blame.

"Yes, Divine produce. Even if you like eating cockroaches, once you encounter this dark cuisine, you'd feel nauseating after it's digested." Gu Shanhai was well-prepared; otherwise, you'd be blindfolded, fed by someone without knowing what it was, and would forcefully swallow it down no matter how bad it tasted.

Feedback was very important.

Eating his dark cuisine, even if you tried to avoid it by such means, once it entered your stomach, some feedback would let you know what you had eaten; inevitable retributions couldn't be escaped.

"I feel like I can't handle it anymore; it's like there's a cockroach beating me up inside my throat. I chew, and I can still feel the crispy illusion." Wang Qi very vividly expressed his feelings to Gu Shanhai.

"No worries, you'll get used to it. Besides, if a cockroach hits you, just chew it; you're definitely going to win." Gu Shanhai hadn't expected the description to be so bizarre.

"Besides, you can't even throw up now, right? Has the Transcendent power formed?"

Once a power is gained, vomiting becomes impossible; it's all an illusion.

"Named 'Omnivorous', my menu has expanded quite a bit. With this Transcendent ability, I can handle dark cuisine even better in the future..." Wang Qi hadn't expected to gain such a Transcendent power, which would likely be useless for many sea citizens.

But in his hands, it almost felt like adding wings to a tiger.

Except that it wasn't currently helpful to him, everything else was great.

"Too bad it doesn't help with handling that monster." Gu Shanhai also felt regretful; the luck was indeed very good, acquiring a long-term ability.

"Otherwise, I'll make another Tribute; maybe I can gamble on a good ability." Wang Qi thought there was still time.

"Are you sure? Why not see if the aftereffects of chewing cockroaches have passed... If it hasn't been drawn out, and it affects your combat power, your chances of winning might drop from fifty percent to ten percent." Gu Shanhai cautioned, not to be too greedy, as it could easily affect one's state.

Hearing this, Wang Qi pondered for a moment, then agreed, "Shanyuhai, you truly are Divine!"

If his condition were really affected, indeed, it would be easy to mess up, and since he couldn't overpower the opponent...

"Do you have any suggestions?" Wang Qi had nothing prepared; instead, he asked Gu Shanhai, which was the most convenient and quickest way. Having a Divine being at his side and not consulting it, only to mess up himself, wouldn't that be foolish? Wang Qi just lacked experience and knowledge; it didn't mean he couldn't think for himself.

Right, after thinking it through, he decided to consult Gu Shanhai.