"Wow… You guys have not touched your food yet?" Jin said as he came down the stairs, seeing a bunch of grumpy faces looking at him with the exception of Ke Loong and Lynn.
"He is here, I do not care anymore!!! And I am eating Milk's portion as well!" Peppers said as she picked her utensils up and wanted to gorge on the food but Yun knocked her head from the side with a miniature aerial chi blast that caused her to stop in her tracks. (From afar, it looked like a spatial flick of a finger on her forehead.)
"Where did she go?" Jin questioned as he headed towards the kitchen to wash his hands once more before sitting at the end of the table.
"Zeru requested for her to do some errands and she did not want me to go with her. Saying that I am a mere hindrance. In return, I guess I could eat her portion." Peppers replied and when Jin checked his phone, the System indicated that there was no way to contact both of them.
"Zeru is still handling the flower city issue?" Jin questioned about the missing bellators while allowing everyone to eat and finally, Peppers gobbled the entire sandwich into her mouth. Still, there was plenty on the table and Lynn mentioned that second servings were available back in the kitchen.
"Yes, he said when he settled what he needed to do, he will give us a report." Yun answered as she casually placed the pork bacon strips closer to Peppers, knowing that she eyed for that for a long time.
"By the way what's with the occasion of this grand feast? Why so much food. Oh…wait, please don't tell me it's because of me. That would be a little unfair." Jin said as he took a bite on the perfectly made sandwich right in front of him. Without any consideration to his table manners, the sauce from the chicken ham and beef patty sandwich were dripping all over his plate.
"Of course, it's about you! Everything is about you. What else would Lynn even provide us with such a sumptuous meal? Baka Jin." Peppers said proudly and then there were multiple air flicks hitting her consecutively at her forehead. It was not just from Yun but also everyone at the table that knew her on a personal level gave her a quick hit on her forehead.
"Hey! Old folk tales say that hitting on the head will make you stupid! Stop hitting my head!" Peppers pouted as she continued her munching and grabbed more bacon strips. (If she was not some magical being, the amount she took would be of an unhealthy level.)
"Obviously, it's for Jin. The System did not allow me to send any food to him at all, it kinda worries me that he is not eating properly." Lynn said, blatantly attacking the System.
"The System does not wish to prompt the User from breaking his thoughts. Besides, by being a cultivator of a high grade, he should be able to last longer without food. User should be grateful that food was given at regular intervals."
"And lesser breaks for me? Have you forgotten that you initiated time dilation and stretched time almost infinitely that I had forgotten how the flow of time works? I'm practically hungry almost every hour!" Jin complained and a few at the table gave a slight chuckle.
"Hahaha, does Jin always go into isolation this often? Because, to me, it seems like a normal occurrence. Sometimes, it's really hard to contact him when I need him." Ke Loong interjected his opinion. (Although everyone knows that back then, Jin was purposely avoiding Ke Loong for a reason.) "And gosh. The food is really amazing. I thought your restaurant delicacies was top notch, but this homecooked meal seems a hundred times better than the things you offered. I am truly honoured to partake in this."
"Dumb dumb. This is because Lynn personally managed this entire breakfast while the food you ate at her restaurant was prepared by her subordinates. Naturally, there will be a huge difference. And don't go thinking that you are able to enjoy this on a daily basis. It is entirely based on Jin's availability." Peppers said proudly as if she was a hardcore follower of the breakfast club. (And all the flicks started coming in again but this time around, she prepared a miniature force field to protect herself from all the incoming 'attacks'.)
"Lol Peppers, you sounded like you are chasing some idol. If only you are as diligent for all the tasks that you were assigned with." Jin chuckled and he began sharing news to Ke Loong as well as those who were at the table. From the Virtual Reality Instance to the Cultivation Zoo instances as well as the Advanced Training Centre. All of them were delighted to hear that Jin was able to complete some of the tasks that had been plaguing him for a long time …especially a certain fox.
"Ah. So, you finally had some progress. Aren't you happy that I kicked you into isolation and got lots of work done?" Kraft smiled.
"You made me like a slave. I know I was already a slave of the System and probably the shop, but that insistent push? That was way over the line in my opinion." Jin said as he stared at Kraft with a bit of defiance in his voice.
"I see. Our little panda cub now wants to brandish his fangs at the old fox just after he thinks that he can walk. But don't you think you are way too young for it?" Kraft replied with a smile.
"That does not mean I should always follow you. I am still awaiting the aftermath of the dungeon world's fight. Something tells me that you are hiding a lot of stuff from me that I would disapprove of."
"What makes you think that way?" Kraft placed his knife and fork down from eating his bacon and beans.
"The System would always report to me, but this time around, it requested that I get the full picture from you."
"What if I say that it doesn't matter at all? Just go with the flow?"
"Is it because I said that I leave you in charge of the whole operation?"
"Aye."
"Fine. System, give me a quick breakdown of the Dungeon World's aftermath."
"The System believed that reporting you the facts would only reinforce your skewed perspective against Original Bellator Kraft's intention." The System replied.
"I will see how it goes," Jin said and continued to eat his sandwich while the atmosphere turned a little too tense for a normal breakfast.
"A written report would be a better option for User's perusal. That way, the facts are presented and there will be no bias as per report." Although everyone present was within the System's purview, it did not want Ke Loong to hear anything that would misalign his trust in the entire group.
On the other hand, Ke Loong tried to break the tension by asking Jin about the Virtual Reality Instance which he talked about in the first place. After all, a change of subject would be a better course to take than having such heavy air at the breakfast table.
"Since the System had made me Senior Executive, I had personally revised the contracts with all my people, telling them it was an overhaul review that needed to be done."
"You mean, you single handedly talked to everyone in your company so you can contract everyone into the System?" Jin queried that Ke Loong took such a personal approach to the matter.
"Yeah, I figured it was great to hear the thoughts from everyone, even the cleaners and interns. Obviously, I had help from Pei as she kind of like …erm did a massive mind read of the whole company and the problems that each and every one had with the company. We found out that I am not running a tight ship as I thought I was, kind of an eye opener in my opinion."
"Ah… I am sorry to hear that." Jin said with a slight nod.
"No matter. Some of the problems they addressed are systematic problems of a huge company. I will see what I can do to help them since I got the System help with me. But other than that, I can assure you that you do not need to worry about any information leakage from us, especially since the System now has the whole view of the entire company." Ke Loong said and added that reworking the Virtual Reality Head Gear would not be an issue that he had to worry about.
"If you would allow me to work on the schematics, I will let my engineers improve the quality design of the headgear and get back to you as soon as possible." Ke Loong said as he continued to savour the food Lynn had made for him and the rest continued to eat with some silence at the table.
