Volume 10: Ancient Battleship Chapter 529 Fried Rice
"They are very strong." Valentina nodded. "Layton showed me their training match video. Their opponent was a wealthy club with three ace pilots, but they were suppressing the opponent the whole time. The three ace pilots couldn't even organize a decent counterattack. They only lasted less than two minutes, two of their machines were severely damaged, and one surrendered."
"How long do you think you could last if you were their opponent?" Ke Lan asked.
"If your teammates were you and Layton, we would only be able to hold out for thirty seconds." Valentina said mercilessly, without considering giving face to Ke Lan and Layton at all.
But what she said was not wrong. Ke Lan's machine had too many limitations. Although its long-range firepower was extremely terrifying, if someone got close to it, it would instantly become a fish on the chopping board, at the mercy of others. For those military pilots who had been on the cruel battlefield for many years, how to avoid long-range firepower while closing the distance was simply a compulsory course in combat. You know, among those indigenous creatures, there were also a large number of "turret-type" subspecies that specialized in long-range attacks. The task of the high-speed mecha troops in the field army was often to cut in from the flanks and eliminate these powerful "turrets" for the frontal troops.
To use gaming terminology, this group of people's "cutting the back row" operation has simply reached perfection.
Ke Lan had no confidence at all that she could survive at the hands of these people.
As for Layton, that's not to mention. Although his operating skills are better than Ke Lan's, he basically has no special skills and is a balanced pilot. Balance means that you can only rely on hard power, and Layton's strength... has not yet reached the threshold of a quasi-ace...
Even their real aces were suppressed by these military pilots, not to mention these "amateur players".
"If it's a one-on-one fight, how confident are you?" Ke Lan asked in a different way. He knew very well that in a three-on-three fight, without cheating, they would have absolutely no chance of winning against the military team.
However, when it comes to cheating, Ke Lan naturally thinks of the "humanoid self-propelled cheat" Ze Luo... But if he sends Ze Luo to participate in the competition, he will have to take the risk of being discovered. After all, that guy's ability is too terrifying, and this kind of strength difference cannot be concealed by "acting".
This kind of competition is not like an online game. The game video will be studied over and over again when it is reviewed. If someone really discovers Ze Luo's abnormality, it will be a waste of time.
If Ze Luo's identity was exposed for the sake of the championship of a mecha competition... Ke Lan weighed it in his mind and finally gave up the idea.
"No more than 30%." Valentina said, "They are stronger and more ruthless than me."
"It seems that the champion of this competition should be the military team that suddenly emerged." Ke Lan shrugged helplessly, "Forget it, let's not talk about this. You probably haven't eaten yet, right?"
"No." Qin Zhao shook her head. Knowing that Ke Lan was going back to the Ark, she and Valentina had been waiting at the airport four hours in advance.
"That's perfect. I haven't eaten either. I was already hungry when I was on the transport plane. Let's go for a walk and find something to eat."
"I have some compressed dry food on me." Valentina said as she took out two energy bars from her pocket.
"...Well, we're not outside, so we can always find a place to eat."
"Oh." Valentina silently put the energy bar back into her pocket.
"Let's solve the eating problem nearby. I remember there is a food street outside this airport. Let's go there to eat. I'll treat you." Ke Lan said.
In the old days, the biggest feature of restaurants near airports was that the food was expensive and the portions were small. You might need to spend three to four times the normal price to buy food that was only half the normal portion or even less, and the taste was also average... Not only the food, but even fast food such as cola and instant noodles, which had the same price across the country, would double in price at airports and train stations. If you wanted to eat in such a place, you had to be prepared to be ripped off.
After all, the rents of shops near the airport are very high, and the customers are all transient travelers, with no returning customers, so the shop owners can rip people off without any worries - but this phenomenon is completely reversed on the Ark.
On the Ark, all the restaurants near the airport are basically synonymous with "good quality, low price, high cost performance". Not to mention compared with those restaurants in the bustling areas of high-end neighborhoods, even those fly restaurants in ordinary residential areas may not be as affordable as those near the airport.
For people in the old era, airplanes were an expensive and high-end means of travel, and not everyone could afford a ticket that cost several thousand dollars.
In this era, truly wealthy people rarely go to the wilderness. Even if they occasionally want to go sightseeing, they usually take private aircraft.
As for the main service objects of the civil aviation industry, there are only relic hunters and mercenaries, as well as miners and scavengers who have little money in their pockets.
There was nothing to be gained from these people, and there were also many hot-tempered thorns among the hunters and mercenaries. These bloodthirsty guys might just pull out their guns and slam them on the table if they disagreed. As a result, which restaurant near the airport would dare to overcharge customers...
Ke Lan brought the two girls and strolled slowly into the food street filled with the smell of oil smoke. It was his first time to come to this airport, but the similar street scenes still gave Ke Lan a familiar feeling.
In the early days, when he hadn't met Hound and the others, every time after exploring the ruins, he would run to this kind of small restaurant to have a good meal - for Ke Lan at that time, a bowl of authentic braised pork was definitely a top-notch enjoyment.
Although these restaurants are cheap, they will stock some high-end products such as real meat and locally grown vegetables. These ingredients are specially prepared for relic hunters and mercenaries.
A fruitful journey needs a feast to celebrate; an adventure in which one escapes death needs wine and meat to calm the nerves; even if one loses brothers or sisters, many people will go to these places to commemorate them.
Compared to the workers who only order the cheapest food, the restaurant owners near the airport obviously welcome such diners more.
The first shop at the corner of the street is a barbecue restaurant. Two rows of four or five meter long open-air grills are placed across the door. The burly guys grab dozens or even hundreds of skewers in each hand, roll them on the grill for a few rounds , and then throw them into the stainless steel basin on the side. Most of these skewers are artificial meat synthesized from soy protein, not real meat. This synthetic meat is already cooked. It only needs to be coated with oil and sprinkled with some seasonings and heated slightly. If it is grilled like real meat, what will be served on the table will probably be just black and hard charcoal.
"What would you like to eat?" Ke Lan asked.
He just glanced at the barbecue restaurant and then passed it by - the only piece of "real meat" for sale in the whole store was hung on an iron hook under the sign. It was half a pig, but the better parts of the meat had been cut off, leaving only the worse parts, and the meat didn't look very fresh.
"I don't know." Valentina said. In her opinion, the only purpose of food is to fill the stomach. If Ke Lan hadn't insisted on dragging them to a restaurant, she would probably have been eating the energy bar in her pocket.
"You decide. I'm fine with anything." Qin Zhao said. Although she could be considered a senior foodie, this trip was treated by her boss after all. She felt that she should not make decisions for her boss.
"Uh, how about this one?" Ke Lan pointed to a store ten steps away.
The storefront of this restaurant is only about half the size of the first barbecue restaurant. A rickety plastic door creaks in the breeze, and a greasy sign hangs above the door.
"The Old Hunter Restaurant."
Judging from the name, this is either a restaurant opened by a retired relic hunter, or a restaurant that specializes in providing services to relic hunters.
There were several severely aged plastic tables and chairs at the entrance of the restaurant. The yellowed plastic material even made Ke Lan wonder if they would break if she sat down on them.
Next to the low door was a window that was half a meter square. Inside the window was the stove. A thick exhaust pipe poked out directly from the round hole above the window. Oil stains that were as solid as solid matter fell and dragged down from the pipe head, emitting a dark brown light.
A middle-aged man with a strong build but not exaggerated muscles stood in front of the stove, holding a huge iron pot in one hand and stir-frying with a huge spatula in the other hand - this kind of cooking utensils are basically only found in the military kitchen squad. Even if an ordinary chef uses two hands, he cannot lift this cast iron pot that weighs 20 kilograms.
Seeing Ke Lan approaching with two girls, the chef glanced at them and said, "There are no seats inside. If you don't mind, please sit at the door of the store."
"Okay." Ke Lan nodded. He had originally planned to sit outside instead of running into the cramped room and squeezing together with a group of sweaty men.
If he was alone, it wouldn't be a big deal, but the key point is that there are two good-looking girls around him. If he encounters a drunk or a pervert... He is not afraid of a fight, but he can't just smash someone's store.
Ke Lan found the cleanest table and sat down, then turned around and asked, "Boss, do you have a menu?"
"No." The chef shook his head and quickly picked up a handful of seasoning and sprinkled it into the pot.
"Uh...are there any special dishes?"
"I only sell fried rice here. Just choose what you want to fry. You can put anything on the counter in there." said the chef, taking a half step back to reveal the sink on his right.
There weren't many things on the table, but there were both meat and vegetables - dozens of eggs stacked on cardboard racks, half a bowl-thick ham, various fresh-looking vegetables and fungi, and a piece of old bacon hanging from the ceiling that had been dried by the wind and turned black.
"Then let's have three bowls of egg fried rice, with some shiitake mushrooms and enoki mushrooms, as well as onions, lettuce and potato chips." Ke Lan said. If the hound was here, he would definitely complain - "You are a man with a net worth of hundreds of millions, and you treat everyone to egg fried rice from a roadside stall?"
"Would you like some chili?" the chef asked again.
"I want it, what about you?"
"Yes." "Yes." The two women said in unison.
"Oh, right , that piece of bacon..." Ke Lan pointed to the piece of old bacon hanging on the rope.
"It's authentic black pork, the treasure of our shop. If you want to add it, it will not be cheap." The chef glanced at Ke Lan's clothes out of the corner of his eye and said.
Ke Lan was wearing a daily training uniform of the field army, but because of his special identity, he removed the epaulettes and chest badges - this type of military uniform is very popular on the black market, comfortable and durable, with a very high cost-effectiveness, and is sought after by many hunters and mercenaries... Although the one on Ke Lan is almost brand new, the selling price will not exceed one thousand credit points. He is dressed like a mid-level hunter or mercenary.
Qin Zhao and Valentina were dressed like ordinary civilians, and the total value of their outfits would not exceed 500 credit points.
"How much does this piece of bacon cost?" Ke Lan asked curiously.
"By gram, thirty-five per gram."
"Shit." Ke Lan sighed inwardly and almost asked, "Is your fat made of gold, or is your lean meat made of gold?" - selling by gram, could it be that the boss regards this piece of meat as the top-grade sashimi in a high-end hotel?
However, this price really aroused Ke Lan's curiosity. He wanted to know what was so special about this bacon that was sold at 35 yuan per gram.
With the idea that it would be a waste of money, Ke Lan nodded and said, "Then cut it in half."
"Half, that's more than half a pound." The chef raised his head and looked at Ke Lan again with some suspicion.
How much money could such a young mercenary have in his pocket? He shouldn't have spent nearly 10,000 credit points on a meal just to pick up these two girls, right?
"Yes, that's half." Ke Lan said, "If there's less, it won't taste good, right?"
"Okay, but you have to pay first ." The boss pointed to the payment code pasted on the window, which was almost covered by oil.
"How much in total?"
"There aren't many customers like you who buy half a pound at a time, so I'll give you a discount. Add it all together and it'll be seven thousand."
"Okay." Ke Lan took out her mobile phone and was about to pay, but at this moment, a somewhat discordant voice suddenly came from the store.
"Hey, boss, what kind of divine meat is this? You're selling half a piece for seven thousand?"
"I just asked you the price of this bacon, didn't you say it wasn't for sale? Are you afraid that we guys will smash your store? Haha, look at that idiot outside, he looks so stupid, he looks easy to be ripped off."
"I don't sell it to you because I know you can't afford it." The chef and boss glanced at the group of diners and said coldly.
"What do you mean? Do you look down on me?" A hot-tempered mercenary stood up immediately. He was more than two meters tall, and his head almost touched the low ceiling of the store.
Behind him, several other people dressed as mercenaries also had malicious looks on their faces.
