Chapter 643: Chapter 642: Before the Finals (Part 1)
Ti flew by.
Unknowingly, the day before the final competition had arrived.
At Sapporo Chitose Airport, the terminal echoed with roars from ti to ti, produced by the busy flights passing by at low altitude.
The airport was bustling with people, and compared to normal tis, the international airport during the competition was packed with foreign tourists of various skin colors. Only a tiny fraction of these tourists had tickets to the finals, but this didn’t stop crowds from all over the world from gathering to join in the excitent.
It can only be said that Sapporo and the Japanese officials had a clear vision for the event right from the start.
Unable to retain the “Jade Dragon Pot,” they capitalized on this unique trophy to host an international event, sparking a global buzz to boost the travel economy. The endless food festivals that had been taking place in Sapporo are testant to how welco this decision was—practically a lifeline for the sluggish economy.
In the morning, among the stream of people at the airport, teams of stationed reporters aroused the curiosity of passing travelers.
“Here they co! They’re here!”
Suddenly, a reporter shouted, and a surging crowd imdiately blocked the VIP passage, with countless caras pointed at an old man dressed in a kimono, with white hair but a lion-like aura.
“Hey, isn’t that the leader of the Japanese food industry, the Food Demon King Tiqie Xianzuowen?”
A food tour group from the mainland spotted the old man among the crowd and exclaid in fluent Chinese.
Many travelers also stopped to pull out their phones and caras for a frenzied photo session.
Tiqie Xianzuowen was surrounded by reporters, and other industry giants like the Chiben sisters and Takai Masashi, who had arrived on the sa flight to Sapporo, were forced to step back, watching the throngs of people and sweating.
“These reporters have gone mad!”
Chiben Natsuka complained indignantly.
“They are trying to catch the tail of the grand event,” her sister Chitben Orin said with a smile.
Takai Masashi nodded affirmatively and said eagerly, “Absolutely, the festivities are nearing their end. If not now, when would the dia act? At least for the next few years, there won’t be similar large-scale international events on Japanese soil!”
Not only the “Curry Queen” sisters from HOB Food and the leader of the Takai Group were present, but the heads of all four noble families from the Japanese food industry—Yuchuan, Chiyoda, Hasegawa, and the Dubian family—along with house chiefs and senior special chefs, had also ford a group to head to Sapporo on a grand scale.
Yuchuan Xin had beco the de facto leader of the four noble families, with the chiefs of the other three families content to stand around and play supporting roles.
The four noble families united as one, and the erging forces did the sa, with a clear divide between the two major groups.
As these titans, whose very footsteps could shake the Japanese food industry, discussed among themselves, many reporters also noticed their presence, excitedly turned their equipnt to capture the mont and even ca up with a headline on the spot: “Breathless!”
“Giant heads unite to rush to the final battle!”
Tiqie Xianzuowen, surrounded by the crowd, was bombarded with questions about the competition. The most frequent inquiry was naturally about the Far Moon Commander’s views on the three finalist teams.
He stood with his arms crossed and said casually, “From my personal standpoint, of course, I support Far Moon Team’s Chef Zhu and Chef Xia…”
He paused, and just when the reporters seed disappointed, expecting another official response, the old man suddenly looked straight into the cara and declared:
“And I believe they can win the championship!”
“To take ho the legendary cooking utensil, the ‘Jade Dragon Pot’!”
His assertion was emphatic.
The crowd hushed for a mont and then erupted in exclamations. The reporters went wild, pressing forward as the Far Moon Commander made a clear and explosive statent.
“Can you discuss it in more detail?”
“Do you already know in advance which dishes Chef Zhu and Chef Xia will present in the final?”
“Where does this absolute confidence of yours co from?”
The airport’s impromptu interview was imdiately turned into breaking news by reporters and spread online.
At the sa ti,
Li Han was on the Weibo platform, taking part in an online text-based live interview with the dia.
“Chef Li, with the finals proceeding as normal tomorrow, can you reveal a little bit about your current preparations?” the host asked.
In the lobby of his White Jade Tower suite, Li Han, in a loose-fitting set of ho clothes and slippers, with his hair and beard unstyled—looking every bit the classic image of a hobody gar—yawned and typed his response on a laptop:
“Fully prepared!”
His keyboard clacked noisily as he typed, the sound crisp and clear.
“Can’t say much, but it’s definitely a super move, far surpassing the dishes we presented in the first and second rounds!”
“Wow!”
The spectators following the text interview got excited, and the comnt column refreshed crazily.
“Are you finally bringing out your top-secret, mythical-level recipes this ti?” the female host asked.
Li Han smiled and typed a string of ellipses.
“Oh right!”
“We just received breaking news that the Far Moon Commander has arrived in Sapporo by plane and gave an interview at Chitose Airport… He confidently asserted that Chef Zhu and Chef Xia from Far Moon will surely win. What do you think about this?”
“Huh?”
Li Han stared at the line of text on the screen for a mont.
“Is this a trap? Please don’t make say things like that!” He typed, clearly annoyed.
However, the host efficiently posted a short video of the interview, and upon viewing the play, despite the noise at the interview site, the elder’s assertive words were crystal clear.
“Ha-ha, thanks for the jinxing!” Li Han took it in stride.
Jinxing?
The online interview concluded with that keyword.
Without delay, Li Han opened his personal Weibo account, sent a ssage to Xia Yu from afar, attaching Old Man Tiqie’s airport interview short video: “Yuan Fang, what do you think?”
He added an emoticon of roaring laughter and pounding the ground.
At this ti, Xia Yu was still going through final partner practice with Zhu Qing and had no ti to check his phone. But the Weibo ssage imdiately attracted a large audience of onlookers.
“The mysterious power from Far Moon… they might just crash!” Wu Yingying, nicknad “Little Fairy,” comnted.
“Jinxing or Far Moon’s strength is stronger!”
Tang Yuqiong joined in the fray, also posting an emoticon of herself laughing so hard that tears ca to her eyes, quickly garnering tens of thousands of likes.
“Is Old Man Tiqie being careless with his words, or is he deliberately throwing a smoke bomb to put psychological pressure on his opponents?” The spectators didn’t mind stirring the pot, and in any case, the Far Moon Commander’s interview upon arriving in Sapporo earlier that day had certainly ignited the fiery atmosphere for the finals in Sapporo one day ahead of ti.
…
Contrasting with Tiqie’s high profile, that sa day, two other Dragon Giants arrived in Sapporo quietly.
At the IGO office in Sapporo.
Qiushan Hong, Indira, and a team of three from the IGO Neon Departnt all bowed deeply to a suit-clad elder in the reception room.
“Wise Man Karl!”
The elder was dressed in a sharp suit, his silver hair neatly combed, presenting the image of a ticulous old doctor.
He was Karl, known as the ‘Scalpel’ among the three Sages at the IGO headquarters, and he’s a Dragon Chef whose special tool was a small, sharp knife much like a surgical scalpel. He had knife skills akin to “Fierce Bull Green Dragon Slash,” but to be more vivid, his knife work was as ticulous and precise as surgical dissection, more reminiscent of a seasoned surgeon than a chef.
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