Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 498: The Invisible War

"Ah, really? Is it that bad?"

"Yes, it’s true. Soul fragments, as a special kind of seasoning, actually regulate the diners’ emotions. So, they need to be used according to the dish being cooked and the characteristics of the diners themselves. Not many chefs can handle this seasoning well, as far as I know."

"Eh... So, Old Wang, can you cook with souls?"

Old Wang nodded, "My chef level is now Level 8, and I can use souls now."

"Then you’re quite amazing, Old Wang," Ma Lu said. "You must have been famous in the Multiverse before, and Cosmic Chefs are always popular, right? Why did you come to Earth?"

"I don’t know," Old Wang replied. "That part of my data is already corrupted."

"Do you want me to look into it for you?" Ma Lu asked. "But the smugglers from before have already been wiped out by the Dimensional Pirates, and Earth’s connection with other planes has been cut off, oh, except with the Abyss."

"Baldy and his gang can actually travel back and forth between the two sides just by using magic circles, even though there are slight discrepancies, but looking at it, their technological strength is still quite strong."

"They’ve just been busy dealing with Red Ridge, and it seems like they don’t communicate much with the outside."

"Or wait till I fix the spaceship, and we can go out on our own."

"Okay."

This wasn’t the first time Ma Lu had brought up the subject of exploring Old Wang’s origins, and Old Wang’s reaction was just as calm as ever.

As he himself said, he only cared about exploring and maintaining the beauty of the Multiverse, and cooking was the means by which he fulfilled this mission.

Old Wang wasn’t concerned about his identity or past; he didn’t even need money. In fact, other than cooking-related equipment and the energy needed to sustain himself, he had almost no other needs.

Ma Lu thought Old Wang was probably what they say about being purely great, detached from base pleasures.

Ma Lu himself, on the other hand, was fond of all sorts of low pleasures.

These past few days, when Ma Lu was online watching risqué videos, he accidentally found that the number of negative posts about Universe Infinite Canteen had increased significantly.

So, he immediately ordered MuMuNi and Wu Wugu to go into combat mode and launch a fierce counterattack against the Blackies.

Ma Lu wasn’t idle either, he argued with netizens while also looking for the source of those Blackies.

This wasn’t hard to trace, because everything on the internet leaves traces, and the netizens Ma Lu was exchanging insults with were natural leads.

Soon, Ma Lu traced along the vines and found some review videos.

Universe Infinite Canteen was so popular now that there were bound to be lots of review videos, but previously, apart from a few deliberately disruptive ones, these review videos were uniformly positive.

It was only in the past few days that negative videos started to appear, but initially, it seemed to be just small bloggers with not many followers.

They chose a smart angle to start with. First, they didn’t deny that the food at Universe Infinite Canteen was delicious, but then they quickly turned the topic and revealed their fangs, starting to attack the restaurant’s pricing.

Ma Lu thought his pricing was quite conscientious, considering that the ingredients were all personally transported from other planes by him, and some even after a hard battle.

Old Wang’s cooking skills were impeccable, and some dishes even had extra effects. Selling at the current price was definitely worth more than their value.

It blew those gimmicky upscale clubs and private kitchens out of the water.

But on the other hand, the absolute prices at Universe Infinite Canteen were indeed not cheap, and whether it’s worth it or not is a very subjective matter.

It depends on individual standards like income and consumption habits.

Even those who had dined at Universe Infinite Canteen might find it hard to fault what these bloggers were saying.

And even if business at Universe Infinite Canteen was booming, comparatively, there were still more people who hadn’t eaten there, coupled with the subtle implications of these food bloggers.

They portrayed Universe Infinite Canteen as a restaurant that spent a lot on PR, hired a lot of online trolls to stir up hype.

So, the previously uniform praise on the internet all turned into covert advertorials, and even Ma Lu’s identity as the owner got more and more mysterious.

Turned into a third-generation descendant of a mysterious family, whose family power was so great that even insiders couldn’t refuse to give face, and even hired the popular idol Angie to support him.

This way, those small bloggers who dared to resist authority and tell the truth were praised, and those who defended Universe Infinite Canteen were all labeled as trolls.

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But until now, the matter had only spread on a small scale, after all, the self-media bloggers who went to explore the restaurant didn’t have many followers themselves.

The low ones had just over ten thousand, and the high ones had two or three hundred thousand at most, and who knows how many of those were purchased.

So, the real climax happened last night, when a blogger with a million followers called Magic Seal also entered the scene with a review video of Universe Infinite Canteen.

He explicitly stated that the Huo Xiang Baiyu Chicken he ordered was not as authentic as that of Yufeng Building, bluntly saying Universe Infinite Canteen was overrated and should cut their prices by half.

Then those who supported the small bloggers felt like they had found evidence and began attacking everywhere, not only mocking diners who posted dining photos on the internet as fools with too much money.

They also created a list to avoid, which included all the food bloggers who had previously released positive review videos of Universe Infinite Canteen.

This affair actually didn’t have as big an impact on the restaurant as you might think, because Universe Infinite Canteen had rapidly accumulated a group of loyal customers in the two months since it opened.

Moreover, Ma Lu changed the menu frequently, once a week, so there wasn’t a problem of people getting tired of the food.

Also, the dishes at the restaurant were limited in quantity; there was never enough to sell, so fewer people coming could reduce everyone’s waiting time.

But Ma Lu was still very annoyed, and the matter didn’t affect his business, but it did have a real impact on his plan to funnel customers to Red Ridge.

With fewer new customers coming, the number of clean plates sent out with Coconut Jelly naturally also decreased.

Ma Lu was counting on building up Red Ridge and then laying back and collecting money.

Moreover, the timing and intensity of this campaign were unusual.

It seems someone was targeting him from behind the scenes. A competitor, maybe?

The problem was, Ma Lu didn’t feel there was anyone on this street who could be considered his competitor, not to mention this street, even the entire City B, there was no restaurant that could beat Universe Infinite Canteen.

As for those further away, there wasn’t a competitive relationship.

The next moment, a name involuntarily popped into Ma Lu’s head.

Could it be that guy again?

Speaking of which, last week it seemed like Meiping had sent a couple of lackeys over, sneaky as they were, probably to spy in preparation for an upcoming attack.

They’re probably the only ones who could command so many food bloggers. Continue reading on novelbuddy