Universe Infinite Canteen

The Traveler's Bracelet built-in scanning function unlocked an illustration each time it scanned a new food ingredient.

At first, Ma Lu thought these illustrations were just a way to record the wild beasts he had encountered, especially since many of them were scanned when they entered the scanning range, but Ma Lu might have been busy with other things at the time or there were too many other wild beasts nearby, so he ignored them.

Having an illustration meant that at least he could flip through them later to see what a beast with a certain name looked like.

It wasn't until he unlocked over 200 kinds of illustrations that the Traveler's Bracelet suddenly popped up a new notification.

Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the title—Ingredient Collector, by wearing this title, an appointed personal equipment item gets an additional level +1.

Ma Lu was also surprised when he saw this notification.

Is this possible?!

The four pieces of equipment he had: let's not mention the Shelter of Fate, which Ma Lu relied on for his exploits; the Collection Bag was used to hold ingredients, also indispensable; the Chef's Knife's importance was slightly lesser, but its ability to cut all kinds of food ingredients was too useful in battle.

And after several battles, Ma Lu found that its damage-boosting effect upon leveling up was triggered just by carrying it, making it a truly practical weapon in combat.

In comparison, the Traveler's Bracelet had the most and most miscellaneous functions, much like a smart terminal, but if you were to say which feature was indispensable, it seemed hard to pin down at the moment.

It wasn't until Ma Lu collected these illustrations and inadvertently unlocked the Title System that he discovered the Traveler's Bracelet still had this trick up its sleeve.

Designating an equipment item to gain an additional level +1 might not seem like much, but Ma Lu had already upgraded his equipment several times and knew well the substantial investment involved, especially as it got more terrifying later on.

For instance, upgrading his Level 6 Collection Bag to Level 7 would cost 320,000 Star Currency, a sum that could buy a house in many a small county, or at the very least make a down payment.

But now, with the title of Ingredient Collector, Ma Lu could upgrade his Level 6 Collection Bag to Level 7 without spending a dime.

So this time, he actually brought back a total of 1000 pounds of ingredients, and even after deducting the 300 pounds he invested into the breeding farm table, there were still 700 pounds left to use for his food stand.

Furthermore, Ma Lu discovered that this title could be worn or removed freely.

Removing it and wearing it again allowed him to designate another equipment item to gain an additional level +1, though it came with a 12-hour cooldown period.

But this didn't detract from the practicality of the Ingredient Collector title, and since collecting 200 kinds of ingredients earned him a title, naturally, collecting more would yield more titles.

Although he wasn't yet clear on the functions of the other titles and whether different titles could be worn at the same time, Ma Lu had made up his mind to collect as many illustrations as possible in the future.

Furthermore, this incident made him study the illustrations carefully again, discovering that they also had different rarities.

Ingredients below three stars were mostly of ordinary quality, moving up to rare, and as for super rare illustrations, Ma Lu currently only had two: the Six-armed Ancient Ape and the Golden Leopard.

Beyond that were legendary-quality pictures, and only the Beast Herding Frog fitted into this category.

Ma Lu guessed collecting a certain number of illustrations of different levels would probably earn him titles, and it was very likely that higher-quality illustrations would provide better title effects.

However, this could only be verified over time.

After studying the illustrations, Ma Lu decided on today's menu and went out to buy the side dishes according to the menu, only to receive a phone call from Yan Wu on the way back.

"Hello, are you free right now?"

Ma Lu was almost at the front of the apartment building, holding three big bags of vegetables in one hand and two buckets of oil in the other, so he had to sandwich the phone between his shoulder and cheek.

"We're planning to go out and set up a stand in a bit, but Boss Yan, you can go ahead and tell us what you need?"

Yan Wu didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point, "I have a business offer, wondering if you're interested?"

"What kind of business?"

"Some old friends of mine will be visiting me at noon today, and I want to invite them for a meal."

"But my restaurant hasn't started operating yet, or do you mean Boss Yan, you want to bring them to my street food stall?"

"I know your restaurant is not open yet, and my friends cannot appear in public, so I want to invite you to cook at my place, and I can pay you in Star Currency for this time."

Ma Lu's interest was piqued, "How much are you thinking, Boss Yan? How many dishes, and do you have any requirements?"

"Let's say 200 Star Currency, four dishes and a soup, no special requirements, just don't make anything that calls on the wild again, oh, and my friends are Valkyrie People."

Ma Lu didn't know whether 200 Star Currency was a lot or a little, but since Yan Wu's request was quite simple—just cook four dishes and a soup, with no special requirements for ingredients or taste—that should be an easy task for Old Wang.

There was no reason not to earn that money.

So Ma Lu immediately agreed to the offer, though he wondered what the so-called Valkyrie People were like.

From what Yan Wu said, they seemed unable to appear in front of ordinary people. Even Yan Wu, a werewolf, had already integrated into human society and even opened a hardware store.

If there were many guests coming, he also wondered whether four dishes and a soup would be enough to entertain them.

But since they were just cooking on-site, this was something that Yan Wu, the host, had to decide, so Ma Lu didn't bother with it.

After returning home, he informed Old Wang about the situation and then checked the stock in the fridge; whatever the case, there would definitely be enough to make four dishes and a soup.

Even the animals in the breeding farm didn't need to be touched, as Ma Lu would not use up all the ingredients during the weeks of running his stand but would save two or three portions in the freezer for emergencies.

Now, these ingredients were able to come in handy, although planning the menu still required some thought.

Technically, Yan Wu had already informed Ma Lu of the cost for this meal and explicitly stated there were no additional requirements.

This meant that from a perspective of maximizing profits, Ma Lu could just whip up some dishes with a Deliciousness Index of 1 or 2 stars to fulfill the task.

But considering that the Universe Infinite Canteen would open soon, Ma Lu wasn't too worried about Earth's clientele, but he needed to properly advertise to potential visitors from Different Dimensions, as this related to his future Star Currency income. So this time, he had to showcase a few of Old Wang's real skills.

Additionally, Yan Wu had swiftly assisted with the incident involving Zhen Ye, so Ma Lu naturally wanted to return the favor and ensure that Yan Wu's guests were well taken care of this time.

Therefore, Ma Lu still selected many high-star ingredients and then made another trip to the farmers' market to complete the rest of the side dishes.