Chapter 8 - Breaking Into the Biggest Kitchen in the City
The plan had four stages.
Reggie called them: Enter, Find, Steal, Leave.
Madam Sato called that "not a plan."
Owen called it "evidence of future criminal charges."
Eli called it Tuesday.
NourishNow Central Kitchen occupied two warehouse blocks near the industrial district. It produced twenty thousand meals per shift. Workers entered through biometric gates. Trucks moved constantly.
Fortunately, food-delivery infrastructure had one ancient weakness.
Nobody looked closely at the guy carrying onions.
Reggie borrowed uniforms. Owen obtained a fire inspection route. Madam Sato altered their spiritual signatures with a powder that smelled like burnt cinnamon.
Eli pushed a pallet of onions through security.
His system chimed.
[Stealth skill unavailable.]
[Suggestion: Act like you belong.]
"Revolutionary advice."
Inside, the kitchen was enormous.
Steam lines ran overhead. Industrial kettles held hundreds of gallons. Workers moved with practiced speed.
And black Hunger Qi saturated everything.
Eli nearly gagged.
The seals were not added individually.
They came through the seasoning system.
A locked stainless pipe delivered black salt from a basement feed.
They followed it down.
The basement did not exist on fire plans.
Owen's jaw tightened.
"Same construction as the warehouse."
At the bottom waited a steel door covered in talismans.
Madam Sato touched one.
"Starvation Array."
Eli's system flashed.
[Purifying Flame may disrupt array.]
[Success chance: 14%]
"Fourteen?"
[Optimism is not a stat.]
Eli pressed both hands against the door.
Gold flame spread.
The black symbols fought back.
His Gratitude Qi fell: 108... 72... 39...
Then something inside him remembered every person beneath the bridge, every bowl passed hand to hand.
The flame brightened.
The seals cracked.
[Skill evolved: Purifying Flame II]
The door opened.
Behind it was not a storage room.
It was a garden.
Rows of pale plants grew beneath artificial light. Their roots disappeared into tanks filled with dark liquid.
Each plant bore red fruit shaped like tiny hearts.
Reggie whispered, "I officially miss normal crime."
Eli Appraised one.
[Hunger Fruit]
[Created from harvested Appetite Tax.]
[Use: increases cultivation at cost of donor vitality.]
Madam Sato's face went gray.
"This scale is impossible."
"Why?"
"You need a Hearth Engine to refine this much Hunger Qi. There are only nine in North America. The consortium controls all nine."
Owen pointed deeper into the garden.
A familiar Nine Banquet crest was carved into a steel tank.
Not copied.
Authentic.
Eli looked at Madam Sato.
She looked betrayed.
They had discovered the Ash Pavilion was using consortium technology.
Then slow applause came from the catwalk above.
Grant Mercer leaned on the rail.
Beside him stood an elderly man wearing the white-and-gold robes of Nine Banquet.
Madam Sato whispered, "Elder Cho."
Grant smiled down at them.
"Congratulations. You found the conspiracy."
Elder Cho added calmly, "Unfortunately, you misunderstood which side is illegal."
---
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