Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 279: Chapter 192: Roasted Lobster with Double Peppers and Sea Urchin

"In your dreams. The prey we release belongs to the contestants and to nature. If word got out that our production team was secretly recovering prey, preventing the contestants from hunting and thereby altering the rankings, which one of you is going to take the fall?"

He lowered his head, staring at the cup of instant noodles in his hands, then glanced at the half a Lobster in front of Lin Chen on the screen and sighed deeply.

"We’ll just have to make do for now. We’ll figure something out about the seafood later."

The only way to get to the coast from here was by helicopter, but that would cause too much of a commotion.

The only way would be to take the opportunity during a routine check to make a brief half-day stop at the coast. That’s the only way we might be able to get some seafood.

Buying it was out of the question. That would cost money, not to mention shipping and vehicle rental fees.

Besides, by the time any store-bought seafood arrived, who knows how long it would have been? Could it possibly be as fresh as a catch straight from the ocean?

To ensure the contestants’ survival experiences weren’t affected, the staff hadn’t even foraged for fruit or anything else near their own camp, leaving as much of the forest as possible for the contestants to explore.

"Aili, how have things been the last two days? Any contestants in bad shape?"

Ariana nodded coolly and picked up a clipboard from the table. A sheet of white A4 paper was attached, listing all the contestants’ names and their current conditions.

"Yes, there are. Let me see..."

"Contestant 21 has symptoms of a mild cold. He also ate an undercooked banana yesterday, which gave him diarrhea and caused dehydration. He’s very weak right now and it’s highly unlikely he can travel far to look for food."

"Contestant 37 ate a poisonous mushroom two days ago. Luckily, he managed to induce vomiting right away, so his symptoms aren’t too severe. However, yesterday’s rain soaked his firewood, leaving him unable to start a fire. He then risked drinking lake water, which led to a stomachache."

"If his symptoms don’t ease up, we may even have to go perform a medical check on him tonight."

"Additionally, four other contestants are showing various signs of physical distress. We’re keeping them under observation. It’ll be fine if they show signs of improvement, but we’re worried their conditions could deteriorate at any moment."

Daniel: "Surviving for over a week in a tropical forest without proper tools... they really are considerably experienced adventurers. A month in a low-risk forest would likely be no problem for them."

"According to our pre-competition estimates, the two-week mark is a major turning point. Contestants with insufficient knowledge of tropical forests will slowly start showing signs of fatigue."

"In that regard, I have to admire Lin. The guy was smart; he directly played around his weaknesses. By choosing the coast from the very beginning, he not only has easy access to protein and fruit, but the dangers are also significantly lower."

"Indeed," Robert said, nodding in agreement. "It might seem a bit opportunistic, but it was without a doubt an incredibly smart decision."

"Besides, most people aren’t watching him for the hardcore survival stuff anyway. As long as he’s getting by, it’s fine. They just want to see him use wild ingredients to cook up all kinds of amazing dishes."

"Look at that Lobster. I bet that Gray guy is going nuts right now, huh?"

...

[Enjoying a delicious Lobster dish on the coast of Panama. Happiness +3]

Lin Chen closed his eyes, savoring the blissful feeling as the delicious flavors bloomed in his mouth. At the same time, he pulled up his personal panel.

’I’ve saved up another 10 points. Should I save 5 more to exchange for Basic Swimming Mastery, or should I get the Encyclopedia of Sea Fish first?’

He thought it over. With Basic Swimming Mastery, he would at best be able to swim on the surface; he wouldn’t be able to dive.

Besides, he didn’t recognize any of the colorful, oddly-shaped sea fish, so he wouldn’t dare try to catch them.

From that perspective, exchanging for Basic Swimming Mastery didn’t seem like it would significantly help him gain more Happiness Points in the future.

On the other hand, getting the Encyclopedia of Sea Fish would allow him to identify all sorts of edible sea fish, which would in turn let him earn new Happiness Points.

With that thought, he unhesitatingly spent the ten points that had barely warmed his pocket.

The number of Happiness Points required at this stage was quite high. He had to think things through as carefully as possible, or he could easily get stuck in a vicious cycle of being unable to earn more Happiness Points.

After finishing the wonderful Lobster dish, all that remained was the grilled pineapple, the clam and coconut milk soup, and some scallops they weren’t sure how to handle.

After a brief discussion, they unanimously decided to just grill the scallops on the rack like the oysters. Every bit of time saved counted.

Although Andre’s new home was complete, the interior wasn’t furnished yet, so he was eager to get back and work on it.

Erica’s situation was even more pressing. She was borrowing their shelter and had no tools besides her knife. She needed to at least make herself a bamboo basket.

After the spicy food, the light and savory clam soup was the perfect remedy, soothing the burning after-effects on Erica’s lips.

Even though these wild Panama peppers looked very similar to common chili varieties, their heat was definitely the real deal.

To Lin Chen, they were only mildly to moderately hot, similar to a Thai chili, but for Andre and Erica, the spiciness was a little too intense.

The surface of the grilled pineapple was branded with cross-hatched, caramelized-brown marks, giving off a captivating caramel aroma. The pineapple’s unique fruity fragrance also became much more intense than before.

The clam soup was nothing out of the ordinary, but unexpectedly, the grilled pineapple actually earned him a few Happiness Points.

It seemed his theory that Happiness Points were earned based solely on the quality and grade of the food wasn’t entirely accurate. If he put together a proper sequence of appetizer, main course, and dessert, he could still earn Happiness Points even after he was full.

"You two eat the scallops. I’m going to get back to work."

He had already spent half the day earning points, and there were only five and a half hours left until nightfall.

Not bothering to wait any longer, Lin Chen immediately got up and headed towards the small creek.