Fifteen minutes later, Winnie came to knock on the door, announcing that their first dish was ready.
Half an hour after that, Dina’s cake finally came out of the oven.
Long before it was removed, the unique aroma of butter, cream, and toasted dough had already filled the entire dormitory. Dorothy’s eyes glowed with a predatory green light. Hunger gnawed at her stomach, and her throat swallowed reflexively from muscle memory.
The finished product was a cylinder with a top that expanded like a mushroom cloud. It wobbled as it was carried, as soft and supple as a water bag. Dina carried it with extreme care, terrified of breaking the structure.
The top of the cake was an inviting tender yellow, while the bottom was an unassuming toasted brown. However, the intense fragrance of roasted butter and flour radiated from that toasted portion. The moment the door opened, the scent flowed out into the hallway.
Girls from the other dorms on the floor stepped out one after another, looking around to find the source.
“It smells so good!”
“Is someone baking a cake?”
“Definitely. It smells just like a bakery when the bread first comes out.”
“It’s too much… I just finished dinner and I’m hungry again.”
“Forget it, I’m going to go gnaw on some jerky and bread.”
“Watch out, you’ll get a belly.”
…
Winnie pushed the door open, followed by Medeili, who was carrying their entry. Wang Yue ushered them into the small study, clearing a section of the long desk to serve as the platform for the Food War.
Medeili’s dish was a portion of meat jelly placed in a stainless steel square tray. The fragrance wasn’t immediately obvious. Being a cold dish, it lacked the aromatic boost of baking, its flavors concentrated and restrained.
Is this Crystal Meat?
The more Wang Yue looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. Judging by the color and texture of the meat, it was likely made from sheep trotters. The trotters had been deboned and minced to create a crystal jelly. Spices had been added during the cooking process, giving it a particularly warm, comforting scent.
Crystal Meat… Wang Yue remembered mentioning it briefly during a chat with Medeili a few days ago. She hadn’t expected the girl to apply the knowledge so quickly.
She sensed that judging between the two would be difficult. While cheese was miraculous, mutton was no ordinary ingredient either.
The wooden platter holding the cake and the stainless steel tray holding the meat jelly sat a meter apart, locked in a silent confrontation.
Dina stood in her designated competition area and produced a bread knife. She sliced vertically into the cake. Molten cheese flowed out like lava, flooding the soft, airy surface of the slice. The rising steam blurred the eyes of the watching Dorothy, who slumped to the floor, her stomach twisting into a knot of pure hunger.
Dina thoughtfully fed her first, stuffing a large piece of cake into Dorothy’s mouth until it was completely full. Dorothy’s cheeks puffed out, and she looked as if she might faint from sheer bliss.
Wang Yue cut a piece to taste. As the cheese and cake mingled in her mouth, she felt a profound sense of satisfaction. She only took one bite, however. There were three more courses to go; consuming that much caloric density every time would be more than her body could handle.
After the three judges tasted the Cheese Chiffon Cake, they rinsed their mouths with water. Once their palates were cleansed, they turned their forks toward the mutton jelly.
This piece of Crystal Meat hadn’t been over-seasoned. It relied only on salt and its natural essence. Because of this, the rich, savory aroma of the mutton was released without hindrance, unfolding layer by layer with every chew, washing over the taste buds like a rising tide.
Sheep!
A bleating sheep!
The cute image and the fragrant, tender flesh combined in the mouth, making one feel an involuntary twinge of guilt. Was there any fundamental difference between a human eating a sheep and a Blood Demon eating a little girl? Apparently not.
In the eyes of a sheep, humans were undoubtedly terrifying monsters—one moment playing with them and praising their cuteness, and the next, raising a butcher’s knife to skillfully divide them into neck, shoulder, ribs, and leg… roasting them over a fire until they sizzled with fat.
Wang Yue hesitated before giving the Cheese Chiffon Cake a 7 and the mutton jelly an 8. The natural quality of the mutton, combined with a faint, unidentifiable spice, gave the dish a touch of mystery. Since subsequent dishes might be even better, she didn’t want to hand out a perfect score too easily.
Dorothy gave both dishes a 10. Additionally, she had bitten her own tongue in her excitement and was currently holding a wad of tissue in her mouth to stop the bleeding.
Winnie gave a 6 and an 8. She noted that the freshness of the cream cheese used in the cake was slightly lacking.
