Looking at the dishes served, even Senior Suzanne Lane was greatly surprised.
Every single dish was made from natural ingredients. There was stir-fried six-legged pork with black eggs for 200 star coins a serving, sweet and sour three-legged duck for 300 star coins a serving, Flame Fish Soup (a specialty of the Flame Galaxy) for 500 star coins a serving, and a fruit platter for 1,000 star coins a serving. Then there was the three-piece specialty set from the Augute Galaxy for 5,000 star coins a serving.
These were secondary; looking at the bottle of wine that was served, Henry Tian's heart ached.
It was a famous fruit wine, valued at 13,000 star coins! It almost cost as much as all the dishes on the table.
Before he could even get a few more glances, Zachary Chase had already filled the glasses for himself and the three beautiful women beside him.
"Oh dear, it's all poured. If Senior Henry wants to drink, he can order a few more bottles himself," Zachary said with a smile, looking at Henry.
"No… no need… I don't drink," Henry's mouth twitched. There was only one bottle of that wine in this restaurant! He wouldn't have the chance to order it even if he wanted to.
"Hey, you ordered so much. Is it really okay?" Wendy Chase leaned into Zachary's ear, whispering.
"Eat without worry. Such good food is much more delicious than those artificial foods. You won't find this place again once you leave this village, so it's a waste not to eat." Zachary was already devouring the food like a whirlwind.
That's right! The word 'devour' was used to describe it.
Originally, Suzanne and the others were still mindful of table manners, but seeing the food on the table about to be cleared by Zachary in no time, they couldn't care less and sped up their eating. Of course, their eating manners were vastly superior to Zachary's.
Even Senior Suzanne and her friends had never eaten such a lavish and luxurious meal before; at most, they had only tried a few of the dishes.
After all, a single meal like this could potentially consume the lifetime savings of hundreds of families. The annual salary of an ordinary person was only forty star coins; yet, those forty star coins could barely support a family of three, though they would only eat artificial food.
Having eaten artificial food for over a month, Zachary finally felt that his tongue still had taste buds.
Henry looked at Zachary, who was eating like a beast. He tried to speak several times but never got the chance. Finally, he gave up and joined the eating frenzy. Because if he didn't eat soon, this large table of food might be gone. It was rare for even Senior Henry to have the opportunity to eat such a lavish meal.
The most pitiful one was Victor Hargrove, who had been kneeling all along. Not only did he have to endure the shame of kneeling, but now he also had to suffer the multiple torments of smell, taste, and hearing. And his heart was bleeding because, in name, he was paying for this dinner.
After an hour of devouring everything like a whirlwind, Zachary rubbed his belly, which had expanded by several circles. If his clothes weren't stretchable according to body size, he probably wouldn't be able to button them up. Wendy and Senior Suzanne next to him were not much better off, looking utterly satisfied and unable to eat another bite.
Henry quickly called out to Zachary at this moment: "Junior Zachary, you've eaten and drunk your fill. Isn't it time to settle what we agreed upon? Please apply to the academy to cancel the punishment for Junior Victor."
"Oh right, I almost forgot. We haven't discussed the main business yet!" Zachary sat back down. He laughed: "My apologies, a small fry like me hasn't eaten such delicious food before. Please don't laugh, please don't laugh."
Looking at Zachary's roguish appearance, even Senior Suzanne couldn't help but laugh. Wendy, on the other hand, stared at her older brother. How had she never noticed how cunning her older brother was before?
"Tell me, what conditions are you prepared to offer for me to let Victor go?" Zachary asked seriously.
Henry was stunned; he looked at Zachary in surprise: "Conditions? What you just ate…"
"Senior Henry wouldn't think that one meal could settle this matter, would he?" Zachary said, feigning surprise.
Henry's mouth twitched; he now felt the urge to punch Zachary himself. He suppressed his anger and said with a smile: "Then Junior Zachary, just state your conditions."
"Straightforward, I like that." Zachary raised his hand, holding up five fingers: "My starship fought a hard battle, and the combat losses, personnel losses, and return-to-port repairs all cost money."
Wendy rolled her eyes.
*Please, that five-minute battle probably didn't even consume one percent of your starship's energy. And what combat losses? Victor's T2 Bald Eagle never hit your starship from beginning to end, let alone return-to-port repairs or repairing thin air!*
Everyone could see that Zachary was extorting them.
"Fifty thousand star coins, right? I think…" Henry looked at the five fingers Zachary held up.
Zachary immediately interrupted, grinning: "It's not fifty thousand star coins. It's five hundred thousand star coins!"
Five hundred thousand star coins!
This outrageous demand made even Senior Suzanne's eyes widen.
"Five hundred thousand! You're extorting me!" Victor couldn't help but jump up. Perhaps because he had been kneeling for too long, he directly fell headfirst onto the dining table, the leftover dishes from earlier splattering all over his face. Fortunately, the round table was fixed, otherwise, it would have been even more embarrassing.
"Extortion? If that's what you think, then it seems we have no need to talk. I can forgo these five hundred thousand star coins, and you can also choose to get out of North Star." Zachary spread his hands and stood up, preparing to leave.
Victor's heart was filled with anger and despair; he roared: "I can compensate you, but I really don't have five hundred thousand star coins!"
"You do," Zachary said.
Victor looked at Zachary in surprise.
"Although your T2 Bald Eagle-class Light Interstellar Cruiser is quite severely damaged, if you sell it quickly now, five or six hundred thousand star coins shouldn't be a problem," Zachary said with a smile, looking at Victor.
Demon!
This guy was a demon.
He had planned everything before coming here.
Everyone present had their impression of Zachary completely overturned.
"Oh, and I have one more condition. I think I heard your friend say that if you won, you could mercifully let me kneel before you and kowtow, calling you grandpa? In that case, you might consider not expelling me."
Zachary's smile at this moment was that of a devil in Victor's eyes!
"My time is more important. I'll give you ten seconds." Zachary tapped his fingers on the table.
At this moment, everyone present looked at Victor, as if they all began silently counting down.
Finally, Victor knelt on the ground.
This kneel had already given everyone the answer.
"Grandpa Zachary… I was wrong." Victor's head hit the ground.