Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu then double-checked the purchase price with Lao Hei.

In the end, the purchase price was set at 75 Star Currency per thousand pounds for 3-star ingredients, 200 Star Currency for 4-star, and 525 Star Currency for 5-star.

Additionally, for every thousand pounds of 3-star ingredients made into salted meat, Lao Hei would pay an extra 125 Star Currency, an extra 180 for 4-star, and 290 for 5-star.

As for ham, due to the longer production time and more complex techniques, the selling price is also higher, earning an additional 80 Star Currency per thousand pounds compared to salted meat.

Ma Lu calculated that, by primarily selling ham, he could reach a selling price of 280 Star Currency per thousand pounds for 3-star ingredients, 460 for 4-star, and 895 for 5-star.
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As for ingredients below 3-star, because the profit margin was too low and they took up too much space on the smuggling ship, Lao Hei had no plans to purchase them. Meanwhile, Ma Lu had no plans to sell ingredients above 5-star.

After all, making dishes was definitely more profitable, such as when Chen Zhengyi and others dined at his place, a meal would easily cost several hundred, even thousands of Star Currency, using only a few pounds of ingredients.

Even when Ma Lu had his biggest loss, hosting a BBQ for Mickey and the rest, those cartoon gluttons gobbled up two or three thousand pounds of his ingredients, mostly lower-star ones, but in the end, they still paid a total of 8,000 Star Currency.

Of course, Lao Hei wasn't intentionally lowballing Ma Lu. Even if he did have the tendency to exaggerate, the risks of smuggling were indeed there. Besides, it was a partnership deal, and he offered the highest possible price within his authority.

But after all, this was Earth, located outside of The Grand Alliance's free shipping zone, so the smugglers could only be an additional channel for disposing of excess ingredients and earning a bit extra. Ma Lu's business focus would definitely still be the restaurant.

However, this gave him an even greater incentive to continue upgrading the Desktop Farm and the Collection Bag.

Ma Lu first delivered 2,000 pounds of salted meat to the location designated by Lao Hei, worth about 1,000 Star Currency, which also freed up more space for ham. Roughly two days later, he received a transfer from Lao Hei totaling 3,065 Star Currency.

This amount also included the reward for helping Lao Hei obtain a new body, so Ma Lu's total Star Currency on hand came to 14,253.

It looked like a lot, but he was still quite a distance from clearing his debt, and it wasn't even sufficient for purchasing new equipment at the moment.

Ma Lu had the hardware store owner help him find a High-Dimensional Artifact capable of opening equipment slots. The cheapest one cost 20,000 Star Currency, and as per usual, a 70% down payment was required first, with the remaining 30% to be paid when the smuggling ship arrived next week.

After paying the down payment, Ma Lu was left with only 188 Star Currency, but he still had to earn another 6,000 in the following six days, which wasn't a big problem.

Having hosted a few special guests and received good reviews, Universe Infinite Canteen's reputation among visitors from Different Dimensions had gradually spread.

Especially Love-Struck, in her eager pursuit of true love, zealously expanded her list of contacts. Her friend list contained not just ordinary people but also individuals of particular stature.

Love-Struck meticulously managed her social media accounts, continuously posting about the delicious food from Universe Infinite Canteen for the past few days, even though she, a skeleton woman, didn't eat.

However, according to Love-Struck's research and statistics, short videos and pictures related to food received high comment and like rates. Naturally, she wouldn't miss out on this.

Moreover, the street promotion team led by Jigina and composed of Valkyrie People was also actively involved in the city, earning Ma Lu four reservations at once, including one order worth 7,000 Star Currency, which was comparable to a New Year's feast.

Before that, however, Ma Lu made a trip to Holy Temple City, purposely arriving a day late so that he could catch the 230th anniversary celebration of the city's founding.

Ma Lu himself wasn't too enthusiastic about the celebration; even though there was free food and drink and entertainment to watch, the typically austere and ascetic style of the Order Church meant that their programs were likely less interesting than the edgy videos on TikTok.

What Ma Lu was more concerned with was the special program of that day, which was the reason for his visit. As an outsider, he might not care about the win or loss between the Order Church and the Witch Alliance, but he couldn't completely ignore the changes in the situation.

Plus, as a commander, ensuring the safety of his team members was also his duty. Whether from personal affection or the cost of cultivation, Ma Lu did not wish to see anything untoward happen to Yun Que and the others.

Therefore, the first thing he did upon arrival was to visit the Witch's Home, planning to retrieve the witches under his command. However, he was informed that today the Witch's Home was closed, and no witch was permitted to leave.

Ma Lu was somewhat surprised because, in the past, witches were also allowed to participate in celebrations as long as a knight had reported in advance.

He specifically asked the nursemaids inside, only to learn that this was a new order issued just last night by the Sacred Order of Knights, or to be more precise, by Li Wei.

It appeared that Li Wei was not completely ignorant of the Witch Alliance's upcoming actions.

Furthermore, Ma Lu discovered that the signals near the Witch's Home seemed to be temporarily blocked; Yun Que, who loved to chat, did not reply to the messages he sent her even after a quarter of an hour.

This would have been impossible in the past.

Could it be that Li Wei had already discovered that there were still Fallen Witches hidden within the Witch's Home? Or did he just have suspicions without evidence, and to prevent any accidents, he simply cut off communication between the Witch's Home and the outside world on the day of the celebration?

Ma Lu couldn't be bothered to use his brain to guess, so he decided to go directly to the person involved.

He was now a high-ranking member of the Sacred Order of Knights and also one of Li Wei's men, so he did have this special privilege.

However, Li Wei was not in the office; Ma Lu's effort was in vain. After leaving The Great Tower, as he was contemplating where to find Li Wei, he was caught off guard when someone patted him on the shoulder.

Ma Lu turned around and saw that it was the Messenger standing behind him.

The latter glanced around, noting that no one was paying attention to them, and then quickly slipped him a small piece of paper.

"What does this mean?"

"This is a message Lord Li Wei specifically wrote for you," the Messenger said, "You are one of the few people he trusts, so only you are suitable for this secret mission."

"Secret mission?" Ma Lu frowned.

"You'll understand once you read the note," the Messenger said. "Remember, this note must not be seen by a third party, including myself, and the Order of Knights' archive will not record this mission. May the light of the Master of Order shine upon you forever, Master Ximu."

After speaking, he turned and hurriedly disappeared into an alley.

Ma Lu, holding the note, frowned even more. Why was there additional work on a holiday, and more so, why did it have to be so secretive?

It didn't matter how well Li Wei kept a secret; the problem was that Ma Lu was illiterate and completely unable to understand the writing on the small note, on top of the fact that he couldn't reach people like Yun Que.

Ma Lu had no choice but to stop a passerby and hand over the note, "Read to me what it says."

"Yes, Sir Knight."

Although Ma Lu's request was strange, the passerby saw his Knight's Armor and harbored no doubt, immediately reading aloud.

"There's been a rumor spreading in the city that the Shrike only faked death and will appear on the day of the celebration. Investigate this matter, find out who's behind it; Goethe of the Drinkers' Assembly should know something. Be careful, don't let others discover your purpose."

Having read the note, the passerby was dumbfounded and stammered, "The… the leader of the Fallen Witches isn't dead?"

Ma Lu snatched the note from his hand and reassured him, "Nothing of the sort, it's just a celebration day joke. Go about your business."