Chef in the Apocalypse

Zane grabbed the books which were held out in front of him and nodded. "Yes Leader."

"Ah. Also, do not put those books in your system inventory no matter what." He added, making sure that Zane got the message.

After that, Zane made his way through the crowd, tapping a few people on the shoulder and whisking them off with him. Jayce watched his back as he marched on, inwardly confident that Zane would not let him down. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He turned his attention to his other party members and began to hand out books like he was a teacher handing out workbooks to all of his students. Jayce had enough time to last night to briefly read through most of the manuals in his bookshelf.

With just a quick overview he decided which cultivation techniques and martial arts techniques to give to each of his party members. Judging by how easy it was, he believed that Rubick had specifically picked out these manuals for this purpose.

Otherwise what were the chances of him finding suitable techniques for each of his main party members within the hundred or so books he had been given?

Either way, he now had a direction forward in order to increase the strength of their side.

He then turned to the remaining Hell’s Kitchen members and spoke. "Line up in front of the person who you feel is most like yourself. Make sure you answer truthfully, otherwise we will move you to a suitable spot ourselves."

With that, everyone in the Central Square began to move towards the party members, creating a single file in front of each of his new Generals. Macie and Heath had abstained from being made generals which was fine by him, however he still needed them to train.

Heath’s large frame was standing in front of Colin, causing Jayce to nod with satisfaction. The two big bastards were more alike than what he would like to admit.

He moved his gaze over the lines and seemed pretty satisfied with how his almost 200 members had assigned themselves.

Just as he turned, he suddenly saw a young boy around the age of 13 standing in front of him with a grin on his face. Jayce resisted the urge to rub his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

"Daniel... What are you doing?" He asked patiently.

"I’m standing in front of the person who I feel is most like myself." Daniel replied, putting his hands on his hips and striking a pose.

A few chuckles rang out from within the other groups at the antics of the young teenager. Jayce could only let out a sigh, perhaps he should have specified that he was not a part of this drill.

"Go to Ben’s team." Jayce said, sending out a soft chopping kick to Daniel’s behind and flinging him away.

"AH!" Not expecting the push, Daniel almost tumbled to the ground after letting out a yelp of surprise.

The square was filled with laughter once more as they watched the comical antics of the young teenager. Jayce too felt the atmosphere lighten a little.

"I’m giving you all 6 months to get stronger. If you aren’t up to scratch then I’ll have to leave you behind in Bastion." Jayce said, bringing some seriousness back into the Central Square.

He did not want to risk more people dying because they weren’t strong enough to take on the supercharged system of the enemy. He also wasn’t sure what kind of formations and tricks they had up their sleeves.

"If you know anyone within Bastion who also wants to get stronger, tell them we will be holding a conscription tomorrow morning in the Central Square. You may all take the rest of the day to relax." Jayce finished, dismissing everyone.

As everyone was preparing to leave, Lianna came over to Jayce and wrapped her arms around his, leaning her petite yet curvaceous frame on him.

"Did you let Dion and Kane know about the conscription?" Lianna asked, knowing well that Jayce had not had the time to do so. She had been by his side for practically every moment of the last 2 days.

Jayce waved his hand dismissively, "They won’t mind. After all, the stronger the residents are, the greater chance we’ll have when the invasion starts. Hell, Dion will probably want to join in himself."

Lianna nodded after a moment, thinking that it made sense. However, she still disagreed with Jayce’s approach. He should have consulted Dion and Kane before telling everyone to mention the conscription to the other residents.

After all, although Jayce was a large part of Bastion, he had agreed to leave the running of the city to those two.

Seeing the frown form on Lianna’s face, Jayce’s expression softened a little.

"I know what you’re thinking and you’re probably right. I should have consulted them before making such a decision, I was a little hasty." He replied.

Lianna was pleased with his attitude, a small smile forming on her lips. However in the next moment her face froze, remembering that she still had yet to admonish him for pranking Colin with the Baozi earlier.

"Speaking of hasty, and childish. What was up with that faulty steamed bun earlier?" She raised her eyebrow, only to give a swift wink to him and relay her true feelings.

Truth be told, she thought that it was rather petty, but hilarious at the same time. Especially with how the two had made up, embracing each other and carrying on like two kids who had made up after a fight.

However, with Jackie’s incessant complaining and fierce temperament she had made her promise to give Jayce a speaking to, less he jeopardize Colin’s trademark smile once again.

Jayce stared blankly at his winking woman before his gaze fell on Jackie who was standing a bit further behind her with her arms crossed. She had a satisfied expression on her face, as if he was getting his just desserts.

Finally everything clicked and he understood the situation. He quickly decided to go along with the script.

"I’m sorry, it was a childish thing to do. It won’t happen again." He replied, lowering his head in defeat.

Lianna held back a laugh at the over dramatic and soap opera-like acting that Jayce was playing out in front of her. She moved her hands to her hips and continued berating him.

"It’s not good enough. Don’t you know how -mmph- valuable and -mmph- gorgeous Colin’s smile is?" Lianna almost lost her composure, stifling laughs in between the two outlandish adjectives that Jackie had included in her complaints earlier.

"HAH—" Jayce who still had his head lowered almost fell down to the ground in laughter, trying to stop himself before he ruined the play.

Yet the damage was done, once Lianna heard the loud almost foghorn-like laugh escape Jayce’s lips, she could not contain her laughter, doubling over and holding her sides.

"Hahaha!"

"HAHA Valuable~! GORGEOUS! Hahaha"

Jayce felt his eyes tear up as the two continued to laugh infectiously in front of the questioning gazes of the onlookers. Colin himself who liked a good laugh felt that he had missed out on a good joke and was about to walk over.

However Jackie pulled him back, letting out a scowl.

"Those cheeky bastards." She chided, yet in the next moment her face bloomed into a smile.