In theory, she was still a human, so her status should be higher than a robot.
But now, she believed that the team leader dared to hit her, but didn't dare to touch the robot at all.
"No appointment, no entry."
The robot repeated this sentence coldly.
"You!"
The team leader's face was covered in blood, and his torn protective suit was almost falling off.
"Ugh, can't we find someone else besides Chef Li?"
"There are only a few chefs in the whole Dustwind City. Most of them work for big families. The only one who still takes outside jobs is Chef Li."
"Too bad I don't have the skills. I heard Chef Li charges 5,000 star coins for one job."
These words reached Ellie's ears, and all she could think was: 5,000 star coins for one job!
Her eyes instantly lit up.
It seemed that chefs and agricultural experts were even more valuable than she thought.
Suddenly, a bold idea popped into her head.
"I heard that Chef Li was invited to the Shen Family for a private banquet."
A soft voice came from the crowd.
Ellie remembered Yazhi and Li Ge mentioning that they wanted to invite Chef Li for a family banquet.
Some people were born in Rome, while others were born to work like cattle.
Yazhi could invite a top chef, while normal teams risked their lives catching mutant beasts but still ended up helpless.
A team member quickly looked over. "Little girl, are you serious?"
Ellie nodded fast like a pecking bird.
The team leader's eyes lit up. He grabbed a steel pipe and said, "Let's go to the Shen Family!"
The crowd was just about to rush after him.
Ellie stepped forward. "Hey... you all know there's a young middle-level warrior in the Shen Family, right?"
The team leader stopped.
"I heard that middle-level warrior is about to be promoted to high-level," she said. Of course, Ellie made it up just to scare them.
"Today is their pairing banquet."
A banquet for a soon-to-be high-level warrior was something the team leader didn't dare to mess with.
Ellie leaned closer.
"How about this... leave this mountain chicken—oh, I mean phoenix—to me? I'll only take half the price."
Oh!
Her voice wasn't loud, but everyone around heard her clearly.
The whole place went silent.
Ellie expected this. She had wanted to find a quiet place to talk to the team leader.
But everyone was too curious, and the team leader was never alone.
She didn't want to miss the chance.
She had to take the risk.
Take the chance, maybe win big.
"Who's this silly girl, talking big like that? Asking for half the price? Can she really handle it?"
"Yeah, did she eat something weird and go crazy? How can she say something like that!"
"In our Dustwind City's 300-year history, this is the first phoenix ever. She hasn't even seen one before. How could she possibly know how to deal with it?"
Ellie: Hah. Not only have I seen one, I've killed one, and I even know seventy-two ways to cook it!
They said zombies had taken over during the apocalypse. In the end, humans had to use nuclear weapons.
Even though they won, the world became wasteland.
Technology fell back, and many skills and knowledge were lost.
In this situation, not knowing how to deal with mutated plants and animals was understandable.
Ellie showed her little tiger teeth and gave the team leader a sweet smile. "How about this? Give me twenty minutes to handle this phoenix. If you're not satisfied..."
"Hmph, what if we're not satisfied?" the team leader hadn't replied yet, but a bystander quickly spoke up.
"If the leader isn't happy, I have ten nutrient shots here. You can have them all. It's just twenty minutes. It won't stop you from going to the Shen Family to find Chef Li."
"Get out of the way, we don't have time to play with you."
Some team members were anxious. They grabbed the giant mountain chicken and were about to leave.
The team leader stopped them. "Let me see the nutrient shots."
"Here!"
Ellie opened her small cloth pouch, and her big clear eyes were full of honesty.
The team leader wiped the dried blood off his face.
"Alright."
"Captain! Don't waste time, let's go find Li!"
"She's just a kid! What if she messes up our phoenix?"
The team leader didn't say a word and stared at Ellie.
If they ran to the Shen family now, they'd risk offending a soon-to-be high-level warrior. Even if Li was willing to help, it was probably already past the best time to process the phoenix.
Some of the meat would definitely go to waste.
But right now, they could still earn ten nutrient shots from this little girl. Why not agree?
Only twenty minutes.
Hehe!
Deal!
Today, let's show you what old-school chicken butchering looks like!
"If I do it well, you have to give me 2500 star coins."
"Whoever breaks their word is a dog!"
Although the team leader didn't know what a "dog" was, he could tell it wasn't a good thing.
Thinking of the ten nutrient shots he'd get, he gritted his teeth, "Fine!"
The group arrived at the mutant beast slaughter area.
At the base, many special zones were managed together, like the beast processing area.
Officially, all beasts had to be handled here. But powerful families? It was an open secret that they had their own private places.
A guard robot registered them at the gate.
Robot: Name?
Ellie: Ellie.
She hid her last name.
Even though the original Ellie was known as a useless person in Wind Soil City, not everyone knew her face. She still wanted to live a quiet life and avoid being tied to the Shen family.
Robot: Beast type and owner?
That information was passed to the team leader.
Ellie quietly observed the slaughter area.
It was about the size of a schoolyard, outdoors, with five workstations in a row. Each had a table and pot, arranged from small to big.
The smallest pot was about the same size as a kitchen wok she once used at home.
But the biggest one was as large as a double bed.
Behind the tables was a huge deep pit filled with a terrible smell.
Ellie held her breath and took a look.
Ugh!
Yuck!
The stench was overwhelming!
Pig heads the size of washing machines, sheep tails like feather dusters, organs from unknown beasts.
There were also things like duck feet, duck blood, and beef tripe—Ellie's favorites in spicy hotpot—piled up like small hills.
But everything was clearly much bigger.
Honestly, things are always cuter when they're smaller.
Ellie's heart ached. What a waste!
So she smartly asked the team leader, "This mountain… I mean, the phoenix, which parts do you want?"
Everyone around laughed even harder.
"Haha, I've never heard of a chef asking the owner which parts to use!"
"Told you she didn't know what she's doing. Tsk tsk. What a waste of time. Let's go."
Go ahead, laugh now. You'll lose your heads from laughing too hard later!
Ellie stayed calm and started explaining, "For this kind of beast, the important meat parts are the wings, chest, and legs, like a chicken."
"But I still need to ask—do you want the organs or feathers?"
The team leader, now half-convinced by how confidently Ellie spoke, replied, "Just the meat. We don't need the feathers or organs. What would we do with that stuff?"
That's exactly what she wanted to hear!
Ellie picked a medium-sized workstation.