Infinite Cosmic Cafeteria Chapter 60: Taboos

Translator: Stellar Novels Editor: Stellar Novels

The sack of Red-bellied Rattlesnakes was freshly purchased by Bocchi from the market, totaling 59 snakes. Because of the large quantity, the seller even gave a 10% discount, costing 4,779 units of energy, which was directly deducted from the last haul.

The group of Vampiric Long-Tailed Weasels was captured by the three of them on the way here.

Ma Lu started by sacrificing 10 Red-bellied Rattlesnakes to test his luck.

Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to snag a single purple blessing and triggered two downgrades in a row. Two of the blessings were downgraded from blue to white under the effect of Heartbeat Lottery.

Luckily, there were other blessings to choose from, so it wasn’t too big of an issue.

Ma Lu skimmed through the 10 blue blessings he received. The more useful ones included:

- 【Loyal Companion: Increases the four basic attributes of animals and puppets in the team by 20%.】
- 【Silence is Golden: 15% chance for all team attacks to inflict silence on the target for 3 seconds】preventing the use of psychic abilities during the silence】
- 【Too Deceptive: 15% chance for earth-element Psychic Ability users in the team to create a quicksand pit nearby when using their abilities】
- 【Cloak of Invisibility: Reduces the chance of team members being detected while in hiding by 15%】

Ma Lu scratched his head; these blessings were decent on their own but didn’t seem to synergize well or hint at a cohesive build.

He decided to change his luck and sacrificed two Yangsha Pangolins as a warm-up, followed by 10 Vampiric Long-Tailed Weasels for another round of ten draws.

According to the law of averages, Ma Lu finally got lucky this time, scoring 3 purple and 7 blue blessings in one go!

The three purple blessings were:

- 【Final Iron Wall: 33% chance for a team member’s shield to completely block an attack when damaged】
- 【Backstab: 33% chance to increase speed by 40% and deal double damage when attacking from the target’s rear】
- 【No Noise Allowed: Any combatant, ally or foe, exceeding 60 decibels in volume during battle has a 33% chance of being paralyzed for 3 seconds】

Getting 【Final Iron Wall again】, combined with the previously reclaimed 【Strike Charge】, meant Bocchi’s defensive counterattack strategy was back in shape.

Additionally, 【Backstab】 was quite practical, suitable for initiating attacks and could synergize well with the previously acquired blue blessing 【Cloak of Invisibility】.

However, Ma Lu’s attention was completely captured by the last purple blessing, 【No Noise Allowed】.

Is this… a new type of blessing?

Ma Lu had never encountered a blessing like this before, affecting both friend and foe equally. It reminded him of a field spell effect from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Staring at this purple blessing, Ma Lu couldn’t help but stroke his chin.

It seemed fair on the surface, enforcing a rule that everyone had to follow. However, knowing the rules ahead of time versus being unaware made a significant difference in difficulty.

It was like playing a basketball game where one side doesn’t even know the rules about three-second violations, traveling, or double-dribbling. How could they possibly win?

Ma Lu realized that this blessing’s value in team battles might surpass that of ordinary blessings.

And unlike the field spells in Yu-Gi-Oh! that are limited to one card, there was no cap on how many of these blessings could coexist.

Despite being tempted, Ma Lu stayed cautious and sacrificed another 20 Red-bellied Rattlesnakes, netting him 2 more purple blessings and 18 blue blessings.

Ma Lu primarily focused on boosting stats among these 20 blessings, picking ones that synergized well with the psychic abilities of his squad members.

When Ma Lu was down to 19 Red-bellied Rattlesnakes and 4 Vampiric Long-Tailed Weasels, he finally activated the effect of the Work Plan Book and designated No Noise Allowed.

In the end, he acquired five similar blessings: 1 purple and 4 blue, along with another purple blessing that boosted reaction time.

Feeling adequately prepared, Ma Lu donned his hunting gear and set off with Bocchi and the others toward Jin Jian's location.

Three hours later, the four of them met up with Setta, who had been keeping an eye on Jin Jian. Setta had a strange expression on his face.

Sensing that something was off, Bocchi asked, "What's wrong?"

"Jin Jian and his group are gone," Setta replied.

"Gone? Did they go somewhere else?"

"I don’t know. Their motorcycles and supplies are still there, but the people have disappeared," Setta said, still in disbelief.

Hearing this, Bocchi pulled out her binoculars, climbed up a sand dune, and looked in the direction Setta indicated. Indeed, there were traces of human activity, but now the area was completely deserted.

"When was the last time you saw them?"

"About half an hour ago," Setta answered. "The Black Horn guys are very vigilant. I usually keep my distance to avoid being detected, mainly following them by their locator signal. I only get closer when they stop."

"You can track people?" Ma Lu asked in surprise.

"Uh-huh," Setta nodded proudly. "Deputy Leader, don’t underestimate me because I’m young. My tracking skills are easily in the top ten at The Giant Screen."

"Really? So where’s Jin Jian now?"

"Well…" Setta looked embarrassed at the question.

Bocchi then asked, "What are they doing out here? Hunting?"

"No, they did kill a few creatures, but it seemed more like they ran into them by chance and took them out. They didn’t bring any bait, so they weren’t planning on trapping anything here. It seemed more like… they were searching for something."

"Searching for something?"

"Yes," Setta recalled, nodding with certainty. "They’re definitely looking for something. They headed straight here after leaving the city and have been wandering around this area for two days."

Mai Mai shook her head. "Once something is lost in the desert, it's almost impossible to find again. The wind and sand will bury everything. Jin Jian isn’t stupid; he’d know that."

"I want to go check it out," Bocchi said.

"Could it be another trap?" Senqi, who had been mostly silent, voiced her concern.

Having witnessed her brother being stabbed in the heart, she had been plagued by nightmares over the past week.

"Then let's go together."

Ma Lu’s original plan was to ambush Black Horn, ideally finishing the fight before Jin Jian and his team could react or inflicting heavy casualties. But if it came down to a direct confrontation, he wasn’t worried.

He pulled Setta into the group and spent some time explaining the battle strategy, particularly the taboos and the possible consequences of breaking them, emphasizing that everyone must remember them well.

Some of these taboos sounded odd, but having witnessed events like resurrection, none of them, including Setta, doubted Ma Lu. They committed the instructions to memory.

Mai Mai even suggested, "If that’s the case, could we deliberately lure the enemy into breaking these taboos during the fight?"

Ma Lu nodded. "Yes, using these taboos strategically can make the battle easier."

Once everyone was familiar with the plan, they hid their motorcycles behind a sand dune and carefully approached the area where Jin Jian and his group had disappeared.

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