North gate.

Under the spacious shed, there is a long table, and beside the table are two braziers, the charcoal fire inside is very hot.

Lucius, who was wearing a blue power armor, stood in the shed, looking at the young players busy in the market, with a fatherly smile on his face.

Good.

Draw a cake and let the players bake it by themselves. Sure enough, this is what the planner should do.

Originally, Lucius thought that holding this celebration would consume a lot of inventory, but now it seems that his worries are completely unnecessary.

Those young players obviously read his event copy several times, and even from the perspective of the game background, they also dug out what he wanted to express but were embarrassed to write in the copy.

Wasteland gourmet.

Naturally, some "Authentic" food from the wasteland must be used.

How about being ashamed to say that the dishes you cook are "The purest wasteland"?

Crispy stove ant cricket meat, deep-fried mutated cockroach legs, leech bouncing in the pot, and glowing blood-sucking worm steak, all put together!

Of course, Lucius himself would not eat it.

He doesn't have unlimited lives like his players.

It's better to eat something healthy and hygienic.

There are three awards in total. One is the delicacy in the minds of wastelanders, the other is the delicacy in the minds of players, and the other is the approval from the managers.

The selection criteria for the three awards are different, and the judges are also different, but the rewards are generally the same.

That is, a huge amount of event points!

Limited title! As well as being inducted into the Hall of Fame and shining on the forums!

Like the previous events, you can get points by completing tasks in the event, and the points can be used to redeem event-limited rewards and New Year red envelopes—in fact, it is a lucky draw with a different name.

Prizes include but are not limited to the first prize of 666 silver coins, and also include the grand prize - a carbon nano bulletproof vest worth 6666 silver coins.

This item has never been put on the shelves of NPC stores, and the price was randomly set by Lucius. Anyway, no one will refute it even if a zero is added.

In addition to the lottery, the most interesting thing for players is of course the limited title and the opportunity to enter the Hall of Fame.

And according to the manager himself, if he wins the title of "Wasteland Gourmet", the dishes he designed will be included in the menu of this year's New Year's party.

For life professional players, this temptation is too great.

In order to compete for this title, the warehouse was almost sold out of condiments other than salt.

As a result, Lucius had to temporarily adjust the activity strategy, temporarily removing the condiments from the shelves in the warehouse, and changing it to completing tasks to collect.

It is also thanks to this that the daily tasks have been completed very gratifyingly in the past few days, and he, the manager, has also received reward points from the system.

In order to meet the cooking needs of the players, Lucius spent almost all his points on the basic blind box these days, and got a lot of high-yield crop seeds for this.

This can be regarded as a windfall.

Looking at the wooden sign on the table, Sumeria looked at Lucius in confusion and asked.

"What is a judge?"

She had never heard such a strange word.

Lucius thought for a while and explained.

"To put it simply, if you walk around the north gate, you can take back a piece of food that looks good if you think it looks good. If it's delicious, just give it a thumbs up."

Of course, you have to give Yaya a taste before eating it.

As a sensory player, her talent is poison intuition, and she can spot things that cannot be eaten at a glance.

In addition, her physique attribute is not high, she eats something that is fine, and other people can basically eat it.

Yaya is very happy to be a "Food tester".

Lucius still remembers how that little player patted her chest and assured himself that she would do her best to maintain the order of the celebration, and asked himself to hand over this "glorious and arduous" task to her.

"Oh, that's how it is." Sumeria nodded in confusion.

To sum it up... just take whatever you like when you see it?

Eat and drink for free without spending money?

This is so cool!?

Yuki, who was sitting behind the long table, had a slightly embarrassed expression.

Taking a sneak peek at Big Brother Lucius, she said in a low voice.

"But... is it really okay if you don't give money?"

To be honest, this question is a bit redundant.

How much do the judges pay for food?

It is generous enough not to charge entry fees!

Not to mention that there are points rewards for participating in the competition, even if it is the consolation prize for the last time, it is definitely enough to pay for the meal.

Lucius originally planned to say this, but when he saw Yuki's regretful expression, he changed his words when it came to his lips.

Dogs can plan to be alone. But you can't teach the children badly.

"This is part of the celebration, and the expenses of the event will be borne by the shelter... You can understand that the money has actually been paid."

There was a pause at this point.

Looking at the confused Yuki, Lucius smiled gently and continued.

"Just remember to say thank you to them before tasting."

"They'll be happy all day."

Boss Sumeria, who was standing aside with her arms folded, also nodded with a vague understanding.

Understood. It turns out that eating and drinking is not free.

It is public money for food and drink.

...

The food competition to welcome the new year is in full swing. In order to get the limited title, no matter if you are a life professional player or a combat professional player, you have tried your best.

The event runs until the last day of December.

It was a rare sunny day.

The howling north wind and blizzard are at the end of their strength, and the harsh winter seems to have come to an end.

Everything indicates that the dawn is coming, and victory is just around the corner!

In order to welcome the coming wasteland era 212, the outpost was full of lights and festoons, very lively.

Red paper was pasted on the doors of many houses, and bright red cloth strips and ribbons were hung.

In order to make the festive atmosphere stronger, Lucius also specially issued a task to make more than 40 lanterns from the carpentry hut, which were hung from the square in front of the nursing home to the market at the north entrance.

Dusk.

More than forty lanterns were lit.

The hazy light, against the blazing torches, made the entire outpost even more festive while it was lively.

Lucius discovered that his little players were simply geniuses.

In just one week, his little players surprisingly unlocked hundreds of recipes in the absence of supplies.

Even he couldn't help being amazed by some extremely creative ideas.

For example, Shuri.

It is said that she gained experience from the nomads. With the help of sisters Autumn and Akiba, she boiled shellac out of the pupae of devil moths and made something similar to "Soil bamboo shoot jelly".

That thing is crystal clear, white, and soft. It tastes like jelly. If you don't deliberately mention it, no one will think of it as Devil Moth.

Without any suspense, this delicacy won the "Most Popular Wasteland Delicacy among Players" award.

After all, compared with Lao Na,'s grilled mantis legs with salt and pepper charcoal, and some "Real food" that has nothing to do with the wasteland at all, this dish has found a balance between the two.

And the taste and texture are pretty good, belonging to the "Order-neutral" kind.

The only pity is that there is no chili sauce, otherwise it will be more delicious.

However, not everyone is satisfied with the result.

Especially for those who "Nearly" won the game...

"Hey! Why isn't I the wasteland gourmet? It's so delicious!"

"That is unacceptable!"

The awards round had ended as early as noon, and now it was time for the celebration.

Mole, Richest Elf King, and Irena, roasted all the unfinished praying mantis legs, trying to prove themselves with their taste.

But helplessly, there were few people in the booth of the three of them, and no one patronized them at all.

Even after confirming that there was no poison, Yaya still shook her head like a rattle.

"Sorry, physical discomfort, I really can't accept this kind of food!"

The kind-hearted Miss Shuri took a closer look, thinking of buying something to comfort them, but when she was about to pay, she still couldn't help asking in a low voice.

"Speaking of which...are there really no iron nematodes?"

Hearing this sentence, Brother Mole immediately felt that the wound had been sprinkled with salt, and said with grief and indignation.

"How can there be so many iron nematodes! Not all praying mantises have iron nematodes!"

Richest Elf King: "That's right! It's all blown up like this! And it isn't even poisonous."

Irena: "Hey! Do you know how hard it is to find these things in winter!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't ask..." Shuri hurriedly took out the VM. Although she didn't know why she apologized, she paid first and bought a little.

Couldn't stand watching anymore, Walker walked over, patted Irena's shoulder, and sighed.

"Forget it, Irena, let's give up and stop struggling."

Irena said in grief and anger: "Walker! I won't go offline until it's sold out!"

Walker silently let go of his hand.

Good guy.

It turned out to be ready for the night...

...

The food award most recognized by the players was won by Shuri in one fell swoop.

And the delicacy recognized by NPCs including Boss Sumeria, Yuki, Tom, Hena, guards, and warehouse managers is the "Mushroom Cloud Cake" made by Yaya.

As a taster, she also participated in this competition.

Beat the egg whites with eggs bought from the Frostspear Clan and mix them with sugar. Yaya cleverly used a round-mouth piping bag to make egg whites into small mushroom caps, and sprinkled chocolate chips around them.

The whole cake looks like a mushroom cloud, and the surrounding chocolate chips form a nuclear bomb crater. If you have to say it, it can barely be regarded as wasteland-style food.

But to be honest, in Lucius's view, this is a completely tricky behavior.

Chocolate, sugar, and eggs were bought, and far from cheap.

Although Lucius has repeatedly emphasized that what he needs is cheap and delicious food, but the NPCs are all conquered by the taste of chocolate, and they are completely uninterested in those wasteland-style foods.

Looking at Yuki with shining eyes, Lucius really couldn't bear to veto it with one vote, so he didn't say anything.

Fortunately, he also expected that there would be deviations in the voting results, so he set up a third award-"the most recognized food by managers".

The award was presented by him himself.

The delicacy that won this award is the "Split Claw Crab Cake" of The Cowboy Team.

Add 450g of green wheat flour to 400g of split claw crab meat, mix with 10g of salt, a little buffalo grass powder, and white berry juice, and you can get a full kilogram of split claw crab meat.

The meat patties made from this kind of minced meat have neither the oxalic taste of green wheat, but also retain the flavor of crab meat. There is no doubt that it is delicious.

With a large quantity and easy storage, Lucius awarded the award to its inventor without saying a word.

Since it is a group work, except the name of the chef's tomato scrambled eggs will be displayed on the first-level page of the Hall of Fame, and the list of other collaborators will be included in the second-level sub-page.

Several collaborators have no opinion on this, after all, their names have long been in the Hall of Fame.

Giving up this rare opportunity to Brother Chaodan was originally a decision after their own discussions.

Stand at the north gate of the base.

Lucius, who was wearing power armor, announced the final result of the competition with a loud voice, and then raised his wine glass to the crowd in the celebration.

"Enjoy the last day of the new year! Let's toast to a good harvest for the coming year!"

There are many things I wanted to say.

But looking at those little players with excited faces, Lucius suddenly felt that a long speech seemed redundant at this time.

Just give them your time.

Just quietly be a handsome NPC.

As the words fell, cheers resounded in the market at the north gate, and wooden wine glasses were raised high.

"Aww!"

"The planner is awesome!"

"Woooooooooo!"

"Brother eal king you have to eat as if you took off your helmet."

"Okay, stop talking, besides, tears are about to fall."

There are about 500 players who choose to celebrate the festival in the game, and basically all of them are here.

As for the other 300 players, either they have something to do in reality, or they are spending time with their families, so they probably will come back after noon tomorrow.

In addition to the players, the faces of the NPCs who came to participate in the celebration were also full of joy and joy.

It turns out that the celebration is such a happy thing.

It turns out that festivals are such a thing!

Life seems to have a new hope, even if they don't realize it, a sense of cultural identity is gradually forming in their hearts.

Lucius took out the last few barrels of red wine in the inventory and shared a small glass for everyone.

Although it was all over, Lucius didn't feel bad.

One reason is that he has decided to drink less in his life, and he will not drink if he can.

Another one is that he snatched this wine from the wine cellar of the old leech anyway, so it doesn't matter if he finishes drinking it.

There will be new ones next year.

"Cheers! Hiccup—"

Boss Sumeria excitedly held up his wine glass, gulped down the gulp, and ran over with a blushing face unsteadily to ask Lucius if he had any more.

Sitting next to the brazier, Yuki was sipping milk, and looked at Sumeria worriedly, worried that she would faint from drinking like last time.

Tom stared at the wine glass for a while, sniffed it, and finished drinking with a frown. Afterwards, he returned to the shelter in a murmur, and continued to work on his research.

As for Hena, after drinking it in one gulp, her expression didn't change at all, she stood there watching the lively players and wastelanders with interest.

For her who grew up in the shelter, everything here is so fascinating.

Whether it's DNA or culture.

After giving his cup to Boss Sumeria, Lucius glanced at the empty cup in her hand with a slightly surprised expression.

"I didn't expect you to drink unexpectedly."

Hena didn't feel that there was anything difficult to understand, so she said it as a matter of course.

"After all, my liver, stomach and... are all bionic organs, which can be selectively absorbed all things very easily."

Lucius: "..."

All right. What a waste.

It’s not just the outposts that celebrate the New Year. After Lucius announced the start of the celebration, he issued a mission through VM, selected a few small players, went to the temporary shelter in the abandoned department store, and sent a copy to the refugees there. New Year wishes.

Not many things.

About 300kg of crab cakes.

Although each person can only get a small piece of 200g crab cake, it is still the meat of split claw crab.

I believe this New Year's gift from Shelter 404 should be able to send them some warmth.

...

"Damn, why can't stewed catfish soup with bear's paw win!"

The celebration has entered the second half, guarding a pot of black fish soup that is almost cold, squatting on the ground with the tail deeply hit, drawing circles on the snow with branches.

Sisi comforted her and said.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with the dish itself, maybe there's something wrong with the way it's made... By the way, why is the soup black when it's stewed? Didn't I remember it was white before?"

"Please don't pay attention to these details."

"No... I think it's better to find out."

Irena, who ate all the grilled mantis legs while no one was looking, and pretended to be sold out, happened to be here.

Seeing the dark dishes stuffed with bear paws and fish heads in the pot, she couldn't help but gloated and joked.

"Could it be Roushaa The Big Momo's meat?"

Tail gave her a dissatisfied look.

"How is it possible! Roushaa can talk!"

And that's her mount! It was hard to tame.

Sisi, who was beside Tail, sighed and said helplessly.

"It's not Roushaa's hand, but it has something to do with Roushaa. In short, Tail used Roushaa as bait to lure the hibernating brown bear out of the hole, emmm... the situation was a bit confusing at the time, I I won't describe it."

Irena scratched the back of her head: "Uh, although I'm curious about the details, I shouldn't ask more."

The players who heard it around cast sympathetic looks at Roushaa, only Roushaa had an expression on her face that was about to cry.

"Wait a minute, you made it clear, everyone obviously misunderstood!"

Ignoring the noise of her teammates, Tail was still muttering there.

"Damn it, it obviously tastes okay!"

Sisi patted her on the shoulder.

"Okay, okay, don't be sad... Ah, it seems that the mission is here, and it seems to be a hidden mission. Do you want to come with me?"

Hearing that it was a hidden mission, Tail immediately stood up and said with bright eyes.

"Okay!"

Sisi had a fatherly smile on his face.

This kid is too easy to coax.