Chapter 432 - 431: Back Kitchen

Chapter 432: Chapter 431: Back Kitchen

"Fourth, I’m very competent! Take the Undying Fire Lamp, for example. So many flames, yet I didn’t damage it in the slightest. I delivered it to you perfectly intact! In the future, if you have anything that needs safekeeping or any errands that need running, just leave them to me!"

’Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do anyway?’

’The previous points could be considered benefits, but this fourth one is really stretching it, isn’t it?’

"Fifth..."

Squidward paused, his three eyes blinking as he tried to think of something else.

"Fifth, I can make you money! The Stardust Gallery may not be top-tier, but our annual revenue is still substantial. If you have any ingredients to sell, I’ll sell them for you, guaranteed at a price higher than the market rate! If you want to buy any food, I’ll buy it for you, guaranteed at a price lower than the market rate!"

"Sixth, I can—"

"That’s enough," Seraphina Sinclair cut him off.

Squidward immediately fell silent, his three eyes watching her nervously.

Seraphina Sinclair was silent for two seconds before suddenly asking, "Everything you’ve said is predicated on the fact that I’m the one ’chosen by the Door Key.’ What if one day, I lose the Door Key?"

Squidward froze.

"What?"

"What if one day," Seraphina Sinclair said slowly, "the Door Key is stolen, or I lose it, or for some other reason, I’m no longer special? Would you still act this way?"

Squidward’s tentacles froze in mid-air. His three eyes blinked, then blinked again.

Then, he slowly smiled. It wasn’t the fawning smile from before, but a complex one, tinged with astonishment.

"My lady," he said softly, "do you know how many years I’ve waited to meet someone who dares to ask a question like that?"

Seraphina Sinclair raised an eyebrow.

Squidward lowered his head to look at his tentacles.

"I’ve lived a very, very long time. It is always our kind who cooperate with the System, so I’ve seen many people chosen by the Door Key." His voice was low. "Some were proud, others cautious. Some were mad, others kind. But they all had one thing in common—"

He raised his head, his three eyes fixed on Seraphina Sinclair.

"They never considered what would happen if they lost the Door Key. Or rather, they didn’t dare to. Because the Door Key was their everything, their very reason for being. Without it, they were nothing."

Seraphina Sinclair didn’t speak.

Squidward continued, "But you’re different. You’ve only just begun to reap the benefits the Door Key provides, and you’re already considering this question."

"My lady. Now, I want to follow you not because of the Door Key, but because of who you are."

’Now.’

’That word was interesting.’

Seraphina Sinclair looked at Squidward. His three eyes met her gaze openly, without evasion or flattery.

"So you’re saying," Seraphina Sinclair began slowly, "a moment ago you wanted to follow me because of the Door Key, but now it’s because of me?"

Squidward nodded.

"You changed your tune pretty fast, didn’t you?"

Seraphina Sinclair was only teasing, but Squidward replied with a serious rebuttal:

"In the past, I thought that the chosen one was inherently special, inherently worthy of being followed. It was... an instinct, I suppose. Like a moth drawn to a flame—not because there’s anything special about that particular flame, but simply because it *is* a flame.

But when you asked that question just now, I had a sudden realization."

"What was it?"

Squidward looked up and shook his head. "I can’t tell you right now."

Seraphina Sinclair’s eyebrows rose slightly.

’Can’t tell me?’

She looked at Squidward’s earnest face; his three eyes were practically etched with the words, ’I truly have my reasons.’

The cabin fell silent for a few seconds.

Luna Jacobs, who had been listening on the side, couldn’t help but interject, "So you talk all this time, get us all curious, and then say you can’t tell us?"

Squidward’s tentacles recoiled slightly, and his voice became sheepish. "I... I really can’t say. It would be bad for my lady if I did."

Seraphina Sinclair said nothing, merely watched him.

Her stare made Squidward uneasy, and the tips of his tentacles began to curl restlessly.

"Um... My lady, please don’t look at me like that..." he whispered. "I’m not hiding it from you on purpose, I really can’t say. If I did, then... then..."

He stammered for a long while but couldn’t manage to explain why.

Seraphina Sinclair nodded, signaling for him to stop.

’Just like Godhood and Demigods. It’s something beyond what I’m allowed to know at this stage.’

At first, Seraphina Sinclair had felt nothing but resentment.

Luna Jacobs had been absolutely right. He’d talked all that time, piqued everyone’s curiosity to the extreme, only to say he couldn’t reveal the secret.

Anyone would be annoyed by that.

But on second thought, Seraphina realized that this world was strange through and through, its rules so strict they seemed deliberately designed.

What could be known, what couldn’t, what information could be accessed at which stage—it was as if an unseen hand was manipulating everything.

It was just like what 001 had said:

"’A-level?! You, the top ranker! You give me way too much credit!’"

"’How could something like that appear at this stage? That would trigger the zone’s balance alarm! The System would wipe me out as a bug!’"

Squidward’s reluctance to speak wasn’t necessarily because he didn’t want to, but because of the potential consequences. His earlier comment, ’it would be bad for my lady,’ was not just a polite deflection.

Seraphina Sinclair nodded, her expression growing calm. "Alright, then don’t say it."

Squidward froze for a second, all three of his eyes widening in surprise.

"You... You’re not going to ask?"

"You have your reasons for not speaking," Seraphina Sinclair said, leaning back in her chair. "It won’t be too late for you to tell me when I’m ready to know."

Squidward’s tentacles trembled slightly.

He had lived for a long, long time. This was, of course, not the first time he had pledged his allegiance to someone.

Those chosen by the Door Key... some were arrogant, others cautious; some were mad, others kind. But they all shared one common trait—an overwhelming eagerness to know everything.

How to use the Door Key, the truth of the world, the secrets of Godhood, the path to becoming a Demigod...

Every last one of them wanted to master it all overnight.

But the human before him was different. The calm with which she said, "tell me when I’m ready to know," wasn’t an act. She truly accepted it.

"My lady..." Squidward began softly, but he seemed to think better of it and swallowed his words.

Seraphina couldn’t stand his hemming and hawing. She waved a dismissive hand. "Alright, that’s enough. Head back. If you find anything you think I could use, send it over. If I need you for something, I’ll use the card to contact you."

She held up the Golden Card between two fingers. "I just snap it in half, right?"

After Squidward confirmed, he stood, bowed deeply to Seraphina Sinclair, then backed away to the Lightgate and dove through.

On the other side of the Lightgate was the back kitchen of the restaurant.

It was the only teleportation Lightgate in the entire Stardust Gallery. Whether you were the Manager or a junior chef, it was the only way to reach the mobile cabins.