Chapter 550: 550: Coercion

They are grilling it on a stand with the fire underneath, and the bottom part gets heated more quickly and cooks faster, but the top is still raw.

To evenly distribute the heat, the meat needs periodic rotation.

But when rotating the meat, care must be taken to not topple the precarious branch stand.

Cindy Clarke, on the other hand, throws it directly in, then covers it with some branches and leaves.

The chicken is basically being roasted buried inside, receiving uniformly distributed heat from every angle, even more convenient than an oven.

Everyone watched, and Leon Hernandez said with a smile, “Or why do you think Cindy Clarke was the first to notice that something was wrong with the environment here? If it wasn’t for Cindy Clarke’s analysis, we would have ended up like someone else, only able to use a pinch of salt.”

“Pfft!” Natalie Campbell could not help but burst into laughter, “You’re right, I’m glad I stayed and listened to Cindy.”

“Easy on the subtext.” Bartholomew Bailey exclaimed.

Cindy Clarke thought that Bartholomew Bailey was trying to reconcile Leon Hernandez and Blake Walker’s escalating dispute.

Unexpectedly, Bartholomew Bailey continued to stir the pot, saying, “Look, he’s pissed off just with his bottle of salt, and looks at us like we’re his enemies. If you keep reminding him, it might upset him and affect his performance in the competition. Or blame us for his mental imbalance. Isn’t that unfair?”

“Wow, it’s rare for you to make a point,” Leon Hernandez nodded in agreement, “So I won’t mention it anymore.”

However, their back-and-forth in reasonably loud voices…

Were all heard clearly by Blake Walker.

Seeing the others using various spices with gusto, almost as if intentionally provoking him.

Blake Walker’s face became so dark, it was blending into the night.

He checked the time, thought he had some left.

Going to search for spices now, it wasn’t too late.

But, darkness had already fallen and, according to the others, spices were usually found in unnoticeable places.

Searching now would be difficult due to the poor light.

But seeing everyone else’s work full of rich flavor, and his own merely sprinkled with a handful of salt…

The outcome was clear.

How could Blake Walker accept it?

But, the leg of lamb was already on the grill.

It needed periodic turning.

If left unattended for a long time, one side could easily get burned.

Thus, even with enough time on his hands, he could not step away.

Scanning the crowd, Blake Walker’s gaze rested a few seconds longer on Yellen Brooks’ face.

He remembered that during the last competition, Yellen Brooks had also lacked ingredients, so she had asked to borrow from Iris Doone.

But in the end, it was Cindy Clarke who had given her some.

Cindy Clarke was also able to clear her name as a result, winning the approval of the audience and the other competitors.

Yellen Brooks received a favor in the last competition.

She was on the receiving end at that time.

Since roles had reversed, she should be more empathetic.

If he asked her to lend him some ingredients now, would she dare not to lend him?

She had asked someone for help in the last competition, and Cindy Clarke had given her ingredients.

If she didn’t lend him the ingredients in this round, wouldn’t she be castigated?

Having thought this far, Blake Walker glanced at his lamb roasting on the stand.

The roasting still had some time left, so he got up to find Yellen Brooks.

Yellen Brooks was currently deeply engrossed in her cooking.

“Yellen Brooks.” Blake Walker called, standing in front of her.

Upon hearing his voice, Yellen Brooks looked up, only to find Blake Walker right before her eyes.

He was looking down at her from a superior position, blocking her line of sight so that she couldn’t even see the sky.

“What is it?” Yellen Brooks asked, not even bothering to get up from her seated position.

Blake Walker seemed to find it slightly difficult to speak but, after a second’s hesitation, he still said, “I don’t know if I can find that many spices along the way.”

By saying this, he had effectively accepted the fairness of the competition.

The spices were all found by the competitors themselves.

Cindy Clarke’s assertion that he could review the competition playback was the main reason.

She seemed very confident, and indeed, there were many people watching the live broadcast.

The organizers wouldn’t dare to show obvious bias.

If they did, they might as well not bother continuing the competition.

They would be castigated by netizens.

Moreover, if he reviewed the playback later and verified there were indeed issues with the competition, he could bring it up with the organizers.

If there were no resolution, he could expose them online.

No matter how he saw it, showing clear bias was disadvantageous to the organizers.

Yellen Brooks remained silent.

So, what exactly was Blake Walker’s intent?

“Why don’t you go search for some now? You should still have enough time.” Ava Brown, who was next to Yellen Brooks, suggested, having heard Blake Walker’s words.

Ava Brown had an intuition that Blake Walker approaching Yellen Brooks at this moment boded no good.

Unexpectedly, Blake Walker blatantly ignored Ava Brown.

As though he hadn’t heard her, he continued speaking to Yellen Brooks, “Could you lend me some spices?”

“It’s dark now, and even if I have a flashlight, if I start looking now, it’s unlikely that I will spot any easily. It won’t be as convenient as looking during daytime. Even with a flashlight, it may take me a long time to find anything. By the time I do find something, the competition might be over.”

Blake Walker pointed behind him and added, “Furthermore, I’ve already started roasting the leg of lamb, I need to make sure it doesn’t get burned.”

“So, could you lend me some? I won’t need much,” Blake Walker pleaded.

Seeing Yellen Brooks hesitate after he finished speaking, Blake Walker cursed her internally for being so selfish.

In the last competition, when she was short of ingredients, she’d asked someone else for help.

But now, when it was his turn to ask her, she was unwilling.

“Didn’t you also ask Cindy Clarke for ingredients in the last competition?” Blake Walker reminded her, “You should be able to relate to the anxiety and upset of lacking ingredients. That’s why I came to ask you.”

“If you’ve already experienced such a situation, you wouldn’t refuse, right?” Blake continued, “You were helped, you should know how it feels, and I’m sure you could help me, right?”

The implication in Blake Walker’s words could not have been clearer.

If she didn’t help, then she was the bad one.

He put a moral hat on Yellen Brooks with his statement.

Mentioning this enraged Jasmine Hudson so much she wanted to toss a piece of firewood in Blake Walker’s face.

“What a nerve he has, accusing Yellen Brooks of being in the wrong if she doesn’t help,” Jasmine complained, “Helping others is alright, but helping Blake Walker? It feels like we’ve been fed shit!”

“He’s no man, pressuring a young girl like this. It’s not even about whether or not we have enough ingredients, but about not being able to face ourselves if we give him anything. And if we don’t, we’ll be morally condemned. It’s utterly disgusting,” Cynthia Florine spat.

“I used to just despise Joseph Tanner, I didn’t expect Blake Walker to be even worse,” Gladys Joy muttered, “No wonder he gets along so well with Iris Doone. They’re both equally despicable.”