The quality here isn’t very high; it’s basically a place for commoners, with prices to match. This was a spot Ethan Brooks used to frequent—he’d grab a bite, buy some bread to take home. He couldn’t cook, so even though he had a kitchen, it was completely useless. That clove of garlic was just leftover from being used as a side.

When Ethan Brooks arrived, he suddenly realized he shouldn’t have come—not because the place was too low-end, but because it was absolutely impossible to get a free breakfast here.

It was obvious: everyone here was just scraping by, or trying to save money. Who would be kind enough to give you a free meal?

There was no way to get one through normal means—unless he resorted to extreme measures...

Robbery? Forget it. With this body, he couldn’t handle the consequences of public outrage. Stealing? No way. He was a martial artist, after all—how could he stoop to such disgraceful acts? Unless there was truly no other option.

But it seemed there really was no other option now. Heh, still, I won’t do it!

Ethan Brooks couldn’t bring himself to do anything shameless to these people, so he changed locations and went to a restaurant with a notoriously disliked owner.

“Boss, give me a breakfast set A!” Ethan Brooks swaggered into the restaurant, slammed his ninth-grade magic crystal sword heavily onto the table, and sat down with a flourish. He was ready to play his trump card.

“Customer, your breakfast set A!” Soon, a skinny boss with the look of a swindler brought over a plate of breakfast and a glass of water, eyeing Ethan Brooks a bit strangely.

Ethan Brooks naturally knew why the boss looked at him that way—his clothes were shabby, the kind you’d find at a street stall in his old world. The only reason the boss came over personally was because of the ninth-grade magic crystal sword. That wasn’t something just anyone could have.

He knew this, which was why he’d deliberately made the sword so conspicuous. First, so he wouldn’t be thrown out, and second, to make sure the boss came over himself.

“Boss, this portion is way too small.” Ethan Brooks frowned. “Only two slices of meat, two pieces of bread, and look at this fried egg—so tiny! No wonder you run your own restaurant and are still so skinny.”

Seriously, this is breakfast—what more do you want? If it weren’t for that magic crystal sword, I’d have thrown you out already.

The boss forced a smile. “That’s just how breakfast set A is!”

“So you’ve always been like this, huh? This is downright unscrupulous. But whatever, I don’t have time to argue with you today. Bring me a breakfast with real ingredients—make sure it’s hearty!” Ethan Brooks said directly, his tone just a bit arrogant.

“All right, I’ll change it right away!” Not wanting to offend someone “unusual” like Ethan Brooks, the boss immediately had someone prepare a new breakfast, specifically instructing them to add plenty of ingredients.

In this business, the last thing you want is to offend the wrong person!

After a while, a hearty breakfast appeared in front of Ethan Brooks, along with a glass of milk. This time, not only were the ingredients plentiful, but even though there were still only two slices of meat, they definitely weighed over a pound.

So happy! Not just because it was food his body hadn’t had in ages, but also because, back in his old world, pork had gotten so expensive he couldn’t afford it. It had been ages since he’d eaten meat like this!

What a great feeling!

Under the boss’s dumbfounded gaze, Ethan Brooks wolfed down the hearty breakfast, then drank the milk...

“Ah! That was great!” Ethan Brooks patted his stomach. Only then did he remember he hadn’t eaten for days and probably shouldn’t have eaten so much at once—it was rough on the stomach.

But earlier, all he could think about was that if he didn’t eat, he’d starve to death on the street. Who had time to worry about that? Even if he had thought of it, he wouldn’t have cared. Eat first, worry later—a little pain once or twice was nothing.

“Boss, your food’s not bad, and the service is decent too! Keep it up and maintain this standard.” Ethan Brooks picked up his sword, patted the boss on the shoulder, and headed for the door, while the boss was still in a daze.

Just as Ethan Brooks was about to reach the door and leave the restaurant, the boss finally snapped out of it and, with astonishing speed, darted in front of Ethan Brooks. All Ethan Brooks saw was a blur, and suddenly someone was standing there.

That movement technique could rival the legendary first step of the martial world—the Shadow Step.

“Customer, you haven’t paid yet,” the boss said, looking at Ethan Brooks. Even if you’re a king, you can’t just eat a free breakfast.

“Pay? Pay for what?” Ethan Brooks tilted his head, looking puzzled.

“Don’t play dumb. You haven’t paid for the breakfast you just ate.” The boss was getting angry. He’d never seen a noble like this before. At most, nobles would just openly dine and dash, but this one was pretending not to know.

“Didn’t I exchange it for breakfast set A? Why should I pay?” Ethan Brooks asked, genuinely confused.

“You didn’t pay for breakfast set A either,” the boss said, holding back his anger.

Ethan Brooks’s expression grew even more puzzled. “But I didn’t eat breakfast set A, so why should I pay for it?”

Thunk. The boss was dumbfounded, his mind unable to process it. He thought about Ethan Brooks’s words: if he didn’t eat it, he didn’t need to pay; the other one was an exchange, so no need to pay either. Both statements were correct, so... he really didn’t need to pay...