The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook

However, the power brought by this crystal is truly powerful.

The ability of the filter to collapse, whether it is camouflage at the technological level or illusion confusion in the mysterious realm, nothing can escape its detection.

As for the ability to parasitize a character, considering that the character cannot collapse within a certain period of time, it is simply an advanced illusion that cannot be seen through...

Wait, a thought suddenly flashed through Li Shanze's mind. What will happen if he uses character parasitism first and then performs filter collapse?

Isn’t this a fantasy version of using one’s own spear to attack another’s shield?

Li Shanze secretly laughed in his heart.

However, when he thought of the side effects of this crystal, Li Shanze could no longer laugh.

This side effect is particularly daunting. After all, having a week's worth of internet browsing history publicly available is just, well, terrifying.

If you want to use this crystal in the future, you'll probably have to stay off the internet for a week beforehand. Otherwise, this crystal will be a deadly weapon.

At this moment, Li Shanze suddenly understood why the ancients had to fast, bathe, and rest for a few days before offering sacrifices and praying.

Feeling the heat flowing in his body, Li Shanze hesitated for a moment and chose not to release his ability for the time being.

In any case, this is a high-speed flight, and Li Shanze does not have the crystal that can make him fly.

In fact, he already felt that it was rash of him to swallow the crystal rashly.

Li Shanze took a quick inventory and found that he currently had one Redneck Sheriff Crystal and four Internet Celebrity Crystals in his hand.

There are quite a few internet celebrity crystals, but the side effects are really frightening.

Fortunately, after traveling through time, Li Shanze has been on the run almost all the time and has no chance to breathe. At this time, he is not too afraid that his browsing history within a week will be exposed.

Despite this, he subconsciously put the phone back into his pocket and chose not to look at it, fearing that he would see something he shouldn't.

Just then, the plane landed smoothly at Philadelphia International Airport. Charlie yawned loudly and slowly woke up.

"Haha, good morning, Li." Xia Li rubbed her sleepy eyes, still in a daze.

She subconsciously looked out the window at the already dark night, and said lazily, "Ah, it turns out it's still dark~"

"It's not that it's not daybreak yet, it's just getting dark." Li Shanze looked at Xia Li's cute appearance and couldn't help but rub her head with amusement.

"Huh? Huh? Have I actually slept that long?" Charlie finally woke up from her panic. She looked around the plane in surprise and asked in confusion, "Hey, where is this place?"

"This is Philadelphia. The plane just landed in Philadelphia." Li Shanze explained patiently.

"Philadelphia? A plane? Why are we in Philadelphia?" Charlie asked curiously. "Didn't we make an appointment with Kate to capture Mayor Vincent and Sheriff Larry together?"

Li Shanze narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of doubt rising in his heart.

After Li Shanze's repeated confirmation, Xia Li had actually forgotten everything that happened after she woke up in the morning.

Even with the protection of the fragments of Buchaska's godhead and the remaining divine power, it still couldn't prevent Charlie from losing her memory... It seems that this so-called ultimate mystery really can't be spoken out casually, and there must be huge danger hidden in it.

Fortunately, apart from losing her memory of the day, Charlie did not forget anything else.

Li Shanze was not so naive as to think that Xia Li, as a person who had lost her memory, could remember what she had forgotten on her own.

However, Ella's statement that Charlie only lost her memory of today seemed particularly believable.

"Ha, okay, Li, then just tell me everything that happened today on the way." Xia Li was quite optimistic. She was about to stand up, but her feet went weak and she fell back into her seat.

"Are you okay, Charlie?" Gray asked with concern. "Why don't you go to my house first and let Dr. Wilder check you out. That way I can feel more at ease."

Charlie wanted to refuse, she insisted that she could heal herself with her own abilities.

Li Shanze also felt that since Xia Li was injured from a mysterious direction, ordinary doctors probably couldn't help.

However, as soon as the witch stood up, she felt dizzy and her vision went dark.

Fortunately, Li Shanze was quick-witted and reached out to support Xia Li in time, otherwise she would have fallen back into her seat.

According to Ella, Charlie is still very weak and needs to rest for a while.

Now, Li Shanze also agreed to let Xia Li go to Gray's house to recuperate temporarily.

Since even Li Shanze agreed, Xia Li stopped insisting. A weak smile appeared on her pale face. "Okay, thank you for your help, Gray. I'm so sorry to bother you at your house during the New Year."

"What's the trouble? We are friends!" Gray said with a smile, her face full of sincerity.

Li Shanze could already feel the crystals getting slightly warmer.

Author's words: Fortunately, today is the weekend, I still managed to get the update out, Orz

Thanks for the recommendation votes from those who have not yet arrived

098 Dinner at the Senator's House

As uninvited guests, Li Shanze and Xia Li were still welcomed by Federal Senator Kurt Hamilton.

It was originally just a family dinner, but because of Li Shanze and Xia Li's visit, it turned into a formal New Year's dinner.

Even though Senator Hamilton was wearing casual clothes, he still had an elite temperament. His slightly gray hair was combed meticulously, his eyes were bright, and he looked smart and capable.

Gray's mother, the senator's wife, looked gentle and calm. The years had left unconcealable marks on her face, and also made her eyes seem to be filled with infinite compassion.

The senator couple, who are already in their sixties, did not show any airs on the surface, as if they were welcoming their daughter's friends.

Considering Grey's youthful age of over 20, Li Shanze guessed that it might be because they had a daughter in middle age that the couple was particularly doting on the lawyer.

"This caviar comes from fresh Caspian sturgeon eggs. Come, come, try it." Senator Hamilton introduced it to Li Shanze enthusiastically.

Gray was equally beaming. "Yeah, it's very fresh, just smuggled in from Russia, and it even has a Russian label!"

“The caviar is topped with quinoa flakes that have a zero carbon footprint,” the senator said with a smile.

"Yeah, the cereal comes from the lands of the expelled Andean people in Bolivia," Gray continued.

Li Shanze never expected that Grey actually had the personality of a rebellious daughter, and she openly sabotaged her father in front of the guests at the dinner table.

He looked at Gray in surprise and thought to himself, isn't your rebellious period coming a little late?

So Li Shanze tried to smooth things over. He looked at the photo on the wall and asked, "Who is this photo?"

"Oh, this is a photo of me with a charity project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which aims to help children suffering from famine in Congo." The senator's smile was heartwarming.

Li Shanze nodded. "Presumably, these international humanitarian awards you've received are related to this good deed, right?"

Gray interjected, "Dad voted down the Multinational Corporation Accountability Act in the Senate, yet won an international humanitarian award. This wonderful balance is really amazing."

The senator's wife gently pulled Gray, then pointed to another appetizer and said with a smile, "Come, try this. These are oysters from the Gulf of Maine."

Perhaps because of her mother, Grey held back her words and just gently tapped the bone china plate in front of her.

The gold-plated words "Protect the Ocean" on the porcelain plate are particularly eye-catching.

When the third appetizer arrived, the senator tapped his glass with his golden fork and gave a toast.

"My dear friends, may this drink be as eternal as the Constitution—though it will always need some flexible amendments to adapt to the times."

Senator Hamilton made a "lighthearted" joke, a joke that probably only a member of Congress could laugh at.

"To Grey, my rebellious pearl. You always say that my bills are the shroud of a bygone era, full of hypocrisy and contradictions. But don't forget, my dear lawyer, the arrival of a new era will not happen overnight."

Grey raised her glass expressionlessly and gently clinked it with Senator Hamilton's.

"To Li, I am deeply impressed by your composure and grace. The wisdom and idealism in your eyes are so much like my younger self. May your passion and wisdom settle as elegantly as Bordeaux tannins."

Li Shanze smiled and nodded. He thought to himself, "If you think it looks like you, then that's right. I'm actually stealing your character."

It wasn't until Li Shanze came to Gray's house that he found a suitable person to use his "personality parasitism" ability on.

He hadn't used his power for a long time, and the crystal had burned him to the point of making him feel uncomfortable.

From the airport to the senator's house, only Grey and Senator Hamilton had social media accounts. Li Shanze felt that it was too weird for him to steal the character of Grey, an elite female lawyer, so the only person he could choose was the senator.

The Senator's team has carefully crafted an image of intelligence, composure, elegance and idealism for him on social media.

So when he saw Li Shanze, Senator Hamilton felt that this young man was exactly like his ideal self and had a very good impression of Li Shanze.

"To Ms. Butner. You are even more mysterious than the Romanée-Conti of the Mercer years. That year, the hailstorms in Burgundy mercilessly struck the winery, and the fragile Pinot Noir grapes needed the protection of the monastery cellar. May you recover soon."

Senator Hamilton's toast was full of innuendo.

Although Li Shanze couldn't figure out what year it was in the Merck year, he was not surprised that Senator Hamilton knew Charlie's identity as a witch.

If there are only two people in a state who know the truth, it must be the two federal senators.

As for the fragility of Pinot Noir grapes, the hail in Burgundy and the monastery cellars, Li Shanze feels that these are mostly metaphors.

Does the hail in Burgundy reflect his own sudden revelation? Does the fragility of the Pinot Noir grapes allude to Charlie's damaged spirit, and does the monastery cellar perhaps suggest he can offer protection?

Li Shanze, who knew nothing about red wine, had no idea how many metaphors the senator used or how much information he had grasped.

Despite her pale face, Charlie smiled and took a sip of wine.

"Finally, to my wife, your skill in pruning roses always reminds me of how to elegantly trim unnecessary branches from a budget. My muse, my dear, you are like this bottle of Margaux, the perfect balance of 1982... Who would have thought that the heavy rain that year would almost ruin everything? But you always manage to transform sourness into elegance."

It was obvious that the senator must have an extraordinary taste for red wine, as he compared everyone to fine wine.

Li Shanze remembered what the senator said to Xia Li very clearly. He wanted to see what the senator meant.

At this point, the senator raised his glass and said: "May we, like this glass of Mouton Rothschild from 1944, ferment in the flames of war, appreciate in peace, and always know how to maintain a moderate level of turbidity! Happy New Year, friends, cheers!"

While saying this, although Senator Hamilton said "we", his eyes were always on his daughter Grey.

Apparently, "moderate turbidity" is what the senator used to warn his daughter.

When he put down his glass, Senator Kurt Hamilton's aristocratic temperament disappeared instantly, and he seemed to have turned back into the approachable politician.

At this time, the senator's wife greeted the guests in due time: "Come, try this white truffle mushroom soup. This truffle was sent by Grey's aunt from a farm in Piedmont, Italy."

After simply drinking two mouthfuls of soup, Li Shanze covered his stomach and said with an apologetic smile: "Sorry, please forgive my rudeness. I hope to leave for a while."

Li Shanze chose to leave the table temporarily, not because he really had a stomachache, but because he just wanted to remember every word of the senator's metaphorical words to Charlie.

So Li Shanze left the table quickly before he forgot what he had memorized.

The senator's house was a manor, with layers upon layers of buildings, and even the toilets were well hidden. Li Shanze felt that without Gray's guidance, he would not be able to find the restroom.

So he didn't bother looking for it anymore and stopped at the oil painting in the corner. Then he took out his cell phone and typed the senator's toast into the memo in its entirety.

Li Shanze had just closed his phone when someone walked up behind him and whispered, "Senator, we've discovered that Benjamin's belongings in Philadelphia have been taken away—Excuse me, sir, who are you?"

Fortunately, this person realized that he had made a mistake and stopped immediately.

Li Shanze never expected that stealing the senator's personality would bring him such a benefit. The senator's subordinates actually recognized the wrong person and revealed very important information.

The RV is most likely the legacy of Bern Benjamin in Philadelphia, right?

Li Shanze raised his eyebrows, turned around, and said with a smile, "Oh, you've got the wrong person, sir. I'm Gray's friend. As for the senator, he's having dinner."

After patting the man on the shoulder and remembering his face clearly, Li Shanze turned and walked towards the restaurant.

I'll ask you about it later, but not now.

Then Li Shanze was surprised to find that Grey was still in her rebellious period.

Gray knocked over the wine glass in her hand. "Oops! This bottle of 'eco-friendly' wine was given to me by my dad's friend. The winery was just accused of injecting pesticides into the groundwater in Napa Valley."

The senator's expression remained calm. He picked up a New Zealand lamb steak with his golden fork and pointed the slightly exposed fork tip at Grey. "My dear daughter, changing the world requires patience, just like this 24k gold foil, which must first learn to maintain its luster in the magma."

At this point, he smiled at Li Shanze and Xia Li and said, "Come, try this lamb chop too. This recipe has been passed down for five generations. The secret is controlling the heat—it's like the civil rights movement. If you overheat it, it will burn."

Finally, this dinner full of intrigues between father and daughter came to an end.

Then, Xia Li and Li Shanze were personally led to a bedroom by the senator's wife.

"Wait a moment, Charlie," the senator's wife said kindly. "I've sent for Dr. Wilder. She'll give you a thorough examination."

"No need to bother, ma'am. I just need to rest for a while. It's already so late, let Dr. Wilder celebrate the New Year at home." Although Charlie could not hide the fatigue in her expression, she still declined.

"I know you trust your own herbs and techniques more, but it's not a bad idea to rely on modern medicine occasionally. It can often bring new inspiration from different perspectives." The senator's wife smiled.

"Let her finish the examination on you sooner so you can get some rest."

Since she couldn't persuade the senator's wife, Charlie had no choice but to agree.

Author's words: Trying to get the second update out...

099 quarrel

At the same time, Grey was called into Senator Hamilton's study, and a confrontation ensued between father and daughter.

As soon as the door to the study was closed, Gray took the initiative to attack without any hesitation: "Don't try to involve my friends in your dirty political tricks, Dad!"