According to the crew, the "Golden Princess" will depart from Mermaid Harbor and sail eastward along the new gourmet route, arriving at its destination—the Forest of Dogs—in seven days.

The area of ​​the Forest of Wu is unknown, but it is known that the Forest of Wu consists of the Black Stone Forest in the east, the Volcano of Wu in the west, the Broadleaf Valley in the south, and the Sand Mountain in the north.

The Forest of Wu is rich in unique products. Whether it's rare animal ingredients or precious mountain delicacies, you can find them all here. According to statistics, a wide variety of edible ingredients have been discovered here, and countless undiscovered ingredients are even more abundant. It's simply a paradise for gourmet hunters.

The giant fruits grown in Buji Town were introduced from the Forest of Dogs. Xu Milu's trip was to find more special plants suitable for introduction to Earth from the Forest of Dogs.

After all, she has limited time each day. If these extradimensional plants can be successfully introduced to Earth, she can save a lot of time on "stocking up" to practice her cooking skills and reduce unnecessary suspicions.

These mercenaries from all over the world on the "Golden Princess" were all gold diggers heading to the Forest of Dogs, and Xu Milu was naturally one of them.

"Knock knock knock".

There was a gentle knock on the door—it was the third day of the cruise ship's voyage at sea, and finally someone knocked on Xu Milu's door.

"Good evening, distinguished guest. A cocktail party will be held on the deck tonight. Would you like to have lunch at the top-floor restaurant or order à la carte?"

A blond, blue-eyed waiter appeared at the door with a smile, looking exceptionally gentlemanly in his tuxedo.

However, he was an old acquaintance of Xu Milu.

"Jimmy? What are you doing here?"

Xu Milu has a good memory and recognized Aoki disguised as "Jimmy" at a glance.

When Aoki saw Xu Milu's golden pupils, his expression showed a slight surprise, then he feigned helplessness and shrugged.

"Don't you know? The Wolf Head Mercenary Group has disbanded. As you can see, I'm now making a living on the Golden Princess—unlike you, Miss Milu."

He looked Xu Milu up and down, and raised an eyebrow in surprise:

"So, you're here because of the eruption of Mount Xu?"

"The volcano of the Dog erupts?"

Xu Milu was completely confused: "I wanted to explore the Forest of Dog and find new ingredients—but since it's the eruption period of the Dog Volcano, why are so many people going to the Dog Volcano?"

Aoki walked into the room and sat down on the sofa with a swagger, like a boneless snake:

"Legend has it that a blazing bird sleeps in the Xu volcano, and every ten years it will awaken and jump into the volcanic lava to wash away the dust and ash on its body. After the volcano erupts, an extremely precious and special ingredient will grow in the lava left behind by the blazing bird - the Flame Glass Leaf."

"This ingredient has a capture level of 40, making it a high-grade ingredient that many nobles covet."

Aoki crossed his legs, his tuxedo slightly disheveled, but his eyes were fixed on Xu Milu:

"I think you're here for the Flame Glazed Leaf too, aren't you? Or rather, your goal is the Ping Pong Grape that grows in the Forest of Dog?"

Xu Milu's purpose for this trip was to find fruits with giant characteristics in the Forest of Dog, but she did not answer Aoki's question directly. Instead, she suddenly leaned forward, her nose twitching slightly, her expression thoughtful.

"What, what are you doing?!"

Aoki seemed startled by the sudden closeness and leaned back.

Xu Milu carefully sniffed the scent on Qingmu's body, then revealed a knowing expression:

"So that Vera at the market was you! No wonder her tone sounded familiar—so, you stole the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's stuff too, and you're a member of the Green Wood Mercenary Group?"

For Xu Milu, this incident had only occurred a few months ago, but for Aoki, it felt like two years ago. Suddenly exposed, his expression changed drastically.

How did you find out about this?!

"It tastes exactly the same."

Xu Milu pointed to her nose:

"Even if your appearance changes, your scent won't. I keep asking myself, if the Wolf Head Mercenary Group suffers a major setback, who should be the happiest?"

Her eyes flickered slightly, and her golden pupils gleamed:

"The answer is obvious. I've been on the ship for three days, waiting for the Aoki Mercenary Group to come to me, but I never expected to see you instead—now that I think about it, Maggie is one of your people too?"

Since she developed bestial characteristics, not only her reaction speed but also her sense of smell have become much more acute.

Aoki stared in disbelief: "You recognized me from the auction night just by my scent? Are you some kind of Tibetan Mastiff?!"

Xu Milu was even more shocked than him: "It really is you?! I was just bluffing you!! How could you tell me everything?!"

Aoki: "..."

Xu Milu: "..."

The two looked at each other, and suddenly fell into an endless, awkward silence.

...

...

"Alright, I'm not going to waste my breath on you anymore. If it weren't for the fact that you indirectly helped me..."

Aoki scratched his blond hair, loosened his tie, and his entire demeanor became even more cynical and irreverent.

"Let's get to know each other again. I'm Aoki. I think we're old friends."

Xu Milu blinked: "If you are Aoki, then who was the Aoki-sama I saw a few days ago?"

Aoki scoffed:

“This should have been a secret, but I don’t think he can hide it from you—that’s my twin brother, Aomori.”

He gave a wicked grin: "He's also your butler, Maggie—"

However, Xu Milu's face did not show the shyness or indignation he had expected; instead, it was filled with endless indifference.

Aoki: "...I think out of courtesy, shouldn't you have shown some surprise at this point? And shouldn't you have yelled 'pervert' and questioned why we did this?"

"Why?"

Xu Milu asked in surprise, "Isn't this a private matter between you brothers? What does it have to do with me? I'm just an insignificant passerby."

Anyway, it's not like Xu Minian is wearing women's clothes, so what's it to her?

Xu Milu gave a knowing smile and patted Aoki on the shoulder:

"I understand, I respect, I support, and everyone has their own special hobbies. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"What kind of weird look is that?! We were only pretending to be someone else because we wanted to scheme against Su Lang! To make him spend all his money to curry favor with the Baron, and incidentally steal the Dark Cuisine Bun from him to help my brother awaken his hunter talent, you bastard!!"

Aoki was completely bristling like a hedgehog, only realizing what he had said after he finished yelling.

Aoki: "..."

Xu Milu: "You've revealed your entire plan again."

Xu Milu watched as the furious Aoki stormed out the door, deeply worried for him.

With that level of intelligence, the Aoki Mercenary Group is doomed sooner or later.