Chapter Nine: Food Protection
After Huo Yin finished dressing, he tried to lean closer to Anuo again, but Hicks laughed, grabbed him by the back of his collar, lifted him up, and put him in front of the dining table before he could get angry.
"You've been rescued. Now it's time to learn to be a proper human being."
After putting Huo Yin down, Hicks picked up Anno and prepared to place her in front of the dining table. Before putting her down, he saw that Huo Yin was ready to change her position at any time, determined to stick to Anno's side. He deliberately held Anno in one of the seats and pretended to put her down. Before Huo Yin changed seats, he held her and moved her to another seat.
After teasing Huo Yin several times, Hicks finally put Anno on a chair, and Huo Yin immediately sat down next to her.
The other children were preparing food by the stove, and Hicks went over to help cook some hot food. Soon, Anno smelled the aroma of meat, which made her mouth water.
She watched as one of the pots boiled, the rich broth overflowing from the sides. Hicks added some seasonings to the pot and stirred it constantly with a spoon. The aroma instantly filled the small living room. Anno stared intently at the pot of soup, swallowing hard.
She rarely had the chance to eat meat in the past, and meat was what she craved the most. Even if she just roasted raw meat in the wild without any seasoning, she could still eat it with relish. But the soup that Hicks was cooking now, and the meat that a slightly older child was frying in a pan, smelled much better than any meat she had ever eaten before.
Anno's gaze at the food was so intense that the child frying the meat quickened his pace considerably. Hicks would occasionally turn back to look at her, and seeing her eyes practically glowing with craving, he would smile and serve her a bowl of soup to cool down.
After waiting a few minutes, Hicks couldn't stand her eager gaze any longer, so he brought her the soup to the table and handed her a small spoon. Just as he was about to put it in her hand, she eagerly picked up the bowl and started drinking.
She had just drunk a tube of nutritional supplement not long ago and had just eaten a lot of milk curds. Hicks was worried that she would have difficulty digesting them, but she seemed so hungry that she couldn't bear to restrict her.
The soup was made with finely chopped meat. Anno drank more than half a bowl in one go. The oldest child put a piece of fried meat in front of Anno. Hicks was worried that she was too young to digest the meat, so he tried to take it away from her. But Anno quickly reached out with both hands to grab it in front of her and started to gnaw on it.
Her teeth weren't fully grown to begin with, and she even broke her front tooth, so even though the meat was fried until it was very soft, she still had some trouble gnawing on it.
Hicks looked at her, who looked like a beast cub who hadn't eaten for ten or fifteen days, and couldn't help but laugh and cry.
Well, let her eat it. It shouldn't be a big deal. He wanted to cut the meat into small pieces for her, but she instinctively turned away, looking like a little animal guarding its food.
If Hicks hadn't rescued her from the petri dish factory and still smelled of the culture medium, confirming that she had just come out of the petri dish, he would have suspected that she was a beast cub abandoned in exile.
Anno is indeed possessive of her food. She used to be able to eat her fill, but the food wasn't very good, and she had to work hard to earn it. If she had any good food, it would be taken away. When she went out to find supplies, she might encounter other teams and have all her food taken away, or even get injured and lose her life.
As she grew older, many powerful figures and individuals with special abilities took a liking to her appearance and offered her a comfortable life in exchange for becoming their plaything. She refused without hesitation, preferring death to becoming someone else's plaything.
She can kill and guard her food like a wild beast, but she cannot wag her tail and beg for mercy like an obedient dog.
An older sister who was very kind to her said that people like her, who could remain so stubborn and proud in this cannibalistic apocalypse, were practically extinct.
She didn't know that such people had never disappeared; she was already dead in that world anyway.
After she had eaten most of the meat in her hand, her cheeks started to ache from chewing, and she finally stopped. Hicks took the meat from her hand, cut it into small pieces, and put it in the bowl in front of her.
Huo Yin also had a bowl of soup and fried meat in front of him, which he pushed in front of An Nuo and watched her eat.
He hadn't eaten for several days, but he was very resistant to hunger; he wouldn't starve to death even if he didn't eat for several days.
After eating the large piece of fried meat, Anuo's hunger was gone, and her belly was round and full. She pushed the food back in front of Huo Yin, "You eat."
She spoke those two simple words, though they were a little awkward, they were very clear.
The other children sat opposite Anuo, holding their bowls and looking at her with eager eyes and longing expressions.
Seeing that Anno was looking at them, the children pushed their bowls forward, saying, "Little Fire Seedlings, you can have whatever you want!"
Anno: "..."
She shook her head at the children to indicate that she was full.
Hicks smiled at the children and said, "You can eat it yourselves. Even if she were a beast cub, she couldn't eat this much."
After hearing what Hicks said, the children took all the bowls back to themselves.
Just then, some noise came from outside. Hicks immediately stood up, and Huo Yin also looked warily towards the door.
The outer door was pushed open, and Mike and Apa entered the house covered in snow, each carrying a large bag.
Seeing that they had returned, Hicks went out to greet them.
"The snow is getting heavier and heavier; it probably won't be good to go out for the next few days."
Mike closed the door, keeping the wind and snow out.
Hicks took the bags and packages from his hands and went into the inner room.
When Mike saw the little firefly sitting obediently in the dining chair, he rubbed his hands together, really wanting to touch her head, but he was afraid that his actions would frighten her, so he refrained. He took off his coat, which was covered in snow, and put it on the shelf by the fireplace. He then stood over and warmed himself up by the fire.
Apa also stood in front of the fireplace, his eyes never leaving Anno since he came in.
This is the little spark they rescued themselves!
Hicks placed everything Mike had brought back on the table, opened the package, and turned on the weather system on the computer to see the weather conditions on Kappa Star for the past few days.
He looked at the screen and saw that there would be a severe blizzard for the next two days, making it completely unsafe to go out.
If there are no major unforeseen circumstances on the Federation's side, we should arrive on Kappa Star by tomorrow at the latest. As long as we get through the next two days safely, the Federation will definitely send their best personnel with the Fire Seed Cubs around.
Hicks was wondering which official the Federation would send. Because of his undercover identity, he had been wandering around the vicinity of Capa for a long time and had not been in contact with the outside world for a long time except for his contact.
His personal computer had just received a familiar contact code. This contact code belonged to Eve, the president of the Fireseed Association, who was also his aunt.
Upon receiving her contact code, he guessed that his mother, the commander of the 7th Federation Legion, was among the people who came to pick up the Fire Seed Cub.
While carrying out his mission here, he was also able to obtain a lot of information from the Federation. He knew that his mother was carrying out a mission on the nearby border. She was close to Kappa Star, so she could come and pick up the Fire Seed. With her there, he felt much more at ease.
Hicks looked at the Fire Seed Cub, who had just finished eating and was lying on the table, staring blankly at the flickering flames in the fireplace.
Looking at her adorable appearance, he felt a surge of affection. He was determined to bring her safely back to the main star. Fortunately, the Federation had sent people here, so they could take these beast cubs back with them.
Hicks took out a potion to mask the smell of the fire from the package, along with several other bathing items. He picked up Anno, who was slumped on the table and half asleep, and took her upstairs to take a bath.
Seeing Hicks carry her away, Huo Yin immediately got up and followed behind her.
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