Chapter 229: Drink while you can!
A day and a night had passed since the Wen Yao campaign. The soldiers' wounds had finally healed, and their exhausted bodies had recovered somewhat. Now, it was finally time...
It's time to eat.
"When is dinner ready?"
"I'm hungry too..."
"I see, the phantom of rice."
"Haha, I'm starving."
The brave warriors defending the Despair Wilderness huddled in a row before the earthen tables. The few who were mentally strong sat listlessly, leaning against the backs of their chairs. They couldn't hold on any longer. Even the strongest fighters needed food, and some of the unfortunate warriors present hadn't had a proper meal since entering the wilderness.
At this moment, all the soldiers from all corners of the country reached a rare consensus: we need to eat! We need to eat!
"Here we come, don't rush and don't rush~"
Jie An came running over carrying several large plates, and everyone perked up, automatically making way for the dishes. The chef quickly arranged the dishes: "Pan-fried mushroom steak, cabbage fried rice, seven-color salad, healthy tomato juice, and a fruit platter to finish the meal! It's quite a feast, nutritious and healthy."
The soldiers looked at the red and green patches on the table, their faces turning pale to varying degrees.
Fander's eyes turned green: "Why are they all vegetarian?!"
"Where's the meat?!" Ji Huaisu screamed.
"No! This area is a hundred miles of desert. If you dig three feet deep and find a piece of diced meat, I'll give you my surname." Jie An threw a large can of tomato juice on the table. "All we have left are these mushrooms and vegetables grown by Gulibo. Eat them if you want."
Chu Hengkong gasped, remembering that the lustful demons had already devoured the surrounding jungle, leaving them with nothing to eat. Qingye chewed a piece of mushroom, his expression mournful. "Now that things have come to this, let's eat Fander..."
"Go away, get out of here!"
Qingxia looked at Fander and shook her head firmly: "No! One piece of meat is not enough, let's stew Gulbo as well."
"Don't eat me! If you want to eat meat, go kill sandworms!" The little animals protested strongly.
"I'd rather chew on leaves." Shax's face was gloomy.
Chu Heng's empty stomach protested the most intensely since entering the wilderness. He quickly finished a bowl of fried rice as a delaying tactic, then with a flick of his wrist, grabbed the shoulder of the cook who was about to leave.
"Jie An, you've always been cautious. Even if your storage relic is filled with medicinal herbs, you should at least have some emergency rations..."
Jie An began to whistle loudly.
Ji Huaisu jumped up, grabbed the cook and shook him: "Hand it over! Hand over the meat!!"
"Those are emergency rations. Do you know what emergency means? They're the bottom of the box!" Jie Anning refused to yield. "At most, they're just a few pieces of cheese and two pork legs. It's not like we don't have anything to eat right now. Are you guys short of that little bit of meat? Just bear with it!"
Chu Hengkong practically drooled; he clearly heard several swallowing sounds. Fander leaped up, leaping over the cook's head. "Now is the time to act! If we don't have meat for this meal, our morale will plummet. In the next decisive battle, we'll fall apart without the enemy even needing to intervene, and the Demon King's expeditionary force will be annihilated!"
"The Demon King's subjugation army is so fragile! What kind of good-for-nothing would be wiped out just because they didn't eat a good meal?"
"The symptoms have already begun, look!" Vander pointed at the table in anger.
During the confrontation, Qingxia had already slipped down the tablecloth and landed softly on the ground. Qingye rushed over with tears in his eyes: "Qingxia! Hold on, Qingxia!"
Qingxia stretched out her hand tremblingly: "When you all return victorious... please roast a pork leg for me... two pieces of cheese... a plate of fried rice, two roasted chickens, a pig's head, and the best braised beef..."
"You even ordered food!"
"Add... three ounces of good wine..."
Qingxia's head tilted, and she lay on the ground with her eyes closed. Qingye was filled with grief, tears welling up in his mouth. "General Qing! You need at least three pounds of wine!!"
"Why are there still drunkards? Stop drinking!"
Fen Ya also tried to persuade them: "Young people should drink less..."
Shax leaned back in his chair, holding his forehead, trying his best to pretend, "I don't know these people." Seeing this, Gulibo was shocked: "Oh my God, Shax is so hungry that he lost his voice!"
"I never thought that the Iron-Blooded Sniper would one day collapse from hunger..." Ji Huaisu said sympathetically.
Shax groaned in frustration.
Chu Hengkong gripped the cook's shoulders tightly, exerting invisible pressure with his eyes. Jie An was completely helpless and threw up his hands. "Alright, alright, get up, stop acting. I'll pay for the food, but we'll really be eating vegetarian food for the next few days. No complaints from now on."
"no comment!"
Jie An took out the remaining dairy products and meat and asked, "With just these few things, what do you think we should do?"
The table was filled with two pickled pork legs and a few pieces of cheese, and the rest was just flour and compressed biscuits. Chu Hengkong glanced at the pan-fried mushrooms, which were quickly empty, and had an idea.
"Everyone, listen to me. There's a dish in my hometown called pizza..."
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Another half hour later.
"Make way, make way, the first batch of pizzas is out of the oven!" Jie An shouted, "This is a Margherita pizza, with a pure cheese and tomato base; this is a mushroom and ham pizza, with the spiced vegetable on top; and there's also a potato pizza, all you can eat!"
The advantage of having a Discipline Knight on the team is that you can light a fire, set up an oven, and craft kitchenware anytime, anywhere. Jie An is a seasoned pastry chef; he understands the technique immediately, needing no instruction. In less than half an hour, a freshly baked pizza arrives at your table. The hot cheese, still semi-fluid and barely solidifying, oozes a vibrant red beneath the freshly made tomato sauce. The ham slices are crispy, the mushrooms are tender and fragrant, and the locally sourced spices, spun by the heat, emit an alluring aroma.
Chu Hengkong couldn't wait to take a piece and put it in his mouth. As he chewed it, the rich flavors filled his mouth, making him feel a long-lost sense of happiness.
"Earthlings know how to enjoy themselves," said Vander, praising him endlessly. "This is fantastic! This time-honored Earth brand is truly authentic!"
"I feel like my soul has been resurrected at this moment..." Ji Huaisu said with emotion, "I can eat ten..."
"Please consider your weight, Captain Ji."
"What's there to be afraid of? Just add a few more Holy Flames to deal with this little bit of heat."
Qingye dug out a bottle of wine from somewhere and secretly poured it for everyone: "Good news, there is still some fruit wine left in the settlement."
Shax blocked the cup: "No drinking."
"Wow!" Qing Ye was surprised. "Then what are you drinking?"
"milk."
"Is this true... milk..."
Qingxia tried hard to suppress her laughter: "Shax drinks milk...hahaha...hahahaha!"
Shakes's face was dark, and Gulibo spoke up for him: "What's wrong with milk? I like drinking milk too."
Vander laughed wildly: "Shax, you and Gulbobo have the same taste, hahahahahaha, Abba!"
Shax smashed the Eye Demon onto the table with the butt of his rifle. Chu Hengkong snapped his fingers and said, "Please give Shax a children's meal."
Jie An came to the table and said respectfully, "Master, would you like octopus sausages or potato five-pointed stars? We also have three toys that come with the set meal. You can choose one after the meal."
"For the first time in my life, I feel like repenting. I must have lived a terrible life in my previous life to have met you in Hell," Shaxx said. "Look at how lax and undisciplined you are. Two random emissaries could easily take out all you good-for-nothings."
"According to Vansalar's personality, he wouldn't attack right now." Qingxia shrugged. "He must be smiling happily on the throne right now. It's so great that the Plague Demon has been defeated."
Fander shakily got up and protested loudly: "After finally finishing a tough battle, can we say something nice? To be honest, I don't want to hear words like nightmare, fear, and Vansalar in the near future..."
Figures of people chatting and laughing swayed around the campfire, the aroma of food wafting through the air with the smoke. Chu Hengkong gripped his wine glass, feeling a long-lost sense of joy. It had been a while since anyone had relaxed, and at such a good time, they should chat about random things, away from the worries of reality.
"Fander is right. It's a rare gathering, so let's not talk about unlucky things!" Ji Huaisu waved his hand, "Why don't we imagine how we're going to enjoy ourselves after we get out?"
"Don't open the champagne at halftime." Chu Hengkong smiled.
"Let's drink while we can, friends! If we lose, we won't even have a chance to open the champagne. What a loss!" Ji Huaisu said, "Honestly, I've had enough of this dark and gloomy environment. When I get out, I'm going to find a sunny place to sunbathe and get a beautiful tan."
"Together, together!" Qing Ye raised his hand. "It's almost summer outside now. It's time to go to the beach and enjoy a holiday to replenish solar energy."
"Can we go diving outside?" Qingxia asked excitedly, "I want to go to the bottom of the sea to find the Dragon Palace."
"You can dive, but there's no Dragon Palace. There's only demons at the bottom of the sea."
"Hey... wouldn't swimming be very troublesome? We also have to fight the demon first."
"It's okay, just throw Akong over there and the demon will die on its own."
"Are you just going to assume I'm a chore?" Chu Hengkong said helplessly, "Will you still need me to help you put on sunscreen when the time comes?"
Ji Huaisu put his hands on his chest and kept a distance from someone: "Ah! You feel so smug, you feel so greasy. Who needs your help?"
"That's great! If Sister Huaisu doesn't want it, I will snatch it away." Qingye cheered.
"Who said no! Let go of my hand, little girl! Don't take advantage of this opportunity to grab someone's arm!"
"Qingye Qingye, what is sunscreen?" Qingxia was curious.
"An imperfect tool specifically used for coloring."
"Then I want one too!"
"What the hell are you doing with your hair, you centaur?"
The girls chattered and clamored, the noise resembling Godzilla vs. King Kong. Chu Hengkong seized the opportunity to escape, slipping away from the center of the commotion to the quieter end of the long table. Shax had just asked Jie An for a cigarette, while Vander and Gulibo were playing Gobang with vegetable stems and fruit cores.
Seeing him coming, Vander swung his tentacles and said, "Go away, go away. Why are you joining our small animal group instead of your own women's group?"
"So you guys are the small animal group? I thought it was the men's group."
"Animals have it so easy. If you let me choose, I'd definitely choose to be an animal," Xie An said. "What about you, brother?"
"I'm not interested in being an animal." Shaxx flicked away the ash.
Jie An looked at him carefully. "I heard that you are also a killer from Earth... but you are very different."
"In your terms, it's a vast island of dust, inhabited by billions of people. There's nothing common to any of them." Shax put out his cigarette and suddenly asked, "How long have I been dead on Earth?"
"Two years."
"Two years." Shax nodded. "Out of six billion people, two people I know traveled through time in just two years. What a coincidence."
"It's a coincidence."
"I heard some interesting news from Ran Jin. Other Earthlings have come to the Despair Wilderness before, and they were also killers."
"What a coincidence." Chu Hengkong said, "It's incredible. I have no doubt that there are other old acquaintances somewhere in the Shendong world."
Gulibo couldn't tell the atmosphere, but when he heard that, he said excitedly, "Great! There's another Super Earthling Bo who's just as strong as you!"
"That's not a good thing, little animal," Shax sneered. "Every one of my old acquaintances deserves to go to hell. Guess whether they prefer the Allies or the Outcasts?"
Xie An imagined Chu Hengkong defecting to a foreign sect and shuddered: "I thought you were all knights."
"You're overthinking it. We're assassins." Shax poured himself a glass of tomato juice. "Want to sell your medicine, Jie An?"
"I don't usually sell them, but it's a good coincidence that we met. If you need them, I can give you a few."
"Transactions are transactions."
"Then we can talk slowly... I heard you often hunt exotic beasts, and I happen to be short of ingredients for making medicine..."
As the cook and the sniper ran off to negotiate, Gulibo began to imagine Chu Hengkong, the Fallen One, and Shaxx, the Scourge. The more he thought about it, the more horrified he became. He grabbed hold of Fander's tentacles and cried in panic, "Sink, sink, sink! The world is doomed!"
Fander sneered, "Before the Shendong Realm is destroyed, the tide of fate will allow the fellow Earthlings to meet, and then the problem will solve itself."
"That makes sense, bo..." Gulibo felt relieved after hearing that. "Please get me another small piece of potato pizza, bo!"
When Chu Hengkong returned to the table, the women were still chatting about random topics. He helped Gulibo cut a small piece of pizza and found that there were several small round holes on it.
The bone claws behind Qingxia moved quietly, and while no one was paying attention, she put a small amount of food into a small cloth bag.
(End of this chapter)
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