Chapter 128 The Power of Food (Part 1) Ryan is in his tent...
Ryan was in his tent, facing the sand table, his brow furrowed. Suddenly, a fragrance overpowered his sense of smell.
It wasn't just the aroma of meat, nor simply the scent of grains; it was a unique fragrance—sweet with a hint of saltiness, salty with a touch of umami, and interspersed with a subtle sourness and the earthy scent of the earth. The richness of its layers was so profound that even the most discerning gourmet would be speechless.
“This is…” Ryan looked up abruptly, his eyes, which were slightly tired from days of scheming, suddenly flashed with disbelief.
"My lord!" The adjutant practically flung open the tent flap, his face beaming with ecstasy. "Captain Gray's convoy has arrived! Come out and see—no, smell!"
Ryan strode out of the tent.
On the distant horizon, a massive convoy of twenty Hope No. 1 heavy trucks was slowly approaching. The most striking feature wasn't the convoy itself, but the aroma wafting from its direction that nearly overwhelmed the entire camp.
"Oh my god... what is this smell...?"
"My mouth is watering..."
"Look, it's the Hope Trading Company's convoy." Ryan's personal guards had already recognized the Hope Trading Company's emblem, while the majority of the Caslan family's elite were still unaware.
Everyone put down what they were doing and rushed toward the edge of the camp without prior arrangement.
Gray dismounted from the Rockwalker, covered in dust, but his eyes were more composed and sharp than when he left. Behind him followed several equally energetic Hope Town transport team members and blue-vested guards.
“Lord Ryan,” Gray said with a brief bow, “I hope the first batch of supplies from the merchant guild will arrive on time. New supplies will arrive in batches at regular intervals thereafter.”
“Grey,” Ryan excitedly grasped his hand. This reinforcement had arrived just in time. “Great! Did you have a safe journey?”
"Successfully." Gray said sparingly.
Ah Hu, standing nearby, couldn't hold back any longer: "Lord Ryan, you have no idea how lively our journey has been! Every time we stopped to rest, people from the surrounding villages were drawn in by the aroma. Once, in a border town, more than a hundred people came and completely surrounded our convoy."
"And there's that place called Oak Village," another team member, Fei Ye, excitedly interjected, "the village chief almost knelt down and begged us to sell all the goods to them."
“Too much talk.” Gray glanced at them expressionlessly.
Ah Hu and Fei Ye immediately shut up, but their eyes were still sparkling. It was their first time leaving Blackrock City, so they were filled with uncontrollable excitement the whole way.
Feiye couldn't wait to lift the tarpaulin off the first vehicle.
“Lord Ryan, look.”
The carriage was neatly filled with various supplies wrapped in moisture-proof cloths. Each package had a clear label indicating its contents, weight, and even simple consumption suggestions.
“These are dried sweet potatoes,” Fei Ye said, picking up a bag of golden, translucent dried sweet potatoes. “There are two kinds: dried and boiled and sun-dried. The dried ones are crisp and sweet, and crunchy when you bite into them; the sun-dried ones are soft and chewy, and the more you chew, the more fragrant they become.”
“These are sweet potato noodles,” he said, picking up another bag of translucent noodles. “After soaking them, stew them with pickled cabbage. The chewy texture and the fresh aroma are absolutely amazing! One bite and you’ll want to swallow your tongue.”
"Dried tofu!" Fei Ye continued, "After soaking, it can be stir-fried or stewed, and it's also delicious eaten dry. We ate it as a snack along the way, and it was even more popular than dried meat."
"Soy milk powder, just add hot water and you have a fragrant and rich soy milk, even more convenient than freshly ground soy milk."
“There’s a new product too—” Fei Ye lowered his voice mysteriously and took out an exquisite little pottery jar from his pocket, as if he were showing off some rare treasure. “This is a spicy sauce specially made for dwarves! It was developed by Aunt Lian based on Mayor Lin Yue’s recipe, specifically for the taste of dwarves! It was a recipe that was tested seventeen times before it was finalized.”
Ryan took the earthenware pot.
The can is smooth and delicate, with the Hope Trading Company's logo printed on it, and a line of exquisite small print below: "Hope Trading Company - Dwarf Special Supply - Making Every Meal Flavorful".
He carefully opened the lid.
A strong aroma, a blend of spices including fire pepper and garlic, instantly wafted over and filled his nostrils.
“This…” Ryan’s eyes lit up, his nostrils flared slightly, “This smell… how can it be so…”
"Addicted, huh?" Ah Hu laughed smugly, pulling out a freshly baked white bread from his pocket. "Try it! Dip it in this, and let me tell you, this stuff can make even black bread taste like roasted meat."
Ryan, still somewhat skeptical, dipped a small piece of biscuit in and carefully took a bite.
Three seconds of silence.
Then his eyes widened, his pupils dilating slightly: "This...this is too...too..."
He couldn't find the right words to describe it for a moment.
The spiciness wasn't just from chili peppers; it had the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns. The aroma was a blend of the richness of fermented black beans, the intensity of garlic, and a complex umami flavor resulting from fermentation. All the flavors exploded on the tip of the tongue, quickly filling the entire mouth, leaving behind an irresistible lingering aftertaste.
“Lord Ryan,” Ah Hu leaned closer and lowered his voice, “would you like another piece?”
Ryan looked at the pancake in his hand, then at the spicy sauce, and finally couldn't resist dipping another piece in.
This time he was prepared and savored its layers of flavor.
“The dwarves will go mad…” he muttered to himself.
While Ryan was tasting the food, Gray calmly and expressionlessly directed his team to unload the goods. His movements were clean and efficient, clearly demonstrating his high level of training. Soon, a temporary "food display area" was set up in the open space outside the camp.
Several specially made large iron pots, brought from Hope Town, were placed on a specially made stove, with flames leaping merrily at the bottom. Two chefs from Hope Town had already tied on their aprons and started working.
The first pot contained sweet potato vermicelli and pickled cabbage soup.
The translucent glass noodles tumble in the boiling broth, each one springy and plump. The tangy pickled cabbage, the rich flavor of a few slices of salted pork, and the fresh aroma of wild scallions... all the flavors blend and sublimate in the hot soup, the fragrance spreading outwards in concentric circles.
"The key to this soup is the pickled cabbage," the chef explained while stirring. "It has to be old pickled cabbage pickled last autumn, with just the right amount of sourness. Paired with the chewy sweet potato noodles and a few slices of fatty and lean salted pork... tsk tsk."
The second pot is for making Mapo Tofu.
The tender, white tofu cubes trembled gently in the chili oil, each piece coated in a rich sauce. Sprinkled with vibrant green wild scallions and dark brown chili flakes, the red, white, green, and black colors created a pleasing visual effect.
Even more deadly is its aroma.
The spiciness of the fire crystal pepper, the numbing sensation of the mountain pepper, the richness of the bean paste, the aroma of the minced meat... all the flavors blend together to create an almost violent sensory impact.
“This dish,” another chef said proudly, “is the signature dish of Hope Town. The tofu must be tender, so tender that it trembles when you pick it up with chopsticks; the sauce must be fragrant, so fragrant that you can smell it from three meters away; the spiciness must be strong enough to make you cry but still want to eat it… It’s selling like hotcakes in Black Rock City.”
The third pot contained sweet potato porridge. The contents of this pot looked the simplest, but its aroma was in no way inferior to the previous two.
The golden porridge bubbled and simmered in the pot, releasing a sweet aroma with each burst of bubbles. The sweet potato had completely melted into the porridge, giving the whole pot an enticing golden hue.
"This porridge goes best with pickled vegetables," the chef said, taking out a small dish of bright green pickled mustard greens. "A bite of sweet porridge and a bite of pickled vegetables, and you can eat three big bowls without stopping."
The items were neatly arranged on the table next to it:
Roasted sweet potatoes, arranged one by one on a wooden plate, have a charred black skin, but with just a gentle break, you can see the golden flesh inside steaming hot, with a soft, sweet aroma—truly a gift from the earth.
Stir-fried dried tofu with meat: Dried tofu cut into thin strips is stir-fried with shredded meat. It is dry, fragrant and flavorful, and each piece is coated with a dark brown sauce, which looks very appetizing.
Sweet potato chips: Packed in bamboo baskets, each piece is crystal clear, some are deep gold, some are light yellow, and they gleam with an enticing luster in the sunlight.
Soy milk: served in a large earthenware bowl, steaming hot, with a thin layer of soybean skin floating on the surface, the rich aroma of soybeans makes people feel warm just by smelling it.
It gives people a comprehensive shock.
The soldiers at Lane's camp have been completely conquered.
"My God... this smell..." a soldier sniffed hard.
"What's that slippery thing in the soup?" another soldier asked, pointing to the glass noodles.
"Vermicelli, sweet potato vermicelli," someone nearby explained. "*The chef said these are especially chewy and delicious..."
"That bright red tofu...why does it look so tender? I really want to take a bite..."
"Stop looking, you're drooling..."
"But...it smells so good..."
On the city walls, the dwarven sentries reacted more directly.
Balg Copperbeard sniffed hard, his nostrils almost touching the crenellations of the city wall, and he practically leaned his upper body over the wall.
"My God... this taste..." His voice was filled with longing.
The old captain beside him, his face stern, struggled to maintain the authority befitting a seasoned leader: "Stop looking, Balger, that's human temptation..."
No sooner had he finished speaking than his stomach rumbled loudly.
Balg Bronzebeard glanced at him furtively, his lips twitching as he tried to suppress a laugh.
Iron Face glared at him fiercely, his face turning slightly red, and then... he quietly brought his nose closer and took a deep breath.
"It really does smell... good..." he muttered to himself, his voice carrying a hint of reluctant compromise.
“Captain,” Balg Bronzebeard asked cautiously, “you said… that sweet potato porridge… is it really as delicious as it smells?”
“...How should I know?” Iron Face turned his face away, but his eyes still couldn’t help but glance toward the human camp.
The dwarf civilians outside the city were even more restless.
Dozens of dwarves had spontaneously gathered outside the city gate, gazing at the temporary food display area from afar, their eyes filled with an irrepressible longing.
"What's that bright red thing?" a young dwarf asked on tiptoe.
"It should be... tofu? Those mysterious merchants mentioned before... that it's very suitable for the elderly and children..."
"Those glass noodles in the soup... they look so smooth and chewy... I really want to try them..."
"And that porridge, it's golden yellow, and it looks so sweet..."
“I can’t take it anymore,” a dwarf worker suddenly stood up. “I’m going to take a look, just a look, not to buy anything.”
"Wait for me."
"I'll go too."
Amidst the commotion, Gray sat on a wooden crate, expressionless, eating a bowl of sweet potato vermicelli and sauerkraut soup slowly.
He ate slowly, but he ate each bite very carefully.
Pick up a piece of rice noodle with your chopsticks, blow on it gently, and then put it in your mouth and chew it slowly.
Although his expression remained unchanged, his focused and earnest demeanor was more convincing than any exaggerated praise.
Ah Hu whispered to Ryan, "Lord Ryan, don't be fooled by Captain Gray's silence; he's already eaten three bowls..."
Ryan chuckled, looking at Gray's expressionless face, and suddenly felt that this cold-faced captain was actually quite cute.
"By the way," Ah Hu continued gossiping, "Captain Gray always cooks a pot of sweet potato porridge himself whenever he rests on the road. When we asked him why, he said 'to save time.' But we all know he just really likes to eat..."
“Tiger.” Gray suddenly looked up and glanced at him expressionlessly.
Ah Hu immediately shut up and made the gesture of zipping up a zipper, as the mayor had suggested.
But Ryan noticed that Gray had already added a fourth bowl of vermicelli soup to his bowl.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
