Not long after the food was ordered, the students began to arrive one after another.
"Teacher!? You came early to order food for us!?"
Lucas's eyes widened into perfect circles.
"Thank you, teacher!"
Selena smiled and waved to the children.
"Come and eat. You've all worked hard on Planet Kashle."
"Thank you, Teacher Selena!"
"Wow! Fruit! How long has it been since I last had fruit!?"
"This is what real food tastes like. I never want to drink nutrient solution again!"
"Should we wait a bit? The others aren't here yet."
The students who arrived first circled the table, then scattered to their favorite food stalls to order a little extra.
"Goldfish said to buy a grilled sausage for him."
"Alright. Boss, twenty-four grilled sausages."
"...Uh, just a moment."
The military academy teachers were a bit surprised. They had only spent a dozen days together, and their relationships had already become this good?
Lin Youfu walked over to Taylor, who was frantically taking pictures of the food by the table and already looked like he was drooling.
"If you're hungry, why aren't you eating?"
To his surprise, Taylor just sucked back his drool.
"It's fine, I'm waiting to eat with the others."
Over there, Lucas was already standing in front of the steamed bun stall.
"Wang Kaiyu! Hurry up and buy me some steamed buns! You promised to treat me to steamed buns when we got back!"
"Coming! Huh? Didn't the teachers already buy some for the table?"
"That probably isn't even enough for Sister Zebra and the others to eat, right?"
"Good point."
The other teachers' gazes subtly drifted toward Chao Hao and Fu Manli, but the two remained completely unfazed.
It was a small scene, totally incapable of shaking them in the slightest. Besides, the kid wasn't wrong...
"Ahhh! Braised pork! It smells so good I could die!!"
Wang Tianwei had been shouting since she walked through the door. Like a gust of wind, she inspected the dining table, thanked every teacher, and then ran to the stir-fry stall, rattling off a long list of dishes.
"Who else isn't here yet? Yuying? Hurry them up! Are the guys from Santorini not here yet either? These people! They're not even active when it comes to eating!"
Zhang Lyra stood calmly in place, sending messages and tagging everyone who hadn't arrived yet. She had already told Sister Zebra what she wanted to eat, so she just needed to wait.
The few people from Yuying and Santorini came running over. Wen Tuo hadn't gone to the hospital yet; after washing himself clean, the sunburn marks on his face were even more obvious.
"You guys are all so fast? It's great being close by!"
They had rushed over from the complete opposite side.
As soon as Santorini's Mika arrived, she stood next to Zhang Lyra, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"What did you all order?"
"Everything you like to eat. Sister Zebra is on the second floor ordering wontons. Do you want some?"
"Sister Zebra!"
Qu Jiating hadn't even recovered from the shock of her students being so familiar with the people from Qilin when the next second, she was startled three times over by Mika's booming voice!
Wang Tianwei popped her head out from the second floor.
"What is it?"
"I want wontons too!"
"Okay, who else wants some?"
"Me!"
"I want a bowl too."
"No green onions in mine."
David, Lian Sheng, Tabitha, Xu Mo, and Ye Yingxuan chimed in one after another.
Listening to this, the several teachers sat down to the side. This scene was a bit different from what they had imagined.
Before coming, they thought it would be a serious atmosphere to reward everyone. The students would casually eat something, drink some nutrient solution, and then chat about their experiences over the past few days.
After learning that all six teams would be together, they figured there would be some open and covert verbal sparring, followed by dropping a few see you next match remarks, and finally leaving after exchanging rebellious glares.
But looking at it right now, why did it look exactly like soldiers from the same unit meeting up at the cafeteria to gorge themselves?
They needed a moment to process this... Where were the mutual defenses and grievances?
What about Qilin hiding a cross-grade super-class mecha master? Was that just brushed over!?
It wasn't until the students gathered together again and took their seats that the teachers learned what the birth of a gluttonous beast truly meant...
The imagined verbal probing was completely non-existent. From the moment they sat down, only Wang Tianwei said a single sentence:
"Finally, we have food! Everyone, hurry up and use your chopsticks. Let me try the fruit bowl first!"
After that, the scene spiraled completely out of control...
Lin Youfu stared in shock at Hiranuma Yusho and the others. He had never seen those four people holding meat buns in their hands and gnawing on them like that!
And why did you grab the steamed buns right off the bat? Are the fruit and salad I bought not appetizing enough!?
Barry's mouth was dripping with grease as he ate, yet he didn't forget to complain to Jian Jingyu,
"You guys are way too sneaky! Bringing steamed buns on the way to the competition? It made me think of nothing but steamed buns when I was starving the last few days!
Now I finally get to eat them, they're so good!"
The people from Santorini shared the same sentiment. Elizabeth happily narrowed her eyes, holding a red bean bun in one hand while occasionally grabbing a bite of food with her chopsticks in the other.
Bliss, absolute bliss!
Wang Tianwei first ate a few bites of fruit to whet her appetite, then picked up a bowl of cold noodles and began to feast!
The four people from Qilin usually helped each other out, but at this moment, it was every man for himself. It was a miracle they hadn't started fighting.
Lucas and Wang Kaiyu simply stood up to reach for food, while Maxim on the other side had already started roaming around!
Chao Hao returned carrying two portions of cold noodles and said to the several teachers whose jaws had dropped in shock,
"Do you want to eat something? With this setup... if you want to eat later, there probably won't be anything left."
Originally, the appetites of the four students on his side were already astonishing. Now it seemed all five teams were showing a trend of being assimilated.
The first cafeteria prepared meals according to the number of people in the camp. Today, after they finished eating, it would probably have to close its doors.
"...Then I'll go buy two steamed buns as well."
Seeing the students eating so heartily, Peng Shuang's appetite was also piqued.
"I just asked, the only steamed buns left now are the red bean ones."
Fu Manli chimed in at the right moment. Who knew these kids would have such a huge obsession with steamed buns?
"..."
The teachers chatted casually, while the atmosphere on the students' side was in full swing.
"Slurp! Delicious! So delicious!"
"Ah, piping hot little wontons, get in my mouth!"
After finishing two large steamed buns, Wu Fangyu held a bowl of salad and shoveled it into his mouth.
"Teacher Lin, did you buy this for us? Boohoo, thank you, teacher, I'll definitely eat it all!"
Teacher Lin was so good to them!
During his days on Planet Kashle, he dreamed of eating some greens! Mainly because there really wasn't much to eat in that place... He had gotten sick of roasted scorpions long ago.
He definitely wouldn't be a picky eater ever again, and he would put more effort into building mechas!
Lin Youfu looked at Wu Fangyu's red-rimmed eyes, having no idea how a bowl of salad could move him to such an extent.
"Ah?... You don't have to go that far!"
He knew they shouldn't have let the kids go to the battlefield!
What kind of new PTSD was this? How was he supposed to deal with it!?
Wang Tianwei choked a few times, and Zhang Lyra would always pat her back twice or hand over a cup of water at the right moment.
"Sister Zebra, your throat is narrow, so eat slower... We won't steal from you."
"Cough cough, mm-hmm!"
