Secrets always leak, and the food next door always smells better...
This was the true inner voice of all Valk members at this very moment.
Taylor sucked on a small pouch of nutrient fluid, his eyes uncontrollably darting toward the large pot of the neighboring Qilin team.
Boiling inside the pot was a spicy seafood soup.
The ingredients included wild vegetables Zhang Lyra had found earlier on another island, barnacles and shellfish Wang Tianwei had scraped off the bottom of the boat while modifying it, and a cuttlefish caught yesterday. Once cooked, the aroma wafted outward, captivating people's souls.
Huang Yan was grilling sea fish on the side. Zhang Lyra and Wang Tianwei stared intently at his every move, terrified of wasting even a single speck of the secret barbecue seasoning sent over by Jian's mother.
"Can you flip it now?"
"Wait a bit longer."
Jian Jingyu already looked somewhat like an experienced master chef. Stirring the pot with a long-handled ladle, he eventually scooped a spoonful of seafood soup into his own bowl, blew on it a couple of times, and tasted it for seasoning.
"It's ready, let's eat."
Barry sniffled and took a fierce suck of his nutrient fluid.
He wanted to report this! Team Qilin actually brought a chef to a competition!
Huang Yan also distributed the grilled sea fish to his teammates. The four of them began to feast without a shred of guilt, making the Valk members next to them, who could only drink nutrient fluid, look incredibly miserable by comparison.
Wang Tianwei listened to the thunder coming from outside the cave, lost in thought.
"I wonder how long this thunderstorm will last? Lightning is pure energy, after all..."
"Sister Ma, please spare us! There are so many power systems now that even I, a mecha builder, can barely tell the pipes apart!"
Wu Fangyu had somehow sneaked over to Qilin's side. He crouched beside Wang Tianwei, staring eagerly into their pot.
"...Uh, want some?"
The young man's longing gaze was truly hard to ignore. Since the two teams were currently in a cooperative relationship anyway, Wang Tianwei had no choice but to ask politely.
Who would have expected that in the very next second, Wu Fangyu would pull out his own lunchbox.
"Fill it up, please and thank you!"
"..."
Oh no, this guy had learned her essence!
Wang Tianwei had to take the lunchbox, fill it to the brim, and hand it back.
"Let me know if it's not enough."
Fortunately, they always made extra food out of habit. This way, they wouldn't have to go through so many preparation steps for the next meal; they could just take it out and heat it up when pressed for time.
Having successfully mooched some hot soup, Wu Fangyu sat cross-legged on the ground next to Wang Tianwei. While eating, he didn't forget to provide some emotional value.
"Mmm! Goldfish, your cooking skills are top-notch! The seasoning was mixed by your mom, right? With this taste, you could just go open a restaurant!"
Hearing this, Jian Jingyu smiled so widely his eyes turned into little crescents.
"Hahaha, eat up! We caught plenty of fish!"
Seeing this, Taylor and Barry immediately followed suit. Why didn't someone say mooching food was this easy? They had been sitting on the side feeling depressed for half the day!
With a bountiful harvest of ingredients from the sea, Wang Tianwei and the others naturally wouldn't be stingy. If it were like the last match on Planet Kashgar, they would have had to carefully weigh the "price"!
Huang Yan was also happy to see this. The better the relationship between the two teams, the more solid their subsequent cooperation would be. Seeing Hiranuma Yusho still guarding Valk's campfire alone, he walked over holding a fish skewer.
"Let's eat together. It's cold and damp outside, so have something warm. Tonight, our two teams can take turns keeping watch."
Hiranuma Yusho was suddenly poked in the mouth by a fish skewer. This guy was really fast...
However, having known Team Qilin for so long, he wasn't as reserved as he was in the beginning. After a moment of thought, he took the grilled fish.
"Thanks."
Just as he took a bite, he heard Huang Yan say,
"By the way, if I'm not mistaken about the 'boundary wall' of your illusion..."
"..."
Hiranuma Yusho moved the fish skewer, which he had taken a bite of, back in front of Huang Yan.
"I'm returning this to you."
He knew it! How could this guy be kind enough to bring him food out of the blue? It turned out he was here to steal his techniques again!
Now it was Huang Yan's turn to show off his thick skin.
"Don't be so stiff. Our Qilin and Valk are so close; friendly exchanges between our two schools are highly necessary!"
"This isn't about being stiff, and besides, Planet Shuomo and Planet Kalun aren't exactly close either..."
"How are they not close? Isn't our Zhang Lyra from Planet Kalun!?"
The fish skewer was pushed back again. Huang Yan took a moment to shoot a look at his teammate, and Jian Jingyu immediately trotted over with a large bowl of seafood soup.
"Try it, try it! Don't be polite!"
This was his dedicated bowl for eating noodles. It was deep, large, and heat-proof, fully demonstrating his sincerity.
Unsurprisingly, this meal was Sir Huang's tuition fee. Eat! They had to make sure Hiranuma Yusho ate well and was full!
If one pot wasn't enough, they could even cook another one! Once they left the league, where else would they find such an affordable teacher for Sir Huang?
Ever since he met this Qilin gang, Hiranuma Yusho often felt things were absurd, but he had never felt as helpless as he did today.
His teammates were laughing and chatting over by Qilin's campfire, while on his side, there was only Huang Yan holding a full bowl of seafood soup, staring at him with "ill intentions," as if he was going to force it down his throat in the next second so he could no longer refuse...
"Don't be shy! Oh man, I told you not to be so polite with us!"
The two of them pushed back and forth for a long time, yet not a single drop of the seafood soup spilled.
The storm outside still hadn't stopped. The howling wind blew past the cave entrance, making a "woo-woo" sound.
Hiranuma Yusho sighed and handed the fish skewer out.
Huang Yan raised an eyebrow slightly. Still not giving up?
"Don't worry, with Sister Ma around, our Qilin won't begrudge you a few bites."
No matter what, he was going to dig out the trick Hiranuma Yusho was hiding today.
To his surprise, Hiranuma Yusho just gave him a calm look.
"Your grilled fish skewer is tasteless. I want to drink Goldfish's seafood soup."
It seemed there was no avoiding it... Actually, that was fine. Huang Yan could always force out the rebellious spirit hidden beneath his "calm" exterior. He also wanted to see how much he could grow once he stepped out of his comfort zone of exclusively enjoying his mental illusion.
"???"
Tasteless? How is that possible?
Huang Yan held the bowl and froze for a moment. He turned his head to look at his teammates, and sure enough, he saw them vigorously shaking seasoning bottles over their fish skewers. When Zhang Lyra saw him notice, she gave a stiff smile and immediately turned her head away.
Wasn't it because they were afraid Sir Huang's grilling would taste terrible and waste the seasoning, so they didn't dare let him sprinkle too much earlier...
What? Was he being looked down upon by Hiranuma Yusho? Having Goldfish's seafood soup should be enough to make up for it, right?
"Heh."
Seeing their reaction over there, Hiranuma Yusho chuckled softly.
"Speaking of which, Barry has an 'Encyclopedia of Barbecue' on his optical computer. If you want, you can have him send it to you to study after the competition ends.
If your teammates all like it, it wouldn't be good to only focus on perfecting your mental energy usage, right? Shouldn't you put some effort into cooking as well?"
"..."
"Can you let me drink the soup now, Sir Huang?
As for the fish skewer, please do me a favor and process it a second time. After that, we can chat about the mental energy boundary wall. I'd be very grateful."
"..."
