Egg-opening Expert

Gray took a deep breath, gripped the seam of the golden egg with both hands, and with a forceful pull, the golden egg cracked in two.

The chocolate inside is shaped like a heart, with exquisite craftsmanship and a smooth, delicate surface.

The most amazing thing is that it also has a portrait of Gray on it, with a heavy filter applied, making Gray's outline sharp and angular.

You could say it's incredibly lifelike, even a little bit more handsome than Gray himself.

Juvia was still staring at Gray, her hands clasped in front of her chest, muttering to herself, her voice seemingly tangible, impacting Gray.

◉‿◉

"Eat it quickly... eat it quickly... if you eat the chocolate I made, you're mine..."

Gray held the heart-shaped chocolate with his own portrait on it, his lips twitching, unsure where to begin.

Biting its head feels weird, biting its body feels even weirder.

He looked at it over and over several times, and finally decided to close his eyes and take a bite.

Ur sat next to him, legs crossed, cracking sunflower seeds and chewing them with a "crunch crunch" sound.

A pair of eyes scanned Juvia, scrutinizing and curious.

She could very well become her apprentice's daughter-in-law; she needs to take a good look at her.

"Hmm, good physique, looks quite muscular."

Gray nearly choked on the chocolate.

∑(°Д°)

Ur! What are you saying?!

Ur spat out the sunflower seed shells and patted Gray on the back with a smile.

Don't be nervous, I'll just take a look.

Alzack nervously opened the golden egg in his hand, his fingers trembling slightly, as if afraid that something purplish-black would pop out.

The moment the golden egg opened, he closed his eyes first, and only slowly opened them after mentally preparing himself.

The chocolates inside are quite unique; they're shaped like a sniper rifle, with a long, slender barrel and a slightly upturned muzzle.

Even the details of the scope are reproduced; it's clear that only someone with a dedicated heart could create such a shape.

This instantly made Alzack overjoyed; his entire face lit up as if he had been bathed in sunlight.

He abruptly turned to look at Bisca, Bisca was also looking at him, and their eyes met.

(●'◡'●)ﾉ♥

Bisca's face flushed red instantly, and she quickly turned her head away, twisting her skirt with her fingers.

Alzack blushed and turned his head away, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face, which looked like a fox who had stolen a chicken.

Seeing Alzack happy, Jet and Troy became even more anxious and couldn't wait to open the golden egg in their hands.

Jet's golden egg snapped open, revealing a chocolate handcuff shaped like a pair of chains. The silver chocolate handcuffs were incredibly lifelike, with even the links of the chain clearly visible.

Jet froze, his lips twitching several times.

These handcuff-shaped chocolates... they don't look like something Levy make, do they?

Levy is a Word Mage, so what she creates should be in the shape of a book.

Troy quickly checked his chocolate, only to find it in even worse shape. It was completely unrecognizable, a mushy mess like a clump of trampled mud. He could barely make out a round base, as the top had completely collapsed.

"What is this?" Troy was on the verge of tears.

Jet patted him on the shoulder and sighed in sympathy.

"Stop looking, it'll only make you more upset."

The two looked dejected, sitting slumped in their chairs; neither of them was clearly Levy's chocolate.

Jet placed the handcuffed chocolate on the table, and the more he looked at it, the more heartbroken he felt.

Troy stared at his unidentified lump and fell into deep thought.

Happy also opened the golden egg; with a snap of his little paws, he broke the golden egg in two.

The chocolate inside is a thick rectangular prism, with dozens of layers upon closer inspection. It's shaped like a deck of cards, just like a real tarot deck, even replicating the patterns on the back.

"Aye! I got Cana's chocolate!"

Happy that his tail stood up straight, and he grabbed a few pieces of chocolate with his little paws and stuffed them into his mouth.

"So delicious!"

After a few pieces, Happy's round eyes slowly narrowed, his body swayed twice, and then he collapsed unconscious with a "thud," lying on his back with chocolate crumbs still hanging from the corner of his mouth.

~(*++*)~

Everyone was startled. Riyao peeked out and confirmed that there was no danger to his life, then continued recording while holding the crystal ball.

Cana scratched her head, chuckled, and gestured with her hand, making a tiny gap between her fingertips and thumb.

"Hahaha... I added a little bit of alcohol. Just a tiny bit."

Lucy looked at her speechlessly.

"You call that a tiny bit? Happy got drunk after just one small bite!"

Cana shrugged.

Who knew cats could drink so little?

Natsu carefully pried open a crack in the golden egg, brought his nose close, and sniffed it thoroughly. Only after confirming that there was no suffocating purple aura did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, it wasn't that."

He fully opened the golden egg. The chocolate inside was somewhat abstract in shape, crooked and twisted, like a lump of kneaded clay. He could barely make out the outline of four legs and a long nose.

Natsu examined the oddly shaped chocolate, tilting his head to look at it from left to right, and scratched his head.

"What's this? It looks familiar."

Lucy slammed her hand on the table and stood up, her face flushed red with embarrassment and anger.

(▼ヘ▼#)

"That's Canis Minor!"

Natsu looked again and suddenly realized.

"Oh! Canis Minor! No wonder he looks like a dog."

"It's nothing like a dog!" Lucy stomped her foot in anger.

Gray leaned closer to look at the lump of chocolate and commented with a look of disgust.

"While the Canis Minor itself is quite abstract, yours is even more so. Lucy, your craftsmanship rivals Erza's culinary skills."

Lucy's eyes reddened, and her hands clenched into fists.

"Shut up! I've been working on this for ages!"

Juvia's resentful gaze shifted from Gray to Lucy, her eyes like thorny vines, making Lucy feel extremely uncomfortable.

Lucy looked helpless and waved her hands.

"Don't look at me! I'm not your rival! There's really nothing between Gray and me!"

Juvia's steam billowed even more fiercely.

"But Lucy showed Gray the chocolate..."

"He's the one who came over to look!"

Jet and Troy jumped around like badger in a melon patch, craning their necks to look around, trying to see who had gotten Levy's chocolate.

(°Д°≡°Д°)

"Who got Levy's? Did anyone see it?" Jet was pacing anxiously.

"Did you see anyone holding a book-shaped chocolate?" Troy asked, stopping each member who passed by.

Unfortunately, no one could answer them, because everyone was busy opening their own golden eggs.

Lisanna was also curious about who had eaten her chocolate, so she looked around and searched everywhere, but couldn't find it for a while.

At that moment, a commotion arose in the Celestial Spirit World.

Leo originally wanted to come back and join in the fun, after all, as a member of the guild, he wanted to come back and participate.

As soon as he appeared in the guild hall, he was surrounded by a group of women.

It wasn't guild members, but rather his ex-girlfriends who, somehow having heard the news, all rushed over to deliver chocolates.

Leo was almost completely obscured by the mountain of chocolate boxes, with only his helpless hands waving helplessly at the top.

"Everyone! Please calm down! I am very touched, but..."

ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!

Riyao held up the crystal ball, aimed it at Leo, and grinned from ear to ear.

"This material is excellent."

Wakaba and Macao were happily opening the golden egg, peering inside with anticipation, when their wives grabbed their ears from behind before they could even eat the chocolate.

"You dare eat chocolate made by another woman?" Wakaba's wife twisted his ear, her voice sinister.

Macao's wife wasn't about to back down either. She grabbed Macao's ear with one hand and confiscated the golden egg with the other. "Let's go home!"

Two middle-aged men were dragged out of the guild gate by their ears, the golden egg was thrown into the trash can, and the screams gradually faded away.

Romeo sat quietly in the corner, eating his chocolate with a satisfied smile on his face. He shook his head, looking as if he had seen through the illusions of the world.

Adults are such a hassle.

Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived.

Elfman broke the golden egg open with both hands. The moment the egg opened, a purplish-black aura, like Cobra, shot out from the crack and meandered through the air.

As soon as it was opened, the crowd within a few meters seemed to be pushed back by something, creating a vacuum zone.

Elfman stood alone in the middle, holding the purplish-black unidentified object in his hand, the ground around him stained dark purple by that aura.

That chocolate, if it could still be called chocolate, had purple bubbles on its surface and emitted a strange smell that was somewhere between rotten and fermented.

Occasionally, it would make a "gurgling" sound, as if it were alive.

When Riyao saw the purplish-black aura spreading out, his eyes lit up, and he quickly aimed the crystal ball at Elfman, a smile of anticipation playing on his lips.

"It seems the offerings for this year have arrived."

Mirajane covered her nose and took two steps back.

"Honey, you absolutely must record this."

"Don't worry, it's all in high definition and uncensored."

Elfman stared at the dark purple "chocolate" in his hand, his expression shifting from shock to Despair, and then from Despair to a look of resignation.

(▼ヘ▼)

He took a deep breath, straightened his chest, and looked heroic.

"A real man never backs down!"

Before he ate, he glanced at his brother-in-law. Riyao nodded at him, gave him a thumbs up, and his other hand was already prepared with Healing Magic, ready to be used at any time.

Elfman closed his eyes, stuffed the purplish-black thing into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and his face instantly turned multicolored, first blue, then purple, then green, and finally settling on an indescribable grayish-white.

"A real man..." he uttered two words in a trembling voice, then collapsed to the ground with a thud, foaming at the mouth.

Riyao walked over unhurriedly, squatted down and patted Elfman's face, then cast Healing Magic, enveloping Elfman in purple light.

Don't worry, you won't die. At most, you'll have diarrhea for three days.

Upstairs on the second floor, Freed divided the golden eggs he had taken among Laxus and Bickslow.

Laxus leaned against the railing, wearing headphones and listening to music with his eyes closed, looking like he didn't want anyone bothering him.

Freed placed the golden egg on the table beside him, sat down next to it, and opened his own golden egg.

Bickslow sat on the other side, an expectant expression on his face behind the mask, as he took the golden egg and examined it from all angles.

Laxus snorted, reluctantly took off one earphone, reached for the golden egg, and broke it open with one hand.

Freed and Bickslow leaned over to look, the three of them huddled together.

Inside are several small animal-shaped chocolates, including rabbits, kittens, and birds, all adorably made.

"These animal-shaped chocolates look delicious," Freed commented with a smile.

"My little one wants to try some too." Bickslow held up a rabbit-shaped chocolate to examine it closely.

Laxus casually picked up a candy, popped it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and continued listening to music with his eyes closed, his expression unchanged, as if he were eating an ordinary candy.

Freed and Bickslow exchanged a glance and tacitly decided not to disturb him.

Inside the hall, the merriment of opening eggs continued; some were delighted, some were disappointed, some were poisoned, and some even passed out.

Riyao held up the crystal ball, recording everything, his smile never fading from beginning to end.