Skill Breeds Boldness (Second Update)

Xia Chujian opened the Flying Vehicle's hatch and waved at him. "San Zong, bring Small Dog aboard! I've prepared sleeping spots for both you and Small Dog."

San Zong's eyes widened. He clearly wanted to go inside, but he quickly shook his head, hunching his neck as he said, "Female Sire, San Zong can stay outside... Ever since that bad man brought San Zong here, San Zong has always slept outdoors!"

In weather this cold, the pig-head humanoid San Zong had actually been sleeping out in the open all along.

Xia Chujian didn't know whether to praise the Humanoids' incredible vitality or curse that assassin for being less than human! She took a deep breath and said sternly, "When I tell you to come aboard, you come aboard. Stop babbling!"

Once she lost her temper, San Zong didn't dare disobey.

He hurriedly stood up with Small Dog in his arms and came to the hatch with his neck hunched.

The Civilian Flying Vehicle was not large, nor was it high off the ground when parked. San Zong grabbed the hatch and easily jumped inside.

When the Griffon Sea Eagle saw this, it actually stood up and tried to squeeze into the Flying Vehicle too! But it was simply too large. Its head alone could fill half the vehicle, so there was no way it could get in.

Xia Chujian took out her Judicator No. 7 Sniper Rifle and pressed it against the Griffon Sea Eagle's head. "Stand guard outside. If there are enemies, notify us immediately!"

The Griffon Sea Eagle had never feared heaven or earth, but the image of this human carrying something terrifying and blasting another formidable human into ashes still lingered in its mind...

Moreover, its mental interference ability had made it the overlord of this part of the Exotic Beast Forest, yet it was completely useless against this human. It couldn't help feeling somewhat afraid of Xia Chujian.

The Griffon Sea Eagle silently drew back its head and curled up beside the Flying Vehicle.

Ping Qiong hurriedly shut the hatch.

Before long, the temperature inside the Flying Vehicle's cabin rose to twenty degrees Celsius.

Xia Chujian and Ping Qiong both took off their coats, wearing only loose work uniforms.

San Zong visibly became much more comfortable as well.

Holding Small Dog, he saw two bedding spots on the floor at the rear of the Flying Vehicle and stammered, "...Are those places for San Zong and Small Dog?"

"Yes, go on." Xia Chujian acted as though it were nothing, not wanting San Zong to feel uncomfortable.

Ping Qiong didn't think much of it either.

She even took a small enamel pot from her backpack and looked pleadingly at Xia Chujian. "Xiaochu, I haven't had dinner yet. Can you make something tasty?"

Xia Chujian: "..."

She had only taken her pig kidneys and Big Tooth with her. She hadn't brought any frozen pork!

How was she supposed to cook?

And out of spite, she hadn't even taken a single Advanced Nutrient Solution.

But then again, weren't they in the enemy's Flying Vehicle? Xia Chujian's eyes darted around as she said, "Let's look around and see whether there's anything edible here."

Holding Small Dog, San Zong sat cross-legged on the floor beside the two bedding spots, listening intently to Xia Chujian and Ping Qiong.

When he heard them mention dinner, San Zong quickly stood up. "San Zong knows where that bad man hid his food! San Zong will get it!"

San Zong set Small Dog down, opened a door behind him, and went inside.

Xia Chujian and Ping Qiong followed to take a look.

They had originally thought it was an Ammunition Depot, since their Combat Aircraft only had Ammunition Depots. But once they went inside, they discovered that it was not an Ammunition Depot at all, but a Storage Room.

It was a genuine food storage area, equipped with temperature and humidity controls. There was no equipment inside whatsoever.

Xia Chujian remarked, "That bad man really was skilled enough to be fearless! He came all this way to kill us and didn't even bring many Weapons and Equipment."

"He was a high-level Gene Evolver at the Mental Strength Rank B Peak. Why would he need weapons? He himself was the greatest weapon!" Ping Qiong waved her fist at Xia Chujian.

Xia Chujian was unconvinced. "...Didn't I still take him out?"

"...You're amazing, all right... Damn!" Ping Qiong had no response left after Xia Chujian shut her down like that.

She twitched her lips and followed San Zong around the tiny Storage Room to see what was inside.

The Storage Room was oval-shaped and fairly cold, around four degrees Celsius, a far cry from the temperature in the outer cabin.

It was clearly a professional Storage Room.

Special Metal canisters gleaming silver were lined up against the walls.

Each metal canister was about half a person's height, with a diameter of roughly forty centimeters. They could hold quite a lot.

San Zong opened them one by one for them to see.

"This is rice grown at the Mulan City plantation. It is the finest quality, called Tantai Royal Field Rice. It is supplied exclusively to the Imperial Family."

The first canister held snow-white rice, each grain plump and translucent, giving off a natural fragrance.

It truly surpassed every kind of rice they had ever seen by an unknown number of grades! Before it was even cooked, Xia Chujian was already getting hungry.

She felt like she could eat this rice raw.

Ping Qiong simply scooped up a few grains and put them into her mouth, chewing with relish.

Xia Chujian: "..."

"...Aren't you afraid it's poisoned?" Xia Chujian whispered, secretly pinching Ping Qiong's arm.

Ping Qiong replied through a mouthful of rice, "Such good rice—who'd be full enough to poison it?! Xiaochu, you really don't understand the value of food, do you?"

Xia Chujian thought about it. She truly didn't understand much.

Before Aunt fell ill, there was not much rice at home either. They could only eat it once a month.

It was supposedly mass-produced by machines and shipped in from other planets, but it still cost far more than Low-Grade Nutrient Solution.

Yet it was utterly incomparable to the Imperial Family-exclusive rice San Zong and the others grew by hand. They were not even in the same league.

Ordinary Commoners could grit their teeth and afford that mass-produced food.

But food supplied exclusively to the Imperial Family? They could only look at it.

San Zong opened the second canister. "...This is flour, also grown at the Mulan City plantation. It's called Plain Girl Flour. Like that rice over there, it is supplied exclusively to the Imperial Family."

Then came the third, fourth, and fifth canisters.

These canisters came with their own freezing systems and were all filled with meat.

But without looking at the labels, there was no way to tell what kind of meat it was.

For instance, the meat in the third canister was snow-white and delicate, sliced into long strips.

The label on top read: "Ying Fish."

The meat in the fourth canister was rouge-colored. Only half a canister remained, and Feng Qianzhan had apparently eaten quite a bit of it.

The label on top read: "Unicorn Cattle."

The fifth canister was labeled: "Luo Xu Little Goat."

Ping Qiong sucked in a breath. "...This is goat meat from Luo Xu Province? I heard the little goats there are especially tender, with no gamy smell at all. Just boil it in plain water and it tastes incredible!"

Xia Chujian had no interest in the fish or goat meat, but she gave the half-canister of Unicorn Cattle Meat a few extra looks.

In the center of the Storage Room stood a round table about half a person's height.

There were several clay jars on top.

According to their labels, they contained hand-ground fragrant sesame oil, crystal sugar refined by ancient methods, and seasonings such as oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and the like.

Under the round table were four or five woven rattan baskets lined with coarse cloth.

When they lifted the basket lids, they found Chicken Eggs. Other baskets contained dried wild mushrooms, dried small red chili peppers, and scallions, ginger, and garlic.

Xia Chujian stared in amazement and murmured, "Don't tell me this Flying Vehicle has a little kitchen too!"

Looking at all these seasonings and ingredients, it really seemed possible! San Zong said happily, "It does, it does! There's a little kitchen in the back!"

As he spoke, he pressed several spots on the smooth wall.

The seamless-looking metal wall suddenly slid apart to either side, revealing a doorway.

Beyond the door was a tiny kitchen that might have been small, but had everything it needed!

Xia Chujian felt sour. "...What kind of lousy assassin is this? Did he come here on vacation and kill people on the side?"

Just look at the Flying Vehicle he brought...

It was so much more user-friendly than their Combat Aircraft! Ping Qiong coughed and said quietly, "...Actually, Civilian Flying Vehicles all have these features. Of course they're different from Combat Aircraft."

Xia Chujian was intensely jealous.

If she had a Flying Vehicle like this, wouldn't she no longer need to rent a place?

But then she remembered that the fuel required for this kind of Civilian Flying Vehicle was far too expensive. She couldn't afford it; renting was still more cost-effective.

That made her feel a little better.

Ping Qiong felt even hungrier. Turning her head, she stared straight at Xia Chujian. "Xiaochu... Hungry, hungry... food, food..."

Xia Chujian declared boldly, "Fine! Today, I'll show Cai Jie what I can do! Let's make tender scrambled egg and beef fried rice!"

It had been her favorite dish as a child, one she could only eat once a month.

And her family had been poor, unable to afford beef, so they used farmed chicken instead.

But every time Aunt made it, she would say it tasted better with beef. She would also say that the dish had originally been called tender scrambled egg and beef.

To Xia Chujian back then, tender scrambled egg and chicken was already delicious enough.

Now that she saw frozen beef, she wanted to try making an "authentic" version.

Ping Qiong was overjoyed. "I'll go to the little kitchen and be your Assistant! What else do we need to prepare?!"

"Thaw six pounds of beef and slice it thin. Crack... six Chicken Eggs. I'll wash the rice and get it ready to steam." As Xia Chujian spoke, she had already brought cookware out of the little kitchen and was preparing to measure out the rice.

San Zong had been watching from the side for quite a while, looking very curious, but he did not dare speak.

Back at the plantation, when he assisted the kitchen chefs, he could only do menial work.

Whenever the actual cooking began, Humanoid Slaves like them were driven out.

And the food those people cooked was for the human managers at the plantation.

Humanoid Slaves were not worthy of eating the food they grew themselves. They could only consume the lowest-grade Nutrient Solution.

Of course, the nutrition in the Nutrient Solution was still balanced. Otherwise, if those Humanoid Slaves did not get enough to eat, how could they grow crops for the Imperial Family?

After Xia Chujian and Ping Qiong took all the ingredients out, San Zong followed them out of the Storage Room as well. Holding Small Dog, he returned to the bedding he shared with Small Dog and gazed happily at the two little quilts, though he had no intention of getting into them.

Before long, Xia Chujian's tender scrambled egg and beef fried rice was ready.

Golden eggs, snow-white rice, and bright red beef, dotted with bits of green scallion.

A fragrance mingled with the distinctive aroma of rice drifted out from the little kitchen at the rear of the Flying Vehicle.