Kong! I win!

Senku picked up the clay jar of revival fluid and was about to bend down and pour it over Yuzuriha's petrified head.

Everyone's attention was fixed on the stone statue that was about to awaken.

But a second before the revival fluid could drip down, a critical problem suddenly flashed through Taiju's mind.

Anyone freed from petrification came back completely naked.

Yuzuriha was a girl!

He jolted, his mind instantly clearing, and threw up a hand with a shout. "Wait, Senku! Don't move!"

Senku paused and frowned slightly. "What? Don't mess around at a critical moment."

"Yuzuriha isn't wearing any clothes!!"

Taiju's face flushed with urgency. In his panic, his body moved faster than his brain, and he jabbed two fingers forward, landing them squarely in Senku's eyes.

"Urgh-!"

Caught completely off guard, Senku squeezed his eyes shut in pain and rubbed his stinging, aching eye sockets hard. Even the corners of his eyes had turned red from the poke.

He grumbled irritably, "Why the sneak attack at a critical moment, you idiot? You nearly blinded me."

Taiju had no time to apologize. He stared at the statue with utter seriousness. "We can't revive her like this! She's a girl, and she'll wake up without clothes!"

Senku rubbed his eyes and sighed helplessly, his tone remarkably calm.

"What are you getting so worked up about? We've been petrified for thirty-seven hundred years. In a world like this, never mind not having clothes-even being naked doesn't matter. Nobody cares."

"A bare butt's no big deal. Even having your dick out doesn't matter, right?"

Taiju immediately corrected him.

"No! Yuzuriha's a girl! She doesn't have a dick! How is that the same?!"

At those words, Li Xiang's mouth twitched violently as she stood beside them.

Unbelievable.

Li Xiang couldn't be bothered to comment on these two clowns. She simply reached into the cloth bag she carried and took out a set of clothes she had sewn beforehand from fire felt grass fabric.

The material was soft and thick. She had already adjusted the measurements for a girl's figure, making the clothes loose but well-fitting, with plenty of coverage.

"All right, stop arguing."

Li Xiang beckoned to Taiju. "Taiju, lower Yuzuriha a little. I've got clothes ready here. We'll dress her before reviving her."

Hearing that, Taiju immediately stopped fretting and obediently did as she asked, carefully adjusting the statue's angle with the gentlest movements imaginable.

Right now, Yuzuriha was all he could see or think about.

Li Xiang stepped forward and deftly, naturally draped the full set of clothes over the statue, carefully straightening the edges.

"There. You can start now."

With all the preparations complete, Senku finally picked up the revival fluid and poured it steadily over Yuzuriha's petrified surface.

The yellow liquid slowly soaked into the stone shell, instantly triggering a chemical reaction.

Crack-crack-

Fine cracking sounds began to rise, spreading rapidly along the lines of the statue.

The thick, gray-white stone shell peeled away layer by layer, gradually stripping off three thousand years of confinement.

Before long, a slender, gentle figure slowly emerged.

Her eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes slowly opened.

After thirty-seven hundred years of silence, the girl finally opened her eyes again.

Yuzuriha blinked in confusion as her gaze slowly focused. Looking at the two familiar faces before her, she spoke softly, her voice weak and dazed from just waking up.

"Everyone...?"

After three thousand years, she was seeing familiar people again.

Looking at Yuzuriha standing alive and well before him, Taiju felt his heart race, his whole body burning with excitement.

He instinctively moved to hug her, but barely took half a step before shyness froze him in place.

Flustered and blushing to the tips of his ears, he had no idea where to put his hands and forcibly held back every impulse.

The way he wanted to approach but didn't dare move was ridiculously innocent.

Yuzuriha's gaze drifted across them, and she soon noticed the unfamiliar Li Xiang beside them.

She paused slightly, confusion in her eyes.

Before she could ask, Taiju jumped in with an earnest introduction.

"Yuzuriha! This is Li Xiang! She's amazing, and she used to be a doctor!"

Li Xiang let out a helpless chuckle and glanced at him.

Once he finished, she stepped forward of her own accord and smiled gently at the soft-spoken, shy Yuzuriha.

"Hi, Yuzuriha. I'm Li Xiang. We'll be teammates from now on."

Gentle and easygoing by nature, Yuzuriha immediately nodded politely in greeting.

With that, the Science Kingdom was now a team of four.

After a short rest, they gathered their things and strolled together toward the wooden cabin.

A cool breeze drifted through the mountain woods, the scenery was peaceful, and the mood couldn't have been more relaxed.

As they walked, Taiju was the first to get hungry. Rubbing his stomach, he eagerly suggested, "Let's have grilled fish for lunch today! There are tons of fish in the creek, and they're easy to catch!"

Nobody was going to turn down such a simple suggestion.

Senku and Li Xiang both nodded without objection.

A clear creek happened to run beside the path. Its water burbled along over a clean, transparent bottom, where they could clearly see plenty of little fish darting back and forth.

Taiju's playful spirit and enthusiasm surged together. Without another word, he jumped straight into the creek, sending water splashing everywhere.

"I'll catch them! I'm great at catching fish!"

Watching his lively antics, Yuzuriha smiled, her eyes curving with amusement, and stepped into the creek after him. The two stood together, looking down at the swimming fish as they prepared to catch them.

Only Senku and Li Xiang remained on the bank.

Senku turned toward Li Xiang, who stood motionless beside the creek, and casually asked, "Not coming down to play? The water's nice and cool, and catching fish is pretty fun."

Li Xiang shook her head lightly and answered casually, "No, you guys have fun. Come back up as soon as you're done."

In truth, she was afraid of leeches and the like. Quietly watching from the bank was enough for her.

Senku nodded without pressing her and turned his attention back to the pair in the creek.

The creek burbled, and sunlight shimmered across its surface.

Taiju moved swiftly and deftly, splashing back and forth through the water as he cut off the fish with precision.

The two worked together so efficiently that they soon caught several plump wild fish, each big enough to help make a dinner for all four of them.

With a plentiful catch in hand, Taiju happily walked out of the creek with Yuzuriha, carrying the fish.

Just as they were about to gather the ingredients and head back to the cabin to grill the fish.

The air suddenly fell inexplicably still.

The faint calls of insects and birds in the woods abruptly vanished.

They paused and instinctively looked up.

A second later, a powerful golden figure slowly rose from the grass at the far edge of their vision.

A heavily built lioness crouched quietly on a nearby hillside, her golden fur strikingly bright in the setting sun.

Her gaze was cold and fierce, her eyes locked unblinkingly on the four of them.

Everyone's heart sank.

Even a single lioness was dangerous enough.

Li Xiang's gaze instantly sharpened, every alarm in her mind blaring. She lowered her voice and spoke very softly and quickly.

"Something's wrong."

"A lone lioness wouldn't approach so recklessly."

She swiftly scanned the dense grass and shadows among the trees, every nerve pulled taut.

"Move! Get onto the bank and back away!"

"If a lioness is lying in wait here, there are definitely other lions hiding nearby. Don't make any sudden moves."

The instant her words fell, the distant lioness lowered her body slightly.

Her limbs tensed, and her weight sank low.

Those icy animal eyes stayed fixed on them without a single blink.