The group held their meals and gathered around several low tables hastily pieced together from ammunition crates, with chilled beer set on top, feeling somewhat at a loss.
Kael looked at the soldiers squatting with abandon around him, then at his own robes.
After a moment's hesitation, he copied them and squatted down.
Qian Zhenhua opened a beer and handed it to Kael.
"Here, try our beer. That stuff you drink tastes awful!"
Since the other party could not understand him anyway, he openly disparaged their alcohol.
Meanwhile, Liu Chengen deftly opened more than twenty bottles of chilled beer, handing one to each of the Holy Human Race members and Elves.
Elder Muyu had already impatiently shoveled a mouthful of fried noodles into his mouth. Seeing this, he hurriedly freed one hand to take a beer.
Kael accepted it. White foam rose from the mouth of the green glass bottle, and refreshingly cold condensation trickled onto his hand.
A faint, familiar aroma of wheat made him swallow involuntarily.
He felt a powerful urge to tip his head back and drink deeply.
Heaven knew how hard it had been for his stomach to endure the wait.
From smelling the food, to watching the wondrous sight of the mess squad soldiers stir-frying it, along with that mouthwatering aroma, to finally getting to eat now-he had never expected there would be alcohol too.
At that moment, he hated his aristocratic upbringing. He wished he could be like Elder Muyu beside him, following his nature and eating heartily whenever he wanted.
"Thank you for your generosity!" His throat bobbed as he forced the words out.
"Here's to you for guarding the Portal for us!" Qian Zhenhua picked up a beer, gently clinked it against the bottles in Kael's and Elder Muyu's hands, and drank