This Meal Mattered More Than Saving the World

Zhou Yu led the two women around a corner piled high with ammunition crates and stopped in front of an unremarkable supply storeroom.

"Here it is."

He pointed to the sign on the door, which read "Awaiting disposal-expired military supplies," grinning as though he had struck a gold mine.

Sigelica glanced at the military-grade lock, then at Zhou Yu.

"What are you doing?"

"Opening the door."

"This is a supply storeroom in a military restricted area!"

"Right, but the guy guarding it goes to the bathroom every morning at 6:01, and the door lock's collision detection disappears for five minutes."

As Zhou Yu spoke, he reached out and pushed.

Creak.

The door opened.

Sigelica opened and closed her mouth, then opened it again.

"How did you know that?"

"Veteran player muscle memory."

Without looking back, Zhou Yu walked inside, took two cans of Cuckoo Pork with yellowing labels from a shelf, and helped himself to a few vacuum-packed potatoes.

"Don't worry, they're expired. At worst, they'll give us diarrhea."

He carried his loot outside and pulled the door shut behind him.

"Compared to being sacrificed outright, the survival rate for diarrhea is obviously higher, right?"

Sigelica took three deep breaths and decided not to pursue the matter for now.

The three of them lit a fire in a secluded corner.

Zhou Yu pried open the cans with a bayonet, tipped the chunks of meat and chopped potatoes into a mess pot, added water, and let it simmer.

Dania squatted nearby, staring at the broth bubbling in the pot, her head bobbing little by little with the bubbles.

"Um..." she said softly. "Why put them together?"

"What?"

"The potatoes and the meat." Dania tilted her head. "Their energy conversion rates are different. It's more efficient to eat them separately."

Zhou Yu paused in the middle of cutting a potato.

"Who taught you that?"

"Chapter three, section seven of the nutrition manual."

"Burn that crappy manual." Zhou Yu tossed the last piece of potato into the pot. "You stew them together because they taste good."

"Taste good?" Dania repeated the words as though reciting an unfamiliar spell.

Sigelica listened from the side, her chest so tight it frightened her, but she said nothing.

The aroma of meat soon spread through the air, especially out of place amid the smell of disinfectant and gunpowder.

"It's ready."

Zhou Yu dished out two portions, handing one to Sigelica and the other to Dania.

"Try it."

Dania cradled the mess tin, pulling her hands back when the heat stung them, then quickly gripped it again.

Warmth passed through the metal into her palms. She looked down at the steaming chunks of meat and soft potatoes but didn't touch her spoon.

"Why aren't you eating?" Zhou Yu had already started on his own portion.

"I..." Dania stared at the mess tin, her voice barely audible. "I'm not sure this is for me."

Zhou Yu paused mid-chew.

Sigelica's fingers tightened around her mess tin.

"It's on your lap. If it's not for you, who else would it be for?" Zhou Yu's tone barely changed. "Hurry up and eat. It won't taste good once it gets cold."

Dania picked up her spoon and, copying Zhou Yu, carefully scooped up a small piece of potato.

She hesitated for two seconds, then put it in her mouth.

The potato melted in her mouth, and the savory flavor of the broth spread across her tongue.

Dania's eyes flew wide.

She froze, her spoon still hovering by her mouth, her lips slightly parted.

Two streams of tears slid silently down her cheeks and dripped into the mess tin.

"Hey." Zhou Yu was a little surprised. "Why are you crying over food? It's just expired military rations. It can't taste that moving, can it?"

Dania didn't answer. Her tears kept falling, but she didn't put down her spoon. She scooped up another piece and shoved it into her mouth, chewing as she cried.

Sigelica watched her, and the mess tin in her hands suddenly grew heavy.

In all the time she had known Dania, she had seen her doze off, seen her fight without expression, and seen her smile calmly as she prepared to die.

She had never seen her cry.

Still less had she seen her eat like this, as though someone might take the food away the next second.

An alarm suddenly blared from a distant watchtower.

"Report! High-energy Tacet Discord activity detected outside defense zone three! Requesting support!"

Sigelica's expression changed, and she immediately stood up.

"It's the Fractsidus, breaking through the defenses in the chaos! I'm going to help!"

"Stop."

Without looking up, Zhou Yu pointed at the Excel spreadsheet with his spoon.

"What's your KPI for today?"

"My mission is to defend the line!"

"Wrong."

"Finish breakfast with Dania. Don't lose sight of your priorities."

"There's a battle going on out there!"

"See that ridge?" Zhou Yu jerked his chin toward the distance. "Have the front line fall back behind point B. There's something wrong with the rock physics model there, and ranged attacks get swallowed by the terrain. Hide for ten minutes, and that wave of Tacet Discords won't be able to find a target. They'll disperse on their own."

Sigelica glared at him, her lips moving twice, but no words came out.

"Why should I believe you?"

"You don't have to." Zhou Yu finally looked up and glanced at her. "But you can tell them to try it first. You won't make it in time even if you rush over there now."

Sigelica gritted her teeth, then finally grabbed her communicator and shouted an order into it.

Then she sat back down and fiercely shoved a large mouthful of potato into her mouth.

Zhou Yu looked away from her and turned to Dania.

Her mess tin was nearly empty, but she was still crying. Tears mingled with the broth, and her whole face was wet.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Dania raised her head and looked at him through blurry, tear-filled eyes, her fingers trembling around the mess tin.

"I..."

Her voice was soft and thick with tears, but every word came through clearly.

"Can I have another bowl?"

Zhou Yu took the mess tin from her, ladled in another heaping scoop, and handed it back.

"Of course."

He leaned against the wall and stretched, looking at the chaotic battlefield and the glaring flames in the distance.

"Saving the world is important."

"But today, this bowl of food getting cold is important too."