nycdaug Chapter 55 Humans are a delicious little cake
Chapter 55 Humans are a delicious little cake
Yu Wang walked to the stern of the boat and found a spot by the campfire where he could sit against the gunwale. His movements were somewhat stiff due to the wounds on his body.
"Thank you." He took the seashells Zhang Xinlan handed him and began to eat them in large bites.
The fish was slightly charred on the outside and tender on the inside. The sauce was perfectly balanced between salty and sweet, with the aroma of scallions and ginger. Although the seasonings might have been limited, the cooking time was excellent, and the taste was exactly as he had expected! Quite good!
It's far more delicious than the boiled seafood and self-heating rice he's been eating these past few days!
Although the steamed buns were hard and hadn't risen properly, they had a strong wheat flavor. They were served hot with the sauce, which gave them a unique taste.
Halfway through the meal, Yu Wang suddenly realized he had forgotten to take a picture.
However, he only considered the idea once in his mind and did not put it into action.
Showing off should be done in moderation.
Moreover, they made a fortune yesterday by offering benefits, which has raised everyone's expectations.
"How does it taste?" Zhang Xinlan asked casually.
"Delicious." Yu Wang praised sincerely, and picked up another piece of fish.
After eating the hot food, he felt his cold limbs warm up considerably, and his spirits seemed to lift a little.
Hearing the praise, Zhang Xinlan smiled happily, took a piece of fish and a steamed bun, sat down opposite Yu Wang, and began to eat in small bites.
However, while eating her steamed bun, she would always glance at the bloodstains on Yu Wang's body out of the corner of her eye, feeling a mix of emotions.
Once or twice is fine, but if it happens too often, it's hard for Yu Wang not to notice. But every time he looks back, Zhang Xinlan seems to be burned and quickly looks away, leaving him somewhat confused.
"Oh, right," Yu Wang suddenly remembered their previous agreement, "I promised to give her the Body-Improving Paste as part of the transaction payment."
He put down his chopsticks, took out the pre-prepared constitution paste and extra strength paste from his storage space, and smacked them all onto the other person's plate.
"Eat quickly."
However, Zhang Xinlan simply nodded and gave a vague "hmm" to indicate that she understood. Not long after, her gaze involuntarily swept over a deep wound on Yu Wang's arm, her eyes somewhat unfocused.
"Um? 』
Yu Wang's doubts deepened. 'Could I have guessed wrong?'
Oh well, if you like watching it, then watch it. It's not like it'll hurt you.
He took another bite of the fish and then asked, "Your cooking is excellent. Did you receive formal training?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xinlan smiled with a hint of nostalgia and shook her head: "I didn't study it formally. I just practiced it in my university dormitory."
"Our dorm used to be an apartment for doctoral students, so the conditions were a bit better, with a proper range hood. We chipped in and bought an induction cooker, and occasionally cooked something to eat in the middle of the night. At first, we were very careful, just cooking some clear soup noodles with a little salt and sesame oil."
As she spoke, she unconsciously poked at the fish pieces on her seashell plate with her chopsticks: "Later, as time went on, I started frying, stir-frying, braising, and deep-frying. Well, I guess you could say I've become more skilled with practice."
She kept her head down, her eyes sparkling in the firelight, carrying a hint of pride in her "craftsmanship," but then dimmed again.
"So, I'm actually quite used to cooking in this environment. Sigh, it's just that the seasonings are so hard to find..."
Yu Wang listened quietly, a ripple of emotion stirring within him, a touch of nostalgia creeping in.
The month he spent returning to the real world after his rebirth and experiencing peaceful life again felt like a short and illusory dream.
Skyscrapers, convenient food delivery, supermarkets with a wide variety of products, warm beds... everything feels so familiar yet so distant.
Unfortunately, in order to forge a strong body within a limited time, and also out of fear that the comfortable life in the real world would erode the will to survive that had been honed through hardship, I was determined to achieve it.
He never dared to truly experience the relaxed life of an ordinary college student.
He spent most of his time in the gym, like an outcast.
What are you waiting for?! Come and worship the great Nightmare Goddess, 'Valmina'!
[Experience a super realistic, relaxing, and side-effect-free dream of university life! Relive the warm moments in the classroom, clubs, and dorm hotpot! Now, the service is free and includes 3 complimentary personalized dream experiences, 100% authentic and guaranteed to satisfy you! Don't hesitate, act now!]
A seductive whisper suddenly broke out on the edge of delusion.
What followed were fragments of beautiful memories that even Yu Wang himself found somewhat vague.
Yu Wang: "..."
This is yet another instance of this kind of opportunistic spiritual pollution!
He frowned slightly and shook his head violently, as if trying to shake off the annoying voice.
There are countless evil gods, and any monster with a modicum of intelligence has the ability to develop followers, making the competition extremely fierce.
Yu Wang sighed, noting that even the monster world was getting involved these days, then took a big bite of the steamed bun in his hand.
The food in your mouth and the campfire in front of you are the real things.
"Wait... Valmina? The Goddess of Nightmares?"
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Yu Wang, and he stopped chewing.
He remembered that name!
It seems to be an evil god worshipped and whose power was derived from the "Paradise," a fleet of tens of thousands of ships in the previous life!
More importantly, as far as he knew, "Valmina" was always arrogant and would never lower herself to offer herself to a believer!
unless……
A thought flashed through Wang's mind like lightning!
Unless these evil gods are also facing immense survival pressures and are eager to seize the faith market to strengthen themselves!
As far as he knew, in this maritime world, over 99% of intelligent beings had their own beliefs.
Moreover, most of them are based on ethnic groups, collectively worshipping a deity or spirit of nature that is related to their own form, habits, and living environment!
Like the dugong uncle on the farm, they worship the "humus milk mother," who resembles a dugong in appearance and is in charge of the humus cycle, the nurturing of mudflats, and the growth of lower marine plants.
The merfolk worship the spirits of their ancestors, while the birds of the sky may worship the god of storms...
This is a world where believers have already been divided up and the system is relatively stable!
For native creatures, intelligent beings without faith are considered heretics and incomplete life forms!
For some unknown reason, these "evil gods" have not developed a large and stable group of believers!
They may rely on temptation and deception to have a small number of followers, barely maintaining their projection and influence in the real world.
But things are different now!
Billions of intelligent beings have flooded into the world of the Age of Exploration!
This is a completely untapped market!
Whoever gains the upper hand in this battle for faith, whoever can quickly gather enough high-quality survivor believers... will be able to rise rapidly and accumulate power that was unimaginable in the long past!
They even directly challenge those local lawful and neutral camps with deep roots and many believers!
Finally, the map of faith in this world will be redrawn!
"No wonder..."
Yu Wang's eyes shone with an astonishing light; at that moment, all the clues in his mind began to connect. The question that had been lingering in his mind was finally answered!
No wonder the NPCs in the dungeon hate humans so much.
In their eyes, we outsiders are nothing but nourishment to strengthen the evil god! The culprits who disrupt the balance of faith!
No wonder that even though seeking power from evil gods is like walking on thin ice, some lucky ones always receive preferential treatment, gaining power rapidly with minimal backlash!
"I thought it was because they had strong willpower, but it turns out they were early partners in a startup!" Yu Wang almost sneered.
In the early stages when the evil god urgently needed to harvest faith, the value of these survivors who showed certain potential was far more than just providing faith power.
They are living, breathing men, and can continuously attract more and more newcomers!
For long-term development, evil gods will naturally spare no effort to package their first batch of believers, giving them faster growth and stronger initial performance!
If his guess is correct,
So the monster that keeps chasing it for no apparent reason might not be a threat, but rather an opportunity!
Looking at Yu Wang, who was holding a steamed bun but not eating it, and just kept sneering.
Zhang Xinlan felt a little uneasy, so she quietly moved a little further away and quickened her eating.
She didn't have a big appetite to begin with, and after eating two servings of porridge, she was almost full. The extra steamed buns were given to Yu Wang.
Yu Wang snapped out of his daze and coughed lightly.
To speed up his recovery, he threw a pearl coin into the campfire.
[A standard campfire: Provides weak light and warmth, slightly reduces the coldness and fear level of people within its range, and has a slight repelling effect on very low-level monsters.]
[Investing Pearl Coins upgrades a 'Regular Campfire' to a 'Level 1 Sacred Flame,' significantly enhancing its ability to repel weaker monsters. Within the flame's radius, it subtly suppresses fear and increases sanity. (After upgrading, 1 Pearl Coin must be invested daily as fuel to maintain combustion.)]
One was not enough, so Yu Wang consumed another 300 units of wood and 500 units of stone to upgrade the 'Level 1 Sacred Flame' to Level 2.
The gentle firelight made things much quieter.