"So, you're both chefs traveling to hone your cooking skills, and your dream is to become master chefs," Li Xuan said, arms crossed. After hearing the two Familiars' stories, he felt a strong sense of cliché. It was like watching "Cooking Master Boy." Are you Liu Maoxing? Well, he was already a master chef long ago.
"Mmm-hmm, that's right! I'll definitely become a master chef, woof!" the dog-eared girl named Pretty said, puffing out her (flat) chest with confidence.
"Hmph! A dumb dog's ice cubes aspiring to be master-level cuisine? Pathetic~" the rabbit-eared girl named Eviya said, glancing at the dog-eared girl with a disdainful squint.
"It's not ice cubes! It's ice cream! You stupid rabbit!" the dog-eared girl retorted angrily.
"Alright, alright. You're here to compete and see whose cooking is better, right?!" Li Xuan interjected quickly, stopping the two Familiars who were already cracking their knuckles, ready for a fight.
"That's right! We'll settle this with our cooking and defeat this shameless rabbit (dumb dog)!" the two Familiars said in unison, glaring at each other, sparks flying.
"A cooking competition! To see who's the better cook?!" Kiana's eyes lit up as she stared at the two tiny Familiars, a wide smile on her face. It was clear her foodie soul was once again burning brightly.
"I think you'll need a food critic to judge whose dish is better, right?" Kiana said with the kind of creepy smile a strange man might use to lure a little girl to see his goldfish.
Heh, you just want to eat their food for free, don't you!? Li Xuan thought, silently watching Kiana. He had seen through her foodie nature long ago. After all, every time they ate, she was like a starving tiger pouncing on its prey, making you wonder if she was secretly a burly man in a pretty girl's skin. Hmm! That would actually explain some of Kiana's behavior.
"A judge!" The two Familiars looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "But we don't know who can be the judge," they said. After a moment of thought, they pointed at Kiana, who had suggested the idea. "How about you do it?!"
"Hmph~" Kiana flashed a "just-as-planned" smile. "Of course, no problem!" she said, giving a thumbs-up and sealing her fate.
"Now that we have a judge, this one and the dumb dog will use the nearest ingredient, the 'giant squid,' to create a dish that will capture your stomach!" the rabbit-eared girl Eviya declared.
Can you even eat something infected with Honkai energy? Li Xuan silently wondered.
"I told you, I'm not a dumb dog, I'm a wolf! You damn rabbit!" the dog-eared girl Pretty whined, biting on a handkerchief.
At this point, Kiana was in no mood to pay attention to the two Familiars, who were on the verge of another fight. She stared blankly at the giant squid in the distance. Using a Honkai energy-infected squid as an ingredient... Daddy, can my stomach really handle this?! Kiana thought, and her whole being sank. No! I have to find a way out of this. I absolutely cannot be the judge!
"Ahem, uh, my stomach suddenly hurts, so I need to go to the bathroom," Kiana said, shamelessly pulling out the classic "bathroom escape" excuse.
"..." The two Familiars stopped arguing and silently stared at Kiana. They slowly started to walk towards her. A sense of alarm rose in Kiana's heart. A Mjolnir appeared in her hand. She raised the gun, about to threaten the two Familiars to stay back, and then... there was no 'and then.' Eviya executed a beautiful flash step and a swift karate chop, effortlessly solving the problem.
"...Why did you force my hand?" the rabbit-eared girl Eviya said, standing over Kiana's unconscious body and wiping her hands with a handkerchief, her eyes fixed on Li Xuan and the others.
'What do we do?' Li Xuan communicated with Raiden Mei using only his eyes.
'Uh... I don't think I can beat that rabbit. She's too fast... Bronya Zaychik, what do you think?'
Mei replied with her eyes, then looked to Bronya Zaychik for her opinion.
'Bronya Zaychik calculates a one percent chance that they intend to harm Kiana. Kiana should be fine,'
Bronya Zaychik answered precisely with her eyes.
'Then let's not make a move for now,' the three of them communicated with their eyes.
And so, Kiana was knocked out while the others silently watched.
(End of Chapter)