Three dishes were laid out on the small dining table: pickled pepper beef, minced pork with glass noodles, and smashed cucumber salad. Liang He watched the man across from her shoveling rice into his mouth and let out a silent sigh. "He seems to have quite the appetite," she thought. "I wonder if the food will be enough?"
"Hss, this is so good! Hss~"
Hoder's chopsticks reached endlessly for the pickled pepper beef. The more he ate, the spicier it got, and the spicier it got, the more he wanted to eat. He finally understood why Huo An had told him that coming here to protect this Blue Star person would absolutely not be a loss! For this unprecedented, delicious food, he'd be perfectly happy to work for free—as long as room and board were covered!
"Eat slowly, no one is fighting you for it." Since she had only cooked enough rice for one person initially, Liang He had divided what was ready into two portions and started another batch in the rice cooker to cook while they ate. Afraid there wouldn't be enough food, she had deliberately added the minced pork with glass noodles.
"Thank you." Hoder's eyes lit up again as he took the juice Liang He handed him. "What is this? Lemon?" He wondered, "But aren't lemons usually incredibly tart?"
"Honey lemonade," Liang He explained. "Drink something sweet, and the spice won't be as intense."
Lanton had brought back some wild lemons a few days ago. They looked quite nice, and since it was a thoughtful gesture from him, she had turned them into honey lemonade.
"So good to drink! So good to eat!"
Not acting like a stranger in the slightest, Hoder waited for the spice on the tip of his tongue to fade before he began wolfing down his food again. Very quickly, he polished off half a bowl of rice. Fortunately, Liang He had brought a rice cooker from Blue Star, and its cooking speed was top-notch. She promptly refilled Hoder's rice bowl. However, Hoder wasn't entirely selfish. It wasn't until he saw Liang He finish her meal and put down her chopsticks that he officially began sweeping the table clean.
"Delicious, this is truly too delicious!"
In all the years he had lived, this was the first time Hoder felt that eating was such a joyful experience. Whenever he thought about the twenty or thirty years wasted on nutrient solutions, Hoder pounded his thigh in deep regret. If he had known earlier, he would have run off to live on Blue Star!
"Are you... really the bodyguard Governor Huo found for me?" Seeing that Hoder had eaten and drunk his fill—not even sparing the leftover vegetable broth—Liang He didn't forget her actual business. She began to scrutinize the tall, burly man with wheat-colored skin in front of her. Standing a full two meters tall, his robust muscles made him as sturdy as a mountain. When his shadow fell over her, Liang He felt like she wouldn't even need a parasol when going out.
"That's right! I used to belong to the Federation Army. You can rest assured about my strength!" Looking every bit the straightforward and hearty man, Hoder immediately patted his chest and promised Liang He that he would absolutely ensure her safety.
"Since it's Governor Huo's arrangement, I'm naturally relieved. Should I contact my colleagues to prepare some daily necessities for you?"
"No need! I brought my own!" Before coming, Huo An had specifically instructed him not to trouble Liang He and to prepare everything he needed in advance. Consequently, he had even brought his own bed.
Seeing that Hoder didn't require her to worry about a single thing, Liang He took the opportunity to save herself some trouble and didn't act overly polite with him.
"I sleep in the same room as Cedriel and the others at night. Why don't you sleep in one of the rooms next to the animal dormitory?" Given the guarded attitude Cedriel and Lanton had shown toward Hoder earlier, coupled with the inconvenience of a man and a woman living under the same roof, Liang He arranged a nearby room for him.
"Sure! I'll listen to you on everything." Hoder, who had low standards for his living environment, didn't care about anything else—except that his standards for food had been forever raised by Liang He's stunning meal.
Hoder's efficiency was incredibly fast. After confirming his room, he began unloading his belongings from the aircraft. He worked away with heavy CLUNKS and THUDS, treating the physical labor as a post-meal workout to help digest his food. By the time he finished, Liang He had already washed up. She took Lanton and the others to continue watching *Tom and Jerry*, and eventually fell asleep while watching.
"This Liang He that Huo An talked about is indeed quite interesting," Hoder remarked. Looking at the darkened animal dormitory, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly—a subtle expression that contradicted his earlier image as a boisterous brute. Then, he entered his room.
Meanwhile, the Star Network was buzzing with heated discussions over two new videos Liang He had uploaded.
[Fur Raising Officer: Bathing the big cat turned into a water fight. So tiring.]
[Fur Raising Officer: Today is another day of feeding the Breeder!]
The first video featured Liang He bathing Cedriel, but an accident turned Lanton into a drenched Falcon, which then evolved into a joyful scene of the Beast Beast water fight. However, as usual, Liang He had used software to censor her face.
[Haha! The Canglan Hunting Eagle is so cute. The moment his little claws touched the water, he flew up into the tree in disgust, terrified of suffering a disaster!]
[Meeting ** is ***'s bad luck. Even flying up into the sky, he still got soaked! Seeing *** get so mad that he didn't even care about hating water anymore was just too funny!]
[So nice, the scene is harmonious and beautiful. The Mojin King Tiger and the Canglan Hunting Eagle are really being raised well by the Breeder!]
For the water fight video, there were almost entirely positive reviews and likes. Many netizens even downloaded and saved it, sending Liang He another wave of copyright royalties. But for the second video, the netizens were clearly not as calm.
[Ahhh! Breeder, you're going too far! Here I am drinking some weird-tasting nutrient solution, and you unexpectedly post food porn late at night!]
[Wuwu, I actually got to see the delicacies of my hometown, yet I can't even take a single bite! Breeder, I hate you!]
[Is Blue Star's food really that delicious? I remember the interstellar era researching food in the past, right? Could it be that not a single one compares to a Blue Star chef?]
The interstellar era hadn't always relied on drinking nutrient solutions. The main issue was that food made from various edible ingredients easily turned out with indescribable flavors that were impossible to swallow. In the end, to prevent citizens from starving to death, they painstakingly researched nutrient solutions. To cater to everyone's mood, they even developed various flavors, such as ultra-sour lemon, steamed pork with watermelon, and chili milk.
Xu Yi, who had just finished applying medicine to the injured Beastmen, happened to scroll to the video Liang He posted, and he instantly began swallowing his saliva non-stop.
"I really miss the delicious food Liang He makes!" he cried.
So... when on earth would he be able to return to the reserve?! Xu Yi felt that for the first time in his life, he was so deeply in love with his original post. He truly didn't want to be on a business trip at all.
"Doctor Xu? Doctor Xu! Something terrible has happened!"
Suddenly snapped out of his food fantasies, Xu Yi looked at the newcomer with a bitter expression and a pouting mouth, letting out a helpless sigh. "What is it now? Making such a fuss out of nothing."
"The Admiral..." The person was panting heavily. They rested for a moment before finishing their sentence. "The Admiral is injured!"
"Kuang Ye is injured?" Xu Yi wondered, looking at the other person speechlessly. "This is a battlefield; isn't it perfectly normal to get injured? I bandage him up and change his dressings every single day. Is there really a need to panic like this?" With Kuang Ye's reckless, charge-forward-no-matter-what personality, it would be weirder if he didn't get injured. He only dared to act like a hero and "run amok" on the battlefield because he relied on his prestigious reputation as a Divine Beast.
"No! It's not just that!" If it were merely a regular injury, he naturally wouldn't have rushed over to find Xu Yi in such a panic! "The Admiral was ambushed by the Rebel Army and suffered severe injuries! Most importantly... he's entered the Evolutionary Stage!"
"What did you just say?!" Hearing the words 'Evolutionary Stage,' Xu Yi instantly bounced out of his chair. He shoved the person aside and tried to run out, but was forcefully held back.
"Doctor Xu! Governor Huo specifically instructed me to have you contact someone. He said she's the only one who can save the Admiral!"
Xu Yi wondered, "Her?" Then, the realization struck him. "Her!" He immediately reacted, frantically searching for the Light Brain he had tossed onto his desk.
Anxious and pacing back and forth, Xu Yi waited until a loud BEEP sounded.
"Doctor Xu?"
As Liang He's clear, melodious voice came through, he unconsciously let out a sigh of relief, as if he had finally found his backbone. "Liang He! It's a dire emergency, save a life!"