Forge a path to success.

Chapter 229 Drink today, for tomorrow we die!
A day and a night have passed since the campaign against the Wenyao. The warriors' wounds have finally healed, and their exhausted bodies have recovered somewhat. Now, the time is finally approaching…

It's time to eat.

"When is dinner served?"

"I'm hungry too..."

"I saw it, the phantom of rice."

"Haha, I'm starving."

The valiant warriors who guarded the desolate wilderness slumped in a row before the earthen table, while a few of the more resilient ones sat listlessly, leaning against the backs of their chairs. They couldn't go on any longer; they simply couldn't hold on any longer. Even the strongest warriors needed food to survive, especially since some of the unfortunate members present hadn't had a decent meal since entering the wilderness.

At this moment, the soldiers from all over the country reached a rare consensus: they wanted to eat! They wanted to eat!
"They're here! Don't rush, don't grab them!"

Jie An came running over carrying several large platters, and everyone perked up, automatically making way for the food. The chef quickly arranged the dishes: "Pan-fried mushroom steak, cabbage fried rice, seven-color salad, nourishing tomato juice, and a fruit platter for dessert! Pretty plentiful, right? Nutritious and healthy."

The soldiers stared at the red and green mess on the table, their faces turning pale to varying degrees.

Van Der's eyes lit up: "Why is it all vegetarian?!"

"Where's the meat?!" Ji Huaisu screamed in despair.

"No! This area is a barren desert for miles around. If you can find a single piece of meat even if you dig three feet into the ground, I'll change my surname to yours." Jie An slammed a large can of tomato juice on the table. "All that's left are the mushrooms and vegetables that Gu Libo grew. Take it or leave it."

Chu Hengkong gasped, realizing that the lustful demons had devoured the surrounding jungle, leaving nothing to eat around the settlement. Qingye chewed on a piece of mushroom, her expression sorrowful: "Since things have come to this, let's eat Fande..."

"Get out of here!"

Qingxia looked at Fan De and shook her head firmly: "No! One piece of meat is not enough. Let's stew the Gummy Bear too."

"Don't eat me! If you want meat, go hunt sandworms!" the little animals protested vehemently.

“I’d rather eat vegetable leaves,” Shaks said grimly.

Chu Hengkong's stomach protested the loudest since entering the wilderness. He quickly finished a bowl of fried rice as a delaying tactic, then grabbed the shoulder of the cook who was preparing to leave.

“Jie’an, you’ve always been cautious. Even if your storage and belongings are full of medicinal herbs, you should at least have some emergency rations on hand…”

Jie An started whistling loudly.

Ji Huaisu sprang up in a flash, grabbed the cook, and shook him violently: "Hand it over! Hand over the meat!!"

"That's emergency rations! Do you even know what an emergency is? It's our last resort!" Jie Anning stubbornly refused. "At most, it's just a few pieces of cheese and two pork legs. It's not like we're starving. Do you guys need that little bit of meat? Just bear with it!"

Chu Hengkong almost drooled; he clearly heard several people swallowing. Fan De leaped up, jumping onto the cook's head: "Now's the time for an emergency! If we don't get meat for this meal, our morale will plummet, and in the next decisive battle, we'll fall apart without the enemy even needing to fight. The Demon King's army will be completely wiped out!"

"The Demon King's army is so fragile! What kind of good-for-nothings would be wiped out just because they didn't eat a good meal!"

“The symptoms have already started, look!” Van der pointed angrily at the table.

In the midst of their struggle, Qingxia slid down the tablecloth and softly slid to the floor. Qingye rushed over, tears welling in her eyes: "Qingxia! Hold on, Qingxia!"

Qingxia tremblingly reached out her hand: "When you all return victorious... please cook for me... a pig's leg... two pieces of cheese... a fried rice, two roast chickens, a pig's head, and some fine braised beef..."

"You even ordered food!"

"Add... three more ounces of good wine..."

Qingxia tilted her head, closed her eyes, and lay on the ground. Qingye was overcome with grief, tears welling in her eyes: "General Qing! At least three catties of wine!!"

"What? There are still drunkards here? Stop drinking, you bastards!"

Fenya also tried to persuade him: "Young people should drink less..."

Shakes, rubbing his forehead, leaned back in his chair, trying his best to appear as if he didn't know these people. Gulibo, seeing this, exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my god, Shakes's lost his voice!"

"I never imagined that even a ruthless sniper could collapse from hunger..." Ji Huaisu said sympathetically.

Shakes let out a groan of unbearable strain.

Chu Hengkong gripped the cook's shoulders tightly, exerting invisible pressure with his eyes. Jie An had no choice but to shrug and say, "Alright, alright, get up, stop acting. We'll give you your food rations, but you really will have to eat vegetarian for the next few days, and no complaints after that."

"no comment!"

Jie An took out the remaining dairy products and meat: "This is all we have. How do you plan to cook it?"

The table was mostly covered with two cured pork legs and a few pieces of cheese; the rest was all flour and compressed biscuits. Chu Hengkong glanced at the fried mushrooms, which were disappearing the fastest, and had a good idea.

"Listen up, everyone, there's a dish in my hometown called pizza..."

·
Another half hour later.

"Make way, make way! The first batch of pizzas is ready!" Jie An shouted. "This is a Margherita pizza, with a pure cheese and tomato base; this is a mushroom and ham pizza, topped with spices; and there's also potato pizza, all you can eat!"

The advantage of having a Discipline Knight in the party is that you can start a fire, set up an oven, and make cooking utensils anytime, anywhere. Jie An is an experienced pastry chef; he understands the methods just by listening and learns the techniques without needing to be taught. In less than half an hour, the freshly baked pizza was served on the table. The piping hot cheese hadn't had time to solidify yet, remaining semi-liquid, with freshly made tomato sauce floating on top, its vibrant red color. The ham slices were crispy, the mushrooms tender and fragrant, and the locally gathered spices released an enticing aroma from the heat.

Chu Hengkong couldn't wait to take a piece and put it in his mouth. As he chewed, the rich flavors filled his mouth, giving him a long-lost sense of happiness.

"Earthlings know how to enjoy life," Van der exclaimed. "Absolutely fantastic! This time-honored Earth brand is truly authentic!"

"I feel like my soul has been resurrected at this moment..." Ji Huaisu said emotionally, "I could eat ten of them..."

"Consider your weight, Captain Ji."

"What's there to be afraid of? We can just add a few more torches to make up for this little bit of heat."

Qingye pulled out a wine bottle from somewhere and secretly poured some for everyone: "Good news, there's still some fruit wine left in the settlement."

Sachs held up his glass: "I don't drink."

"Wow, actually!" Qingye exclaimed in surprise. "Then what do you want to drink?"

"Milk." "Really...milk..."

Qingxia tried her best to suppress her laughter: "Sharks drinking milk... haha... hahaha!"

Shakes had a dark expression on his face, and Gulibo stood up for him, saying, "What's wrong with milk? I love drinking milk too!"

Vande laughed wildly: "Shax, you and Guli Bobo have the same taste, hahahahaha, aba!"

Shakes smashed the Eye Demon onto the table with the butt of his rifle, and Chu Hengkong snapped his fingers: "Could you please give Shakes a kids' meal?"

Jie An approached the table respectfully: "Young Master, would you like some octopus sausages or potato stars? We also have three toys included with the set meal; you can choose one after your meal."

“For the first time in my life, I want to repent. I must have lived a terrible life in my past life to have met you all in hell,” Shaks said. “Look at how lax and undisciplined you are. Any two messengers could easily wipe out a bunch of good-for-nothings right now.”

“Given Vansalal’s personality, it wouldn’t launch an attack right now.” Qingxia shrugged. “It’s probably laughing happily on its throne right now, thinking how great it is that the Plague Demon has been defeated.”

Vandal shakily got to his feet and protested loudly, "We finally finished a tough battle, can't we say something nice? To be honest, I don't want to hear words like nightmare, fear, or Vandalal again anytime soon..."

The shadows of people chatting and laughing flickered around the campfire, the aroma of food mingling with the cooking smoke. Chu Hengkong held his wine glass, feeling a long-lost sense of joy. Everyone hadn't relaxed in a long time; such a wonderful time was for aimless chatting, escaping the worries of reality.

“Vander is right. Let’s not talk about unlucky things at this rare gathering!” Ji Huaisu waved his hand. “Why don’t we think about how we’ll enjoy ourselves after we get out of here?”

"Don't open the champagne halfway through," Chu Heng said with a laugh.

"Drink today, my friends! If we lose, we won't even have the chance to open the champagne. What a huge loss!" Ji Huaisu said. "To be honest, I've had enough of this dark and gloomy environment. When I get out, I'm going to find a sunny place to sunbathe and get my skin a beautiful bronze color."

"Let's go together!" Qingye raised her hand. "Judging by the time, it should be summer outside. This is the perfect time to go to the beach, enjoy a holiday, and replenish our solar energy."

"Can we go diving outside?" Qingxia asked excitedly. "I want to go to the bottom of the sea to find the Dragon Palace."

"You can go diving, but there's no Dragon Palace there; the seabed is only filled with demons."

"Sigh... swimming would be so troublesome, you'd have to fight a demon first."

"It's okay, just throw Akong over there and the demon will die on its own."

"So you're just assuming I'm a handyman?" Chu Hengkong said helplessly. "Will I have to help you apply sunscreen later?"

Ji Huaisu crossed her arms over her chest, creating a considerable distance between herself and the person: "Ugh! You're so self-important and greasy. Who needs your help?"

"Great! If Sister Huaisu didn't want it, I would have snatched it from her." Qingye cheered.

"Who said I don't want it! Let go of me, you little brat! Don't you dare grab my arm like that!"

"Qingye, what is sunscreen oil?" Qingxia asked curiously.

"Imperfect products specifically designed for color manipulation."

"Then I want it too!"

"What are you doing, you centaur, applying oil to your face?!"

The girls were chattering noisily, making a racket like Godzilla battling Kong. Chu Hengkong took the opportunity to slip away, away from the center of the commotion, to the other end of a quiet long table. Shakes had just asked Jie An for a cigarette, while Fan De and Gulibo were playing Connect Four with vegetable stalks and fruit pits.

When Vande saw him arrive, he flicked his tentacles and said, "Go away, what are you doing in our little animal group instead of hanging out in your girls' group?"

"So you're the small animal group? I thought you were the boys' group."

“Small animals have such an easy life. If you let me choose, I’d definitely choose to be a small animal,” Jie An said. “What about you, bro?”

“I have no interest in being an animal,” Shakes flicked away ash.

Jie An scrutinized him: "I heard you're also an assassin from Earth... but you two are very different."

"In your words, it's a huge dust island, with billions of people living on it. There's no common ground between people." Shaks stubbed out his cigarette and suddenly asked, "How long have I been dead on Earth?"

"Two years."

“Two years.” Shakespeare nodded. “It’s quite a coincidence that two people out of six billion knew each other traveled through time in just two years.”

"It's quite a coincidence."

"I heard something interesting from Burning Ember. Other Earthlings have visited the Despair Wilderness before, and they were also assassins."

“What a coincidence,” Chu Hengkong said. “It’s unbelievable. I have no doubt that there are other old acquaintances somewhere in the Submerged Realm.”

Oblivious to the atmosphere, Gulibo excitedly exclaimed, "Great! There's another super-human on Earth as strong as you guys!"

"This is not a good thing, you little animal," Shaks sneered. "Every single one of my old acquaintances deserves to go to hell. Guess which they prefer, the Allies or the heretics?"

Jie An imagined Chu Hengkong joining a heretical sect and couldn't help but shudder: "I thought you were all chivalrous people."

“You’re overthinking it. We’re assassins.” Shax poured himself a glass of tomato juice. “Do you sell your drugs, Jie’an?”

"I don't usually sell them, but it's fate that we met. If you need them, I can give you a few."

"A transaction is a transaction."

“Then we can talk slowly… I heard you often hunt exotic beasts, and I happen to be short of materials for making medicine…”

The cook and the sniper ran off to negotiate the price, while Gulibo began to imagine the Fallen Chu Hengkong and the Cataclysmic Shax, growing increasingly terrified. It grabbed Vande's tentacle, crying out in panic, "The Fallen, the Fallen, the Fallen World is doomed!"

Vande scoffed: "Before the Fallen Realm is destroyed, the tides of fate will bring the fellow Earthlings together, and then the problems will resolve themselves."

“That makes sense…” Gulibo felt relieved upon hearing this. “Could you please get me another small slice of potato pizza?”

When Chu Hengkong returned to the table, the women's group was still chatting about random topics. He cut a small piece of pizza for Gulibo and noticed that there were already several small round chips on the pizza.

The bony claws behind Qingxia moved quietly, and when no one was paying attention, they put a small portion of the food into a small cloth bag.

(End of this chapter)