[Military Canteen]
Head Chef No.1, Head Chef No.2… They hadn't even reached the cooking area yet, but over a dozen canteen chefs were already gathered inside.
Don't ask why.
Because if even one person was missing, the speed of food production simply couldn't keep up with consumption.
"Goodness, if the deputy regiment commander hadn't restocked a massive amount of supplies a few days ago, we wouldn't have had enough food at all," Head Chef No.1 wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked outside in horror at Asher, who was leading a group of pet beasts in devouring food.
Head Chef No.2 lifted his apron to fan his sweaty forehead, "Heh, not just that. The entire cooking squad even pulled in those who were training to help process ingredients."
Otherwise, they simply couldn't keep up with the rate at which food was disappearing.
Several nearby chefs also nodded in lingering fear.
Who could have imagined?
Their years of experience in perfectly timing meals to ensure not a single soldier went hungry had almost been overturned by Professor Asher.
Oh.
Mainly because that jellyfish was just too good at eating.
Facing the little jellyfish that was gorging itself, while behind him were a group of people watching with gloomy expressions, Asher: "..."
What could he do?
He was desperate too
Holding Little Raven in his arms, Asher stared blankly at the mountain of spotless pots, bowls, and plates beside him, clean to the point that not even a drop of soup was left. Absentmindedly stroking the fur of Little Raven, who had almost been eaten by the jellyfish, he tried to find a silver lining in his misery:
'At least it's clean?'
'Maybe that'll make washing dishes a little easier?'
'…Probably not much easier.'
'Reusing them without washing might be a bit of a mental hurdle.'
Asher let out a long sigh in his heart.
Balding.
He was really going bald.
Once the jellyfish triggered the hunger buff, just like with the satiety buff before, it was completely uncontrollable and couldn't be interfered with externally.
The jellyfish went on a rampage, wanting to take a bite out of everything.
Including, but not limited to, Little Raven, the Cat-Worm, the little white snake, and Asher himself.
The problem was, it wouldn't get full. No matter how much it ate, it made no difference.
But eating something was still better than eating nothing.
Without hesitation, Asher used the snacks in his hand to distract the jellyfish and rushed to the canteen.
After a chaotic frenzy…
Things finally quieted down—for Asher, at least.
Sitting nearby, he watched the jellyfish, knowing it was pointless but still unable to stop it from stuffing its face.
A grueling hour… finally passed.
The first thing Asher did was activate his innate skill and check on the jellyfish, looking for any strange new status effects.
'Thankfully, it is over.'
'The special status is gone.'
'[Bloodline Concentration] has increased from 7% to 11.8%.
A 4.8% increase.'
Asher rubbed his chin.
'Hmm… I expected the jellyfish to reach the 6.5% limit.'
'Though this result is already quite good, the jellyfish have absorbed mythical energy before. Theoretically, maximizing the effects of this serum shouldn't have been difficult for it.'
Still, he could barely accept this outcome.
Just as Miles finally arrived, having heard about the situation in the canteen: "?"
For some reason, Miles shivered instinctively, feeling a chill down his spine and a vague sense of unease.
'Hmm.'
'Must be Old Dominic badmouthing me again.'
When he got back, he'd team up with Old Griffith to dump more work on Old Dominic.
After all, those tasks were originally Dominic's responsibilities as the regiment commander.
Dominic, who got blamed from thin air: 'Hmm? Hmm? Hmm?'
"Professor Asher, you…", Those thoughts only flashed through Miles's mind; they didn't require much attention.
His gaze fell on the long tables surrounding the jellyfish, piled with empty, squeaky-clean dishes. His eyes were filled with bafflement and confusion.
'Wait.'
'What's going on here?'
'Could it be…?'
Miles immediately recalled how much the jellyfish could eat.
Whether it was when Asher first arrived or during the beast tide defense, he had seen it clearly.
It could eat. A lot.
But this was just ridiculous.
"Besides… shouldn't it already be full?", Miles was referring to the beast tide battle.
Regardless of Asher's personal wishes, Miles couldn't just ignore him throughout the entire process. He simply wasn't capable of that.
Ignoring it was one thing.
But once he paid attention…
Miles instinctively recalled what he had seen.
Asher's abilities far exceeded his imagination.
Strong.
Even more shocking to Miles was Asher's adaptability to large-scale combat. Many new recruits trained for over a year and still couldn't adapt as well as Asher.
It was as if Asher had been born into such an environment, constantly fighting, never backing down or fearing even the most ferocious extraordinary creatures.
Miles had been tempted. He really wanted to recruit Asher.
He was too perfect for the Fourth Army Corps.
But then he remembered Asher was a pet beast professor… and gave up.
'Sigh.'
'What a pity.'
'But what can he do?'
Turning his head, Miles saw the collapsed jellyfish and the relieved expressions of the kitchen staff. A sneaky idea popped into his head—maybe, just maybe…
"I gave the jellyfish a serum," Asher didn't hide anything.
Pointing at the jellyfish, he said with a headache, "And it seems to have had a bad reaction?"
Miles instantly understood and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.
"Ah… I forgot to warn you…", Thinking carefully, Miles realized this was indeed his oversight.
He sighed, "After taking a serum, most pet beasts have some sort of reaction—common ones are similar to getting drunk and going wild."
"But this...", His gaze swept over the utterly spotless dishes.
Miles swallowed, "This is a first."
At the same time, he couldn't help but marvel, 'Ah, as expected of Professor Asher's pet beast. Even its post-serum reaction is unique.'
'It really has to be one-of-a-kind, huh!'
Miles was suddenly curious—how much had the jellyfish's bloodline concentration increased?
'Looking at the aftermath, it has to be close to 1%, right?'
'Tsk! Tsk!'
He had no idea what bloodline the jellyfish had, but its power boost must be substantial.
But the first thing that crossed Miles's mind was, 'Will its appetite grow along with its strength?'
'It is already an eating machine. If it gets even hungrier… that will be a nightmare.'
'Raising pet beasts isn't easy for Professor Asher!'
Miles shot him a sympathetic look.
Asher, inexplicably receiving this sympathy: "..."
Didn't want it.
The serum was effective, but Asher decided to wait before using it again.
'Little Raven go next!'
Little Raven: ?·△·?
Just then—
Asher's phone vibrated.
He glanced down. It wasn't from Angel, but from President Robb.
Asher: "?"
'President Robb won't call me randomly,' Frowning, Asher wondered, 'What's going on?'
Scrolling through the messages, his brows furrowed. He looked at Little Raven.
Little Raven tilted its head, curiously peeking at the phone.
Little Raven: 'Saw it!' 0v0
Little Raven: '…Can't read it.' QvQ
"What is it?", Miles noticed something was off and asked softly.
"Something seems to have happened in Crimson City," Asher muttered, "Thanks for the help today."
Turning, he looked at the chefs and kitchen staff who had been working hard.
"No problem! It's our duty!"
"Yeah! We should be thanking you instead, Professor Asher!"
"Professor Asher, please don't be so polite with us! If your pet beast still wants to eat, we can continue… ahem! Pfft!"
Before the last person could finish speaking, their companion beside them elbowed them hard in the stomach.
Seeing this, Asher couldn't help but laugh.
'Quite interesting.'
"In the short term… um, probably not," As he spoke, even Asher wasn't entirely sure.
The little jellyfish had used the serum, so they would have to wait a bit.
Setting aside whether the little jellyfish had been traumatized by all the fuss, Asher himself was on the verge of developing a PTSD.
With its red-eyed effect activated, the little jellyfish could eat literally anything. If he hadn't reacted quickly, things could have escalated into an R-rated scene within minutes.
Miles watched Asher's departing figure, somewhat concerned about what he had said regarding trouble in Crimson City.
'Crimson City…', Miles recalled for a moment.
'If I remember correctly, it is just an ordinary third-tier city, right?'
'The only special thing about it is that it is relatively close to the Forbidden Zone.'
'But because Crimson City isn't big enough and the provincial capital, Red Soil City, also bordered the Forbidden Zone, the zone's jurisdiction was allocated to Red Soil City instead.'
The Forbidden Zone in Red Soil City was highly popular among beastmasters from several surrounding cities.
This was because the Forbidden Zone there contained a variety of rare resources—Red Ore, Red Rock Crystals, Red Stones, and Red Soil.
These resources were ideal for refining the bodies of pet beasts. Depending on the quality of the resources, even an eighth-tier pet beast could benefit from them, enhancing its physique.
Among these, Red Soil was the most common.
Red Soil City was named after it.
People constantly traveled in and out of Red Soil City, all coming for Red Soil resources. In terms of financial strength, Red Soil City was among the top in the surrounding cities—it was no exaggeration to say they were feasting on meat.
Compared to Red Soil City, Crimson City was much worse off.
Even though it was also close to the Forbidden Zone, its natural advantages were insufficient, and it had a more well-endowed neighbor right next to it.
While Red Soil City feasted on meat, Crimson City could at most sip the soup left behind.
Usually, only when Red Soil City ran out of space would beastmasters settle for temporarily staying in Crimson City.
Miles had once heard a friend, who had been stationed in Crimson City's lower ranks for a few years, complain about this. It was just idle chatter while drinking, and if Asher hadn't mentioned Crimson City today, Miles might have already forgotten these trivial memories.
'So, what kind of trouble can Crimson City be in?'
———
Back in his dorm, Asher opened the message from President Robb.
The first thing was a video.
Asher clicked on it.
The footage was extremely chaotic. Only the first three seconds were stable, showing a faint mist. Asher froze for a moment before instantly recognizing it, 'It is the fog inside the Forbidden Zone.'
'This must be a recording from an exploration team inside the Forbidden Zone.'
After those first few seconds, the camera became a complete mess. Not only was it blurry, but it also spun around wildly, as if it had been thrown into a washing machine—flipping, rotating, shaking up and down.
However, the audio didn't match the visuals.
["…Fire? Why is there fire?"]
["Run! Hurry up and run!"]
["Don't stop…!"]
The chaotic voices overlapped, making it impossible to extract any useful information.
From what little the video revealed, Asher could only guess that the exploration team had encountered something extremely dangerous and was recording this footage while running for their lives.
Amidst a flash of golden-red light from an unknown entity, the video suddenly went black.
Asher: "?"
Completely baffled.
'What happened?'
He sent President Robb a question mark.
It seemed President Robb was just looking at his phone, as he instantly called Asher via video.
"What's with that video? What happened in Crimson City?"
Asher got straight to the point.
President Robb was so flustered by Asher's rapid-fire questions that he started sweating. He wiped his forehead before continuing, ["Of course something happened… Ugh!"]
Then, President Robb briefly explained the situation regarding Red Soil City's Forbidden Zone.
["The Red Soil resources have always been scarce. The Beastmaster Alliance in Red Soil City has been trying to expand more safe zones, since the Red Soil Secret Realm is basically the city's leading industry."]
The external Red Soil resources were running out.
Red Ore, Red Rock Crystals, Red Stones, and Red Soil were all non-renewable resources. Other than exploring deeper, Red Soil City had no alternative.
["So, three exploration teams ventured into a mountain range, hoping to find a large deposit of Red Ore. But unexpectedly…"]
President Robb rubbed his forehead.
Asher got the gist. Just from watching the video, it was clear how bad the situation was.
However…
"Red Soil City's Forbidden Zone? What does that have to do with Crimson City?"
["At the same time these people encountered trouble, half of Crimson City's residents suddenly developed high fevers and haven't woken up since."]
Asher: "…"
'Now that you mention it—'
'Crimson City is really down on its luck.'
It never got a share of the benefits, but all the disasters seemed to land on its head.
["Crimson City might just be a third-tier city, but it still has a population of over a million. If half of them suddenly develop fevers…"], President Robb frowned, ["This situation is going to escalate fast!"]
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