Huo Ting was currently staring at the several notes accumulated over this period of time and the fruit plate that now consisted solely of broccoli.
It was obvious that the young guest in his study had a serious picky eating habit.
From saying he couldn’t finish it to outright refusal, and now, even the notes had stopped coming.
—Angry? – Huo
To Yu Mian’s surprise, there was a note from Huo Ting on the fruit plate that evening.
The handwriting was as neat and meticulous as ever.
“This guy…”
Yu Mian, who had been despairing about being forced to eat what he hated, suddenly felt that maybe he wasn’t really that angry.
After all, the fruit Qiao Ni delivered was obviously high-quality stuff.
As he hesitated over whether to respond, Yu Mian noticed a few pieces of candy next to the fruit plate.
The shiny candy wrappers looked oddly familiar.
Weren’t these the little candies that Huo Yan used to keep in his bag all the time?
What was this? Treating him like a kid?!
Though he did love candy.
“This is maddening! How can anyone enjoy raw broccoli? It’s a crime against humanity!”
Chewing the candy, Yu Mian grabbed the broccoli and finally couldn’t take it anymore. He stormed into the kitchen.
So later that evening, Huo Ting heard a knock at his door and opened it to find a small bowl placed in front of him.
“…?”
Taking it to the desk and opening it, he found a bowl of soup.
The golden broth, speckled with green broccoli and bits of ham, emanated a fragrant aroma. Even if the ingredients weren’t exceptionally pure, it was obvious that the soup itself was undeniably delicious.
—Please, stop eating raw broccoli! Attached: Recipe X1
The long-lost note was tucked beneath the bowl, along with a suggested recipe.
Huo Ting stared at the note, deep in thought.
‘Broccoli?’
This was clearly the Federation’s newly cultivated and soon-to-be-promoted fruit. It hadn’t even been officially named yet.
After all, it was a rare, nutrient-dense material with low environmental impact during cultivation. Other than its average taste, it was nearly perfect.
Just as Huo Ting was contemplating, Secretary Hals knocked and entered with the day’s reports.
“Wow, what’s that smell today…”
Secretary Hals couldn’t help but exclaim, but his expression quickly shifted.
This… wasn’t this the signature symbol of that mysterious intruder?!
Huo Ting merely glanced at Secretary Hals before accepting the materials.
“Are you sure this is okay? We still can’t determine their intentions after all.”
Secretary Hals was puzzled.
“Give this recipe to Qiao Ni to try out,” Huo Ting simply handed over a copied version of the broccoli recipe.
The original note, meanwhile, had already been carefully smoothed out and placed in a box.
“Oh, uh, sure. Is this a recipe?”
Caught off guard, Secretary Hals glanced curiously at the paper.
“Aren’t we naming it recently? How about calling it broccoli?”
Huo Ting suggested earnestly.
He had a feeling this guest might be a culinary expert. Maybe they had seen this ingredient and method somewhere in the universe before.
After all, the universe was vast…who could say for sure?
“Broccoli? But it’s not even a flower… though the name is kind of novel.”
“By the way, there’s one more thing I need you to review. It’s not a big deal, but it’s been giving the Central Star Guard headaches for a while now. They’d like to seek help from the military…”
As Secretary Hals finished speaking, he pulled out a photo and some information, it was none other than an extremely familiar star beast.
In fact, the bizarre escape of a ferocious beast from a cage in the zoo, which was sent by a reader of Fish Soup Noodles as a gift to urge the author to update the book, did become a hot topic for several days.
Even many people who did not read novels had inexplicably learned through this somewhat funny and exaggerated news that a novel in the Federation Star has become so popular that it has readers in other star systems.
In response, the Federation officials had to issue a formal announcement urging citizens not to go to the borders to recklessly capture star beasts as it was extremely dangerous.
Most star beasts underwent varying degrees of mutation due to cosmic radiation, and no one could say for sure what kind of special abilities they might possess.
The escaped star lion beast, however, left the Federal authorities completely clueless even after an exhaustive search.
It was as if it had vanished into thin air from the zoo’s monitored exhibition hall, leaving behind only a faint, furry blur in the dark night.
What should have caused widespread panic instead became a bizarre spectacle. Weeks passed without a single case of the beast attacking anyone, leading many to doubt whether the star beast sent by the star pirate ever truly existed.
[But it’s such a pity! Is it really gone? I really wanted to see what Lin Mu’s ferocious beast looked like in real life!]
[Me too! I heard it’s supposed to be fluffy, is that true?! I really wanted to see it. At least it was sent with genuine sincerity!]
Many fans of the book felt a deep sense of regret.
Meanwhile, in a remote corner of Garbage Star…
“My goodness, where has my Xiao MI gone? By the cosmos above, poor thing is only three months old!”
An elderly lady, adorned with a dazzling jeweled necklace and leaning on her cane, anxiously searched high and low.
She had only been worried that the little one might feel stifled indoors, so she brought it to the wilderness for a walk, only for it to disappear.
“Granny Delanchi, I saw Xiao Mi napping over there just a few days ago, but now it’s gone,” a nearby child said eagerly, having heard the commotion.
After all, Granny Delanchi was known to hand out candies to everyone whenever she visited. Though she appeared cold, she was actually very kind-hearted.
Parents whispered that Granny Delanchi was from an immensely powerful race, but they had very few offspring. As such, she raised a house full of furry creatures as her surrogate children.
“I suspect it might be those star pirates. They’ve been scouring everywhere for star beasts lately… and Xiao Mi, in its normal form, does look quite majestic,” another slightly older child muttered.
Maybe they mistakenly thought Xiao Mi was some kind of ownerless beast and captured him.
Hearing this, Granny Delanchi’s eyes widened, and the kind face was swiftly covered with scales.
Elsewhere, in the dwarf tavern, the star pirates sneezed collectively.
“Boss, since that author doesn’t seem to like star beasts, what special gift should we send next time?”
“Yeah, that last one was fierce and mighty. I just don’t get why YU didn’t like it…”
*
However, the happenings on the Garbage Star remained unknown to those on the Federation Star.
Moreover, during this time, “Eternal Night Rose” was heading toward its climactic finale, with its popularity soaring to unprecedented heights.
After obtaining the Divine Dagger from the temple, Su Yan faced up to his own strength for the first time and decided to change his weak and hesitant character.
Not only did he rescue countless human blood slaves who had been enslaved in the castles of the conservative Bart nobles and restored their freedom, but he also uncovered the shocking truth.
The biggest villain threatening the human settlement turned out to be none other than the once kind and compassionate Grand Elder. This elder planned to sacrifice the entire human settlement to the Count Of Thorn Flower in exchange for a first embrace and immortality!
In a dramatic climax, Su Yan and Xiao joined forces to kill both the Grand Elder and Count Kols, thus preserving their people and dismantling Kol’s sinister “bloodline infiltration” scheme.
When this shocking truth was revealed, countless interstellar readers were left stunned.
Everyone had assumed the traitor previously exposed was the worst person imaginable, but never did they expect the true mastermind to be the Grand Elder who once stood up for Su Yan!
“But this isn’t surprising. The signs were there all along. The real question is, how should this be handled…”
Lu Wei, who was reading at this moment, could sense that “Eternal Night Rose” was about to reach its most intense and pivotal conflict.
After all, the death of the human elder wasn’t the core issue. The real challenge was handling the death of Count Kols after the secret assassination.
If the vampires discovered that humans had killed Count Kols, they would unite to annihilate the human settlement in retaliation.
[[“Xiao, perhaps there’s only one way left. That’s to disguise yourself as a true member of the Bart Clan.”
After a sleepless night of contemplation, Su Yan proposed this solution, leaving everyone stunned.
Although Xiao was initially shocked, he quickly understood Su Yan’s reasoning.
If nothing was done to manage the situation, news of Kol’s death at human hands would spread through the Bart Clan and trigger catastrophic consequences.
But if he became a member of the Bart Clan, Kol’s death could be reframed as an internal power struggle within the clan.
“After all, the Bart Clan has always followed the principle of ‘survival of the fittest.’ If one party defeats another and proves their bloodline superior, the Blood Moon will recognize the victor, granting them rightful ownership of the loser’s wealth and bloodline.”
When Su Yan recited this law he had found in Kols’ castle, a chill ran down everyone’s spine. Yet, they all saw the critical loophole in this barbaric rule.
Kols’ death could not only be legitimized but even serve as Xiao’s stepping stone to rise as a new noble in the Bart Clan!
“But if I pretend to be a newly embraced member of the Bart Clan, what about you?” Xiao looked at Su Yan, unsure of the answer.
“Oh, that’s simple. I’ll play the role of a human blood slave.”
Su Yan closed the book in his hands, struggling to suppress a nagging sense of déjà vu.
But what Su Yan left unsaid was that the Bart Clan’s brutal laws extended even to their royal family.
The Blood Moon’s chosen royalty were always the strongest, not a specific lineage of the Bart Clan.
If the tyrant in history had been really invincible, why had he ultimately been assassinated?]]
