Soon after, Menchi used one of the Nitro Rice Fruits to prepare a dish.
Buhara took another bite, and once again, his usually squinting eyes widened and sparkled as he gave Menchi a big thumbs-up.
"So good, so good... This Nitro Rice Dish is both delicious and nutritious! Menchi, your cooking is amazing!"
Menchi replied proudly, "Of course it is! I'm going to be the number one Gourmet Hunter in the world! If I can't handle something like this, what kind of dream would that be?"
The others also picked up their chopsticks, grabbed a piece or two, and quickly began praising her skills as well.
To be able to cook Nitro Rice successfully on her first try, using nothing but instinct, proved beyond doubt that Menchi was a true culinary genius.
At that moment, Sanbica quietly performed a second round of physical examination and hospitalization record analysis on Buhara, comparing the new data with the old.
Still a little shy behind her medical mask, she softly said to everyone:
"Menchi's cooking... didn't cause much nutrient loss... I think... the amount lost... is almost negligible."
Everyone was quite satisfied to hear that.
As for whether Nitro Rice can actually extend a person's life, that was no longer in question. Don Freecss living for over 300 years was already the best proof.
But how much lifespan can a single Nitro Rice Fruit actually grant?
That would require a joint study between Sanbica, Menchi, and Buhara.
After all, "lifespan" is a rather mysterious concept.
Humans can die of natural causes or from accidents—so how exactly does "lifespan" apply to both cases?
The best bridge between them is "vitality."
The stronger one's vitality, the further away natural death becomes. And in the case of accidents, the threshold for fatal damage rises, and resistance to death increases.
That's probably the real effect of Nitro Rice.
While everyone's attention was on "Nitro Rice," Germain planned to go to the top floor of the tower to experiment with "Lantern Perception."
However, at that moment, he noticed some life activity in the Ancient Labyrinth castle station.
It wasn't the "Botanical Weapons" or the Moose Centaur hybrids, but some small life forms.
Knuckle awkwardly scratched his head and stepped out to explain the situation.
It turned out that "Botanical Weapons" had difficulty parasitizing small insects like mosquitoes and flies, which allowed these tiny insects to run rampant inside the Ancient Labyrinth castle.
Knuckle had previously discovered a small wild beast outside the Ancient Labyrinth, one with a long nose resembling an elephant's trunk, but its body was as small as a mouse. This beast liked to feed on insects, making it a natural enemy to the insects.
So, while everyone was heading to the rainforest swamp, Knuckle had, after discussing it with Sanbica, Menchi, and Buhara, decided to keep these small wild beasts in the castle.
Germain had also seen these creatures himself and confirmed they were harmless to humans.
Indeed, not everything in the Dark Continent posed a deadly threat to humanity.
After all, everyone is part of the food chain. There's no need to target humans as a species.
Moreover, humans are scarce in the Dark Continent. If they were the main food source, they'd likely starve to death—humans would merely be a side dish at most.
Since Knuckle could tame these small wild beasts that were beneficial to them, Germain had no reason to refuse. On the contrary, he strongly supported him.
After this, Knuckle went on to keep many more strange beasts in the ancient castle station, but that's another story.
Germain reached the top floor of the Ancient Labyrinth tower, ready to try using the "Lantern Perception."
The goal was the "Lantern" near the "Disease Spreader Resurrection Point" in the gray-white desert.
Soon, he saw the image again, and by constantly adjusting the angle, he observed the "Disease Spreader."
The last time the "Disease Spreader" was dealt with was on May 8th. Now, over three months had passed, so its resurrection was not surprising.
It seemed to have just been revived. After absorbing some vengeful spirits, it had only recently started moving.
No matter where it was headed, it certainly didn't want to stay in place and wait for Germain and the others to come and deal with it.
Germain knew he couldn't wait any longer. He only called Shizuku, and the two of them directly teleported over.
Half an hour later, the two returned together.
The "Disease Spreader" was, of course, killed again. Even when Germain was at the "Champion Level," he could easily handle it. Not to mention now, when he's at the "Legend Level."
Germain obtained an unused teleportation lantern, and Shizuku brought back 38 "Alchemy Plants" in her "Blinky."
The "Alchemy Plants" didn't do much for their combat power, but they were useful to someone.
For example, they could be traded with the Moose Centaur Tribe for supplies, which was a good option.
Since they hadn't left a "Lantern" in the Steep Mountain Range before, Germain couldn't use "Lantern Perception" to confirm the "Resurrection of the Twin Disasters."
However, by calculating the time, the "Fissure of Ecstasy" and the "Tongue of Theft" should be resurrected by late September.
This time, on September 28, Germain went alone.
He knew that by this time, the "Fissure of Ecstasy" and the "Tongue of Theft" wouldn't have had enough time to produce the "Unmanned Stone," so there was no need for Shizuku to accompany him.
In the end, he didn't obtain the "Unmanned Stone."
After killing the "Fissure of Ecstasy" and the "Tongue of Theft," Germain once again obtained two unused "Lanterns."
He left one "Lantern" near the resurrection point in the Steep Mountain Range for later observation, before returning to the Ancient Labyrinth.
As for the "Bloodthirsty Apostle of Pain" in the Ancient Labyrinth, it didn't resurrect until October 8, but this time, it wasn't Germain's turn to step in.
After learning the truth about "Outer Gods Devouring, Ancient Gods Sealing," Bisky, now feeling a sense of crisis, became more eager to break through to the "Champion Level."
She wanted to follow in Ging's footsteps and ascend through a fight with the "Bloodthirsty Apostle of Pain."
However, things didn't go smoothly. She was still stuck at the "Master Level," and her fight with the incomplete version of the "Bloodthirsty Apostle of Pain" was quite a mess.
In the end, Germain helped her out, and Bisky was able to defeat the enemy.
Germain obtained another unused "Lantern," and everyone gathered 74 "Herb for All-illnesses."
The only thing that could be considered as progress was Bisky.
This was actually quite normal. When Ging was promoted, he was just one step away from success. He had this premonition himself.
However, Bisky didn't have that premonition. Right now, she was just taking a gamble, and she lost. She still needed to practice more.
This made her feel quite unwilling, even secretly regretting the time when she didn't train harder in "Shingen-ryu" and wasted too much time.
Don, Germain, and Ging all had their own unique paths, which Bisky couldn't simply imitate.
Speaking of imitation, her greatest role model was clearly Chairman Netero.
Although she felt frustrated inside, Bisky didn't show it on the surface because the "Bloodthirsty Apostle" had been successfully defeated, which was definitely a good thing.
Aside from that, there were other events that the group was paying more attention to today.
The colony expedition set sail on August 8th, and it would take about two months to complete the journey.
This meant that if everything went smoothly, BW1 and its accompanying ships should now be seeing the coastline of the imagined continent.
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