Chapter 221: The Mermaid
"Hahaha, I did it!"
Saber Alter stood atop the surface of the sea, laughing triumphantly, not sinking. Look at what you drove this child to do. You can sink many times, but as long as you succeed on the last try, it's a victory.
Clap, clap, clap—
Seeing the excited Saber Alter, Kenji and the others gave a symbolic round of applause, satisfying her vanity.
The applause was very much to Saber Alter's liking. She proudly raised her arrogant neck. It wasn't that hard. I've already mastered it.
How many times?
Raiden Makoto looked at Buer, asking with her eyes.
361 times.
Buer blinked. Although she had indeed succeeded, she couldn't help but marvel at Saber Alter's perseverance. Over three hundred attempts, which meant she had sunk over three hundred times. She must have been thoroughly pickled by the seawater. Although it sounded simple, it required very strict coordination of the body and mastery of one's strength. No one could help her; she had to rely entirely on herself to understand and try.
"Eeeee—ya—ya—"
A high-frequency vibrato, like a dolphin's song, rang out, as if it were an echo from the deep sea.
The seawater resonated, and an aroma with an astonishingly powerful presence appeared, almost instantly permeating the entire star system. This fragrance was impossible to describe and irresistible. Kenji and the others' eyes lit up, and their cells, in unison, let out a joyous cheer.
"A God Ingredient!"
Kenji and Atashino looked at each other, having guessed the source at the same time. Not even the Sun Jewel Meat had given them this kind of feeling. They had heard from Don Slime that different colors of Gourmet Cells had corresponding ingredients, but the only ingredients that could cause all colors of Gourmet Cells to resonate were the God Ingredients from the Final Land.
The Azure Galaxy was the largest ocean galaxy in the universe. The Streaming Light Mermaid would leave the Final Land once every year to come here and play for a while. In other words, the Streaming Light Mermaid was one of the very few beings that knew the way to the Final Land.
Kenji led the group back to the Astral Express to search the star system.
She roamed between the sea of stars, her swinging tail fin scattering thousands of star motes, as if dragging a brilliant galaxy behind her. Her blue scales were iridescent, shining with different colors. The stars themselves became her backdrop.
"So beautiful... It's like a face personally carved by the universe. As expected of a God Ingredient," Atashino was stunned by the Streaming Light Mermaid's appearance.
Her cold-white skin glowed with a light like the aurora, and those watery eyes presented a kind of contrast, giving off the deceptive illusion that she was easy to fool.
"Her strength is not weak at all. Her Capture Level is much higher than the Blue Demon's clone," Kenji said with a meaningful smile. She looked somewhat harmless, but her body contained terrifying power. As a God Ingredient that could travel freely through the universe, how could she be a small fry? Anyone who treated her as prey... who knows how tall the grass on their graves would be by now. Destroying a star was probably an easy matter for her.
"Yes... but since she's called a God Ingredient, do we really have to eat her?" Atashino said hesitantly. Even if they had the ability to capture her, they probably couldn't bring themselves to do it. After all, she was such a beautiful mermaid, not like the other beasts.
Don Slime hadn't mentioned the cooking method for the Streaming Light Mermaid. He probably didn't know; he had only mentioned her existence.
"Eeya?"
The Streaming Light Mermaid, soaring through the starry ocean, noticed the existence of the Astral Express. Her watery eyes flashed with curiosity, and she vanished in an instant.
"We've made a choice..."
Cocolia's boss music, the golden song of Mother's Day, rang out in the carriage.
Kenji and the others turned to look at the phonograph. The Streaming Light Mermaid had entered the carriage and was curiously fiddling with the little gadget that could play songs.
Saber Alter frowned. For some reason, this was the first time she had heard this song, and although it was very rousing, she had a strange feeling in her heart, as if in the next second, her rebellious son Little Mo was about to commit insubordination and turn against her.
Mordred: My lance... no, wait, the tip of my sword is already burning! Clarent—Blood Arthur!
The little gadgets in the carriage were all very novel to the mermaid. She hadn't even seen them in the Final Land. She looked left and right, touching everything. Finally, she even wanted to go into the cockpit to have a look. She was very curious.
"Stop. You can't enter here."
Kenji blocked her path. "This isn't your house. Please don't be so overly familiar."
[Let me see~]
A soft voice sounded in their heads. It wasn't spoken, but a form of telepathy, speaking directly inside their minds. Her intelligence was indeed not low.
"You don't just want to see; you want to get your hands on it and try to fly it yourself, don't you?" Kenji retorted.
Does she need a ticket?
The mermaid thought for a moment, then took a transparent pearl from her chest. It looked as if it were formed from molten crystal, and dream-like bubbles swirled within it, as if sealing a sea of stars.
"?"
Kenji was speechless. Does everyone like to hide things in their chest? Don't learn from Doraemon!
This pearl... it felt like it would have a milky scent.
[This is edible.]
The corners of the mouths of Atashino and the other women twitched. Taking food out of... that place... is that really okay?
A flash of inspiration struck Kenji's mind. A God Ingredient... the Streaming Light Mermaid... could the edible part be this pearl?
Don Slime hadn't mentioned a cooking method, but since it was an ingredient, there had to be an edible part.
So... this was the legendary God Ingredient? A peculiar "glass marble." It was really unexpected.
"How do you eat this?" Kenji asked, taking the still-warm glass marble. It probably wasn't body temperature, but its original temperature.
[You can just eat it directly. Can I go in there and see now?]
The mermaid looked expectantly at the cockpit. She had been bored for ten billion years. Now that she had finally run into something interesting, she certainly couldn't miss it.
"Fine." Kenji opened the door.
She had even given him the ingredient; she had moved him with her sincerity. It was hard to refuse her now. She had given too much.
The Streaming Light Mermaid floated towards the cockpit, her tail fin swinging, scattering stardust. She could swim without water. A little interesting.
"How should I put this... this mermaid is a bit..."
Atashino's smile was a little strange. She didn't know how to evaluate her. She wanted to say she was a bit of an oddball, but the other party might be able to hear her. She wasn't silly, just a little too curious, like she had never seen the world before.
"I knew I should have asked Don Slime for more details about the Final Land back then."
Kenji could understand. The Final Land was probably just ingredients and nothing else. There was nothing fun to do. In this world of food, where gourmet food was the mainstream, entertainment options were few, let alone a place like the Final Land. It must have been unbelievably boring.
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