Chapter 222: Let the Mermaid Watch "The Final Lesson"
The Astral Express soared through the sea of stars. Getting to play with something like this for the first time, the Streaming Light Mermaid showed a wild side. It felt as if she had received the true teachings of Akivili; her foot was slammed all the way down on the accelerator.
Kenji wasn't worried at all. Although Akivili wasn't here, his divine protection of the Trailblaze was still on the train. Not many speed bumps could stop it.
"Are you really going to eat it?" Atashino asked in a strange tone. Regardless of what the substance was, taking it from that place... no matter how you looked at it, it was a bit strange.
If Kenji knew what she was thinking, he would have laughed out loud. If this were his previous world, this item would be in short supply; this was a food with a special buff.
Sniff! Sniff!
He moved closer for a small sniff, and the fragrance shot straight into the sensory center of his brain, as if a storm had arrived.
Crack—
It looked very hard, but the moment it entered his mouth, it was like a cosmic big bang. It instantly exploded into countless, extremely fine fragments. The innumerable fragments danced on the tip of his tongue, erupting with an echo of deliciousness that instantly activated his taste buds.
After the outer shell shattered, the liquid core within made contact with his mouth. A flavor even more delicious than the Demon Ogre Shell bloomed, as if he were tasting the collected delicacies of an entire galaxy.
"The ultimate umami, a taste bud experience that far surpasses any fish dish..." Kenji closed his eyes, savoring it carefully. He had thought the Demon Ogre Shell was the pinnacle of fish cuisine, but he hadn't expected there to be another master.
"Taste Comprehension... is this the ability brought by a God Ingredient?" Kenji sensed the change in himself. Besides his strength increasing dramatically, he had also obtained a new ability.
Taste Comprehension: Just by tasting, one can obtain the "Origin Flavor" of an ingredient. One can actively block bad tastes, and even automatically generate a recipe, turning the rotten into the magical, making the disgusting become delicious.
How should he put it... this ability was a bit useless for him. Not to say it was completely useless, but its usefulness was limited. For a chef like Atashino, however, it was a very good ability.
"Although the ability is whatever, the taste is impeccable..."
As Kenji was speaking, he suddenly realized he still didn't know exactly what this was.
"Mermaid, what was that thing you gave me? Where did you find it?"
"Are there any more?"
Just then, the Streaming Light Mermaid walked out of the cockpit looking refreshed, a faint blush still on her cheeks. That was so exhilarating.
[That was my tear. That was the last one.]
[I gave myself the name, Streaming Light.]
Outside the window, this night, streaming with light...
Kenji stroked his chin. A mermaid is also a fish. The fish course can be confirmed.
Fish Course: Mermaid's Tear.
As for the Capture Level, since it was a God Ingredient, he'd set it at 1,000,000.
"I beg you, this is my life's request! Please cry!"
Kenji put his hands together and pleaded earnestly. One was not enough to eat.
He wasn't bothered by the fact that this ingredient was a tear. After all, Mellow Cola gushed from the Salamander Sphinx's eye.
[?]
Streaming Light blinked. She felt this was a bit baffling. Can you just cry just because someone tells you to? She hadn't cried in many, many years. Yawning and shedding a tear didn't count; those couldn't form this kind of teardrop. She used to have more, but she had eaten them as snacks when she was bored. It was a case of self-producing and self-selling.
Can't cry?
Kenji had a bold idea. If I make her cry, she should be able to drop some small pearls, right?
[What are you thinking?]
Streaming Light's eyes became sharp. She felt that Kenji was thinking something bad.
"Does it only work with tears? Are there any other conditions?" Atashino asked. If it was just tears, it would be simple to handle. They could just use onions or other irritating ingredients to stimulate the tear glands.
[It only works if the tears are from a change in emotion.]
Streaming Light swam through the carriage. In the Final Land, a place that only knew eating and eating, how could there possibly be anything that could touch her emotions?
A change in emotion...
Kenji instantly had an idea. This was almost too easy. It was time to show the mermaid a healthy, positive, and uplifting video.
"Streaming Light, right? Let's watch a video together."
A "victory is assured" smile hung on Kenji's lips. Crying out of sadness was one of the easiest.
Streaming Light, of course, did not refuse and sat curiously on the sofa.
Kiana? Me?
When Himeko saw the main character of the video, the corner of her mouth couldn't help but twitch. She nearly lost her composure. If she wasn't mistaken, this should be related to what she had experienced. To watch her own past from a third-person perspective... this feeling was truly hard to describe. Although it was very hot-blooded and moving, for her personally, it felt a bit awkward.
You kid...
Himeko rubbed her forehead. Oh, well. As long as it helps.
As a mermaid who had never seen such a thing, and who possessed an intelligence comparable to a human's, she could naturally understand it, and she became completely absorbed.
...
["This is... the final... lesson..."]
[?!]
The expression on Streaming Light's face instantly froze. Wait, this person named Himeko... how did she just get killed off?
Perhaps there will be a plot twist...
She comforted herself, but then she saw Kiana being saved, and then Himeko fell into the Sea of Quanta.
And that was the end. There was no miracle. Just a streak of red, continuously falling.
[...]
She clenched her small fists, her eye sockets turning red, and a hazy mist began to well up.
To test a mermaid with this... wasn't that just cheating? She had never seen anything like this.
It's working!
Kenji let out a "Jiu Jiu Jiu" laugh.
By sharing the video with others, the smile transfers to my own face. This is the feeling. So satisfying...
"Eeeee-ya—"
However, the smile on Kenji's face didn't last long. He stopped laughing.
The mermaid's tears were like a bursting dam. In an instant, the teardrops formed from the mermaid's tears filled the entire train carriage.
Kenji: "..."
Atashino: "..."
...
The group of them were now in an ocean of teardrops. Their brain CPUs had all crashed.
Isn't this quantity a little too much?! Just how much can you cry?
There's no more room! It's too full! It's going to overflow!
And she was still crying, hugging Himeko and wailing. Every carriage was filled with the mermaid's tears. Everyone was unable to move.
"ZA—WARUDO!"
Kenji used the almighty time-stop and began to clean up the Astral Express. There were too many teardrops; he wouldn't bother counting them one by one. He just stored them all in his dimensional space. If this had happened on Pom-Pom's train, he probably would have been letting out a piercing shriek by now.
Special dish: Himeko's coffee.
Before time started to flow again, Kenji poured the coffee into the mermaid's mouth.
This is enough to eat. You can stop crying for now.
It was his oversight. He hadn't anticipated this situation.
Splash!
Even as a God Ingredient, facing Himeko's coffee for the first time, she had no resistance. She was instantly put to sleep.
"Tsk, tsk. Is she some kind of sentimental little girl?"
Himeko marveled. It was just a video. She herself wasn't bothered by it, yet the mermaid was bawling her eyes out. Was it really that serious? She didn't get it.
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