Besides Belle's cravings, Andrew had another main reason for insisting on making his "Cat-food" for her and Wise every day.
It was actually to improve the siblings' physical condition, which could only be described as abysmal. Being shut-ins, their only daily exercise was walking next door to the Waterfall Noodle Shop for a meal.
Oh, right. Now their biggest workout was mooching food off Andrew.
While the energy boost would dissipate in about three hours even without any exertion, the restorative effects and the subtle enhancement to their physical constitution wouldn't disappear with it.
Over this period, the siblings' vitality had clearly improved. Their stamina was much better, and even the dark circles under their eyes from staying up all night had faded.
Hearing their conversation, Nicole, who had just been scheming about which of Sixth Street's cats to catch, immediately lost her composure. She tossed that thought aside and jumped in.
"Wait, wait, wait! Andrew, you're Belle's Proxy?! Then... what was the point of me keeping your other identity a secret from each other for the past two months? Was I just being a busybody?"
Hearing Nicole's accusation, Andrew and Belle exchanged a look, their eyes filled with confusion.
After some careful thought and recollection, they both had a moment of realization and immediately understood why this had happened.
Belle swallowed the food in her mouth and said meekly:
"I just assumed you already knew. After all, Nicole, I was the one who recommended you go to Andrew for that special assembly."
"And when you told me Belle sent you, I assumed you knew too."
Andrew threw up his hands, indicating it wasn't his fault either.
"Ugh..."
Speechless, Nicole thought it over carefully. In the end, she gave up thinking and came to one certain conclusion.
Her efforts to keep their secrets from each other had been completely pointless.
Nicole did the math. She'd thought Andrew was the newcomer, but it seemed he and the siblings had known each other's hidden identities from the very moment he arrived on Sixth Street.
No, it was more likely they knew even before coming to Sixth Street.
"I'm so stupid, seriously. I knew you Sixth Street folks were a tight-knit alliance of shops from the gray area, but I never imagined the new guy, Andrew, was part of your crew too. Turns out, I'm the real outsider."
Seeing the utterly defeated look on Nicole's face, Belle quickly tried to console her:
"You're not an outsider at all, Nicole! We trust you completely! Besides, you were always so careful about keeping our identities secret. We should be the ones thanking you!"
Nicole, despite being incredibly greedy, was genuinely caring and protective of the friends she accepted after getting to know them.
So Andrew also added reassuringly:
"Yeah. If I didn't trust you, Belle's recommendation alone wouldn't have been enough for me to agree to your equipment upgrade request."
Hearing Belle and Andrew's words, Nicole lifted her head in a tsundere-like huff, her long pink hair swinging proudly with the movement.
"Fine, I'll accept your explanation... for now. But don't think some sweet talk is going to get you a discount on the next commission fee."
With that, Nicole quickly slipped back into the workshop, as if the movie playing there was intensely demanding her attention.
But at some point, the ears peeking out from under her long hair had turned a faint pink.
Watching Nicole flee, Andrew and Belle exchanged a smile. The ever-so-cunning Miss Nicole was surprisingly easy to embarrass under the right circumstances.
Now that the two busybodies had been fed, it was time for the Silver Squad in the workshop.
Beckoning to Anby, who had been silently observing Belle and Nicole from behind, Andrew carried a tray of burgers over to the Silver Squad as they watched a movie.
As it happened, the movie had just started rolling its final credits, but the girls of the Silver Squad were still glued to the screen, unwilling to miss a single second.
Not until Andrew blocked the TV with the tray. Twiggy, who was about to get annoyed, immediately shrank back when she saw it was Andrew and her captain.
This stark contrast made Wise, who was constantly exhausted from dealing with her peculiar questions, sigh at the thought that everyone has someone who can put them in their place.
He placed the tray of burgers in front of the girls and announced to their curious gazes:
"American-style double onion beef burgers. A Cat-food variation."
But even though the girls were practically drooling, not a single one dared to reach for one.
It wasn't until Andrew stepped aside to reveal Anby, who was already intently nibbling on a burger. Seeing their captain eating, they finally relaxed.
Only then did the girls eagerly grab a burger each and start eating.
A series of suppressed gasps of delight filled the air. Even Twiggy, who'd had the most questions about the movie, was now silent, completely focused on devouring her food.
Before long, however, their eating styles became progressively bizarre.
There was one Silver Squad member trying to stuff two burgers in her mouth at once and choking, another who got food all over her face in her haste, and yet another who would take a bite and then peel back each layer to study the burger's construction.
The feeling that he was babysitting grew stronger and stronger for Andrew.
Anby, who was supposed to be the one in charge, was completely incapacitated by her burger obsession. At a time like this, Andrew had no choice but to step in himself.
But before Andrew could say anything, Nicole, who had been sitting in the back, suddenly walked up and stood in front of the sofa.
"Ahem..."
A light cough drew the attention of the entire Silver Squad to her.
"When you eat, just eat properly. If you keep this up, Andrew is going to get angry!"
The effect was instantaneous. Seeing the girls immediately settle down, Nicole coolly flipped her hair and walked back to her seat.
"Hmph. They're even easier to handle than the little rascals at the orphanage."
This practiced maneuver reminded Andrew of how Nicole managed the kids at the orphanage.
Still, seeing the Silver Squad fall for such a simple trick, Andrew couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.
He couldn't really blame them, though. According to the research institute's data, the oldest, Anby, was only four years old, to say nothing of her younger sisters.
And Soldier 11, the last one created, wasn't even a year old.
Seeing that his intervention was no longer needed, Andrew left the Silver Squad to it and turned to look at Belle, who was now full and curled up asleep in the chair in front of the Hollow Deep Dive System.
Looking at Belle's face, Andrew had to admit her serene sleeping expression truly lived up to the word "beauty."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, gently massaging the muscles stiffened by long hours of sitting, while roughly estimating the siblings' current physical condition.
Compared to two months ago, their constitutions had improved significantly.
If their stamina before was comparable to a fragile college student who feels like they're dying just walking to the campus gate to pick up a package after four years of study, now it was at the level of a middle schooler who could just pass the 1000-meter run in a fitness test.
It probably wouldn't be long before Belle and Wise's bodies could handle the medium-buff "Cat-food." When that time came, he'd have to carefully plan what kind of special meals to cook up for them.
_____
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