"What do you mean, 'you can eat anything'?"
"What do you mean, 'this is the pioneering spirit'? What the hell are you pioneering?"
Was your prototype's action called pioneering? Wasn't it an invasion?
"And what does it mean that 'bodily fluid exchange is the fastest way to increase resistance to a living being'?"
Staring at the Curio's instruction manual before him, Chen Li was utterly thunderstruck.
What are you trying to do? Or rather, what are you trying to get me to do?
Chen Li had used [Then I Ask You] once again, and once again, he had received an instruction manual for his Curio.
But he would rather have never seen it. Now, he could no longer look directly at Elysia, who was sitting right beside him.
Chen Li was absolutely against the idea of eating just anything, which was why he had been willing to spend crystals to specifically constrain the Curio. This manual had presented another path, but... was this even reasonable?
Why would bodily fluid exchange provide the biggest progress boost?
"What's wrong, Li? Why do you look so strange? What little secrets are you whispering to that ball of light?" Elysia asked, watching Chen Li huddle in the corner, muttering to a glowing orb.
Although Elysia didn't understand why Chen Li was talking to a ball of light, if the man could forge silk stockings that increased attack speed, what was impossible?
"Oh, it's nothing." Chen Li finished his questioning after transcribing the source characters appearing on the orb into the memo function of his Guide to Forging Curios.
[Then I Ask You] really did require him to ask the question out loud.
But you couldn't expect a Curio to actually start talking to you. Your first reaction wouldn't be delight, but terror.
However, having the instruction manual composed of source characters had a benefit: Chen Li could learn even more of the source language.
The ball of light before him was the true form of the one-star Curio.
Others needed to hold a Curio in their hand for it to work, but Chen Li was different. He could place this kind of passive-effect Curio in his Omni-Archive or simply have it near him, and it would still be effective.
As a Curio Forger, he would possess many Curios with passive effects in the future. He couldn't possibly hang all of them on his body, could he?
"So, how does it feel to eat a Honkai Beast?" Elysia asked, her curiosity piqued.
Elysia's own resistance to Honkai was considerably high... well, of course it was; she was a Herrscher, after all.
But even she couldn't bring herself to eat a barbecued Honkai Beast.
For one, she couldn't bite through it. For another, it would easily expose how special she was.
From a young age, Elysia knew she was vastly different from others. After all, not every girl was as flawlessly, intoxicatingly perfect as she was.
But Chen Li was different. As an outlander, anything he did seemed reasonable.
Even if Chen Li stubbornly decided to take a bite out of Mobius, Elysia would just think he was pioneering a new experiment to verify the different rules between worlds.
"Tastes pretty good. But Kalpas, could you char it a little more?" Chen Li nodded, then spoke to the person grilling the meat.
"You're so annoying. Is this why you brought me to the Flame-Chasers and put me in the logistics department?" Kalpas, wearing a mask as he stood before the barbecue stand, said with extreme impatience.
Kalpas, at least, had never expected that even after seeing him smash a stone house with a single punch, Chen Li would still choose to assign him to logistics.
The fine-sounding reason was... Kalpas, one look at you and I knew you were destined to be bound to fire.
You fell from the sky in a fiery blaze to come to this world, and I pulled you out of a pit of fire... You were born to be a cook!
Damn it! Sooner or later, I'm going to throw you into a fire!
"Ah, this is so frustrating!" The angrier he got, the more Kalpas began to stir-fry with explosive force.
"Wow, I told you he was perfect for the job!" Chen Li exclaimed, seeing the flames from the wok in front of Kalpas leap a meter into the air.
"Indeed. By the way, what effects did you get after eating the Honkai Beast? What kind of resistance did you gain?" Elysia asked.
"The types of resistance are a bit varied. I gained resistance to both Honkai energy and Honkai Beasts. The latter manifests as damage reduction from their attacks, and it seems easier to harm them now. Like this." As he spoke, Chen Li walked over to a stunned Honkai Beast and chopped down on it with his hand.
He didn't use any special technique, yet his hand sliced through the beast's body like a hot knife through butter.
"I barely used any strength just now. It seems that after eating enough Honkai Beast cuisine, you naturally develop a kind of anti-Honkai Beast special attack effect," Chen Li explained.
"That's amazing."
"I haven't eaten enough yet. If I eat more, I could probably pierce through a Judgment-class Honkai Beast with a single punch," Chen Li said.
The resistance effect of this Curio sounded very similar to the Devourer's, but a Devourer could only cultivate resistance to a world's species while in its embryonic state. Once it hatched, its traits were permanently set.
"Does it work on Herrschers?" Elysia asked.
"Honkai Beasts are Honkai Beasts. Herrschers are Herrschers. This kind of species-killer resistance only works on the species of the food itself. Honkai Beasts and Herrschers are fundamentally two different species," Chen Li said, shaking his head.
"I see..."
"And even though they're all Honkai Beasts, the first bite of a Chariot-class and the first bite of a Ranger-class both give me different evolutionary boosts. It's just that the physical enhancement from the second type is a little less, but the species-killer effect is universal for all Honkai Beasts," Chen Li added.
Under the effect of the one-star Curio, all the good stuff seemed to fall into his lap.
"In that case, Li, if you want to gain more evolutions, you'll have to hunt more unique Honkai Beasts, like the ones that accompany Herrschers, or mutated ones," Elysia said, glancing at the various types of Honkai Beasts scattered around the area.
Chen Li, Elysia, and the others were currently out in the wild—to be precise, in the ruins of the city where the Second Herrscher had been defeated.
Honkai Beasts were everywhere, so there was no need to worry about food.
But the variety of Honkai Beasts had its limits.
"Fortunately, I can travel to many worlds, so theoretically, my food variety is infinite. I don't have to worry about the upper limit of this one-star Curio," Chen Li said.
This Curio was exceptional, and for someone like him who could travel between worlds, it was even better.
Chen Li was beginning to understand why the criteria for a one-star Curio was either costing more than 100 crystals to forge or having a chance to defy the world itself.
This child is terrifyingly strong. If he is not eliminated now, he will surely become a great disaster in the future!
"Ah, speaking of which, I think I have the corpse of the Second Herrscher's companion beast in my inventory. Let's roast a dragon. You've worked hard, Kalpas. In the future, I'll definitely forge a cooking Curio for you, to help you become the world's number one chef!" As he spoke, Chen Li pulled out the dragon-like companion beast of the Second Herrscher, which had been lying untouched in his inventory.
He had originally planned to use this dragon-like Honkai Beast to forge a normal weapon, but he had been too busy.
Now that he thought about it, eating it directly was much better than forging a weapon.
"Bastard," Kalpas glared at Chen Li.
Who wants to be a chef?
Chen Li ignored Kalpas's protest and tore off one of the beast's massive, ten-meter-long wings with his bare hands.
When Chen Li viewed a creature as food and intended to eat it, the damage he could inflict was beyond imagination.
Just like now.
"I feel like your physical strength is even better than mine now," Elysia said in amazement.
"Not quite. But I'm not far from being able to suppress you with my bare hands." Chen Li clenched his fists, feeling power surge through his body.
With this Curio, the speed at which Chen Li's physical attributes increased was astonishing.
Cultivation? What's that? Cheating is much better.
Gourmet Cells, add points!
"It's not good to be too proud. I suddenly understand why a certain saying from human society is so widespread."
"What saying?" Chen Li asked curiously.
"Discipline your little brother while you still can," Elysia said, standing up and cracking her knuckles.
"Li, you've eaten so much, you must be full. It's time for some after-dinner exercise."
"Hey, wait, wait, what are you trying to do? I'm warning you, I have a trump card. Don't force my hand," Chen Li said, quickly backing away as he saw Elysia preparing to resort to violence.
"Oh? A trump card? Why don't you use it, then? It'll be a good chance for me to see how fast you're progressing," Elysia said, a smile fixed on her face.
Let me see!
"Alright, alright, then don't mind if I do." Chen Li's expression turned serious. Seeing Elysia press closer, he decided to play his trump card.
"Hehehe, Elysia, this is the trump card you personally handed to me! I'll let you witness the ultimate move of my Gourmet Cells..." Chen Li focused his mind and held his breath.
Then, he slowly activated his ultimate move.
Herrscher... Transformation!
Elysia, who had been smiling, eager to see what kind of trick Chen Li had up his sleeve, suddenly saw her expression change. Her delicate nose twitched, and she slowly walked over to him, looking at him with confusion.
"I don't know why... but, Li, you're so fragrant." Elysia couldn't help but rub her face against Chen Li's shoulder.
"Hmph, hmph. I told you it was a trump card, didn't I?" Chen Li said with a shrug.
The second effect of the Gourmet Cells Curio: Delicious.
This effect not only allowed Chen Li to taste the unique deliciousness in any food, but it also made him delicious.
"Delicious" didn't just mean smelling like perfume. It allowed him to mimic the aura of a delicacy, emitting an aroma that was delicious to other delicacies, thereby causing them to lose their hostility.
It was like a calico cat encountering another cat that smelled entirely of catnip.
A short while ago, Chen Li had eaten a strand of Elysia's hair, and now, it had increased his allure to her, the Herrscher of Human: Ego.
And seeing Elysia sitting obediently beside him, taking small bites of normally grilled meat while her eyes roamed restlessly all over his body, Chen Li suddenly had a very bold idea.