"Are you really giving this to us?"
Hotarugusa looked timidly at the waist-bag Mo Bai held out, looking as if she wanted to reach for it but didn't quite dare.
Dagenzi, held in her arms, was swallowing hard, her large eyes filled with longing.
"It's exactly for you to eat."
The two little ones murmured their thanks. Their eyes lit up as they began to eat in small, delicate bites, taking turns and carefully catching the crumbs with their hands.
Seeing them treat common food like a rare treasure made one's heart ache.
Faced with this scene, Zhang Yu, feeling the weight of a guilty conscience, found Yukie's gaze increasingly piercing.
"Ahem, I'll go prepare some late-night snacks as an apology to these two girls."
Zhang Yu bolted from the room like he was on fire. Feeling he was in the wrong, he felt that if he stayed any longer, he would have nowhere to hide his old face.
"Yukie, these two shouldn't be on the list for elimination, right?"
Mo Bai vaguely remembered the Nekomata that Miko Chiba Eda of the Chiba Shrine kept. These two little ones were clearly not malevolent spirits, but supernatural creatures like that Nekomata.
"Yes. The usual way to handle this type of spirit is for a shrine to incorporate and raise them."
"However, the environment of Yukikawa Shrine might not be suitable for plant-based spirits that live in deep forests."
Yukie was very tempted to adopt the two cute and well-behaved little ones, but she looked troubled when she thought of the conditions at Yukikawa Shrine.
"Then I'll think of another way."
Mo Bai was also at a loss as to how to deal with Hotarugusa and Dagenzi.
In this day and age, even boys have to protect themselves when they go out, let alone a loli and toddler duo with maximum cuteness and beauty scores.
That plump tabby cat Nekomata seemed to be living quite well. "Maybe I should call Chiba Eda and ask?"
Judging by its name, Chiba Shrine must be located deep within a lush, quiet forest.
Thinking of this, a question naturally occurred to Mo Bai. "Don't you guys live in the wilderness?"
"A black giant dragon with bull horns was fighting in the forest. Dagenzi and I only had time to pick up our companion's egg and run. When we woke up, we were already nearby."
Speaking of the reason, Hotarugusa still trembled with fear.
"A dragon? Do you come from the Inner World?"
The Surface World certainly didn't have such ferocious things.
Facing Mo Bai's question, both Hotarugusa and Dagenzi shook their heads blankly.
"Then how did you end up at the Tōtsuki Detached Palace?"
"Dagenzi heard from companions in the forest before that cooking can help companions grow, so..."
Perhaps because Mo Bai's snacks had boosted her favorability, Dagenzi pulled a lotus flower as large as a basketball out of her apron's four-dimensional pocket.
Nestled within the pink petals, a round, adorable creature wearing a lotus leaf on its head opened its sparkling, cherry-colored eyes and gazed curiously at Mo Bai. "This is Huaouzi."
"The machine-gun soldier of Lian Lake!"
Mo Bai looked at the three little ones before him, his heart pounding. This lineup had a frontline, a healer (a berserker, really), and long-range DPS—are they sure they just came here to cook?
"Huaouzi was beaten back into an egg by a rampaging beast while trying to help us escape."
Hotarugusa stroked the round head of the infant-form Huaouzi, her tone dejected.
"Ying ying ying~"
Huaouzi made a strange chirping sound, as if comforting Hotarugusa.
Beaten back into an egg? Are you guys Digimon?
Mo Bai's urge to snark was bubbling over.
"Senior!"
Yukie's sudden shout gave Mo Bai a fright.
"Ah? What is it?"
Thinking something had happened, Mo Bai spun around, only to meet a pair of burning eyes.
"Senior, please help them!"
After the two Divine Festivals this morning, Yukie was even more convinced that Mo Bai was a hidden, master-level figure. Even knowing he wasn't IGO-certified and was studying at the Tōtsuki Resort didn't shake her faith.
"Huh?"
The groundless admiration and trust in those bright eyes left Mo Bai bewildered.
Little sister, it's a good thing you believe in me, but... cuisine that accelerates the growth of spirits? I've seriously never made that before!
"Big Brother, can you really make food that helps Huaouzi grow up?"
Dagenzi and Hotarugusa cried out simultaneously.
Three adorable creatures stared at Mo Bai with shining, wide eyes.
This... who could withstand this?!
The milky, childish way Dagenzi and Hotarugusa called him 'Big Brother' made Mo Bai's entire being melt.
"Big Brother, if you can really make Huaouzi grow up again, we... we can help you grow vegetables!"
Hotarugusa bit her pink lip and pinched the corner of her skirt, making an offer that looked tempting but held absolutely no practical allure.
Grow vegetables? Why would I want to grow vegetables? Don't tell me I'm going to develop a logistics base...
Mo Bai let out a wry laugh, but after the laughter passed, his expression gradually became serious.
Holy crap! Wait!
What kind of vegetables do you grow in the Inner World?
"Hotarugusa and Dagenzi can grow Dream Ingredients!?"
Mo Bai's eyes now betrayed a raw, naked desire for possession.
Now that these three little ones had fallen into his lap, how could he possibly let them go?
What? They're just children?
Precisely because they are children, they need to learn more skills and farm more land so they can become the pillars for the restoration of the Ice Continent in the future!
Mo Bai's reflexive "I'll try" was immediately replaced with "Leave this matter to me."
===
"I agreed to it, but what exactly should I do?"
In the kitchen, Mo Bai leaned his elbows on his knees, holding his head in deep thought.
"Xiao Bai, come out and save me."
"No time. Busy. Think for yourself."
Xiao Bai, who was copying information from the Ice Continent's Jewel of Dominion, gave a flat triple-refusal. It refused to be called out as a savior when needed, only to be called out for a scolding when it wasn't.
"What use do I have for a weakling system like you!?"
After his daily bickering with the tsundere Xiao Bai, Mo Bai's mind actually cleared up.
Inner World cuisine was nothing more than Dream Ingredients and Culinary Heart.
Culinary Heart? He had that.
Dream Ingredients? He had those too.
"Maybe I should make a sweet porridge first to test the waters?"
His biggest harvest today was the Ice Prism Flowers and Crystal Rice he had sto—harvested from the Snow Woman tribe.
Soon, two small piles of ingredients emitting cold mist appeared on the prep table: rice that was as crystal clear as ice, and flowers with petals shaped like irregular ice shards.
Under the catalyst of the high flame, the fresh water in the pot soon began to boil.
Mo Bai stood before the prep table, focusing his mind and calming his breath, yet nothing happened.
Mo Bai tapped his head. "Almost forgot, this isn't a ritual, so I can't activate the Little Gold Man mode."
If there was no Little Gold Man mode, then so be it. Could he not cook just as well without it?
Thinking this, Mo Bai poured the Crystal Rice from the cutting board into the boiling water.
The next moment, the pot of boiling water suddenly went still. The Crystal Rice he poured in all stuck instantly to the bottom of the pot.
As everyone knows, once porridge sticks to the bottom, the entire pot is ruined by the burnt smell generated by the sticking.
Realizing this, Mo Bai hastily grabbed the pot and rushed to the sink. After emptying the water, which was no longer emitting steam, he saw a lump of sticky, semi-solidified liquid.
"What... what's going on?"
Mo Bai stared at the bottom of the pot, his eyes filled with bewilderment. "Could it be that this Crystal Rice is also a special ingredient?"
________________________________________
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