The silver-haired youth didn’t speak, standing silently beside Qi Huan, observing him. Most of his face was hidden behind a mask, his frosty eyelashes slightly lowered, forming a subtle arc. He exuded an aura of aloofness, as if untouched by the mundane world. His deep eyes resembled beautiful dark gemstones, sparkling brilliantly, so deep they seemed to merge with the night sky behind him. When he looked over, Qi Huan’s breath caught for a moment.

“So tall,” the red-haired youth said, gesturing to his thigh. Qi Huan struggled to snap out of his daze, estimating that height to be about the size of a three or four-year-old human child.

“Never seen it,” Qi Huan shook his head, realizing that apart from the person in front of him, he hadn’t seen anyone with silver hair these past few days. His gaze involuntarily drifted back to the silver-haired youth.

The silver-haired youth’s eyes darkened slightly, about to speak, but the red-haired youth stopped him, his nose twitching cutely as he exclaimed, “What’s that smell? It smells so good.”

“I’m cooking braised beast foot noodles,” Qi Huan tried hard to tear his eyes away from the silver-haired youth. Until today, he thought he wasn’t particularly attracted to beauty, or at least only to two-dimensional characters.

The red-haired youth hesitated, then suggested to the other, “Boss, why don’t we go in and sit for a while, take a break.”

The two entered and casually sat across from each other at a table. Under the light, Qi Huan noticed they looked travel-worn and extremely tired.

Qi Huan’s eyes curved slightly, showing a standard business smile, “Do you have any dietary restrictions?”

The red-haired youth shook his head, then pointed to the silver-haired one, “My boss doesn’t eat spicy, bitter, anything with wings, anything with two legs, anything without legs, or anything with more than eight legs, except shrimp.”

Is this beauty specifically against ‘transportation parts’? “Do you eat ‘feet’?”

“What?” The red-haired youth was momentarily stunned, seemingly not understanding Qi Huan’s words.

“The full name of what I’m cooking is braised beast foot noodles,” Qi Huan paused, then politely and precisely added, “Four-legged.”

“Beast foot?” The red-haired youth’s round eyes widened in shock, “Can you eat that?”

“Of course, and it’s delicious,” Qi Huan, who had just tasted it, relaxed his brows, his clear amber eyes sparkling with confidence in his culinary skills.

The red-haired youth’s nose wrinkled in a twisted, conflicted pattern, hesitantly looking at his boss.

With a mask covering his face, the silver-haired youth’s expression was unreadable, but his jaw moved slightly, nodding calmly. His skin was pale to the point of being sickly, and faint blue veins were visible with his movements.

The red-haired youth gritted his teeth, resolutely holding up two fingers to Qi Huan, “Two small bowls of braised beast foot noodles.”

Qi Huan, naturally, wouldn’t refuse business that came to him. He had wanted to find more people to test the dish’s acceptance. He went to the kitchen, found two white porcelain bowls, and happily scooped noodles and poured broth, covering them with a dense layer of braised bone meat.

As the noodle bowls were placed on the table, the rich aroma of meat wafted through the air. The beast feet and tails, the size of mahjong tiles, glistened with an amber sheen, stacked together, resembling braised pork. The red-haired youth took a deep breath, showing disbelief that the enticing aroma indeed came from this bowl of noodles.

He pulled out a delicate, mini ear thermometer-like device from somewhere, and a pale green beam swept over the two bowls of noodles.

Qi Huan didn’t understand what the customer was doing, but he let it be.

The youth cautiously glanced at the display screen before putting away the small device, eagerly grabbing a spoon to scoop half a spoonful of broth from between the meat.

The braised broth, having simmered with the noodles, was rich in color, as bright as scarlet agate, with tiny oil droplets floating, shimmering with a faint, beautiful golden light, and exuding a mouth-watering aroma.

He blew on it slightly, tentatively bringing it to his lips and sipping half a mouthful. The braised spices and meat aroma were like silk, smooth and intricate, interwoven layer by layer, with a delicate and rich flavor, fragrant and soothing to the throat. The warmth of the broth spread inch by inch through his meridians and internal organs, comforting and relaxing. The red-haired youth couldn’t help but squint his eyes in contentment, his tense body from the fatigue of travel relaxing a bit.

After tasting the broth, he picked up chopsticks to grab a piece of braised bone meat. Initially worried that gnawing on bones would be troublesome, he found that with a gentle roll of his tongue over the meat skin, the bone came off, surprisingly tender. Chewing it a couple of times, it was fresh, soft, and elastic, with the rich aroma of fat and braised spices seeping from the beast skin and tendons. The flavors of spice, heat, salt, numbness, and sweetness overlapped in complex layers, like a meteor storm crashing into his taste buds, so delicious it seemed to nourish the soul.

The person across from him hadn’t touched his chopsticks, merely absentmindedly observing the shop.

“Boss, I swear on my life, it’s really good, definitely not inferior to those restaurants in the Ninefold Star Domain,” the red-haired youth nodded repeatedly, his voice muffled with half a piece of meat in his mouth.

The silver-haired youth glanced at the noodle bowl, casually picked up a spoon, and tasted the broth. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he couldn’t help but turn to look at Qi Huan standing nearby.

“You made this?” His voice was low and pleasant.

“Of course,” Qi Huan slightly raised his chin, his eyes sparkling as if filled with starlight.

“Very delicious,” the silver-haired youth politely nodded at him, his silky silver hair swaying slightly with his movement, shimmering with fine, beautiful light. If he weren’t afraid of being rude and getting beaten, Qi Huan would have loved to touch it.

“Take your time, if you want more, just call me,” Qi Huan hurriedly ‘escaped’ back to the kitchen, trying to stay away from ‘temptation.’

Quan Hai had thought that the plate of spine was his reward for helping tonight, but he didn’t expect there to be noodles too. Receiving the message, he happily rushed over, and upon seeing the two people in the shop, he immediately quieted down, carefully taking his and his sister’s share along the wall.

One bowl was far from enough for the red-haired youth. Before long, he called Qi Huan to add five more bowls, one to eat in and four to take away. With only half a bowl of noodles left in the pot, Qi Huan scooped it out for himself, started a new pot, and rummaged through the cupboards, finally finding a stack of leftover takeaway boxes.

They were thin tin round boxes, with two layers of threads on the inside of the lid to ensure airtightness, and came with a multi-layered wire carrying rack. Placing the round boxes inside, they resembled the multi-layered food boxes used by wealthy families in ancient times—albeit a simplified version.

To ensure the best taste and avoid the noodles getting soggy, Qi Huan packed the broth and noodles separately. After a while, he finally packed the four portions.

After all the fuss, he decided to reward himself with double the braised beast feet for his half bowl of noodles. Just as he was about to sit down and eat, the red-haired youth called him to settle the bill, “How much?”

“Special introductory price, six silver coins per bowl, with an additional two silver coins for each takeaway portion, totaling fifty silver coins.” It wasn’t that Qi Huan didn’t want to charge more, but the prices of the signature dishes on the wall were all listed, and the boiled meat was only six silver coins. The beast feet and tails were essentially free, and even with the cost of the braising spices, it wouldn’t be right to charge more than the boiled meat.

Of course, if he weren’t currently in massive debt and dirt poor, he would have loved to waive the bill for the sake of beauty. After all, he’d been frequently tormented by those mythological-style appearances lately, and these two were practically here to save his eyes.

Unfortunately, the transparent ring around their collars was tightly fastened, so he couldn’t see what the alien patterns on their necks looked like.

“So cheap?” The red-haired youth was surprised to hear the price.

“Our shop is currently developing new dishes and will occasionally offer special discounts,” Qi Huan explained, also leaving himself a way out. Beast feet weren’t a regular ingredient, and some people might not accept them. Selling them cheaply now was also a form of advertising.

If the braised beast feet really started selling, he’d have to buy the feet and tails from the ingredient store, and then he could raise the price based on the cost, which would be justified.

“The taste is amazing,” the red-haired youth praised while preparing to transfer the payment to Qi Huan via his personal terminal on his fingernail, “You could easily sell it for thirty silver coins a bowl.”

“Three thousand a bowl,” the silver-haired one nodded slightly, saying that this bowl of noodles could sell for at least three thousand in the Ninefold Star Domain.

“As long as you like it,” Qi Huan’s eyes curved, his smile growing even brighter, “You’re welcome to come back anytime.”

The red-haired youth tapped a few times, but there was no sign of a connection.

He blinked, only realizing a few seconds later, “Is the signal out again?”

“Yeah, another light magnetic storm,” Qi Huan nodded, noting that on the Waste Star, cash was still more convenient.

“Darn,” the red-haired youth patted himself down, looking across, “Did you bring any silver coins?”

The silver-haired one’s face stiffened slightly, shaking his head, “No.”

The atmosphere in the shop became a bit tense.

“Uh, we didn’t bring any silver coins,” the red-haired youth awkwardly fiddled with the small braid by his cheek, “Can we put it on a tab? We’ll pay you back tomorrow. Or you can give me your account number, and I’ll transfer it to you when there’s a signal. Or… if it’s really not possible, we won’t take the four takeaways.”

“They’re all ready, just take them. You can pay me whenever you pass by, no need to make a special trip,” Qi Huan pushed the takeaways towards the inside of the table. He hadn’t memorized the original owner’s account details, so he couldn’t give them even if he wanted to.

“Really sorry about this,” the red-haired youth apologized sincerely.

“It’s fine, if it’s convenient, just leave a good review,” Qi Huan pointed to the sign on the metal tree outside the window.

These two didn’t seem like the type to dine and dash. Even if they did, the cost of the braised meat wasn’t much. If it came to that, he could consider it a gesture to improve customer satisfaction for the base and Human World Restaurant. After all, if the rating on that sign outside dropped any further, he’d be kicked out of the base to feed the stone beasts. A good review that could boost his rating was worth more to him than dozens of silver coins.

“Leave this with you,” the silver-haired one, seemingly unaccustomed to owing money, pulled out a pale green stone the size of a fingertip.

Qi Huan recognized it as a beast core. Lao Wu had found one in the bones of a Dodo beast before. This one was slightly smaller but greener.

“No need, no need, it would be bad if it got lost,” Qi Huan quickly waved his hand to refuse. He didn’t know the exact price of a beast core, but he knew it wouldn’t be cheap. A few bowls of noodles didn’t cost much, he could afford that, but losing this would be a big loss.

“If it gets lost, consider it a gift,” the silver-haired youth casually slipped the stone into the chopstick holder and turned to leave.

“Take it, otherwise we wouldn’t feel right taking these portions,” the red-haired youth grabbed the takeout boxes and followed suit.

By the time Qi Huan retrieved the beast core from the chopstick holder and chased after them, the airship was already airborne.

“See you~” The red-haired youth turned around, making a cute and playful face at him in the night.

Qi Huan sighed at the sky, resigned to taking the beast core back inside.

On the distant airship, the two youths were quietly discussing.

“Boss, why were you staring at him for so long at first? Is this underage human your type?”

“What nonsense, I just thought he looked familiar.”

“He seems like an honest person, maybe he really hasn’t seen the Si family’s young master.”

“There is indeed a faint trace of Liang’s mental power in the shop.”

“But you said it was very faint. It’s a restaurant, people come and go, maybe the people who kidnapped the young master went there, or they took him there and made some modifications, so you can’t see the hair color.”

“Or maybe Liang is injured, and his aura is weak.”

“Damn! Ancestor, can you not jinx it!” A wail echoed in the air, causing the airship to tremble slightly.

“Qian Ya.”

“Oh…”

After finishing his double portion of noodles, Qi Huan went to clean the kitchen. He sealed the braising liquid and stored it in the freezer. Ideally, it would be best to keep it simmering on the stove, but he didn’t have enough ingredients to braise, and he was mindful of the energy stones, so he had to settle for this method of preservation.

He divided the braised meat into two portions, planning to keep one for himself to eat with noodles and pack the other into several takeaway boxes to bring to Wan Shu and his brother, as well as Lao Wu, to try the next day.

By the time the kitchen was clean and tidy, it was already late at night. After washing up, Qi Huan returned to the second floor, finding only a few bones left on the plate, with the little fellow sleeping contentedly on the mat.

He placed the beast core in the drawer of the bedside cabinet.

Exhausted, Qi Huan fell asleep as soon as he lay down, seemingly dreaming of being torn apart by two stone beasts in a desert. A tall mecha descended from the sky, instantly killing the stone beasts. The cockpit opened, revealing none other than the silver-haired youth wearing a ferocious beast mask.

Qi Huan woke up with a start. In the story of a hero saving a beauty, how did it turn into a beauty saving him?

After tossing and turning, he finally fell back asleep, almost oversleeping in the morning. His whole body ached, and he barely made it to the ingredient store on time, but he forgot the takeaway box he had prepared for everyone to try, leaving him a bit frustrated.

Today, they were cutting long-faced beasts instead of sunflower beasts. These creatures were about the size of a donkey, resembling sheep upon closer inspection, but with longer faces.

Probably because they weren’t very large and could fit into the cargo hold, the long-faced beasts were transported whole. When cutting the meat, they needed to be deboned like yesterday and have their internal organs cleaned.

Qi Huan watched Lao Wu demonstrate the process of handling long-faced beasts, then spent some time familiarizing himself with the location of their bones. It wasn’t until the afternoon that he gradually got the hang of it.

Halfway through cutting, a hunting squad arrived.

They brought a double-headed python-like stone beast, about ten meters long, semi-transparent, and filled with irregular green patterns. Coiled up, it looked like several giant jade bangles had come to life, shimmering with varying shades of green light, both beautiful and eerie.

Qi Huan clicked his tongue in disbelief, unable to understand how stone beasts managed to seamlessly blend beauty and ugliness.

Wan Lao Er went up to negotiate the price with the hunting squad, while Qi Huan helped Lao Wu prepare the tools. At this stage, he could only assist.

The cost of disassembling stone beasts was based on their level: 400 silver coins for each D-level, 5,000 for each C-level, and 50,000 for each B-level. The default was one beast core, with an additional 30% charge for each extra core found.

“How much for an A-level?” Qi Huan asked Lao Wu quietly, excitedly. By that ratio, disassembling an A-level stone beast would cost at least 500,000. If he could handle a few, his debt might be within reach!

“I don’t know.”

Qi Huan: ???

“I’ve been disassembling for eight years and have only seen two B-level stone beasts, never an A-level,” Lao Wu said, focused on sharpening his knife. The cold silver blade slid rhythmically back and forth on the whetstone, making a scraping sound.

“Are there no A-level stone beasts on No. 7 Waste Star?” Qi Huan asked curiously, helping Lao Wu pour some water on the whetstone.

Lao Wu paused his sharpening, looking at Qi Huan, “Do you know what an A-level stone beast means?”

Qi Huan shook his head, his amber eyes honestly conveying three words: I don’t know.

“A B-level stone beast can break through the base’s protective shield in ten minutes. An A-level stone beast can destroy the entire No. 3 base in five seconds.”

Qi Huan: !!!