Mag and Irina received a contract from Andre when they left the palace.

  The Roth Empire was willing to join the Peace Alliance and sign the new peace accord.

  As a condition, every race in the Peace Alliance had to deploy a large army to stop the devil and its army of the dead from coming southwards together with the Roth Empire.

  “Where are we going now?” Irina asked Mag.

  “You’ll go home first. I don’t feel good letting the two children stay at home on their own. I need to make a trip back to Chaos City to talk to Michael,” Mag said. “Alright. Be careful on the road.” Irina nodded and returned to the tavern right away with the teleportation portal.

  The purple-striped griffin took to the sky, and flew out of the city and towards the south.

  ***

  In the great hall, Andre asked Dominic, “With the Roth Empire’s military might, what are our chances of defeating that army of the dead?”


  “50%,” Dominic answered.

  “Then, why shouldn’t we fight?”


  “Even though there is a 50% chance of winning, Your Majesty, we won’t have any usable soldiers left even if we won,” Dominic gravely said. “The dead are different from the living. They have no fear. They have to be completely killed. They have no idea of surrender or failure.

  “The snow plain in the far north was an ancient battlefield. Countless ancient corpses were buried there. If the devil has really controlled them, I’m afraid we will be facing an army made up of terrifying numbers.

  “Your Majesty, we can still fight with the army of the dead, but we have no way to deal with the devil on our own. At the seal at Chaos City, I have witnessed the horror of that thing with my own eyes. It cannot be killed or dispatched by 10th-tier powerhouses working together.”


  Andre was quiet for a long time before he sighed deeply.

  *

  *

  *

  The photostones that were sent to the giant dragons were delivered to Douglas and Louis, who were still in Rodu, immediately.

  After the two of them watched the images in the photostone in the secret chamber, they looked at each other, and saw shock in each other’s eyes. “Do you think that it’s real?”


  “Do you think Alex would lie to us?”


  The two of them were quiet for some time again.

  “Rankster is indeed being controlled by the devil, and his power was elevated. He is able to fight with Alex head-on,” Douglas said with a complex expression.

  Louis looked equally grim when he gravely said, “A devil that has escaped from the seal is the most problematic, and now it’s even controlling a huge number of ancient corpses.”


  “This is a catastrophe that can sweep through the Norland Continent. We, the giant dragons, have no way to stay out of it.” Douglas looked at the image that was paused on that indescribable thing, and felt very heavy-hearted.

  Louis nodded, and said, “We can only wait for the results of Alex and Andre’s negotiation. If he can get Andre to join the Peace Alliance and sign the peace accord, then all the races can work together and deal with the devil and its army of the dead.”


  ***

  “What’s that?”


  After writing the diary and finishing her report, Xi discovered a brown little soup pot in a corner of the spaceship.

  The little soup pot looked ordinary. Its workmanship wasn’t sophisticated, and it was even a little rough. It should’ve been left behind by Mag and his gang.

  Xi picked it up and shook it gently. There was the sound of liquid sloshing around.

  After hesitating for a while, Xi opened the soup pot’s cover.

  A rich aroma whiffed out from the little soup pot, and quickly filled the cabin. “Smells good!”


  Xi’s eyes lit up, and she stared at the little pot in her hands with disbelief.

  This was a pot of soup. There were all kinds of ingredients floating in the brown soup.

  Although the soup was cold, it still gave off an irresistible smell. It was even more enticing than the pig tongue salad and pig ears salad that she ate that day.

  Did they leave this food behind by accident?

  Xi’s throat moved.

  Mark: Unknown food item no.1.

  As an Observer, she had a duty to investigate all unknown stuff on the Norland Continent, including food.

  According to the humans’ dining habits, they will heat up the food to kill the germs and bacteria and make the food taste and smell better.

  Xi put the little pot into the heating facilities, and then set a heat-up timing.

  Ding!

  The heating process was completed.

  Xi set up a small dining table, and took out the little pot that was heated up.

  Xi turned on the video device, and focused it on the little pot and herself before removing the cover of the little pot.

  Steam rose up. The aroma followed after it and blossomed.

  Xi’s eyes widened a bit, and she stared at the little pot in front of her with disbelief.

  This aroma was indeed too special and too impactful!

  “I smell its aroma. There should be some kind of mushrooms, seafood, and meat inside. It’s difficult to describe this smell with a vague concept. It has clear layers of smell, and yet they all fused together perfectly and harmoniously. It’s a very exquisite and enticing aroma.

  “The unique thing is, I smelled alcohol’s aroma in it. They actually used alcohol to cook.”


  Xi talked to the camera.

  She had never expected herself to use so many adjectives and say so many words.

  This wasn’t her usual style. However, in order to accurately describe this food item, she had to describe it like that. Xi pulled the camera closer.

  “One can see that there are many ingredients in this soup. Meat, shellfish, mushrooms, and many other ingredients that I don’t recognize.

  “What is amazing is that although the soup is brown, it’s very clear. It doesn’t look murky or greasy.

  “The food’s condition is perfect. There are so many ingredients, and yet they were so precisely controlled. This chef must possess very strong control.” Xi put the camera further away before scooping up a spoonful of soup. She waited for a while before putting it into her mouth.

  The tasty broth slowly nourished the taste buds. Xi felt that her drowsy taste buds were slowly awakened as if they were being nourished by a spring rain. This sensation of being comforted felt so beautiful.

  All the different ingredients slowly entered the stage, and released their amazing flavors on the tongue in that mouthful of soup. Even the brain of Xi, who had super senses, couldn’t differentiate all the tastes accurately in the short period of time.

  She closed her eyes, and seemed to see mushrooms that had just sprouted, a shellfish that was crawling on the seafloor, and a wild chicken that was walking in the grass…


  Fresh!

  Freshness and the taste of umami!

  The rich liquor’s aroma seeped into the soup, and gave the latter an even more intoxicating taste.

  Xi opened her eyes, and looked into the camera silently for a while before taking another sip quietly. “It’s difficult to describe the taste of this soup. It’s so exquisite and fresh. None of the food that I have tasted before can compare to it,” Xi said to the camera. “Now, we will taste the ingredients in this soup.”


  Xi used the spoon to scoop up a piece of shark’s fin, and put it next to her lips. It glided straight into her mouth.

  The shark’s fin soaked in the soup had a very special texture and beautiful taste. It glided around in the mouth before it was swallowed.

  Then, she tried the chicken. The diced chicken wasn’t mushy as she thought it would be; instead, it was perfectly soft and tender. Furthermore, it wasn’t just the taste of chicken. The fragrance of the wine, seafood, and mushrooms and all the different aromas of different meats had merged together and seeped into the chicken. All the ingredients’ taste were integrated with one another, and one could sense different flavors in all the ingredients. The chicken was soft but not mushy when chewed, and there was an endless aftertaste.

  ***

  “I’m sorry. I seem to have forgotten to explain the process.”


  Xi stared at the empty little soup pot in silence for a long time.

  “This recording ends here. Unknown food item no.1, (incomplete).”


  ***

  Xi turned off the camera, and stared at the little soup pot for some time.

  “What kind of food exactly is this?”


  She actually couldn’t control her curiosity.

  As a formally trained Observer, this was an emotion that she shouldn’t have.