Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 151: Imperial Feast

"Wow, such large pots. I wonder what super delicacy they have there?" said Zhang Bao'er while salivating.

Soon, an attendant arrived before us with a pot. The pot was actually filled with a grass salad. I could see Official Dulite shoving big mouthfuls of the salad down his throat with a blissful look on his face.

However, those of us who enjoyed meat were slightly disappointed. I gave the grass salad a try. It was sour and sweet. The taste was actually decent.

"I suppose the salad is merely the appetizer," I comforted Zhang Bao'er when I saw the lifeless look in his eyes.

Soon, the attendants came with the second dish. This time, they were carrying smaller plates.

"Dear envoys, the previous dish was the green grass that had nurtured the various lives on Rumble. Next, we will be offering you Kenante's rarest dish. Only the most respected guests of Gero City will be served this dish," introduced a female Wargod who seemed to be the supervisor of the attendants.

Everyone became excited and filled with expectation upon hearing that it was Kenante's rarest dish. With a command from the supervisor, the attendants served each table the precious dish. On the delicate plate before me, I saw two tomatoes.

I could see King Carter picking up one of the tomatoes. He gave the tomato a careful lick before slowly eating the tomato one nibble at a time, as though he couldn't bring himself to finish it.

Beside me, Zhang Bao'er looked even more disappointed. None of us had expected that tomatoes would be so precious on Kenante. With feelings of disappointment, I picked up one of my tomatoes and gave it a bite. Yes, this tomato was exactly the same as the tomatoes from Blue.

"Isn't this a tomato?" muttered Dodo blankly. The android did not need to eat, so they had been sitting there doing nothing.

The supervisor explained, "Envoys, this food is known as the celestial peach. Because Rumble lacks the heat of a star, the Lanju Valley is the only place on the planet that a tiny bit of light from Alnitak Aa can reach. There, we cultivate this precious food with an extremely low output of growth. We obtained the seeds during ancient times. Generation after generation, we have been cultivating this plant to today."

'Those might even be the seeds Nommo had given Adoka,' I thought inwardly.

"Why is the feast all plants? Is there no meat?" a grumble sounded behind me.

I looked back and saw that it was Domo.

Perhaps the supervisor had heard the complaints. She said, "We were aware that everyone had come from afar, so we also prepared a feast of roasted meat rich in protein. Enjoy your meal."

Finally, we heard the term "roasted meat," which would definitely not be misleading in any way. My stomach started rumbling. It was understandable because two plant dishes would definitely not be enough to satisfy my stomach, which had not enjoyed anything good for a long time.

Soon, under the supervisor's order, the third dish was served. The dish was served in massive wooden bowls. In the bowls were giant worms with roasted middle parts and wiggling ends.

Zhang Bao'er immediately vomited. Even I had to try very hard to not vomit and make a scene. I shifted my gaze away from the worms in the bowl. At this time, I noticed that King Carter and Official Dulite were swallowing worms at an incredible speed. Not a single worm was left in their bowls by the time they were done. On their faces were blissful expressions. Even the attendants standing to the side looked envious.

"Well, there is no way for us to continue this banquet," I grumbled inwardly.

I looked around. Apart from Titan, who was able to make himself eat some grass, the others, including the hungry ghost reincarnate, Dondon, were unable to accept such food. The attendant supervisor seemed to have realized our awkward situation as I saw her asking for Master Crystal's advice. Then, she signaled the other attendants with her eyes to have them retreat with our bowls of worms.

Without the worms, the remaining plants looked much better. I picked up another tomato and started chewing on it. Meanwhile, King Carter was happily gorging himself and didn't even notice our situation. This might be one of Kenante's traditions, where no business would be discussed during a meal. Shortly after, I saw the attendant supervisor return. Following behind her were a group of attendants carrying white wooden bowls.

"My god. Please don't tell me this is the same green worm dish that has been cooked again," said Zhang Bao'er with fear.

The attendants did not say anything. Instead, they silently served the bowls to us. I wasn't feeling much better than Zhang Bao'er. My eyes were shut because I didn't even dare to look at the food in the bowl.

But after a while, I heard sounds of frantic chewing beside me. I finally opened my eyes and saw that there was something that looked like a fish in the bowl. All around me, the others were already busy eating. I gave the fish a try. It was incredibly delicious. The delicacy triggered my stomach, and I started gorging the food down with everyone else.

I finished the fish quickly. Even the bones were chewed apart before being swallowed. When I finally raised my head from my meal, I saw that the Wargods were frowning as they observed our shameful appearance. They all appeared rather incredulous.

"Envoys, I would like to apologize for being unprepared for the feast. Toward the end, I had to make an emergency purchase from foreign traders to get this fish. Please forgive me for the poor food," said the supervisor apologetically.

"Not at all. The fish dish is great. If there is more, I wouldn't mind having it as well. Also, do you have any green gold? Let me try some of that as well!" said Zhang Bao'er while wiping his mouth. He wasn't fully satiated yet, so he was making a rather excessive request.

The supervisor blanked out slightly, but she quickly understood the request and sent her subordinates away to prepare. Shortly after, the attendants returned with more bowls of fish. Each envoy was also served a glass of some green beverage.

"Honored guests, this is Kenante's most precious beverage, green gold. Each of you will get one serving. Please enjoy it," introduced the supervisor.

Zhang Bao'er became excited when he heard that the beverage was Kenante's precious green gold. He drained the glass in one gulp. Looking at the precious beverage before me, I picked up the glass and sank into thought. Thanks to the lighting in the room, the green gold beverage looked amber and solid.

I stuck my tongue out and gave the green beverage a taste. A sour flavor assaulted my taste buds. Then, I drank the beverage one sip at a time as though I was tasting wine. The green gold beverage was sour at first, but it slowly turned bitter and then eventually sweet. Each flavor left a rich aftertaste in its wake. I took five whole minutes to finish my glass. At that point, I felt extremely comfortable with boundless vitality in my body.

"Canyue, that thing is just some sour drink. There's nothing special about it," said Zhang Bao'er in a somewhat disappointed manner. He had just finished his second fish.

"Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty. All five flavors are present," I replied.

"What? Are there really so many flavors?" exclaimed Zhang Bao'er gloomily.

"Did you feel spirited and comfortable after finishing the drink?" I asked.

"No. However, I am still very hungry. Canyue, are you going to eat your fish or not? If not, I'll help you with it," said Zhang Bao'er.

"No way. I'm still hungry!" I immediately rejected him.

But just as I lifted my fork to eat, I saw that the fish on my table had vanished.

"Zhang Bao'er, this is too excessive! I did not agree to it! Why did you steal my fish?" I raged.

"I swear to the heavens I have no idea what you're talking about," said Zhang Bao'er as he waved his hands frantically.

At this time, I heard some noise below me. When I looked down, I saw Dondon hiding under my seat eating my fish.

"You damn cat. You're even stealing fish like a stereotypical cat!" I said helplessly.

Dondon only gave me a silly grin before licking the plate clean and returning to his own seat. The others had basically finished eating. Everyone looked full of energy. That was probably all thanks to the green gold's strengthening effect on the body.

'Now that we're done eating, we can finally get to business. I wonder if King Carter will agree to help us,' I wondered inwardly.

"Esteemed princes and envoys, everything was prepared in a rush, and thus the food was slightly lacking. Please accept my apology. Now that we have finished eating, I'll arrange a place for all of you to rest. The attendants will show you the way," said King Carter.

'This fellow is too crafty. The moment we're done eating, he's trying to send us away to rest without a mention of the reason we're here,' I thought as I grew impatient.

"King Carter, we have urgent business, and we need to confer with you immediately," said Prince Toruse, who was similarly growing impatient.

A slight trace of annoyance appeared on King Carter's face. A valiant guard was about to take a step forth but the king stopped him with a wave of his hand.

Looks like this won't be as smooth as we had imagined, I thought.

King Carter whispered into the ear of the guard before standing up and leaving.

"Envoys, please come with me to the audience hall for the discussion," said the guard.

And thus, the well-fed group followed the guard to the audience hall.

Due to the sturdy build of the Wargod race, the Kenante palace's audience hall was especially big. It looked even grander than Emperor Fille's palace. King Carter had arrived before us. The mood in the audience hall was much more tense than the mood during the banquet.

Two rows of burly, armed guards stood to the two sides of the room, and the two three-meter-tall guards were still standing behind the king. As for Official Dulite, he was standing beside the king. There was also a row of advisors standing in front of him.

"I feel like I have returned to ancient China," Zhang Bao'er whispered to me.

"Don't talk nonsense. I have an extremely bad feeling. King Carter might reject us, and something even worse could happen. Be on alert," I whispered back.

When everyone arrived, King Carter said, "Princes, what is the urgent issue you speak of? You may speak."

"Esteemed King Carter of the Kingdom of Kenante, I offer you my greatest respects. I am here to request the assistance of an ally of Akko. The Divine Empire has invaded Akko and slaughtered its citizens. We are in great need of help from our allies," said Prince Toruse respectfully.

Dulite immediately refused, "Audacious! We are vassal states of the Divine Empire. All of us are sworn to Emperor Fille. Although our kingdoms have an agreement to help each other during wartime, the pact only applies to external threats. It does not apply to internal enemies. Asking us to help you go against the empire is the same as throwing Kenante into a boiling pot!"

"Emperor Fille has slaughtered my citizens. After such evil acts, how can we remain his subjects? If he can slaughter the citizens of Akko today, he can very well slaughter the citizens of Kenante tomorrow! Without the lips, the teeth feel cold! Your Majesty, do you not understand this concept?" argued Prince Toruse loudly.

"Audacious! How dare you dishonor the great King Carter with such words? Guards, drag this person who dares to insult the kingdom outside and behead him!" ordered Dulite furiously.

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