Chapter 459: Chapter 459: Painful Lunch

Monina and Yelsen’s arrival was warmly welcomed by Big Sister and the others. I had heard Little Thing boasting all day about how renowned and distinguished his combat team was, and today, finally seeing them gasping for air, made the girls, who had always been full of joyful thoughts about Dingdang Team, very enthusiastic. However, the conversation went off-topic when it shifted from “how exactly is a Divine Race combat team formed” to “several points to note when raising Dingdang.”

Well, in a way, maybe the second topic is actually more on point…

“The commander, she really has a personality… um, that kind of personality,” it was clear that Monina still had a great respect for her commander despite the unfortunate behavior that even a loyal subordinate couldn’t mitigate. “Actually, most of the Life God System Divine Race are like that, which is why they usually have lots of friends in the Divine Realm, but our commander is…”

“Well, at least the commander has finally found a suitable Master.”

This time, Yelsen’s inappropriate comment did not lead Monina to beat him up; clearly, in the current atmosphere, even Monina couldn’t deny her foolish brother’s conclusion.

We were still in the chemistry department activity room that Artemis had arranged for us after that unusual incident. Since then, the room had been moved to the top floor and had become the only occupied room, lonely as it was. Hu Wen suggested yesterday that we move near the headquarters of the Awakeners, where there was an empty classroom available, but for convenience’s sake, we declined his kind offer. Artemis also knew about our special identity, so with the head of the Awakeners’ help in masking our location, the chemistry department activity room had evidently become the gathering spot for the Empire’s unscrupulous soy sauce group.

Thus, it shouldn’t be surprising that we were dining together in this place…

But honestly, I hadn’t anticipated that Monina’s cooking skills would be so impressive. When she volunteered to take charge of today’s lunch, everyone expressed their astonishment.

However, when the lavish meal was presented before everyone, and even Big Sister remarked on its exceptional taste after trying it, astonishment turned into shock.

A Dark God, whose second occupation incredibly is a genius cook, handling the most horrifying tasks like clandestine operations and secret executions among the gods, should I make a comment on this?

Tasting the unknown dish passionately provided by a Dark Goddess, and catching a glimpse of Monina, who was still busy near the all-in-one portable kitchen sponsored by Big Sister, sporting an apron and wielding a spatula, I felt… well, a variety of subtle feelings.

“Don’t underestimate my sister’s cooking skills,” Yelsen, who seemed to be a War God, spoke with a half-eaten stalk of vegetable in his mouth, completely lacking the grace of a god, “She is specifically in charge of cooking for our combat team!”

Yelsen said, then suddenly lowered his voice, leaned in, and whispered, “If it weren’t for the good food every day, who would be the brother of such a violent woman…”

“Oops, my hand slipped.” Monina’s cry of surprise suddenly rang out beside the dining table. We watched, dumbstruck, as the Dark Goddess, smiling, poured boiling water down Yelsen’s neck, who somehow had already been half-covered with dark runes by his sister’s merciless attack, and could do nothing but grimace, unable to move.

Yelsen, you have a good sister indeed.

Of course, mere boiling water couldn’t possibly harm the divine physique of Yelsen, a member of the Divine Race, and Monina’s binding runes likely wouldn’t have much effect on Yelsen, who seemed to be a level higher than her. It seemed, Monina, you also have a good brother.

It must be said, the Star Domain Divine Race truly differed completely from the general public’s impression of gods. Setting aside their extraordinary power, the usual affinity of these supreme beings, who control countless worlds, reached incomprehensibly strange levels. I used to think that Dingdang was an exception among the Divine Race, but now, it took less than half a day for Monina and Yelsen to blend in with a group of Empire soy sauce folks. They mentioned that other Star Domain Gods also seldom refrained from making friends with mortals–aside from a few severely introverted performance artists. In their view, besides being weaker and having shorter life spans (not counting a few mortal races with infinite lifespans), mortals were no different from them. Monina, this adept Dark Goddess at using human analogies, provided a vivid example: if a weightlifter who could lift 200 kilograms insisted on marrying someone with equal strength, he would end up without any descendants…

This one example left us thoroughly flabbergasted.

“By the way, how many people are in your entire squad?” After the last dish was served and Monina officially sat down, I asked curiously.

I had no choice, you couldn’t discuss anything substantial with Yelsen. Monina, although a bit brutal towards her older brother, seemed relatively more sensible.

“We are a five-member squad,” Monina answered politely, “Aside from the commander, there’s me, responsible for everyone’s daily meals, my foolish brother usually provokes the commander or lets her vent, there’s also a Dragon God Race woman with incredible strength responsible for cleaning, and a Star God Clan elder, oh, that is a Light Divine Race uncle, responsible for collecting all sorts of interesting things for the commander, that’s all.”

I listened dumbfounded as Monina finished describing the legendary Dingdang Team, said to be the strongest in terms of combat power, then I lowered my head and started counting on my fingers.

The team consisted of five members. The team leader played the role of the mascot, a Dark Goddess handled the cooking, a Light War God was in charge of cracking jokes and enlivening the atmosphere. A Dragon God Girl did the sweeping, leaving a Light God uncle to run errands for the mischievous leader. Then, that was it.

Raising my head, tears streaming down my face, I asked, “So… who in your team is responsible for the actual work?”

Monina and Yelsen exchanged puzzled glances before replying, “Do we need anyone else?”

Goddammit, do you realize you’re messing up? Have you ever considered what a bizarre team composition this is? Where’s the tank? The DPS? The healer? The Reconnaissance Commander, Scholar Hunter, ranged and close combat specialists, Trap Master, Optimus Prime, Leader Brother, Commander?

You have absolutely nothing. Are you here to fight or to have a picnic, damn it! Countless worlds’ fates are about to be ruined by a bunch of clueless gods!

Even the usually composed Big Sister couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat as she carefully said, “Well, the makeup of your team… is very peculiar, truly very peculiar…”

“No wonder, it’s led by some dead-last dropkick.”

Lin Xue sighed long and hard, hand supporting her forehead.

Yet, facing our reactions, Monina suddenly smiled mysteriously, “It seems you all have been deceived by our captain’s appearance.”

I was startled, then immediately realized, “Dingdang… could she be the illegitimate daughter of the Supreme God?”

“Pfft!” Yelsen burst out laughing right there.

Monina wore a look of utter defeat, struggling to say, “Of course not, but I can assure you, there are secrets about the captain that she hasn’t shared with you. Starting with her divine rank–Junior Goddess. Did you know? For a combat unit composed of elite members of the Divine Race, like our team, the requirements are very high. Junior Gods in our team can only serve as soldier-class, and even we only rank as privates. But our captain is a lowest-tier Apprentice Goddess, and half of her goddess courses are still in the red!”

“She definitely is the Supreme God’s illegitimate daughter!”

Qianqian concluded decisively.

Just as Monina had successfully set a more upbeat mood, she nearly plunged face-first into the soup bowl in front of her, “That’s because she is quite special!”

“Our captain has no so-called biological parents. She’s extremely rare, born directly from the palace vines of the Supreme Life Goddess, possessing her own divine position mark from birth. Growing up as a playmate of the Supreme Life Goddess, she has thrice burnt down the small garden of the Supreme Life Goddess, twice broke the dressing table of the Supreme Dark Goddess, mixed up seven spices while preparing snacks for Lord Father God, fell asleep while chatting with the Supreme Dragon God and ended up falling from the Dragon God Temple into the tea cup of the Osiris Grand Governor, instantly destroying the cup, esteemed as a relic given personally by Lord Father God, and during her entrance exam, she even accidentally obliterated the last twenty-three whiskers of the supervising teacher with her uncontrollable divine power…”

“I understand,” I said with tears streaming and looking up to the sky, “Dingdang’s history is a shocking criminal record, right?”

“Uh… we sort of mixed in a lot of weird stuff there, unintentionally.”

Actually, apart from the first sentence, wasn’t it all bizarre stuff?

“Anyway, the captain is an exceedingly rare Primordial God among the gods,” said Monina, somewhat awkwardly. “She might even become the first ever Junior Goddess to join the Osiris Council as a special case. Her connectivity among a few Supreme Main Gods in the Divine Realm is unbelievable. Father God even treats her like his own daughter. If only apart from her talent, her academic grades weren’t so woefully bad, she probably would already be holding a position in the Brilliant Divine Court by now.”

At that moment, we were all astonished.

So, the Dingdang , who we had always thought of as just a happy-go-lucky mascot, was actually a mascot with such a profound background and story?

No matter what, the mascot’s attributes are hard to ignore!

However, although our faces showed a bit of surprise when Monina finished speaking, we quickly calmed down, which seemed strange to her. “Your reaction seems a bit too calm, doesn’t it?”

“What else can we react?” Lin Xue spread her hands. “I always felt that guy was not ordinary, but because the gap between our levels was too big, I just couldn’t see through her secrets, so now that you mention it, I’m not surprised at all.”

“More importantly,” Big Sister said with a faint smile, “what Dingdang’s identity is to us is meaningless, far less important than what flavor of candy she currently likes.”

“You guys…” Monina and Yelsen were left dumbfounded as they stared at a group of odd-thinkers from the Empire, then Monina smiled resignedly, “Alright, I finally understand why the commander would drop everything just to ‘play’ with you.”

“Play?”

I looked into the distance speechlessly, even without Monina saying it, I was a hundred percent sure that was Dingdang’s exact word…

Just then, faint footsteps from outside suddenly interrupted our conversation. It wasn’t Artemis who sort of knew what was going on, as I had a temporary spiritual connection with him. I signaled Monina to tidy up the dining scene a bit with my eyes, then I went ahead and opened the door to the activity room.

Standing timidly at the door was a short-haired girl with a baby face, it turned out to be Ling Yin.

“I’m… I’m so sorry for disturbing!” Although it wasn’t her first time talking face-to-face, the girl’s tendency to get nervous hadn’t improved at all, nor had her slight stutter, “The commander asked… asked me to call you… it’s lunchtime… it’s time for lunch!”

Lunch?

It was only then that it struck me, and I turned to look at the lavish dining table behind me, feeling a guilty selfishness for wanting to sneak in some delicious food… No, I shouldn’t be thinking about this right now, should I?

Due to Monina’s ability to distort reality, Ling Yin couldn’t make sense of the scene that clearly just had a gathering, so she subconsciously ignored the inexplicable lavish table and the luxurious portable kitchen behind it, but we couldn’t ignore the food in our stomachs!

“I think rejecting at this point wouldn’t be good.”

Big Sister frowned, troubled, and sent a collective broadcast via spiritual connection.

“Liking that,” Qianqian blinked, agreeing.

“Seconding that,” Lin Xue and Lilina agreed simultaneously, then glared at each other, “You dare jump in!”

Me: “…Forget it, let’s go to the cafeteria.”

To avoid seeming out of place, we ultimately decided to accept Ling Yin’s invitation and join the Awakeners for lunch. Interestingly, it was my first time going to the cafeteria as a ‘New Awakener’ among the large group. On the first day, the welcome party we had was due to our arrival, and dinner was boisterously settled. The next morning, Lilina and I were busy investigating at the World Edge and missed mealtime, settling instead for some snacks prepared by Big Sister as a substitute. So, when we followed Ling Yin to the large cafeteria located in the south of the school, Lilina and I were taken aback.

“Right here?”

“Yes,” Ling Yin was puzzled by my reaction, “isn’t this where the cafeteria is?”

“It’s not that… I mean, with all these… ‘ghosts’?”

“What does it matter,” Hu Wen said with apparent irritation after waiting for a while by the table, “just pretend they don’t exist. The food here is ready-made, and although not eating won’t kill us, being hungry isn’t any fun.”

“Uh, that’s true.” I mumbled, pulling Qianqian to sit next to Artemis. Around us, other tables were also surrounded by members of the Awakeners, and it was quite clear that we had forcibly taken over the prime spots: not far from us, a large group of ghost students with their lunch stood staring vacantly, their gazes towards us filled with numbness.

Well, just ignore them then.

Honestly, even though it was only my second day in this world, everything around still felt strangely uncomfortable. Everywhere looked just like it was filled with lively humans and the cafeteria was as noisy as any ordinary school’s, but in reality, all those were illusions unrelated to us, making the sense of isolation between the two worlds even more pronounced in such noisy settings.

“Don’t be fooled by the ghosts here,” Hu Wen kindly warned, “There was a friend who made a mistake here before–maybe intentionally. In the cafeteria, he sneaked away from everyone to greet the students who looked just like old classmates, and then things spiraled out of control… look, just over there.”

Following his direction, I saw two “students” in school uniforms sitting not far from us, one of them, a girl with a ponytail, must have been the former comrade Hu Wen mentioned.

“Who’s that boy next to her?” Qianqian curiously asked.

“Her boyfriend,” an unnamed Awakener shrugged, “He wasn’t as lucky as us, turned directly into a ghost. Maybe Lin hypnotized herself because of him.”

Lin, that must be the name of the girl who voluntarily hypnotized herself to go back.

There must be more than one example like this…

My internal exclamation was suddenly interrupted by Artemis’s voice, “Huh? Why aren’t you guys eating? Not hungry?”

Not hungry, really not hungry.

But I can’t say that!

I should have known, eating alone isn’t right, I was wrong, so wrong.

Ever since I was a child, I have harbored deep resentment towards school cafeterias, but who knew that this grudge could continue this far? We’re talking post-apocalypse here, and even the cafeteria ghosts aren’t dispersed yet, seriously!!

“Ah Jun, I will never eat in the cafeteria again from today onwards.” After painfully finishing the most difficult meal of her life amidst the caring and warmth of the other Awakeners, Qianqian returned to the activity room, listlessly clutching her stomach, “It would have been better if Sandora had been here.”

If that girl had been here, perhaps not even the cafeteria would have survived, right?

Both Big Sister and I were also stuffed, not to mention Lilina who lay sprawled on the couch, clutching her rounded belly, claiming she had nearly ascended to heaven. Here the only two lucky survivors seemed to be Monina and Yelsen. Artemis and the others treated those two just like the ghosts treated us – completely ignoring them. Come on, Monina, you could use your abilities to help us; would that kill you?

Uh… wait, why does Lin Xue also look so unconcerned? Is she getting closer to being like Sandora? Although catching up to Sandora’s level of eating an entire treasury is unlikely, even one percent of that would explain Lin Xue…

“Other Space, that’s all,” Lin Xue said nonchalantly with a shrug, “You always joke about Sandora’s stomach being connected to an Other Space, how come you couldn’t apply such simple logic to yourself?”

Me & Big Sister & Lilina & Qianqian: “…”

This girl really needs to be taught a lesson! (Story to be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please visit www.wuxiaworld.site for more chapters and to support the author and legitimate reading!)