In the party carriage, the crowd was chatting animatedly at the bar, occasionally turning their heads to look at Fu Zhu, who was equally busy in another corner.
They watched as Fu Zhu's hands moved in a blur, sometimes checking on the stove, other times grabbing a diamond cleaver and rapidly chopping various ingredients on a cutting board before combining them with others.
Some of the ingredients were even placed directly on a crafting table and combined. This scene made the onlookers' hearts pound with a mix of fear and awe.
Wasn't Fu Zhu's crafting table used to synthesize strange and wondrous items? How could it also be used for cooking? Could the food made this way actually be eaten?
No one dared to imagine, nor did they dare to ask.
While Fu Zhu was bustling about, Sunday walked past him with his hands behind his back, slow and unhurried. As he passed, he let out two soft coughs and stole a glance at Fu Zhu. Seeing that he was being ignored, he couldn't help but sigh before walking away.
A few minutes later, Sunday returned, adopting the exact same posture. And, just as before, he coughed twice as he passed Fu Zhu.
This time, Fu Zhu finally couldn't take it anymore. He snatched the diamond cleaver from his side and pressed it against Sunday's neck, a dangerous smile on his face.
"Tell me, Sunday, you wouldn't happen to want me to add a dish of roasted chicken wings to tonight's victory feast, would you?"
Sunday glanced at the diamond cleaver against his neck, even feeling the faint chill as it touched his skin. He gave a sheepish smile and shook his head.
"No, I was just wondering if you were tired from cooking and needed any help."
"OK, I was just waiting for you to say that. Here, help me slice these 10 stacks of cabbages and 10 stacks of tomatoes."
Fu Zhu shoved the cleaver into Sunday's hands, then with a wave of his hand, 640 cabbages and 640 tomatoes appeared in front of him.
Sunday's eyes widened at the sight of so many vegetables.
"This much? Can everyone even finish it all?"
Fu Zhu rolled his eyes at him. "If we can't finish it, we can give the leftovers to the fleet members who came to help! They came all this way, braving danger to help us. The least we can do is show some appreciation, right?"
Although the total number of people in the joint fleet was terrifying, Fu Zhu didn't want them to have come all this way for nothing. This was a small token of his gratitude.
Even though feeding everyone would require a terrifying amount of food, for Steve, it was just a matter of being busy for a little while. And if things got really dire, he could always have Brother Creative compensate!
Sunday supposed that made sense, so he picked up the cleaver and began to help chop the vegetables.
However, after chopping for a while, he turned his head to look at Fu Zhu again. He opened his mouth, but no words came out, and he turned back. A few minutes later, he repeated the same action.
Fu Zhu let out a long sigh, turning to Sunday with a rather exasperated expression.
"Sunday, what on earth do you want? This is the thirty-fifth time you've snuck a peek at me. Don't tell me you have a thing for me? Just a heads-up, if Little March finds out, she'll beat you up."
Although he knew Fu Zhu was teasing him, Sunday's face still darkened upon hearing his words, and he repeatedly shook his head in denial.
"No, that's not it! I just wanted to ask… has Robin not arrived yet?"
"So that's what this is about…"
Fu Zhu let out a long "Ohhh." This siscon had only been separated from his sister for a short time, and he was already missing her.
Fu Zhu took out his phone from his pocket, opened his chat with Robin, and handed it to Sunday.
"Here, see for yourself."
Sunday quickly took the phone and looked at the chat log.
[Fu Zhu: Robin, thank you for persuading your family to help this time. Come join the victory feast on the Astral Express. I'll be cooking personally this time, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!]
[Robin: Mr. Fu is cooking himself? That's certainly something to look forward to. But I'm very sorry, Mr. Fu. It seems some problems have arisen on Penacony because of the End Poem. I need to go back and handle them, so I'm afraid I won't be able to attend this time.]
[Fu Zhu: Are you sure you can't reconsider? It'll be a quick meal!]
[Robin: My apologies.]
After reading this far, Sunday felt a pang in his heart. Just when he was about to see his sister again, his hopes were dashed.
He knew that with his current status, it would be difficult to see Robin anywhere else. Only on the Astral Express would the other factions give Fu Zhu face and pretend not to see him. If he left the Express, given his past crimes, he would likely implicate Robin the moment they met in public.
Wait a minute? Penacony is in trouble?
Sunday suddenly reacted. Robin had just said that some problems had arisen on Penacony because of the End Poem, and she even had to go back personally to deal with them!
He knew that Robin had taken his place and was now the head of the Oak Family. For something to require her personal attention, it must be quite serious!
As he was thinking this, Sunday immediately continued scrolling down. He had to see the rest of the chat log.
[Fu Zhu: How about you come to the victory feast first, and after it's over, I'll make a trip to Penacony.]
[Robin: Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you? The situation on Amphoreus has just ended, and there are many things that require your attention. The Family can handle things on our end.]
[Fu Zhu: Don't be like that. I don't like being indebted to people. You all helped me this time, so I have no reason to sit back and watch. Especially since this problem was caused by the appearance of the End Poem. Although I don't know the exact situation, I'm going to help. No refusals.]
[Robin: Very well, then. I will be on time for the victory feast.]
[Fu Zhu: Alright, see you then.]
The chat log ended there. Sunday let out a long sigh of relief.
Getting two pieces of good news at once put him in a much better mood.
Sunday handed the phone back to Fu Zhu with a look of sincere gratitude.
"Fu Zhu, thank you."
Fu Zhu took his phone back and rubbed his arms with a disgusted look. "Why are you being so formal? You're a member of the Express crew now, you haven't forgotten the rules, have you? No matter what happens, we face it together."
Sunday was stunned for a moment, but soon a smile spread across his lips again as he nodded.
"You're right, I was being too formal. Indeed, no matter what, we should face it together."
Fu Zhu patted Sunday's shoulder, satisfied.
"I'm glad you have that kind of awareness. In that case, I'll leave all these vegetables to you. And while you're at it, keep an eye on the pot for me. Take the food out when it's done."
With that, Fu Zhu threw several thousand more portions of vegetables to the side.
The smile on Sunday's face froze.
"What about you?"
"Me? I'm going to go play on my phone, of course."
Fu Zhu took out his phone and started to walk away, shaking his head and muttering to himself.
"Sure enough, I still prefer automation. I really need to research how to automate Pam's HarvestCraft!"