It wasn't that Ganyu wanted to laugh.
She simply couldn't hold it in.
Jiang Yan's aggrieved little expression was just too much for her to handle.
After chatting for a while, a sharp burst of thunder suddenly erupted from the kitchen inside the ship's cabin.
BOOM!
A violent explosion followed, and thick black smoke billowed out from within the cabin.
The sudden blast startled both Jiang Yan and Ganyu.
The three little ones were so frightened that they immediately threw themselves into Jiang Yan's arms and covered their ears.
"What happened?"
Jiang Yan instantly stood up and warily scanned the surroundings.
Danger?
No—
If there really were danger, his cosmic perception and Observation Haki would've warned him already.
Then what was with that explosion?
"The smoke's coming from the kitchen inside the cabin!"
"Ah Yan, Makoto and the others are all cooking in there!"
Ganyu quickly noticed where the smoke was coming from and suddenly remembered the women were still inside the kitchen.
Her expression immediately turned anxious.
"You stay up here and take care of Ningguang, Shenhe, and Beidou."
Jiang Yan entrusted the frightened children to Ganyu before hurrying toward the cabin interior.
The moment he pushed open the cabin door, a wave of black smoke rushed directly toward his face.
Jiang Yan frowned slightly before raising a hand and swinging it.
Instantly, the thick black smoke seemed to receive a command.
It neatly split apart and drifted around Jiang Yan before floating harmlessly into the sky.
At this moment, the cabin was filled with the smell of burnt food.
The surrounding walls were covered in black scorch marks.
Jiang Yan's brows knitted together.
Makoto's cooking...
shouldn't have been this disastrous, right?
Could it be that dense little Ei, who absolutely should not be allowed near a kitchen, had gotten involved too?!
Jiang Yan suddenly realized he hadn't seen Ei on the deck earlier.
And if that was true...
then everything suddenly made perfect sense.
As Jiang Yan moved deeper into the cabin, he quickly arrived at the source of the smoke.
The kitchen.
At this moment, the kitchen door was tightly shut while streams of black smoke continuously poured through the cracks.
Judging by the amount of smoke...
that was only what was leaking out.
Good grief!
Did Ei slash the stove in half or something?! How was there this much smoke?!
Thankfully, with Vector Manipulation, no amount of smoke could actually harm Jiang Yan.
Taking a deep breath, he suddenly pushed open the kitchen door.
A huge cloud of smoke burst outward.
And finally, Jiang Yan clearly saw the scene inside the kitchen.
Thick smoke rolled through the air.
Four charred figures with hair seemingly blown up by an explosion stood blankly before the stove.
Based on their silhouettes, it wasn't hard to tell who they were.
From left to right:
Raiden Makoto, Raiden Ei, Kitsune Saiguu, and Yae Miko.
Among them, Ei stood out the most.
Because she was currently holding a naginata.
And beneath that naginata—
was a stove that had been split completely apart.
Jiang Yan helplessly pressed a hand against his forehead.
"You girls... how did cooking turn into blowing up the kitchen...?"
The moment Jiang Yan's voice reached them, the four women suddenly seemed to come back to life and all trembled simultaneously.
They turned around.
And seeing their soot-covered beautiful faces nearly broke Jiang Yan's serious expression.
Honestly speaking, the four of them looked hilariously ridiculous right now.
Ei hurriedly put away her naginata and was about to explain—
but Jiang Yan suddenly interrupted.
"Don't move!"
All four women instantly froze, their blackened faces staring at him.
Jiang Yan raised a hand.
The Time Stone suddenly glowed brilliantly in his palm.
Green light spread throughout the room.
Only moments later—
a completely restored kitchen appeared before everyone.
Even Makoto, Ei, and the others returned to their original spotless appearances.
"Mhm. Much easier on the eyes now."
Jiang Yan clapped his hands and smiled.
"Seriously though, how did cooking create this much chaos?"
Walking over to them, Jiang Yan curiously looked at the ingredients behind the women.
"What exactly were you trying to make?"
Hearing the teasing in his voice, all four women blushed simultaneously.
Makoto, Ei, and Kitsune Saiguu all looked slightly embarrassed.
Meanwhile, Yae Miko directly rolled her eyes and said bluntly,
"Why don't you ask our dear Ei about that? I'm going to take a bath first."
With that, she immediately left.
Although Jiang Yan had restored their appearances with the Time Stone, Miko still felt mentally uncomfortable after the ordeal.
Meanwhile, Ei lowered her head.
"I... I just wanted to help..."
Seeing Ei's pitiful little expression, Jiang Yan sighed softly.
Then he gently rubbed her head comfortingly before speaking to the others.
"You three head upstairs and wait. I'll handle the cooking."
"But—"
Makoto wanted to stay and help, but Jiang Yan immediately refused.
"It's fine. I'm not angry at you all. Go on upstairs. Leave the cooking to me."
Jiang Yan smiled reassuringly.
In the end, Makoto and the others gave up and prepared to return to Ganyu.
But just before Ei left, Jiang Yan suddenly stopped her.
"Hmm... Ei, you stay behind. Help me out a little."
Looking at Ei's dejected appearance, Jiang Yan ultimately softened.
"Eh?"
Ei blinked blankly.
"But... I just..."
"It's okay. You just don't know how to cook yet."
"Consider this a good chance to learn beside me."
Jiang Yan spoke gently.
Looking at his smiling face, Ei's heart trembled slightly.
"Go on, Ei."
Makoto lightly patted her shoulder with a smile.
She could tell Ei really wanted to stay with Jiang Yan.
Kitsune Saiguu also looked at her encouragingly.
In the end, Ei nodded firmly.
"Okay!"
After Makoto and the others left the kitchen, Jiang Yan and Ei began preparing ingredients.
"Mmm... let me think. Let's start with something simple—Jueyun Chili Pepper scrambled bird eggs."
Jiang Yan glanced at the ingredients before deciding to start with the easiest dish possible for Ei.
Jueyun Chili Pepper scrambled eggs.
Aka: chili pepper fried eggs.
Surely this couldn't be difficult, right?
Just chop the peppers, beat the eggs, toss everything into the pan, add some salt, and done.
Ei couldn't possibly fail at something this basic.
But in the end—
Jiang Yan had still underestimated her.
Looking at the whole untouched peppers and uncracked bird eggs currently sitting in the wok...
Jiang Yan fell into deep contemplation.
This dish...
How should he put it...
You couldn't say it wasn't chili pepper fried eggs.
After all, it technically did contain chili peppers and eggs.
But at the same time...
How was anyone supposed to eat this?!
Who stir-fries eggs with the shells still on?!
"Umm... how do I say this... Ei, don't misunderstand, you're not exactly wrong, but..."
Jiang Yan paused awkwardly.
"There's a possibility that... these ingredients are supposed to be chopped before stir-frying."
At this point, Jiang Yan was being unbelievably patient while teaching Ei how to cook.
But the instant he said "chop the ingredients," and Ei immediately pulled out her naginata—
Jiang Yan mentally broke.
Using a naginata to cut vegetables?
The absurdity of it was on the same level as using the Imperial Jade Seal to crack walnuts.
Seriously—
wasn't using a divine weapon for cooking just a tiny bit excessive?!
What would all the gods who died beneath that blade think?!
"Stop! Stop! Put the naginata away!"
Seeing Ei preparing to split the stove in half again, Jiang Yan hurriedly stopped her.
Then he raised a hand.
The Reality Stone glowed.
A brand-new kitchen knife appeared in his palm.
"Here. Use this."
Jiang Yan handed the knife to Ei.
Ei reluctantly put away her naginata and looked at the kitchen knife in her hand.
"So short... the naginata feels much better to use..."
Her voice was full of blatant dissatisfaction.
Jiang Yan fell speechless.
Well...
compared to your spear-length naginata, yes, the knife is shorter.
He could understand Ei's feelings.
But using a naginata for cooking was simply too outrageous.
Afterward, Jiang Yan patiently guided her step by step, even teaching her hand placement personally.
"That's not how you hold it. A kitchen knife isn't a naginata. Your fingers should go here."
"First remove the stems from the Jueyun Chili Peppers, then slice them down the middle..."
Jiang Yan carefully explained everything.
Meanwhile, Ei simply stared blankly at him.
She seemed...
distracted?
Like a confused student daydreaming during class.
Eventually, Jiang Yan noticed she hadn't actually been listening and was just staring at him foolishly.
So he waved a hand before her face.
"What's wrong? Hey! Earth to Ei!"
Ei immediately snapped back to reality after being amused by Jiang Yan's playful expression.
Her face instantly turned red.
"S-Sorry... I got distracted..."
"C-Could you explain it again?"
Then she looked at him expectantly with those clear, slightly airheaded eyes of hers.
How could Jiang Yan possibly refuse?
Sighing softly, he patiently explained everything again.
This time, Ei listened very seriously.
Although she often looked adorably clueless—
there was no denying her talent in martial arts was extraordinary, even among gods.
Especially her talent with blades.
Even though she had never used a kitchen knife before, she adapted astonishingly fast.
Before long, she flawlessly cut every Jueyun Chili Pepper exactly as Jiang Yan instructed.
Every slice was neat and uniform.
Unless examined closely, the pieces were practically identical.
At this point, Jiang Yan became very confident.
The rest was simply beating the eggs and stir-frying.
Surely that was even easier than cutting vegetables.
"Next, crack the eggs into the bowl and whisk them."
"Like this."
After demonstrating once, Jiang Yan warned her,
"And use chopsticks to stir them. No weird methods allowed."
Ei silently put away her naginata again.
Why was cooking so troublesome?
Switching tools constantly.
When clearly the naginata could solve everything perfectly.
How annoying.
If cooking were as simple as fighting...
Seeing Ei silently sulking, Jiang Yan couldn't help laughing.
The mighty Electro Archon actually getting frustrated because cooking was too complicated.
Because she couldn't cook, she was practically pouting and throwing a little tantrum.
How pitiful...
But honestly—
wasn't this version of Ei incredibly cute?
Jiang Yan liked this silly little Ei very much.
"After you finish whisking the eggs, leave the rest to me."
Jiang Yan smiled and rubbed Ei's head gently.
"You've already done very well."
Ei shook her head stubbornly.
"No. I want to personally finish cooking this dish!"
Then she started whisking the eggs even harder.
"Alright, alright. The eggs are mixed enough already. Spare them."
Looking at Ei puffing her cheeks while aggressively whisking eggs, Jiang Yan's smile never once disappeared.
"Now then..."
"The final step."
"Stir-frying!"
To read 30+ future chapters, head over to patreon:
patreon.com/ToastWizard