"Takatsuki-nii is cooking personally?"
Veliona blinked, then smiled and said, "Veliona is really looking forward to it."
"Hmm, let's go then."
Takatsuki said, and with a wave of his hand, he opened a portal.
"This is?"
Takatsuki looked at Veliona's surprised expression and explained, "This is also one of my abilities, to open spatial portals. The other end of this is the mine we were at when we first arrived. I remember there's an open platform outside that mine shaft, perfect for cooking."
Cooking in an open space?
Veliona didn't ask further but stepped forward and took Takatsuki's hand.
Looking at Takatsuki's slightly surprised gaze, she said, "Anyway, it requires seven hundred hours, it'll be accumulated sooner or later, won't it?"
"Hmm, you're right. Let's go."
Takatsuki didn't explain further but released Heaven's Stairway, using his ability to re-establish their connection, and led Veliona towards the other end of the portal.
Just as Takatsuki expected.
This mine shaft was long abandoned; there were no traces of human activity, neither when they arrived nor now.
Stepping out of the mine shaft again onto the open flat ground outside, the surface here must have been specially treated, as it wasn't as rugged as other places and was quite smooth.
Golden Hamon appeared everywhere, and several tables, stoves, cooking utensils, and ingredients were thrown out from the King's Treasure, piled onto the tables.
"Takatsuki-nii is so amazing."
Veliona watched this scene in astonishment, then looked at Takatsuki with some admiration.
"This is also one of my abilities; I can carry things with me without worrying about their weight. I bought all these in advance, just in case I needed them."
Takatsuki walked to the table, looked at the ingredients laid out, and said to Veliona, "Veliona, you go sit over there first. I'll start cooking."
"Takatsuki-nii, you cook. Veliona will just stand next to you. That can also count towards the time, right? When we slept in the Sea of Quanta, Veliona and Takatsuki-nii didn't have physical contact, and the connection wasn't broken even through a layer of clothes."
"Hmm, if you want, that's fine too."
Takatsuki didn't stop Veliona's choice. After letting go of her hand, he began to process the ingredients in front of him.
He didn't ask Veliona what she wanted to eat; Veliona, having been confined in the Sea of Quanta for several months, probably wouldn't be able to think of anything if suddenly asked what she wanted to eat.
Moreover, Veliona, having lived in an orphanage, hadn't eaten many good things.
Takatsuki took out a kettle, poured a continuous stream of water from it into a basin to wash the rice clean, then put it into a portable rice cooker. After starting the rice cooker, he began to prepare the dishes.
"Can Veliona eat spicy food?"
While processing the ingredients, Takatsuki asked. Thanks to the properties of the King's Treasure, even fresh vegetables wouldn't spoil inside it.
"Veliona can eat anything."
Veliona leaned beside Takatsuki, watching him process the ingredients.
He picked up a piece of pork, projected a sharp kitchen knife, and quickly began to slice the pork, cutting a large piece of pork tenderloin into two portions. One portion was quickly shredded, and the other was cut into slightly larger strips.
Then, he placed the two different cuts of meat into two projected glass bowls, pouring different seasonings to marinate them.
"Takatsuki-nii, why are you cutting them into two different portions?"
Veliona asked with some confusion.
"Because I'm making two dishes."
Takatsuki answered without hesitation: "There are two of us eating, so one dish wouldn't be enough, and one dish can easily get boring."
He took out some more vegetables and quickly shredded them.
Because his body had been enhanced by the Falna, Takatsuki's eyesight and hand speed became very fast; he finished cutting everything in just over ten seconds.
For an ordinary person cooking, if someone is standing by, they're bound to get flustered. But for Takatsuki, who has both extremely high cooking skills and excellent physical fitness, he could do things smoothly even with someone on his back.
No matter what it is, if it's done by a highly skilled person, it's an art that is pleasing to the eye. And that's exactly how Veliona felt watching Takatsuki at this moment, plus some inexplicable filters...
What others needed half a day to prepare, Takatsuki finished in just over ten minutes, and it was several dishes simultaneously.
He took out two magic stone stoves, which Takatsuki had bought in Orario for the convenience of cooking in the Dungeon. Unexpectedly, he returned after only a few uses, but they were still convenient; just changing the magic stones allowed them to be used for a long time.
Two woks, one on the left and one on the right. Half a wok of oil was poured into one, and only a little into the other.
Two hands, two woks, cooking simultaneously.
Veliona watched Takatsuki's movements blankly, without moving.
"Idiot Veliona, hurry up and move, or you'll get oil splattered on you."
Just then, Veliona's timely reminder made Veliona react.
But by this time, Takatsuki had already put the processed ingredients into the wok.
"Eh?"
But Veliona found that not only did no oil splatter on her as she had imagined, but not even hot air came towards her. She knew that she wasn't standing far from the stove, and the oil in the wok kept sizzling as the pork dropped in, yet not a single drop splattered out.
Veliona blinked and noticed that both woks were covered with something very hard to detect. She didn't know what it was, but she was certain that it was this thing that prevented her from getting splattered with oil or feeling any heat.
Takatsuki-nii is so thoughtful...
Watching the focused Takatsuki, Veliona's mind was filled with thoughts.
And what about Takatsuki at this moment?
This was naturally his doing.
The versatile Hamon was what contained the heat and oil.
If people from the Jojo world knew that Takatsuki was using Hamon for such things, they would surely want to beat him to death.
But for Takatsuki, power was meant to make life better for himself and those around him, and this was the most correct way to use it.
The cooking show lasted less than half an hour.
Takatsuki made three dishes and one soup.
One dish of fish-fragrant shredded pork, one of crispy fried pork, one of cold mixed assorted vegetables, and one tomato soup, all common Shenzhou home-style dishes.
And the rice cooker on the other side also finished a pot of fragrant rice in half an hour.
"Alright, wash your hands and get ready to eat. Don't stick together while eating; there will be plenty of time later."
Upon hearing Takatsuki's words, Seele blushed and nodded.
Takatsuki took the kettle he had just used, poured some water into a basin, then took out a bar of soap and handed it to Seele: "Wash your hands, there's soap here."
Seeing Seele looking at the small kettle with some curiosity, Takatsuki smiled.
"This is the Kettle of Spring Water. Don't let its small size deceive you; it can pour out 1440 liters of water every day."
It was an A-rank trinket, with no other use besides providing clean water. Takatsuki had left it gathering dust in his the King's Treasure ever since he drew it.