"I want one order of... Dumplings..."
"Um... can I have this steak rice bowl?"
"Lilith, there's fruit too! There's fruit! Is this the legendary fruit?"
The succubi were like children who had never left home, standing excitedly in front of the food counter.
Looking at her clansmen, Lilith felt a pang of sorrow in her heart.
After ordering, the succubi still stood by the counter, eagerly waiting.
The chef behind the counter smiled and said, "You can find a seat and wait. When the food is ready, a mechanical server will bring it over."
Hearing the chef's words, the succubi reluctantly walked toward the dining area, glancing back every few steps.
A few minutes later, the first order for a succubus was ready.
"It really is rice!" The succubus stared in disbelief at the fragrant bowl of rice before her. As she chewed the grains, a blissful sensation spread across her taste buds.
The other succubi cast envious glances, but soon their food was ready as well.
One by one, they began devouring their meals, savoring a joy they had never experienced before.
Gradually, some succubi started crying as they ate.
Lilith looked at a young succubus and asked with concern, "Why are you crying? Is it not good?"
"It's not that it's not good... it's... it's just... too delicious... but when I think... that I might not be able to eat it again in the future... I... I can't help but cry.
Lilith, I don't want to go back to wandering and hiding like before... living a life of hunger and hardship." The young succubus said, tears streaming down her face.
Lilith silently hugged the young succubus, saying nothing for a long time.
Sadness is contagious, and soon more than half of the succubi were quietly sobbing as they ate.
A thin, small succubus, holding a bowl almost as large as her face, cautiously approached the counter and timidly said, "Um... um... can I... can I... have another bowl?"
The bowl had been licked clean, as if it had been washed.
"What did you say?" Perhaps because her voice was too soft, the chef didn't hear her at first.
The thin succubus lowered her head in shame and whispered, "Um... half a bowl... half a bowl... would be fine too..."
"Oh, you want more to eat, right? No problem. Miss Wan'er said earlier that you can eat as much as you want today, as long as you don't waste food.
Let me see... you ordered beef noodles. Go wait, it'll be ready soon." The chef said warmly.
"Th-thank you..." The thin succubus said before scurrying back to her seat. She then craned her neck to watch the counter, not taking her eyes off it for a moment.
Over an hour later.
When Zhao Wan'er returned, she was met with a shocking scene. The once delicate, charming, and alluring succubi now all had small, protruding bellies, as if they were pregnant.
A few of them even looked pained.
"What happened to you all..." Zhao Wan'er asked Lilith in surprise.
Lilith replied with a mix of apology and embarrassment, "Well... sorry, they couldn't control themselves and ate too much... and a few of them are overstuffed..."
As she spoke, she subtly tried to hide her own slightly swollen belly.
"Burp... This is the first time I've felt... what it's like to be so full you could die..." A little succubus leaned back in her chair, her expression a mix of pain and joy.
Zhao Wan'er chuckled. "I'll have someone bring you some digestive medicine later. Once you're feeling better, I'll take you to see your dormitory."
"Thank you, Miss Wan'er." This time, Lilith's gratitude was truly heartfelt.
She knew very well that the value of this single meal far exceeded the total worth of all the food they succubi had eaten over the past several years.
"There's nothing to thank me for. It's just a meal." Zhao Wan'er had grown accustomed to the meals in the Starship Dining Hall, gradually coming to see them as nothing special—as if people were naturally supposed to eat this natural food instead of that synthetic food.
"Do all... all the crew members eat like this?" Lilith inquired.
Zhao Wan'er nodded, then held up a finger. "That guy Zhao Chen—my brother—set the Food Allowance Standard for the crew on this starship at ten Star Coins per month."
Ten Star Coins per month!
Hearing this Food Allowance Standard, Lilith was shocked. Wasn't that a bit too extravagant?
When ordering earlier, she had deliberately glanced at the price list. With ten Star Coins, as long as they didn't indulge in lavish feasts every day, they could easily order meals here every single day of the month.
What a blissful life this was.
"I have another question. From the moment we arrived until now, I've noticed that all the crew members on this starship seem to be female. And besides you and Captain Zhao Chen, they're all half-beast female starship crew." Lilith voiced an observation that had puzzled her.
Zhao Wan'er rolled her eyes and grumbled, "Well, you'd have to ask my older brother about that. All these half-beast female crew members were slaves he purchased from the Black Market."
"Slaves?" Lilith was astonished, looking at the half-beast female crew members chatting, laughing, and enjoying delicious food in the dining hall.
These were called slaves?
Since when did slaves receive such treatment?
However, the thought of a starship full of women under a man's command made her unconsciously suspicious of Zhao Chen's intentions.
After the overstuffed succubi had rested, Zhao Wan'er led them to their dormitory.
"There are eighteen of you, right? I'll arrange five four-person dormitories for you, and any empty beds can just stay empty." Zhao Wan'er explained as they walked.
Lilith quickly waved her hands. "No need, just one dormitory is enough for us. If that's not possible, even a place to sit would be fine."
Lilith looked at the clean corridor; resting here wouldn't be so bad either.
After all, during their years on the run, they had endured far worse environments than underground pipelines.
"Don't be polite. What this starship has the most of is rooms. Although this starship only requires a hundred people to operate, it can comfortably accommodate up to three hundred people for living and lodging. If we squeeze a bit, it could easily handle seven or eight hundred!" Zhao Wan'er said proudly, as if introducing her own home.
Soon, they arrived at the dormitory area.
"This is where you'll be staying from now on. Beds and blankets have already been prepared for you, and there are fresh clothes for changing on each bed."
"This is a temporary Identity Card. From now on, you can go to the Bathhouse for showers and to the dining hall for meals on schedule every day," Zhao Wan'er explained.
Lilith stared at the dormitory in front of her, feeling almost unable to take a step forward.
Such a clean, bright room—was this really where she would sleep?
And right after entering the door, on the left side, there was a Private Bathroom!
She had never heard of a Starship dormitory having a Private Bathroom. Usually, an entire dormitory area shared one bathroom, and the conditions were simply awful.
Moreover, the entire room was quite spacious, about forty to fifty square Meters, with four Bunk Beds. However, the lower level of each Bunk Bed was used as a desk.
The aisle between the beds was a full Meter wide!
Spacious, clean, tidy, and convenient.
It was truly hard to believe that this was a Starship dormitory!
Lilith couldn't help but marvel once again: What kind of miraculous Starship was this?