Chapter 875 - 435: Eden’s Lair_2
Or perhaps, in its subconscious, the human identity of Gauss replaced the identity of the Red Dragon mother who abandoned it from the dragon’s lair at a young age.
This became more obvious after it gained wisdom.
"Then I’ll have someone bring the food over."
Even before preparing to teach Hephaestus magic, Gauss had already asked the team’s chef to prepare some roasted whole lamb and roasted Mushroom People, making some exclusive food for Hephaestus.
Of course, the latter was the main focus, after all, they could be sourced on-site in the maze at any time.
Upon receiving Gauss’s notice, a series of dragon dishes were quickly brought over by cart.
The bodies of the Mushroom People had been roasted to be tender and juicy, with the butter smeared on the surface baked at high temperatures, penetrating the fluffy mushroom fibers, exuding a slightly sweet fragrance.
After the others from the Red Dragon Team left, watching Hephaestus open his jaws to eat, Gauss also tore off some mushroom fibers and put them into his mouth.
Perhaps the racial talent of [Feast] had transformed his body too successfully, he felt no discomfort, only that it was tastier than most ordinary foods.
Even though it was vegetarian, the energy and satiety it provided certainly weren’t less than the flesh and blood of other demons.
This might be related to these mushroom fibers being soaked in magic power long-term and having their structure altered, plus the powerful decomposition ability of Gauss’s digestive system taking effect, which caused this phenomenon.
Even though he wasn’t very hungry, Gauss still ate quite a lot.
Eden in the void watched one man and one dragon happily eating, and suddenly felt a bit envious.
It hadn’t eaten decent food in a long time; after becoming a slime, it didn’t need much food.
Its elementalized body allowed it to maintain the energy needed for bodily activities by exchanging air and absorbing natural magic from the environment.
"Is it good?" Eden couldn’t help but ask, watching eagerly.
Now that it no longer had a body and hadn’t been resurrected yet, even if Gauss and Hephaestus’s eating posture stirred up cravings that had disappeared for who knows how many years, it couldn’t act on them, only imagine the taste through Gauss’s satisfied expression as he ate.
"It’s okay, should be better than eating raw."
"Then when I resurrect, I want to try it myself." Eden still felt a bit unwilling.
Gauss could only smile at these words.
But he suddenly became curious, does a slime even have a so-called sense of taste perception?
But he didn’t specifically ask, leaving it for when Eden was resurrected to address it.
Practicing magic earlier seemed to consume a lot, and this time Hephaestus had an unexpectedly large appetite, eating all the carts of food that were originally brought in and still looking unsatisfied, casting a glance at Gauss.
As a guardian, Gauss could only ask the chefs of the Red Dragon Team to work extra hours; fortunately, the main ingredient, Mushroom People, was not in short supply.
As for the ingredients needed for cooking, feeding Hephaestus certainly required using quite a bit, but considering that in the next few days, the Red Dragon Team’s own convoy would head outside the maze for supplies, they didn’t need to be so frugal and could use more generously.
This meal lasted a long time, during which Aaliyah, Ying, and other curious members also came over to observe.
Actually, they had noticed the commotion there while Gauss was instructing Hephaestus, but thought he was busy with important matters and therefore didn’t come to disturb him.
Hephaestus was somewhat familiar with a few others in Gauss’s team and even nodded and greeted them while dining.
As for the other members, it was unlikely to give much of a reaction.
The nature of giant dragons, especially Red Dragons, is inherently proud; Hephaestus was willing to accept Aaliyah and the others only because they were close companions of Gauss, by association.
Perhaps in its eyes, the other members of the Red Dragon Team weren’t much different from the kobold servants it used to rule underground.
It protected them in battle, firstly due to Gauss’s orders, and secondly, out of an instinctive response of a lord, seeing as servants are also a form of property.
They stayed and rested in place for a day.
The next day, Gauss’s Red Dragon Team officially embarked on the exploration of the fifth layer.
With Eden as the "guide," Gauss made relatively smooth progress on the fifth layer.
Their first destination was Eden’s former lair.
Although it was quite laid-back in the past, the Mushroom People leaders would still regularly offer treasures to it as their lord.
Some were magic fruits, which it ate as soon as it got them.
Even though it hadn’t eaten well-prepared food for a long time, it didn’t refuse natural treasures like magic fruits and magic minerals.
Its energy-fluid body could digest most foreign objects, like an enhanced version of an ordinary slime’s digestion ability.
Apart from the consumed supplies, it remembered there should still be some treasures left.
Many of these treasures were scavenged by the Mushroom People tribe within the fifth layer of the maze.
As to why the maze constantly produced these treasures, it seemed related to the maze’s mechanism.
Eden shared this with Gauss.
It was drawn into the maze and trapped in a long pause of time, until the maze recently opened, it could move again.
This experience also made it ponder a bit about the essence of the maze.