"Wow, this one is strange, and it’s pure black!"
Eric, amazed, picked up the black pearl, turning it over and over under the firelight.
If not for the fear of wasting it, he really wanted to try prying it open to see if the inside was also such a mysterious black color.
He held the pearl up to admire it for a moment, then suddenly thought of something and turned to Max, his voice slightly triumphant:
"Those Black Wolves were planning to trade pearls for our food. Now, this is great, our stuff might be even better than theirs."
Max looked at his gleeful expression, a rare smile flashing across his face. He gently stroked his head, his voice deep and warm:
"The grades are different. Apart from this black pearl, the rest of ours are just common types, they won’t trade for much."
"Is that so."
It seemed he had been too naive. Eric was a little dejected, pouting. But he quickly brushed it aside, squinting at Max, his voice full of teasing insinuation:
"Max, you look like you have something on your mind."
Max’s expression froze, his eyes showing clear confusion. He was not used to this kind of insinuation.
Eric burst out laughing, stopping his teasing. He raised his arm, shaking the jet-black pearl in front of Max, tilting his head with a bright smile:
"But anyway, I really like this pearl."
That smile, in an instant, was like a cool breeze sweeping away all the frustration and anxiety in Max’s heart.
But it was only for a moment. The unreasonable jealousy from before was still smoldering.
Why?
Why was it that just seeing Eric holding someone else’s clothes, just imagining him personally taking care of a stranger, made the wild beast inside him growl, ready to break its chains?
He silently watched Eric’s back as he skipped off again to prepare lunch, his eyes filled with unending, complex emotions.
He was beginning to have to seriously re-examine his increasingly uncontrollable feelings.
...
Having picked up a human for no reason, Eric began to seriously suspect there was something wrong with his magnetic field.
Why was he like a magnet specifically attracting creatures of unknown origin?
First, it was Luban, then the little snake A Mật, and now a whole human youth. He sighed, wondering what other strange things he might pick up in the future.
He poked more dry firewood into the flickering fire, then put a chunk of animal fat into the clay pot.
Waiting for the fat to render and sizzle, he wielded the kitchen knife in a blur, dicing the lobster meat that Michael had already shelled, and tossed it in to fry. The fire flared up, and soon the lobster meat was golden brown and crisp.
The lobster meat was removed, sprinkled with a layer of pepper powder and fine salt, and Eric even generously added his homemade dried onion and garlic powder.
The fragrant salt and pepper lobster was served on a plate, a sight tempting enough to make anyone crave it. Next was the chili oil lobster.
This dish required stir-frying the chili and spices until fragrant first. Eric had used up almost all the chili he brought on this trip, and only now at the seaside did he feel regret. Seafood paired with spicy chili, that was the true way.
The lobster meat was added to the shimmering red sauce, simmering gently to absorb the flavors. Just then, Michael walked over, carrying the large, blue-colored lobster.
The corners of his mouth split into a wide grin. He brazenly sidled closer, taking a deep, intoxicated sniff, as if he wasn’t the one who had just snuck off alone.
Eric shot him a helpless sidelong glance, but because of the giant lobster in his hands, he decided to be magnanimous and let it slide.
"Eric, let’s cook this one too! Don’t worry about not finishing it, I can transform into my beast form to eat it all." Michael chuckled as he put the lobster down.
Eric was also curious to taste this strangely colored lobster, so he didn’t object.
He knew very well that even in their beast forms, the two adult beastmen might not be able to finish that giant lobster, let alone another one.
This blue lobster, though half the size of the other one, still had to weigh several hundred pounds. He could only tell himself:
"It’s fine, in winter, leftover meat can be frozen. Frozen lobster was expensive back in the day, you know."
Having convinced himself, Eric squatted down to look at the lobster, curiously poking at its nearly transparent shell.
It looked fragile, and you could even see the organs inside, but the shell was unusually hard. He looked up, eagerly watching Michael. Michael immediately understood and extended his razor-sharp claws.
Slash! Slash!
After a few crisp "crackles," the soft, translucent meat, shimmering with a faint blue hue, was revealed.
A characteristic sweet aroma of fresh lobster meat spread out, without the slightest fishy smell.
Eric looked at the tender meat and couldn’t resist sneaking a small piece with his fingernail and popping it into his mouth. Anyway, something Michael brought back was definitely not poisonous.
The soft, juicy, and sweet lobster meat practically melted in his mouth.
Both the texture and flavor far exceeded Eric’s imagination. He hadn’t been fond of raw food before, but if everything tasted this good, he probably wouldn’t have been so prejudiced against it.
This lobster was clearly an endemic creature of this world; Eric even temporarily set aside the issue of parasites. He gulped down the lobster meat, then eagerly cut another piece and handed it to Michael.
Beastmen weren’t picky about raw food. Michael tasted a piece, his eyebrows immediately relaxed, and he imitated Eric, giving a thumbs-up:
"Really good! Eric still knows how to eat best!"
Eric scratched his head. This was eating raw, there was no preparation involved, so how could it be called ’knowing how to eat’?
Too much food could sometimes be a problem. Michael had just picked up a piece of savory salt and pepper lobster, but his eyes were already staring at the pot of spicy chili oil lobster, unable to eat it all.
After satisfying his craving, Eric called Max over to eat. Michael, beside him, had long since been conquered by the delicious food, thinking of no one else.
After stirring the pot of boiling seawater, Max finally came over and sat next to Eric, but his expression was somewhat absent-minded, heavy with thought. Even when Michael reached his chopsticks over to steal a piece of meat right from under his nose, he didn’t bother to react.
Was he really in a bad mood?
Even the delicious fresh lobster meat didn’t cheer Max up. He ate less than usual, leaving Michael both confused and delighted to finish off the rest of the food.
Eric quickly ate his fill. The little snake A Mật showed no signs of waking up for this meal.
It seemed his guess was correct: she had woken up yesterday because she was too hungry, and after replenishing her energy, she had fallen back into deep hibernation.
"At this rate, it will only get colder on the way back, so she probably won’t wake up. It looks like we’ll just have to take her back to our tribe," Michael said, rubbing his full belly after hearing Eric’s speculation.
There was no other way. Eric could only shrug.
Max was already sitting cross-legged by the fire, his eyes on the boiling pot, but his gaze unconsciously followed Eric’s every move, lost in his own thoughts.