Chapter 644: Section 431: The Most Talented Person Among the Survivors
Sanda had long known that the big guy had become a Transcendent and that his appetite had greatly increased because of it.
The big guy had been taken care of by the Dragon-man youth, which allowed him to automatically practice the Heartless Sleep Form while sleeping, leading him onto the right path of cultivation.
After his promotion to Bronze Level, he even trained with Zong Ge and others aboard the ship.
The big guy’s performance during training caught the attention of Zong Ge who expressed regret—if only the big guy could learn a Combat Skill, he would undoubtedly be a weapon on the battlefield. Unfortunately, the big guy’s intelligence was insufficient, and he could not learn any Combat Skills.
“Becoming a Transcendent does indeed lead to a huge increase in appetite. This is because Life Essence grows, so the amount of nourishment drawn from the outside must increase as well. The food and appetite of a mouse and an elephant are different. As one’s Life Level grows, so does the cost of sustaining life.”
“However, after a Transcendent’s promotion, their appetite should stabilize. Why is there still a rising trend?”
Sanda wanted to investigate this, not to scrimp on the big guy’s meals.
Sanda wouldn’t do such a thing.
On one hand, Sanda knew that the old shipwright entrusted the big guy to them before his death, and the squad leader took great care of him. On the other hand, when they were on Mysterious Monster Island, it was entirely due to the big guy’s protection that the newly built ship was safe, and Sanda indirectly received a life-saving favor from him.
Sanda was not the kind to repay kindness with enmity.
The goblin was worried about corruption and embezzlement. This had happened before in the Mercenary Group he used to lead. Sanda knew that wherever there were interests to be gained, if one was not careful, parasites could breed.
Especially since the big guy had an intellectual deficiency, everyone from the survivors knew that such a big guy could easily be taken advantage of.
Sanda had no suitable people under him, so he decided to investigate personally.
The method of investigation was very simple and clear—he went directly to the big guy, wanting to get a clear understanding.
The big guy’s response was, “Eating? Big guy likes eating.”
“Not full… Big guy wants more.”
“Daddy! Big guy wants daddy even more.”
Sanda’s attempt to communicate was fruitless; the big guy’s answers were not pertinent to his questions.
“The big guy has grown taller again, but it seems his intelligence, contrary to his height, has decreased again?” Sanda said with resignation.
In this period, the big guy had grown at least another 0.5 meters taller. If it weren’t for the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps acquiring their new flagship, the previous Triangular Love Ship’s figurehead room would no longer be able to accommodate him.
Realizing that it was nearing noon, Sanda decided to stay and observe personally.
“Eat up, don’t mind me over here.”
The goblin hid in the shadowy corner of the figurehead room, keeping his presence hidden.
Before long, the delivery person arrived at the room with trepidation and knocked on the door.
After that, five or six people entered the figurehead room one after another, all delivering food to the big guy.
Good heavens!
The size of the meal trays they were carrying with both hands was almost the same as a normal person’s foot bath, filled to the brim with Magic Dishes.
The wooden barrel filled with rice was enough for 50 people. The rice was magical, emitting a faint Bronze aura.
A large amount of green and blue fried vegetables wafted a fragrant aroma. Fruits like pineapples, huge as human heads, were brightly colored.
The main course was a pork hind leg half the height of a person, sparking with flames that formed shapes of hearts in the air. Sanda immediately recognized it; this was one of the signature dishes of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ main chef—Heart Flower Ham.
The big guy directly grabbed the pork hind leg and began gnawing at it voraciously.
In no time, the gleaming leg of pork, full of rich juices, was reduced to nothing but a large bone.
The big guy gobbled up his food.
He directly lifted a soup bowl the size of a foot bath, gulping it down after his Adam’s apple bobbed a few times.
The wooden barrel filled with rice was heaved above his head, and he poured it directly into his gaping maw.
After pouring twice and a few chews, he had polished off enough rice for 50 people.
The lunch was substantial, but the big guy finished it all in just two or three minutes. Then he extended his large tongue and licked every dish clean.
Finally, with wide eyes, he looked at the five or six delivery people: “Hungry!”
“More, I want more…”
Despite his massive size, sitting down, the big guy was still much taller than the delivery people.
The delivery mercenaries were terrified, some quivering slightly, the leader sweating profusely and gesturing hurriedly, “There’s no more, all of today’s lunch has been eaten by you, we haven’t prepared more…”
The big guy wasn’t satisfied, but he wasn’t violent, could only smack his lips, sucking on the scraps caught between his teeth, leaning back against the wall, slowly closing his eyes.
Seeing this, the few delivery people carefully and quickly cleaned up the utensils, then scrambled out of the figurehead room, gently closing the door behind them.
Sanda could hear their voices outside the door, “I’m really worried that one day, when I’m delivering food, I’ll end up filling the belly of the unsatisfied giant!”
“I really don’t want to do this job anymore, every time it’s a trial of life and death!!”
“I think we need to report this situation, let the higher-ups increase the food for this giant.”
“We’ve reported this many times already, but it’s getting harder and harder to get approval from above.”
“It’s strange, I’ve cooked for giants before. I’ve never seen such a case, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ giant has a very unusual appetite, eating so many Magic Dishes without any indigestion! He’s only Bronze Level…”
“The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps is really something else, the giant they’re silently raising is freakishly strong!”
The voices of the delivery people faded away with their footsteps.
Sanda fell into silence.
The facts before his eyes negated his previous conjecture.
He wasn’t embezzling food, and Big guy’s portions hadn’t been skimped on, on the contrary, Big guy hadn’t had enough to eat!
Sanda watched as Big guy, half-awake and groggy, placed his hands on his slightly protruding belly, grumbling discontentedly, “Food, meat…”
Soon, he was completely asleep, snoring loudly.
He seemed to be dreaming about the Dragon-man youth, beginning to talk in his sleep, “Daddy, Xiao Guai is still hungry… Where are you, daddy, Xiao Guai… hungry…”
Hearing such sleep-talking, the corner of Sanda’s eye twitched.
He stared at Big guy with a doubtful gaze, wondering to himself, “What kind of Bloodline does Big guy have? Gluttonous Bloodline? Big Stomach King Bloodline? Or the Sky Abyss Bloodline?”
Owners of these Bloodlines all shared a common feature: a huge appetite!
The next moment, Sanda’s eyes gradually widened.
Incredulous!
“What am I seeing?!”
He saw Big guy cultivating, refining his Fighting energy.
Sanda knew that Big guy was practicing the Heartless Sleep Form, which the squad leader had finally managed to teach him, allowing Big guy to circulate it automatically in his sleep and passively cultivate.
Sanda also knew that Big guy had become one of the Transcendents and had been promoted to the Bronze Level.
But what was he seeing now?
To his shock, he discovered that amid the luster of Fighting energy emerging from Big guy’s body, there was a hint of the color of Black Iron.
“How long has it been? Big guy is already at the peak of the Bronze Level?!”
“The presence of Black Iron color in his Fighting energy means he is about to be promoted to Black Iron Level?”
“Am I seeing this right?”
Sanda began to doubt his own judgment.
But after careful observation, he confirmed he wasn’t mistaken!
This discovery gave him a profound shock, so much so that when he left the fore-deck tower and closed the door to his room, he was somewhat in a daze.
“No wonder his appetite is getting bigger and bigger. It’s due to his continuous absorption of external nutrients, boosting his Life Level’s rapid rise.”
“Bloodline!”
“What on earth is Big guy’s Bloodline?”
“This rate of progress is exaggerated!”
Sanda scoured his memory; he had never seen another fighter with such a fast rate of promotion!
Big guy’s performance shattered his cognition and truly opened his eyes.
“The squad leader took care of Big guy, and the cultivation efforts have yielded the most unexpected results!!”
“Big guy’s Bloodline is definitely not simple; he might just be the most talented among us.”
“If not witnessed with my own eyes, it would be hard to believe… that even someone as silly as him could have such a gift for cultivation!”
“Fate, how incredibly unfair…”
Sanda felt very complicated emotions for a while.
Envy, helplessness, regret, lamenting his own life’s fate.
His own Bloodline wasn’t ideal; his ceiling was the Black Iron Level, a limit he’d been at for many years now.
And now, here before his eyes, Big guy, this outrageously lucky fellow, had progressed to the Bronze Level, and soon would be on par with him as a Black Iron Level!!
Sanda didn’t even know how he made it back to his own cabin.
It took a long time for his emotions to settle.
After calming down, Sanda immediately began to write a letter, intending to share the good news with Zong Ge and Zi Di.
But after finishing the letter, he destroyed it outright.
“It can’t be so careless.”
“Letters can be intercepted, especially with mysterious enemies lurking.”
“The speed of Big guy’s cultivation proves that his Bloodline is at least of the Golden Level. No, perhaps the Holy Domain Level…”
Thinking any higher, Sanda dared not continue.
“He is very dependent on the squad leader; if such a big fellow grows up, it would be too great a help to everyone…”
“If one day, we fail to make amends to the Empire’s high-ups. Big guy’s significance to us will be even greater!”
“He must be protected well.”
“All efforts must be made to hide the speed of his cultivation; yes, even the people delivering the meals need to be under control, sign a contract with them!”
“No, they don’t know the secret of Big guy yet. Later, meals should be delivered by Alchemy Puppets. That would be safest.”
“This message needs to be encrypted before letting the others know. With my authority, I can’t provide Big guy with more cultivation resources.”
Sanda started writing an encrypted letter.
But after finishing, he destroyed it again.
“My encryption measures are only at the level of an ordinary Mercenary Group, easily cracked.”
“Maybe I should personally deliver this message? Undoubtedly, that would be the safest way!”