"Burnice! You're hopeless!"
Lucy said angrily.
Caesar looked at Burnice with disappointment as well, as if hating the iron for not becoming steel.
"Sorry, Caesar, Lucy, but the meat is so fragrant!" Burnice cheerfully took another bite of ribs, savoring it. "Got any fuel drink? A delicacy like this has to be paired with Burnice's special mix!"
"Keep dreaming."
Sol shook his head and shoved another piece of meat into Burnice's mouth.
Burnice happily accepted it.
Fuu! Fuu! Fuu!
I'll just eat, eat, eat!
She was already drowning in the ocean of delicious food. Lucy and Caesar beside her had completely faded from her view.
"This one wants to eat too."
Piper looked at Burnice's blissful face with pitiful eyes.
Sol, ever responsive, immediately started feeding Piper as well.
After one bite, Piper's expression relaxed into pure bliss—the kind of comfort a middle-aged man feels after collapsing on his couch at the end of a long day.
"Piper, not you too!"
Lucy and Caesar stared at Piper in disbelief.
"Sorry, the meat's just too juicy! Even if it means having kids, adults can still accept that much!" Piper said tearfully while taking a big bite of beef, wearing the face of a martyr.
"How did it come to this…"
Lucy and Caesar looked deflated, speechless as they watched the two gluttons beside them.
Their stomachs, however, started to growl in unison, protesting loudly.
"Why bother holding back? If you're hungry, just eat."
Sol, quick as lightning, shoved a piece of meat into each of their mouths.
"Mmph!"
Lucy and Caesar's eyes widened. Their minds screamed to spit it out, but their stomachs and mouths refused to obey.
Chew, chew.
In the battle between brain and body, Lucy and Caesar devoured the meat to the last bite.
Their minds said: So delicious!
And so…
One, two, three, four.
Sol smiled with satisfaction, feeding them one after another. The food in the box disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"How about I do the feeding? You've worked hard today."
Anby Demara walked over and said seriously.
How could she let Sol do such a thing? It should clearly be her job.
Without stopping his hands, Sol turned his head toward her and said, "Good girl, go take a shower and wait for me in bed."
Heh. Like he didn't know what Anby was thinking?
He was completely absorbed in the feeding frenzy right now and had no intention of stopping.
"..."
Anby blushed and quietly went off to shower.
"Anby, I get you."
Sol smirked, relaxed and amused.
He kept his hand moving, like he was feeding four little piglets.
Caesar and the others had already developed a rhythm with him—whenever the fork came their way, they'd automatically take turns eating.
"No, no! I'm not eating!"
Lucy looked utterly resistant, but when the food reached her lips, she closed her eyes and opened her mouth in humiliation.
After a while…
Lucy did it again, closing her eyes, opening her mouth, but this time—nothing came.
Confused, she opened her eyes, only to see Sol's amused face, and Caesar, Burnice, and Piper all staring at her in shock.
"Sorry, the food's all gone," Sol said, barely holding back his laughter. "If you still want some, I can get more."
"Eh?"
Lucy froze, silently closing her open mouth as her face flushed crimson.
Lowering her head, she murmured weakly, "No need. I'm fine."
She didn't need to eat anymore—ever again.
After such an embarrassing moment, she might as well switch worlds entirely.
Burp!
Lucy couldn't hold back a loud belch, wanting to die on the spot.
She hadn't realized while eating, but looking back now, she felt like that man feeding them had treated them the same way she fed Grassy, Woody, and Bricky—her three thirty-centimeter-tall red Boar Thiren triplets.
Which meant… she'd just been fed like a pig?!
It was over. She wanted the world to end.
"Well, that's a wrap."
Sol smiled, packing up the food box and sitting on the couch, his "feeding session" ending on a content note.
"You seemed to enjoy that." Jane sat down beside Sol, smiling.
"Of course," Sol admitted bluntly. "Don't you think it's fun?"
"That's true."
Jane nodded in agreement.
Watching Caesar and the others being hand-fed had been oddly relaxing. In fact, though she was full, she suddenly felt like she could eat another round.
"Alright then, shower and sleep."
Sol stretched lazily as he saw Anby emerge from the bathroom, freshly washed.
"Yeah, shower and sleep."
Jane stretched as well. She'd be sharing a bed with Sol and Anby again tonight.
Not only was it Chekkat's request—she found it rather comforting.
Sleeping beside Sol and Anby, both incredibly strong, made her feel safe. Much better than being alone in another room, tense all night.
Anyway, she wasn't taking off her clothes, and Sol wasn't the type to do anything improper.
And so, two hours later—
Sol, Anby, and Jane all finished showering and lay down on the bed together.
As for Caesar and the others, Sol tossed them a few blankets and told them to make do for the night.
Caesar and Lucy both sighed in relief—thank goodness it wasn't what they had imagined.
Still, they stayed on alert, just in case that man tried some kind of "midnight ambush."
But their vigilance faded as Burnice and Piper's snores filled the room.
The four members of Sons of Calydon dozed off on the carpet, sleeping soundly.
...
The next morning.
"Morning."
"Morning."
"Morning."
Sol, Jane, and Anby woke almost simultaneously. Thanks to the events of the previous day, things felt much more natural now.
Sol glanced around.
The four members of Sons of Calydon were lying in a tangled heap, legs and arms overlapped, all snoring away.
"Pretty carefree, huh."
Sol shook his head and went to wash up with Anby and Jane.
After washing up, they were just about to enjoy a free luxurious breakfast when Jane's phone rang.
She checked it, her expression turning serious. "Chekkat just messaged. The deal's been moved up to today. We're to head over early."
"Today, huh?" Sol chuckled. "Looks like he's got a few tricks up his sleeve."
Last night, Chekkat had repeatedly hinted that the transaction would be tomorrow or the day after. Yet here it was—today.
"Probably out of caution," Jane said matter-of-factly. "He thinks the tighter the schedule, the less time we have to prepare."
"Not wrong," Sol agreed, then smirked. "But what he didn't account for is—we casted the net before we wade in to catch the fish."
Jane smiled. "Looks like it's harvest time, then."
"Let's go meet our buyer."
Sol strode out of the room, with Jane and Anby following close behind.
Halfway there, Anby suddenly turned back and grabbed eight zinc-aluminum alloy crafts to bring along.
Hoo-hoo-hoo…
Back in the room, Caesar and the others snored peacefully, blissfully unaware of everything.