After successfully pranking Tu Shanyan, Gustave braced himself for inevitable retaliation. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the painful beating that would surely follow such audacious deception.
Instead, silence stretched uncomfortably long.
When he finally opened his eyes, he discovered Tu Shanyan standing motionless in front of the vending machine, cola still dripping from her hair and robes. Large tears had begun rolling down her cheeks, each droplet falling to the pavement with soft splashes that seemed unnaturally loud in the quiet park.
"Ah, no," Gustave said with immediate remorse, "don't cry! I was wrong, completely wrong!"
The sight of her genuine distress hit him like a physical blow. This ancient fox immortal had spent the past hour patiently feeding him when he couldn't move, showing nothing but kindness despite their earlier conflict. His response had been to humiliate her with a childish prank.
As established many times before, Gustave's weakness was soft approaches rather than hard confrontation. He'd prepared for anger and violence, but tears? Tears left him completely defenseless.
"Please don't cry," he said frantically, his words tumbling over each other. "I'll buy you more potato chips! And proper soda that won't explode! And spicy noodles! We can go shopping for new clothes to replace the ones I ruined!"
His desperate litany of promised compensation seemed to penetrate her distress.
"Really?" Tu Shanyan asked, her tears stopping as suddenly as they'd started. Hope and suspicion warred in her expression.
"Absolutely," Gustave swore, raising both hands in a gesture of sincerity. "I give you my word—no more tricks, no more deception."
"But first," he added carefully, "we need to buy proper food so I can restore my strength completely. Is that acceptable?"
Tu Shanyan's face immediately fell again, clearly expecting another elaborate setup for disappointment.
"The place where people buy food is called a supermarket," Gustave said quickly, recognizing her deflation. "I promise you'll find it fascinating—they're filled with more varieties of food than you could imagine."
She regarded him with deep skepticism, having learned not to trust his enthusiasm about unfamiliar experiences.
"If you don't believe me," he said with genuine desperation, "we'll go to the supermarket right now. You can see for yourself."
"Pinky promise," Tu Shanyan demanded, extending her smallest finger with the solemnity of someone making a sacred vow.
"Pinky promise," Gustave agreed, linking his finger with hers like children sealing a pact.
With their agreement formalized, they prepared to leave the park. However, Gustave immediately noticed the sticky cola residue still coating Tu Shanyan's elegant robes.
"Er," he said delicately, "perhaps you could clean off the soda first?"
Tu Shanyan shot him a look that could have melted steel, then waved her hand with obvious irritation. The sticky mess vanished instantly, leaving her crimson silk robes immaculate except for the burned sleeve from their earlier battle.
They emerged from the park into a neon-painted urban landscape that pulsed with electric life. Colorful signs advertised everything from restaurants to electronics, while vehicles moved along the streets in orderly streams of light.
"My god," Tu Shanyan breathed, her previous annoyance forgotten in wonder. "So many people!"
What seemed like a relatively quiet evening to Gustave represented the largest human gathering Tu Shanyan had ever witnessed. The bustling cityscape overwhelmed her mountain-dwelling sensibilities.
"What are those metal beasts?" she asked, pointing at a passing automobile with obvious alarm.
"Those are cars," Gustave explained patiently. "Mechanical conveyances that move without horses."
"Impossible," Tu Shanyan declared. "How can such things move without animal power?"
"Ma chère," Gustave said gently, "this world exists nearly a century ahead of your timeline. By now, humans have created many wonders—automobiles that travel on roads, iron birds called airplanes that soar through the sky, devices that allow instant communication across vast distances..."
He continued his impromptu lecture on modern technology as they walked, Tu Shanyan nodding enthusiastically at each revelation like a student absorbing divine wisdom.
Soon they reached a large supermarket whose bright interior promised exactly the wonderland Gustave had described.
"Voilà," he said, retrieving a shopping cart and gesturing for Tu Shanyan to push it. "Welcome to modern convenience."
The moment they stepped inside, Tu Shanyan's jaw dropped in undisguised amazement.
"Incredible!" she whispered, her eyes trying to process the overwhelming abundance surrounding them.
Endless aisles stretched in every direction, each one packed with products in colorful packaging. The sheer variety of available goods exceeded anything from her millennium of existence.
Before she could begin exploring properly, Gustave guided her directly toward the rice section. While her childlike wonder was endearing, his priority remained practical—he needed substantial calories to restore his electromagnetic abilities, and rice provided the most efficient energy conversion available.
In the Nexus world, creatures large enough to provide Sea King-level nutrition also tended to possess the power to obliterate careless hunters. Better to rely on mundane carbohydrates than risk confronting monsters he couldn't currently defeat.
"Three fifty-kilogram bags," he instructed, watching Tu Shanyan effortlessly hoist the heavy sacks. "And those two large pots for cooking."
They proceeded directly to checkout, but Tu Shanyan tugged at his sleeve as they joined the payment queue.
"Is that... all we're buying?" she asked with barely contained disappointment, glancing back at the unexplored wonderland of food products.
Her expression was so pitiful that Gustave's resolve crumbled completely.
"All right," he sighed. "Fine. We'll go back for more supplies."
Tu Shanyan's resulting smile could have powered the entire supermarket.
They returned to collect several bags of various snacks, including discounted carbonated beverages—which Gustave selected with deliberate irony. This time, he'd teach her the proper opening technique.
When they finally left the supermarket, passing pedestrians stared in fascination at the unusual sight: a beautiful woman in crimson robes effortlessly carrying three massive rice bags on one shoulder and two large pots in her free hand, while a well-dressed man trailed behind with nothing but snacks and drinks.
Gustave's pride demanded he carry something, but his still-recovering strength made such displays impractical.
Originally, he'd planned to cook in the park itself, but the risk of attracting unwanted attention from local authorities—or worse, the secretive TLT organization that monitored supernatural activity in this world—made discretion advisable.
"Can you fly us to that forest?" he asked, pointing toward a wooded area visible in the distance.
Tu Shanyan nodded, gathering both Gustave and their purchases in a protective aura before lifting smoothly into the night sky. Her concealment techniques proved remarkably effective; even TLT's satellite network registered only brief anomalous readings that vanished upon closer inspection.
They found an ideal clearing beside a small stream, where Gustave could cook without fear of discovery. Tu Shanyan poured rice into both pots while he built a proper fire, the familiar routine of food preparation helping restore his sense of normalcy.
"Ah, this is life," Tu Shanyan sighed contentedly, settling beside the fire with her collection of snacks and properly prepared soda.
She alternated between crunchy treats and fizzy drinks with the profound satisfaction of someone experiencing luxury for the first time.
"The mortal realm is truly blessed," she declared between bites. "I swear upon my ancestors—I'm never returning to mountain seclusion! Human civilization offers such marvelous pleasures!"
Watching her childlike delight over mass-produced snack foods, Gustave shook his head with affectionate exasperation. For all her supernatural power and millennium of experience, Tu Shanyan remained remarkably innocent about worldly pleasures.
The rice finished cooking after thirty minutes of careful tending. Without ceremony or proper seasoning, Gustave consumed both enormous portions within five minutes, his electromagnetic abilities demanding massive caloric intake for restoration.
He immediately prepared two more pots, repeating the process until all hundred and fifty kilograms of rice had been consumed. Only then did his power levels return to approximately half capacity—sufficient for basic function, though far from his usual capabilities.
"Finally," he sighed with satisfaction, stretching luxuriously as proper strength flowed back through his limbs. "Much better."
Across the fire, Tu Shanyan had curled up beside the dying flames, her stomach pleasantly full and her adventures in modern cuisine having exhausted her emotional reserves. Soft breathing indicated she'd fallen into peaceful sleep.
The forest around them was remarkably quiet for such a developed world. Gustave gazed up at the stars, appreciating this moment of tranquility after their chaotic day. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, but tonight offered simple rest and recovery.
Then something vast and sinuous emerged from the darkness beyond their firelight.
A massive tentacle, easily ten meters long and covered in bioluminescent patterns, extended toward their campsite with predatory intent. Behind it, barely visible in the forest shadows, something enormous stirred with alien hunger.