GA: Chapter 63 – You're Actually Fighting a Shiba Inu Over Food
"I wonder if it has something to do with him not washing the carcasses first."
A look of disgust crossed Huoyou's face as she vented:
"He should clean the materials before refining anything. And can't he skin the mutant beasts first? The fur doesn't contain any energy."
"Or is the fur from those mutant rats useless? Too much bacteria?"
"If there's too much bacteria, that's even more reason not to make pills out of them!"
"You ate one."
Bai Xuan gave her a strange look. She was too worked up about this for someone who claimed she hadn't. That would also explain why she knew the pills smelled bad.
"I did not!"
Huoyou's eyes darted away as she said it.
"I'm just making a suggestion, okay? A suggestion."
"Even cooking requires washing ingredients first. He might be using an ability to refine these, but that doesn't mean the impurities just vanish."
"Something that foul—how could anyone in good conscience ask someone to eat that?"
"Nobody's going to believe you didn't eat one when you're acting like this."
Bai Xuan said flatly.
"I really didn't!"
Huoyou glared at him—then immediately deflated.
"…I ate pills made from a different fierce beast. Also very smelly."
"I only ate them because the effects were good."
"…"
"Anyway—I've given you the pills. Each bottle has different effects."
"I've written the corresponding effects on each one. Read them and take accordingly."
"If you don't need them, keep them. You can sell them later or give them to a friend."
With that, Huoyou stood up. Everything had been handled—there shouldn't be anything requiring her attention in the near future, so it was time to go back and train.
This guy Bai Xuan was the absolute king of overachieving.
With that level of natural talent, and he still trained this hard.
It made people like her—with talent and strength that didn't come close to his—feel too guilty to slack off.
Bai Xuan gave a casual wave, not particularly bothered by her leaving, and turned the pills over in his hand thoughtfully.
The ability to refine mutant creatures, medicines, and medicinal materials into pill form—perfectly preserving their energy and properties.
On the surface it sounded similar to his own Extraction, but there was a key difference. His Extraction pulled the energy from a mutant creature and let him temporarily wield that power. Pill Crafting actually converted the creature into a pill, perfectly fusing and preserving the effects of all its components.
The point wasn't extraction—it was fusion.
"Not bad. Mine now."
As he spoke, a green glow emanated from Bai Xuan's hand. He casually pulled a mutant creature carcass from his spatial ring and placed his hand on it.
The massive body shrank in an instant, condensing into a single brownish pill.
He tried smelling it—and immediately dropped it back into his spatial ring. The thick, rancid stench hit him like a wall, a heavy, foul odor that was nothing like the pungent edge of luosifen or stinky tofu. It was more like someone who hadn't bathed in weeks.
No wonder Huoyou had complained. This wasn't something just anyone could force themselves to eat.
Even if you managed to swallow it, you'd feel sick the entire time.
Which meant Huoyou's suggestion about washing and skinning the materials first was actually important. If possible, adding seasonings would help too—incorporating them at cooking proportions during the refinement would probably make the result far more tolerable.
Then, suddenly, something occurred to Bai Xuan, and he sent a message to the chat group:
Child of Nature: "@Northern God's Glory, I've got something here—want to try it?"
If humans couldn't stomach it, what about a dog? Dogs should be fine, right?
Lighthouse Tycoon: "What is it?"
Ordinary Group Owner: "Yeah, what is it? If it's something good, you can't just give it to Shiba Inu Thor."
Ordinary Group Owner: "I'm the group's darling, you know."
Child of Nature: "???"
Child of Nature: "Since when were you the group's darling? And why are you competing with a dog for that title?"
He knew perfectly well that Su Yunqing meant everyone in the group's collective affection—but the first image that popped into his head was pet.
Turn Daigu into Soup: "I have a feeling this isn't something good."
Worst Elf: "I suspect it has nothing to do with effects—probably more to do with the taste. Or smell. Something like that."
Worst Elf: "Like the already-bitten Devil Fruit from last time."
Ordinary Group Owner: "Wait, is it—sorry, sorry, my mind went somewhere it shouldn't have."
Ordinary Group Owner: "It's definitely NOT poop!"
Uchiha Dance King: "…"
Uchiha Dance King: "You have a filthy mind!"
Turn Daigu into Soup: "I'd say it's more of a disgusting mind."
Child of Nature: "Exactly—if you knew it was wrong to think that, why did you go and say the word?!"
Bai Xuan was at a loss. He genuinely couldn't decide if this Group Owner was pure-hearted or just dim.
Child of Nature: "It's just a pill refined from mutant creature carcasses. Decent effects—physical enhancement, that sort of thing. But it smells rancid, so I wanted to see if Thor would like it."
Child of Nature: "If Thor thinks it's alright, I've got a few more. Might as well give them all to him."
Child of Nature: "They're not much use to me anyway."
He could also hand them back to the chat group for recycling, but they weren't worth many points.
And Huoyou had mentioned before she left that these pills would be supplied regularly—it wasn't like he'd be missing out.
If it really came to it, he could make his own. He had plenty of mutant creature carcasses to work with.
When those ran out, he could always take the Anywhere Door to the mountains and hunt more.
Lighthouse Tycoon: "Physical enhancement?"
Lighthouse Tycoon: "Ahem—I feel like it'd be a waste to give something like that to a dog. If it's just the smell that's the issue, I think that's something I could manage."
Compared to the effects, what was a little smell?
Northern God's Glory: "Woof woof woof???"
Northern God's Glory: "You're actually trying to steal food from a dog?"
Lighthouse Tycoon: "Serious face.jpg"
Lighthouse Tycoon: "To be precise—I'm competing with the son of the All-Father, Thor the Thunder God, for a pill that is of absolutely no use to him."
Northern God's Glory: "Shiba Inu shocked.jpg"
Northern God's Glory: "You're actually acknowledging my title as Thor the Thunder God right now?"
Ordinary Group Owner: "Knows when to pick his battles—what a real man, Tony."
Ordinary Group Owner: "Respect."
Uchiha Dance King: "…"
How was this guy so different from the Iron Man in the memory copies? Was it because he'd never been kidnapped and forced to build weapons in a cave?
Child of Nature: "Try them first, then talk."
"Ding—group member Child of Nature has sent two red envelopes."
"Ding—group member Northern God's Glory has claimed your red envelope."
"Ding—group member Lighthouse Tycoon has claimed your red envelope."
Three mechanical chimes. Then, shortly after:
Northern God's Glory: "Doesn't taste good.jpg"
Lighthouse Tycoon: "Tastes awful.jpg"