blogombal 028 Feeding
028 Feeding
Lu Mingfei lowered his head and looked at his hands.
In Tokyo-3, no matter how bad he is, he's still sitting inside that 80-meter-tall, tens-of-thousands-ton EVA, his physical body serving as the vessel for releasing his AT field.
Without EVA, he would only have his own 130 pounds left. When he lost control of his emotions and deployed the AT field at Lake Ashi, his physical body quickly couldn't hold on.
If we really let him go and confront the King of Earth and Mountains, could he withstand the Dragon King's stomp that could move mountains thirty miles?
It definitely can't hold up, so...
"eat."
Lost in thought, a sweet, buttery aroma wafted into Lu Mingfei's nose.
He turned his head and saw Ling take out a brown paper bag from his schoolbag, pour out a few golden biscuits, and arrange them on a clean tissue.
"I made it." Zero looked at him. "It's at its best now."
Lu Mingfei looked at the bag of biscuits, then at Ling.
"Did you do this?"
"Um."
"When was it made?"
"Last night."
Zero looked at him without any expression, but that "I'm waiting" attitude only made Lu Mingfei feel more pressured.
"Thanks," Lu Mingfei said. "It looks delicious, but I had a proper lunch, and I'm not very hungry..."
"You only ate stir-fried chicken, blanched broccoli, and a bowl of tomato and egg drop soup for lunch today," Zero said expressionlessly. "The total calories were less than 500 kilocalories. With the basal metabolic rate of mixed-race individuals, this intake is far from enough."
"Um..." Lu Mingfei wanted to say, "How did you know what I ate for lunch?" But that sounded like something a perverted stalker would say!
Zero continued, "According to Chapter 4 of 'Hybrid Physiology,' a long-term calorie deficit can lead to unstable speech power, decreased reaction speed, and weakened immune system function."
She picked up a cookie and handed it to Lu Mingfei.
"eat."
Lu Mingfei was sweating a little.
Zero's face was expressionless, but that expressionlessness was more oppressive than any expression. It was like your mom spending the whole afternoon in the kitchen preparing a pot of soup, then watching you play video games instead of eating, without saying a word. That silence itself was the most powerful form of intimidation.
"I really don't..."
The cookie was stuffed into his mouth.
"Hmm!"
Lu Mingfei's eyes widened, like a fish pinned to a cutting board. He wanted to say he could do it himself, but Zero's hand had already pressed down on his chin and lifted it up, so Lu Mingfei could only forcefully chew the biscuit and swallow it.
The savory aroma of the pork floss, combined with the buttery flavor, explodes in the air, resulting in a perfectly crispy texture and a just-right balance of sweet and salty. To be honest, it's really good.
No, now is not the time to savor this!
"Cough cough... cough cough cough..."
He choked, his face turning bright red.
Zero, quick as a flash, pulled out a carton of milk from somewhere, straw already inserted, and shoved it right to Lu Mingfei's lips. Lu Mingfei, disregarding his image, grabbed it and took several deep sips before finally swallowing the pastry.
"Pfft—" It sounded like someone couldn't hold back their laughter.
Lu Mingfei looked up; everyone was very serious.
Zero was looking at him.
Lu Mingfei wasn't sure if he was hallucinating.
"What exactly do you want?" Lu Mingfei asked, catching his breath.
"You haven't been getting enough nutrition these past few days," Zero said, looking at him as if seriously considering the problem. "You need to replenish your energy."
"I mean..." Lu Mingfei hesitated for a moment, "Why do you care how much I eat?"
"As an S-class hybrid, eating so little is unreasonable," she said. "You're in a growth spurt; insufficient intake will lead to..."
"It will cause the instability of the Word of Power, a decrease in reaction speed, and a decline in the function of the immune system." Lu Mingfei repeated what Zero had just said in one breath. "That's not what I asked. I asked why you take such good care of me? We've only met a few times, we're not even acquaintances yet."
Zero didn't say anything, but picked up another cookie and held it to his mouth.
Eat, or die?
Lu Mingfei felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced around and noticed that the students at the surrounding tables were already distracted, each with their books up and their eyes secretly glancing in his direction.
"I...I'm full, really." Lu Mingfei waved his hands repeatedly, trying to stand up. "Thank you for the cookies, Ling, but I have to go back to my dorm..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zero reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
"Finish eating."
Under the gaze of Zero's icy blue eyes, Lu Mingfei gave in.
He swallowed the whole bag of biscuits and the carton of milk one after another, painfully and anxiously, as if he were swallowing some bitter medicine, amidst the suppressed whispers around him.
When there was only one cookie left in the bag, Lu Mingfei's stomach was churning. He took a deep breath, picked up the last cookie, chewed it a few times, swallowed it, and then picked up the milk and drank it all in one gulp.
The empty milk carton was placed on the table with a "thud".
"I'm done eating," Lu Mingfei reported, indicating that he had completed his mission.
Zero nodded, then took a pack of wet wipes out of his bag.
"Wipe your hands." She took out a bill and handed it to Lu Mingfei.
Lu Mingfei took the wet wipe and wiped his hands. The wet wipe had a faint citrus scent and felt cool.
"Thank you for the cookies and milk," he said, wiping his hands and standing up. "I have to go back now; I have something to do—"
Just as Lu Mingfei was about to slip away, his sleeve was grabbed. Ling frowned slightly, tiptoed, and forcefully gripped Lu Mingfei's chin, turning his face towards her.
A wet tissue was smeared on him with a "whoosh," the action so rough and decisive that it tugged at Lu Mingfei's face. She wiped away the milk stains and cookie crumbs from the corners of his mouth, her eyes clearly showing disgust. After wiping, she casually tossed the crumpled tissue into Lu Mingfei's arms and released him.
A collective gasp filled the library, like dozens of snakes simultaneously hissing, chilling the surrounding air.
"Um...isn't that S-rank?"
"Then...isn't that zero?"
"Is she feeding him cookies?"
"Not only do they feed us, they wipe us too!"
Lu Mingfei's face went from white to red, from red to purple, and from purple to black. He could already imagine what kind of content would appear on the Night Watchers' Forum, with titles like "Shocking! S-rank character publicly fed by Russian loli" or something similar.
He grabbed his schoolbag and rushed out. The moment the door closed behind him, he heard a suppressed murmur coming from inside, like water that had been simmering in a pot for a long time finally boiling.
He hurried back to his dormitory, his eyes fixed ahead, not daring to look to either side.
The men and women he encountered along the way pointed and whispered about him, their complex gazes a mixture of jealousy and awe.
Lu Mingfei's heart was pounding wildly. He had thought that he had been drowning in that red sea for too long, so long that he thought the innocent seventeen-year-old boy had already drowned.
However, just as Zero was wiping his mouth, the boy stood up from the sea, patted the water off his body, and took over his heartbeat.