Fragmented Tea Egg for Human Use
Producer: Ye Ge
Consumable
Usage: Consume after shelling to restore 3% of maximum health; throw directly to cause small-range physical damage in the impact area, with a certain chance to apply a bleeding effect.
Trait: Splash, Diffusion, +10% damage to humanoid creatures
Note: Simple to make, easy to carry, refreshing, excellent value for money. The eggshell is slightly cracked, fragrant, sturdy, and sharp. The egg white is brownish-yellow, warm, and delicious, also serving as a buffer for shock absorption. The egg yolk is nutritious, dense, easy to digest, and highly exothermic. When taken alone, it can be used for cracking gold and stones, building dams, clearing rivers, and leveling land. It is truly excellent!
Truly excellent...
Mo Tan swallowed. He felt a bit choked.
Ji Xiaoge smiled radiantly: "This pot of tea eggs turned out surprisingly successful! Lu Wei praised my great progress. As long as you're careful when peeling them, you can eat them directly! They taste amazing!"
"What if I'm not careful when peeling them?" Mo Tan stared blankly at the barrel of fragrant tea eggs in front of him, wiping sweat from his forehead. "What will happen?"
The Youyi Meishaonv awkwardly poked the corner of her mouth, shuffling her feet on the ground, and replied in a very, very quiet voice: "They'll explode..."
Mo Tan: "..."
He felt he shouldn't have had any expectations for this barrel of something that, both in its description and notes, was infinitely close to weaponry.
"Hehe, I'll slowly improve in the future." Ji Xiaoge chuckled twice, then carefully reached her small hand into the barrel and took out a hand... uh, a tea egg. Then, even more carefully, she peeled it for two minutes before presenting it to Mo Tan like a treasure, her eyes sparkling with hope: "Want to try it?"
At this moment, Mo Tan felt as if he had been possessed by Hamlet, his mind filled with bold, block letters of 'To be or not to be, that is the question' scrolling across his vision.
"Hmm, I don't think there will be any problems." Ji Xiaoge naturally saw Mo Tan's hesitation and knew why he was hesitant. She awkwardly flapped her wings and whispered, "I tried it myself earlier. Not a single drop of blood was lost, and it tasted good too..."
Mo Tan ultimately couldn't bring himself to refuse the Youyi Meishaonv in front of him, who was enthusiastic about synthesizing weapons... I mean, cooking. He took a deep breath, then pulled at the corner of his mouth again, forcing out a smile that didn't look much like a martyr's: "I'll eat it."
"Really?!" Ji Xiaoge was overjoyed.
"Yes, I trust you." Mo Tan nodded solemnly, then reached out and took the tea-fragrant egg from the Youyi Meishaonv's soft palm, smiling: "Then I'll eat it."
"Eat it, eat it!"
"I'm really going to eat it now..."
"Eat it!"
"I'm about to dig in..."
"Mm-hmm!"
"It looks so delicious..."
"Hehe~"
"It smells good too!"
"Thank you!"
"Look, it's still warm, and it's so round..."
"Yes, yes, eat it while it's hot!"
"Okay." Mo Tan still couldn't buy himself too many more seconds. With a resolute heart, closed eyes, and open mouth, he took a big bite of most of the tea egg. Then, with lightning speed, he pulled out a bottle of antidote (given by Lu Wei) from his satchel, ready to pour it into his mouth at any moment!
He didn't think he would die, after all, although Ji Xiaoge's talent called Self-Production and Self-Sale could negate most (99.99%) of the negative effects of her own cooking, it wasn't complete immunity. If this barrel of Fragmented Tea Eggs for Human Use could truly cause damage, Ji Xiaoge would be forced to lose 1 HP no matter what; complete immunity was impossible.
So it seemed that 'it can be eaten after shelling' was true. Of course, if there were other side effects, Ji Xiaoge herself would have difficulty noticing them. So, for safety's sake, Mo Tan secretly took out a bottle of antidote just in case.
Mo Tan hadn't felt this kind of tension in a long time. Due to various coincidences, Mo Tan had never personally tasted Ji Xiaoge's cooking until now. So, having witnessed Jia Deka and Ya Ya's various unfortunate experiences, this first taste felt especially unsettling.
One second passed...
Two seconds passed...
Three seconds passed...
Finally, under Ji Xiaoge's inexplicably nervous gaze, Mo Tan slowly raised his head. As he put the antidote back into his satchel, he gave the Youyi Meishaonv a thumbs-up and praised, "It tastes good!"
"Yay!" The latter jumped three meters high as if she had gained the whole world, cheering loudly and dancing with joy: "Someone finally praised my cooking! You're not lying, are you?!"
Mo Tan immediately stuffed the remaining small half of the tea egg into his mouth to prove his words, then smiled vaguely at the Youyi Meishaonv: "Lixian Congdengsang Xia Lai!"
The Youyi Meishaonv blinked in confusion: "?"
"Cough, cough, I mean..." Mo Tan pounded his chest, swallowed the food in his mouth, and then chuckled dryly: "You get down from the lamp first."
Ji Xiaoge: "Oh."
She had indeed jumped three meters high just now and was still hanging from the chandelier.
"Are you really not lying to me?" The Youyi Meishaonv flapped her wings, gracefully floating down from the chandelier, and shook Mo Tan's arm vigorously: "Are the tea eggs I boiled really, really delicious?!"
Mo Tan shrugged, telling the truth: "The taste is indeed good. While I can't say it's 'really, really delicious,' it's definitely not bad. I think if the eggshell were crushed more finely, it would absorb more flavor. Right now, it's a bit bland."
His suggestion was quite fair, as tea eggs are definitely a low-cost dish, so Mo Tan had quite a bit of experience with them.
However, Ji Xiaoge spread her hands helplessly upon hearing this: "I also think it's a bit bland, but there's really no way to crush the eggshell any more finely."
"Is that so?" Mo Tan scratched his head, curious: "Why?"
"Because it will explode."
"Oh."
After a not-so-long silence...
"Actually, a little bland is also good." Mo Tan put the 'sponge' he had taken out earlier back into the egg barrel (...) while smiling at the somewhat dejected Youyi Meishaonv in front of him: "All in all, it's already very good, so don't dwell on it too much."
Yes, this was definitely very good. Mo Tan had personally seen Ji Xiaoge in reality carrying a pile of completely unrelated, strange ingredients, preparing to make curry chicken for her sister. Mo Tan had always been a bit worried that the girl named Ji Xiaodao might be forcibly sent to the hospital for a long stay because of it, if her poison resistance wasn't enough...
"Hmm, you're right!" Ji Xiaoge didn't stay dejected for too long. After a brief silence, she looked up, full of spirit, and showed a bright and cheerful smile: "And I can make it for everyone to eat in reality, my dad will definitely be relieved!"
Mo Tan thought about it and felt that this was quite reliable, and eggs in reality wouldn't explode.
"But where can I buy something similar to nitroglycerin?" Ji Xiaoge suddenly mused, propping her chin: "Among the ingredients Lu Wei gave me, only this one is hard to find a substitute for..."
Digest what?!
Mo Tan was a bit confused: "What did you say?"
"Haha, nothing~" Ji Xiaoge waved her hand and smiled: "I'll figure it out myself. Hmm, since its harmlessness has been confirmed, it's time to complete the task Lu Wei assigned earlier. Can you help?"
Mo Tan nodded: "Tell me."
"Take me to play a few more rounds in the Arena." Ji Xiaoge happily flapped her wings, shaking the bullet barrel (...) in her hand (Mo Tan was startled): "Lu Wei wants me to test the tea egg's additional effects in actual combat~"
I think in his eyes, 'edible' is the additional effect...
Mo Tan grumbled inwardly, then walked towards the door first: "No problem, I was planning to continue today anyway. Let's go find Jia Deka and Ya Ya."
"Mm." Ji Xiaoge smiled sweetly, her ankle-length hair swaying slightly behind her. She floated behind Mo Tan: "Thank you."
...
However, they unexpectedly did not find Jia Deka and Ya Ya. These two did not seem to be in their rooms.
Mo Tan and Ji Xiaoge also went to the Noob Arena to check, but didn't see them there either.
"Wait a moment, I'll ask if Lu Jiang is around." Mo Tan comforted the somewhat disappointed Ji Xiaoge: "Perhaps Jia Deka and Ya Ya are with him. Even if they're not, we can still ask Lu Jiang to play a three-person match, or if not, I can play 2v2 with you."
Ji Xiaoge said "Oh," then looked at the bullet barrel in her hand with a troubled expression, muttering softly: "I still wanted Ya Ya to try it, sigh..."
Mo Tan: "..."
One minute later
'Mo Dage, I'm online. Mr. Jia Deka and Ya Ya are with me too, but I'm not very convenient to come over right now. Feimigeer is a bit anxious. Why don't you and Night Song come find us first?'
Lu Jiang's reply was quick, and he also indicated that the old man and dog duo were with him, but he seemed unable to get away for a while.
"So, should we go see them?" Mo Tan asked Ji Xiaoge after relaying Lu Jiang's message: "The three of them seem to be with Feimigeer."
The Youyi Meishaonv nodded: "Sure, I'm not in a hurry. Lu Wei said I just need to give him the combat data within the next few days!"
"Alright, let's go check it out first." Mo Tan nodded, then sent a message to Lu Jiang asking for their location and how to get there.
The latter quickly replied: 'Feimigeer wants you to find the Arena staff and ask them to open a teleportation array to Little Dragon Peak on the Fifth Outer Mountain. Oh, and I told him I contacted you remotely through Druid secret arts!'
'Understood, we won't let it slip.'
Mo Tan replied, marveling at Lu Jiang's thoughtfulness, then led Ji Xiaoge back to the Arena hall and found the Dwarf Miss with somewhat swollen, red eyes.
"Uh, are you alright?" Ji Xiaoge asked with some concern. She felt that the Dwarf Miss looked like she had just cried.
The Dwarf Miss sobbed, biting her handkerchief: "Wuwu... Wuwu, Kedor... he left again, and he didn't even say goodbye to me, wuwuwuwu!"
To be honest, Mo Tan wasn't surprised by this at all.
Ji Xiaoge, however, kindly advised: "It's alright, Miss, don't be sad. Kedor even praised you to us before."
"Ah?" The Dwarf Miss was startled.
"Ah?" Mo Tan was also startled.
Ji Xiaoge nodded seriously: "He also said your face is especially beautiful, and every time he sees it, his heart races like a deer!"
The Dwarf Miss was stunned for a long while, then she let out a 'ga' sound and fainted.
Mo Tan, meanwhile, looked at the Youyi Meishaonv beside him with a rather distorted expression: "Did Kedor really say that?!"
"Oh, I remember." Ji Xiaoge chuckled while pinching the Dwarf Miss's philtrum: "The original words seemed to be 'You haven't seen how majestic that beard is, every time I see it, I suspect I'm going to die of a heart attack' ← like that."
Mo Tan was utterly bewildered: "I think your misinterpretation is a bit too much!"
"Hehe, don't boys all like waifus?" Ji Xiaoge tilted her head and said with a smile: "This Miss should also count as a two-dimensional character, right? I get it!"
Mo Tan stood rooted to the spot for a long time, and even after the Dwarf Miss slowly regained consciousness, he still couldn't figure out if Ji Xiaoge had done it on purpose.
"Wait, I'm a little dizzy." The Dwarf Miss struggled to stand up with Ji Xiaoge's help, then stood dumbfounded for a while before suddenly coming to her senses and asking: "Oh right, why are you two here?"
Mo Tan quickly spoke up before the hesitant Ji Xiaoge could: "We'd like you to help us teleport to Little Dragon Peak on the Fifth Outer Mountain, that's all."
"Oh, no problem." The Dwarf Miss wiped a nosebleed, then swung her short, stubby arm, conjuring a slightly distorted light door out of thin air: "I'll waive the fees for you. Go ahead."
Mo Tan quickly thanked her, then without another word, he pulled Ji Xiaoge and rushed into the teleportation gate, followed by a dizzying sensation.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but during the process, he seemed to see a life-sized Kedor figurine flash before his eyes.
He also seemed to hear that figurine roaring loudly: "MMP... MP... P..."
...
A few seconds later
Tian Zhu Mountain, Fifth Outer Mountain, Little Dragon Peak
With a violent distortion, Mo Tan's figure abruptly appeared in mid-air, then fell with a splat into a thick layer of snow. Before he could struggle to get up, he was once again flattened by Ji Xiaoge, who had also descended from the sky.
"Ah, sorry, sorry." The Youyi Meishaonv quickly flapped her wings and floated up, reaching out to pull Mo Tan up: "My wing seemed to cramp just now."
The latter shook his head indifferently: "It's fine, you're quite light. I didn't even lose any blood."
"Eeek, if I were heavy enough to make you lose blood, I wouldn't want to live!" Ji Xiaoge playfully stuck out her tongue, then looked around at the vast, white snowfield: "Is this Little Dragon Peak? Where are they?"
"I don't know." Mo Tan brushed off the snow from his head, then very seriously opened his friends list and sent a message to Kedor.
'Sorry I missed our appointment today, and also, for some reason, I want to ask you a question...'
'It's fine, it's fine, we can always message each other. By the way, what's your question?' Kedor was clearly online, his reply was very fast.
'Do you like two-dimensional girls?'
Mo Tan typed the message seriously and sent it.
Five seconds later, Kedor's reply came.
'Yes! I love them so much, I love waifus!'
'Oh...'
Chapter 163: End
