Seeing the Level 1 adventurer Tiona reveal an envious expression, Lunoire couldn't help but feel a little smug, the corners of her mouth involuntarily lifting slightly.
Tiona listened, a thoughtful expression on her face: "Hmm... I'm starting to hesitate now. Should I have Emiya-kun forge a sword for me, or should I get a pair of gauntlets? Or... should I just get both?"
On the other side, Crozzo stared intently at Anki, until Anki became a little uncomfortable. The [Black Cat] finally spoke: "It's tough, isn't it?"
Anki's mouth twitched slightly: "...I didn't feel uncomfortable at first, but now that you've said that, I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable."
Before she could finish speaking, she was lifted up—Emiya grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and helplessly pulled her up.
However, the two mischievous catgirl girls in the tavern were always tirelessly trying to see her lose her composure, trying every possible way to make her "crack."
Anki looked at Crozzo's back and couldn't help but smile: "It's okay, meow~"
Emiya was stunned, obviously surprised by her words, and couldn't help but glance at her.
Emiya held back a smile and nodded: "Yeah, I didn't hear anything."
The atmosphere was a little subtle for a moment. Emiya thought for a moment and said, "However, Anki-senpai is always so reliable, it's okay to relax once in a while, right?"
"Shirou-kun, do you think I look better when I'm serious...?"
In a distant tent, Riveria, who was discussing the next strategy with Finn and Gareth, frowned slightly.
The Loki Familia's last expedition only reached the fifty-first floor.
Because from the fifty-second floor onwards, it would be a completely different realm.
In the past, the [Zeus Familia] and the [Hera Familia], who once reigned supreme in the Labyrinth City, still hold the deepest exploration record in the dungeon. They are the only two factions that have ever ventured deep into this hell and brought back information alive.
The Dragon's Lair, a place where dragons dwell.
This type of monster can directly sense adventurers as high as the fifty-second floor and then launch magic cannon attacks that penetrate the rock and strike with precision.
"Fortunately, we have the information left behind by the [Zeus Familia] and the [Hera Familia], otherwise, we might have suffered unimaginable losses the moment we stepped into the fifty-second floor."
He looked at Riveria: "The several response strategies we discussed before..."
The first strategy was the most radical method—Riveria directly used the magic [Argo Vesta] that could penetrate floors, using powerful magic to bombard the fifty-eighth floor where the Vargandr was located.
Especially after [Tempest] learned that Emiya would also be participating in the expedition, he specifically came to warn them that using this kind of magic might cause a serious chain reaction, leading to extremely terrifying enemies.
Before the Vargandr launches an attack, move as quickly as possible to the next safe location, thereby constantly breaking through and gradually going deeper.
Finn knew very well that although this strategy minimized the risk, they might not be able to reach the fifty-eighth floor because of the slow progress, and they would have to turn back.
The fire-resistant cloth was not prepared for the fifty-eighth floor of the dungeon, but for the fifty-ninth floor.
In order to cope with the extreme environment of this ice area, they had specially prepared a large amount of fire-resistant cloth to prevent the team members from losing their combat power due to the cold.
According to the information from the [Hera Familia], the main difficulty of the fifty-ninth floor lies in the extreme environment. The strength of the monsters is not as strong as the [Dragon's Lair] on the fifty-eighth floor, and there is no Dungeon Boss on this floor.
They ultimately chose an extreme approach—several adventurers of or and above would directly jump into the fifty-eighth floor from the holes caused by the Vargandr's bombardment.
Gareth: "Is that Aiz and the others cooking?"
Riveria shook her head and smiled softly: "No, it's Shirou."
Finn: "Ah—"
Gareth stroked his beard: "It's nothing, it's just ah... the smile on your face when you mentioned that child, tsk tsk."
"You two, are you trying to start a fight?"
The members of the Loki Familia gathered around the campfire, the firelight illuminating their faces, dispelling some of the cold and fatigue.
In the center of the built camp, a large pot was set up, and the flames burning under the campfire crackled.
The members of the Loki Familia sat around the pot, their eyes full of anticipation. Beside the pot, Emiya, Aiz, Tiona and others were busy making various dishes.
Through Emiya's projection magic, all kinds of kitchen utensils were neatly placed around the big pot, as if a luxurious kitchen had been built in such a deep demonic area as the fiftieth floor of the dungeon.
Aiz gripped the sword in her hand, her eyes firm: "Yes, Master!"
Aiz held the blade and began to cut the herbs and tree fruits on the table. The blade was clean and neat, the herbs were finely chopped into small pieces, with a faint fragrance, and the tree fruits were also precisely cut open, the juice flowing from the fruit, overflowing with a tempting fragrance.
Tiona clenched her fists and vigorously pounded the fruits, turning them into a chewy meat paste.
The meat fruit gradually became delicate and elastic under her fists, and the aroma of the meat paste gradually spread.
However, they can also be eaten by humans and are surprisingly delicious.
Some rare tree fruits can even be sold at high prices on the surface and are considered luxury delicacies.
This information is of considerable reference value to later adventurers.
However, the description of "food" in this information needs additional translation.
The [Glutton], who possesses the special skill [God Eater], can even swallow living monsters whole.
As for what the [Glutton] calls "pretty good," for ordinary people, it can probably only be considered "edible."
Otherwise, if the remains of monsters could be eaten, the power of the [Glutton] might be even more exaggerated.
Although these things are not expensive on the surface, they are extremely valuable supplies in deep dungeon expeditions.
Emiya watched the two girls process the ingredients while busily preparing other dishes. His hands skillfully manipulated various projected kitchen utensils, rich gravy simmering on the stove, and the aroma of the ingredients in the pot spread as they were stir-fried.
"Looking at it this way, the previous expeditions were really too hard. How did we get through it?"
Eina lamented.
Raul: "After eating this meal, even if we 'hit the road' next, we can be satisfied."
Even Bert, who was always cold and taciturn, had his silver-white tail twitching slightly.
“This… was made by Shirou-kun, right?”
Tiona carefully stroked the pattern on the handguard, her eyes full of curiosity and envy.
Lunoire nodded: “That’s right.”
Lunoire chuckled, lowering her voice slightly, reminding: “Um, Miss Tiona, please pay attention to the price…”
However, Tiona was just fascinatedly stroking the handguard, completely ignoring her words.
Ankie: “What hardship?”
Kroey solemnly said: “It must be hard to hold back from saying 'nya', nya~. Cat has tried it before, nya~, but it becomes very uncomfortable after a long time, nya~.”
Kroey said with a smile: “Then don’t pretend to be serious, nya~. Cats should be free and unrestrained… Nya!”
“I’m sorry, Miss Ankie.”
Wei Gong apologized to Ankie on behalf of Kroey.
Ankie is a meticulous and earnest cat-girl, who always tries to restrain her cat-like inherent laziness and the verbal tic of saying "nya."
Kroey failed again this time, and was caught on the spot by Wei Gong, so she had to show a pitiful expression and quickly fled.
The two looked at each other for a moment, and the air was silent.
Ankie realized that she had accidentally let something slip, and her face turned slightly red: “I… I didn’t say anything.”
Ankie was slightly stunned for a moment. She looked up at Wei Gong: “Is that what Shirou-kun thinks…?”
The girl’s slender black tail wagged back and forth a few times.
She paused, her tone becoming soft and cute: “Or… is this better, nya~?”
219
Chapter 219: The Emiya Family's Meal Today, Part 4.
Riveria sighed: “As expected, the 【Dragon's Womb】, 【Floor Skip】, and 【Artillery Dragon Valgang Dragon】 are troublesome no matter how you look at it.”
The common sense above the 50th floor is completely subverted from this floor. From here on down, it is a true hell.
And the two major familias gave this floor a name, a name that still makes people feel chills—【Dragon's Womb】.
Staying in the lowest level of the Dragon's Womb—the 58th floor—is the Artillery Dragon 【Valgang Dragon】.
This is the standard act of violence that ignores floors and crosses several layers of walls, the unbelievable 【Floor Skip】.
Finn said.
Gareth sat aside, stroking his beard slightly: “However, even with information, this is still a situation that even this old man finds tricky.”
Based on the information from the 【Hera Familia】, the Loki Familia formulated three strategies to deal with the Artillery Dragon Valgang Dragon.
However, after slightly testing the power of the magic, they realized that the risk of this method was too great.
The Dragon's Womb is a very unstable area, and Riveria's magic is too powerful, which may destroy the stability of the labyrinth and lead to unpredictable consequences.
The second strategy is much more stable, which is to have the first-class adventurers maintain high-speed movement.
Although this method is safer, it is also quite difficult, requiring each first-class adventurer to maintain extremely high speed and vigilance to avoid shelling.
As for the third strategy…
“Finn, we brought a lot of Fire Spirit Cloth this time, right?”
Riveria said.
Finn nodded: “That’s right, we’ve emptied almost all the stock in Orario’s market.”
This floor was marked as 【Glacial Domain】 in the Zeus Familia's information, covered by cold and frost.
“Then, we now have two choices.”
Riveria looked at Finn and Gareth: “Do we aim for the 58th floor and advance as far as we can, or do we go straight for the 59th floor?”
The Hera Familia even believed that reaching the 58th floor under the shelling of the Valgang Dragon and retaining enough supplies to continue the expedition was far more difficult than the challenge of conquering the 59th floor next.
Considering various possibilities, Finn fell into deep thought.
Just then, Gareth suddenly twitched his nose, and he said, “I seem to smell… a fragrance.”
Gareth: “Ah—”
Riveria: “What kind of expressions are those?”
Finn couldn't help but nodded, clicking his tongue as if he was impressed: “Indeed.”
Several portable 【Magic Stone Lamps】 around emitted flickering light, providing some warm light to the entire camp.
Only in these precious safe floors can adventurers slightly lower their guard and truly rest.
The orange-red firelight intertwined with the light of the magic stone lamps, bringing a touch of vitality to this dark environment.
The head chef was Wei Gong, and Ais and the others were responsible for helping with the processing of ingredients.
Looking at such a scene, the adventurers who had not eaten anything other than dry food for a long time, each of their eyes sparkled.
“Ais, Tiona, I’ll leave it to you.”
Wei Gong said to the two girls.
Tiona also nodded with a smile: “No problem, Shirou-kun~!”
On the other side, Tiona was responsible for processing a special fruit called “Meat Fruit”. This is a round-shaped, soft-textured fruit, and its uniqueness lies in the fact that the pulp inside not only has the taste and texture of meat, but also contains rich protein.
Her movements were as fast as lightning, full of power, and the sound of fists colliding with the fruit echoed throughout the camp, like a fierce fight.
These fruits, herbs, and tree fruits are all foods generated in the dungeon, and are also common food sources for dungeon monsters.
The former adventurer of the 【Zeus Familia】, known as 【Gluttony】, once left behind information on how to obtain food supplies in the dungeon.
In 【Gluttony's】 definition, the standard of "edible" is vastly different from the understanding of ordinary people.
And if ordinary people were to judge, most of these "edible" things are simply not suitable for consumption.
Unfortunately, after the monsters in the dungeon are killed, they will quickly turn to ash. Their remains cannot be preserved or eaten.
In addition to these special ingredients from the dungeon, there are also some ordinary foods brought from the surface—such as bread, ham, dried cheese, etc.
The expedition's baggage can only leave very little space for these items, so when they arrive here, there is very little left.
Raul almost cried: “Oh my god, it’s stir-fry. In the dungeon, we can actually eat stir-fry…”
Ankie, the 【Noble Cat】 on the side, sniffed lightly and exclaimed: “It’s surprising that the Meat Fruit emits such a fragrance after being cooked with chili peppers.”
“Don't say such unlucky things…”
The companion next to him couldn't help but frowned and reminded, but smelling the fragrant smell, he couldn't help but swallowed: “But… it really smells good…”
In fact, due to the limited ingredients, the dishes that Wei Gong can make now are not particularly exquisite delicacies, but for the adventurers exploring the deep layers of the dungeon, this is already a rare feast.
