Chapter 98: Sea Soup.
Eris stomped a foot on the ground and took to the air.
He landed on one of the alligators and dug his fingers into its body. Blood gushed out as it let out a loud scream of pain. Eris squeezed his fingers in and made sure he tore its body before he brushed his other fingers across it.
The alligator fell to the side, groaning and writhing in pain as Eris moved to the next. It was a gory sight—Eris moving from one to another in a flash, tearing their bodies apart and feeling their blood and skin rip. His tail wagged in the pleasure of watching these monsters scream in pain while falling to the ground, dead.
Zukka had to close Little Black’s eyes to prevent him from seeing all that. And Little Black kept his hands over his eyes without moving them. He was too shocked to look further.
In a short while, Eris had taken them all down, tearing most of their skin apart and watching the blood drip to the ground.
When he was done, he washed off the blood in the water and kept himself clean again. He smiled at his reflection as he turned and stared at the others.
"I guess that’s handled then," he said, approaching them. "Now we can peacefully take the remaining ingredients."
Karl scoffed, arms folded. "I guess you still have it in you."
Eris rolled his eyes as he stared at his fingers. "I told you to stop tempting me to do this... I’m supposed to prioritize my fingers for better hand care, not this."
"Whatever. You can’t stop it," Karl scoffed.
They were wild beasts, so they had those instincts lingering in moments like these when they’d be at their peak and tear down anything. The five of them were special for being powerful enough in their domains to take their animalistic instinct of destruction to the highest level. And that was one of the reasons they were tagged cursed and banished.
The coast was clear now, so it was time to proceed with gathering the ingredients.
Little Black was still in Zukka’s arms. He glared up at him. "Hey, let me down. I actually do have feet."
Zukka stared at him. "No. It’s safer this way."
"...!" Little Black blinked. "You...!" He protested to be let down. Zukka laughed at his protest before finally agreeing to put him down. And when he did, Little Black ran away from him and made his way to Azure.
Azure went into the water and picked up the remaining ingredients. He caught some fish and gathered some bone broth. They also collected some seawater and were soon ready to leave.
After they had gathered it all, Azure and the rest packed it up and began making their way back home.
---
Sunnie had been waiting for three hours now. From time to time, she stood outside with the other women waiting for them to return, but there was no sign.
She was worried that something had happened to them while they were getting the ingredients. Or maybe they still hadn’t found them.
The time was ticking, and there were roughly two hours left. If she didn’t make the meal and feed the egg before the time ran out, she would likely get into trouble.
She didn’t have time to start moving into the deep forest in search of an egg.
She stared at the egg that was sitting quietly in a spot. It was quiet for that moment. But she could tell how chaotic it would be running off into the woods in two hours.
Luckily, they returned a few minutes later.
"Sorry for the delay. We had some unpleasant visitors," Eris smiled as soon as they arrived. "But don’t worry, I took care of them."
Sunnie turned to Azure. "Where are they?"
Azure smiled. "Don’t worry. We got it."
He presented the ingredients to Sunnie. She smiled as she went through them. "That’s good."
[Ding!]
[Husband Taming System Alert!]
[Congratulations Host! Your husbands have successfully acquired ingredients for you willingly!]
[This is a great feat in taming your beast husbands!]
[Rewards: More rare ingredients restocked in the mini storeroom]
[Good luck, Host!]
Sunnie didn’t hesitate. She took the ingredients and all they had brought and proceeded to begin cooking immediately.
---
Sunnie started a fire and allowed it to burn for a while. She took the seawater they had brought and put it in the clay pot.
Sunnie put it on the fire and waited for it to boil for some time. After that, she crushed up some of the ingredients like the shells and bones. Then she proceeded to add the ingredients for the sea soup.
She started off by adding the shells that were gathered—the clams, oysters, mussels, and snails that were already crushed. And then she added the fish bones acquired as well almost immediately.
Then when they had been in for a while, she proceeded to add the seaweeds and kelps, the herbs, and then the crab and shrimp. She mixed and stirred them gently into the pot as it boiled, watching them blend into a unit as its aroma filled the atmosphere.
Everyone sat around, observing her prepare it.
Sunnie took note of the state of the soup at the moment and decided to add more ingredients from her store room.
She wasn’t good at making sea soup or eating them, but at least she knew some ingredients that would possibly go with them. And so she acquired some ingredients from her store room and blended them into the soup.
After she added and gently stirred them all together, she took her time to observe them. And Sunnie simply smiled when she noticed the aroma getting better.
It had completely elevated its taste into something better, and she liked it better now. She sniffed as she prepared, watching it blend into a more solid soup combination. It looked better and healthier this way. And Sunnie was simply proud of her creation yet again.