Chapter 28: The Dog and Rabbit's Dark Cuisine

Where... where am I? When did I fall asleep? Kiana Kaslana opened her eyes to see a yellow beach, a blue sky, and the vast sea. A hint of confusion flickered in her azure eyes.

'Hiss... my neck hurts so much!' Kiana turned her head and felt a sharp pain shoot through her neck, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Kiana, you're awake~ Are you alright?" Mei's gentle voice reached her, easing her worries. It seemed there was no danger, after all, Sister Mei was still here! "Wait, what?!" As Kiana tried to stand up to answer, she realized she couldn't move. She looked down and saw that some bastard had tied her to a chair!

"Judge~ You've finally woken up... My and the stupid dog's dish is ready. Please come and judge it!" The Rabbit-Eared Girl, Avia, said, carrying a plate covered with a lid.

"Wait! Why did you tie me up!? Let me go! What happened before doesn't count! I don't want to be a judge!" Kiana shouted, struggling violently in her chair. But thanks to Contestant Avia's exquisite and unknown binding techniques, her efforts were utterly futile.

"Don't be afraid, human! My ice cream is delicious! It's packed with sugar and fresh squid tentacles! Come on! Sweetness is the source of biological evolution!" The Dog-Eared Girl, Pretty, held out an ice cream cone to Kiana, the squid tentacles inside slowly writhing.

The source of biological evolution is sweetness? Apologize to all the creatures on Earth that took tens of thousands of years to evolve! Eating dessert alone can trigger evolution? Suddenly, the prestige of biological evolution plummeted below sea level. Li Xuan, a bystander, silently scoffed in his mind.

"No! Why would you put squid tentacles in ice cream?! And they're still moving!" Kiana declared, having seen through everything. This was clearly a dish from the dark realm.

"Instead of eating that garbage ice block, why not try my curry? Squid ink and curry are a perfect match! The curry's vibrant yellow and the squid ink's elegant black, mixed together with salt and chili peppers—this is the ultimate culinary experience!" The Rabbit-Eared Girl, Avia, urged with a reverent expression.

'Hey! This thing isn't much better than the others!' Li Xuan thought, his face turning pale as he stared at the curry, which resembled a large, yellow-and-black mass of honey-glazed excrement that challenged human vision. "This is the ultimate in dark cuisine, isn't it? It's definitely rated 18+ and would need to be censored with a mosaic even for those under 60!"

"Ugh!~ This disgusting color even has gradients! And what's with those bubbles rising to the surface?!" If Li Xuan's face was pale, Kiana's was now green.

"Bronya calculates... a violent chemical reaction is currently occurring within the curry..." Even Bronya couldn't maintain her usual emotionless expression. Her lips twitched as she spoke.

"Well... it does look a bit... concerning," Raiden Mei said, her expression grim. As soon as she finished speaking, the two Familiars simultaneously turned their food trays toward her, their eyes silently asking, "Do you want to take her place as judge?"

Mei immediately backed down. "But since I promised to decide between the two of you, I'll just have to sacrifice Kiana here..." Mei reluctantly sold Kiana out, tears welling in her eyes.

"Help! I don't want to die yet! Senior Mei, don't abandon me!" Kiana was in full-blown panic mode.

"Don't be afraid, Kiana. Just close your eyes and swallow it down. It'll be over in a blink," Li Xuan coaxed, desperate to avoid being next. 'Better a dead comrade than a poor one.'

'I'm afraid that once I close my eyes, I might never open them again,' Kiana Kaslana thought despairingly. She seemed to see her mother in heaven.

"I'm so sorry," Bronya said. "Though I don't want to save Kiana, letting her die could have unpredictable consequences."

"What consequences?" Mei asked, confused.

"The two Familiars likely appeared because of a strange Honkai Energy emanating from the squid. Their cooking also radiates this energy, and it's spreading as the food's flavor intensifies," Bronya explained anxiously.

"Roar!" Suddenly, a Dead Soldier's roar echoed from behind them.

"What?! Didn't we clear out all the Dead Soldiers?" Li Xuan turned around in surprise. Not far behind them, Dead Soldiers were pouring through the passage Mei had cut with her blade when they first entered.

"Damn it," Li Xuan groaned, rubbing his temples.