Chapter 64

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Chapter 64: Tasty Roast Meat, Juicy Raw Flesh

Though craving cooked meat’s flavor, having already gorged on raw flesh earlier, Lin Yu reluctantly abstained.

Fire-tending duties were delegated to Weak Ants for nightshift rotations.

"Does Mom want fire for roasting meat?"

"Mn."

You know about cooking meat too?

"Will flame-seared raw flesh truly taste better?"

"We’ll test tomorrow."

Though seasonings might improve it, anything beats raw consumption.

"Yes, daughter eagerly awaits tomorrow’s barbecue."

Really?… Your tone sounds utterly devoid of anticipation though.

"But time grows late – let’s retire for rest."

You sound more enthusiastic about sleeping? Why?

Moreover, it’s still early?

Though inclined to refuse, considering nighttime idleness, Lin Yu nodded.

She mounted Red Pupil as both ants returned to the cavern.

The central cave section – formerly the Goblin King and elite goblins’ sleeping quarters – now served as Lin Yu’s cleaned bedroom after thorough purification, ant eggs piled in one corner.

In the middle lay a huge, pitch-black ant.

It was Little Tear, who appeared to have fallen asleep.

Not wanting to disturb her, Lin Yu moved to a spot near the wall where some straw had been piled—a makeshift "bed" she’d asked the Weak Ants to prepare.

After settling into a comfortable position, just as she was about to close her eyes—

A sudden movement flickered before her.

Red Pupil approached, her massive body slowly lowering to encircle Lin Yu protectively, mirroring their earlier position by the stream.

Now the white ant found herself sandwiched between the black giant ant and the cave wall.

"What… are you doing?"

"Only like this can Red Pupil feel safe sleeping with Mommy. Besides… didn’t Mommy say it felt nice before? By the river."

"Yes, it’s… nice."

With that reasoning, refusal became impossible…

But being trapped like this… I’ll probably stay awake! Even if I do sleep, I might have nightmares! You’re too huge!

Ah! Almost forgot something important.

"Were you angry about my injury today?"

"Why would Mommy think that?"

Red Pupil’s honeyed voice carried genuine surprise.

"Then why did you suddenly take Little Tear out?"

"I only wish to grow stronger to protect Mommy better. Any anger is directed at my own weakness. Had Red Pupil been stronger, I could’ve prevented Mommy from… getting hurt."

Hey! You were about to say "acting foolishly," weren’t you?

"Also, Mommy… this forest we’re in seems vast."

Hmph! Trying to divert the conversation? I never forget slights! Mocking Mommy in your thoughts—I’ll remember this!

"It is vast. What of it?"

"If we intend to hunt stronger monsters deeper in the forest, our ant nest network must expand accordingly."

Hmm… True. Otherwise, exploration teams would waste too much time traveling later.

Beyond expanding the Second Ant Nest, Worker Ants will need to construct Third, Fourth… even more nests eventually.

But that’s distant future talk—we’d need a much larger ant population first.

How to increase our numbers? No idea!

"We don’t need to consider that yet."

"Mhm! Do your best, Mommy! Starting tomorrow, I won’t fall behind either. Goodnight, Mommy."

"…Goodnight."

That night, Lin Yu slept exceptionally well beneath Red Pupil’s bulk.

*

The next morning,

a refreshed Lin Yu eagerly led Red Pupil and Little Tear to the cave entrance.

Barbecue time! Barbecue time!

Ants! Bring me ten pounds of roasted meat first! Hah! I’ll feast like royalty!

She assigned grilling duties to a C Qualification Military Ant.

Barbecuing proved delicate for fire-wary ants—their battle against the Goblin Wizard had proven their vulnerability to flames. Directly holding meat over fire with mandibles wasn’t feasible.

Here, the Goblin King’s longsword became instrumental.

They skewered raw meat on the blade, gripping the hilt with mandibles to roast it over flames. Initial attempts saw both sword and meat tumbling into the fire—retrieving the blade revealed charcoal-like lumps.

After multiple tries, success emerged.

The chosen meat came from a mountain deer’s hindquarter, its tender appearance long tempting Lin Yu. When the haunch finally cooked, she eagerly bit into it—

Scalding heat!

The burning sensation forced an involuntary spit-take.

"Not tasty?"

Red Pupil leaned closer.

The white ant hastily shielded her prize.

"Delicious! Just… too hot."

"I didn’t really taste anything, but this roasted piece is mine! Even my daughter can’t easily take my mountain deer meat!"

Lin Yu commanded the Military Ants to continue roasting, then waited for the meat to cool slightly before tearing off a small piece to eat.

*Munch munch…*

Tasty…

Though the flavor was faint… it’s good! And it’s warm food!

Compared to raw meat! So much better!!

Hmm… What’s this warm feeling in my heart…

Lin Yu swiftly devoured the entire hind leg meat.

The two large black ants watched hungrily as she finished. Red Pupil remained composed, but Little Tear’s drool pooled on the ground.

The second piece of deer meat was now roasted by the Military Ants.

"You can have this."

Lin Yu swallowed hard, surrendering the second portion to her daughters.

What seemed a sizable piece to Lin Yu appeared meager for the two ants.

Red Pupil split the meat with her forelimbs, skewering the larger portion and tossing it to Little Tear, who caught it with her mandibles. The smaller piece vanished into Red Pupil’s jaws.

*Crunch crunch…*

"Well?"

Silence lingered.

*Well?! If you dare say it’s bad, you’ll eat raw meat forever!*

"Little Tear prefers raw meat. Roasted isn’t as good."

Eh? Seriously??

"Same here. Unlike Mother, we don’t mind the blood flavor."

I see… If blood doesn’t bother you, juicier raw meat makes sense?

*Just wait till I find seasonings! We’ll see then!*

More roasted meat arrived. Lin Yu hastily grabbed a piece, blowing on it before nibbling.

"Also, Mother. Cooked meat doesn’t increase Experience Value."

"Really?"

"Yes. The identification shows no progress bar growth."

Oh…

No Experience Value from cooked meat…

Feels wasteful.

But mountain deer are low-level anyway – their meat barely gives Experience Value.

Not a big issue!

I’ll just roast low-level monsters… Wait! Then I can’t eat high-level monster meat raw – still wasteful…

To level up fast, I must consume raw meat…

Suddenly, the roasted meat in her mouth lost its savor.