Chapter 212: Looking for Trouble
The road back should have been long.
Zephyr had once complained about why a Marine base needed to be built so large. But at this moment, the journey felt far too short.
Because even now, he still had not come up with a strategy to deal with Axel.
"Teacher Zephyr, you're back!"
Ain greeted him as soon as she saw him.
"Mm."
Zephyr responded in a low voice.
Ain immediately noticed that something was wrong.
In the past, although Teacher Zephyr was not someone who showed much emotion, there was always a spark of vitality in his voice. This time, however, he sounded strangely listless.
"Teacher Zephyr, did something happen?"
"It's all because of that brat Axel."
"Eh?" Ain blinked. "Did Axel do something wrong?"
"Not exactly," Zephyr said. "It's just a matter of arranging his work."
Zephyr would not pass his troubles onto his students, so he only gave a simple explanation.
"Oh."
Ain seemed to half-understand.
"If it's about arranging work, why don't you just ask Axel directly, Teacher Zephyr?"
If that brat were willing to cooperate obediently, would I be this troubled?
Zephyr thought that to himself, but did not say it aloud.
The problem was precisely that Axel always liked to go against the grain. That was what made things difficult.
And Zephyr, who took pride in justice, could not bring himself to force the matter.
In short, everything would have to wait until he asked first.
"Where is Axel now?"
"He's at the cafeteria."
Zephyr looked puzzled.
The cafeteria?
It was still far too early for lunch.
What was he doing there?
...
At the training camp cafeteria.
"Stop it right now!"
The surrounding chefs shouted in unison, but they only dared to shout from the side.
Not one of them dared to step forward.
Because the person who had tried to stop him earlier was already slumped on the ground not far away, groaning softly.
At the center of the chaos was a white-haired child.
It was none other than Axel.
At this moment, he was wreaking havoc on the kitchenware, messing around with things no one could understand.
The chefs could not figure out what he was doing either, but they knew one thing clearly.
Axel was currently using their precious kitchenware.
That alone made their hearts ache.
Where had this little demon king come from?
Why did he have to come and torment them?
The Marine soldiers responsible for chores nearby also stood off to the side, watching the scene unfold.
At that moment, Zephyr walked in from outside and asked one of the spectating Marines, "What's going on?"
"Ah!"
The Marine soldier was startled the instant he turned around and saw Zephyr.
After all, he had been slacking off while on duty. Seeing a superior officer naturally made him panic.
But he quickly reacted and immediately answered, "Instructor Zephyr! After that kid arrived, he said the food the chefs made was terrible, then drove them out. Judging from what he's doing now, it seems he's preparing to cook something himself."
Zephyr frowned.
What was this brat messing with now?
Why had he suddenly started cooking for no reason?
Without thinking too much about it, Zephyr waved his hand, signaling for the Marine to leave.
The soldier looked as if he had received a pardon and quickly slipped away.
As for the other chore-duty Marines, they had already scattered like startled birds.
Zephyr walked up to the window and saw Axel standing on a kitchen counter, handling a wok with one hand while holding ingredients in the other, tinkering with something inside.
A young child standing on a kitchen counter like that looked rather ridiculous.
"What are you doing?" Zephyr asked directly.
The chefs immediately greeted him when they saw him.
"Instructor Zephyr."
Seeing Zephyr speak to the troublemaking child that way, they realized the two likely knew each other. They said nothing more and yielded the space to Zephyr, while a few others carried the injured chef away.
Axel looked up and saw Zephyr.
"What else would I be doing?" he replied. "Cooking."
Zephyr was stunned.
"I can see that you're cooking. I'm asking why you're cooking."
Axel looked at him as if the answer should have been obvious.
"It's all your fault. Why did you hire these chefs? The food is even worse than when I was here before. So I'm trying it myself."
"For a Marine, any place can become a battlefield," Zephyr said with conviction. "There may even be situations where no food is available. For that reason, you should start adapting now."
Axel pierced through his argument without mercy.
"Then why was the food decent before? Isn't it just a funding issue?"
Although the Seven Warlords system had brought a degree of balance to the seas, many previous problems had also been exposed.
Budget deficits.
Damages.
Reconstruction.
All of these required funds.
Everything was waiting to be rebuilt, and what the Marines lacked most was money.
Daily expenses had to be cut.
Axel had noticed that from the moment he arrived at Marineford.
And Zephyr had led by example. He had broken up the original chef teams and scattered them to various Marine bases, keeping only a group of ordinary chefs to ensure the soldiers had enough nutrition.
But for Axel, whose palate had long since been spoiled, the cooking skills of these chefs were terrible.
It was food made purely for nutrition, barely reaching the level of edible.
How could he eat that?
So he started tinkering himself.
Having the truth exposed, Zephyr felt his face heat up slightly.
Even so, he maintained his stern, cold expression, doing his best not to lose face in front of others.
"Cough... get down here. I have something to tell you."
"No. Wait until I finish the food first."
"You know how to cook?" Zephyr asked in surprise.
In his impression, aside from insane training, Axel had only two habits.
Eating and sleeping.
This kid was the type who expected food to be brought to him. Zephyr had never seen him touch cooking even once.
Could anything he made actually be edible?
"Isn't cooking simple?" Axel said. "Just incorporate calculation formulas into the cooking process and follow them strictly. Then you can make delicious food."
Zephyr had no idea what this kid was talking about.
But since it was only cooking, he could wait.
At worst, the kitchen would be torn apart.
But when he thought of the nearly empty treasury, Zephyr suddenly felt a little melancholic.
A short while later, the aroma of food spread out.
Zephyr could not help thinking, Does this kid really know how to cook?
"It's ready. Try it."
Axel brought over a plate of bright, fresh-looking food made with meat, along with white jade radishes carved with the help of his ability.
It had color.
It had aroma.
As for taste, that remained to be seen.
Zephyr picked up a piece and tried it.
The rich flavor of the meat spread through his mouth.
With just one small piece, he could tell it was better than what those chefs made.
The food those chefs prepared was merely something to fill the stomach.
Axel's dish actually made him want to keep eating.
He really made this.
This brat is something else.
That was what Zephyr thought.
But what he said was, "It's passable. But your main task is still training. Strength is the most important thing."
Axel ignored him and pointed to a small piece of gelatinous food at the center of the dish.
"You haven't eaten this part yet."
"Is there something special about it?"
"Yeah. It has about ten times the nutrition of ordinary food."
"Ten times?"
Zephyr was astonished.
Would that not mean such a small piece of food could satisfy a soldier's nutritional needs?
Regardless of whether it tasted good or bad, this was revolutionary food.
Under Axel's direction, Zephyr picked up one of the small pieces and put it in his mouth.
In the next instant, his entire face looked like it was about to explode.
Zephyr spat out the thing he had just eaten and shouted wildly, "Water! Water!"
After running around in a panic and tossing about for quite some time, he finally recovered.
"Brat, are you trying to kill me?" Zephyr roared. "What on earth did you put in that thing?"
Axel looked indifferent.
"Nothing much. Just ordinary minced meat mixed with fruit jam, Hell Red Orchid Chili, ordinary salt, and Catfish Sauce for nutrition, since it contains substances needed by the human body. Then I also added..."
"Enough!"
Zephyr cut him off sharply.
"I'm afraid the soldiers would be killed on the spot by this poison before their nutritional needs are met."
"Dark cuisine," Axel said calmly. "Aside from being hard to eat, its nutrition should be excellent."
Then he changed the topic as if nothing had happened.
"Anyway, what did you want to see me about?"
Zephyr said directly, "I want you to stay at this Marine base and help me train the recruits."
"I agree."
"What?"
Zephyr stared at him in disbelief.
The problem he had thought would be so difficult had been solved that easily?
Then had all his worrying been for nothing?
.....
https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]