While Ye Yuan was still away, Mu Bai spent some time researching her new talent.
**[Cooking Expert]** seemed ordinary enough.
It was only a Blue Talent, yet it allowed her to create food that permanently increased constitution.
Items that could increase basic attributes were incredibly rare.
She had heard of people obtaining them in the Chat Room, but they had never appeared on the market.
However, the requirement for high-quality ingredients was a bit vague…
Earlier, while cooking the porridge, she had felt a sudden insight under the influence of her talent.
She realized that the effect of the refined rice was to increase the speed of stamina recovery.
Based on the description of the talent’s effects, she could infer that foods made with different ingredients should provide different buffs.
After some experimentation, Mu Bai found that the finished ingredients didn’t trigger this psychological intuition; it only happened when she came into contact with the flour.
She wasn’t sure what qualified as high-quality ingredients.
She figured it all depended on the judgment of **[Cooking Expert]**.
Still, this talent wasn’t entirely useless for now.
Within the environment of the Train, being able to eat better-tasting food was also helpful for maintaining a healthy mental state.
The rice porridge was ready.
Even though Mu Bai’s only contribution from start to finish had been rinsing the rice and putting it into the rice cooker, the talent had indeed played a role.
Not only did it taste better than usual, but the aroma of the rice was rich and the texture was smooth.
She could even feel her spirits lift slightly after it hit her stomach.
A warm current flowed through her body via the porridge, easing much of the fatigue from adventuring in the Station all night.
After finishing her bath, Ye Yuan returned to the main carriage wearing her washed and dried uniform.
Mu Bai picked up Ye Yuan’s lunch box, poured the remaining half of the porridge into it, and placed it on the small table in front of her.
The table and the small stools they were sitting on had been obtained from a previous Station.
The carriage was relatively spacious now, with enough room for a table and chairs.
To avoid dirtying the beds, the two of them always ate at the table.
“Try it and see,” Mu Bai said, blinking.
Since she had cooked it herself, she naturally had a bit of a bias.
She wanted to see how Ye Yuan felt about it to confirm if the talent’s effects were truly that obvious.
Ye Yuan didn’t say anything.
Under the little white-haired one’s gaze, she took a sip of the porridge, savored it carefully, and then swallowed.
“It’s very good…”
Perhaps feeling that her response was a bit cold, Ye Yuan added, “It tastes much better than before.”
“That’s good. It seems my new talent’s effect is quite decent.”
Mu Bai nodded in satisfaction and went back to her porridge.
The porridge was a bit hot, so she had to take it one sip at a time.
After finishing, she waited quietly for Ye Yuan to finish as well before taking both of their tins away to wash them.
Ye Yuan sat back on the bed, dazed as she listened to the sound of water coming from the other carriage.
She raised her hand and pressed it against her chest.
She felt as if her chest were being filled with a certain emotion.
While they were at the Station, Mu Bai had inevitably interacted with people other than her for the sake of cooperation.
Ye Yuan hadn’t said anything on the surface, but her heart was filled with complex emotions.
There was happiness because such a well-liked Mu Bai belonged to her and was her inseparable teammate.
But there was also a source of irritation that she didn’t want to admit — a feeling she couldn’t explain.
It came from seeing Mu Bai, who was so close to her, being just as friendly with others.
She was reluctant to see Mu Bai acting so close to other people, but Mu Bai was an independent individual, not her property.
She had no standing to express such reluctance.
However, once they returned to the Train, that feeling vanished, and things went back to the way they were.
She was Mu Bai’s only teammate.
So, feeling Mu Bai’s tenderness intended only for her and sensing the tacit understanding between them, Ye Yuan was very satisfied.
That’s right, she was Mu Bai’s only teammate — an existence that could never be separated from her.
Living in the same room and depending on each other — they were practically family!
Ye Yuan, who hadn’t felt the warmth of family in a long time, deeply cherished this relationship that surpassed ordinary friendship.
A few minutes later.
Seeing Mu Bai return after washing the tins, Ye Yuan, sitting on the bed, patted the edge of the mattress, signaling for her to come and sleep.
Mu Bai:
“…”
The sudden role reversal was a bit hard to get used to.
‘Why does it feel like the meaning behind this invitation is a bit too easy to misinterpret?’
***
Five days later.
Mu Bai crawled out from under the covers.
It was nearly 5:00 AM, about an hour away from the next Station.
She first moved the materials she had obtained from the Trading Area to the Material Stacking Area and then started preparing breakfast.
Lately, perhaps due to the influence of the Trial Station, players were somewhat reluctant to go out.
Consequently, the value of water resources had rebounded, and she could still trade for upgrade materials with relatively high efficiency.
Furthermore, the difficulty of the Stations they encountered had significantly increased.
They had even come across a **Level 4 Extreme Cold Doomsday Station** once.
Because it was too cold outside to move at all, that was the only time they had skipped a Station.
Over the past five days, the two of them had collected a lot of construction resources and even opened a Bronze Treasure Box.
Inside were two Train Coins and a pill similar to the one they had given to Tang Shifu and the others.
Its effect was to increase Strength by 2 points and Agility by 2 points, but unfortunately, there was only one.
After Ye Yuan took it, her physical fitness reached the average level of an adult.
Now, relying solely on physical techniques, Ye Yuan didn’t even fear ordinary survivors.
While she was boiling the rice porridge, she suddenly received a private message.
She opened it and saw it was from Tang Shifu.
Tang Shifu: **[I’ve sent the Weapon Strike Fist to you via private trade. Remember to collect it.]**
Mu Bai: **[You’ve already learned it?]**
Tang Shifu: **[What can I say? I’ve been practicing martial arts since I was a kid. To be honest, my martial arts talent isn’t any worse than Ye Yuan’s… Although I’ve only just scratched the surface, one day I’ll surpass her level of mastery!]**
Mu Bai: **[Since Ye Yuan already knows the Weapon Strike Fist, why are you still giving the manual to us? I almost forgot about this.]**
Tang Shifu: **[That won’t do. It’s called the spirit of the contract. If you can’t use it, you can always trade it.]**
Mu Bai thought about it. That was true.
The strategic significance of the **[Weapon Strike Fist]** was undeniable.
It would be a waste to sell it cheaply, but nobody would buy it if it were too expensive, much like the handgun from before.
Train Coins had started appearing on the trading market now, but the markups were severe.
She figured not many people would be willing to exchange Train Coins for a manual of unknown strength.
‘Well… it’s still a good item. Sooner or later, there will be a day when I can sell it.’
Tang Shifu: **[By the way, how did you use that Talent Upgrade Scroll?]**
Mu Bai: **[The scroll can only upgrade talents below Gold rank, so I used it.]**
Tang Shifu: **[So that’s how it is… The pill I have here is called a Dragon Tiger Pill. Its effect is to increase Strength and Constitution by 3 points. Unfortunately, the appraisal says it can’t be used repeatedly. Otherwise, if I could get more later, my talent would be invincible OvO]**
Mu Bai: **[Congratulations.]**
Tang Shifu: **[Yup. Remember to contact us next time you enter a Slaughter Station. Maybe we can cooperate again~]**
Mu Bai: **[Got it. It was a pleasure working with you.]**
She closed the System Interface.
“Yuan-yuan, wake up. The rice porridge is ready.”
Mu Bai woke Ye Yuan.
If they didn’t eat breakfast now, they wouldn’t have enough time to prepare for going out.