Regardless of the outcome, and whether Kiana actually learned any techniques, the main point was—this long ordeal was finally over!
Shu really wanted to throw his arms up and cheer like Kiana.
But he didn't. Firstly, he genuinely lacked the energy. Secondly, he felt such actions, born purely from mood, were unnecessary. What he needed more right now was a good rest.
"Shu, aren't you going to eat a little with us?" Mei looked puzzledly at Shu standing in the distance and waved him over.
"Yeah! Shu, you haven't eaten either!" Kiana's mouth was already stuffed full. Cheeks bulging, she waved along with Mei.
Shu paused for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.
"Never mind... I need sleep more right now..."
"Won't you wake up hungry in the middle of the night if you sleep on an empty stomach?" Kiana was greatly surprised. There were actually people in this world who would choose to go to sleep hungry?!
"Not really..." Shu sighed, then waved goodbye to the group and walked alone towards the elevator.
"Uh..." Kiana swallowed the food in her mouth, looked at the food Mei had brought, then glanced back at the messy training ground.
"Could it be... my cooking was so bad... that Shu lost his appetite?" Kiana wondered aloud.
...
In the middle of the night, in a small corner apartment on basement level 9, Shu groggily opened his eyes in the darkness.
The ceiling of basement level 9 simulated the outside starry sky. Artificial moonlight shone through the window, bringing a faint glow to the dark room.
Shu kept his eyes half-open, staring at the pitch-black ceiling for a long time. He slowly raised his hand, reaching straight towards the ceiling, fingers spread.
The blurry outline of his five fingers made Shu instinctively narrow his eyes. Darkness and his body seemed to merge in his vision. He frowned slightly and let his hand drop, deflated.
With that, Shu was fully awake.
He rubbed his aching head and sat up in bed. He raised his hand, intending to make the curtains close automatically, paused, then got out of bed and walked over to the curtains himself.
Kiana was right; he had woken up hungry in the middle of the night.
Fortunately, the place he lived now wasn't the dorm on basement level 4, but a small, three-story detached house he occupied alone.
Opposite this small house was a large, five-story villa where Kiana and the others now lived.
Only a narrow alley separated the two buildings. Shu could still see the rooms opposite through his window.
However, without squinting, Shu couldn't clearly see what was happening across the way, only a faint glimmer of light coming from the room directly opposite his.
Shu sighed, drew the curtains, fumbled in the dark towards the hallway where the opposite house couldn't be seen, and only then turned on the light.
He could see their lights; turning his on late at night would affect them too.
This small villa was fully equipped. Even the refrigerator was stuffed with various canned goods and easily storable foods, even fruits and eggs, along with beer occupying more than half the fridge space.
He didn't know if Otto had arranged this. After looking for a moment, Shu casually took a packet of dried noodles, a few small green vegetables, and some seasoning from the fridge.
He didn't touch the eggs. The base's animal and plant farming area still needed some time to be set up, probably in the next couple of days... Shu would need to bring the Key of Evolution then to provide the initial animal and plant species.
He'd add an egg for himself once those issues were truly resolved.
Holding a handful of noodles, he stood idly by the stove, waiting for the water to boil.
After zoning out for nearly two minutes, bubbles started forming in the pot. Shu calmly added the green vegetables and dried noodles to the hot water.
Splashing hot water landed on Shu's wrist, but he didn't reflexively pull his hand back. He didn't even notice it happen, instead slowly stirring the noodles in the pot with chopsticks.
The heat from the steam wasn't an issue either. Shu mechanically scooped out the noodles, added soy sauce and vinegar, sprinkled some chopped scallions, and then carried the bowl to the dining table.
The dining table wasn't small, easily seating ten people. If squeezed, more than a dozen could fit.
But right now, only Shu sat at this large table, quietly eating the noodles he had cooked himself.
Hmm... plain boiled noodles tasted even worse than Kiana's stir-fried pork... The only reason it was edible was entirely due to the soy sauce, and the fact that Shu was genuinely hungry.
No wonder plain boiled noodles are the standard test for whether someone is truly hungry...
Maybe I should add an egg next time...
Shu thought idly, looking up at the villa.
It was large... revealing an undeniable luxury beneath its simple design.
Through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, under the simulated starlight above, he could see the swimming pool in the yard.
Exquisite sets of wine glasses rested on the coffee table and dining table, along with several beautiful wine bottles displayed in glass cabinets.
On the bookshelves, on the tables... everywhere, it was evident that the previous owner of this villa was a lover of alcohol.
It was these unremoved traces of the former owner that made Shu feel like he wasn't the master here, giving him a sense of being out of place.
He had told Kiana he didn't drink and knew nothing about alcohol.
Even with the most common beer, he could acutely taste that slight bitterness. His first reaction to any alcohol was always—bitter.
But it didn't matter much now, did it...
"Click—"
The refrigerator door opened again. Shu leaned on the door, standing before the fridge for a long time, then reached out and took a can of cold beer.
He was an adult now; having a drink shouldn't be a problem, right?
With this thought, Shu sat back down at the dining table and tentatively opened the beer can.
The sound was somewhat similar to soda, but the fizz was clearly less intense, a lower-pitched sound.
The feel of the cold can wasn't much different from soda either. If he didn't look, Shu might have thought he was holding a can of soda.
In the vast, empty villa, Shu sat at the dining table, quietly observing the beer in his hand, listening to the faint popping sounds of the bubbles bursting within.
The incandescent light couldn't even cast a proper shadow, and the crystal chandelier on the ceiling shattered the lone figure's shadow into countless pieces, scattering them evenly around the only person in the room.
Finally, Shu's hand holding the beer moved. He brought the can to his lips, sniffed it, then calmly took a small sip.
Shu: "…"
He put the beer can down and picked up the bowl of plain noodles he had previously rejected. He now felt the few drops of soy sauce in the noodles were so delicious, the few strands of green vegetable so pleasing to the eye.
He still couldn't handle the bitterness of beer.