Sylvester held up an open palm toward March 7th and said, "Close enough. You guessed fifty percent correctly."
"Oh." March 7th eased up a little.
So it wasn't a sword manual, but it was still something combat-related. Like that [Ayanami Grace Gossamer Steps] earlier—definitely not a useless item.
She asked calmly, "Is it a movement technique?"
Sylvester let out a long 'eh~~' and waved his hand in denial. "How could it be a movement technique? That'd miss the mark by the full remaining fifty percent."
He held the paper with his left hand and pointed with his right, speaking seriously: "Because the word 'manual' was half correct, this is… a recipe!"
"Ahem." March 7th took a breath. "So the part I got right was just the word 'manual'? I thought it was because it was similar in nature!"
Was this really how probability worked? By that logic, did Master Yanqing and Miss Qingque share twenty-five percent similarity?
She felt as if her brain had swung on a hellish pendulum—spinning 359 degrees, just one degree away from completing the circle—only to suddenly reverse direction back along the same path.
A breath stuck in her throat until she coughed it out.
"Don't underestimate it just because it's a recipe."
Sylvester's tone grew solemn. "This dish is called [Adeptus' Temptation]. It's said that when adepti catch its scent, they descend willingly just for a taste."
"And it can temporarily boost one's strength tremendously. It's a top-tier medicinal cuisine! Many powerful figures wish they could eat it constantly, just to maintain its effects permanently."
"A dish can be that powerful?"
March 7th was impressed.
So delicious—wait, no—sostrong?
Training these past few days had been rough. She'd been wanting to find a place to indulge herself properly.
But despite her excitement, she still hesitated. "If it's that good, the difficulty of making it must be extremely high, right?"
There was nobody skilled in cooking aboard the Express. A dish this great, if it could only sit in her mind taunting her, might as well not exist.
"Of course not!" Sylvester replied with a laugh. "Only the highest-tier DeliciousAdeptus' Temptation requires manual preparation. As long as you put the ingredients listed in the recipe into the Omni-Synthesizer, you can create a NormalAdeptus' Temptation with zero effort."
"And this also avoids the tragic outcome of failing and getting a SuspiciousAdeptus' Temptation instead."
"That's really convenient."
Hearing that she could mass-produce it via synthesizer made March 7th beam.
Nothing makes people happier than good food.
"Hehe, even though I didn't get a sword manual, I still got something great."
"But you only have four pulls left," Stelle reminded from the side, not without concern.
"It's fine! The fact that my pulls are getting more diverse only proves that my luck is getting better!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she went straight back to picking trash cans.
"I hope so…"
Stelle rubbed her forehead anxiously. It wasn't that she was unwilling to let March spend the money—Penacony, the Star of Festivities, was one of the richest planets in the universe, and five percent of its stock didn't seem like much, but it was enough to outright purchase many lower-tier or uninhabited worlds.
Still, watching such enormous sums evaporate one draw at a time—her heart was definitely not calm.
"I've always been known for my luck!"
March 7th said indignantly as she grabbed two more cans and opened them.
But the moment the light shot out, her expression soured.
Green. Two greens!
March 7th could hardly bear to look.
Did they have to embarrass her like this? She'd just finished bragging about her luck!
At this rate, she might have trouble believing the trash cans were actually inanimate objects!
Otherwise how could they hit her timing so precisely?
When the glow faded, two items landed on the counter with enough weight to make a resonant buzz.
One was a bottle filled with milky-white liquid, clearly hand-filled rather than machine-sealed.
The second was a large wooden box with a hollow metal cylinder embedded in the center of its front. Its function was a mystery.
Sylvester stared at the drink for a second—its drop rate seemed a bit too high.
Maybe it was because it matched the trash cans' nature so well?
Fortunately, he didn't have to drink it himself.
He pointed to the wooden box. "This is the oldest form of [Daguerreotype Camera]. Very simple in principle, but the clarity is extremely limited."
Then he pointed to the drink. "This is [Mung Bean Soda], a specialty beverage of the Luofu. If you go to Aurum Alley and ask what best represents the Luofu, the gourmets there will most likely say this."
"Oh!" March 7th's eyes lit up. "A signature specialty of the Luofu? Perfect! Saves me the trouble of exploring!"
She had only just arrived on the Xianzhou when she got caught in the competition between Yanqing and Yunli. Her half-finished sightseeing plans had nearly been stillborn.
She didn't expect that her first proper stop would turn out to be this little shop.
The daguerreotype camera might no longer be useful, but it would make a fine addition to her camera collection.
As for the mung bean soda… haha.
"Tonight we celebrate my big haul. A proper feast! Adeptus' Temptation paired with Mung Bean Soda—what do you think?"
She proposed energetically, eyes shining as she looked at her companions.
"Uh…"
Yanqing and Yunli did not respond with the delight she expected—instead, their faces were full of resistance.
Yanqing spoke with difficulty. "Miss March… perhaps we should be cautious."
"Yes, little March. It's not that we're unwilling." With things so dire, Yunli stepped forward to support Yanqing and stop March 7th's reckless idea. "It's just that we're afraid the Adeptus' Temptation would refuse."
Even though they hadn't eaten it before, they at least had a basic understanding.
Putting those two items on the same table—wouldn't the Adeptus' Temptation cry?
"I actually think drinking that sounds great."
"?"
Yanqing and Yunli turned to the source of the voice, finding Stelle standing there, arms crossed, speaking with utmost seriousness.
"I've had a [Blazing Mung Bean Soda]. The flavor—now that was something unforgettable. Just sniffing it packs a punch! Absolutely authentic."
As she spoke, she made a big rotating gesture in the air with one arm before giving a decisive thumbs-up.
"Trailblazer, I know your tastes are always… unique," Yanqing said, trying to remain dignified, though he couldn't stop himself from biting down hard on the word unique. "But I still advise you to be merciful."