"I..."
At this moment, the word'speechless' was no longer enough to describe Artoria's mood. Looking at the wriggling black liquid before her, Artoria believed that even if she had never been to the Underworld or seen the River Styx, if this unknown object were put up against the Styx's water, it would win by a landslide. Why was she so sure? Because within this pile of unknown matter, she could actually see things that looked like mosaics, exactly like the Elder Gods from the Cthulhu Mythos. Artoria didn't even dare look at the unidentified substance for more than a second, fearing mental pollution. But seeing Gaea standing nearby with a quiet smile—if she didn't know the woman harbored no ill will—Artoria would have thought she was trying to poison her. Galacta also looked at the object in silence. Usually, she didn't care what it was and would dare to eat anything, but seeing this, she felt her stomach protesting and her body trembling.
This was a first. Galacta felt more than just a physical fear of the pile of stuff; even her head was starting to ache. She didn't know why or what the cause was, but this thing was extremely dangerous. She would swear on her own hard teeth that eating this would definitely result in her kicking the bucket.
"What is this, Gaea?"
Although she really wanted to take it out and dump it, Gaea's piercing gaze from behind made Artoria afraid to do so. Artoria closed her eyes, took a breath, and asked Gaea in confusion. What kind of ingredients could create such dark cuisine? it was like a depiction of Hell. When it came to Earth's ingredients, unless it was something like'Stargazy Pie', she had never seen a dish where the ingredients were so indistinguishable. Artoria wanted to know what on Earth could produce such a dish.
"Can't you tell? It's fish soup! Maybe it simmered for a bit too long."
Is'simmering too long' really the issue here? Artoria almost couldn't help but snap that at Gaea. It was her first time seeing such 'fish soup.' You call this pitch-black, bubbling, darkness-emitting stuff 'fish soup'? How can this compare to white, delicious fish soup? Are you sure you're not kidding me? Artoria couldn't help but look at Gaea, who was sitting quietly, with a skeptical gaze. Artoria curled her lip and used a soup spoon to stir the pile of unknown matter. A puff of black smoke rose, and the spoon in Artoria's hand melted instantly, leaving only the handle.
But this did prove it was a bowl of fish soup, because the fish head that had been at the bottom of the bowl slowly floated up. The eyes on the fish head stared directly at Artoria. At that moment, the fish's mouth seemed to twitch, and a vicious intent flickered in its eyes before it sank back down.
"..."
The impact of that scene was too much for Artoria; it was so great she almost flipped the table. What the hell is this? Are you sure it's meant for human consumption? Even if she wasn't an ordinary person, this'specially styled' 'fish soup' made Artoria recoil. Sorry, 'this humble servant cannot do it!' Artoria's face turned pale instantly, her brows furrowed tightly, and her expression was like she had just eaten a super sour lemon. Her stomach hurt.
"I feel... maybe we should go out to eat..."
Seeing what had surfaced in Artoria's bowl, Galacta's face matched Artoria's. She tremblingly raised her fair arm and made a suggestion to Artoria. Just as she was about to say she knew a good restaurant, the look Gaea sent her way made her shut her mouth. *Father, this Planet is so scary! I suddenly want to go home. Earth is too dangerous. As expected, home is more comfortable, but I'd hate to leave Artoria.*
"Then it's settled!"
Hearing Galacta's words, the clever Artoria gave her a look that said, 'Well done, you're a hero, Galacta,' and immediately finalized the decision to go out. Anyway, she had been eating her own chef's food for years; going out for a change of pace was good. Fortunately, Gaea never forcefully interfered with Artoria's decisions. Although her hard-worked-on 'fish soup' wasn't accepted, Gaea didn't blame Artoria. She just stared quietly at Galacta, which terrified the girl. Luckily, Artoria pulled Galacta and Gaea out the door; otherwise, Galacta might have been left with psychological trauma.
"How is it going?"
While Artoria went out to eat with Gaea and Galacta, a group of women who had been neglected for a long time sat together as if holding a secret meeting. They sat facing each other, and Susan was the first to ask. She had been very busy these past two days, handling all the company's affairs to perfection along with Helen Cho and Gwen. But because of this, the three of them had no way to increase their favorability with Artoria. So, they had agreed from the start: whoever could advance their relationship with Artoria would swap places with those busy at the company. Susan was now asking the others about their progress with Artoria.
"I'm very sorry, but we've gained nothing recently. Everyone, I have to say, we are currently facing a situation where we are drifting out of touch with Artoria's life. Please look at the big screen."
Hope said apologetically and took out a remote, directing everyone's attention to the big screen. As the screen turned on, two photos appeared, showing Galacta and Gaea with Artoria. It was unknown where Hope and the others had gotten these. Susan, Gwen, and Helen Cho frowned as they looked at the two pictures. What was going on? Who were these two women? After thinking for a moment, the three of them turned their gaze to Hope, demanding an explanation.
"We don't know how these two women appeared by Artoria's side either. This is a failure on our part, but there's no doubt that these two women are closer to Artoria than we are."
Though she was loath to admit it, some things had to be faced. Hope could only say regretfully that the appearance of these two women had brought their pursuit of Artoria to a dead end. For some reason, it felt like all their actions were being watched. Even though they lived in the same house, even if the house was large, they shouldn't be unable to find her at all. After thinking it over, Hope cast a suspicious gaze on these two women; they were definitely not ordinary people.
"Have you identified them?"
Susan asked curiously. Setting everything else aside, the first step should be to confirm where these two women came from. If they were truly people who liked Artoria, they wouldn't mind too much; after all, there were already quite a few of them, and one or two more wouldn't be particularly hard to accept. But if their identities and motives couldn't be determined, then it meant Hope and the others had indeed failed in their duties—or that these two women's identities were extraordinary.
"I've checked. According to big data screening, these two women do not appear in the database. Clearly, they aren't Inhumans either; we've compared them against known Inhumans. These two women are like they appeared out of thin air."
Regarding Susan's question, Hope had already conducted an investigation, but not a shred of information on these two women could be found. It was as if they had suddenly dropped from the sky. She had also checked the Inhumans, and they simply weren't among them. Both women were very striking in appearance, so they should have been easier to find. Since there was no record, it was likely they were not of Earth.
"Who are you? You are not my brother at all."
While Susan and the others were discussing the two new women, Wanda was currently using her Chaos Energy to choke the 'brother' before her with a fierce expression. She had realized this guy wasn't her brother at all. Soon, the opponent's disguise was seen through, and a green-skinned creature appeared before Wanda. This guy was very unlucky; it had no idea that the person it was impersonating was a powerful ability user with an even more powerful sister. They were Twins, and living together for so long had given them a special tacit understanding. They could understand what the other wanted to say with just a look. This Skrull had clearly messed up the'secret signal' and aroused Wanda's suspicion.
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