Ahem!
In the pitch-black living room, Eden fumbled her way over to sit beside Elysia. As soon as she sat down, she felt Michael's gaze on her, accompanied by an inexplicable chill hanging in the air that made her shiver involuntarily.
But she simply offered a gentle smile in response, turned, and whispered to Elysia, "Ely, what dish did you prepare?"
For some undisclosed reason, everyone had tacitly agreed beforehand not to reveal what dish they were making. After all, if you announced the name in advance and the final product turned out completely wrong, it would be rather embarrassing...
But if you didn't announce the name, you had creative freedom – meaning, after plating a pile of indescribable matter, you could freely invent an unprecedented name for it.
For example, the dish Elysia prepared was called: "Miss Pink Elf♪'s Love! How about it, Eden? Isn't that a lovely name?"
Despite the slightly strained smile, despite the twitching muscles in her cheeks, Elysia bravely faced reality, her tone even holding a hint of seeking praise.
And Eden, as kind as ever... she never discouraged anyone. Besides, the name was indeed very much in Elysia's style; in fact, everyone probably could have guessed Elysia would choose such a name.
"It's a very nice name. It sounds like a dessert?"
Pfft! Michael awkwardly covered his mouth. He had personally witnessed the entire creation process of "Miss Pink Elf♪'s Love."
He had also witnessed Elysia, in her quest to make this "Love" even sweeter, squeeze out more than three times the normal amount of cream and slather on twice the usual strawberry jam. This resulted in the underlying cake base being too small to support the whole structure, causing it to collapse multiple times.
"So, Ely, why not just use less cream and jam?"
"Ah! How could I! Elysia's love must be big and beautiful! And super sweet!"
"Then... why not use a larger cake base?"
"Er... well... um... Okay, when I ordered the cake bases from logistics, I ordered the wrong size... Luckily, I anticipated failure, so I ordered several extra bases!"
"But, Ely..."
"What is it?"
"That was the last one you just used."
"Ah— Ah— Ah! But there's only this one left, where did the failed ones go?"
"Aren't they in your stomach?"
Their conversation went something like that.
So, despite the beautiful gift box Elysia was currently holding – constructed by Michael using his powers – what lay inside was... at Michael's suggestion, a cake ultimately shaped like a cute pile of poop...
In reality, because there was so much cream and strawberry jam, the cake initially couldn't even maintain the poop shape. Its current form was the result of Michael's combined efforts using both wind and ice powers.
Therefore, the chill Eden felt was genuinely just the effect of those two powers; there was no other meaning intended.
"What about you, Michael? Can you tell us about your dish?" Michael's muffled laughter successfully caught Eden's attention. She shifted her gaze to him, asking with a teasing smile.
"I made a plate of Olivier salad," Michael replied, looking quite confident. "I originally wanted to make longevity noodles, but after discussing it with Hua, we decided it was better for her, being from Divine Land, to make them— Thankfully Kevin didn't choose noodles this time, otherwise Hua would have had to knead dough for steamed buns instead."
Although Olivier salad itself is quite... simple to make, the difficulty of the dish doesn't necessarily correlate with culinary skill. Making a simple dish taste delicious is, in itself, a demonstration of skill.
Okay... actually, as long as you cook all the ingredients for Olivier salad properly and mix them with mayonnaise, unless the ingredients are undercooked / you forget the salt / you add way too much mayonnaise, it's generally impossible for it to taste bad.
Besides, the latter half of his sentence deeply wounded Su, who was sitting opposite him. Also being from Divine Land, since Hua was already making longevity noodles and Su didn't know how to make longevity peaches (shoutao buns), he ended up just dyeing the extra eggs he grabbed from the cafeteria that morning red with food coloring, euphemistically calling them "Joy Eggs."
"Speaking of which, you keep asking about our dishes, what about you, Eden?"
"My apologies, I don't really know how to cook," Eden confessed gracefully. "I simply prepared a glass of bitter melon juice for Mei, following my usual habits – it clears heat, detoxifies, stimulates the appetite, and soothes the throat..."
"Oh, my dear Eden..." Elysia interjected gently.
"What is it?"
"Did you add honey to the bitter melon juice?"
"...No."
---||---
"Get ready! Mei's coming!" Kevin thought silently. His thought was instantly captured by the mental communication network Michael had established and transmitted into everyone's mind in the room.
Standing outside the door, Kevin heard a sudden flurry of tables and chairs scraping inside, along with someone coughing continuously.
And a heart-wrenching shriek: "Ahhh! Hua, you stepped on my tail!"
"S... Sorry..."
But Kevin didn't care about that anymore. The intermittent tap-tap sound of footsteps echoed from the stairwell. Perhaps an ordinary sound to others, but Kevin instantly recognized Mei's gait.
Different weights, heights, and walking styles all produce unique footstep sounds. Setting aside other factors, this particular pattern – walking two steps, pausing for a few seconds – was unique to Mei among everyone in Fire Moth.
She often pondered secondary issues while walking. Because it was easy to misstep and fall when lost in thought on stairs, she would consciously stop whenever she grasped a certain train of thought, finishing her thinking before continuing, to prevent injury.
Soon, Mei's figure appeared at the top of the stairs. Kevin immediately waved at her.
"Eh? Your training finished so early today?" It was not even 4 PM yet; normally, MANTIS training wouldn't be over.
On any other day, Mei wouldn't have finished her work this early either. But today was special. Before she could even make adjustments, Prometheus had already altered her schedule, distributing a large chunk of her work over the next half-month.
"Er, Mei, what are you carrying?" Kevin asked, noticing the bags in her hands.
"Some japonica rice and glutinous rice."
Seeing Kevin's face instantly turn pale, Mei scratched her head sheepishly and explained with a smile, "I learned from last time; sushi made with purely plain rice doesn't taste good. Authentic pearl rice is unavailable because the Far East became a no-man's-land after the Third Eruption, and the logistics department wouldn't procure it anyway, so I settled for the next best thing... Also, relax, I won't add wasabi this time."
She had been thinking that training ended at 6 PM. Kevin surely wouldn't forget her birthday and likely wouldn't eat at the cafeteria. So, she planned to redeem herself by making sushi again, definitely without wasabi this time. Even if it wasn't delicious, it probably wouldn't be terrible... probably...
She hadn't expected Kevin to be back already. Had he taken leave from training? But MANTIS leave records were uploaded to the system; she hadn't received any notification. Either Michael approved it privately, or Prometheus marked the record as 'read' upon upload.
"You guys..." Mei pushed up her glasses with a wry smile, not pursuing the matter.
Kevin seized the opportunity to take the ingredients from her hands, making her feel even more embarrassed. "Maybe... we should just have noodles today..."
Mei fiddled with the hem of her lab coat. She had spent several days of her free time analyzing the previous wasabi sushi disaster and had come up with a brand-new plan – chopped chili sushi. Now, the chopped chili sushi plan was dead before it even started, leaving her slightly disgruntled.
But she also understood that the fragility of the human species meant no one could be perfect in every field; true polymaths didn't exist.
Take Mobius and Vill-V, for example. One specialized in biochemistry, the other focused on various mechanics. Both had reached the pinnacle in their respective fields – even Mei, who frequently had to deal with the troubles they caused, had to admit this.
But this very "specialization" and "focus" inherently meant the concept of a "polymath" was merely praise given by others.
Of course, many in Fire Moth privately said Mei was the true polymath, like a combination of Mobius and Vill-V, proficient in everything, and without their predecessors' madness.
If not for her administrative and leadership duties consuming her energy, her scientific achievements would have long surpassed Mobius's.
But even that was just being a polymath within the realm of science.
Her schedule had always been packed too tightly, working non-stop every minute. Now, with a rare moment of leisure, her thoughts drifted far away. It wasn't until Kevin took her hand and led her to the apartment door that her mind returned to the present.
A faint blush crept onto her cheeks. Fortunately, Kevin was preoccupied with swiping his card to open the door and didn't see her expression.
Also, because of this slight distraction, she failed to notice the faint, indistinct sounds of shuffling breaths and whispers coming from behind the door.
Click—
The metal door slid open sideways. Darkness, tinged with a wave of heat, greeted her. Mei felt something was wrong – she had definitely opened the curtains before leaving that morning...
But Kevin, unusually assertive for once, gently pulled her into the room.
Before the door behind her fully closed, Mei heard a loud BANG! Something reflecting faint light showered onto her head and face. Simultaneously, from all around her, from the darkness before her, a chorus erupted—
"HAP—PY— BIRTH—DAY—"
"Wooohoooo—"
The lights flared on, not just blindingly bright but also making her feel dizzy.
Colorful confetti from the party poppers clung to her hair. Of course, Kevin beside her was similarly adorned.
As the afterimage from the bright lights faded from Mei's vision, she turned to look at Kevin. He was scratching his head, grinning foolishly from ear to ear.
On either side of the doorway, Pardofelis and Hua each held an empty party popper... er, Pardo's tail was also wrapped around one.
The living room, which Mei usually found too spacious, felt incredibly crowded at this moment—
Directly facing her on the sofa, little Griseo was being held aloft by Blanka and Ato, one on each side. She waved her arms, her eyes curved into crescents, shouting "Happy birthday," her flailing limbs looking remarkably like Pardo's.
Kosma leaned against the wall near the sofa, constantly pursing his lips.
His gaze flickered towards Griseo, seemingly worried she might fall; then towards Mei, offering a look of blessing; then he helplessly turned away from Dystopia's long hair tickling his cheek – Dystopia had an arm around his neck, waving her other hand and shouting "Happy birthday."
In front of the TV, Vill-V and Mobius hastily shouted "Happy birthday" towards the doorway before immediately resuming their usual bickering.
Behind them, at the large round table, Su stood up from his chair. Even though his eyes remained closed, the smile couldn't be hidden. "Happy birthday," his voice was calm as still water, much like his friendship with Kevin.
Opposite him, Michael and Elysia leaned back in their chairs, waving in unison, shouting "Happy birthday." Then Michael, wearing the cat-ear cap, glanced at Elysia, said something, and quickly had his ear twisted. The cap fell to the floor as he threw his hands up in surrender.
Eden, her cheeks already flushed with wine, watched the playful pair with a radiant smile. She suddenly remembered herself, stood up, raised her wine glass towards Mei, and wished her "Happy birthday" in her heavenly voice.
As she stood, she accidentally bumped into Himeko beside her. Himeko was tilting her head back, determined to drain her glass in one go.
Startled, some wine spilled down her cheek, but she still finished the drink in two or three seconds before drunkenly standing up and slurring, "Happy birthday." Having said that, her foot slipped, and she nearly collapsed, but Sakura caught her just in time. This left Sakura unable to wave, so she could only offer Mei an apologetic smile, mouthing the words: "Happy birthday!"
Simultaneously, she subtly shifted her body, nudging Kalpas, who stood leaning against the corner wall with his arms crossed, with her scabbard.
"Hmph!" The masked man turned his face away, reluctantly muttering something. It was too noisy; Mei couldn't hear clearly, but it was undoubtedly "Happy birthday."
Following his gaze, Mei saw Evangeline pulling Aldemir into the most inconspicuous corner. Seeing Mei look over, Evangeline quickly pulled him to his feet.
Aldemir seemed a bit reserved; although everyone here knew each other, aside from Himeko and himself, everyone else was a MANTIS, making the situation slightly awkward. But this didn't stop him and Evangeline from wishing her in unison, arm-in-arm: "Happy birthday!"
Except for Aponia, who couldn't get away, everyone was here.
The sudden, overwhelming flood of good wishes caught Mei completely off guard. She froze, stunned. Although she had suspected something when she saw the dark room... no, ever since she saw Kevin back so early, when this moment actually happened, she didn't know how to react.
Despite her usual confident demeanor when issuing orders, fundamentally, she wasn't much different from the quiet, introverted girl Kevin had first met.
She had faced much larger, more intense situations, but regarding birthdays... in the very beginning, it was just her alone. Later, it was her and Kevin together. At most, she received gifts if she happened to run into others on the day itself.
Receiving so many birthday wishes all at once like this... this was a first.
In this respect, Michael and Kevin were no different from her. Perhaps most people, faced with such a scene, would hesitate just as she did. Even Elysia, probably, wouldn't be an exception.
So... what was one supposed to do in this situation?
Mei subtly cast a pleading glance towards Kevin, but that blockhead was just grinning foolishly, offering no guidance whatsoever. Or perhaps, he himself was stunned by the scene he had orchestrated, completely forgetting what came next.
Truthfully, before the Third Honkai Eruption, such a gathering would have been considered warm, but certainly not shocking.
But in this world, where everyone was constantly rushing to "save" something, many didn't even have time for a proper afternoon tea, let alone throwing a big celebration for someone's birthday.
In the past six years, there had only been Michael's birthday once, Elysia's once, and Kevin's once, celebrated during the relatively peaceful periods after the Fifth and Seventh Honkai Eruptions. Back then, Mei had just been one of the celebrants.
And the reason there were only these three... was because they were the only ones whose birthdays everyone actually knew. As for the celebratory balls held after each Honkai Eruption, those were less 'celebration' and more 'letting loose'...
Mei took two deep breaths, intentionally putting on a stern face— "The reason I haven't approved the post-Ninth Eruption vacation time yet is because I wanted to use this opportunity to abolish the system altogether, especially since Herrschers are appearing more frequently... But you all! Abandoning your posts for such a trivial matter! What if a Herrscher appears right now..."
That's what she intended to say, but before the words came out, the corners of her lips curled upwards, and her eyes crinkled into a smile.
By the time the words actually emerged, they had transformed into: "Th... Thank you, everyone..."
For the first time in six years, she shyly lowered her head.