Zhejiang and Enterprise (Book One)

Flash-Point: Part Two

I awaken to the sound of voices. Sitting up, I'm immediately aware of the pain rippling through my stomach. It's a familiar feeling. I'm hungry. Sitting up, I immediately capture the attention of both Admiral Liang and Captain Xiao who both rush over. 

Liang: How are you feeling?

I open my mouth to speak but my voice is hoarse and barely comes out at all. Why's my throat so dry? Seemingly sensing my predicament, and certainly hearing the growl of my stomach soon after, Liang orders a nearby sailor to have the chefs prepare something for me to eat. 

After the sailor leaves, she helps me to my feet but my legs quickly give way. Xiao manages to catch me before I hit the ground however and wastes no time swooping me up into his arms. After making sure I'm secure in his arms, Liang leads us out of the room and down the hallway. Passing sailors are forced to clear the way as we continue towards the mess hall thanks to how I am positioned. As my imagination takes over, I can't help but picture how I must look right now and it causes me to giggle just a bit but the pain quickly cuts my joy in half. 

Sometime later, we make it into the mess hall, garnering all the attention in the room as Xiao all but parades with me to an empty table. As he finally puts me down, some chefs come and place a single plate of food in front of me. I nearly erupt in a fit of laughter at the sight. Such a measly amount of food would probably see me die of starvation seconds after eating it. Still, as I try to lift a serving of the rice, I find that my hands are even too weak to support the weight of the food. 

Liang notices as smiles, taking the dish from me and taking the opportunity to feed me. I can practically feel all the eyes in the room staring at us but after the first few grains of rice hit my tongue, the world vanishes. As she continues feeding me, my body doesn't even wait for the food to hit my stomach before it begins processing it. No, I can practically feel it dissolving in my mouth. 

The first serving of food is quickly finished but before even I can ask for more, my stomach makes its desires known. There's some laughter from nearby sailors and Liang but she nevertheless asks them to bring more food. To my surprise, the chef brings an entire pot. It's steaming but smells perfect. Liang, thanks the chef who leaves the pot on the table before bowing slightly and returning to his duties. Once he's gone, she shares another serving and begins feeding me once more, taking care to cool it before bring it to my lips. 

Around halfway down the pot, my strength finally returns to me but I keep it hidden to allow Liang to continue feeding me. Having gotten used to it, I find it's actually quite nice to have someone feed you, even if the entire ship is staring at you because of it. 

[System reboot complete. All systems operational.]

The ship jerks violently causing many to go fall off their seats. Liang too comes flying my way but with my strength returned, I easily manage to catch and support both our weights as the ship comes to a halt. 

Xiao: What in the world was that!

Liang: Are you hurt? I'm sorry that I fell on you like that.

Me: It's fine. 

She looks up at me as she pulls away, shock written all over her face. I guess she wouldn't have known that my voice had returned either. It's quite a handy little trick of mine or rather my body. If I am damaged, hurt, low on fuel, etc. all it takes is a good meal and I'll be back to normal. I was a bit sceptical about it at first since I'm essentially a ship eating human food but as it turned out, that's exactly how it works in my case. Having been damaged so many times since arriving in Dragon Empery whether due to accidents or other activities, it became pretty clear pretty quickly.