The Archer (Dr. Stone X OC)

Chapter 20

-Arisa POV-

"Ari!" it was Gen... "Senku has lost it again!"
"What's he going to make this time?" I asked.
"Space food!" he said.

"Heh" I said. "Surprised he didn't think of that earlier"
"Yeah, the two of you are siblings, all right" he sighed and I chuckled.

~

"What's space?" asked Suika.
"It's that place way, way above the sky" said Chrome.
"This is starting to sound exciting again" said Kaseki. "I can't wait!"

"It's just food, though, isn't it?" asked Kohaku.
"Yeah" said Senku. "We're upgrading our favourite foxtail millet ramen to be fit for battle"
"Me! Me! I'll help!" said Ginro. "I want ramen so bad! Especially when Ari makes it!"

"Ginro, what are you trying to say?" said Kinro.
"You jealous?" teased Ginro and Kinro blushed.
"But why do we need this space ramen for battle?" asked Kokuyo. "Ah! We're launching steaming hot ramen at the enemy, correct?"

"Not even close" I said.
"There isn't any gravity in space, let alone the room or time to sit down for a meal" said Senku. "This stuff is quick to prepare and nutritious. It's also small and light. That's the super well thought out, precious food that is space food"

"I see" said Gen. "Tsukasa doesn't want to attack in the winter partly because he wants more men, but..."
"It's a simple problem" said Senku. "In this stone world, a mega cold winter battlefield is hell. But we can overcome that problem with science. A warm, proper meal that we can prepare instantly would give us a ten billion percent advantage. It's the ultimate weapon in a winter battle"

"Warm science food is going to keep us powered up, in both body and spirit!" said Suika.
"Space food sounds amazing!" said Chrome.

"This is the final super item for our attack on the Tsukasa Empire" said Senku. "Let's get started!"
"Leave it to me to make the ramen" I said.
"Yay! Ari's ramen!" said Ginro.

~

I was almost done making a ton of ramen.
I saw Ginro sneaking in to take a bite, but I hit him hard on the head.
"Okay, the ramen's done!" I shouted.

"Now we just need to warm it up in soup" said Suika.
"That won't be necessary" said Senku. "We're freezing it solid"
I chuckled when I saw the shocked faces of everyone.

~

After making an igloo and freezing all the food, we went to check the food after a few days.
"Is this space ramen?" asked Kohaku.
"No, this is just frozen food" I said.

"Oh, you remember, Ari" said Senku.
"Of course" I smiled. "We made space ramen for your dad before he left"
"Now we're going to lighten this to Hell and back so our troops can be even more mobile" said Senku.

"Lighten ramen?" asked Gen. "You don't mean..."
"That's right" said Senku. "We're making cup noodles. It's the birth of freeze-dried food"

~

"We're literally freezing it and then drying it" explained Senku when we were walking back. "That's all it is. When you freeze food, the moisture inside turns to ice"
"Yeah, of course" said Gen. "I get that much"

"Put that in a vacuum, and the lack of air in the environment turns the water... poof! Into vapor" explained Senku. "That dries out the food and makes it super small and light"
"This is all too complicated for me" said Suika.

"How exactly do we do the poof part?" asked Kohaku.
"That's what the maker team's for" smiled Senku.
We arrived at the village.

"It's done!" said Kaseki.
'Isn't he cold without his shirt?'
"Check this out" said Chrome. "We used the waterwheel that we suffered so much to build... to build a freeze drying machine!"