Chapter 46: Section 46 - Magical Beast Xiao Jiu

Words : 1166 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

"Pure Light Sparrow? Grandpa Barut, do you know its breed?" Chen Fei raised his head from the technical manual. He had been unable to identify what kind of bird Xiao Jiu was and worried that this little thing might end up a bachelor. The worry of a father was evident. "Hehe, it's still a magical beast!" Barut chuckled with eyes narrowed. It seemed he found it extremely amusing that this young man was unwittingly rearing a bird-shaped magical beast. Ordinary people hardly ever had the chance to come across a magical beast, let alone a wise one that would willingly become someone else's pet or a utility beast. "Is that true? Hahaha, Xiao Jiu, you're actually a magical beast. You must study hard!" Chen Fei reached out his finger and gently rubbed the little bird's head. If Old Piao knew this news, he'd probably vomit blood to the tune of three liters! The little bird flew agilely onto his hand, pecking around to express its dissatisfaction. What is a magical beast? Can you eat it? Its little brain didn't understand and didn't want to try. All it knew was that it was the master's Xiao Jiu, chirp chirp! Perhaps the crooked merchant Pu Aihua, who had given the egg to Chen Fei, never could have imagined that he had actually found a real magical beast egg near the Aircrew Base in the wilderness. However, whether Xiao Jiu was really a magical beast or not, Chen Fei didn't much care. After a brief moment of surprise, he quickly returned to his usual demeanor, without entering into any emotional turmoil over it. The Neanderthal elder, Barut, watched him with approval in his eyes, nodding secretly. He didn't continue the conversation about Xiao Jiu's identity as a magical beast, instead he reached for another piece of lamb chop with his chopsticks, looked it over, and said with a smile, "These ribs must be your handiwork, right? Chef Abel doesn't have such skill." And Chef Singh, who could only open frozen food packages, was even less likely. The reason he could hold the position of chef at the Aircrew Base was simply because of lower employment costs. His salary definitely couldn't compare with that of Chef Abel, who had real talent in his hands. Chen Fei didn't deny it, and said, "Yeah, I used garlic powder, eggs, salt, cooking wine, Orleans roasted meat seasoning, and fried chicken breading, nothing technically demanding." All readymade ingredients were used: garlic powder and cooking wine to remove any gamey flavor, eggs to tenderize the meat, Orleans roasted meat seasoning to enhance flavor, and fried chicken breading to lock in the moisture, ensuring a pleasing texture. There wasn't much innovation, yet it gave more nuanced flavor layers than Chef Abel's original plan of using black pepper, sweet red wine, onions, basil, and cumin as seasoning. Compared to Abel's method, Chen Fei's approach was more akin to home cooking, with ingredients that were easily found in any common household. "You should be in the kitchen more often, much better than that guy who can only open packages." Barut swallowed the meat and bone in one gulp as usual, showing his satisfaction. Secondly, this place was a warmhouse. It was as warm as spring in winter, very comfortable, but in summer, it would turn into a steamer or an oven. Without opening the rooftop vents for enhanced ventilation, this place could only serve as a sauna room, impossible to live in. But right now, with the biting wind outside and the warmth inside the shelter, it was more than adequate as a temporary place to sleep. Working the night shift here didn't require constant vigilance. Keeping periodic checks was enough, and the rest of the time, one could do whatever they wished—tending to plants, eating and drinking, or even just sleeping. There was a bedside cabinet, a steel-framed single bed, and an empty personal storage locker, with pillows and fleece blankets all provided. Chen Fei had no complaints. He tried out all the operating procedures as Barut had instructed. The automation level of the Energy Tower was high, not requiring much manual intervention. The actual workload was minimal, and within just five minutes, he had completed the state and safety check of the Energy Tower. Xiao Jiu tirelessly flew around the garden, occasionally returning with a beakful of colorful berry juice, smearing it on Chen Fei's hands and leaving vivid, splotchy marks. The flowers and plants Barut had grown were not chosen deliberately. Whether they bloomed or bore fruit, whether they were fragrant or the fruit was edible, it didn't matter. In a corner, there even was a pot of lush green scallions, thriving without any signs of being plucked; they seemed to be grown purely for the sake of planting. Still, there were some nice things, like figs, blueberries, raspberries, trifoliate oranges, pineapples, pitayas, and even an apple tree laden with fruit. The Neanderthal elder was not stingy at all, telling Chen Fei to help himself to whatever he wanted to eat. The greenhouse's fruit yield was more than a couple of people could finish. The night deepened, and Chen Fei had roughly skimmed through most of the technical manual that Barut had given him. After turning off the lights inside the greenhouse, leaving only a small lamp on, he headed to the steel-framed single bed and found that the little creature, Xiao Jiu, had taken over his pillow, curled up and sound asleep, occasionally chirping softly. In such a small form, what kind of Magical Beast could it be? Chen Fei smiled and shook his head, gently picked it up, and placed it back into the bird's nest he had brought, covering it with a soft tissue to serve as a blanket. He had no interest in finding out what abilities the little bird might possess, as long as it grew up safely. Before sleeping, he reached into his bag to get the sleeping pill bottle, wanting to sleep until morning, but came up empty. He had actually forgotten to bring them. Chen Fei wasn't of an age where he relied on sleeping pills, so it wasn't unusual to forget them. He gazed out the door of the greenhouse; the cutting wind of the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area swept across the standard container hills, emitting a deep growl. From sunset to now, in just three or four short hours, the outdoor temperature had plummeted to a chilling minus ten degrees Celsius or more, reinforced by a fierce wind that could easily cause one to catch a cold. As a hardworking laborer, he simply couldn't afford to fall ill; it was much better to stay in the warmth of the greenhouse-like shelter, guarding the Energy Tower that consistently released residual heat. But Chen Fei had his own ways. -

Chapter 46: Section 46 - Magical Beast Xiao Jiu

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