Chapter 96: Chapter Ninety-Six
The three chubby silver leopard cubs immediately scrambled onto the low wooden chairs around the kitchen island, their big blue eyes shining with absolute mischief as they watched their two powerful step fathers bicker.
"Daddy Mo looks like a giant pink flower with that apron on!" Xiao Rui giggled loudly, pointing his tiny paw at Qin Mo’s frilly strings. "But his food smells way better than Daddy Zhan’s burnt bread! Daddy Zhan only knows how to smash things into pieces!"
Long Zhan’s jaw dropped, and he immediately turned his fierce, violet eyes toward the laughing cub, letting out a fake, booming growl that made his white-floured face look incredibly ridiculous.
"What did you just say, you little rascal? I’ll have you know that a real warrior eats thick, heavy meat, not sweet pink mash! Come here, you little snowball, let me wipe this flour directly with your shiny coat!"
He reached out his hands, playfully lunging toward the table to tickle them.
"Ah! Save us, Mother! The big flour monster is trying to eat us!" Xiao Chen shrieked happily, his chubby body scrambling behind Lin Wan’s arm as he let out a barrage of high-pitched baby giggles.
Xiao Jue and Xiao Rui immediately joined the fray, jumping directly onto Long Zhan’s massive forearms and biting his tough sleeves with their tiny baby fangs, their small silver tails wagging like crazy.
Qin Mo elegantly floated over, placing a tray of perfectly arranged, steaming breakfast bowls onto the table with a cold, triumphant smirk directed at the wrestling dragon.
"See that, brute? You are completely unsuited for domestic life. You are merely a chaotic toy for the children to tire themselves out on. Wanwan, please ignore this loud reptile and enjoy your tea; I personally selected the leaves to match your exact taste."
Lin Wan sat down at the head of the table, her cool eyes filled with a deep, peaceful warmth as she took a slow sip of the hot, fragrant tea, watching her chaotic, beautiful family fill the room with endless laughter and noise.
Outside The space, the beast capital was a dangerous nest of political vipers and treacherous enemies, but inside these safe walls, her children were safe, healthy, and finally speaking their hearts out.
"Alright, everyone stop wrestling and sit down to eat. If anyone spills their honeyed milk on the floor, they are cleaning the entire kitchen by hand."
The rich aroma of baked sweets from breakfast had barely faded before Lin Wan decided that the entire mansion needed a proper, lively family project to keep the triplets from tearing up the grand living room rugs.
Standing in the center of the spacious store adjacent to the kitchen, she looked through the rows of neatly organized spiritual ingredients until her eyes locked onto a large sack of dried golden corn seeds.
A nostalgic smile tugged at the corners of her lips as an idea formed in her mind, it was high time she introduced these ancient beast world natives to a beloved modern delicacy from Blue Star.
"Everyone, come to the kitchen right now, we have a very important mission today," Lin Wan’s clear, commanding voice echoed through the hallway, instantly causing a frantic flurry of heavy footsteps and tiny, scrambling paws.
Within seconds, the large kitchen was packed to the brim, with Lanying sitting gracefully on a high wooden stool near the window, her striking blue eyes sparkling with curiosity as she adjusted her skirt.
On either side of the kitchen island stood Qin Mo and Long Zhan, both of them looking exceptionally eager, while the three chubby silver leopard cubs sat in a neat row on the table, their silver tails wagging in perfect synchronization.
"Mother, what are those tiny yellow stones? Are we going to play a game with them?" Xiao Jue babbled cutely, his small, fanged mouth opening wide as he leaned his chubby upper body forward to sniff the dried corn seeds Lin Wan had placed on the table.
He let out a soft, curious purr, his large blue eyes blinking up at her with complete innocence. "They don’t smell like meat or sweet mash, Mother. Are they magic bean that grow into giant trees inside The space?"
Lin Wan chuckled softly, shaking her head as she fetched a massive, thick-bottomed stone pot from the lower shelves and set it firmly over the main hearth. "No, Xiao Jue, these are corn seeds, and we are going to use them to make a snack from my old hometown called popcorn. But since this is a family treat, absolutely everyone in this room is going to help out, and that includes the three of you little rascals."
She turned her gaze toward the two supreme kings, who immediately straightened their backs like loyal soldiers waiting for a military command.
"You heard my female, snake! Move your lazy tail and get ready to serve!" Long Zhan barked loudly, stepping forward and aggressively flexing his giant, scarred arms as he glared down at the ingredients.
He looked at Lin Wan with an incredibly enthusiastic, toothy grin. "Just give me the word, Wanwan! What do you need a real warrior to do? Do you want me to hunt a level-nine fire beast to roast these little yellow peas? Or should I smash this stone wall to build a bigger hearth?"
Qin Mo pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sharp, deeply irritated hiss as his elegant silver robes rustled smoothly against the stone floor. "You uncultured, brainless brute... a kitchen requires absolute precision and refinement, not your loud, destructive grunting. Wanwan, please ignore this loud reptile and give me your instructions. I have already cleaned my hands, and my flame control is perfectly suited for whatever delicate task you require."
Lin Wan ignored their bickering, deftly measuring out a generous portion of high-grade spiritual oil, white sugar, and the golden corn seeds, pouring them all directly into the giant stone pot before turning to the dragon king.
"Long Zhan, your job is to go over to that basket of spiritual fruits and carefully deseed them so we can press them into fresh juice. But listen to me very carefully: if you use too much strength and crush the fruits into a useless mush with your giant hands, you are banned from eating a single bite of the snack."
Long Zhan’s jaw dropped in absolute horror, and he looked down at the delicate, soft spiritual fruits as if they were high-stakes explosive devices, his massive fingers twitching nervously. "Wait...? Wanwan, you’re torturing me on purpose! How am I supposed to pull tiny seeds out of these squishy things without breaking them? Hey, you three little snowballs, don’t you dare laugh at your Uncle Dragon! This is a highly classified military operation!"
The three chubby cubs let out a synchronized chorus of high-pitched baby giggles, rolling onto their backs on the wooden table as they watched the terrifying Dragon lord clumsily pinch a single fruit with his giant thumb and forefinger.
"Daddy Zhan looks like a giant bear trying to catch a tiny bug!" Xiao Rui jeered happily, his small voice full of pure, childlike mockery. "Mother, let us help instead! We are way better at playing with food than a big, clumsy lizard!"
"You three have your own job," Lin Wan said, a fond smile gracing her lips as she placed three small wooden cups filled with freshly squeezed fruit juice and tiny wooden spoons right in front of them.
She sprinkled a bit of refined spiritual sugar into each cup. "Your job is to use these spoons to gently mix the sugar into the fruit juice until it dissolves completely. No splashing, no biting the spoons, and absolutely no licking the table if you spill a drop."
The triplets instantly took their jobs incredibly seriously, their fluffy ears perking up as they grabbed the small wooden spoons with their tiny paws, frantically stirring the liquid with clumsy, adorable movements.
Meanwhile, Lin Wan turned her attention to the massive stone pot on the hearth, gesturing for the silver-haired snake king to step forward. "Qin Mo, I need you to apply a steady, completely even heat underneath this pot. Do not let the flame flicker, and do not let it get too hot, or the sugar will instantly burn and turn bitter."
"Consider it done, my beautiful Wanwan," Qin Mo murmured with a doting smile, his pale hands extending toward the base of the hearth as a perfect, controlled crimson flame erupted from his palm.
He maintained the temperature with flawless precision, his silver eyes completely focused on the pot, though he didn’t miss the opportunity to throw a smug, triumphant glance across the kitchen at the sweating, heavily straining dragon king.
Within a few minutes, the oil and sugar inside the thick stone pot began to bubble violently, and a sharp, incredibly rich, and intensely sweet aroma began to waft through the air.
Suddenly, a loud, sharp
"POP"
echoed from inside the pot, closely followed by another
*POP POP POP*
that sounded like a miniature barrage of tiny firecrackers.
The sudden explosion of sound caused Long Zhan to instantly instinctively drop his fruit, "Attack! Wanwan, get behind me! The pot is exploding!"
