Chapter 11: Packed Full

"All right, I answered your question—now it's your turn," Anis demanded, her face full of expectation.

"What turn?" Mo Chen asked, feigning innocence.

Anis leaned close, her bright eyes fixed on him. "You still haven't answered my question."

Mo Chen spread his hands. "I never said I would."

Anis's eyes widened in disbelief. Was he really just refusing outright? She couldn't believe he would be so shameless!

Not ready to let it go, Anis peppered him with questions, but Mo Chen ignored her completely, letting her words wash over him.

Of course, he wasn't any sort of special envoy.

And as for the healing spray—that was hard to explain, so better not to say anything at all.

As expected, the less Mo Chen explained, the more convinced Anis was that he was indeed an agent sent by the Ark.

Feeling his stomach rumble, Mo Chen called up the system menu.

Since he'd arrived in this world, he hadn't eaten or drunk anything. In the heat of battle, he'd been too focused to notice, but now that he was relaxing a bit, hunger hit him like a brick.

Naturally, any food he'd had on him had been blown up along with the transport aircraft.

Thankfully, the system had a food shop—a lifesaver.

Mo Chen scanned through the various foods on offer. The prices were reasonable.

Most items cost a single point, with pricier ones going for only a few points, and the highest-quality food was still just a few dozen points.

He bought a few roujiamos and some yogurt drinks, spending only a dozen or so points.

What a bargain.

At this rate, he could probably live comfortably in some underground shelter for the rest of his life with his current points.

Anis, still hovering nearby and trying to extract answers, was distracted by the smell coming from Mo Chen's roujiamo. "What's that?" she asked, curiosity piqued.

"Roujiamo."

"Roujiamo…? Strange name."

"Yep."

"Is it food? Smells amazing."

"Yep."

"Strange, though—I've never seen anything like that in the Ark before."

"Mm-hmm."

"Say, you wouldn't happen to be some rich kid from a high-ranking family, would you? Otherwise, how could you…" Anis started to ask, only to be interrupted when Mo Chen held out a roujiamo, effectively stuffing it into her mouth before she could finish her question. Her cheeks bulged as she mumbled incoherently around the food.

"Just eat," he said.

Muffled protests came from her as she chewed.

A perk of the system was that anything bought from it had a sort of background erasure effect—people simply ignored any questions about its origin or just didn't press further.

Turning to the rest of the team, Mo Chen handed out the food he'd bought, keeping a few roujiamos for himself while giving the rest and some yogurt to Marian, Rose, and Rapi.

Rose took a roujiamo and ate it without a word, still quiet and distant, almost robotic. Aside from orders, she barely interacted.

Mo Chen had explained Rose's detached demeanor to the others, saying she'd suffered intense psychological trauma on the surface, resulting in a mind switch.

A switch was an extreme response, more severe than a shock, with symptoms that could include personality changes, cognitive damage, and memory disorientation.

"Thank you, but there's no need. We have food," Rapi said, politely declining as she cleaned her gun.

"Just take it," Mo Chen insisted, pressing the roujiamo and yogurt into her hands, giving her no choice but to accept.

"Commander…" Marian tried to decline as well, but Mo Chen cut her off.

"One for everyone. Don't worry, I still have some left."

With Marian, his tone was much gentler.

She nodded and carefully unwrapped her roujiamo, though her gaze kept drifting to Mo Chen's back. Realizing Rapi was watching, she quickly looked away.

"Whoa! This is amazing!" Anis exclaimed on the other side, her eyes shining as she took a bite.

The rich aroma of the meat, the crispy, juicy layers of the bread, and the satisfying crunch combined into a taste unlike anything she'd ever experienced.

This was definitely not Ark food!

No way—this was nothing like the cheap knock-offs in the base!

Anis grew even more convinced that her suspicions were right: this Commander was definitely no ordinary person!

Despite the simple meal, everyone seemed completely satisfied.

Mo Chen wasn't surprised—roujiamo was a nationally famous snack for good reason, with a massive fanbase and countless vendors back home.

What he didn't expect, though, was that rather than silencing Anis, they only made her question him more relentlessly, as if determined to get answers out of him.

Fortunately, Marian, ever the Commander's loyal "ally," promptly intervened to put a stop to Anis's barrage.

"Please stop pestering the Commander," Marian said, blocking Anis's path.

"We're in the middle of a mission. If you have any questions, save them for after the operation."

"Oh, come on, aren't you playing favorites a bit?" Anis huffed. "It's not like I'm the only one… wait, are you…?"

She glanced between Marian and Mo Chen, her amber eyes gleaming mischievously as a sly smile crept across her face.

"Are you… interested in the Commander?"

After spending this time fighting together, they had grown a lot closer, enough to start joking around without holding back.

Marian froze, caught off guard by Anis's bold assumption.

"Please don't say such things."

But Anis continued, undeterred, "Well, I mean, he is pretty handsome, considerate of us, and doesn't look down on Nikkes at all…"

With a playful wink at Marian, she added, "Wouldn't be strange if you were into him, right?"

Marian stammered, taken aback and flustered. "Please… don't joke about that!"

But her ears were already turning red.

Without responding to Anis any further, she turned and walked briskly away.

"The target location is nearby," she said, hoping to end the conversation.

Anis chased after her, grinning with a wicked smile. "Hey, don't walk so fast!"

"Anis!" Rapi called out, her tone serious.

Finally, Anis stopped, taking another big bite of her roujiamo. "Fine, fine. Just a joke. No need to be so serious! Life must be so dreary if you're always frowning like that."

After finishing their meal and resting a bit, the group moved on.

After about forty minutes, they arrived at a subway station.

"This is it? I don't see any sign of the advance team," Anis remarked, peering down the stairs.