"How did this happen?!" tucked away in the Pod, Remian observed the going-ons around town from a safe distance while eavesdropping on the thoughts of several specific people.

It started with dinner at the Paramount Chalice Restaurant. Little Li had her steamed fish. Mu Hou ordered the best wine, and had the waiters slip a little special something into Zhao Feng's and Big Li's cups…

Unfortunately, the kind of poisons the restaurant had were nowhere near potent enough to truly harm someone of Zhao Feng's strength. The best they could do was a drowsiness drug, but that was too risky. Mu Hou opted for the next best option; a powerful laxative.

Thus Zhao Feng soon found himself getting remarkably familiar with the restaurant's toilets.

As for Big Li, she only sipped a little of her wine before Zhao Feng got back roaring with rage. The following conversation basically went like this;

Mu Hou: "So, how do you like your new favorite seat?"

Zhao Feng: "I'll make it so you won't HAVE a favorite seat!"

With that, a dinner fork was stabbed into Mu Hou's left backside and he hadn't been able to sit down since.

"Uwwooooh!" Mu Hou was three feet in the air with both hands to his left b.u.t.tcheek before anyone knew what was happening.

Meanwhile, Zhao Feng rushed back to the toilet.

Outwardly, Big Li was fuming at the guys' tussle, but behind their backs, she and Little Li were giggling uncontrollably. Even Wushuang had to fight to keep a straight face.

It was a valiant effort, but in the end, Wushuang lost and had to bid a hasty retreat before she burst out roaring with laughter.

***

Meanwhile, Remian parked the Pod in the shallows of a river flowing not far from the city's side entrance, the Pod looking for all the world like an innocent rock. With it half-submerged in the water, Remian was reasonably sure n.o.body would take too close a look at it.

Tomorrow, he'd only need to get out from the top hatch, make a short hop to a fallen log stuck onto the riverbank, and walk through some spa.r.s.e woods a few minutes to the city gate.

But as for tonight, he may as well stay in the pod. It was actually very comfortable, and there was no risk of Little Li barging in to bully him or anyone killing him out of hand for some mistaken ideas about Big Li's regard for him.

He was just a little hungry, and sharing Little Li's memories of how the steamed fish tasted was not helping in the least.

Pod offered him a solution; it had a food processor that could simulate steaming, and the river it sat in provided an easy source of water, but Remian would have to catch the fish himself.

So he went out, Psionically sensed for fish in the water, then picked one of the kind that the Xue Clan guards had caught and cooked for them to eat before. With the feeling of hunger and a eagerness of antic.i.p.ation in his heart, he pointed to it and said, "Freeze!"

Power slipped into this world from somewhere, he didn't know where, but at his word, the fish and the water around it suddenly froze solid. Remian hastily picked up the ice chunk, fish and all, and brought it in. He stuck it into the food processor at the left wall behind the Pod's seat, and asked, [Will that do?]

[That would do nicely.] Pod said. [That frozen water will also be processed, cleaned, and used for the steaming.]

Leaving it to the Pod, Remian leaned back and let the Pod handle the steaming.

Unfortunately, the Pod was nowhere near a good a cook as the chef at the Paramount Chalice. In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say that the steamed fish turned out to be a failure.

Frankly speaking, instead of steamed fish, what Remian got was boiled fish. Plus, there was a distinct lack of sauce or seasoning. It was a rather bare, nowhere-near-as-tasty-as-Little-Li's meal, but it filled his stomach, and it wasn't actually bad, if boring.

No, Remian was actually more excited about something else.

[I can use magic. Sort of. As long as the element is already around, anyway.] Remian couldn't help smiling. [If there's already fire, I can manipulate that fire. If there's already water, I can manipulate that water. This world has no mana, but I can bring it in from elsewhere. Chaos magic is awesome.]

Didn't that mean that air magic would be best in this situation? Earth magic too, but air, especially. Remian thought back to what Zhao Feng used on the Trap Vine before. That technique he called a Gale Slash.

[I just need a sword. If I copy the movement, say the same words… who would know that it's any different?] Remian mused.

Plus, there was that thing Orb did to cut the locker open. That blade formed of Psionic Energy.

Darian could do that too, Remian remembered. That Psi-blade… Remian hadn't thought he himself could do it, but his Psi powers were remarkably increased after that trip into the Red Mists, and the Psionic energy that Orb used to form the blade were actually from Remian himself.

In other words, he should be able to do it too. That sort of out-of-nowhere blade could be a great secret weapon in close combat.

Other than that, he'd also have to figure out s.p.a.ce magic. Before, he didn't think it was possible, but the s.p.a.ce magic he'd been trying to learn was from the Black Ruins Civilization and they used chaos magic to import power all the time. Maybe trying to learn it without any other source of mana would actually be beneficial. After all, this was the way the Black Ruins Civilization did it.

With that, Remian got busy and spent a very, very long night nestled in his new old Pod.

***

The next morning, Remian woke up late and hungry.

There were footsteps coming in above his head. Someone was standing on top of the pod.

There was the sound of whistling, and then a soft splash. Remian frowned, sending his Psionic senses up.

It was a fisherman. A hobbyist, really, an off-duty guard deciding to go fis.h.i.+ng to relax and forget about his troubles with a few hours on the water. Finding this large smooth rock in the river, he'd opted to take a stand on it while he put his angling skills to work.

Remian watched him, studied his thoughts and waited somewhat nervously, but the fisher never had the slightest suspicion about the rock he stood on. He just went on fis.h.i.+ng and thought about nothing but fis.h.i.+ng and fishes…

In the process, Remian actually learned quite a bit about the fishes supposedly found in this river. He learned which were edible, and which were valuable and which ones the Paramount Chalice Restaurant bought at a premium for their steamed fish dishes.

They'd pay extra for fishes kept fresh, either alive or frozen in ice.

"I wanna eat it." Remian admitted to himself. "I wanna eat their steamed fish with hot rice…"

He was hungry. It was late in the morning and he hadn't had breakfast, and there was no food to speak of inside the Pod.

[The food processor can form basic supplements using the nutrients extracted from the waste parts of last night's fish.] the Pod offered. [The nutrients will not be balanced, an excess of calcium is to be expected.]

"What exactly do you mean by 'waste parts'?" Remian asked worriedly.

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[Bones and scales.] Pod clarified.

What resulted was basically a stack of calcium pills. Remian tried a few. They weren't very filling and tasted like powder, but at least they were able to take the worst edge off the hunger.

"Can you really make food out of anything?" Remian asked.

[Nutrient extraction and processing is a basic survival function within my design.]

"So… I can basically just throw in some tree branches and you'll make pills out of them?"

[Nutrient paste, yes. Not all forms of nutrients can be solidified into pills.]

"Nutrient paste…" Remian made a face. "That doesn't sound appetizing at all."

[It is a survival measure. Most people would prefer tastier forms of sustenance.]

"Huh." Remian made up his mind to do his own fis.h.i.+ng just as soon as the guy overhead left.