The Giants' Feast

Crescent Bay, Building 79, Floor 26, Giant Restaurant. Three fifteen-meter-tall giant servers wound their way among dining tables of various sizes, carrying colossal platters piled high with mountains of meat and setting the food down before customers. Yu Xian and Little Nora sat in the farthest corner on the left side of the restaurant, as this was the only area with chairs fitted to their size. The farther to the right one looked, the more enormous the tables and chairs became, until at the far right, the tables spanned larger than a dozen football fields and the chairs were wide enough to seat thousands. Several trolls sat there, tearing into heaps of meat with massive gulps. Just then, a giant approached carrying a towering peak of stacked meat, set it before the two of them, and said, "Honored guests, here is the Giant Super Satiety Feast you ordered." When the platter was set down, Yu Xian could feel the floor jolt beneath him—the tremor was surprisingly intense. "Whoa!" Little Nora tilted its head back to gaze up at the mountain of meat whose summit was out of sight, its eyes sparkling at once. The dish stood nearly fifteen meters high, comprised of fifteen layers of meat from different beasts. Even a giant might struggle to finish it all, which was why it had earned the name "Giant Super Satiety Feast"—a dish reserved for the biggest gluttons among the Giant Clan to challenge. Once the giant server walked away, Yu Xian adjusted his chair to elevate and began eating from the top down. The very first piece at the apex was divided between him and Little Nora in the blink of an eye. Well. In truth, Little Nora took the lion's share; he merely sliced off a small morsel to sample the flavor. The first piece of meat came from a deep-sea colossus known as the "Ganai Squid." This behemoth existed on a planet akin to medieval Earth, surfacing from the abyss once every decade to spawn. If ships passed nearby, the Ganai Squid, driven by an instinct to protect its offspring, would attack the passing vessels, fostering legends of sea demons across that world. Later, when that world was overrun by the Abyss, the Ganai Squid fell from dreaded demon to dining delicacy. Its meat had an extraordinarily distinctive flavor—a faint fishy sweetness kissed by the mellow fragrance of milk, not clashing in the slightest, but blending with remarkable harmony. Moreover, its texture was phenomenal, bursting with savory juices with every chew; anyone who tasted it once would undeniably crave a second bite. The human gustatory system can perceive five basic tastes: sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and the "umami" triggered by amino acids such as monosodium glutamate. Yu Xian possessed a Super Tongue. Not only did he boast far more taste buds, but the range of flavors he could perceive was vastly wider. In fact, he detected several other unique flavors in the meat, yet none of them could be described using human language. Just as humans cannot describe a color they have never seen, these flavors defied description and could only be comprehended through firsthand experience. Having finished the first piece, they moved on to the second layer. This meat came from a creature called the "Tremor Mammoth." Its flavor was beyond words, and its texture was much firmer than that of the Ganai Squid. Many extraordinary foods were actually lethal poison to ordinary humans. For many of them, normal human teeth could not even bite through, and even if one used cutlery to carve them into miniscule pieces and managed to swallow, normal stomach acid would be utterly incapable of digesting them. Yu Xian reckoned that if Earthlings regularly ate Tremor Mammoth meat, everyone would turn into big-jawed freaks. By then, their masseter muscles would become ridiculously overdeveloped, and if someone habitually chewed Tremor Mammoth meat with one side of their mouth, they might even end up with one cheek drastically larger than the other. For Little Nora and Yu Xian, however, Tremor Mammoth meat had a texture akin to tendon—one massive slab of tendon, and quite delicious at that. After finishing the second layer, Little Nora immediately attacked the third. Yu Xian carved off a piece and took a bite, but he wasn't fond of the taste—it was reminiscent of pork liver, yet even more unpalatable. He tossed the carved meat over to Little Nora, who gulped it down in one bite. Little Nora's sense of taste was even more peculiar than his own; in foods Yu Xian found foul, Little Nora could discern subtleties he couldn't perceive. Thus, things he disliked often turned out to be things Little Nora thoroughly enjoyed. "Take your time and eat. I'm going to play a game for a bit," Yu Xian said to Little Nora, having lost his appetite from that bite. With that, he radiated golden light and merged into Little Nora's body, settling in to play games from within. The Star Ring had virtual reality capabilities and could access numerous VR games. When playing, one's consciousness would enter the game, leaving perception of the outside world faint and dulled. Under normal circumstances, people only played these games in safe locations. Yu Xian had it even easier: all he needed was to merge into Little Nora's body to be completely safe. After all, Little Nora's combat power was now 60, meaning it could effortlessly handle any run-of-the-mill nobody. Even against early Star Rank opponents, it could hold its own for a while. Besides, if it truly ran into someone it couldn't beat, it could tap into Yu Xian's power. In their merged state, Yu Xian could use its abilities, and vice versa—it could wield Yu Xian's abilities as well. "Delicious!" "This one is yummy too!" "This piece is even tastier!" After fusing with Yu Xian, because it wasn't drawing upon his power, Little Nora's appearance didn't change in the slightest. It continued tearing into the meat with hearty gulps, devouring another three layers in the blink of an eye. Some diners noticed Little Nora and began chatting with their companions between bites, speculating on how many layers it could finish. A few bored onlookers even started placing bets, putting up Star Coins as wagers. Gradually, a crowd of spectators gathered around Little Nora's table. Each time Little Nora cleared a layer, many cheered. Unsure of what was going on, Little Nora simply flashed them a gleeful grin, even boldly throwing up a peace sign with one hand. However, by the time Little Nora polished off ten layers, many people could no longer sit still, muttering among themselves in astonishment at how this little creature could eat so much. In particular, the faces of those who had wagered against it soured visibly. Little Nora, on the other hand, was having the time of its life. It had been dreadfully lonely for the past eight years, which was why it loved Yu Xian, loved Huangquan, and adored lively, bustling environments. With so many people watching it eat, its appetite only grew fiercer. In no time, only the final layer of the meat mountain remained—and it was the largest by far. The toughness of this layer rivaled steel, harvested from a draconic beast known as the Rock Tuo Dragon. Little Nora took a bite, and its eyes lit up instantly—dragon meat was its absolute favorite. It plunged in with huge gulps. A slab of meat the size of a basketball court was devoured in seconds, followed by the remaining five pieces in rapid succession. Full and satisfied, it sat in the center of the giant platter, patting its belly with an expression of pure bliss. "Impossible! How could it eat that much?! Are you bastards running a scam together?!" one of the gamblers, a tiger-headed diner, yelled as he completely lost his composure. Seizing the opportunity, the other gamblers chimed in to claim the game was rigged. The fox-man, who had initially just made a bet with friends only to end up acting as bookmaker, rushed to defend himself: "I swear, I never colluded with this duck!" "It's not a duck at all, it's a Garuda! But whoever heard of a Garuda that tiny? Even a newborn Garuda hatchling is at least seven or eight meters tall! And you still claim you didn't cheat?!" a dog-headed man sneered. The fox-man had never imagined Little Nora was actually of the Garuda race. He stared at Little Nora in disbelief, utterly at a loss for how to clear his name. In desperation, he shouted, "I didn't swindle anyone! If you place a bet, you accept the loss—don't you dare welch!" With that, he spun around and bolted. His footwork was remarkably nimble; none of the dozen-plus people trying to block him could slow him down, and in an instant, he vanished into the crowd. Many of the losing gamblers watched him vanish with bloodshot eyes and helpless frustration. Then, struck by a sudden thought, they all turned their heads to glare at Little Nora, who was still lounging happily on the platter. Sensing the hostile gazes, Little Nora opened its eyes to look at the crowd, a question mark practically popping over its head.