I, Yuhaka, am hungry!

Then Riko suddenly felt something wet and soft lick her face. Turning around, she saw Yuhaka sticking out his tongue and licking her face. Speechless, Riko looked at Yuhaka licking her face and said:

"Uh... Yu-Yu-chan, what are you doing?"

Hearing Riko's words, Yuu looked at Riko with an "OwO" expression and said:

"Rico, it tastes sweet."

Upon hearing Yuhaka's words, Riko gave a "Wow!" look and exclaimed:

"Huh?! You're kidding, right?! Is there any flavor left?!"

Yuhaka nodded at her and said:

"Hmm, it's marinated well..."

Upon hearing Yuhaka's words, Riko immediately ran back to the pool not far from Nanachi's house to wash herself again.

Yuhaka looked at Riko, who was leaving quickly, and tilted her head in confusion. However, Yuhaka didn't pay too much attention to it. Soon, Nanachi and Regu returned.

.................................................. ...

After Nanachi and the others brought back the fish, Yuhaka began preparing the dishes for today's meal.

In the kitchen, Yuhaka began cleaning the fish that Nanachi and the others had brought back. After removing the fish's internal organs, Yuhaka started preparing to remove the fish bones.

After cutting off the fish head, Yuhaka removed the backbone without cutting off the tail. Then, after removing the ribs, he began to cut the fish meat inside.

Without breaking the fish skin, Yuhaka made diamond-shaped cuts on the fish meat. After washing the fish again and drying it, Yuhaka prepared the seasonings to prepare the fish.

Yuhaka poured egg yolks and a small amount of salt into a bowl and stirred until well mixed. Then, Yuhaka put the fish fillets with the cuts into the bowl and stirred them to coat the fish fillets with egg yolk.

Then Yuhaka took the marinated fish and placed it in a pile of dry starch, making sure the crevices of the fish were also covered with starch. After coating it with starch, Yuhaka shook the fish a few times to remove the excess starch.

After completing these preparations, Yuhaka began heating the oil to fry the fish. To prevent the fish from falling apart, Yuhaka used tongs to hold the fish firmly in place before frying. Once the fish turned golden brown, Yuhaka removed it from the oil and fried it briefly. At this point, the fried fish looked like a pine cone.

Next, Yuhaka prepared the oil pan. After frying the special tomato sauce made by Melu Cat, which was placed to the side, Yuhaka added the prepared sweet and sour sauce. After the sweet and sour sauce was ready, Yuhaka poured the sauce over the fried fish that looked like pine cones.

Ta-da! The sweet and sour pine cone fish is almost done!

Well... although we've made sweet and sour pine cone fish, one dish isn't enough for Yuhaka and the others, so Yuhaka needs to make a few more dishes. The second dish Yuhaka made was fried fish balls, since Nanachi and Regu brought a lot of fish, and Yuhaka didn't want to waste them.

After mincing the remaining fish and mixing it with seasonings, Yuhaka took out some of the fish paste, shaped it into fish balls, and fried them in oil. Once they were golden brown, Yuhaka took them out and placed them on a plate. After making the fried fish balls, Yuhaka took out the two dishes.

When Yuhaka brought out the dishes, Nanachi cheered, her mouth practically watering, as she hadn't had Yuhaka's cooking for a while.

Chapter 478 [Riko's Preparations]

At Nanachi's house, Yuhaka and Nanachi are having dinner.

Nanachi, holding a fried fish ball between her fingers, looked at Riko and Regu and said:

"I see, so it was really dangerous for you to go down from up there..."

Hearing Nanachi's words, Riko, who had just swallowed her rice, also looked relieved and said:

"That's right, being brought here by Yu-Yu through the passage felt completely different. No wonder Professor Giluo wouldn't let me go down hundreds of meters deep..."

Nanachi shook her head at Riko's words, saying:

"Yeah... that's normal. After all, for a newbie like you, Riko, each level of the Abyss is no joke. Even Black Whistle would die a terrible death if he let his guard down on the fourth level."

Upon hearing Nanachi's words, Riko also recalled the large number of black flutes belonging to cave explorers hanging on the wall of Nanachi's house. Nanachi had found those black flutes near the remains of cave explorers, indicating that the owners of those black flutes had all died in the fourth level of the Abyss. This showed just how dangerous the Abyss was.

Then, as if remembering something, Nanachi looked at Riko and said:

"By the way, are you planning to continue down to the lower levels?"

Hearing Nanachi's words, Riko and Reig were stunned for a moment before nodding in agreement. Seeing Riko and Reig about to go down to the lower level made Nanachi feel quite troubled. To be honest, she didn't want Riko and Reig to go down to the lower level, since the only passage to the lower level was guarded by that person, and that person would definitely not let Riko and her group go.

Even if we let Riko go (Riko: I feel like I've been offended...), those two, Yuhaka and Regu, will definitely not be let off the hook.

Nanachi's thoughtful expression went unnoticed by Riko and the others. Riko was also thinking about equipment, since she had lost a lot of it during the battle with the Rock Dragon. Fortunately, however, it seemed that the equipment could be remade.

For cave explorers, crafting tools from local materials is a common task. After all, cave explorers need to stay in the Abyss for a long time to explore, excavate relics, and investigate the ecology. During this time, cave explorers often experience things like tools being lost, damaged, or mysteriously disappearing.

During this period, cave explorers will use materials from the Abyss to craft tools. Since most of the tools are made from materials unearthed from the Abyss, there is basically no need to worry about a shortage of materials.

Rico is currently thinking about the materials. She has lost quite a few things, and her current backpack is no longer usable, which is a real problem for her.

Then Riko said to Nanachi:

"Hey, Nanachi."

Hearing Riko's words, Nanachi, who had been lost in thought, snapped out of it and looked at Riko, saying:

"Huh? What's wrong, Rico?"

Rico, looking a little embarrassed, tapped her finger and said:

"Um, could we stay at Nanachi's house for a little while?"

Upon hearing Riko's words, Nanachi was taken aback for a moment, then, as if she had just thought of something, she looked at Riko with a smile and said:

"No problem at all. If you need any help, feel free to come to us."

Upon hearing Nanachi's words, Riko immediately smiled happily and thanked Nanachi.

Regu and Yuhaka, on the other hand, had an "O~O" expression on their faces.

........................................................

It is located at the [Giants' Cup] on the fourth level of the Abyss.

Nanachi and Yuhaka are taking Riko and Regu to find materials to make backpacks.

Nanachi turned to look at Riko and said:

"Hmm, by the way, Riko, what materials are you looking for to make the backpack?"

Upon hearing Nanachi's question, Riko thought for a moment, then took out a booklet from her pouch, looked it over, and said:

"Hmm... Let's find the skin of the freshwater giant squid that lives on the fourth level first. The skin of that freshwater giant squid is not only waterproof, but its tough skin can also prevent it from being torn by sharp objects inside the backpack."

Upon hearing Riko's words, Nanachi felt a huge urge to curse. After all, it was the first time Nanachi had ever heard of giant squid in rivers being used as backpacks...

After hearing Riko's words, Yuhaka's face lit up with excitement, and he said:

"Mmm, and it tastes really good~☆w☆"

It is clear that Yuhaka did hunt those large aquatic creatures when he lived in the Abyss.

Rico, looking at the booklet in her hand with some surprise, said:

"Huh? Is that so? Ah, it really is..."

Rico scratched her head and said:

"Besides the skin of the freshwater giant squid, I also need the skin of the koko beast, some skeleton, and tendons. These are all important materials for making the backpack."

After hearing what Riko said about the materials, Nanachi realized that these were all prey that Yuhaka had hunted.

Even so, Nanachi still led Riko and the others to a place with a river. Unlike the upper floors, there was hardly any water on the first to third floors, but on the fourth floor, there were many pools and river-like terrain.

Soon, led by Nanachi and Yuhaka, Riko and Regu arrived at a relatively large pool. Watching the ripples appearing on the surface, Riko curiously asked about the movements in the water:

"Nanachi, besides the giant freshwater squid, what other creatures are in this pool?"

Regarding Riko's question, Nanachi scratched her head and said:

"We're not quite sure about that..."

Nanachi turned to look at Yuhaka, who was eager to try, and asked:

"Youyou, do you know what kind of fish are here?"

“OwO?”

Yuhaka didn't know anything about Nanachi's question, since she mainly distinguished fish by their appearance, size, and taste.

So Riko listened to Yuhaka say those names that only Yuhaka could understand, and looked completely bewildered.

Chapter 479 [Fishing for "Fish"]

Finally, Riko asked Yuhaka about the types of fish in the pool, but gave up because she couldn't understand the words Yuhaka used.

"Regu, over there!"

Following Rico's instructions, Regu also fired her mechanical arm in the direction Rico pointed. The mechanical arm flew towards the target like a missile. After Regu's mechanical arm grabbed something, she began to retract it.

Then Riko and Regu saw what Regu had grabbed with her mechanical arm.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the giant freshwater squid that Riko and the others were looking for; it was just a slightly larger fish.

Regu threw the large fish she was holding onto the ground, looking distressed, and said:

"Oops... I grabbed the wrong person again..."

Riko, who was standing to the side, scratched her head and said:

"That's strange... I remember the booklet said there were quite a few freshwater squid caught on the fourth floor, so why haven't we caught any yet?"

In response to Riko's question, Nanachi, who had just thrown the large fish that Regu had caught back into the water, replied:

"Hmm... This problem is quite simple. It's probably because Yoyo ate a huge number of the freshwater squid in this pool, right?"

Hearing Nanachi's words, Riko and Regu looked at Ehaka, who was curled up in a ball on the grass. Well... although Ehaka looked small, Riko and the others knew very well how much Ehaka could eat and how strong he was.

Riko, looking at the pool not far away with a headache-like expression, said:

So, does that mean there aren't any freshwater giant squid in this pool?

In response to Riko's question, Regu, who was standing nearby, raised her right hand and said:

"Um... Riko, when Nanachi and I went fishing earlier, we saw some freshwater giant squid around here."

Hearing Reig's words, Riko looked puzzled and said:

"Huh?? Is there more??"

Seeing Riko's puzzled look, Nanachi shrugged and said:

"Yes, otherwise we wouldn't have brought you here, would we?"

Hearing Nanachi's words, Riko cheered up and said:

"Alright! Since there's still more, let's continue!"

Regu and Nanachi exchanged a helpless smile after seeing Riko cheer up. Riko, after regaining her composure, began to wonder why she couldn't see the giant freshwater squid.