Elf: Seriously? You only get a cheat code when you're about to die?

Chapter 64 Century Eggs and Salted Duck Eggs

"Take good care of Miaomiao."

After arriving home, Anja gave today's wages to Meowth and also handed over the Pokémon food that Nurse Joy had given to Meowth.

"Meow~"

Meowth nodded vigorously, then led Meowth back to the secret fortress.

After arriving home, it put Miao Miao on the bed, covered it with a blanket, and then lay down beside the bed.

Looking at Meowth's peaceful sleeping face, a relieved smile appeared on Meowth's face.

Super Meow Meow remembered its childhood. It was also picked up by the Wood Spirit and taken to the Nibel Plateau, where it settled down.

Super Meow remembers it was a rainy night when it was still an egg and somehow fell into the fast-flowing Nibel River.

It was at this time that it hatched.

Because it was too small, it was tossed about by the current and was about to drown when a passing wood spirit stretched out a branch and saved it.

After being rescued, the then-Meowth Meowth developed a high fever. Woodpecker took it home and took great care of it for a long time before it recovered.

The Psychic Cat didn't know where it came from, so it ended up living with the Wood Spirit.

The Wood Sprite was an elder of the Nibel Plateau and one of its guardians. Unfortunately, it was too old and passed away not long after it found the Psychic Cat.

Since then, Meowth has lived alone, but it has inherited Woodpecker's will and continues to do its best to help all the Pokémon in need on the plateau.

Recalling the past, Super Meowth lay down by the bed and gradually drifted off to sleep.

In its dream, it seemed to have encountered the Wood Demon again, and a smile unconsciously appeared on its lips.

------

After seeing off the Psychic Meowth, Anjie opened the system, because he seemed to have received a system notification when the Snorlax House closed earlier that day.

Sure enough, a pop-up window appeared the moment the system was opened.

"Congratulations, Master, for hosting a total of 10000 Pokémon. You have received the achievement reward: Constitution +5, Intelligence +5."

Anjie was overjoyed; there was another new achievement reward, and it increased both his physique and intelligence by 5 points at the same time.

As the difficulty of achieving the achievements increases, Anjie's rewards also become more abundant.

He opened his personal information page and, sure enough, saw that the information had been updated.

Anjie

Race: human

Sex: Male

Age: 16 (+500)

Physical condition: 30

Intelligence: 17

Culinary skills rating: A complete novice, barely able to eat it.

Before he knew it, his physique points had increased to 30. Anjie clenched his fist and felt that he seemed to have grown stronger and taller recently.

When he first arrived at Nibel Plateau, he was just over 1.8 meters tall; now he is at least 1.83 meters tall.

"Snorlax!"

After experiencing the changes in his body, Anjie shouted loudly outside.

"G-G-G-Master, what are you doing!"

The little Snorlax came running over on its short legs.

"Shall we have a little spar?" Anjie suggested.

"G- ...

The little Snorlax clenched its fists, its face filled with fighting spirit.

Today, I, Snorlax, am going to defy the odds!

Anjie could tell from the little Snorlax's expression that it had misunderstood, so he clenched its fist and said, "I meant a battle."

()?

A big question mark appeared on the little Snorlax's face.

Master, what did you say? A battle? You can fight? How come I didn't know that?

Seeing the little Munchlax standing there in a daze, Angel grabbed its hand and walked outside. It couldn't fight, but it could practice. Otherwise, what would happen if it was kidnapped again and no one came to its rescue?

However, it seems unlikely that no one will come to his rescue, since he can summon Diancie and the others to his side at any time.

But having more skills is never a bad thing.

The little Snorlax was so silly that Angel dragged it to the grass outside.

Sobble is playing with other Pokémon on the wall.

It placed small pebbles on the wall, then stood far away and pointed a finger at the pebbles.

"Whoosh~"

It mimicked the sound of a pistol being fired, and a stream of water shot from its fingertip (water gun skill), accurately hitting a small pebble and shattering it into pieces.

The tearful lizard pretended to put its finger to its mouth and gently blew on it.

"Meow~" How about that? Are you mesmerized?

The Pokémon watching immediately cheered and applauded, making Sobble even more smug.

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~~ Whoosh~~~"

It then fired three more jets of water, each hitting its target precisely.

After firing, the tearful lizard retracted its arm, held the pistol to its temple, struck a cool pose, and asked everyone, "Meow~ Meow~ Am I handsome? Am I handsome?"

Everyone was very kind and kept praising how cool it was.

The teardrop lizard was so flattered that it was dazed and excitedly running around on the wall, just like a little puppy begging for praise.

Just then, it saw Angel with a little Munchlax walking towards it, so it ran to the entrance of the fence in a flash, "Mwasou~ Mwasou~" Angel, where are you going?

"I'm going to have a match with Munchlax," Ange replied as she continued walking.

"A contest?" The tearful lizard looked puzzled, then leaped off the wall and chased after Anjie.

Seeing that there was no excitement to watch, the other Pokémon also joined in.

Anjax and Munchlax arrived at an open space and stood on either side. Anjax bent its knees slightly, assuming a battle stance.

"Snorlax, bring it on!"

The little Snorlax was still in a daze. Bring it on? What do you mean, "bring it on"?

Everyone surrounded Ange and Munchlax, but for a moment they didn't understand what Ange meant.

Anjax shouted, "Snorlax, swing your fist at me!"

The little Snorlax was startled and instinctively raised its fist and charged at Ange.

Bang!

Munchlax and Angelina collided, their hands locked together. But to the surprise of all the Pokémon, Angelina didn't back down an inch and fought Munchlax to a standstill.

Just then, Diancie pushed through the Pokémon encirclement and saw the shocking scene before her.

Is this... is this still the Prince Anjie it knows?

Although it knew that as its physique improved, Ange's physical abilities would get better and better, it never expected that he would already be able to contend with Munchlax.

Even the little Snorlax was confused.

The master actually took the hit, even though it didn't use any skills. But it's a Pokémon, and the master is a human!

Just then, Anjay called out to it, "Little Snorlax, didn't you eat breakfast? How come you only have so little strength?"

"Just now? Master, you were looking down on me!"

In that instant, the usually adorable Munchlax's eyes turned sharp.

"Gang~" it yelled, grabbed Anjie's waist, and tried to throw Anjie to the ground.

Anjay instinctively hugged the little Munchlax around the waist, but the little Munchlax's belly was too round, so Anjay couldn't hug it and could only grab the fur on both sides of its waist.

The master and apprentice were locked in a fierce struggle, each trying to throw the other to the ground, but they were both holding onto each other's waists, and neither could gain the upper hand.

"Mwasa~ Mwasa~" Go, Ange! Go, Snorlax!

Sobble took the lead in cheering on the master and apprentice, and other Pokémon followed suit, cheering on their respective supporters. Some supported Angelina, some supported Munchlax, and some, like Sobble, supported both sides.

The tree-pillow koala had somehow rolled into the encirclement. Its eyes were closed, and it was still fast asleep. No one knew what it was doing there.

However, the frequency of its shaking at this moment inexplicably matched the cheers of the crowd.

Finally, Angel couldn't hold on any longer and ran out of strength, falling to the ground on the grass when Snorlax threw her down.

He lay on the grass, drenched in sweat, panting heavily, and shouted, "That feels great!"

It had been a long time since Anjie had exercised so thoroughly. He felt as if every cell in his body had come alive and was full of energy.

"Gang~ Gang~~" Master, you are so amazing!

The little Snorlax plopped down next to Ange. Although it had won, it was also quite tired.

Anjie patted Munchlax on the back, "Let's have another spar next time!"

The reason he was able to last so long was entirely because Munchlax didn't use any moves, only brute force.

However, he was already very satisfied with his current physical condition. Even though Munchlax's level wasn't high, he was still someone who could rival Pokémon.

"Gang~ Gang~" Okay, okay! We'll continue next time, next time!

The little Snorlax said happily, "After a friendly spar, it felt really fired up too!"

"You really need to exercise more, you're getting fatter and fatter." Anjie sat up and patted the little Snorlax's belly, which immediately bounced and jiggled like pudding.

"Gang~ Gang~"

The little Snorlax scratched the back of its head sheepishly. Ever since it came to Angie's house, it had been eating well and had plenty of food every day. It would be strange if it didn't gain weight.

At that moment, Tianxi came over and asked with concern, "Angel, are you alright?"

When Ange was thrown by the little Munchlax, its heart was in its throat, fearing that Ange might have gotten seriously injured.

"It's alright, it's alright, don't worry," Anjie said, patting his chest. "I'm not the same person I used to be; I'm very strong now!"

The increase in physique points has a comprehensive effect on An Jie's physical qualities, including not only strength but also resilience.

Seeing Anjie looking relaxed, Tianxi breathed a sigh of relief.

In the afternoon, the Pokémon continued to help Angel plant trees, and the planting of Pineapple and Blackberry was finally nearing completion.

Anjay stayed home with Snorlax and Sobble; they had new work to do today.

Anjie's shop has introduced various types of porridge, but it has never offered preserved egg and lean pork porridge. The reason is that there are no preserved eggs in the Pokémon world. If Anjie wants to offer preserved egg and lean pork porridge in the shop, it will have to make preserved eggs itself.

Today, Anjie is going to make preserved eggs with Snorlax and Sobble.

To be honest, Anjie herself was also craving preserved eggs.

Just thinking about the delicious dishes made with preserved eggs, such as cold preserved egg salad, preserved egg tofu, and pounded chili with preserved eggs, makes An Jie's heart flutter.

Century eggs have a unique flavor that not everyone likes; some people dislike them quite a bit, much like cilantro. Anjie, however, belongs to the group that likes century eggs.

Besides preserved eggs, Anjie also plans to make some salted duck eggs today.

Snorlax's House and Diancie's Dining Hall have completely evolved into breakfast shops, and Ange has no intention of changing the current business structure.

Doing everything will only exhaust him.

Since it's a breakfast shop, how can it not have salted duck eggs!

Just thinking about the oily, golden salted duck eggs made Anjie's mouth water.

Angie at Munchlax's house always provides side dishes for free, so this time the salted duck eggs he made can't be free either. Even though selling salted duck eggs won't earn him any happiness points, he's worked hard making them, so earning a little money through his labor shouldn't be a problem!

Anjie had prepared all the ingredients for making preserved eggs and salted duck eggs well in advance.

It was snowing heavily in the capital city of Azot, but the weather on the Nibel Plateau was very clear. Whenever this happened, Ange would silently say: Thank you, Polcanion!

Anjax, Snorlax, and Sobble carried all the materials to the plaza in front of the door, planning to work while basking in the sun.

Anjie and Munchlax each brought over a small stool and sat down. The three of them surrounded a pile of materials, and Anjie announced:

"Let's begin."

"Gang~"

"Meow~"

The little Snorlax and Sobble cheered, eagerly anticipating the new treat Anjay had mentioned.

"Then follow me! Let's make the preserved eggs first," Anjie said.

"Gang~"

"Meow~"

Snorlax and Sobble nodded at the same time.

"Come on, teardrop lizard, let's clean the duck eggs. Fill the basin with water," Anjie said, pointing to the large plastic basin in front of him.

"Mess~~"

Sobble nodded, stuck a finger into the basin, and water immediately started flowing in. Angie then directed Snorlax to put all the duck eggs in.

"We need to wash the duck eggs thoroughly before we start, to prevent bacteria from growing." Anjie gently washed the duck eggs.

"Gang~~"

The little Snorlax nodded seriously, imitating its master in washing the duck eggs. Sobble filled the basin with water and followed suit.

"Alright! After cleaning the duck eggs, let's prepare the pickling paste." Anjie said, demonstrating to the two Pokémon.

Place quicklime, soda ash, and salt in a large bowl, add an appropriate amount of tea, and stir well until all the solids dissolve and the mixture becomes a paste.

The tea needs to be prepared in advance. Boil the tea leaves in water, let it cool, and then filter out the tea leaves.

"Next comes the marinating step, which is also the most crucial step," Anjie demonstrated to his two apprentices.

Take the dried duck eggs, spread the pickling paste evenly on them, and then put them into the porcelain jar that Anjie prepared in advance and seal it.

"After marinating for about a month, you can get delicious preserved eggs."

"Just...just..." Another month to go...

The little Snorlax looked disappointed.

"How was it? Did you remember all the steps?" Anjie asked, holding up a battered duck egg.

"Just now" - I've got it!

"Meow~" Catch it!

The two Pokémon answered in unison.

Anjie smiled and said, "Alright, let's get started. We have a lot to do today. After we finish the preserved eggs, we'll make salted duck eggs."

"Gang~"

"Meow~"

The two Pokémon cheered and immediately began working as Angie had instructed. It must be said that they were both very capable, and soon jar after jar of preserved eggs were made, filling the square in front of the door with a pile of sealed porcelain jars.

(End of this chapter)