"It seems you've already appreciated the taste of this wine."
Seeing Soshiyan's expression, Tirien immediately put down his wine glass, pointed to a plate on the right side of Soshiyan with a fork, and said with a smile:
"This wine is very good with this rose mushroom from the ghoul zone. You can try it. They need to be loaded in a freezer of minus forty degrees to take decades or even hundreds of years before they can be transported here. The ghoul zone is famous for being dangerous again. If ten ships go, only one ship will return in the end, and this is even the most optimistic situation."
Soshiyan looked at the silver plate, which contained a ingredient he thought was flowers, because it was indeed as bright red as a rose and had layered petals, keeping the low temperature of nitrogen floating in the plate.
Then he picked up the thing less than a quarter of his palm and put it into his mouth. When he chewed it, he felt as if the fruit was bursting in his mouth.
Then there is a complex flavor, a bit like the taste of pickled rose sugar and mushroom soup spreading in the mouth and quickly converges with the aftertaste of the wine, forming a fresh and sweet taste back to nature.
But then Suoshiyan felt guilty. He knew that every bite he drank was worth enough to buy the spire of the Nest in the low world, but he would not accuse Tirien. After all, they were at the top of the pyramid of power in the Empire. People like Tirien rarely consider these things, and asking them to consider this is too luxurious.
However, after eating a strange amber fruit, Tirien suddenly spoke:
"Captain Soshyan, will you hate all this before you, thinking that we are addicted to pleasure and don't care about so many people struggling to survive."
After taking a sip of the priceless wine, Soshiyang whispered:
"Maybe... I did, but this expedition taught me a lot. If I really want to say that, every set of power armor we wear and every explosive bomb used will never be worse than those on the table. We are also diners, and we are more greedy diners. You are chewing on delicacies, while we chew on war, but nothing is more greedy and extravagant than war. Perhaps war seems more meaningful, but for others, not to mention that for mortals, no matter their status, various physiological needs exist objectively. It is not realistic and normal to require everyone to be like a saint. However, I personally don't like this. I will not hide my likes and dislikes."
"You really surprised me, Commander of Soshiyang."
Tirien raised his glass, and Soshyan then made the same move, and the two of them gently touched each other.
"In the empire, it is the most common situation to demand others, or to be honest, the Inquisition is based on this view. Other people's minor mistakes must be severely punished, and one's own sins are always reason to forgive. The empire has been encouraging this atmosphere. No wonder I think this expedition is impossible to continue. It is easy to understand and tolerate, but it is too difficult to do."
At this time, a chef came over with the dining cart, following Tirien's secretary.
"You must try this dish, it is said to have been around for 30,000 years."
Just as the chef was busy preparing, Soshiyan noticed something and then smiled:
"Prime Minister, it seems that you don't have a servant in your house?"
Tirien waved his hand.
"Yes, I hate those ugly things that are neither human nor ghost, either use robots directly or use living people well. I can't understand the benefits of half-human and half-mechanical. Anyway, I have never let them appear in my house and garden. All my servants, even the cleaners, are ordinary humans. They are educated in the best schools and will gain a place in the bureaucracy in the future, so their parents are happy to let their children serve me."
Soshiyang smiled slightly.
"I believe you have arranged a lot of people in each department."
Tirien shrugged.
"It's just a normal operation of an old bureaucrat. I can't do everything myself."
At this time, the chef had opened the lid of the dish. The heated plate was still steaming. The inside was a ball of bread and the outside was yellow pastry. Then, in Soshiyang's curious eyes, the chef cut the pastry with a dining knife to reveal a bright red cross-section.
The chef put the cut piece into a heated porcelain dish, which was dotted with green leaves and petals, and then brought to Soshyan by Anna Murza Jack.
"Thank you."
Soshiyang nodded with a smile and looked carefully at the delicacy that was said to have come from 30,000 years ago.
It looks like a piece of fresh pink meat wrapped in a pastry, but there is a circle of black things in the place where the pastry comes into contact with the meat. Because this thing is relatively small compared to Soshiyang's body, it is not necessary to use a knife and directly fork it up and put it in your mouth.
It is fresh, tender and smooth, salty and sweet, and he also tasted it. The black layer should be made of mushrooms.
The taste is not amazing, but it can be called a delicacy.
He was even more curious about what kind of creature this meat was, because it was very different from the most common Grox meat, but it was never a bird.
"Prime Minister, what is this done and what is it called?"
"Ha, this original name is no longer reliable, but it is said to have been circulated from the palace after the Great Rebellion. The former Primrose Dorn likes this dish the most, so it is also called the Guardian dish. Its ingredient is an almost extinct native Terra cattle. Currently, only this cattle is breeded in the Golden Animal Ranch in the City of Prayer. Let's put it that way, anyone who lives shorter than me is basically not qualified to enjoy this ancient animal. But the chef who can make this dish has only 15 Terra. Gordon has served me for thirty years and is working hard to pass on his skills to his three sons."
Soshiyang looked at the chef who was in his fifties and looked very energetic, and the other party bowed slightly to him.
“This dish is great, thank you very much for your skills.”
The chef seemed a little nervous. It was probably the first time he was facing a legendary Astarte, and it was so huge. After swallowing his throat, he whispered:
"Then... do you need one more?"
"Thank you if you can."
The atmosphere of the two people after the meal was very harmonious. Soshyan had a deeper understanding of the Prime Minister of the Empire who seemed to be extravagant, bloated on the outside, but actually had a clear and delicate inside. He was not a pure politician who was only immersed in political games and bureaucratic tricks. In fact, Tireen had some unusual concerns about the military and imperial war situation. Although this was not within his responsibilities, he would still collect the situation of various war zones and fronts of the Empire as much as possible, although it was too late to deliver it to him.
But this also made him the person with the most sober understanding of the current situation of the empire. Sometimes Soshiyang guessed that he was so extravagant, in a sense, was he also numbing himself, just like a person who faced an irreversible situation, usually chose alcohol.
Tirien may want to do a lot, but reality makes him unable to move.
Soshiyan thinks that such people can handle and cooperate.
Chapter completed!