As soon as Eric proceeded to his room, the table went quiet. Zoe stood up with an ambiguous countenance and grabbed a clean empty bottle and poured the remaining water on Eric's cup. She, of course, added more to fill it up to the brim and left it on the table, planning to give it to the Emperor later.
As the Emperor, they naturally gave more rice and sardines with eggs on Eric's plate, but since his body actually did not need to eat more and could replenish with limited food and water, he barely ate half of it.
Hence, they glanced at each other until their eyes eventually landed on Zoe. Although Eric did not state it, Zoe has pretty much become his secretary… they could not deny that Zoe held more power than them, just below Eric, at least.
They did not complain, though. If Eric favored her, then they had nothing to say. On the contrary, they all believed that Zoe was suited to her position given by her admiring disposition.
Zoe said, "Don't look at me. If you want to eat more, then you can take the Emperor's food. It's better to empty it rather than throw the excess away."
They nodded solemnly but no one did not make a move. Zoe sighed. She grabbed the Emperor's plate and took a quarter of his food and pushed his plate at the center of the table. Everyone soon emptied the plate.
The first to finish eating was Samantha. Samantha, who experienced her Evolution from the Title, perceived she was already full despite eating less than usual. Nevertheless, she understood that the strange phenomena originated from what the Emperor said earlier.
She said, "I'm already full. You can take my excess. I'll be in the room first."
No one questioned what she would do in the room as they nodded. Those who only got a little share shamelessly took her excess food and even water. Compared to Eric, she has less than a quarter left.
However, before she left the table, Zoe said, "Are you sure? Don't you want to discuss together what our Emperor said earlier?"
Samantha was taken aback. She sat down silently.
Zoe smiled and said, "The Emperor warned us the pros and cons of eating the crystals. We will mutate and become zombies or obtain abilities and become stronger. Has anyone already considered it?"
They looked at each other and nodded.
Zoe nodded. "Obviously, who doesn't want to vie for power? The Emperor already assures us that with him, we can obtain power without problem, that is… we will listen to his orders."
Axel said, "That is a given. With him, we will be able to even rebuild a city and provide a safe space for others with our superhuman abilities."
They glanced at him and nodded, disregarding his enthusiastic behavior.
Andrew said, "Jasper was the first person who obtained superability after the Emperor made him eat the crystal. We should ask him questions regarding what he experienced during his evolution."
Jasper's face turned ugly. After all, he still recalled the Emperor made him his experiment lab rat just to confirm his conjectures. Although he was correct, it still left him a bitter taste.
He tossed the unnecessary thoughts at the back of his mind and replied with a bitter smile, "I fainted. Like he said to us boys earlier, the assimilation of the energy inside the body forced the body to sleep to recuperate. After that… How do I say this? I felt different? Only the Emperor himself managed to find out what made me feel different.
Though, it's strange how he suddenly knows of my ability. As if he can see right through me…"
Silence descended. The girls glanced at Zoe, who was calmly eating. She said without turning at them, "That's his secret. Perhaps, just like how he extraordinarily showed off his powers earlier, his eye might have an ability to analyze us.
He even knows our name."
They were stunned. They lowered their heads, contemplating. At this point, they would not doubt the Emperor anymore. He already displayed his ability in front of their eyes–doubting him was tantamount to suicide.
Andrew said, "Alright, we have our own secrets. It's not like it harms us. On the contrary, it benefits us."
They nodded.
Zoe said, "It's good that you know. Aside from letting us know about our ability we will acquire after eating the crystal, he will teach us martial arts, too."
She paused for a while and said, "Michelle…"
Michelle, who had been daydreaming, was startled. She glanced at her, trying to recall what Zoe had said, and her eyes lit up, nodding.
"I understand. We might consume more water and food because of the martial arts training, right? That is not a problem. Even if we exhaust ourselves everyday to the bone, it might still last us for fifteen days. Furthermore, I don't doubt the Emperor and the boys will not obtain food for that span of time.
There's so many stores not far from us. Don't worry, with my calculating ability, I will inform you five days prior to its complete consumption."
Zoe nodded. "You don't have to report it to me. You better report it directly to the Emperor."
Zoe glanced at Samantha, who nodded.
"I will ensure the safety of the food."
With Samantha, Jasper and the rest who planned for the first supper, helped complete their task without problem. She recognized the safe place for the food to be placed, sliced, cleaning the utensils with minimal use of water.
It was all thanks to her Ecosystem Insight effect of her Title.
No one doubted her.
"Also," said Andrew. "The Emperor had said that the energy, once you consume the crystal and obtain an ability, needs to be completely assimilated inside your body. Or else, if you eat more crystals and those foreign energy inside slowly accumulates… you might mutate."
They gulped and nodded solemnly.
Although the Emperor did not mention it, he might have already known that since he already told the boys, the latter would share it to the girls.
Furthermore, he already talked a lot, so they did not mind that he did not mention something so important…