Chef in the Apocalypse

Jayce stepped out into the dawn light which was beginning to light up Bastion, letting out a few dry chuckles. Despite his laughter, his face was stone cold, apart from the occasional grin which pulled at the corner of his lips when he thought of a good idea.

As he looked around the Central Square, he nodded in appreciation. The place had been cleaned up considerably, with fresh dirt covering the holes which were caused by the teleportation array exploding.

He was sure as hell that this place still looked countless times better than what Agni’s city had looked when they first visited Delhi half a year ago.

Not wasting any more time, Jayce set up his usual cooking bench and portable stove. By now he had turned these sorts of impromptu cooking displays into an art, even upgrading his workspace considerably over time.

Now it was almost as if he had an open plan food truck, with plenty of room to spare. Despite not having things like electricity, he could easily make up for it with his law of fire which was much more efficient than using mana.

Before long, Jayce had already begun to prep his food and was in the middle of making some dough. He was making something that was hearty yet easy, but also required a lot of finesse to get right.

Baozi, or steamed Bao Buns.

These were a true Chinese staple, one capable of making a persons day before they head off to work or school in the morning. While Jayce had not made them before, he knew enough about food theory by now to have a general idea even without the system.

In a large pot, Jayce put in a few bags of flour and sugar before emptying half a bottle of oil into the mixture. Not afraid to get his hands dirty, he began to mix the contents together, adding water in batches until it was the right consistency.

Once he was done, he covered the pot with a lid and put it to the side to allow it to rise. It was now time to work on the filling, which he would also need to improvise with.

Usually, Baozi was made with things like pork, chicken, ginger and carrot or even cabbage. While Bastion had tilled some land and created spots for farming, it wasn’t too the point where he could monopolize all of the fresh produce as he pleased.

One great thing about the inventory was that nothing could be spoiled while inside, which meant that any leftovers were never wasted. But it also meant that he still had ingredients from back when he was in the city.

The had raided shopping centers, taking rice, soy, flour, milk, all sorts of staples that were used often in cooking. Jayce was also in the habit of collecting monster meat and trying to make a dish with them, no matter what type it was.

He had tried everything from Goblin meat, Bear meat, giant turtle meat, he had even deep fried the legs of a spider monster. After all, they couldn’t always be picky in a world like this.

It was safe to say that a lot of his culinary explorations had turned out terribly. Goblin meat was by far his worst experience. It was as if the gods had packed in decomposed garbage into their tissue, making him instantly empty his guts.

However there were a few surprises. The Draconic Panther and the Bloodfang wolves were by far the tastiest he had come across, so he was thankful that he had kept some of their meat for such occasions.

Seeing how he wanted to reward his faction, he decided to bring out the big guns and dig into his Draconic Panther supply. He summoned the tenderloin from one of the larger panthers he had butchered in advance, onto his chopping board and began to dice it into small cubes.

For the fillings he had decided to cook them in soy and ginger, a flavor combination which was tried and tested through the age of time itself.

Once the pot was boiling, he added in rice wine, soy and ginger, along with the chopped tenderloin. Soon enough, the Central Square was filled with a tantalizing smell.

Jayce took a deep breath in through his nose and let out a contented sigh. Just as he opened his eyes, he saw Lianna round the corner, he beautiful face lit up in a smile.

"You’re up nice and early." She said, leaning in and giving him a kiss on the lips.

Jayce felt a warmth from within and couldn’t help but smile. "Yeah well, I stayed in bed almost all day yesterday so I thought I’d get the gang together for some breakfast."

"What’s on the menu chef?" Lianna asked with a smirk, trying to peak at the two pots which were inconspicuously behind Jayce.

"Baozi" Jayce stated, sending a wink her way.

He could see the excitement on her face right away, confirming that he had made the right call.

"Is there anything I can help with?" She asked politely.

"It’s about time for the dough to be kneaded. Want to get your hands dirty?" He asked, sending another wink her way.

Lianna giggled, rolling up her sleeves. "Yes Chef!"

With that, the two began to take out the dough and knead it thoroughly until reaching the optimal consistency. By the time they had gone through the large amount of dough, there were more and more people who had begun filing into the Square.

Jackie, Colin, Amber, Ben, Zane and even Heath and Macie with their little baby Rowan were among those who had arrived early. Soon enough, the sound of joyful chatter and harmony breathed life into the gathering, causing a smile to appear on Jayce’s face.

These were his faction members, his people. While he had been given the burden of protecting the whole Earth, it was these people who he truly wished to save and protect.

For now, these two goals aligned. However the moment they did not, he would have to reevaluate his decision.

Hopefully it would never come to that.