Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1565: ...Delectable Secrets

Satisfied at the reactions of his friends and kaijin, Zhen Liu prepared his plate of meat for grilling.

However, before he could truly tuck in to this feast of meat, Antonio and Olstenna had settled their seats alongside his own. Judging from the expressions on their faces, they had something they wanted to share with him that was going to be...mildly perturbing.

'Oh no...'

Before addressing the duo, he made sure to grill himself some pieces of meat.

"Alright, what got you two looking like you've seen ghosts?"

"That is...not an inaccurate question," Antonio said. "We did find something weird nearby that will probably be of interest to you."

"At least, we think it will be of interest given everything that's been happening as of late and the fact that you seem to collect treasured aether flames like an Ignarii," Olstenna added.

"That...is not wrong..."

Zhen Liu, despite being from Stampeding Bison and being of Roaring Tide descent, had an unusual amount of luck when it came to fire-based aether treasures. Then again, his formula had just absorbed various aether types and quality due to [Cipactli's Feast], so there was a chance that he could start housing other types of natural aether treasures.

He just needed to find them.

"Okay, proclivity for fire aside, you still haven't gotten to the main point of your words," Zhen Liu noticed as he grabbed his finely grilled piece of sliced ribeye off the grill. "What's near us that got you all acting like nervous children?"

"We found a weird-looking temple that appears to be active," Antonio answered.

Zhen Liu paused for a moment as soon as he heard Antonio's words. And that's because he wanted to savor the flavor of the piece of BBQ he just ate.

Once he had swallowed the piece of meat, Zhen Liu asked the question that he knew would snowball into a big fucking mess.

"What the fuck do you mean by active?"

...

"Ah...I see."

Zhen Liu followed Olstenna and Antonio to what he thought was a strange-looking hill, not wanting to disturb his friends and family while they were eating. It wasn't until he got closer that he realized that it wasn't a hill but a buried temple of some kind.

A temple that was radiating warmth despite being mostly buried and looking like it had been abandoned for several centuries at minimum.

"Huh..."

Doorways and structures connected to other worlds, the existence of Otherlanders, and now he had a proper name to give to not only that apartment building back in Roaring Tide but also any other instances of this particular situation he could come across in the future.

More and more, Zhen Liu (Thomas Lee) began to realize that his transmigration into another person's body was not a unique situation on Valresta. However, that just made him more curious as to why it was such a common phenomenon.

'Is it because of cultivation? Is this all because of some ancient Aether Deity from who knows how long ago? ' Zhen Liu asked himself before shaking his head. 'Ugh, forget it. Right now, there's an abandoned temple that is literally calling to me… wait a minute what the fuck?'

While Zhen Liu was considering the implications of this moment, he finally realized that a strange humming sound was coming from the buried temple, which gave him the same vibe as a siren song or the unusual song that a certain ice-wielding princess heard after she began learning more about her magical ancestry.

'Hold up…'

Once he heard the sound, he quickly made sure whether it was something only he was hearing or whether or not Olstenna and Antonio could hear it as well. That, or maybe he was losing his mind.

"Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Okay…"

…

'Logos, Pathos. You guys are usually in my head. Is that humming sound something I should actually be hearing or not?'

<= You are indeed hearing a humming sound. Whether or not it is safe is entirely up to how you approach this next encounter. =>

'...what makes you think I'm going to actively pursue this?'

<Kind of difficult to make that sort of argument when you're already standing at the entrance of the temple. >

'FUCK!'

…

"Alright, you guys stay out here and make sure nothing tries to approach that temple or, at the very least, be prepared to cover my ass if shit goes sideways. I'm going in."

After he had confirmed the sound was real, Zhen Liu approached the buried temple with an oddly confident stride in his step.

He had been through a lot, so what was one more divine stick on the bonfire that was his life? Granted, he still hoped, deep down inside, that he wouldn't have to deal with any additional bullshit on top of what he was already dealing with.

'If I have to kill someone this time, I may finally commit,' Zhen Liu lied to himself as he stood at the entrance of the buried temple.

Now that he was in spitting distance of the structure, he could already feel the familiar tinge of [Chaos] and aether that all of these warped structures seemed to carry whenever they were brought over from their home world to this one.

'Why is it only now that I notice these shared similarities?' Zhen Liu asked himself as he tried to find an opening big enough to slide through. 'Ah, there we go.'

It only took him a minute or so until he saw an opening just wide enough for him to sidestep through.

'Deep breaths…'

…

'Huh… this temple is a lot roomier on the inside…'

Once Zhen Liu had gone through the narrow opening, he found himself in a significantly wider chamber that felt…surprisingly warm.

The Dozing Salamander continent was mostly humid and hot, so a lot of its structures were designed with the explicit purpose of keeping people cool and dry as much as possible. The inside of this temple, though, reminded Zhen Liu of a cozy cabin with a well-cared-for hearth.

Evidently, this was a very apt description, given that the central portion of this temple was a big ole hearth.

At least, what Zhen Liu thought was a hearth.

"Huh…it's glowing, but there's no fire present…weird…"

At the center of the temple was a giant circular stone hearth that Zhen Liu could recognize as originating from Scythia, an ancient civilization from his old world. Decorating the walls of this hearth, Zhen Liu could make out the depictions of some kind of mother goddess-like figure. And stabbed into the center of this hearth was a fire poker that looked incredibly anachronistic.

'I swear there's some deeper implication that I'm getting wrapped up with all of this primordial goddess stuff, but I'm not sure what,' Zhen Liu thought to himself. 'And something tells me that that poker is involved somehow.'

Before blindly grabbing the glowing metal fire stick, Zhen Liu closed his eyes and released some [Chaos] and aether to try and determine if there was anything or anyone inside this temple aside from himself.

Surprisingly, he felt nothing.

'Okay…'

Confirming that the immediate area was safe, Zhen Liu made his way to the fire poker and took a closer look. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

...

'Shot in the dark here, this thing isn't being used as the focal point of some kind of array, right?'

<=No.=>

'Sweet.'