Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Chapter 1091: Amaryllis - Paella

For some reason, as the old man's daughter was just about to arrive, he was just the gift that keeps on fucking giving because everyone else was stunned for a good minute by his reaction before everyone else tried so fucking hard to contain their laughter.

Oscar could be a retired combat medic that had seen some shit, but deep down, there was still a part of him that was a nervous father meeting his daughter he hadn't talked to for long.

But yeah, the moment Oscar came to properly, he chased me out of the tent for a good ten minutes before he ran out of breath, before we were able to continue finalizing my part—technically speaking, my 49% share with Mitch—in "babysitting" their people.

"You know what? You can just give Mitch the full authority while I work my way up since you said the old man is one of you, your people would understand spreading some of you guys out. You see, I already started warming up to the ones in the Main Harbor and getting a top-up like this just isn't right."

Major Harper shrugged his shoulders, "We could do that, sure, but that'll just make things harder for ya."

Oscar chimed in while glaring at me, "Eh. He's insane to even suggest that but won't that work much better? What would you think if your Fleet Admiral introduced a random-ass kid you've never even heard of before and said you should follow his orders?"

"That's…"

I chuckled, "See what I'm talking about? I could have all the achievements and whatnot but I still gotta earn the rep to being an honorary Marine or some shit. I know the old man's in a different department but it's kinda the same thing for him though, you know?

You can sing me praises all you like and they could follow your recommendation because you guys are that tight but nothing beats starting from the bottom and then working my way up."

"That is true…"

"Besides, I did say I'm good with people, I handle this 'colonel' who's deathly afraid of his daughter, how hard could it get?"

Oscar cut in, "Now you're cutting a little too deep, alright?! Easy on the jabs, kid!"

I chuckled, "Anyway, we shouldn't finalize everything now because the people that are coming are also involved so… what time do you guys eat?"

Jenna Rodriguez suddenly cut in, "Two hours…"

I've never been so shocked, "You guys eat at 10:00 PM?!"

Major Harper let out a sigh but Jenna continued:

"N-No… We should've eaten two hours ago…"

"What—"

Major Harper answered, "If you haven't noticed, we're in a rush here so everything's just spread so thin. We don't have a proper rotation yet—"

"Fuck it, I'll cook… Again. Where's your kitchen at? You guys eat everything, right?"

"You don't have to—"

"Eh. I'm hungry from all this talking, I have to. It's either that or I risk getting mobbed by you people if I start cooking for just me and my crew."

"Hmm! I guess we'll be indebted to you again—"

"Eh~ Just add in a Chinook or a submarine on our deal and—"

"HAH! YOU REALLY HAVE JOKES, HUH?!"

"I'm not joking though, heh. The joke is if I ask you about your spice levels. You fine with a little chili or just pepper—"

Jenna started rolling on the floor, laughing while Major Harper had never been so offended:

"LISTEN HERE, YOU LITTLE SHIT— JENNA! GET UP ON YOUR DESK OR I'LL FIRE YA! I CAN HANDLE MY SPICES, OKAY?! GIVE ME ALL YOU GOT THEN!"

"Your funeral, heh."

With that said, it seemed like my favorability in the Marine Base suddenly jumped because their meal times were completely random and they didn't have a proper chef to prepare their meals.

However, with a couple of weeks on their belt, they had a good haul of fresh fish from our waters and a bunch of random ingredients they collected either from looting stores or from foraging the woods outside this area.

But yeah, since the people I'd feed this time quadrupled, to say the least, I needed some help in preparing the ingredients so I sought help from my crew and the resting housewives who had a little break from taking care of their kids.

I easily found Mitch's wife, Amaryllis, among the crowd and she was more than happy to help us too.

"What are we making?"

"Hmm~ Something easy— What about some Paella and we use the fish bones and the clams for some soup? I found some Saffron over there and some cheap wine—we'd probably need five or so stoves to cook everything at the same time."

"T-That's a tall order…"

"It's better to feed everyone at the same time, no? Food should be eaten with everybody."

"That's really nice… To think you're the one who u-umm… put your hands on my husbands neck…"

"You heard about that, huh?"

"Unfortunately, yes… But he did say you're a great cook though, and he packed some breakfast earlier and sent it over here. Our kids loved it! Thank you!"

"Ah~ That's good, that's good… Shall we?"

"We take care of the vegetables and you take care of the seafood?"

"That's the plan."

"You're doing a lot— Whoa! How are you that fast?! Let us keep up!"

On that note, cooking some Paella wouldn't take an hour but with the prep work and the number of people we needed to feed, it did take that much time—and we made a spicy version too for Major Harper and the rest of us—but we didn't even notice the crowd of people hovering over, waiting with their own plates and utensils.

"WHOAAAAAA! THIS SHIT IS GOOD!"

"MOM! MOM! YOU MADE THIS?! YOU CAN ACTUALLY COOK?!"

"HEY! DON'T DISS YOUR MOM! SHE WAS JUST BUSY THOSE OTHER TIMES!"

"THIS IS REALLY GREAT THOUGH, WHO COOKED IT?!"

"IT'S THAT KID, RIGHT?! HEY, KID! THANKS FOR THE FOOD!"

"WE HELPED TOO, YOU KNOW?!"

"THEN WHY'D THE FOOD SUDDENLY GET GOOD?!"

"HEY! WANT ME TO BOIL YOU ROCKS FOR BREAKFAST?!"

"EASY DOWN, ALRIGHT?! HEY! THAT'S MINE YOU FREAK! GIVE IT BACK!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

At this moment, I was eating a bowl of the food with Kaley and the rest and this time, the thought of these people's government making that huge mistake was kinda out of my mind so I was enjoying the food with everyone.

But yeah, it was funny to see Major Harper returning his bowl of food and exchanging it with the milder one because he talked a lot of shit and couldn't even handle finishing half the bowl.