Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 212: Episode : Seafood Boil

Nimue finally spoke.

"He said I was... too loud," Nimue hiccuped, burying her face in her hands. A stream of bubbles, vibrating with misery, escaped her lips.

"He said my laugh echoed too much in the grotto. He said I was... exhausting."

It was the first time Roxy was seeing her cry like a little girl like this and felt purr for her.

Roxy sat beside the weeping Princess on a secluded bench carved from pink coral, tucked away behind a statue of a swordfish.

The bustling plaza was just around the corner, but here, in the shadows of the ornamental seaweed, the heartbreak felt heavy and suffocating.

"He said that," Roxy repeated, her voice flat and dangerous, "after he spent all your money on himself?"

Nimue nodded miserably, wiping her nose with the back of her webbed hand. "He wanted the ’Glimmer-Paste’ from the Northern Trenches. It costs five hundred pearls a jar. I bought him three cases. And then... when the vault was empty... he left. He told everyone I was clinging to him like a barnacle."

She looked up at Roxy, her violet eyes red-rimmed and swimming with tears.

"Am I, Roxy? Am I a barnacle? I just... I just wanted him to stay."

Roxy felt a surge of protective rage. She looked at Nimue, this bubbly, kind, slightly chaotic mermaid who had welcomed her without question, and held her hand at the wedding.

Lysander hadn’t just broken her heart; he had broken her spirit. He was the reason Nimue tried to tone herself down.

Roxy reached out and grabbed Nimue’s shoulders.

"Listen to me," Roxy commanded, staring intently into the Princess’s eyes. "You are not a barnacle. You are a hurricane. You are glitter and noise and life. And that guy? He’s a bottom-feeder wrapped in tin foil."

Nimue blinked. "Tin foil?"

"It means he’s cheap and shiny," Roxy translated. "He used you, Nimue. He found the kindest heart in the Spires and he exploited it because he’s too lazy to hunt for his own dinner."

Roxy released her shoulders and clenched her fists.

"I’m going to make you a promise, sister. We aren’t just going to get over him. We are going to destroy him."

"Destroy him?" Nimue squeaked. "Like... with a trident?"

"No," Roxy smirked, a wicked glint in her eyes. "Too quick. We’re going to destroy his reputation. We’re going to make him irrelevant. By the time I’m done with him, he won’t be able to get a date with a sea sponge."

She held out her hand.

"Are you with me?"

Nimue looked at Roxy’s hand. She sniffled. Then, a small spark of her old fire returned to her eyes. She took Roxy’s hand.

"I’m with you."

"Good," Roxy declared, pulling her up. "Now, dry your face. Queens don’t cry over bait. We have work to do."

"What work?" Nimue asked, floating upright and smoothing her fins.

Roxy looked around. She needed a base of operations. She needed to establish her "Influence." And she needed comfort food, badly.

"Take me to the kitchen," Roxy ordered. Nimue was quick to obey since she had tasted Roxy’s food before.

The Royal Kitchens of the Spires were... disgusting.

Roxy stood in the arched doorway, wrinkling her nose. She had expected a grand culinary workspace. What she found was a slaughterhouse.

The room was a massive, natural cavern located near the base of the palace. The floor was stained dark with old blood and ink. Piles of raw fish, chopped squid tentacles, and unrecognizable hunks of meat were heaped on stone slabs.

There were no stoves. No ovens. No pots. Just knives, cleavers, and a few servants who were currently ripping apart a large tuna with their bare hands.

"Ew," Roxy whispered.

"This is the Larder," Nimue explained, looking confused. "We prepare the feed here. The Royal cuts are sliced, and the rest goes to the guards."

"This isn’t a kitchen," Roxy corrected, swimming into the room. "This is a crime scene."

The servants froze as the new Queen entered. They dropped their tuna chunks and bowed low, their eyes wide with fear.

"Your Majesty!" the Head Butcher gasped, wiping bloody hands on his silk. "We did not expect... we are not prepared!"

"At ease," Roxy waved a hand. "I’m just inspecting."

She scanned the room. It was cold, damp, and smelled of death. How was she supposed to cook here?

Then, she saw it.

At the back of the cavern, against the far wall, there was a series of cracks in the floor. From these cracks, columns of superheated water and bubbles were shooting up toward the ceiling vents.

Roxy swam closer.

She frowned. But can I actually cook in this? Physics underwater is weird.

[GodofThermodynamics: Technically, boiling is just the rapid vaporization of a liquid. At this depth, the pressure is immense, meaning the boiling point of water is significantly higher (around 370°C+). Those vents are spewing supercritical fluid. It’s hot enough to cook a dragon in seconds.]

[GodofCuisine(Gourmet): Ignore the nerd. Yes, you can cook! The heat transfer is incredibly efficient. You just need a container to trap the flavors, or the ocean will dilute your soup into... well, the ocean.]

[GodofWorldbuilding: I added those vents specifically for you. You’re welcome. Also, the salt content in the water here is perfect for seasoning. No need to add extra.]

Roxy grinned. Perfect!!! Thank you my lord!

She turned back to the terrified servants.

"Listen up!" Roxy clapped her hands, the sound echoing in the cavern. "We are going to make some changes. I want this room cleared. Now."

The Head Butcher blinked. "Cleared, Your Majesty?"

"Everything," Roxy commanded, pointing around. "Scrub the floors. Remove the guts. I want those stone slabs polished until I can see my reflection. And I need containers. Big ones. Metal, shell, whatever you have that can withstand heat."

"But... why?" Nimue asked, tilting her head. "Are we... punishing the servants?"

"No," Roxy smiled, untying the pouch of spices she had retrieved from her Inventory (which she always kept stocked, thanks to Kaelen). "We are revolutionizing the food chain."

She swam over to the hydrothermal vents.

"I need ingredients," Roxy listed, counting on her fingers. "I saw those giant red crabs in the lower market. Get prawns, lobsters, shrimps, large ones. Oysters. Get me twenty each. I need the corn, someone can swim to the surface area and can easily be taken. I need the potato-tubers that grow in the silt beds."

For the rest of the ingredients Roxy bought them for the system shop in large quantity.

The servants stared at her.

"You want us to... get the food... whole?" the Butcher asked. "Not sliced?"

"Whole," Roxy confirmed. "And bring me a net. A heavy one."

"Move!" Nimue barked, sensing Roxy’s determination. "The Queen commanded! Scrub! Fetch! Go!"

The kitchen exploded into chaos. Servants scrambled, sweeping away the grime. Others swam out to fetch the ingredients.

Roxy hovered by the vents, testing the heat with a carefully placed rock. It turned red hot in seconds.

Oh yeah, she thought. This is going to work.

An hour later, the kitchen was unrecognizable.

It was clean. The blood was gone. The smell of rot had been replaced by the sterile scent of boiling water.

In the center of the room, positioned directly over the largest hydrothermal vent, was a massive cauldron made of beaten iron (salvaged from the armory). It was weighed down with rocks so the updraft didn’t blow it away.

Inside the cauldron, the water was rolling. Not boiling like on the surface, but churning with the intense heat of the vent below.

The ingredients were piled on a pristine stone slab.

Twenty massive red crabs (cleaned, apologies to the crab people). Bushels of yellow corn cobs. Sacks of tuber-potatoes. Links of sausages.

And Roxy’s secret weapon: A bag of Cajun butter sauce spice mix she had bought from the System Store for 500 LP.

Nimue hovered nearby, eyeing the pile of food skeptically. "Roxy... are you sure about this? We usually just... bite the fish."

"Trust me," Roxy said, tying her silk wrap tighter around her waist. "Biting is fine. But dining is an experience."

She swam up to the cauldron.

"Pyra!" Roxy called out.

The fire-mermaid from the banquet appeared from the hallway, looking eager. "Yes, my Queen?"

"Stand guard by the pot," Roxy ordered. "Keep the heat consistent. If the vent fluctuates, use your hands to maintain the temp."

"Yes, Majesty!"

Roxy grabbed the bag of spices. She tore it open. The red powder swirled in the water for a second before she shoved it into the cauldron, sealing it quickly with a heavy lid to let it steep into the superheated water inside.

She turned to the gathered crowd, servants, Nimue, and a few curious guards who had wandered in.

They wanted to see what this strange mermaid was doing.

They looked confused. They looked hungry. They looked ready to be led.

Roxy grinned, picking up a massive ladle.

"Everyone, get your bowls ready," Roxy announced, her voice echoing with the confidence of a woman about to change the world.

"Because tonight, the Deep Spires is having its first-ever... Seafood Boil!"