The New Year's Eve banquet was being held on the green lawns of Central Park, and crowds of people were excitedly busy with the preparations. The atmosphere felt reminiscent of that massive farewell banquet they had held right before the apocalypse...

Free from conflict and far from the noise of the industrial zones, people prepared the feast by hand instead of relying on the automated service drones. The scene was simple, yet filled with a profound warmth.

Naturally, there were no massive, highly choreographed performances or rigid ceremonies; participation was entirely voluntary, and there were no mandatory speeches from the Federation officials. It gave the celebration a feeling that "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

People gathered in small groups to confide in one another, vent about their daily frustrations, confess hidden romantic feelings, or even boldly point out a colleague's mistakes at work. People always chose this specific night to say the things they wouldn't dare say any other time...

Perhaps this annual New Year's Eve banquet would eventually become a unique cultural cornerstone of the Federation... A tradition born in space, unlike anything that ever existed back on Earth.

"You know, the food we humans cook by hand actually tastes pretty good. How should I put it... it has a kind of soul to it." Jason was devouring a plate of spaghetti. After finishing, he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

He had been getting tired of the perfectly standardized meals prepared by the service drones. Right now, he felt that the handmade dish in his hand tasted vastly superior. Yes, food cooked with a human touch was definitely more delicious.

"You're being irrational. The culinary algorithms use massive data sets to find the absolute optimal way to cook every single dish. Every step those drones take is timed perfectly to the second. Their control over the heat distribution and their pan-tossing physics are mathematically precise," Lily countered.

"Their baseline standard exceeds that of an old-world five-star chef. Your belief that this handmade food tastes better is purely psychological."

Lily finished her last french fry, looking slightly unsatisfied. She remarked slowly, "If you asked professional food critics from the old world to judge a blind taste test, they would overwhelmingly score the drone's cooking higher."

"Of course, the exact same dish cooked by a drone tastes identical every single time; it certainly doesn't possess any so-called 'culinary soul'..."

Jason nodded. After spending so much time working with her, he had discovered that Lily was fundamentally different from most people; she was ruthlessly logical and highly rational. To her, objective, verifiable truth was the most important thing in the universe. That was just who she was.

Suddenly, a mischievous idea popped into his head.

Jason got up, went over to the buffet tables, and grabbed some grilled shrimp skewers, another serving of french fries, which were Lily's favorite and a fresh plate of deep-fried mealworms.

The banquet was set up in a buffet format, allowing everyone to help themselves until they were completely stuffed. Some people volunteered to work the grills, while others just relaxed and enjoyed themselves; the division of labor was entirely voluntary.

Jason possessed many strengths as a leader, but his cooking skills were absolutely atrocious; all he could do was shamelessly focus on eating. Forcing him to help cook would only result in ruined meals, and the Federation's organic food reserves were far too precious to be wasted.

"Here, you should try some of these!" he said, pointing to the pile of fried mealworms with a hint of malice in his eyes.

Yes, bugs. Deep-fried bugs.

They were about three centimeters long roughly the width of two fingers with plump, round bodies. Of course, after being heavily battered and deep-fried to a golden crisp, their appearance became slightly more acceptable, significantly reducing the "gross-out" factor of the dish.

Jason was mostly tempted to play a prank on Lily... but on a serious note, these insects were actually a highly efficient new food source that the Federation government was desperately trying to promote. Due to their bizarre, unappetizing appearance, public acceptance was extremely low, and the promotional campaigns hadn't been very effective.

In reality, insects reproduced exponentially faster and consumed a mere fraction of the water and biomass required to raise traditional livestock like pigs, cattle, and sheep. Their nutritional value per gram was even higher than that of premium beef and mutton! Rationally speaking, incorporating insects into their diet was a vastly superior lifestyle choice for the ship's population.

For example, mealworms could be used as both agricultural feed and direct human sustenance. Their larvae contained nearly 57% crude protein and 28% healthy fats; the pupae contained 57% protein, and the fully grown adults boasted a staggering 64% crude protein content. These ratios were vastly superior to conventional animal products like eggs, beef, and mutton. Furthermore, they were incredibly easy to digest and absorb, earning them the title of "Protein Kings" among nutritionists.

If the general public adapted to eating insects, they would be tangibly healthier, and the massive volume of agricultural resources saved from livestock farming could be redirected to improve their overall quality of life. This was the logical goal of the Federation, but getting the civilian population to actually eat them was another story entirely. Even back on Earth, most people in Western countries would gag at the mere sight of edible bugs. Not everyone was a hardcore survivalist!

Many people, especially those unused to alternative diets, felt a chill run down their spines when faced with the bizarre dish and flat-out refused to touch it.

"If you analyze it rationally and look at the research, you'll find that mealworms are not only exceptionally high in protein, but they also contain a complete, perfectly balanced profile of essential amino acids. Therefore... consuming them is highly logical," Lily retorted defiantly in response to Jason's teasing.

She wasn't actually saying those words for Jason's benefit, of course; she was desperately trying to convince herself to eat a bug. However, staring down at the plate of fried mealworms, her mind betrayed her, conjuring vivid images of how they used to wriggle and squirm over one another when they were alive. A violent shudder ran down her spine.

She was a highly rational woman. She knew with absolute scientific certainty that the plate of insects was perfectly safe and highly nutritious; her revulsion was entirely psychological. Besides, people claimed that deep-fried insects actually tasted pretty good, right?

She tried to encourage herself, muttering aloud, "Mealworm fat is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, which can be chemically purified for high-end medical and cosmetic use. It drastically improves the skin's cellular elasticity and anti-wrinkle functions... Yes, eating this is highly beneficial for my skin!"

Jason interrupted her ruthlessly. "Alright, relax. You're just eating a bug; you don't need to read me an entire medical dissertation to justify it." He casually scooped up several of the fried worms and tossed them into his mouth, chewing loudly. "See? It's really not bad at all!"

As a former special forces operative, eating insects was a walk in the park for him; extreme wilderness survival was practically a mandatory prerequisite for his unit. Jason had zero psychological barriers when it came to alternative protein.

Lily rolled her eyes at Jason, but remained frozen in her seat, hesitant to make a move.

As someone who worshipped absolute rationality, she believed that any logically sound action was worth taking. She rapidly rehearsed various biochemical facts and nutritional statistics in her head, desperately attempting to logic herself into eating the bugs. *Eating insects is the mathematically superior choice.*

Lily gingerly picked up a single fried worm with her chopsticks. She stared at it intently, her expression locked in a fierce internal struggle.

It was agonizingly difficult! Deriving the Schrödinger equation from scratch was a breeze compared to putting a bug in her mouth!

A wave of biological revulsion washed over her, triggering an intense, instinctual resistance. But her hyper-rational mind kept screaming at her to accept the food, arguing that embracing this alternative protein would benefit the Federation and cause zero physical harm. Her thought process was fundamentally different from most people's. To her, knowing that a mathematically superior solution existed but refusing to adopt it purely out of stubborn, irrational emotional disgust was simply unacceptable.

Finally, having cornered herself with her own logic, she had no choice. She gritted her teeth, squeezed her eyes shut, and quickly stuffed the worm into her mouth.

*Crunch.*

Actually, it tasted much better than she had anticipated. Being heavily deep-fried, it tasted remarkably similar to a savory potato chip. The texture didn't feel like an insect at all...

Jason found her agonized expression hilarious. "Well? How was it? Actually pretty good, right?"

At this point, he suddenly noticed that Lily's physical appearance had changed somewhat. He stared at her closely for a long moment before saying, "You know... your skin actually does look much smoother, like an eighteen or nineteen-year-old's. Is that an early effect of the new stem cell serum you took... or does eating a single bug really have that good of a cosmetic effect?"

Lily froze, her face flushing as she was rendered completely speechless. Having survived eating the bug, her only desire now was to escape the embarrassing situation. "I'm going over there to help with the cooking. Eat the rest yourself!"

With that, she quickly turned and hurried away into the crowd.