The second part of the route is through the park. Before arriving, Xi P is quite interested in the park, but his enthusiasm quickly wanes upon arrival: he cannot reach out to pick plants. Min hasn't prepared gloves for him — though they wouldn't have fit him anyway. So, he can only crouch down and closely examine the plants.

  Animals are another matter. The birds here show little fear of larger creatures, especially those waterfowl. Xi P can approach within a few metres of them without startling them — likely because they are frequently fed by visitors. In just a short while, he has already seen several people tear starch-based food into pieces and toss it to the waterfowl. Watching them scramble for food is indeed entertaining, though he wonders if these waterfowl, like those in Lierus, have been fed to the point where they deliberately mimic aggressive behaviour to attract feeders.

  The species classification here does not seem too different from that in Lierus. As he has just observed, birds with forelimbs that have evolved into wings are also present. Yet he hasn't spotted the other creatures that dominate the skies in Lierus: the airbag-sac species. Perhaps they have been driven away from the city's outskirts for aviation safety reasons...

  It is only on his walk home that Xi P suddenly realises he'd been foolish in the park earlier. Even though it would have been inconvenient for him to gather the plant samples himself, he could have asked Min to do it for him! Min could have handed them over to him later. Now he has wasted an entire outing for nothing.

  'Well, there'll be plenty more chances to go out. Missing this one won't matter.'

  ***

  It was probably Min's fault for not giving the tailor clear instructions. Not only is this cloak thick, but its black exterior also excels at absorbing sunlight. By the time Xi P reaches home, all of the ice packs have melted into water bags. As for Xi P himself, he had long since reached his limit with the stifling heat.

  So the moment the front door closes, Xi P yanks off that oven-like cloak. The hot air escaping from around his body feels incredibly good.

  'Wait, something feels off...'

  Xi P suddenly realises the massive problem with his actions — he is now wearing nothing but a loincloth!

  Min turns his head the moment Xi P makes that move and sees nothing but motion-blurred patches of orange-red and white fur. Xi P himself hurriedly pulls the cloak back up to cover himself. That's utterly embarrassing!

  ***

  Dinner time.

  The food Xi P brought earlier is all gone, only one portion left for future research. After trying various sugar solutions and testing common foods with the caution of a poison taster (even using quite a few instruments along the way), the two had reached a consensus over twenty days ago: even if the taste is truly awful, cooked Earth meat and eggs are safe for short-term consumption.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Though expected, Min still feels somewhat unfortunate. Personally, he had hoped that Xi P would appreciate his cooking. Yet a creature's sense of taste clearly evolves for the foods it's meant to eat, generally favouring a whitelist approach. It is easy to imagine how repulsive these Earth foods must be to Xi P, but it's unclear exactly which components of Earth meat cause the aversion — it would likely require scientific methods to gradually determine.

  Disgusting or not, Xi P still has to eat. Having claimed to feel no ill effects after all this time, the food issue is temporarily resolved. Taking human nutrition as an example: even if carbohydrates and fats are common enough in the universe, what about vitamins and trace elements? This really serves to reinforce the arguments of intelligent design theory...

  Watching Xi P shove a piece of beef into his mouth, chew twice and swallow at maximum speed, Min suddenly thinks of a question:

  "How did your kind solve the food problem?"

  As civilisation develops, population density and numbers increases, food issues inevitably arise. Humans solved the long-term food supply for settlements by practising agriculture. Yet even then, famines caused by natural disasters and human error were commonplace. So how did Xi P's species manage it back then? Early, unimproved livestock grazing is extremely inefficient, yielding far less per unit area than similarly unimproved farming. And a nomadic lifestyle severely hinders technological advancement. Min can't quite think of how their kind would have solved their food problem.

  Xi P's initial response is completely off the mark with regard to Min's point. After speaking at length, Min realises he is describing modern food sources — not the Bronze Age origins Min inquired about. Nevertheless, this tangential answer still offers some insight.

  Counterintuitively, they also utilise something called "farms". Of course, they don't consume the crops directly, nor do they grow plants to feed to livestock. The process is far more complex. Genetically modified plants with highly specific nutrient profiles are cultivated quickly in hydroponic farms and then processed by machinery to extract the required nutrients. These distinct components are then synthesised into a culture medium. Using stem cell cultivation technology, meat is then "grown" directly on this medium. Although this method requires highly advanced technology, it can produce vast quantities of meat with a minimal environmental footprint, and no animals are harmed in the process, making it highly humane. Only such efficient technology could sustain the meat consumption of billions.

  When Xi P finally understands what Min is asking, he glances at Min with an oddly awkward look and replies directly: "Herding."

  'I know it's herding, but herding alone can't possibly provide enough food!' Min thinks.

  Effective communication is difficult when there is an incomplete understanding of language. After further explanation, both parties finally realise exactly what the other had meant. Xi P's kind has indeed stagnated in the Iron Age for millennia due to population issues stemming from food scarcity. Yet over time, this developmental constraint broke down: even in their Iron Age, they had proposed the theory of evolution — a concept not formally established among humans until the 19th century. By applying efficient manual breeding based on evolutionary principles, they ultimately created high-yield species, achieving a preliminary breakthrough.

  This is truly mind-boggling. For Min, the fact that they had grasped evolutionary theory during the Iron Age is utterly astonishing. As for Xi P, he is equally stunned to learn that this theory was not formally published until 1859: to him, discovering evolution during the Iron Age seems perfectly natural.

  His astonishment deepens when he learns that Darwin's opportunity arose only after the decline of religion.

  "..."

  After the conversation ends, Xi P mutters under his breath, "Spiritualist morons", then turns back to devour his meal with renewed gusto. He eats voraciously, unwilling to let the flavour linger in his mouth for even a second longer.

  by Bluesycobalt

  > Female Lead with cast of developed side-characters

  > A lot of poking at Isekai tropes

  > Rational and Underpowered Protagonist fighting for her life

  > 1500-2500 Word Chapters

  Updates MWF at 7:10pm EST