A heavy breathing sound came from beneath the soldier's gas mask. His trembling fingers hovered above the lunchbox, as if he dared not touch it, treating it like a sacred offering.
Although soldiers are supposed to be unconcerned with minor details, for some reason, this soldier always felt he shouldn't directly reach out and touch the food inside the lunchbox.
The dishes were simply too exquisite and beautiful; one look was enough to know they were fit only for nobles.
He felt that if he were to directly reach out and grab the food to eat, it would be a bit too blasphemous—a blasphemy against the Emperor's grace.
Indeed, in his eyes, being able to eat such delicious food and see such exquisite food was undoubtedly a gift from the Emperor.
Moreover, he felt that he was actually a sinner and unworthy of such a great gift, yet this gift was truly placed before him.
Therefore, he had to respect it, respect it, and respect it again, rather than casually blaspheming this gift.
Noah naturally saw that the other party kept his hand hovering high above the lunchbox without reaching for it, so to ease the other party's awkwardness, he pointed to the small button beside the lunchbox.
"Use the spoon." Noah pointed to the folded cutlery embedded in the edge of the lunchbox. "Press here and it will pop out."
The soldier abruptly retreated half a step, his entrenching tool tracing a defensive arc in front of him. But when he realized Noah was just sitting quietly, he finally used the tip of his tool to carefully poke the indicated spot.
With a soft "click," the silver-white, streamlined dining fork unfolded. A miniature holographic projection of the federation emblem, engraved on its handle, cast a translucent Aquila pattern into the air.
*Cutlery sterilization procedure complete*, the machine spirit AI carried by the lunchbox announced in High Gothic.
Noah had specifically added this to the lunchbox to give the soldier opposite him a bit of scientific knowledge.
After all, he was not a citizen of the federation and probably didn't know how to use these federation items.
To be honest, while doing this, Noah felt he was incredibly clever for thinking of such an ingenious method.
Little did he know that it was precisely this sentence from the lunchbox that scared the soldier so much he almost knocked it over.
A machine spirit?
This was the soldier's initial reaction.
Don't expect soldiers to know too much.
For them, combat was everything, so it was normal for him to identify this object as a machine spirit.
Because they were unfamiliar with these things, Noah also became aware of a huge loophole in the current laws of the Imperium of Man.
He had even specially added a basic AI to the lunchbox for convenience.
It was precisely because of this gesture, which he considered thoughtful, that he witnessed a scene he had never even dared to imagine.
The soldier opposite Noah actually put down the lunchbox and respectfully placed it on a table Noah had prepared for himself to eat.
And the soldier respectfully stood up, then knelt before that lunchbox.
As a soldier who had served for a full year and was already a veteran, he had encountered Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
In a chance conversation, he remembered a Tech-Priest telling him that if a machine spirit became displeased, one must anoint it with holy oil.
He carefully considered what he had just done.
He had actually held the machine spirit's body in his hands and was about to use his filthy hands to grab the food inside this opportunity; this was simply blasphemy!
He must anoint the machine spirit with holy oil to soothe and bless it.
Noah stood by, quietly watching the soldier opposite him seemingly searching for something on his person, and then he saw the other party pull out a small bottle.
This small bottle was given to this soldier by a Tech-Priest during his last operation.
Immediately after, Noah saw the other party pour some liquid from the small bottle and begin to smear it around the lunchbox.
Noah didn't understand the meaning of this guy's actions, but after all, he was a fellow human.
There must be a reason for a fellow human to do this, so Noah just stood at a distance, watching his every move.
Fellow humans will also enjoy the citizenship of the Terran Federation once the federation arrives, so they must be respected.
This was his basic quality as a former senior researcher of the federation and his current basic quality as an explorer of the federation.
The soldier's movements became exceptionally devout.
He knelt before the lunchbox, dipping his calloused fingers into the liquid in the small bottle, and drew a crooked gear symbol on the lunchbox's surface.
Only then did Noah notice that the liquid glowed with an eerie blue light in his psionics vision—it was machine lubricant mixed with promethium!
"May the omnissiah forgive my blasphemy..." the soldier whispered in prayer, then suddenly bit his finger, dripping blood onto the folding joints of the lunchbox.
The moment the blood touched the metal, the lunchbox suddenly emitted a "humming" vibration, scaring him so much that he immediately prostrated himself, banging his head on the ground.
Noah finally couldn't help it: "Uh... actually, you don't have to do this..."
But clearly, the soldier completely ignored what Noah said.
He stubbornly continued to smear the mysterious liquid on the lunchbox. To be honest, such an action and smearing food like this made Noah a bit unable to watch.
Considering the fact that the other party had ignored him when he spoke just now, Noah did not speak up again to remind him.
Anyway, he wasn't worried that the soldier opposite him would dirty his food.
The lunchbox would also clean itself; his mysterious liquid would be dealt with by the lunchbox.
Moreover, this soldier could be considered to have his intelligence online; at least he didn't smear that liquid on the edible parts.
In Noah's opinion, this soldier's intelligence should still be online; at least he hadn't done anything too stupid.
*Liquid contamination detected, initiating cleaning protocol*
An invisible shimmer swept across the lunchbox's surface, wiping the soldier's blood clean and processing all the unknown liquids.
This behavior made the soldier even more anxious; he quickly took out more holy oil and smeared it on the surface of the lunchbox.
And this scene made Noah's eyelids twitch.
To be honest, he completely didn't understand what kind of custom this was. Why smear this mysterious liquid on the lunchbox before eating?
Was this some bizarre ritual?
Noah defined this behavior of the soldier in front of him in his mind as, for example, how people in their Terran Federation wash their hands before eating.
Although it seemed utterly bizarre no matter how you looked at it, it was still the same old saying: don't understand, but respect.
However, despite saying that, watching the other party's actions, Noah's eyelids really kept twitching; he couldn't take it anymore.
Although they were both humans, theoretically, he should show some respect to his fellow human, respecting his bizarre tradition.
But Noah really couldn't hold back.
He reached out his hand, and before the soldier could even react, his hand had already grasped the other party's hand, stopping him from continuing to smear holy oil.
"What are you doing? Don't you know the composition of that thing? That stuff is clearly inedible!
If you smear this on, and it accidentally gets into the food, if you eat this meal, I'm sixty percent sure your fragile body would probably be directly destroyed."
"There are no medical facilities in this godforsaken place. If something happens to you or you get sick, I won't be able to treat you.
So, just listen, let's just leave it at that. Hurry up and eat. As for your absurd ritual, we can talk about it after you've finished eating."
Noah's words were full of consideration for the other party, as he had already noticed that the other party was hungry.
But the soldier didn't think that way; his mind was entirely focused on appeasing the machine spirit.
Because Noah had brought him food, a gift from the Emperor, the soldier no longer had any resistance towards Noah.
After all, such exquisite food must be a gift from the Emperor, and Noah, who brought him this gift, couldn't possibly be a bad person.
This was the soldier's simplest thought.
However, the other party once again stopping him from smearing holy oil on the lunchbox left this soldier somewhat stunned.
On one side was the person who brought him the Emperor's grace, and on the other was a clearly somewhat displeased machine spirit. What should he do?
The soldier had never encountered such a complex problem, even though he was a veteran who had served for a full year.