Fulen took a closer look and realized that he actually recognized the items on the table; he had just misjudged them due to the angle.
There were only two items on the tray: a small, shallow glass of wine and a new pipe, along with a small dish containing tobacco and spices, and a beautifully decorated golden lighter.
Karl said nothing more, simply picked up the pipe with his left hand, gestured in front of him with his right, and said, "Please help yourselves, gentlemen, the pipes are a small gift from me to you."
After speaking, he began to carefully pack the meticulously prepared tobacco and spices into the pipe.
Although Fulen didn't quite understand how to pack tobacco and spices, watching Karl slowly pack them still piqued his curiosity about the pipe.
Although Fulen had never smoked a pipe, or even a cigarette, it wasn't difficult for him to feign smoking a pipe, especially when he was a step or two behind the other three.
However, while the luxurious-looking lighter didn't seem unusual, the direction of its flame was quite different from a typical lighter.
After learning to imitate, Fulen had successfully transformed into a delinquent youth, ready to start smoking a pipe, despite being only 18 years old and technically an adult.
Upon the first puff, Fulen was immediately overwhelmed by the unfamiliar taste of smoke.
This taste was several times more intense than secondhand smoke, but Fulen endured the discomfort.
Although he had never smoked, there was no harm in trying it, though he should avoid anything too harmful, such as another major product of Loen's Dixi Bay, which was similar to cannabis on Earth.
The room was instantly filled with thick smoke, and as the four men inhaled and exhaled, the aroma of tobacco mixed with spices permeated the room with the spreading smoke.
To Fulen's surprise, the taste of the burning tobacco and spices was unexpectedly pleasant; unlike cigarettes, there was an additional fragrance beyond the unique taste of tobacco.
Slowly, after the four men silently puffed clouds for a while, the finely prepared tobacco and spices turned into a black residue.
After Fulen exhaled his last puff, he suddenly felt a release of the pressure that had been hidden in his heart.
Perhaps it was the silent atmosphere, or the hazy smoke, or simply this unique environment, but Fulen felt that he might be starting to like this kind of environment and atmosphere.
However, Fulen quickly dismissed this idea.
Although the room was not well-ventilated, the smoke within it gradually dissipated.
Yet, the strong smell of burnt tobacco and an unknown substance lingered.
Fulen still felt he couldn't like smoking, but seeing the three others around him close their eyes, inhaling the remaining smoke with intoxicated pleasure, Fulen suddenly felt lonely.
"Don't you guys think this smell is terrible?" Fulen roared inwardly.
"And smoking is bad for your health, seriously! Don't you want lung problems?" However, Fulen remembered that even an Apothecary in this world could formulate medicines that were in some aspects superior to Earth's medicine, so he decided not to say anything.
When the smoke smell slightly receded, or perhaps after the four men's noses finally grew accustomed to the strong smell and became somewhat numb, Karl and the other two opened their eyes one by one.
Then Karl pointed to a glass of red wine that had arrived with the pipe and said, "This is aermir red wine. Although the vintage isn't particularly outstanding, it's much better than ordinary aermir red wine. Please, drink up, and then we'll continue our discussion."
Kvedo visibly showed excitement, but conversely, his movements were cautious, revealing a sense of reverence for the wine.
He slowly picked it up, swirled it under the light, seemingly discerning something, then sniffed it gently twice, and began to sip and taste it little by little.
Fulen wasn't as concerned.
Although he went through the same procedures, he didn't have any special feelings, as he had never drunk wine, and even beer only rarely.
It seemed Fulen was actually a good man who didn't smoke or drink.
aermir red wine didn't smell like grape juice; indeed, Fulen had only ever drunk grape juice before.
To Fulen, red wine costing dozens or even hundreds of yuan was even inferior to grape juice, much to the outrage of refined wine connoisseurs.
It didn't even smell of grapes, but rather of other fruits like blackcurrant and cherry, yet the aroma was very rich and complex.
Fulen even detected a hint of something akin to eating spicy food within the rich fruity aroma, which greatly piqued his curiosity.
Without further ado, Fulen quickly took a small sip.
The intense fruitiness combined with the rich wine flavor, aermir red wine, just like its name, was like a giant full of power, delivering a strong impact to Fulen's taste buds.
Besides the fruitiness, there was also a strong fragrance of woody materials, as if the most intense aroma from burning the most precious smoked wood had been preserved in the wine.
Of course, after experiencing the fruity and smoky notes, there was a rich sourness, followed by a slight bitterness, but after experiencing everything, a rich grape flavor lingered in his mouth.
Fulen had never drunk such a intensely flavored red wine and was immediately captivated by it.
After drinking it, his breath was filled with the rich fragrance of wine.
After carefully finishing his aermir red wine, Fulen found that although each sip tasted similar, there were still subtle differences, and these differences created a strong sense of layering that Fulen thoroughly enjoyed.
"Phew, Karl, your aermir red wine feels completely different from the aermir red wine I've had before. It really is about the vintage, it's fantastic!" Kvedo was the first to awaken from his intoxication with the aermir red wine, then said to Karl.
"Indeed," Erich also said.
Although Fulen didn't understand wine, he still praised the aermir red wine: "This is the best red wine I've ever had."
Karl returned the compliments to Erich and Fulen in turn, and to Kvedo, he said, "Today is my first step into the new world, and it is only on this occasion that you can enjoy this kind of wine."
Kvedo wailed somewhat heartbrokenly, "Oh, my Karl, how can you be so cruel, bringing me to heaven only to mercilessly cast me down? Doesn't your conscience ache?"
Karl, accustomed to Kvedo's antics, calmly asked, "Then, what's the situation with the Extraordinary Gathering?"