As Zen listened to Match explain how their party met Akiko on the way to the clock tower, the advisor found himself recalculating the odds. Johan was still very much a loose cannon, causing destruction and leaving trails of blood even if Akiko was hot on his tail. Liu Feng was still very occupied with tracking Felix down. Apparently, even Carnage's vice guild master had to be wary of the blind assassin. Once again, Zen was amazed by just how powerful Liu Feng was.
"Report any sightings of eggs," Zen announced in the guild chat and waited. Their first delivery of eggs should not take too long to arrive.
"Red eggs found in the shooting range," Tracer reported. "They run fast."
"Blue eggs spotted in the garden," a new party responded, and Zero advised them to be wary of the egg's shell. It was poisoned, and honestly, someone with poison resistance like Akiko or Scorpion should go. However, they were both preoccupied.
"We see some yellow eggs swimming in the pool, but they keep breaking the moment we touch them," a newly recruited guild member reported. Zero raised his brow. The yellow eggs were fragile. However, were they really this fragile?
"Try collecting them in a container or a bag with water. Do not make direct contact," Zen replied, and more messages poured in.
"Angry white egg in the clock tower trying to push people off the roof!"
"Flying eggs in the third level of the dormitory! They're chasing us!"
On the other hand, Zen did not hear anything about the green and black eggs as he thanked the party leaders and placed orders for a dozen eggs to be sent to the kitchen.
Sasha was bored out of her mind waiting in the kitchen. The sniper decided to take a peek at the cafeteria when something moved. At once, she fired two shots in succession to the place where she last saw movement. Instead of getting a person, Sasha saw something explode in the distance. Whatever it was, Sasha killed it. However, the sniper was still cautious.
Zen was reading the recipe in the egg encyclopaedia again when Sasha burst into the kitchen with some very odd things in her arms who were squirming and threatening to break free.
"Zen! I found them! The camo eggs were in the cafeteria all along. What should I do?"
Hearing that his first batch of eggs was here, Zen eagerly prepared the water and told Sasha to put them into the pot.
"What colour are these eggs?"
Sasha carefully placed the struggling eggs in a huge pot. "I cannot tell. They're very good at changing their colours to the surrounding. If it wasn't for one of the eggs moving that I shot, there was no way I could have known eggs were spawning in the cafeteria."
Zen looked at his recipe again. These had to be the green eggs, and Zen sighed a little. He needed their membrane, and the easiest way to get it was by making them hard-boiled to remove the shell and peel out the membranes.
As the eggs were covered in water, Zen watched with amusement at how they tried to swim and stay afloat. The game event was created in a very interesting manner. Zen could not help but enjoy how the camo eggs had personalities similar to commandos. It was a pity that he had to cook them but compared to adorable game characters, their lives were more important.
Sasha watched Zen boil the camo eggs and made herself useful by gathering more from the cafeteria. The more they had, the better. Even if Zen did not need that many for crafting the Rainbow Egg, they could turn these into points.
While Zen cooked, he listened to the other guild members report their numbers and location. Party Prayer was on the run to collect more eggs while searching the dormitory buildings that Liu Feng told them might contain eggs. Zen wished that someone could locate the black eggs soon. That was the trickiest egg to get, and even Liu Feng struggled to find it while keeping Felix away from their bases.
"Reporting! The red eggs are running too quickly for us to catch!"
"Reporting! We're returning with five yellow eggs. Requesting escorts and bigger containers!"
Zen checked on Akiko's location and asked if the guild master could help escort the yellow egg team from the pool. The Death Princess naturally agreed.
"Tracer, head to the shooting range to assist the recruits in capturing the red eggs. Party Freedom should provide cover for those who have eggs to transport to the kitchen," Zen commanded.
Things were finally moving, and more people started realising the importance of having connections in the game. Zen started to receive a lot of friend requests that he rejected. He told Oriole to do the same. If these people wanted to submit their points, they should join the guild instead of sitting on the fence.
As the battle for eggs heightened, Zen found himself getting busier in the kitchen. The water boiled after fifteen minutes, and Zen removed the camo eggs which were now fully green with stripes. They no longer moved, and Zen felt slightly sorry for them. The eggs struggled valiantly. However, there was no room for compassion as Zen ran them under cold water.
The yellow eggs arrived, and Zen was surprised to see only Akiko. Where was the new party team that she was meant to escort?
"I came alone. It was faster. Those amateurs would have exposed our base and secrets to Johan. Do you have spare containers?"
Zen nodded and passed the Death Princess a roll of plastic bags along with a huge plastic bucket. He looked at the trash bin that the new guild members used to capture yellow eggs and wondered why they only managed to get five inside. Then again, Zen didn't overthink. He could work with five for now.
Akiko took the plastic bags and bucket before leaving at once. Zen didn't blame her for the lack of words. She was a very busy person. Sasha also returned to the kitchen with a new batch of camo eggs struggling inside the stockpot she borrowed. Zen grinned when the Russian girl filled it with water and put a lid over it on the stove.
"What else can I help with?" she asked, and Zen pointed to the boiled green eggs sitting in cold water.
"Peel the shells from those and separate the membrane. The membrane of green eggs is an ingredient for crafting the Rainbow egg. If you still have time, help me find the kitchen scale. It should be somewhere. Also, don't let those eggs go more than fifteen minutes in the pot. We only have an hour. I hope I can finish crafting it before the basilisk spawns."
Sasha got to work immediately while Zen looked at the yellow swimming eggs. It would be wise to boil these eggs to full hardness as well so that he could remove the egg yolks easily. The recipe never mentioned if he should keep them raw or cooked, so Zen left some of the eggs uncooked, just in case.