"It's a local type of bread made from wheat bran and coarse grain. It doesn't taste great, but it's decent enough soaked in soup."
Shiller turned around and took out two cans from behind him, pried them open with his dagger, and placed them on the roast rack.
Stark recognized that it seemed to be U.S. Military canned food. Looking at the bubbling broth inside, he couldn't help but swallow.
"Were you talking to someone just now?" Stark asked.
"Yes, the people who brought the food were here. I negotiated with them and these cans are the result of that negotiation." Shiller stirred the meat in the cans with his knife-tip and continued, "I told them that if they can't provide enough medicine, then they must have better food to ensure your nutrition, otherwise I can't guarantee your survival."
Shiller looked at Stark and said, "They hope you can start the weapon research immediately. But I told them that the wound on your back needs some time to heal, you can probably rest for about three more days."
"You're an important figure. Three days should be enough for your family to notice your disappearance. As for how they can locate you, it depends on your skill. There's some scrapped radio equipment over there."
Stark followed Shiller's gaze and noticed a huge pile of scrapped machines. These damaged mechanical parts were quite suggestive, so Stark returned his gaze back to Shiller's eyes.
"I told them that you need parts for your weapons research and pointed out an abandoned military base to them. That place wasn't really a lab but a communications signal room. They have a hard time distinguishing between the types of parts, so they brought everything back."
Stark swallowed hard, and just as he was about to say something, Shiller pushed the cans to him, saying, "Eat up. You probably haven't had many chances to experience food this crude in your life."
Stark accepted the slightly bent fork that Shiller handed him and looked at the cans with some difficulty.
He then saw Shiller tear off a small piece of bread and dunk it in the canned soup. Stark copied Shiller, but he first put a piece of bread crumb into his mouth.
Then he spat out a few times, spitting out what was in his mouth, saying it was like hard chunks of earth. It didn't taste too horrible, but the texture was awful.
Stark had no choice but to soak the bread in the canned soup. After a mouthful of hot soup, he finally felt a bit better. He took a bite from the meat in the can and found that Shiller was right; it was the first time in his life that he had ever eaten beef of such low quality.
The added bread was a disaster. Stark thought it ruined the canned food. He wanted to fish out what he had just thrown in with the fork, but Shiller added an even bigger piece.
"You need to replenish your carbohydrates and sugar. Now is not the time to be picky with your food." Shiller glanced at the cave entrance, "The people coming to rescue you might not be able to roll out the red carpet for you; you need to run a bit yourself. If you don't have enough energy, you're as good as dead."
Soon, Stark grimaced as he stuffed the canned food into his mouth. The taste and texture were poor, yet his body reacted honestly to the energy he was taking in. Little by little, Stark didn't feel as weak.
After finishing eating, Stark lay on his bed to rest. He woke up to find Shiller was making food again.
"Do you intend to spend your entire life here?" Stark asked perplexedly, "Never returning to America again?"
"Probably." Shiller poured the mixed batter onto the steel plate, making pancakes using the pancake mix. He precisely raised his hand, dropping just enough batter onto the steel plate to form a perfect circle.
Stark watched Shiller's hands which obviously belonged to a doctor. He sighed and said, "You're a good doctor. You can return and practice medicine. I will help you."
"Why would you help me?" Shiller countered.
"Because you helped me."
"I was just helping myself." Shiller poured the rest of the batter and quickly flipped the first pancake. "This is my job here. Treating the kidnapped to ensure they can fulfill their value."
"Yes, treating my wounds was indeed part of your deal with them. But these things weren't." Stark pulled up a chair to sit opposite Shiller.
"Are you referring to me cooking for you? Well, I need to eat too. Even a cyborg needs to eat."
"What about this?" Stark looked at the perfectly shaped pancake and said, "You like to eat dessert in the middle of the night?"
"This is for maintaining your mental health." Shiller continued flipping the pancakes. "What happened during the day might have caused you some psychological trauma; it simply hasn't manifested itself yet."
"The emotions sweets evoke are a form of therapy. They can soothe your mood, leading to clearer thinking."
"So, you're still trying to save me, to let me leave here."
"Because I'm worried if you really create a powerful weapon for them, they will have no casualties, and I would be out of a job."
Stark stared helplessly at Shiller and rapped on the brick of the bonfire with his hand. "Is it that embarrassing for you to save and help me? Why can't you admit it?"
"I'm telling the truth." Shiller twirled the handle of the fork.
Stark retorted, "If you didn't want me to develop a more powerful weapon, you could kill me directly and say that I died from an infection. They wouldn't be able to do anything to you."
Shiller fell silent.
Stark triumphantly said, "Admit it, you want to save me. You say you have no morals, but I don't see it."
"Perhaps I just hope that you can repay me, like helping me restore my status and then giving me a large sum of money."
Stark laughed and leaned forward, "You can tell you've been away from society for quite some time. Do you think Stark's repayment is that simple? A large sum of money? Don't insult me!"
"For now, the greatest repayment you can give me is to recover as soon as possible and leave." Shiller looked at Stark's eyes, "I have no interest in going back to being a doctor. Don't bother me."
When he finished, he stood up and left the pancakes for Stark. Seeing Shiller's figure walking towards the entrance of the cave, Stark couldn't help but feel resentful.
It stemmed from a strange sense of guilt and emotional transference - Stark Group killed so many selling arms, he must prove he can save people, that Stark can do good as well, by any means necessary.
"Stark can save anyone!"
Stark raised his voice towards the cave entrance, "The Federal Bureau of Investigation, terrorists, the military, none of them matter, I will save whoever I want to save. I will show you!"