In the first round of the spotlight battle in Area A, it surprisingly ended with Mars’s surrender.
Defeat that skipped the voting phase of the judges!
As the two contestants successively left the stage and the Execution Committee staff swarmed up to clean, many audience members still had a whirlwind of questions in their minds.
Mars had surrendered on the premise that his "ingredients were inferior."
But regardless of Mars or the five judges, everyone skirted around the subject of the egg mixture in that porcelain bowl, forcibly shifting attention to the "Five-Headed Bird Meat" and talking about "White-haired Cinderella Beef." It would have been fine to completely ignore the most concerning Forbidden Ingredient, "Gem Meat"—once the judges returned to their seats and the contestants had left, the audience finally caught on.
Why were they all deliberately ignoring the egg mixture?
Anxious, the audience scratched their heads and loudly discussed among themselves. The venue, during the fifteen-minute intermission, became as noisy and bustling as a marketplace once more.
"Principal Mars used ’Rose Mushrooms,’ ’Golden Salmon Roe,’ two types of Fantasy Ingredients, plus a Forbidden Ingredient. How could he possibly be crushed in terms of ingredients!"
"Ha, so you think Mars was throwing the match?"
"Throwing the match? Don’t be foolish, this is an international competition, the semi-finals of the half-zone, it’s about the ownership of ’legendary cooking utensils’!"
The people argued until their faces were red and their ears hot.
Below the stage, the director took out his handkerchief to wipe his sweat and instructed the staff, "Quick, play Chef Xia’s explanation video repeatedly!"
during the waiting time, the live broadcast screens at the venue and the end-user devices tuned in to the livestream popped up a video of Xia Yu at the cooking station, explaining to the camera how to prepare bird meat, how to deal with beef.
In an unnoticed corner of the audience, Jintan Shun, regardless of the arguments around him, watched the video with great interest.
"Blending muscle strength to break the meat fibers is one thing; the beef was roughly processed in the same way, but softening the ’Five-Headed Bird Meat’ through cutting techniques to make it tender and delicious is somewhat perplexing..."
The Gourmet Hunter leaned on his chin, pondering with amusement.
The thought that he, too, had some "Five-Headed Bird Meat" hoarded made Jintan Shun feel skillfully challenged.
His knife skills couldn’t be too far off, right?
"However, the IGO people are as stubborn and antique as ever."
Jintan Shun’s gaze swept over the judges’ seats, then glanced at the staff members in red vests scattered around the venue maintaining order, thinking secretly, "In such an international event Forbidden Ingredients can be used openly, yet the judges are not allowed to comment further."
In Jintan Shun’s view, the judges’ reluctance to mention "Flame Horse Meat," "Gem Meat," or even the mysterious egg mixture surely meant the Execution Committee had imposed a gag order.
Jintan Shun continued to muse.
The treatment of Forbidden Ingredients, if placed twenty years earlier, would be that of Fantasy Ingredients.
Back then, chefs using Fantasy Ingredients in public would have caused a sensation, while now, with the culinary world’s development, Fantasy Ingredients have gradually become unlocked and recognized, so the corresponding restrictions have shifted onto the higher-level Forbidden Ingredients.
"With the first victory going to Far Moon, they have at least a 60% chance of breaking into the half-zone finals, and meeting the ’Research Faction’ team there!" Jintan Shun felt an inexplicable sense of anticipation.
These two names flashed across his mind.
A culinary face-off of international interest!
Footsteps echoed down the corridor.
Xia Yu and Mars, each carrying their own toolbox, walked side by side.
The victor, devoid of the joy of winning, had a solemn expression.
The loser showed no sign of discouragement or dejection.
Suddenly, Mars stopped.
"I’m serious, actually, with just the ’Gem Meat’ and that kind of egg mixture, the loser would definitely be me!" Mars stared at him intently, "You know what I’m talking about, right?"
Seeing Xia Yu furrow his brow, Mars exhaled.
"It seems you still don’t quite understand the situation!"
Mars took two steps forward and said with his back to him: "My forbidden dish uses Forbidden Ingredients, but it’s only just manageable with the combination of ’Rose Mushrooms’ and ’Golden Salmon Roe,’ two Resonance Materials!"
His tone was extremely serious.
"But, you’re different!"
"Your Resonance Materials are the Forbidden Ingredients themselves, which can be ’controlled’ and ’utilized’ easily without any extra means!"
"That is the fundamental difference between you and me! Do you get it?!" Mars said, his face full of amazement as he examined the youth before him from head to toe, "How on earth did you find Forbidden Ingredients that resonate with your own body’s cells?"
"Do you realize, this is the step that chefs from our ’Gourmet Assembly’ must take when moving from special to Qilin level!"
"The Dark Chefs of the Qilin level are those who use Forbidden Ingredients that resonate with themselves to create a Qilin level of forbidden recipe!"
With a look of melancholy in his eyes, Mars looked up at the LED lights on the ceiling of the passage and sighed, "And I, have been stuck at this step, unable to move forward for six or seven years."
Xia Yu had a slight epiphany.
"So, it’s not about the difference in ingredients but accurately, the difference in Resonance Materials!"
"You finally understand!"
Mars said indifferently, "If ’White-haired Cinderella’ and ’Five-Headed Bird Meat’ are your Resonance Materials, and you use these two ingredients to control the ’Gem Meat’... then the winner would definitely be me!"
Having said this, Mars strode away, his final words faintly reaching him:
"Our team is very likely to have lost."
"If you make it to the finals, your Shokugeki with Tiqie Ji will begin. Be wary of this person—"
"He has already taken the crucial step towards reaching the Qilin level!"
With Mars’s kindly warning echoing in his head, Xia Yu furrowed his brow and returned to the Far Moon Team’s resting hall.
In the semifinals, the team members were all in the lounge watching the broadcast, unlike before, where they sat in the waiting area at the side of the stage. As Xia Yu came back and barely closed the door, he was immediately surrounded by everyone.
"Tell us, what exactly is that egg mixture!"
Zhu Qing was the first to speak, patting his shoulder without any courtesy, "Forget about the bird and beef, that was just a smokescreen."
Dojima Yin hesitantly said, "Could it be..."
"That’s it, it’s that kind of egg."
Xia Yu blinked, "This is my secret weapon against Tiqie Ji!"
"Really? That kind of egg?"
The Far Moon Team looked at one another.
Until right before the match started, the news of ’Fuzzy Battle Against Five-Headed Monstrosity’ was still all over the internet, and what was more unexpected was that this news was tightly connected with the big competition. There it was, in the top four semifinals, the appearance of Five-Headed Bird’s meat and egg.
"Don’t tell us, the eggs were also sold to you by Jintan Shun..." Dojima Yin said, laughing at his own words.
But to their surprise, Xia Yu continued to play dumb and gave a thumbs up.
Dojima Yin’s expression twitched, and he turned his head and walked away, "Fine, keep playing the fool, I’m off to get ready to enter!"
Saying that, Dojima Yin picked up his toolbox and went into the changing room to put on a brand new chef’s uniform and left.