Chapter 116: Tasting the Salad, AIR
The Horse King suddenly turned its head, its eyes widening in a flash of immense joy. That’s it, that’s the one! This is what I’ve been waiting for!
The moment it had awaited for tens of thousands of years had finally arrived. It was a once-in-a-millennium opportunity to give birth. If it missed this chance, there was no telling when the next one would be.
The Horse King used all its strength, taking a deep, long breath at full power, greedily absorbing the fresh air.
"Hahaha, the salad, AIR, has been cooked! They’re really capable," Ichiryu said with a laugh. He had originally planned to capture AIR after their meeting, but he hadn’t expected Kenji and his group to cook it first.
"The future... belongs to the young," Jiro said, equally pleased. That’s my disciple.
On the Hill of Late Rain.
Kenji supported Atashino, who had just expended a massive amount of energy. She had handled most of the cooking of AIR by herself, and it was the first time she had ever used so much energy at once. She wasn’t used to it.
"I didn’t disappoint you, Kenji. I successfully cooked it." Atashino looked at AIR as it released a colossal amount of air and breathed a sigh of relief. Although she knew the method, the practical application was much more troublesome.
The clouds were blown away by the airflow, and rare sunlight shone down upon the Gourmet World’s Eighth Area.
"That was exhausting. It’s rare to see sunlight in the Yōshoku Realm," Brunch said, sitting on the ground and looking up at the clear sky.
The barren rocks began to sprout plants, nourished by the nutrient-rich air radiating from AIR. The reason this place had been so desolate was that the growth of AIR required a terrifying amount of nutrients.
Suddenly, an incomparably brilliant rainbow appeared. Unlike a normal rainbow, this one had a hundred different colors.
The Horse King’s cry—elegant, solemn, beautiful, and mysterious—resounded throughout the world.
The other Eight Kings on the other continents looked up. The birth of the Son of the Horse King was worthy of their attention.
In the Human World, humans heard the Horse King’s cry and, though they didn’t know what it was, were filled with an inexplicable sense of terror.
"Midora, you came too."
Ichiryu and Jiro hadn’t left. They saw an old acquaintance—or rather, it was more appropriate to call him family.
"Was AIR cooked successfully?" Midora asked, looking in the direction of the Hill of Late Rain. An extraordinary, delicious aroma was wafting from there. How could he not have sensed such a huge commotion?
"Want to go eat together, Midora?" Ichiryu asked with a smile. It had been a long, long time since they had eaten together, so he was truly looking forward to sitting at the same dinner table with Midora again.
Midora looked at Ichiryu’s heartfelt smile, his own expression becoming complicated. He knew that Ichiryu was inviting him simply to share a meal, with no other intentions.
"Alright." After a moment of hesitation, Midora nodded.
The smile on Ichiryu’s face grew even brighter.
On the Hill of Late Rain.
A black shadow flashed by, and a piece of AIR was cut away. Kenji and the others didn’t even have time to react.
"Interesting. 120% delicious AIR. The Blue Nitro are truly useless. I had to do it myself."
The figure was completely wrapped in strange clothing, with only their eyes visible. In their hand, they held a piece of AIR’s flesh the size of a washbasin. In the next second, a black shadow enveloped the figure, and they vanished without a trace. With Ichiryu and the others in the Eighth Area, he had no intention of doing anything extra. Just taking AIR and leaving was enough.
"Who was that?" Atashino said in a low voice. To appear so silently that no one noticed... that aura was terrifying. In Biotope 0, probably only President Ichiryu could deal with him.
"Joie. You should recognize him, right?" Kenji wasn’t surprised that Joie would come in person. The shadow that enveloped him was a Phantom Beast called a Permeating Shadow. Although its Capture Level was only 295, its ability to move through the air and underground was extremely useful and was Joie’s preferred method of travel. The Permeating Shadow was truly a magical creature, perfect for stealthy infiltration and causing trouble.
Joie... At the end of the story, Midora revealed his theory: the Gourmet God Froese had drunk the gender-swapping PAIR before she died. The Healing Water Midora poured on her grave had repaired Froese’s gender-bent body. Joie then used Froese’s body to burst out of the grave when Midora and the others were not around, while Froese’s soul was in the Soul World.
"You mean that Dark Chef?" Atashino’s brow furrowed. She had heard of him. He was expelled from the culinary world for using dark techniques at the Cooking Fest and had disappeared in recent years. Aside from those who had met him back then, the world had almost forgotten the name Joie.
"That’s him. Let’s not worry about him. Let’s all eat AIR together." Kenji guessed that Joie had left so quickly because he was wary of the Horse King. So he just grabbed a piece of AIR and used the Permeating Shadow to leave the Eighth Area.
The people of the Yōshoku Realm all came over. Even so, the salad AIR was so massive that it was impossible to finish.
Kenji chewed on the flesh of the salad, AIR. It was indeed very similar to the Air Fruit, but its taste and complexity were far superior. He carefully sensed the changes in his body. They were even greater than after eating the Air Fruit. He could inhale more air, which promoted blood circulation and activated his metabolism. His physical functions had been boosted dozens of times over. His self-healing ability was also enhanced; he could heal wounds of varying degrees with just a few breaths. With continuous breathing, he could probably even heal injuries like broken bones. For a short time after eating it, he didn’t even need to breathe.
Kenji looked up at the sky and could clearly see the cosmos. His combat power, converted to a Capture Level, was now over 3000. With his buffs active, he could now destroy a star. Unfortunately, unlike Toriko and the others, the left arm of his Gourmet Demon had not been unlocked.
Atashino suddenly clutched her head, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. The next second, she opened her eyes, gasping for breath.
"Atashino, what’s wrong?" Kenji asked with concern. AIR shouldn’t have had this kind of effect.
"I’m fine. I saw my Gourmet Cell Demon... It’s white," Atashino said slowly. The moment she ate AIR, her consciousness had entered a special space. There was a kitchen, a dining room, and other furnishings, and a white figure stood there with its back to her. Although the figure didn’t say anything, she was certain that it was her Gourmet Cell Demon.
Kenji was stunned. White? He hadn’t expected such a being to reside within Atashino. There was surely more than one white Gourmet Demon, besides the White Ogre inside Toriko. However, the only one explicitly mentioned in the manga was Toriko’s. The Gourmet God Froese’s Gourmet Demon might have also been white.
The manga didn’t describe Atashino’s situation because she was just a side character with pitifully few appearances. The author hadn’t thought to describe the staff of Biotope 0 in much detail; they were either written off or became background characters. It must have been after she became his partner and ate several high-level ingredients that the accumulated power stimulated her Gourmet Cell Demon. Perhaps the Heat Planet dish had been the beginning.
"Yo! You’re all eating! Is there any room?"
Three burly men and a pink-haired girl appeared.
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