"Komatsu, can we eat it now?" Toriko drooled. The shimmering golden Puffer Whale looked incredibly appetizing. Such a supreme delicacy should be eaten as sashimi to savor its purest, most original flavor.
"Yes, just a moment. Let me slice it."
After some simple preparation by Komatsu, the evenly sliced sashimi, so thin it was almost translucent, was arranged on green leaves.
"Let’s eat! A toast with Puffer Whale fin sake to celebrate our successful capture!"
The five of them sat in a circle, with steaming cups of fin sake and plates of Puffer Whale sashimi before them.
The heat of the sake, which had been warmed with the fins, beautifully highlighted their delicate flavor. Kenji now understood why his master had such a fondness for it. For a man who lived and breathed alcohol like Jiro, this was a truly exquisite drink.
"What beautiful meat. It has a pinkish glow, and the fat is marbled like high-quality beef. It looks more like whale meat," Kenji remarked, lifting a few slices to observe them.
"Itadakimasu!" they all said in unison, beginning to taste the Puffer Whale sashimi.
As they chewed, the delicious flavor of the fat filled their mouths. It was sweet and savory. Unlike the melt-in-your-mouth texture of fatty tuna, it was more like fugu, growing more fragrant the more you chewed. The flavor emerged in continuous waves, a deep-sea-like taste that was an endless, supreme bliss.
They all understood now why some people would risk death just to taste the Puffer Whale. It made sense why the poisoned ones still circulated on the black market.
"So delicious! Puffer Whale sashimi is a taste of heaven," Komatsu cried, tears of joy streaming down his face as he cupped his cheeks.
Tina was the same. She had risked her life to come along, and though she had almost died, it was all worth it. Not only had she recorded so many incredible moments, but she also got to eat this divine sashimi.
"Haha, of course! We worked hard to capture it and prepared it with our own hands. It’s bound to be the best," Toriko laughed.
After eating the Puffer Whale, the muscles in Toriko’s body began to tremble involuntarily. The fatigue from his battle with the Devil Serpent was completely gone, and his strength had even increased.
Seeing everyone’s satisfaction and feeling this long-lost sense of sensation, Coco felt a wave of nostalgia and began to consider returning to his old profession as a Gourmet Hunter.
Suddenly, the sound of something emerging from the water broke the peaceful atmosphere. The group looked over to see a strange bipedal creature covered in black fur. It had a long, pointed snout like an anteater and radiated a terrifying and dangerous aura. In its hand, it carried a net bag filled with dozens of Puffer Whales.
"A GT Robo..." Kenji calmly observed the creature—no, not a creature, but an artificial robot modeled after the Nitro, created by the Gourmet Corp.
Piloting this robot was the Gourmet Corp’s Vice Chef, Starjun, Toriko’s own brother, the son of Acacia and Froese. These robots were made of incredibly durable materials and could withstand harsh environments, allowing them to capture prey in places where Gourmet Hunters couldn’t go.
The manga never gave a specific power level for Starjun, but when he appeared in his real body at the Cooking Festival for a true man-to-man battle with Toriko, he could probably handle beasts with Capture Levels in the hundreds. The power levels in the later parts of the series were so chaotic and spanned such a wide range that Kenji could only make a rough guess. This GT Robo couldn’t bring out Starjun’s full power, but it was more than capable of handling beasts with Capture Levels in the dozens.
That was more than enough to take care of the current Toriko and Coco. They were still too weak.
Sensing the dangerous aura from the robot, Toriko roared, telling Komatsu and Tina to retreat. His muscles instantly tensed, and he entered a combat stance. A deadly, purplish-black poison began to seep from Coco’s skin, dripping from his fingertips onto the sand.
"The Heavenly Kings, Toriko and Coco..."
Starjun, piloting the robot, recognized the two but showed no intention of fighting them. He was only here to capture Puffer Whales, not to deal with the Four Heavenly Kings. Besides, they were still too weak. Perhaps in the future, they could provide him with some entertaining battles.
What interested him was Kenji, who was sitting there calmly, his aura as steady as a rock, completely unaffected. A master stronger than the Four Heavenly Kings. He made a mental note of the man.
"Gourmet Corp Vice Chef, Starjun. And a new model GT Robo," Kenji said, calling out the pilot of the robot.
A slightly surprised voice came from the robot. Interesting that he could recognize my identity at a glance.
"State your name," Starjun demanded.
"Kenji. Just a passing-by Gourmet Hunter," Kenji replied, not bothering to stand up.
"Kenji... I’ll remember that. Fighting you in a GT Robo wouldn’t be satisfying. Let’s have a proper match when we get the chance."
"Sure. I’ll be waiting."
Starjun didn’t make a move. He left as abruptly as he had appeared. The GT Robo couldn’t unleash his full power, and he was burdened with the Puffer Whales. There would be other opportunities for a real fight.
"So that was the rumored Gourmet Corp Vice Chef, Starjun... What a dangerous man. Even though it wasn’t his real body, his presence was overwhelming," Toriko said, gasping for breath alongside Coco, both of them drenched in sweat. It was the first time they had ever felt such a deadly threat. If they had fought, they would have surely died, even if they had used every trick up their sleeves.
"I’ve never seen such an electromagnetic wave before. It was terrifying," Coco added.
"That was a GT Robo, developed by the Gourmet Corp. You can ask the IGO’s top brass or researchers; they’ll have all the data on them," Kenji explained.
Coco nodded. That made sense. Although the electromagnetic wave was powerful, it was different from that of a living creature. If it was a robot, then it was plausible. He had heard of the GT Robos; they were a high-tech product of the Gourmet Corp’s research.
"Don’t report this part," Kenji warned Tina. "You should know a little about the Gourmet Corp." They were mostly ruthless individuals who wouldn’t hesitate to take action against a television station.
"Mmm-hmm!" Tina nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at grain. That aura had been terrifying. It was the infamous Gourmet Corp. She wasn’t that foolish.
The group packed up and left the Cave Beach. As soon as they saw the sun again, they were greeted by the sight of many dead bodies lying on the ground. All had been killed by a single, fatal blow. Beside them were the footprints of a GT Robo.
"The GT Robo from before did this, didn’t it?" Toriko’s brow furrowed.
"They were waiting to be the hunter who swoops in at the end, but they chose the wrong target," Coco said.
Kenji glanced at the bodies, a strange expression on his face. These people had already been Knocked by Jiro before Starjun killed them. What a bunch of unlucky fools. Jiro hadn’t bothered to kill them, so they would have had a chance to live after the Knocking wore off. But then they ran into Starjun, who had no qualms about sending them to the next world.