Toriko: Gourmet Chat Group

Whoosh— Whoosh—

After leaving Honey Prison, Kenji and Atashino rode on Icy, heading towards the Gourmet Pyramid. They were certain to arrive many days ahead of Toriko and the others—probably by about a month.

Even the oven-like environment of the Sand World couldn't affect them. The low temperature naturally emitted by the Cryophoenix was like having a portable air conditioner.

"SCREE—"

Icy was very unhappy. It had been lying around comfortably, so why did it have to come to this unbearably hot place to be a hailed phoenix-ride? Although the high-temperature environment didn't harm it, the sensation was still very uncomfortable.

"You're working hard, Icy," Atashino said softly.

Icy didn't respond, just continued to flap its wings. If not for Atashino's instructions, the cold wind generated by its wings could have turned the Sand World into a land of ice and snow. Its current power was enough to affect the environment for a very long time—a few hundred years would be no problem at all.

"Almighty Pull!"

Kenji narrowed his eyes, looked down to his left, and stretched out his large hand. Making a grasping motion from afar, an astonishing gravitational force dragged a portion of the chilly shaved ice up from the desert and into a large bowl he had prepared.

"Orange Soda Shaved Ice. For you, Atashino."

In temperatures of over sixty degrees Celsius, there was still shaved ice that hadn't melted. It had to be said, the phenomena of this world could not be explained by physics. At times like this, one could only use the all-purpose explanation of Gourmet Cells, which made it perfectly reasonable. Besides this kind of shaved ice, the Sand Paradise also had other types of deserts, such as the Resource Desert, the Jewel Desert, and the Rice Desert.

"So cold! It's really thirst-quenching," Atashino said, digging in with a spoon. The icy-cool sensation was thoroughly refreshing.

"You have some too, Icy." Atashino offered the soda shaved ice to the phoenix. Icy had done the most work, after all.

Icy swallowed it in one gulp. The taste was alright, and the energy was low, but in this environment, it was very comforting to eat.

The journey was smooth and unobstructed, and they arrived at the Gourmet Pyramid without any issues. The two of them were stunned by the sheer size of the structure; by their estimate, it was at least five hundred meters tall.

Kenji knew that this so-called pyramid was merely the top of a giant complex of buildings. The structure buried beneath the sand was even more massive and complex, unbelievably large. That was why it was known as one of the Seven Gourmet Wonders of the World.

"Kenji, what did you want to do here?" Atashino asked.

"Did I not say?" Kenji paused for a moment.

Atashino retorted, "You didn't say a thing! I thought you were here to capture an ingredient."

"Haha, sorry about that. I forgot to mention it," Kenji said with an embarrassed laugh. "There are dormant Nitro in the pyramid below. I came for them. And there's also an ancient book here that records the cooking methods for many ingredients." If he could find that ancient book, he would just take it. At worst, he could make a copy for Komatsu later.

"Nitro?"

"Kenji, are you really planning to eat a Nitro?" Atashino asked, a look of disbelief on her face. That bird-man-like creature didn't look very tasty.

"Of course. I've never had it before, so I have to try it fresh. Although I don't know what it tastes like, its energy is definitely astonishing," Kenji nodded. It was impossible that Jiro's terrifying strength had nothing to do with eating Nitro. There was a Nitro below that was one of the three Taste Hermits. It was easy to tell them apart: the one that could talk was the Hermit; the ones that couldn't were wild Nitro and could be eaten.

"Alright. Since you want to eat it, I'll try to cook it when the time comes." Atashino shrugged. Her partner wanted to eat it, and as a chef, it was her job to satisfy him.

At this point, the regions of the Human World were like a newbie village to the two of them. After eating the Nitro, they could head to the Gourmet World. The ingredients in the Human World contained too little energy. While they could still provide a boost, the progress was too slow. The Gourmet Solar Eclipse was only a few years away; there was no time to take things slowly.

Arriving at the lowest level of the structure, they were greeted by a series of murals. They depicted all sorts of ingredients, with small Nitro figures cooking them using various tools.

"These are cooking methods! Were they painted by Nitro?!" Atashino's eyes widened. Truly, as expected of the Nitro. They possessed super-high intelligence. The cooking methods for many ingredients had been passed down from them.

"Found it. This is the book."

At the end of the mural corridor, an ancient book rested on a platform. Kenji's eyes lit up. Normally, only someone with sufficiently high Food Luck could find this book, but he had the advantage of having read the manga.

"Amazing! This book is an ancient cooking treasure, isn't it?" Atashino said, flipping through it. It recorded the cooking methods for many ingredients she had never seen before. It was an incredibly comprehensive book. Who would have thought that the Gourmet Pyramid would hold such a treasure? In the anime, even Joie had sought out Komatsu to get this classic cookbook.

"You hold onto it, Atashino. Next, we'll go find the Nitro."

In an empty room, many coffins were placed about. This was the tomb where the Nitro slumbered in a state of estivation.

"Time to wake up, little lizards."

Kenji picked a mummified Nitro that wasn't wearing any clothes. He knew this one definitely wasn't a Taste Hermit. A little snack... I'll have to see what it tastes like.

"Is this edible?" Atashino's eyebrow rose. This mummy didn't look like it had any meat on it; it was just skin and bones. Do we have to make soup out of it?

"After we get back, we'll wake it up first, and then we can eat it," Kenji said, storing the Nitro mummy.

With their objective achieved, Kenji didn't leave immediately. With Toriko and Zebra's current level and strength, they didn't have much of a chance of winning against the Salamander Sphinx. And since Kenji had taken the cookbook, even with Komatsu's Food Luck, it was unlikely he would be able to figure out the cooking method right away. During this time, they would use the cooking methods from the classic book to cook the beasts within the Gourmet Pyramid.

A month or so later.

RUMBLE—

"Oof, that hurts..."

"Hey, what a coincidence, Komatsu." Kenji and Atashino were eating barbecue when the ground above them was split open by a slash of a knife, and Komatsu fell through. His Food Luck was really no joke.

"Huh? Mr. Kenji? And Miss Atashino?" Komatsu was dumbfounded when he saw them. When had they gotten here? He hadn't seen them on the way at all.

"Did you get separated from Toriko and the others?" Kenji asked with a smile.

"My luck was bad. I got swept up in quicksand and then ended up in the Gourmet Pyramid. I had to use my knife just now and accidentally used too much force and fell down here," Komatsu said, scratching his head. His luck was so bad; otherwise, how would he have been separated from Toriko?

Bad luck?

Kenji's mouth twitched. Anyone else could say that, but not you. In the manga, the only person with definitively higher Food Luck than you is probably Zongeh.

"Hey, hey, hey! Zebra, can you hear me?" Kenji shouted upwards.

"...You guys take care of the kid for now." Zebra's voice echoed from the void.

Kenji couldn't help but marvel. Zebra's abilities were truly comprehensive. Defense, offense, and location were all covered. He had almost no particular weaknesses, and his own durability was not low.

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