Toriko: Gourmet Chat Group

Komatsu, having made his way down from above, shouted in surprise.

"Mr. Kenji! Miss Atashino! Miss Tina! And..."

Komatsu had never met the man with the green pompadour, but the hairstyle itself wasn't unfamiliar. Mr. Toriko had sported the same look back at Setsuno's Shokudo. Could he be a fan of Master Jiro?

"Whoa, look at this crowd! Hey, hey, does this mean I'm not the first one to clear this place?"

A rough voice boomed as the man with the ultimate gourmet luck, Zongeh, made his grand entrance, his two lackeys trailing behind him.

"Zombie?" Tina blinked.

Zongeh roared back in fury, "IT'S ZONGEH!"

No one ever got his name right. Damn it all!

Teppei scratched his head. Zongeh didn't seem very strong. How did he manage to make it all the way here? How strange.

Meanwhile, at the edge of Ice Hell, Alfaro was currently frozen in place, not by the cold, but by sheer terror. A cold sweat drenched his back. The oppressive aura radiating from Setsuno was overwhelming, giving him the sense that she was an absolutely unbeatable foe.

"Well now, if it isn't Lady Setsuno. What brings a Living National Gourmet Treasure all the way out here?" Alfaro asked, not daring to show the slightest disrespect to the hunched-over old woman before him.

He knew Setsuno was from the same era as his master, Midora, but he had never witnessed the true extent of her power. He was certain he wasn't strong enough to even make her get serious.

"Oh, it's nothing much. I'm just here to pick up my family. It has nothing to do with your Gourmet Corp," Setsuno said lightly. Her smile was gentle, yet it carried an air of casual, absolute authority. Even if Midora himself were standing here today, Setsuno would dare to maintain this exact attitude.

"...I understand."

Alfaro nodded. The pressure enveloped his entire body. He knew that if Setsuno so much as wished it, he, Alfaro, would be turned into "Alfaro-paste" today.

The Century Soup is valuable, but is it worth my life? Hell no.

Beneath his robes, all of Alfaro's hands clenched into fists. These old-timers are all monsters. To still have this kind of terrifying power at their age...

He considered himself lucky. If he had run into Jiro instead, he'd be fortunate to escape with his life, and would probably be sealed with Knocking for a few years, sharing the same fate as a certain blue-skinned alien.

"Hoh hoh hoh. Such an obedient boy," Setsuno chuckled.

"Mm..."

"On your way out, tell Midora that if he's hungry, he should come over for a meal with us sometime."

Setsuno paused for a moment after saying her piece, then slowly ambled towards the Gourmet Show Window. The wind and snow seemed to part for her, repelled by an invisible force field that surrounded her body.

"I will..." Alfaro whispered, watching her go.

UWOOOOAH!

Toriko and Tommyrod were locked in a savage battle. Tommyrod had abandoned his insects, engaging Toriko in a brutal, fist-to-fist brawl. Blood splattered with every impact, and the shockwaves from their blows made the Gourmet Show Window tremble, on the verge of collapse.

"What a fierce battle. If they keep this up, the Gourmet Show Window is going to shatter completely."

With a look of resignation, Teppei ripped off his green jumpsuit—only to reveal another set of green clothes underneath.

Seriously, how much do you love the color green? Kenji wondered, suspecting that even Teppei's underwear was probably green.

"Forest Establishment Seed."

Teppei took a green seed from a small box, removed one of his earrings, and dropped a single drop of liquid onto it. He then hurled the seed at the giant icicle above. Rapidly growing vines erupted from it, wrapping around the cracked Show Window and securing it in place.

"Atashino, let's go have some fun."

Kenji knew that Toriko was no match for Tommyrod. Even after using all of his techniques, Tommyrod still had plenty of fight left in him.

Atashino nodded. There were bound to be injuries that needed treatment. Teppei, seeing the Show Window was about to explode, had the same idea. They had to stop the fight.

"You guys just stay put," Kenji told the others. "The Gourmet Corp's backup has already been dealt with."

With that, the three of them headed up the passage toward the battlefield above.

The upper battlefield was a gruesome sight. The ice was splattered with insect gore, which had frozen into multi-colored slicks in the low temperature.

"Aaaargh!"

Tommyrod roared in fury. He was in bad shape. His entire right arm had been ripped from its socket, and several bloody holes ran straight through his chest. The fact that he was still alive after such wounds was a testament to his incredible life force.

In contrast, Toriko had lost his left arm and was covered in blood, slumped unconscious against the Gourmet Show Window.

"TORIKO! DIIIE!" Tommyrod shrieked, enraged. He swung his remaining arm to deliver a final blow, but a thick vine suddenly shot out and blocked his punch.

"If you kill Toriko, do you really think you'll get out of here alive?"

If Toriko were killed by Tommyrod today, a furious Ichiryu would most likely storm the Gourmet Corp headquarters and personally obliterate him. Even Midora would have to stand aside and let it happen. Ichiryu was normally a kind and gentle man, but Toriko was his family. With Toriko dead, matters of right and wrong would no longer concern him.

Tommyrod's face contorted in a hideous snarl. He whipped his head around, the sharp teeth in his mouth looking exceptionally menacing.

"Who's there?"

"Just a passing Gourmet Hunter. You'd do well to remember me."

Kenji and the others looked at the pitiful state of Tommyrod. The battle had pushed Toriko to awaken his potential, allowing him to develop a powerful new technique.

"The Reviver, Teppei... The Gourmet Surgeon, Atashino..."

Tommyrod never expected to run into two such powerful figures. This was bad. Even at his peak, taking on one of them would be a struggle, let alone in his current state.

Kenji's eyelid twitched, and his fists clenched. Am I really that unknown?

Fine. Today, I'll be the one to clean up.

"Atashino, I'll leave Toriko's injuries to you," Kenji said.

Atashino nodded and took out her Revival Knives. While her Dark Technique couldn't regrow Toriko's arm out of thin air, it could certainly treat his wounds.

(Translator's Note: When capturing PAIR, Komatsu mentioned that the Dark Technique is not a skill that can instantly regenerate a limb, especially one that has been completely destroyed.)

"Kenji, will you be okay against Tommyrod?" Teppei asked.

"A beat-up Tommyrod? He's super weak right now~" Kenji replied with a confident smirk.

"Aaaaargh!"

That single word, "weak," was a dagger to Tommyrod's pride. He charged forward in a mad frenzy, his already boiling rage now completely consuming his reason.

"Hah! Rozan Shoryuha! (Uppercut!)"

POW!

Kenji shook his head and drove a fist straight into Tommyrod's chin, sending him flying into the air in a perfect corkscrew.

Now, it's my turn.

"80!"

"80!"

...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Kenji anticipated Tommyrod's trajectory, conjuring a massive starlight hammer in his hands. He swatted Tommyrod out of the air, then predicted his path again, juggling him like a tennis ball. Tommyrod couldn't even touch the ground.

Teppei shivered as he watched. The physical damage wasn't that high, but the humiliation was off the charts.

"Tsk, tsk. As expected of Sis Atashino," Teppei then said, turning his attention to the glowing figure of Atashino and marveling at her skill. There were very few younger surgeons who could use the Revival Knives with such mastery.

"Cough, cough—"

Toriko soon awoke, coughing up a mouthful of old blood and looking weakly at the people before him.

"Toriko, your wounds are mostly treated. Just eat something and you'll be fine. As for your arm, you'll have to find Yosaku. He'll have a way to fix it," Atashino said, wiping her knives clean. The wounds on Toriko's body were mostly healed, but his severed arm remained as it was.

"Thanks," Toriko said as he slowly got to his feet. He felt much better than before. Her medical skills were truly incredible.

"Oh, right. The Wall Penguins over there," Toriko added, pointing with his remaining hand. "I managed to grab Tommyrod's insect in time, but their internal organs still took a piercing blow."

Unlike in the manga, Toriko had been closer to the penguins and managed to intervene. If he had been a second later, their brains would have been turned to mush.

"Their brains aren't damaged. In an environment like Ice Hell, there's still a chance to save them. Leave it to me."

Atashino nodded, and after confirming their injuries, she moved forward to perform her Dark Technique. There were a lot of casualties here, but they would all survive. After stabilizing their conditions, she would take them to the Land of Healing.

BOOM!

Kenji, having had his fun, brought his hammer down one last time, smashing Tommyrod into the ice and embedding him in a deep crater.

"AAAAARGH... ALL OF YOU, JUST DIE!"

Lying on the ground, Tommyrod opened his mouth wide. A phantom-like shadow flickered within as a bizarre, dark mist spewed from his lips. As the mist poured out, his body began to wither rapidly.

From within the swirling black mist, a strangely shaped creature emerged. It possessed the features of various animals—a scorpion's stinger, a spider's long legs, an elephant's trunk—a true chimera, unlike any known creature.

Having released this hybrid beast, Tommyrod's life force was completely spent. His body shriveled, his cheeks became gaunt, and his hair turned stark white.

"Whoa, whoa, what is that bizarre creature?"

Teppei's eyes widened. He had traveled far and wide and revived countless creatures, but he had never seen anything like this. What kind of freakish monster had this Gourmet Corp Vice Chef created?