CHAPTER 157: [157] - IGO’S GIFT OF OZONE HERB, UNIVERSE DUMPLING

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"Is this really Wul Jungle? I didn’t take a wrong turn, did I?"

Grinpatch suspected he’d gone to the wrong place entirely. But upon closer inspection, he could still see some BB Corn—they just weren’t mature yet, looking as if they had been planted only recently.

He was completely baffled, with no idea what to say. Helpless, he could only choose to return to the Gourmet Corp With his target ingredient gone, he had to go back and figure out what had happened.

But he was destined to never uncover the truth about Wul Jungle. The only ones who knew were a select few, and they would never share that information with the Gourmet Corp.

All the Gourmet Corp could do was stare blankly, completely powerless.

....

In a kitchen at the IGO headquarters, Yuuki and Komatsu stood before the Jewel Meat. It was time to prepare it.

Jewel Meat wasn’t a Special Preparation Ingredient—it was just incredibly difficult to capture. Once you had it, you could eat it however you liked.

As chefs, neither Yuuki nor Komatsu would pass up the chance to cook such an ingredient.

"What kind of dish are you planning to make, Chef Yuuki?"

Komatsu asked with curiosity. To be able to cook in the same kitchen as Yuuki was incredibly exciting for him. After all, he idolized all powerful chefs, and Yuuki was undoubtedly one of them.

"Me? I’m thinking of making Dumplings."

Yuuki had already decided on his dish. Jewel Meat possessed the flavors of every part of the body, so using it to make Dumplings would allow him to create a miniature version of the Universe Dumpling from Cooking Master Boy.

"Dumpling? But using the flour here seems like such a waste of the Jewel Meat!"

Though Komatsu hadn’t handled many high-end ingredients, he knew that a top-tier ingredient needed to be paired with equally high-quality ingredients to fully bring out its flavor.

If you used ingredients of a lower grade, it would only have a negative effect, ultimately ruining the taste of the dish.

That was why, in the original story, Komatsu mostly used the simplest cooking methods. It wasn’t that he didn’t know other ways, but he simply didn’t have other ingredients to pair with them.

"I’ve prepared a suitable ingredient. Komatsu, have you ever heard of Zenmen (All-Purpose Noodles)?"

Yuuki asked as he took out the dough.

"Zenmen? I’ve heard of it. They say Granny Setsuno used to sell all kinds of noodle dishes from a cart, and they were all made from Zenmen. But I’ve never seen it."

Komatsu admitted he had heard the stories but had never witnessed it himself.

"Well, now you have. This is the Zenmen."

Yuuki said, taking the dough from his Gourmet Case. He had no intention of making it from scratch; using what he already had was much better.

It wouldn’t spoil in his storage space, and he just had to make an excuse about taking it out of his bag.

"So this is Zenmen? It doesn’t look that special!"

Komatsu’s eyes went wide, but it was clear that with his current level of perception, he couldn’t see what made it so special.

"Zenmen is a Super Special Preparation Ingredient. The raw materials are easy to find, but making it is no simple task..."

Yuuki explained the details to him. After hearing it all, Komatsu’s eyes were wide with amazement. He never thought the process was so incredibly difficult; it was far beyond anything he could attempt right now.

But at this moment, he was filled with anticipation. What would a Dumpling made with Zenmen taste like?

Faced with Komatsu’s eager gaze, Yuuki quickly finished making the wrappers. He didn’t even need a rolling pin. With a bit of skillful force, he could press out the dough with his bare hands, creating wrappers as thin as a cicada’s wing.

He could have made them even thinner, but doing so would have completely sacrificed the texture, which was not what he wanted.

....

Soon, one by one, the Dumplings filled with Jewel Meat were complete. To ensure the best texture, he had minced the meat and seasoned it with the all-purpose seasoning—Melk Stardust.

After finishing the Dumplings, he placed them in a steamer. There was no need to boil water; he just released a blast of high-temperature steam from his own body, using it to cook the Dumpling.

"As expected of Chef Yuuki, that’s amazing. I wish I could do that someday."

Komatsu was incredibly envious of Yuuki’s culinary skills. But he knew what he had to do, so he got to work. His task was simple: make a steak from the Jewel Meat.

After all, he didn’t have Yuuki’s skills or ingredients. Though there were other ingredients available here at the IGO, he didn’t dare use them casually. It wasn’t that he was afraid the IGO would charge him.

It was because he hadn’t handled many high-end ingredients before, and he was afraid of wasting them. So, he chose the simplest and most convenient cooking method.

Soon, both their dishes were ready. They were placed under a large cloche and wheeled out by Komatsu to the rooftop. It was night, the perfect time to savor the Jewel Meat.

After all, it could emit a light as bright as the sun. Tasting it at night was the best choice.

"Here it comes, here it comes! Finally! I wonder what kind of dishes they made with the Jewel Meat!"

Toriko stared greedily at the cart Komatsu was pushing, or more accurately, at the massive platter on top of it.

"The Jewel Meat is ready. Because of my skill level, I could only pan-fry it into a steak. As for Yuuki-san, he made Dumplings."

As Komatsu finished his introduction, he lifted the cloche. The moment he did, a golden light erupted, dyeing the entire sky gold.

This was the natural radiance of the Jewel Meat itself. Back in the labyrinth, its light had shone through walls of flesh to illuminate the entire maze.

And now, it was the same. The cloche couldn’t have blocked the light on its own, but Yuuki had added a layer of calories to contain it.

"The light is so bright! I can barely open my eyes!"

The group exclaimed in unison. The Jewel Meat was truly terrifying.

"Although the light is strong, it doesn’t hurt your eyes. You can open them. You just need a moment to adjust."

Komatsu explained. The group had already seen it when they first captured it, but that was during the day, so they hadn’t expected the light to be this exaggerated.

He and Yuuki had already adapted to it in the kitchen, so they were completely unaffected.

"He actually made Dumplings with Jewel Meat... LET ME HAVE A TASTE!"

Coco looked at the Dumpling, a theory already forming in his mind. Yuuki was no culinary novice; he would surely know about the problem with the wrapper.

Since he wants to make it this way, it meant the wrapper was anything but simple.

As a Jewel Meat Dumpling went down, Coco’s eyes shot wide open. Before him, it was as if the universe itself was evolving.

From the Big Bang to the present day, he was completely immersed.

When he finally came back to his senses, he discovered that the flavor of the wrapper was in no way inferior to the Jewel Meat. The fillings were also perfectly seasoned. The dish was flawless.

"HOW?? What kind of wrapper is this that it can stand up to the Jewel Meat?"

After eating the Dumplings, everyone’s body began to glow. But they couldn’t care less about that now. They just wanted to know how Yuuki had done it, what kind of ingredient that wrapper was.

"The wrapper is made from Zenmen, so there’s no problem with you eating it. As for the seasoning, I used Melk Stardust."

Yuuki’s one sentence left Toriko and the others completely speechless.

The Jewel Meat itself was incredibly delicious. After eating it, not only did their cells activate, but their bodies were also glowing, and they had tasted such an exquisite dish.

They had all heard the legends of Zenmen, but none had ever eaten it. After all, they didn’t even know when Setsuno sold it. In the original story, before Komatsu, it wasn’t sold to the public.

It wasn’t until after Komatsu had set up his stall that Setsuno finally started selling it.

"Zenmen and Melk Stardust... Chef Yuuki, you have so many good things!"

Sunny’s body was radiating an intense light, but he wasn’t concerned about that now. He was more interested in the high-end ingredients Yuuki had brought out.

"The Zenmen was provided by Granny Setsuno. As for the Melk Stardust, if you go to Melk Mountain, you might have a chance to get some."

Yuuki explained that since he had brought the Stardust to Melk II, she would surely be using it often.

As for why it was only a "possibility," that was because Melk II would probably eat most of it herself.

"Melk Mountain, huh? I’ll keep that in mind!"

Toriko nodded. He planned to go there and buy some.

After the meal, Yuuki’s Gourmet Cells also activated once. As for Toriko and Sunny, they spent the latter half of the meal arguing.

The reason was simple: they both wanted to add the Jewel Meat to their Full Course Menu, which was why they were fighting. Yuuki couldn’t care less; he just watched the show from the side.

To him, this was just a petty squabble. As for who added the ingredient to their menu, that was none of his business.

....

The night passed quickly. After eating the Jewel Meat, everyone was glowing. Though Yuuki could have blocked the light, he felt there was no need.

The next morning, Toriko and the others left one by one. Only Rin, Sunny, and Yuuki remained.

Rin and Sunny often worked here at the headquarters. As for Yuuki, he stayed behind because of one particular ingredient.

"This is the Ozone Herb, artificially nourished in an environment that simulates the Vegetable Sky. According to the data analysis, this Ozone Herb is no different from the ones in the Vegetable Sky."

"However, successfully preparing it is no easy task."

Mansam explained the various research results to Yuuki.

"The leaves of the Ozone Herb? I understand!"

Yuuki went right to it. This time, he didn’t even need the ingredient to give him a hint; he already knew how to prepare it.

The shiso-like leaves were peeled off two by two. Soon, the core of the Ozone Herb was exposed to the air.

"How does he make it look so easy? We have to catch it off guard just to succeed."

Watching Yuuki’s fluid movements, Mansam felt he could never learn it.

Though he was not weak—he was completely lost when it came to this kind of operation. He could only comfort himself by saying that this was the difference between a Gourmet Hunter and a chef.

The finished Ozone Herb had only its crystal-like leaves remaining. These leaves also needed to be eaten by two people at the same time to be delicious. Otherwise, just like before, they would become incredibly unappetizing.

Of course, there were exceptions—powerhouses. In the original story, Setsuno had even pickled the Ozone Herb, and Jiro had displayed his head-splitting technique.

To put it bluntly, it was about using extreme speed to prevent the Ozone Herb from reacting. If it didn’t have time to react, it wouldn’t rot and wither.

Yuuki wanted to try Jiro’s and the others’ method. His current strength was quite high, so the Ozone Herb probably wouldn’t have any reaction.

He went into action. The next second, his head became a blur of afterimages.

One on the right, one on the left. He ate the Ozone Herb directly.

But this time, he discovered that his cells didn’t activate. They only gave him a small level boost.

At this point, he roughly understood. It was because his cell level had become too high.

Although the cell level and the level gained from eating were counted separately, the problem now was that the level he had gained from eating was too high.

So even a peculiar ingredient like this couldn’t satisfy his Gourmet Cells.

In his view, to activate his cells again, he would need even rarer, higher-level ingredients.

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