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"IT HAS THAT KIND OF EFFECT TOO? YUUKI, HURRY UP AND GIVE ME GOURMET CELLS!"

Hearing this revelation, neither Alice nor Erina could hold back any longer.

Alice practically launched herself at Yuuki, immediately switching to her most persuasive, affectionate mode. Watching this display, Erina couldn't help rolling her eyes.

Fine, she admitted defeat in this particular arena. Her lingering tsundere tendencies made it impossible to compete with Alice's shameless directness.

Alice's personality embraced spontaneity without caring about others' opinions. In moments like these, she naturally held the advantage.

Soon enough, Alice experienced the same transformation as Megumi. Watching Alice's ravenous consumption, Megumi's face turned bright red.

She'd been so focused on eating earlier that she hadn't considered anything else. Now, realizing how crude and unladylike she must have appeared to everyone, she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

The embarrassment was overwhelming.

Her only consolation was that everyone would go through this same process—that absolute, fusion-induced hunger that nearly destroyed rational thought made maintaining composure impossible.

After Alice finished, it was Erina's turn.

"Alright, you've all completed the fusion successfully. Take these—they can measure your body's cell level."

Yuuki handed each of them the latest detection devices.

Taking the detectors eagerly, all three immediately checked their cell levels. The displays all showed the same number: Level 3.

After all, they'd only just fused with Gourmet Cells, and without Appetite Demons inside them, the effects were naturally reduced.

"Only Level 3? But I feel strong enough to punch a bull to death right now!"

Alice stared at her level reading with surprise. She could clearly sense the explosive power coursing through her body, yet this incredible strength registered as merely Level 3.

"That's already excellent, Alice. Don't forget—Level 3000 is enough to shatter the planet beneath our feet."

Erina reminded her cousin, watching Alice's dissatisfied expression.

"Oh right, I completely forgot about that!"

Alice laughed somewhat embarrassedly at the reminder. Indeed, she'd forgotten—if Level 3000 could destroy Earth, then Level 3 possessing this kind of strength made perfect sense.

"Your current power isn't just enough to kill a bull—you could take down an elephant with ease."

Yuuki added.

Gourmet Cell levels weren't something to take lightly. At Level 3, an ordinary world's elephant would fall with a single punch.

"An elephant? That's terrifying... Yuuki, why can I control my strength so well? I remember lots of manga where sudden power increases make control really difficult—"

Erina's question drew curious looks from Megumi and Alice as well.

"True, sudden power increases are typically hard to control. But that doesn't apply to people with Gourmet Cells. Anyone with Gourmet Cells gains basic control ability whenever their strength increases."

"This control prevents your power from going wild and causing destruction. Of course, that's the bare minimum. To truly improve your combat ability, you need to continuously refine your power control."

Yuuki explained.

His spatial storage contained various training tools from Food Honor Temple. Of course, Yuuki had no intention of copying Food Honor Temple's methods exactly.

While their techniques were excellent, they were designed for criminals, making the teaching methods far from gentle.

Yuuki's plan for improving everyone's power control wasn't about combat preparation—that was unnecessary. They only needed to eat various ingredients to reach levels in the thousands.

While such levels would make them the weakest among their tier, this world didn't require them to fight. Yuuki gave them Gourmet Cells partly to extend their lifespans, but also to enhance their culinary skills.

With increased strength came the need for better control. Once they reached a certain mastery level, improving their cooking would become much simpler.

That was the real reason for the Gourmet Cell fusion.

——————

"Additionally, I'll be providing various delicacies from that world to help raise your Gourmet Cell levels."

"But before that, I need you all to make an important choice."

Yuuki's words left everyone puzzled.

"Choice? What kind of choice?"

Seeing Yuuki's serious expression, they asked with confusion.

"After fusing with Gourmet Cells and reaching certain levels, your lifespan will continuously extend. In that world, there are eight incredibly special ingredients."

"Once you've consumed all eight—your lifespan becomes essentially infinite. As long as you're not killed, you'll live forever."

"Eternal life sounds wonderful, but without companions, it's meaningless. I also don't want to watch you separate from your loved ones, so I need you to make a choice."

"You have two paths before you. First option: I have a method to extend lifespans, though it can't add too much at once since human bodies have limits to what they can handle."

"Second option: They undergo the same Gourmet Cell fusion as you, achieving immortality by consuming the eight ingredients while also gaining tremendous power."

"However, regardless of which method you choose, I'll only apply it to your direct family members. If future generations appear, I won't help them fuse Gourmet Cells."

Yuuki laid out the terms clearly.

His life level continued ascending—he didn't even know if he could still have descendants. But with their lifespans extending indefinitely, Alice and the others might gain younger siblings eventually.

He could help those siblings with Gourmet Cell fusion, but future generations beyond that were on their own.

He wasn't some universal caretaker. He was helping everyone fuse Gourmet Cells now only because they were people he cared about. Their families qualified through association.

"We can't really decide something like this ourselves. Could we ask our parents first?" Alice inquired.

"Of course. It's best if you gather everyone together, then I'll explain everything." Yuuki nodded.

Hearing this, all three immediately began contacting their families.

——————

"Drop everything I'm doing? I understand!"

Senzaemon received his granddaughter's call with surprise. While he didn't know what she was planning, it clearly wasn't a simple matter.

Since she'd emphasized its importance so seriously, he abandoned his current affairs and immediately headed to their location.

Meanwhile, Sōe and Leonora Nakiri began their journey back from abroad.

Mana Nakiri was also en route.

Megumi's family lived nearby, so they arrived first after Senzaemon.

One day later, everyone who'd received the message understood its importance. Without any delays, they'd all gathered at the designated location.

Yuuki called Sarge over—his little secretary naturally couldn't be excluded.

Erina had brought Asahi Nakiri and Hisako Arato, along with Hisako's parents.

Yuuki wasn't surprised by this. To Erina, Hisako was absolutely indispensable. Erina had treated Hisako like family since childhood, sharing every secret with her first.

She was family in all but blood, so Yuuki didn't mind including Hisako in this opportunity.

Once everyone had assembled, Yuuki explained everything about Gourmet Cells.

——————

Megumi and the others demonstrated their newfound abilities—shattering floor tiles with a single step, punching holes through walls with casual strikes.

This series of demonstrations left the gathered crowd absolutely stunned, their minds struggling to process what they were witnessing.

After learning about Gourmet Cells' full capabilities, they suddenly felt like they'd won the ultimate lottery. This opportunity had fallen into their laps.

This was immortality—something countless people throughout history had desperately pursued. Beyond eternal life, there was that terrifying power to consider. Among the four people standing before them, three had become superhuman.

The fourth was even more frightening—capable of casually shattering the Earth beneath their feet. These scenarios that belonged in fiction had somehow manifested in reality.

Everyone needed considerable time to process this revelation. Eventually, they all turned to Yuuki with eager anticipation.

After all, only Yuuki could perform Gourmet Cell fusion, so everything depended on him.

Seeing their expressions, Yuuki didn't hesitate. He produced massive amounts of food and repeated the same process. Everyone began their Gourmet Cell fusion.

With so many people present, this fusion session took several hours to complete.

By the end, everyone in the room had transformed into superhuman beings, their bodies humming with newfound power that defied everything they'd previously believed possible about human limitations.

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