CHAPTER 1030: CHAPTER 1029: HEARD YOU’RE IMPRESSIVE (PART 2)

Apart from Xia Yu and Amor, the crowd watched silently.

Amor spoke incessantly, "Fire control makes ingredients delicious, but how can we describe such deliciousness? Hmm, let’s start with the simplest point—"

He glanced at Xia Yu.

"Texture!"

"Texture is an indispensable part of ’deliciousness.’ Your texture lost."

"Yes, the texture lost."

Xia Yu admitted straightforwardly.

Upon hearing this, Amor was taken aback, not expecting the fiery young man to "submit" so easily.

However, Xia Yu’s next words made his reaction subtle.

"I lost on texture, but on flavor, you lost to me."

Xia Yu saw the sage’s face change like a Sichuan opera face-changing performance, feeling secretly amused, and his smile gradually appeared.

Admit defeat? What a joke, he couldn’t let his undefeated reputation be tarnished so ambiguously here.

Even though it was just a private discussion and exchange, he knew he had come with the purpose of "stirring things up."

Stirring things up.

Stirring things up was necessary, otherwise, how could this ’hardliner’ be made to shut up? He had also seen that Karl and Brune had long set up a trap, so why not seize the opportunity to interact, he thought.

"Flavor?"

Linking to Xia Yu’s previous comment on it being "too bland," Amor’s face turned gloomy, "This is purely fire control, and what we are discussing is this basic aspect of fire control. Who told you ’fire control’ has flavor!"

"It does!"

One word, enough to infuriate the sage.

Xia Yu pointed at the egg Amor held, blinking, "So, that’s the biggest difference between my fire control and yours!"

"Just taste it, and you’ll know."

"I assure you it’s the pure ’fire control,’ very pure, as you saw when I boiled the egg, definitely a plain boiled egg with no seasonings added."

Xia Yu knew his own strengths.

[Origin] Bursting Flame, with Amor’s fire control expertise, it’s a balance of strengths. Amor’s ’fire control’ is certainly more delicate, even to the point of grasping a temperature difference of 0.1 degrees Celsius to a maddening extent.

Bursting Flame is a flowing flame, not a ’permanently balanced’ pool of water. If he exhausted himself controlling it, he might catch up on subtlety, but in Xia Yu’s eyes, that seemed somewhat counterproductive, excessively perfect but overlooking other original elements, like Amor, making a monumental mistake.

Flame has flavor!

He was certain of this when he was just a few-star chef, not even a special chef, when he had just mastered Bursting Flame, and he has adhered to this fire control concept ever since.

Amor eventually tried it.

With the first bite, his expression immediately became full of wonder.

After several minutes, even his lips trembled, and his facial muscles quivered as he took a second bite of the yolk.

The same hot spring egg, the same smooth yolk, but when the semi-solid yolk melted in his mouth, Amor discovered that a trace of flame indeed lingered among the egg fragments, quietly invading his tongue and affecting his taste judgment.

Flavor of the flame?

No.

It’s been a long time since he used coarse, crude stoves, a long time since he let direct flame grill food. Such a primitive, wild flavor felt too foreign to the lofty Amor.

Amor’s eyes turned red, although he vehemently denied this "flavor" in his heart, his mouth was quivering, but the heat emanating from his tongue had already spread throughout his body.

"How is it, Amor?"

A voice suddenly asked.

Startled, Amor looked up to meet the strange gazes of his colleagues.

"Hmm, I won... he also won." Amor’s voice was stubborn, yet as he spoke, he stuffed the remaining bits of egg into his mouth, chewing.

"Where is he?"

Then he looked around for him.

"He left long ago." Bastian’s expression became even stranger.

Amor’s face turned black.

Damn it, played cool and ran? What a kid!

Karl couldn’t help but notice the shock in Amor’s eyes, inwardly chuckling. This seemingly simple and brief discussion on fire control was more significant than a grand-scale Shokugeki duel, resulting in small victories on each side, finally ending in a cordial tie.

To this, Karl quietly gave a thumbs up. What a cunning little fox, he had initially worried that Amor would be unable to save face from being reprimanded.

Now it seemed the worry was unnecessary.

"Did he say anything when he left?" Amor’s face was dark, feeling both embarrassed and subtly hopeful.

"Ahem, Chef Xia told you not to just boast all day, to research new stove appliances, and while leading the molecular gastronomy field, not to forget to bow down and look at the most elemental flame."

"Fire control itself is about the manipulation of the flame."

Bastian roughly relayed Xia Yu’s words.

Not to mention Amor, humming something like, "Does he dare to lecture me?" in an angry fit, Karl was amused observing this colleague’s angry outbreak, yet a thoughtful expression occasionally flashed across his face.

Indeed.

Each one of them is an acting king.

Probably unable to put his pride aside, Amor could only feign "fury" to give himself a non-awkward stage for performance.

"Seriously, Amor, if you let loose and are not limited to just ’fire control’ basics, if you unleash all your firepower and cook a dish for a private duel, what are your chances of winning?" Bastian asked.

"Ah? What do you mean by ’chances’!" Amor was displeased, glaring in agitation, "If I unleash my Killing Recipe, humph humph, as a fellow Dragon Chef, I rarely meet a match, and anyone who comes will be defeated!"

Seeing Amor bring up his Killing Recipe as his final cover, Karl, Brune, and Bastian had strange expressions.

Brune laughed, "What if he has a Killing Recipe too?"

"Ho-how! Impossible!"

Amor was dumbfounded.

The three Sages didn’t notice that at the end of Brune’s sentence, his mouth moved silently, as if saying: Soon!

...

Outside the IGO headquarters castle.

After getting in the car and listening to Xia Yu roughly recount the IGO senior executives’ meeting, Lei Aoxue, Sen Tian Makoto, and Tiqie Helinai couldn’t help but be stunned.

"So you just had a match with a Sage?"

Xia Yu closed the car door. It was a spacious business van inside. Luther followed him out, sitting in the front passenger seat, while the tech metal box containing the eggs, and the box with the legendary pot ’Greedy Wolf Pot’, were in another vehicle at the back, guarded and transported by IGO defense personnel, heading directly to the airport with the convoy.

"It wasn’t a match, it was a discussion."

Xia Yu glanced at the front seat, where the driver seemed to be driving seriously, and the co-driver’s seat where Luther sat, both with their ears perked up.

He couldn’t help but glare at them, giving a warning look. This is someone else’s territory, just like in a casino, knowing when to quit, don’t you girls understand? Moreover, being able to take back the ’Greedy Wolf Pot’ is more than a small profit!

"Yes, yes, a discussion."

Lei Aoxue suppressed a laugh and changed her wording.

Sen Tian Makoto and Tiqie Helinai had curious looks, seemingly saying, ’Do you take us for fools’?

Once at the airport, Luther went ahead to arrange the boarding matters, and they quickly surrounded Xia Yu.

"So, what was the result?"

"Yeah, you fought against the strong-willed Master of Fire, who won?"

"I already said it was a ’discussion’!"

Xia Yu waved his hand irritably, feeling relaxed after leaving, having practically left the outcome behind him. Of course, when his companions asked, he could only tell the truth: "That guy, to be precise, is a Master of Fire in the molecular gastronomy field. In terms of meticulousness and detail, I can’t compare to his modern equipment and tools. But, well..."he chuckled.

"He has his specialties, and I have mine."

"The taste of flames, you get me? When it comes to simplicity and primitiveness, I am inherently unbeaten!"

The girls suddenly fell silent.

Even Lei Aoxue, when Xia Yu mentioned the ’taste of flames’, her eyes sparkled, almost forming a reflex.

"It’s the most fundamental imprint of fire," Sen Tian Makoto chuckled softly.

Tiqie Helinai earnestly added, "I’ve said before, more than once, that Instructor Xia’s flames can be the most primitive seasoning for dishes. And the seasoning named ’fire’ is something the gold-equipment cannot infuse into a dish. Handcrafted has its benefits, and mechanics have their drawbacks. I’ve always believed that Instructor’s concept of fire control is fundamental, it’s grand and sacred..."

Wow, here in the crowded airport lobby, listening to the girl’s fan-girl declaration in public, Xia Yu quickly reached out to cover her mouth, awkwardly saying, "Shh! Shh! Let’s save the praise for when we get home."

The blonde girl shook her head, brushing away his hand, once again showing her sincere attitude towards cooking, "I’m just stating a fact."

She ignored the stares of passersby.

"Wow!" Sen Tian Makoto suddenly lunged at Helinai, hugging her waist, "Such a Helinai is so cute."

"Indeed, very cute."

Lei Aoxue clicked her tongue, "Contrasting cuteness?"

In an instant, Tiqie Helinai’s serious and determined gaze became unsettled. She didn’t know where to look, and eventually, her eyes wandered to her toes, lowering her head.

Xia Yu agreed wholeheartedly, "Cute, I want to..."

But he got stuck there.

"Want to...?"

Now the girls were all looking at him.

With a waterfall of sweat, Xia Yu certainly wasn’t going to say the word he almost blurted out earlier. Instead, he maintained his composure, saying "compassionately", "I just want to pinch a pinch, Helinai, do you mind?"

"Pinch, pinch where?" The girl continued to stare at her toes.

"The face."

Then Xia Yu pinched.

There were no shouts of "pervert", "lewd" or anything. Maybe the proud and thorny Golden Peacock had already been tamed, or perhaps because Xia Yu was her nominal guardian, in any case, when Xia Yu pinched her face, Helinai remained calm, even slightly cooperative, gently raising her pretty cheeks.

Sen Tian Makoto watched this harmonious and warm scene, her clear eyes squinting in a line with her smile, "Really nice!"

Lei Aoxue had a complicated look in her eyes.

If Sen Tian Makoto was part of the scene, then she was completely an outsider.

This perspective as a bystander also quietly dispersed a wisp of flame and emotion in Lei Aoxue’s heart. Lei Aoxue had to admit, her chances were slim, while she also soberly reflected inwardly, realizing that the feelings were more about Xia Family’s Great Demon King being too dazzling, like a white knight in the hearts of countless female chefs.

Was it actually worship and admiration, not love? Lei Aoxue wondered.

In the afternoon, in the airport waiting hall, a pleasant announcement sounded: "Flight SK983 operated by Nordic Airlines, from Copenhagen Kastrup Airport to Tokyo Narita International Airport, has started boarding..."