CHAPTER 592: CHAPTER 591: IGO INSPECTION GROUP (PART 2)

Farm office.

"I’ll report to Instructor Xia."

Ichise Hui assured the Chiben sisters and Takai Masashi.

Beep beep!

The pager sounded again with a security report:

"Minister Shinohara has brought an inspection team?" After hearing the report, Ichise Hui was stunned.

Without hesitating, he glanced at the partition and then said, "Let’s go and welcome Minister Shinohara and Professor Luther!"

The group left, closing the door behind them.

Xia Yu opened the door, stood in front of the window, and looked curiously towards the farm where a bus could vaguely be seen.

"An IGO inspection team?"

He furrowed his brows then relaxed them.

In recent years, with IGO’s global policy, private institutions were encouraged to participate in culinary research and cultivation. Tiqie International’s accomplishments in the EU region of Denmark were a vivid example.

So there was no need to be too nervous—if IGO wanted to see, then he would show them.

According to his development plan, Xia’s Farm was to expand even further, with crops only being the first step. Next would be constructing enclosures for cultivating fantasy livestock. With interested parties always watching the farm, there were no secrets to keep, so he might as well openly invite guests in.

"Inventory!"

With a silent command, an interface with rippling waves appeared in his field of vision.

Here lay the new seeds he had put into his backpack early on:

"[Fertile Seed] (Unlocked): Fertilizer, food ingredient, but also a high-speed recovery medicine. When ingested directly, it rapidly restores vitality to food cells in the body. Slightly toxic."

"Acquisition method: Task [First Taste of the Forbidden] (Cook a dish with ’Gem Meat’ and achieve at least a special grade) completed."

"Note: Seeds purchased within a month can be used for planting and cultivation."

"Price: 1 seed/10,000 Fame Points."

Text glittered with a golden sheen.

Exclusive to the forbidden.

"Retrieve!"

He swiped in the inventory, waves rippled, and a black seed the size of a thumb appeared in his empty palm.

The black seed, with a metallic luster, looked less like food or a seed and more like a disguised weapon, emitting an extremely dangerous aura.

Slightly toxic?

Xia Yu held the "Fertile Seed" but felt a subconscious resistance.

It was a natural intuitive response to danger.

The corner of his mouth twitched, and Xia Yu instantly abandoned any thought of chewing one to taste. He was no culinary God who could taste hundreds of poisons and not die. Forbidden Ingredients seemed not to be testable through taste; life was precious.

He couldn’t eat, but he could attempt to plant.

Buying directly from the system was too expensive. If he could grow it and it bore fruit, he would save a lot of unnecessary consumption of Fame Points. And if the farm was to sell them, he’d have a clear explanation for the origins of the goods, keeping everything above board.

Forbidden Ingredients should certainly be attempted in the core area of the greenhouse. Thus, Xia Yu set out.

Meanwhile.

Ichise Hui was leading the Chiben sisters and Takai Masashi to the entrance to meet the inspection team.

"Minister Shinohara, welcome!"

Ichise Hui, with a sunny smile on his face, had the looks of a heartthrob. That smile, directed at the visiting team, caused many elite researchers to nod at him, their expressions softening slightly.

Shinohara Shinohara also smiled faintly, his gaze sweeping over the Chiben sisters and Takai Masashi with a moment of surprise, which quickly turned into a smile. He seemed to have figured out why the food company’s executives were gathered there.

"This is Mr. Ichise Hui, Director of Xia’s Farm," Shinohara Shigetaro introduced.

"Hello."

Luther stepped forward, offering his hand to Ichise Hui.

Ichise Hui was pleasantly surprised.

Setting aside Luther’s authority as a researcher, he was a genuine Lin Chef. Before, Ichise Hui had only admired the Lin Giant through the news and newspapers—he had never expected to be so close as to have him extend his hand in greeting.

At that moment, Ichise Hui felt very glad to have accepted this job.

A full sense of honor and belonging filled his heart.

He had a feeling that through his role as Xia’s Farm Manager, he would interact with many global giants.

"These are the elite researchers from the IGO headquarters..."

Luther introduced, with impeccable manners.

"Of course, this is just a part of them. They accompanied me to Neon to watch the Sapporo competition and took the opportunity to visit well-known local research institutions. Your Xia’s Farm is the first stop on our itinerary."

"Hurry up—"

The female researcher with smoky makeup in the team urged impatiently, "Professor, we still have to rush to another research institution this afternoon!"

Chewing gum, she had her hands stuffed in the pockets of her white lab coat, looking distinctly different from the other researchers.

"Cecilia!"

Luther’s face darkened as he rebuked.

The blonde seemed to be in her rebellious phase, and her smoky makeup made it difficult to discern her age, but her voice betrayed her—probably only sixteen or seventeen.

"Tch!"

The smoky makeup girl simply ignored the authority of the Lin Giant and stretched lazily. "Hurry it up, I want to get back to the hotel before evening."

The other researchers acted as if they saw nothing.

Ichise Hui observed this scene and was secretly surprised.

"This girl..."

He keenly sensed something extraordinary—either a prodigy IGO held in high esteem or someone with a terrifying identity.

Ichise Hui and Shinohara exchanged a glance, immediately understanding each other.

"A visit to inspect? It’s an honor for our farm."

"Please!"

They nodded to the guard on duty.

Click!

The guard pressed the gate controller and the doors swung open to both sides.

"Wow—"

Greenery burst into view, with the breeze from the mountains bringing a moistness unlike that of autumn.

Looking around, the fields were brimming with lively crops.

A whistle.

The smoky makeup girl, Cecilia, pursed her lips. "Not bad at all. To have a farm in Tokyo, where the four seasons are distinct, yet make it look like spring... quite skilled!"

She slightly retracted the scorn she had shown on the bus.

No greenhouses, no thermal enclosures.

The crops were in direct contact with the outdoor air yet thrived against the season; seeing was more reliable than hearing.

The group entered the farm.

The gravel paths were neatly arranged, crisscrossing between the fields, wide enough for a car to pass through.

"This is the ’Peach Taro’ planting area..."

Ichise Hui introduced.

He pointed to the thickly leafed field that looked like a jungle.

"Peach Taro?"

The tour group murmured among themselves.

"Are Peach Taro plants supposed to be this tall?" A male researcher came over, compared his height to the fence, and was shocked to find that the green taro plants towered a head taller than him, with large shield-shaped leaves spreading in all directions.

"These leaves are huge!"

The male researcher jumped, lightly catching a large shield-shaped leaf, which nearly enveloped him.

"Can I take a leaf down for observation and study?" the researcher turned his head to lock eyes with Ichise Hui.

Ichise Hui was inwardly amused.

The astonished looks of these IGO researchers seemed to him no different from the likes of villagers just descending from the mountains.

After all, weren’t the elite from IGO’s main research institute supposed to be more worldly?

For a moment, the indescribable aura of prestige above the heads of the IGO inspection team seemed to shatter.

"No problem, go ahead." Ichise Hui stifled a laugh.

Snap!

The male researcher did not hesitate, breaking off the large shield-shaped leaf, and the others gathered around immediately, examining the leaf with pointing fingers.

"It’s Peach Taro alright, see these blood-colored veins on the leaf?"

"Hisss, these reticulations represent the quality of the fruit! The more vibrant and closer to the color of blood, the higher the quality!"

Sap the color of blood seeped from where the stem was broken, dripping steadily onto the soil.

The fragrance was peculiarly heartwarming.

The researchers’ eyes lit up, fixating on the swollen ground beneath the thicket, likely eager to dig up the taro for further study.