~ Thank You for 200 Powerstones, Here's Your Bonus Chapter!
~ Thank You for the Support!
~ Lets Keep Pushing!!
~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon
<><><><><><><><>
"Uh... I don't know either!"
Yuuki himself was somewhat dumbfounded. He really hadn't expected this situation to occur. He knew that once Culinary skills reached a certain level, one could hear the voice of ingredients.
Of course, this was a characteristic of the world of Toriko—The ingredients of the world of Toriko were different from the ingredients of other worlds.
Ingredients from other worlds would be afraid of death, afraid of being eaten—But the ingredients of the world of Toriko, after acknowledging a Chef, would come to the door themselves and teach the Chef how to cook them—
—In the original story, the reason Komatsu could hear the voice of ingredients was, besides his pure heart—also because the "Gourmet Luck" on him was very powerful.
Komatsu and Zongeh, these two were known as the Strongest "Gourmet Luck" in the world of Toriko. With these two together—there was basically no need to worry about any danger.
Komatsu relied on his super "Gourmet Luck" to hear the voice of ingredients.
The reason for saying so was because the frequency at which Komatsu heard the voice of ingredients was too high.
This situation had already occurred when he was in the Human World.
Why did Setsuno Dining Hall only open once in a while?? It was because she couldn't hear the voice of ingredients every single moment.
Even during the time Komatsu was in the Human World, in terms of the frequency of hearing the voice of ingredients—Setsuno couldn't compare to him.
So, hearing the voice of ingredients was related to Culinary skills, but not particularly much—it relied more on "Gourmet Luck."
Yuuki could be certain of one thing: He shouldn't have such powerful "Gourmet Luck" on him, or even have "Gourmet Luck" at all...
After all, he had just arrived in this world—he hadn't grown up in this world. How could "Gourmet Luck" directly attach itself to him?
So now, he was somewhat baffled.
However, Yuuki began to think about what went wrong to make these ingredients acknowledge him so much.
"Gourmet Cells definitely aren't it. Culinary skills are also unlikely..."
Yuuki began to think about what was so special about him.
Ultimately, Yuuki focused his attention on Culinary Heart and Ki—
—His Culinary Heart was Domineering. Perhaps these ingredients sensed his Culinary Heart and thus submitted and emitted their voices.
Or perhaps it was because of Ki.
Ki was very special in the world of Dragon Ball and Cooking Master Boy.
And Ki had the ability to modify ingredients, even allowing ingredients to be preserved indefinitely. Operations like purifying ingredients were quite simple.
So, in summary, perhaps it was because of Ki...
After all, this was something the world of Toriko didn't have, and Ki had a miraculous effect on ingredients.
Thinking of this, Yuuki mobilized the Ki in his body, concentrating it in his hand. The next second, the golden light on all the ingredients became even more intense.
"IT REALLY IS BECAUSE OF KI!"
Yuuki was certain.
It was because of Ki that the ingredients in this world would emit their voices. Although he had also obtained ingredients from this world before, those ingredients weren't 'in' this world.
A similar situation had occurred in the world of Food Wars.
Eishi Tsukasa's special ability was to talk to ingredients. However, that was his exclusive special ability, not a characteristic of the world.
In the world of Toriko, as long as one was acknowledged, then they could hear the voice of ingredients. Of course, this was something only Chefs could do—non-Chefs couldn't hear the voice of ingredients.
....
"A special energy, different from calories. Is it because of this special energy that he gained the acknowledgment of the ingredients??"
Setsuno obviously noticed the special energy on Yuuki's hand. She was very interested in this special energy, but she knew now was not the time to ask directly—
—Their relationship was still that of strangers. While she had a good impression of Yuuki, it didn't mean she could directly ask Yuuki about this aspect.
So now, she held back from asking.
....
Looking at the ingredients emitting golden light, Yuuki directly shielded the Ki within his body—
—This way, the outside world couldn't sense the Ki within him, and the ingredients also returned to their normal state.
"Master, just now that was..." Nono finally recovered her senses at this moment, looking at Setsuno with disbelief.
"Don't mind it, Nono. Just pretend nothing happened."
After Setsuno said a word, she walked towards another room.
Hearing this, Nono understood what her master meant. She wasn't stupid; she guessed this change happened because of Yuuki, so she didn't ask any more questions.
Afterwards, the group came to a huge room. In the center of this room was a large pot hundreds of meters high.
"We'll talk about the competition later. Since you brought news of the Century Soup, then you should witness this unfinished version of it—"
After speaking, Setsuno directly leaped up.
Instantly, she appeared above the large pot. Seeing this, Yuuki leaped up.
His current Cell level could naturally do this.
Nono also followed closely behind. The three of them thus successively jumped to the landing point above the large pot.
"Your Gourmet Cell level isn't low either—" Setsuno looked at Yuuki with some surprise.
She had thought Yuuki would slowly climb up from the stairs. She didn't expect Yuuki to come here with just one jump.
"It can be considered average... After all, I haven't eaten many good things." Yuuki said with a smile.
His words were true. He indeed hadn't eaten many good things.
The reason he had a high cell level was entirely because of his Growth-type Gourmet Cells. This was the benefit of Growth-type!
Even if the cell level had already reached this extent, if he now ate very special ingredients like the Rainbow Fruit—his Gourmet Cells could still be activated.
....
"Never had anything good to eat? You're full of surprises, kid!"
Setsuno's words were laced with genuine shock. She could tell that Yuuki's Gourmet Cells were at a high level, and reaching that stage was impossible with normal ingredients.
Why was it that countless people possessed Gourmet Cells, yet only a handful ever became strong enough to enter the Gourmet World??
It was because without taking immense risks to acquire incredibly rare ingredients, the growth of Gourmet Cells was painfully slow.
Even Toriko and Komatsu—the series' protagonists blessed with extraordinary Gourmet Luck—had to navigate multiple life-or-death crises.
They always managed to pull through, but if the main characters had it that rough, what chance did anyone else have?
Avoiding risk meant stagnation. Embracing it meant a sky-high mortality rate. This stark reality was why so few could ever set foot in the Gourmet World—out of the tens of billions in the Human World, only a few dozen ever made the cut.
Of course, it was possible to have powerful figures gather the ingredients for you, forcibly leveling someone up to the entry standard for the Gourmet World.
But a person raised that way would have almost no real combat prowess.
The Gourmet World was a minefield of constant danger. Sending someone with zero combat experience there was just sending them to their death.
Besides, the resources required to train a being with a capture level over one hundred were astronomical.
Setsuno could tell that Yuuki wasn't lying.
After five hundred years, she could spot a lie in an instant.
It made her genuinely curious about him. If he hadn't eaten many rare ingredients, the only explanation for his advanced Gourmet Cells was that they were—unique.
Not all Gourmet Cells evolved just by eating delicious food; there were always a few odd exceptions.
Sunny's sister, Rin, was a perfect example—Her Gourmet Cells seemed normal, but after being attacked by Stajun, they reacted to her love for Toriko.
Midora was another. His Full Course Menu was comprised of his family and Froese, with Froese making up the largest part. What he needed wasn't just good food—it was Froese, the first person to ever show him motherly love.
These highly specialized Gourmet Cells required different kinds of nourishment. Some might even need to consume specific emotions. Such cases were exceedingly rare, though; most still relied on eating all sorts of gourmet food.
Yuuki's situation didn't strike Setsuno as particularly bizarre.
Since the discovery of Gourmet Cells, despite the number of people who possessed them, no one had ever figured out how to artificially and perfectly integrate them into a human body.
Unless you were born with them, any attempt at later integration came with severe side effects.
The most likely outcome was death.
A tiny fraction might survive, but they would suffer from complications—the people of the Gourmet Underground were the most classic example.
<><><><><><><><>
~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
<><><><><><><><>
~# Keep the chapters coming — Support with Power Stones!
~# Every 200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
~# Add to Library!