"That's true. Spending in the Main Street Zone and the Central Zone is tightly capped. It's not like the High-Class Zone, where there's no upper limit at all. If you want to turn a profit, you really have to watch your costs."
Soma Yukihira nodded.
"Costs, huh? Then what's your plan, Soma?"
After thinking it over, Alice Nakiri realized her own spending habits really did have some issues, and she decided she'd rein them in later. For now, though, she was curious about Soma's approach.
After all, Soma had been helping out at his family diner since he was a kid.
"As for me… I'm thinking about challenging the Elite Ten," Soma said. "But most of them are over in the High Platform Zone. So if I want to challenge one, there's only a single target!"
Soma laid out his plan plainly. Even though no one from the Elite Ten was mocking him this time, that was just who he was. He'd always been curious about them.
There were already two Elite Ten members living in the dorms, and he talked with them often, but he'd never truly challenged one himself.
That was why his eyes were set on Terunori Kuga.
He knew his own limits when it came to the High Platform Zone, so he had no intention of getting involved there. That left only the other zones. And in those zones, there was only one Elite Ten member: Terunori Kuga, leader of the Chinese Cuisine Research Society.
"Challenge the Elite Ten? In the Central Zone and Main Street Zone, the only Elite Ten member is Kuga-senpai. You're planning to challenge him?!"
Everyone cried out in shock, staring at Soma as if he'd lost his mind.
"Yeah. Is there a problem?" Soma asked, puzzled by their reaction.
"Of course there is! It's a huge problem!" Yuki Yoshino couldn't even begin to understand what was going through Soma's head.
"Have you thought about this at all? You're just one person, and you want to challenge the Chinese Cuisine Research Society? That's a research society with hundreds of members!"
"Soma, let me put it this way," Kael said, rubbing his temples. "Your cooking has reached the Four-Star level, so you do have the qualifications to challenge Kuga Terunori. But this isn't a one-on-one Shokugeki. It's simulated management."
"You've run a stall before. A single-person stand versus a massive research society with hundreds of people—forget about location and all that. Just efficiency alone. No matter how good you are, can you outpace hundreds of cooks?"
Kael sighed. In the original story, Soma had once managed to cook with eight pots at the same time near the end of the Training Camp. But those eight pots all held the same ingredients, and he was just making flatbreads—nothing complicated.
With real dishes, handling two or three pots at once would already be impressive.
Soma's biggest flaw was that he tended to idealize things—and he was a bit too confident.
Not being afraid of failure was a good thing, and learning from failure was valuable. But failing too often could also dull a person to the consequences of failure.
"And besides," Kael added, "the Chinese Cuisine Research Society right now has already been revamped by me. Kuga Terunori might be the overall commander this time, but the Chinese Cuisine Research Society has been completely transformed."
In the Central Zone, the current Chinese Cuisine Research Society was practically a Final boss. The venue was enormous, the manpower overwhelming, and the menu incredibly diverse.
And on top of that, there was Kuga Terunori's reputation.
Even though Kael wasn't participating this time, he had been the Captain of the research society. He'd personally guided its members many times, which made the society itself a gold-plated signboard.
Kael was confident that even if other Elite Ten members came to the Central Zone, they wouldn't be able to compete with the Chinese Cuisine Research Society as it was now.
It was simply too massive.
"He's right," Megumi Tadokoro said quietly. "Soma, you should give up. The Chinese Cuisine Research Society isn't something anyone can challenge right now."
"Huh… when you put it that way, I guess you're right," Soma said, nodding. "I'll think it over more carefully."
He looked like he was listening, but Kael was pretty sure Soma would still charge in headfirst once he got fired up. At that point, there'd be nothing anyone could do.
They'd said all they could.
Once Soma decided on something, it was never easy for him to back down.
As expected, Soma still chose to confront Kuga Terunori head-on.
Everyone could only sigh. This guy really wouldn't give up until he hit a wall. Still, they weren't too worried. Once Soma took a real loss, he'd learn to avoid it next time.
They'd just save him a spot when that happened.
With that, Polar Star Grand Diner was officially established.
Compared to the others, Kael made a completely different choice. He didn't participate in this Moon Banquet Festival at all. Like Rindo Kobayashi, he planned to enjoy it as a customer.
At the same time, he focused on refining his Chef's Heart.
After reaching the Nine-Star level, he realized that becoming a Special Grade Chef wouldn't be difficult at all. With the boost from the Second Zone, his growth speed was terrifying.
In the World of Food Wars, chefs rarely surpassed the Nine-Star level. On one hand, they lacked this kind of external enhancement. On the other, their fundamentals simply hadn't been pushed to the extreme.
Not everyone could be like Kael, whose basic skills so vastly outstripped his Chef's Heart.
So for Kael, breaking into the Special Grade tier was only a matter of time.
The day before the Moon Banquet Festival, Kael's Chef's Heart finally completed its transformation. It was no longer a rough prototype, but a fully formed Chef's Heart.
This was a qualitative leap.
Now, even a casual dish from him would hit harder than one of his full-power creations from before.
The realization left Kael a little shaken. His Chef's Heart was extremely special overwhelmingly domineering. If he couldn't freely control it, he honestly worried that if he kept improving like this, his food might make people drop to their knees after a single bite.
Different Chef's Hearts produced entirely different effects.
If it were something like Liu Maoxing's warm, comforting cooking, then no matter how strong it became, it would only have positive effects.
But Kael's domineering Chef's Heart was another story. If left unchecked, anyone who ate his food would be conquered by that overwhelming force.
Sarge and Bunnyhair were the best examples.
Of course, the reason those two submitted so completely was also because their own Chef's Hearts were perfectly suppressed by Kael's.
After becoming a Special Grade Chef, the Third Zone of the Dark Cooking Society finally unlocked.
This zone corresponded to the range from Special Grade Chef to Lin Chef.
Once Kael reached the Lin Chef level and completed the Third Zone, the Fourth Zone would unlock.
The first zone Kael had opened corresponded to basic skills. The second zone was tied to the Chef's Heart. And now, the third zone focused on advanced techniques.
This zone didn't just contain facilities for physical training. More importantly, it housed training equipment specifically designed for secret techniques.
Training secret techniques required specialized tools.
Take Fierce Bull Azure Dragon Slash, for example—it needed a massive blade. Silver Shark Skin required silver chopsticks. Many techniques demanded large numbers of pots and specialized setups.
Kael already possessed Kaiyu's inheritance, so he knew how to train these techniques. But with the Third Zone's facilities and buffs, his mastery speed would skyrocket.
Just like with the first and second zones, training in the Dark Cooking Society and training in the outside world were completely different experiences.
The Third Zone was extremely valuable to Kael.
To fully complete it, he would need to reach the Lin Chef level and master more than five secret techniques.
Unlocking the Third Zone also came with a reward.
This time, it wasn't a cooking tool.
Instead, Kael received the Soul-Calming Ogi of the Luo Family and the secret technique White Luo Serpent Coil.
The White Luo Serpent Coil was a technique passed down through the Luo family for generations. Even though the Noodle King Luo Gen had joined the Dark Cooking Society, he had never handed this technique over to Kaiyu.
That meant even Kaiyu didn't know it.
And now, Kael had it.
The Soul-Calming Secret Art and the White Luo Serpent Coil perfectly filled the gaps in Kael's white-board techniques.
Compared to other chefs, Kael wasn't weak in white-case skills. But compared to his own red-case level, there was still a clear gap.
This inheritance came at exactly the right time.
It was like receiving half a character inheritance.
Why only half? Because he didn't obtain Luo Gen's accumulated knowledge or his family's countless noodle recipes.
He only received the Soul-Calming Ougi and the White Luo Serpent .
Even so, Kael was more than satisfied.
He grasped the White Luo Serpent Coil almost immediately.
Not because system rewards granted instant mastery, but because the system explained the technique in full detail—and Kael's physical abilities and Divine Touch did the rest.
This technique didn't demand extreme physical strength. While it exceeded normal human limits, Kael's body easily met the requirements.
What it demanded was precision and finesse.
Every use involved countless subtle techniques layered together.
It was like solving a math problem. The final answer might be a simple number, but the steps to get there could fill multiple blackboards.
The White Luo Serpent Coil was the same. On the surface, it looked like nothing more than a few simple stirring motions—but the techniques behind it were absurdly complex.
But Kael had Divine Touch.
With it, he could control his strength with terrifying precision. Techniques that normally required years of muscle memory could be used as soon as he understood the force involved.
If Luo Gen knew that his family's secret technique had been mastered this easily, he'd probably call Kael a once-in-a-millennium genius.
After all, this technique had grown so complex precisely because it had been refined, revised, and improved over more than a thousand years.
Each generation added to it, making it more intricate—and more powerful.
"What a shame," Kael muttered. "If only they'd given me some Shu-Han aged starter dough. That stuff is the real treasure."
With aged starter dough, the Soul-Calming noodles would be even more effective.
As it stood, he could still make them—but the results were noticeably weaker.
The fermentation power of Shu-Han aged starter dough was something you could see with your own eyes.
It really lived up to the name.