"That's true," Setsuno said with a smile. "Even if you don't become partners, it's still good to stay on friendly terms with the Four Heavenly Kings. After all, they're Ichiryu's disciples. You might end up helping each other someday, and IGO can bring you plenty of convenience too."
Not becoming partners didn't mean cutting ties. Although the Four Heavenly Kings didn't hold much real power within IGO yet, once they matured, they were bound to become key decision-makers.
Kael nodded at her words.
He didn't mind getting along with the Four Heavenly Kings. None of them were truly evil people—though Zebra's sharp tongue was another matter.
If that guy ever crossed the line, Kael wouldn't hesitate to teach him a lesson. He wasn't about to tolerate Zebra's verbal abuse just because of what Zebra had been through.
Kael being kind was his choice. It wasn't an excuse for anyone else to act however they pleased. As long as he didn't kill Zebra, Ichiryu wouldn't say a word.
Naturally, Kael accepted the invitation.
He was quite interested in Jewel Meat anyway. In the Human World, Jewel Meat only existed in two places: the Regal Plateau, and the former 1st Biotope.
It was an excellent ingredient, one that could help strengthen him. There was no way he'd pass it up.
And this trip wouldn't be dangerous.
If someone asked him to go to Vegetable Sky, that'd be a hard no. There was always a chance of running into a Blue Nitro there.
In the original story, Toriko and Komatsu had been lucky. The Blue Nitro they encountered wasn't interested in attacking them—he only cared about Ozone Herb. And after tasting it, he decided it wasn't even good.
Blue Nitros had already eaten countless delicacies back in the Blue Universe. Even after coming to the Red Universe, they'd sampled plenty of fine food on Earth. Compared to that, Ozone Herb was nothing more than something to sneer at.
Honestly, those creatures were just too arrogant.
Their lifespans were long, sure—but their strength had a ceiling. Having limited power yet remaining so conceited struck Kael as outright stupid.
They might live longer than humans, but when it came to mindset, they were far inferior.
As for the 1st Biotope, the greatest danger there was Stajun's GT Robot.
But forget the GT Robot—even if Stajun himself showed up in front of Kael, Kael wouldn't care.
At this point, unless someone capable of entering the Gourmet World appeared, there weren't many people left in the Human World who could challenge him.
So, having accepted the invitation, Kael boarded a private plane and headed for IGO headquarters.
IGO's headquarters was located within the 1st Biotope.
By now, Kael counted as a major figure. Even putting aside his cooking skill, just being Setsuno's disciple already elevated his status. He could even mobilize the resources of the Setsuno Group if he wanted.
That said, he had no intention of interfering with the Setsuno Group's affairs. Setsuno had built it herself, and it was essentially already in Nono's hands. Kael had no desire to compete with Nono over it.
His focus was on improving his strength and his cooking.
Setsuno could clearly see that—and it reassured her. With Kael holding this attitude, there was no need to worry about future conflicts between him and Nono.
The technology in the Toriko world was impressive. Air travel was extremely fast.
Even though Earth itself had expanded in size, Gourmet City wasn't far from IGO headquarters. Gourmet City was one of the Human World's core cities, and a major hub for IGO logistics.
Just over an hour later, the plane arrived.
IGO headquarters occupied only a small portion of the 1st Biotope. Besides the main facilities, there were also tourist attractions.
IGO wasn't just an organization—it needed money.
Its initial funding had come from member nations, and even now, research and ingredient production were financed the same way.
Having many member nations had pros and cons.
The upside was abundant funding and rapid growth. The downside was a loss of autonomy.
Since IGO was funded by member nations, it naturally served them first. The Human World had a massive population and abundant resources, which meant many nations existed.
Some nations, however, refused to join.
Their leaders were either dictators or war maniacs who didn't care about their people's lives. As long as they lived well and satisfied their own desires, nothing else mattered.
As long as they held enough power to suppress any internal threats, the lives of others were irrelevant.
IGO couldn't intervene in those regions. Member nations were paying customers—if non-members received the same services for free, why would anyone pay?
Because of that, IGO lost part of its independence. Even Ichiryu couldn't change this, unless he used overwhelming force to unify all nations under his rule.
But Ichiryu was a man without ambition.
That alone meant he'd never do such a thing.
Left with no choice, IGO developed independent revenue streams—tourism, and arenas like the underground coliseum.
The profits from these ventures were used to aid people in non-member nations.
Still, the scale had to remain limited.
Helping out occasionally during holidays was fine. Doing it constantly would be seen as disrespecting the member nations.
After getting off the plane, Kael saw someone waiting for him—a familiar face.
Director Mansam.
The reason Mansam came personally was obvious: Kael's identity, talent, and potential. In Ichiryu's eyes, Kael was destined to reach Setsuno's level—perhaps even Frohze's.
That alone made him worth Mansam's time.
"Welcome to the 1st Biotope, Mr. Kael!"
Mansam showed no arrogance at all. Kael actually had a good impression of him. Despite disliking alcohol and drunks in general, Mansam was an exception.
He was someone who truly dedicated everything to humanity.
Kael knew he couldn't do that himself, which was exactly why he respected Mansam.
After exchanging greetings, Kael followed Mansam on a tour of IGO's ingredient research and production facilities.
Before long, Mansam's phone rang.
"Director! Director! Something's wrong! There's a riot in the underground arena—Toriko's stormed in!"
The voice on the other end was frantic.
Kael heard it clearly. Toriko had arrived before him—and had already gone to the underground arena.
In the original story, the incident started because Rin's lovestruck brain completely shut down after Toriko showed up. She'd kept using the wrong perfumes one after another.
Honestly, Kael found it ridiculous. Being that deep into love-brain territory was almost impressive in its own way.
"My apologies, Mr. Kael," Mansam said apologetically. "Something's happened at the underground arena. I need to go take a look."
"No problem. I'll come with you," Kael replied. "Maybe I can help."
He knew exactly what was happening down there. He also wanted to witness the birth of a Battle Wolf.
As for stealing Terry—he had no interest. By the middle and later parts of the story, Terry simply couldn't keep up with Toriko anymore.
Kael's progress would be even faster than Toriko's.
What he needed wasn't a combat partner like Terry, but a proper camping beast.
For now, Kael couldn't casually release Behemoth.
Strictly speaking, Behemoth wasn't a naturally occurring creature—it was a fusion experiment created by Grinpatch.
That made the Jack Giant Beetle Elephant tightly linked to Grinpatch. If Kael suddenly produced one, it would definitely attract unwanted attention.
He'd even considered killing Grinpatch someday. That way, Behemoth could be revealed openly—he'd just say he took it from Grinpatch.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Kael!" Mansam said immediately.
He didn't expect Kael to solve anything. With himself and Toriko present, a minor arena incident wouldn't destabilize IGO headquarters.
Still, Kael offering help was appreciated.
After all, Ichiryu had already instructed them to maintain good relations with Kael. Ideally, Kael would even become one of the Four Heavenly Kings' partners.
Even if that didn't happen, the relationship had to stay solid.
Now that Kael was proactively offering help, wasn't that goodwill in itself?
With that, Mansam led Kael to the underground arena.
The scene was pure chaos.
After charging in, Toriko hadn't just attacked the beasts—he'd smashed the reinforced glass barrier with a single punch.
Toriko loathed the underground arena. In his view, if you planned to eat something, you should capture it and eat it directly. Beast-fighting like this was nothing but torture.
His reasoning wasn't entirely wrong—but it was naïve.
The money IGO earned here wasn't for personal profit. It was all used to support civilians in war-torn regions.
Toriko's intentions were good, but like Ichiryu, he was overly idealistic.
Fortunately, Ichiryu had lived long enough—and was strong enough—to suppress instability. Otherwise, who knew what IGO would've become by now?
A nearby example was the ninja world.
In some ways, Ichiryu and Hashirama Senju were alike. Both were kind, idealistic, and overwhelmingly powerful.
They brought peace to their worlds—but that peace was built on the assumption that they remained strong and alive.
Once they were gone, that peace naturally began to crack.
Ichiryu's case was slightly better. Even after his death, the members of the 0th Biotope were trapped in the Gourmet World and didn't return to stir trouble in the Human World.
"This guy is really reckless," Mansam muttered, looking at the shattered barrier and the fleeing crowd.
Calming all this down later would be a massive headache.
"Director Mansam," Kael said. "You've noticed that thing, haven't you?"
Kael knew Mansam's strength. Mansam was someone capable of entering the Gourmet World.
In the original story, he'd been defeated by a GT Robot—perhaps because he appeared too early, or perhaps because he intentionally held back after sensing Toriko's presence.
But now, Kael could clearly sense Mansam's terrifying power.
In front of Mansam, a single GT Robot was nothing more than an ant.
Kael had noticed it already. There was no way Mansam hadn't.
"I've noticed," Mansam replied. "That kind of machine can only belong to Gourmet Corp. They already infiltrated the 1st Biotope and went after the Regal Mammoth. I didn't expect them to leave one behind to cause chaos and buy time."
Mansam's real concern, however, wasn't the GT Robot.
It was what Toriko had revealed.
The Battle Wolf in the arena was a clone, created using ancient genetic data.
Compared to Battle Wolves from the Gourmet World, it was far weaker. Its capture level was only a few dozen.
Everyone assumed the cloning project had failed, and the wolf was deemed worthless.
Throwing it into the arena at least made some money.
But no one had expected this cloned Battle Wolf… to be pregnant.
IGO had no records of Battle Wolves reproducing asexually.
It could only be said that Battle Wolves truly deserved their status as apex species of the Gourmet World—even cloned individuals were extraordinary.
"I'll take care of that thing," Kael said.
He remembered clearly that in the original story, the mother Battle Wolf was killed instantly by that machine.
To prevent a repeat, he decided to dismantle the GT Robot himself.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Kael!" Mansam said.
He was also curious about Kael's strength. Ichiryu had said Kael was powerful—but Mansam had never seen it with his own eyes.