After greeting Mansam, Kael walked up to the GT Robot. It was still disguised as the leader of some country, and the moment it saw Kael, it immediately began pulling up his data.
Kael hadn't been in the world of Toriko for very long, but his reputation was anything but small. As Setsuno's disciple, he was naturally a key person of interest for Gourmet Corp.
Kael, however, had no intention of wasting words on it.
His right hand formed into a blade, and he swung.
He didn't even bother using a kitchen knife—there was no need. A hand-blade was more than enough to dismantle it.
Before the GT Robot could even react, its head was cleaved clean off. In the next instant, Kael smoothly severed its limbs, then thrust his hand straight through its abdomen, destroying the core inside.
Having obtained GT Robots before, Kael knew their internal structure extremely well. The reason IGO had never managed to capture a complete GT Robot was because of their self-destruct cores.
Once Gourmet Corp confirmed that a GT Robot couldn't escape, they would immediately detonate it. The problem was that IGO didn't know where the core was located, so even if they knew it would self-destruct, there was nothing they could do.
Kael, on the other hand, knew GT Robots inside and out. In a single instant, he dismantled it and disabled the core. This one could be handed over to IGO for research.
IGO focused on different priorities and had never built machines like GT Robots, but with a complete sample, reverse-engineering it wouldn't be difficult.
Their iteration speed probably wouldn't match Gourmet Corp's—after all, most of Gourmet Corp's resources were poured into GT Robot development, while IGO only invested a small portion—but the gap was obvious.
"So clean," Mansam said as he watched. "Not a single wasted word. You didn't even give it time to react before tearing it apart."
Seeing Kael in action made it clear just how strong he was. Compared to him, the Four Heavenly Kings still fell short.
At this moment, Toriko was still fighting beasts inside the arena. The Battle Wolf mother was giving birth, and Toriko was trying to keep other beasts from disturbing her. But he couldn't instantly deal with them, especially the Devil Serpent.
Strictly speaking, Toriko wasn't weak—but compared to Kael, who had mastered Food Honor, the gap was painfully obvious.
Without Food Honor, Toriko's power was scattered when he fought. In the eyes of someone who had mastered it, his movements looked like a kindergarten scuffle.
"Mansam, the GT Robot's been dismantled," Kael said after returning. "It's mostly intact. You can take it for research. Replicating GT Robot tech shouldn't be too difficult."
"I understand. Thank you, Mr. Kael," Mansam replied, then glanced toward the arena. "That fight over there is just about finished. The Battle Wolf has completed her delivery."
Under Toriko's protection, the newborn Battle Wolf—Terry—had finally been born. The mother gently licked and groomed her cub.
Kael noticed her gaze quickly shift to the Devil Serpent. Toriko couldn't deal with it quickly, but for the Battle Wolf mother, it was trivial.
Even having just given birth and still weakened, killing a Devil Serpent was no problem.
In the next instant, her body turned into a streak of white light.
Battle Wolves were famous for speed and attack power—creatures that had maxed out their combat stats.
In a single exchange, the Devil Serpent's head and nearly a fifth of its body vanished.
In that split second, the Battle Wolf mother had struck hundreds of times, pulverizing its head into fragments so fine it looked as though it had been erased.
"Incredible," Kael muttered.
He wasn't afraid of Battle Wolves, but this display was undeniably impressive. Combat instinct was etched into their DNA.
Even though this Battle Wolf was a clone, its fighting ability was flawless. Kael felt that the species was already on the verge of true bloodline inheritance.
"Indeed," Mansam said. "It's a shame her ceiling is fixed—she's a clone, after all. But her child's future is another matter entirely."
After killing the Devil Serpent, the Battle Wolf mother returned to her cub. In the original story, this was when she was killed by a GT Robot—but that wouldn't happen now.
She made it back safely, and the scene was surprisingly warm. No matter how ferocious a Battle Wolf was, it still showed tenderness toward its child.
Sometimes, humans were worse than beasts. When humans became truly vile, they wouldn't even spare their own children.
The moment didn't last long.
Soon, the two Battle Wolves separated. The cub trotted over to Toriko and rubbed against his leg, clearly intending to follow him.
Unsurprisingly, this was the mother's decision.
Battle Wolves possessed intelligence comparable to humans. She knew she was a clone, and that IGO would squeeze as much value out of her as possible. She didn't want her child locked in a laboratory and studied the same way.
So she chose Toriko.
His status had to be high—otherwise, he wouldn't dare act so freely in this arena. Confident in that, she sent her child to him.
"She's smart," Kael said. "She knows that if her child follows Toriko, it can escape this cage. Looks like you won't be doing anything to that Battle Wolf anymore."
Mansam nodded. "Doesn't matter. We've already studied everything we needed. Keeping her in the arena was just recycling resources. If Toriko wants them, no one will object."
Toriko's standing within IGO was extremely high. Though all Four Heavenly Kings were trained by Chairman Ichiryu, Toriko was clearly the most closely watched.
Ichiryu knew Toriko's personality—and his terrifying potential. As long as Ichiryu was around, Toriko could do almost anything short of something catastrophic like wiping out allied nations, and he'd still be protected.
Two Battle Wolves were nothing.
Kael's attention then shifted to two other people.
One was Komatsu. With his plain looks, big nose, and short stature, there was no mistaking him.
Beside Komatsu was a woman in what looked like a reporter's uniform—attractive, too.
Kael recognized her immediately. Tina—the so-called "second mob king" of the anime.
Like Zongeh, she possessed terrifying Food Luck. Wherever Toriko went, she and Zonge were usually nearby, except in special locations.
For example, she could enter the First Biotope as a reporter, but Zonge couldn't.
Kael didn't pay her much attention. He wasn't particularly interested—though stealing her Food Luck wouldn't be bad. As the second mob king, it was bound to be impressive.
Unfortunately, Kael could currently only absorb unclaimed Food Luck. He had no way to deal with Food Luck that already had an owner.
That would have to wait.
"Um… excuse me. Are you Chef Kael?"
As Kael looked away, Komatsu had already run up to him.
"I am. Do you need something?" Kael asked, surprised. He wasn't famous in the culinary world—aside from becoming Setsuno's disciple.
"I saw you on the news," Komatsu said nervously. "You're Lady Setsuno's apprentice, so you must be an amazing chef. Could I have your autograph?"
Komatsu loved collecting signatures from famous chefs. To him, they were idols.
Even though Kael wasn't ranked, being taken in by Setsuno meant he was unquestionably powerful. Since he'd finally met him, Komatsu couldn't pass up the chance.
"Sure," Kael said with a smile.
As he signed, Toriko walked over with Terry.
"Director, I want to discuss something," Toriko said.
Mansam already knew what he wanted to say.
"You can take the cub with you," Mansam said before Toriko could continue. "As for the mother, we'll send her to your residence and arrange regular food deliveries."
Toriko immediately nodded and thanked him.
"Oh, and you must be Mr. Kael—the one you mentioned," Toriko said, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Toriko."
Before coming, Mansam had already told him Kael would be involved, and that he was Setsuno's disciple. Toriko had met Setsuno several times as a child, and he'd even queued for ages to eat her food—he was almost up next.
The fact that she'd taken in another disciple surprised him.
"Nice to meet you, Toriko of the Four Heavenly Kings," Kael said, shaking his hand. "I've heard a lot about you."
Nearby, Tina was snapping photos like crazy. Kael was incredibly mysterious to the outside world—aside from a few photos released by the Setsuno Group, almost nothing was known about him.
Tina had tried to dig into his past before and found nothing. It was as if he'd never existed.
Now that he was right in front of her, she wasn't about to miss the chance.
Kael didn't stop her. After all, he was eyeing her Food Luck anyway—consider it advance payment.
"All right," Mansam said. "Let's change locations. This isn't a place to talk. I'll show you my Full Course Menu."
Mansam contacted IGO to have it prepared.
His Full Course Menu didn't have a high capture level, but everything revolved around alcohol. A Full Course Menu wasn't about being strong—it was about being suitable.
All of Mansam's ingredients were obtainable in the Human World.
There was even someone whose Full Course Menu had an absurdly low capture level—the Medicinal Cooking King, Yuda. His highest ingredient was only level 20, and some didn't even reach level 1.
For a chef who'd reached the second stage of Climbing, it looked pitiful—but that was the nature of Full Course Menus. Not everyone could be like Acacia and list eight legendary ingredients.
When the dishes arrived, Kael quietly used his qi to purge the alcohol from them. He wasn't a fan of alcohol.
Everyone else ended up at least a little drunk, but Kael was completely unaffected. Since no one knew about qi, they just assumed he had a high tolerance.
Originally, they were supposed to head straight for Jewel Meat—the robot had already entered the First Biotope.
But Sunny sent word that he'd already captured the Regal Mammoth and was on his way back.
So no one was in a hurry at all.