Food Wars: The Fishing System

~ As Usual Every 200 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter

~ Thank You for the Support!

~ 30 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!

<><><><><><><><>

"Since you've decided, then let's go. I should probably go and stretch my legs too."

Midora looked at Ichiryu.

"Then I'll go with you. Although with your strength—dealing with Joie or the Blue Nitro is no problem—there's more than just those two forces behind this. There's someone even more difficult to deal with."

As Ichiryu said this, his face became very serious.

"Acacia, right? That guy's definitely trouble. I have no idea what he's planning anymore. Whatever, let's not overthink it. We need to find Joie first!"

With that, Midora disappeared on the spot. Ichiryu immediately followed.

"Otake, are you going to stay here or come with me?"

Starjun turned his attention to Otake. Otake had just broken into the Chef Rankings when he was captured. Among all the chefs they'd encountered, both his natural talent and technical skills were exceptional.

Since Otake had also awakened his Gourmet Cells, the Gourmet Corp had decided to keep him around. Truth was, whether you looked at Otake, Komatsu, or Ume, all three possessed World-class culinary talent.

While Otake and Nakaume weren't quite on Komatsu's level, they weren't far behind either. The difference was that Otake and Nakaume had lacked the right opportunities to shine.

For Otake, that opportunity came through the Gourmet Corp.

For Nakaume, it was NEO.

Despite being essentially prisoners, both chefs found their skills improving rapidly in these harsh environments. So while being captured by the Gourmet Corp and NEO was obviously terrible, it had also forced them to unlock their true potential.

"I'll go with you. There's no point in staying here. The Boss has left, and you're planning to leave too. The Gourmet Corp is only left with a few people. This organization is finished, isn't it?"

Otake said.

Although his words were not pleasant to hear, they were the truth. Starjun also knew that the Gourmet Corp was now supported by him and Midora. If they both didn't care, the Gourmet Corp would be finished.

Otake naturally wouldn't stay in this place, so a few of them packed their things and left.

After leaving, Starjun had Komatsu lead the way, heading in the direction he pointed. As for whether they would go wrong, Starjun didn't even consider this possibility.

His own Boss and Ichiryu had both said that Komatsu had an overpowered Food Luck, so believing in Komatsu was enough.

——————

Just like that, under Komatsu's guidance, the group found Toriko in less than a day.

That's right, less than a day.

Their pace wasn't actually that fast—after all, in a place like the Gourmet World, they couldn't afford to be reckless. While they knew Food Luck was incredibly useful, it wasn't a cure-all. But since Toriko had already reached the edge of Gourmet World territory, it only took the three of them less than a day to track him down.

"TORIKO-SAN!"

Seeing Toriko, Komatsu's eyes immediately lit up, and he shouted.

Hearing this voice, Toriko also suddenly looked up and then saw Starjun, Komatsu, and Otake.

"Komatsu!"

The moment he saw Komatsu, Toriko was absolutely thrilled. Even though he knew Komatsu would be fine, he'd been getting worried after searching for him for so long without any luck.

Now that he saw Komatsu was safe and sound, Toriko breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing this, Starjun also immediately controlled his mount to land, stopping in front of Toriko.

"Starjun!"

However, the moment Toriko spotted Starjun, his eyes blazed with anger, hatred, and fierce determination. He'd lost to Starjun before, which had led to Komatsu being taken away. Toriko had sworn that would never happen again, so seeing Starjun now ignited his fighting spirit like a wildfire.

"WAIT, TORIKO, I'm not here to fight you. I was planning to bring Komatsu back to you." Starjun naturally couldn't fight his own brother, so seeing this, he immediately stopped him.

"Toriko-san, Mr. Starjun doesn't mean any harm. Please calm down first."

Seeing the tension, Komatsu quickly spoke up.

Starjun's words had no effect, but Komatsu's words were different.

"Komatsu, what's going on?"

Hearing Komatsu's words, Toriko was stunned for a moment and then asked with great surprise.

"It's like this..."

Seeing that Toriko had retracted his aura, Komatsu also breathed a sigh of relief and immediately told him what had happened when Starjun had brought him to the Gourmet Corp.

But when he got to the end, Toriko was completely baffled.

——————

"Wait..."

Toriko pointed at Starjun with a look of complete disbelief. He didn't know his own background—growing up in a war zone like that, he had no idea who his family even was. They'd probably died years ago.

Now, to be told that Starjun was his brother, Toriko couldn't accept it.

After all, Starjun had been part of the Gourmet Corp—he'd fought Toriko to the death and even stolen his partner. After everything, Starjun had somehow ended up as his brother.

Toriko insisted he couldn't accept that.

"Unbelievable as it sounds, it's the truth. After eating ANOTHER, I recovered fragments of my past."

"I'm a little older than you, so back then you had no memory of it. Even if you ate ANOTHER, it wouldn't help. But I know for certain—you are my brother."

"Our parents are Acacia and Froese. That's right—the Gourmet God and the God of Cooking you remember."

Starjun didn't care if Toriko believed him or not, and continued to throw out some bombshells. These bombshells exploded in front of Toriko, directly making him dizzy.

"GIVE ME SOME TIME... I NEED TO CALM DOWN!"

Toriko said his head was now spinning.

If he had a choice, he would never acknowledge Starjun as his brother. But that wasn't even the biggest issue. The real shock was that both he and Starjun were sons of Acacia and Froese. That was the most absurd part of all.

——————

After a long, heavy silence, Toriko finally seemed to process the impossible truth.

"Alright, I believe you," Toriko said, his voice tight. "But Starjun—even if we're brothers, I'm not letting you off for what you did in the past."

What did brotherhood matter in the face of betrayal?

The animosity between them was still raw. Starjun had taken Komatsu right in front of him. As for the beatdown that had left him missing an arm and a leg, Toriko couldn't have cared less.

That was just a fight. But Komatsu was different.

Toriko valued his partner more than his own life. He could forgive Starjun for what he'd done to him—after all, Starjun hadn't known the truth. But what he'd done to Komatsu?

That was a debt that wouldn't be paid so easily.

In the original story, by the time Toriko and Starjun reunited on the Sixth Continent, their relationship had softened—hatred giving way to a tense, unspoken understanding. But here, things were different. Toriko had only just gotten Komatsu back. The wound was still raw. And Starjun didn't yet have the strength to return the Food Luck he had stolen.

"I know."

Starjun understood completely. The past couldn't be erased with a few words and a claim of kinship. For now, the fact that Toriko even acknowledged him as a brother was enough.

——————

While Toriko and Starjun began the slow, arduous process of reconciliation—Ichiryu and Midora had already arrived at NEO's headquarters.

With the intelligence provided by Kuriboh, finding the base had been simple.

The members of NEO were still holed up in their unfinished spaceship—a vessel built with Nitro technology, fully capable of interstellar travel.

Joie might have been deceiving everyone else, but he wasn't about to gamble with his own life. He had poured every resource into the ship's construction.

But now, Ichiryu and Midora were here.

"There are quite a few of them, but almost all are being controlled. Only a handful are here of their own free will."

Ichiryu glanced at Midora. The ones who weren't puppets—aside from the wealthy patrons and kings—were almost all from Midora's side.

Midora said nothing.

As the Head of the Gourmet Corp, he knew exactly what kind of people he had recruited. Nine out of ten were self-serving opportunists.

Those were the ones who thrived in the Gourmet Corp. If they had any decency or real skill, they would have joined the IGO. Why bother with his organization?

So, Midora wasn't surprised in the slightest. He had no intention of sparing these traitors. He might not have managed the day-to-day affairs, but the Gourmet Corp was still his creation. It wasn't a playground for any stray dog to come and piss on.

"Speaking of which, they really are building a spaceship. A pity it's not going to survive this."

Ichiryu looked at the ship with a hint of regret. The technology was impressive; it could have advanced the Human World's tech level by several degrees.

But he had no intention of backing down. A fight here was inevitable. At their level of power, once it started, the ship would be reduced to splinters. And with everyone hiding inside, the only way to flush them out was to sink their vessel.

Of course, Midora also noticed a few familiar faces: Mohyan Shaishai, Teppei, Kuriboh, and Nakaume.

Not everyone was a puppet, and not everyone had joined NEO willingly. Some of them needed to be saved.

"I'll handle the people inside the ship. You take care of Joie."

Ichiryu knew Midora's personality. The man was a force of nature, and unless someone was directly connected to him, he couldn't care less about their fate.

Midora didn't object. He was only interested in Joie. As long as he took him down, everything else was secondary.

And so, Midora locked onto Joie's presence within the ship. By now, Joie had completely replenished the Life Orbs in his hair. While they were useless against a powerhouse like Jiro, he had learned his lesson.

He had relied on them to stall for time, to wait for Midora's attack to create a diversion so he could escape. They were still useful.

So, upon returning to NEO, he had prepared a massive supply. The Life Orbs now dangled from his hair in thick clusters, almost completely covering his head.

It was a strange, almost comical sight, but Joie couldn't care less about his appearance.

Jiro had scared the life out of him...

He knew Acacia's Students were strong, but he never imagined they would be 'that' strong. Froese's body, even with its fused Appetite Demon, was no match for them.

And they hadn't even eaten many Acacia's Ingredients yet. If they consumed all eight of Acacia's Full Course Menu, he couldn't even begin to imagine how powerful they would become.

Just as Joie was single-mindedly crafting more Life Orbs, a terrifying presence erupted. A devastating attack ripped his spaceship in two, exposing him at its very core.

<><><><><><><><>

~ 30 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!