Food Wars: The Fishing System

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With a final, decisive move from Don Slime, Joie's soul was utterly obliterated, unable to even begin its retreat to the World of Souls. Just like that, the man known as Joie ceased to exist.

Froese's body dissipated in the aftermath of the battle, but her knife, Cinderella, remained. Midora didn't destroy it. Instead, he tossed it to Ichiryu.

"This knife belonged to Froese. Starjun and Toriko are her sons. It should go to them—"

With his inner demons finally exorcised, Midora seemed much more at ease—his actions no longer so extreme. He had no intention of destroying Cinderella—choosing instead to entrust it to Toriko and Starjun. It was, after all, the only thing Froese had left in this world. Giving a mother's last memento to her sons was the only right thing to do.

"I'll make sure they get it. Those Blue Nitro were surprisingly rational—they didn't even try to intervene—or I wouldn't have minded taking them on right here."

Ichiryu caught Cinderella and glanced in the direction where the Blue Nitro had been hiding.

After seeing Joie's demise, they had immediately beat a hasty retreat.

"Now that Joie is dealt with, we don't have to hold back the next time we run into those Blue Nitro."

Midora knew why Ichiryu hadn't engaged them.

A full-scale mobilization of the Blue Nitro was a force to be reckoned with. While individually they were no match for an Eight King, together, they were formidable.

He had been preoccupied with Joie, and Don Slime had already emerged from Ichiryu's body. Under those circumstances, it wouldn't have been wise for Ichiryu to take them on alone.

And who knew what other tricks the Blue Nitro had up their sleeves? They weren't the Red Nitro of this universe—their methods were bound to be more numerous and cunning.

So, a little caution was warranted.

"Let's wait until Yuuki and the others have gathered enough ingredients before we make a move."

With that, Ichiryu left, returning to the IGO headquarters in the Human World. As for Midora, he had also come to a decision. He rounded up the remaining members of the Gourmet Corp and brought them back to the Human World as well.

The Gourmet Corp was finished. Those who were brought back and had clean records were absorbed into the IGO. The rest—the ones with blood on their hands—got thrown in prison. These criminals could no longer be sent to the Food Honor Temple.

The temple had been caught in Midora's attack zone. Even though the meteorites were stopped, the Bubble Fruit had been destroyed in the process.

The other ingredients were all gone.

Even the Food Honor Temple itself had died. Both the Food Honor Temple and the Disappearing Cuisine Restaurant had been built with special materials.

Even after being constructed, the materials had not died. But under the assault of Midora's malice, these buildings naturally couldn't survive.

——————

"So, what's the plan now? The situation seems to have changed. Midora's strength is beyond our imagination."

"Ichiryu may have lost to Midora, but that was only because he allowed it. And now that Don Slime has been revived, plus with Jiro..."

The Blue Nitro had returned to their own territory. After a discussion, they suddenly realized they were now at an absolute disadvantage.

None of Acacia's students were people they could afford to mess with anymore. Even weakened, Ichiryu was still stronger than any of them one-on-one. And with a revived Don Slime backing him up, he was practically untouchable. As for Jiro and Midora—they were completely out of their league. The Blue Nitro found themselves in an incredibly vulnerable position.

"We're no match for them now. Even if all of us attacked at once, we wouldn't gain any advantage. And if we can't take them down quickly, the others will react."

"Once those three team up, we won't even have to fight." One of the Blue Nitro said with a sigh of resignation. It was a complete dead end.

"Then let's have Acacia handle it. I know he's at a crucial stage right now, but if we can't take these guys out, the whole plan falls apart. We might as well deploy him."

One of the Blue Nitro suggested. Things had reached a breaking point—they couldn't afford to hesitate anymore. Having Acacia step in was their only real option left.

"Is it really a good idea to have him act? He doesn't distinguish between friend and foe when he fights. We've suffered at his hands before. His mind seems to have been affected by NEO—he's not entirely lucid."

Another Blue Nitro shook his head.

The risk of having Acacia act was too great. He might even attack them first.

"I'll go and talk to Acacia. But not now. I'll tell him when we get closer to the Gourmet Solar Eclipse. For now, what we need to do is not cause any trouble."

"As for what those guys are doing, as long as it doesn't involve us, let's not interfere!"

Pair spoke up.

He knew exactly what Acacia's real plan was—after all, he'd helped design it. He also knew Acacia wasn't actually affected by anything. The guy was just putting on an act. Without that performance, no one would get truly enraged. And they needed that rage—only sufficiently intense fury could force NEO to release every creature trapped inside it.

"Then it's decided. Pair, this matter is in your hands. For the next period of time, everyone, don't go out. Try to avoid any conflict with these guys."

In the end, the Blue Nitro reached their decision. They would all lay low.

Some Blue Nitro had actually considered hoarding ingredients beforehand. If they could cut off the supply, these powerhouses wouldn't be able to get any stronger. But the idea was quickly shut down. The logic was simple: pulling a stunt like that would paint a massive target on their backs.

Originally, these powerhouses were busy collecting ingredients and had no time to bother with them. But if they brought trouble upon themselves, and attracted their attention—

—When these people came knocking, they wouldn't be able to stop them. So, the best way was to do nothing. Everything would wait until the Gourmet Solar Eclipse.

At that time, they would let Acacia make a move.

Acacia's body contained NEO—and NEO had the ability to devour everything. So, they weren't worried about whether Acacia was a match for these powerhouses.

They had absolute confidence in NEO.

Just like that, the Blue Nitro became even more low-key—all of them turning into shut-ins, not daring to leave their own base.

——————

On the other side, Yuuki and Jiro had already arrived at the Fifth Continent. As soon as they arrived, Yuuki sensed that the surface strength of the Fifth Continent was arguably the weakest of the eight continents.

The beasts roaming the Fifth Continent's surface almost never had capture levels in the four digits. In the Gourmet World, anything over a thousand was basically high-level cannon fodder.

But here, very few creatures could even reach that threshold. Of course, this was only what you'd find on the surface. The Fifth Continent's true strength actually made it the most dangerous place in the entire Gourmet World.

The reason was because of the Deer King. The Deer King's species was the Sky Deer, and its body length reached over sixty kilometers.

This size might not seem very large, but on the Deer King's back was a place called the Food Region Forest. This place was the true Fifth Continent.

According to Jiro, the size of the Food Region Forest was no smaller than the Fifth Continent. And living within it were the true beasts of the Fifth Continent. The powerful beasts all lived within it.

Any beast below level one thousand couldn't even set foot in the Food Region Forest. Since all the high-level creatures had migrated there, the outside world was left relatively peaceful. The Fifth Continent's ecosystem had actually improved because of it.

So, countless low-level beasts appeared in the outside world.

Of course, this low level was in comparison to the overall strength of the Gourmet World. If compared to the Human World—this place was horrifying.

Yuuki and Jiro didn't linger.

The surface of the Fifth Continent had nothing worthwhile. For quality ingredients, you still had to venture into the Food Region Forest.

The meat dish from Jiro's Full Course Menu had been hunted in that very forest. Its capture level was over four thousand—strong enough to rival the Seven Beasts of the Sixth Continent.

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