Food Wars: The Fishing System

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After saving the two men—Yuuki turned his full attention to the river of PAIR flowing before them. He wanted to see if his Ki could alter its fundamental properties.

He had reached the level of a God Chef—and while he knew there was still a long road ahead, he had hit a temporary plateau in his growth.

This was the perfect opportunity to experiment.

If he could modify it, great.

If not, he'd just have to wait and try again when he was stronger.

——————

The research didn't take long. Yuuki quickly isolated the Gender-swapping property among PAIR's many characteristics. Now, all he had to do was eliminate it.

As Yuuki began to channel his Ki—a strange—powerful aura enveloped him. His power, having grown continuously over his journey, was now a force to be reckoned with. He entered a peculiar, hyper-focused state, his entire being dedicated to the task at hand.

This sudden shift in his presence immediately drew the attention of Jiro, Guemon, and Malee.

"What's happening to him?"

Guemon couldn't help but ask, his eyes wide with a mixture of confusion and awe as he watched Yuuki's bizarre transformation.

"I have no idea—"

Jiro admitted, shaking his head. "—The kid's got a ridiculous number of abilities. If I had to guess, he's doing something to PAIR. What exactly, I couldn't tell you."

The sheer number of tricks Yuuki had up his sleeve was the biggest impression he'd gotten from their time together.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Malee added, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Don't worry," Jiro reassured them. "His skills and power are top-tier. But the most important thing is his mindset. He doesn't do things by halves. If he's not absolutely sure he can succeed—he won't even try."

Jiro knew Yuuki better than most.

He never took unnecessary risks. You could tell just by how he'd stubbornly stayed in the Human World long after his power level had surpassed 100—refusing to enter the Gourmet World until he was completely prepared. And even then, he had dragged Jiro along as backup.

In Yuuki's own words, he was terrified of dying.

Jiro didn't see that as a flaw. Aside from old-timers like them who had lived for centuries and seen it all, who in this world wasn't afraid of death?

It was a natural human instinct.

Because he was afraid of dying, Yuuki never did anything he wasn't absolutely certain about, especially when it came to his safety. He would never expose himself to danger unless he had no other choice.

Given a choice, Yuuki was the type to prepare for every possible contingency.

——————

Soon, Yuuki's state returned to normal—his Ki now depleted to less than a tenth of its capacity.

But it had been worth it. PAIR was a powerful ingredient, but his newly evolved Ki had been enough to modify it. He had successfully removed the Gender-swapping property from the large pot of PAIR in his hands.

"Chef Yuuki, what were you just doing?" Guemon and the others asked, their curiosity piqued now that he was back to normal.

"I was modifying PAIR," Yuuki explained, looking at the liquid in his hands.

"Drinking it causes a gender change. I just removed that property." The Gender-swapping effect was truly something he couldn't accept. But thankfully, he had dealt with it. At least the portion in his hands was now safe to drink.

"YOU CAN MODIFY AN INGREDIENT LIKE PAIR??"

Hearing this, it wasn't just Guemon and Malee who were stunned. Even Jiro's eyes went wide with disbelief.

For other chefs, just being able to prepare these ingredients was a monumental achievement. But Yuuki had just altered one at its fundamental level.

What kind of overpowered ability was that?

"I only modified it a little—and even that took almost all the power I had," Yuuki said, shaking his head. The amount of Ki required depended on two things: the quantity of the ingredient and the significance of the property being changed.

More of the ingredient meant more Ki.

A more fundamental property also meant a greater expenditure of Ki.

The amount he had just modified was enough for a few dozen people to have a taste. And the Gender-swapping property wasn't exactly a core characteristic of PAIR. If he had tried to alter its ability to see souls—he would have needed several times more Ki—and it still might not have been enough.

"Even a little is horrifying enough," Jiro and the others said, shaking their heads. They had never heard of anyone who could modify an ingredient.

"Anyway, let's not talk about this. Let's try some PAIR."

Now that the Gender-swapping issue was resolved—Yuuki was eager to consume it. After all, it would boost his strength. He estimated that after eating this, even if all the Eight Kings ganged up on him, they probably wouldn't be able to do a thing.

Yuuki wasn't about to eat alone. Besides Jiro, Guemon and Malee also got a bowl. The two were filled with emotion. They had come here to fight the Gourmet Corp—never dreaming they would capture PAIR, let alone eat it...

But now, not only were their lives saved, but they had a bowl of the legendary ingredient right in front of them.

After thanking him again, they all began to drink.

The taste was, of course, incredible.

——————

After drinking PAIR, their Gourmet Cells were activated once again. Yuuki and Jiro had now consumed four of the legendary ingredients.

Four more to go, three of which were currently attainable.

"Gentlemen, this is where we part ways—"

Yuuki said after they had finished. "—We still have other ingredients to capture, so we can't escort you back to the Human World."

He planned to capture all the remaining ingredients in one go. As for delivering them, there was no rush. There was still some time before the Gourmet Solar Eclipse.

And their capture speed was in a different league from Toriko and the others.

Toriko's group needed to prepare extensively after arriving on a new continent. After finding Komatsu, they had spent a long time in the Gourmet World, collecting a large number of ingredients to send back to the Human World.

Yuuki and Jiro were much faster—

They arrived, they captured their target with overwhelming force, and they left.

Even if an Eight King stood in their way, it was just another fight. They had already fought the Horse King and the Monkey King. The Monkey King was dead, and the Horse King had called a truce.

They weren't afraid of these dangers, so they didn't need any time to prepare.

Guemon and Malee could now return to the Human World on their own.

Though the Seventh Continent was a dangerous place, their strength had increased significantly. As long as they weren't incredibly unlucky, they would be fine.

Yuuki and Jiro, on the other hand, used the Back Channel to travel directly to the Fourth Continent, the domain of the Snake King.

With a length of two hundred and twenty thousand kilometers, it was the largest creature on Earth—long enough to encircle the entire planet.

Its body, though only 2,500 meters in diameter, was a terrifying sight.

But they had no intention of bothering the Snake King. Instead, they headed straight for the Cave of Old Age.

The cave's time-distorting effects were useless against them. They could simply open their Mobile Kitchens, creating a pocket of normal time around them, and the accelerated time flow wouldn't be able to touch them.

——————

They found Yosaku within the cave, living among the continent's native human population. They had developed methods to resist the aging effect, and the cave served as a natural sanctuary for them, as the beasts of the continent dared not enter.

Yosaku was overjoyed to see them.

He had successfully regenerated EARTH's flower fields—allowing the legendary ingredient to grow, but he had no idea how to capture or prepare it. Now that Yuuki and Jiro had arrived, his long watch was finally over.

As soon as EARTH was harvested, he would be free to leave.

After a brief stay with the natives, who were incredibly welcoming thanks to Yosaku sharing some of his Reviver knowledge with them—the group headed to the flower fields.

These fields were a network of roots that stretched across the entire planet—funneling all their nutrients here to form the single fruit of EARTH.

The flowers themselves were a one-time bloom—after producing EARTH—the fields would need to be regenerated before they could grow it again.

The moment he arrived, Yuuki heard its voice. The key was the nectar of the flowers.

Each of the tens of millions of flowers was a Special Preparation Ingredient, and each required a different, unique cooking method.

Only by preparing every single one, collecting their nectar, and drizzling the boiled-down concoction over the fruit of EARTH could the preparation be complete.

It was a task worthy of one of the eight legendary ingredients.

For any other chef, facing tens of millions of Special Preparation Ingredients would be a nightmare, a task so daunting it would drive them to despair.

But for Yuuki, who could hear the voice of the ingredients and possessed unparalleled skill, it was just another challenge.

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