Chapter 176: The Battle Wolf King: Eating Little Snacks
The Dragon King, realizing it was being played, couldn’t be bothered to fight anymore. It lay down on the ground, declaring the end of the battle. Hmph. Bullying a dragon with your mobility.
Icy did not continue its attack and returned to Atashino’s side, seemingly showing off and seeking praise. Atashino stroked Icy’s smooth, cool feathers. Other creatures grew to become stronger, but the Cryophoenix was simply recovering its former peak power.
"The appetizer, CENTER, is in hand. Now we just need to wait for the Gourmet Solar Eclipse to arrive and capture the king of ingredients, GOD. Then we will have captured all the ingredients of Acacia’s Full Course Menu," Kenji said, wrapping an arm around Atashino’s slender waist and heading directly for the Second Area.
Gourmet World, Second Area. The Eight King that resided here was the Battle Wolf, Guinness.
Battle Wolf King Guinness, Mammal Beast Class;
In terms of size, it was the second smallest among the Eight Kings, only slightly larger than the Ape King Bambina. Compared to the other Eight Kings, which were thousands or tens of thousands of meters long, it was somewhat miniature. However, the Battle Wolf King’s strength was not second to last. Its signature skill, the Wolf King’s Guiding, used its terrifying sense of smell to read all sorts of information and data. When activated, its target would become a pale, empty shell, as if its soul had been lost. Even Acacia was affected when hit by this move.
Kenji looked at the Battle Wolf King. Compared to his Lotta, the King’s fur was overly abundant. It had probably never been groomed.
"This is my disciple, Kenji. I’ve been meaning to bring him to see you," Jiro said with a smile, introducing Kenji to the Battle Wolf King.
The Battle Wolf King Guinness let out a howl, then vanished, its speed like a teleportation.
Jiro knew where Guinness was going. He smiled and shook his head; he was all too familiar with this.
Before long, the Battle Wolf King Guinness returned with several Nitro in its mouth. It placed them in front of Kenji and let out another howl.
The meaning was: For you to eat. Jirou’s favorite little snack from when he was a child.
Kenji smiled and nodded. This gesture from the Battle Wolf King was a sign of affection, an acknowledgment of his existence. He handed the Nitro to Atashino to cook. It had been a long time since he’d eaten these little lizards.
Toriko and the others were a little surprised. After all, the Eight Kings they had seen so far were not overly friendly to humans, especially when they stepped into their territory, they would often attack directly. This Battle Wolf King seemed much kinder.
In truth, this was because Jiro was here. If any other human had intruded on its territory, the Battle Wolf King Guinness would have attacked. As the strongest wolf, it was also proud. Besides a select few, it did not care for others.
Kaka watched his own kind being cooked, his expression unavoidably strange. Although he didn’t feel any "sadness for a fellow rabbit’s death," still... Oh, well. To an Eight King, a common Nitro wasn’t even a toy. Besides, Nitro did not have the complex emotions of humans.
"Smells so good! The Nitro we defeated at the Gourmet Pyramid was taken by the IGO, so I didn’t get a chance to taste it," Toriko said, licking his lips. He was also a little curious about what it tasted like.
"Komatsu, you and the others shouldn’t eat this for now. Wait until you’re a bit stronger," Jiro warned. This was no ordinary ingredient. The concentration of Gourmet Cells inside was too high for an ordinary person to enjoy its effects.
Komatsu nodded. He wasn’t too curious about the taste of Nitro anyway.
Soon, the few Nitro were roasted. High-end ingredients often only required the most primitive cooking methods.
After eating the Nitro meat, the muscles of Toriko and the others instantly swelled. A powerful airflow erupted from within their bodies. Their muscles seemed to come alive, vibrating rhythmically.
"What amazing energy!" Toriko exclaimed. This was pure Gourmet Cells, with an ridiculously high purity. If they hadn’t already eaten several of Acacia’s Full Course ingredients, they might not have been able to digest it.
"Next, we’ll eat this." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs NovᴇlFire(.)nᴇt
The cylindrical pot containing the appetizer, CENTER, was placed on the ground. The rich life energy emanating from it made everyone’s eyes widen. Any negative states like fatigue vanished instantly, and their minds and bodies felt incredibly light.
"The appetizer, CENTER?!!" Kaka exclaimed. The prerequisite for obtaining CENTER was the dish GOD. How on earth did Kenji get to the Zeroth Area?
"So this is the appetizer?"
"It looks a little disgusting, so sticky."
"The appetizer, CENTER... it’s said to have the effect of resurrection."
Toriko and the others gathered around the pot, observing it curiously. Even they had never eaten this before.
"Go on, eat. This is the ingredient that revives the Gourmet Demon’s heart," Kenji said, taking a sip. He felt no reaction, which was within his expectations.
After Toriko and the others ate it, their bodies began to grow hair, which then fell out, leaving them all "smart and bald."
They hadn’t eaten GOD, which revived the brain, so their Gourmet Demons had not yet fully revived and could not leave their bodies. After eating GOD, the Gourmet Cell Demon would separate from its host and manifest independently in the outside world.
Normally, the appetizer CENTER should be eaten last, after eating the main course, GOD, and the Gourmet Demon has appeared outside the body. At that time, it would be a case of either the host eating the Appetite, or the Appetite eating the host. If the host ate the Appetite, their strength would increase explosively. If the Appetite ate the host, it would complete its resurrection. It was an ending of either eating or being eaten.
However, the order wasn’t fixed. After eating GOD, the Gourmet Cell Demon would separate from the body, and at that time, they would be able to obtain its power.
"Kenji, what will happen to us after we eat all of Acacia’s menu items?" Toriko asked. If the Appetite was revived, would it turn on its host? Now they were only missing the brain part. The Gourmet Cell Demon would surely achieve a complete revival then.
"What you want to ask is whether the Gourmet Cell Demon will turn on you, right?" In the manga, Acacia had actively eaten NEO, and the Red Ogre had willingly been eaten by Toriko.
"On this point, you don’t need to worry too much."
"Even if you eat Acacia’s Full Course, you won’t necessarily be dominated by your Appetite, as long as you also eat your own, personally decided Full Course Menu."
"Isn’t that right, Lady Froese?" Kenji asked. This was what Froese had told Komatsu in the manga.
"The Appetite has its own thoughts. You can communicate with it." Froese nodded. It was true.
"Eating the Appetite... that’s the most common method," Don Slime said flatly. If Ichiryu wanted to, he could use its power, and it wouldn’t completely disappear. However, Ichiryu had never used its power, which made it feel very helpless, but there was nothing it could do. It could have carried Ichiryu to dominate the universe without any problem, but Ichiryu didn’t need it.
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