Seeing the mountain of bright red meat the Four Beast had turned into after death, Setsuna was speechless.
Just before dying, it was a dark green monster that instinctively evoked thoughts of pollution and extreme toxicity. Yet after death, it suddenly transformed into a mountain of bright red meat that looked like a top-tier ingredient. Should he just chalk it up to this being the Toriko World?
Meanwhile, the detoxifying medicinal cuisine cooked by all the chefs working together was delivered to the poisoned populace.
Because the detoxification expert had taught a special massage technique during the live broadcast, delaying the onset of the toxin's effects to three hours, and the final investigation revealed that only 500 million out of the 30 billion people were actually poisoned.
Even so, producing 500 million servings of detoxifying cuisine within three hours, factoring in the time needed to gather chefs, teach the detox recipe, transport supplies, and distribute the meals to individuals, was an impossible task for any number of chefs.
Yet, spurred on by cries of 'If I can't even save humanity, what kind of chef am I?', the chefs miraculously completed the task.
Especially Komatsu, who simplified the detox recipe, which even the creator himself couldn't simplify, to its absolute extreme in just five minutes, leaving Chef Yura questioning his own existence.
"Mmm, this guy tastes really good." Right after the battle ended, Zebra immediately sat down beside the mountain of meat and started devouring it.
"Idiot! Top-tier ingredients should be cooked by top-tier chefs. Eating it like this is such a waste!" Sani scolded loudly.
"Waste what? There's so much meat, we can't possibly finish it," Zebra waved him off.
Setsuna also took a piece of meat and ate it raw. The moment it entered his mouth, the most extreme freshness and sweetness bloomed on his tongue. It was cool, smooth, and tender, melting in his mouth. First came the light, delicate sweetness of the meat slice, followed by the rich, mellow fragrance of the fat, as if he had consumed a piece of the starry sky.
"Delicious!" Setsuna felt his vocabulary was inadequate. He couldn't help but marvel at how great the strong individuals in the Toriko World had it, as they could evolve just by enjoying delicious food.
This made Setsuna even more excited for the subsequent feast. Top-tier ingredients paired with top-tier cooking… just imagining it made the Gourmet Cells in his body stir frantically.
Chefs were undoubtedly the most respected profession in the Gourmet World, and also the one with the most practitioners. The culinary skills of the top chefs, who stood out among so many, were naturally terrifyingly strong.
Chiefs, ranked 2nd on the chef leaderboard, made a Shining Donburi with the Four Beast's meat. The Curry King, ranked 4th, introduced a curry dish. Master Sumire, ranked 10th, created a hamburger set meal...
"Ah, donburi truly is the pinnacle of human civilization. One could say the supreme principle is found in simplicity," Setsuna sighed after tasting the works of many top chefs.
They were all extremely delicious, but only the Shining Donburi made by Granny Chiefs made him feel as if his soul was being elevated.
The essence of gourmet food is sharing. Although Setsuna didn't know how the chefs managed it, the meat of the Four Beast was made into enough dishes to share among 30 billion people.
Setsuna wandered among the various stalls, eating for a full day and night before ending this gluttonous battle.
Without time to rest, Setsuna soon sought out Coco.
"Coco," Setsuna greeted him familiarly and warmly, "Could you teach me how to improve my resistance to poison?"
Coco had heard from Toriko how Setsuna had saved him. Now, Setsuna had helped them defeat the Four Beast. Coco was very grateful to him and naturally wouldn't refuse his request.
Moreover, improving poison resistance happened to be within his area of expertise.
"To improve poison resistance, I can think of roughly four methods right now."
"Four!" Setsuna was amazed, 'Truly a professional.'
"First, Gourmet Cell evolution. By consuming high-level ingredients to stimulate Gourmet Cell activity, the evolution of Gourmet Cells enhances the body comprehensively, naturally including resistance to toxins."
Setsuna nodded. After enjoying the Four Beast's meat this time, he had undergone one Gourmet Cell evolution, and his physical functions had been enhanced across the board. Of course, since it was his first evolution, the increase wasn't particularly massive.
"Second, undergo toxin adaptation training. Start by ingesting small doses of toxins and gradually increase the concentration. This can improve the Gourmet Cells' immunity to various toxins."
Setsuna thought it sounded similar to the principle of vaccines. "And the third method?"
"Third, environmental adaptation evolution. For example, training naked in the Poison Rain Forest to give the skin's keratin layer poison resistance. Or diving into the Toxic Tide Sea for breath-holding training to improve the blood's detoxification efficiency."
"Fourth, you can implant mechanical anti-toxin modules in your body, or undergo hormone injections. But I don't personally recommend this method, as the side effects are too great."
Setsuna pondered for a moment before saying, "If I want to undergo toxin adaptation training, what would you recommend?"
Coco said, "I recommend the poison sac of the Puffer Whale and the Ghost Lantern Fruit. The former is a neurotoxin, which can train resistance to nerve agents. The latter is a caustic toxin, which can strengthen mucosal tolerance. Before starting anti-toxin training, you must prepare detoxifying ingredients in advance, such as Detox Dandelions or the liver of a Poison Lizard Dragon."
…
Two weeks later, in a poisonous restaurant emitting a strange aura.
"This poison tastes a bit bland. Tell the chef to add more arsenic."
"Then, would you like to try this one? It's brewed for eighty-one days using seven highly toxic species: the Zombie Taipan Snake, Puffer Whale, Demon Serpent, Swaying Bee, Eight-Branched Poison Scorpion, Desert Shark, and Escargot Snail. It's colorless and odorless, kills without a trace, a treasure in the world of poisons. And it tastes quite good too."
"Yikes, that one seems a bit too potent. I need to take the antidote quickly."
Setsuna and Coco exchanged insights on 'appreciating' poisons, which made Setsuna sigh with emotion.
'As expected of Toriko World, there were even restaurants catering to poison enthusiasts with unusual dietary preferences, though a fondness for poison was considered eccentric even among those.'
"Next is the Toxic Jellyfish Bath. Soaking in this pool filled with venom allows the toxins to enter the body through the pores, and also helps clean out germs inside," Coco then led Setsuna to the restaurant's attached hot spring.
Before the two could enter, a figure jumped down, splashing water everywhere like a depth charge.
"Haha, finally found you... Aahh..."
The figure laughed heartily, but the provoked toxic jellyfish released a large amount of venom, causing the newcomer's body to immediately convulse.
"Old man." Coco helplessly slapped his forehead but made no move to rescue him, instead jumping in after him.
Setsuna smiled faintly and followed into the pool.
"Ah, no fun." Seeing that neither of them paid him any mind, the newcomer stopped his poor acting and said somewhat sadly, "Kids are no fun when they grow up. I still remember when you were little, you thought your poison had killed me and cried scared. Those were the interesting times."
Coco said irritably, "I don't find that interesting at all, old man. Can't you show the demeanor befitting the President of the IGO?"
"Haha, I do have quite a presence in front of outsiders," The short-haired, yellow-haired old man laughed heartily.
Coco smiled wryly and introduced him to Setsuna. "This is my teacher, IGO President, Ichiryu."
"Should I call you Uncle-Master?" Setsuna asked with a smile, simultaneously observing the man who was originally the world's strongest.
In this era where all powerful individuals enjoyed the benefits brought by Gourmet Cell's evolution, Ichiryu went against the current.
To realize his dream of ensuring everyone had enough to eat, he spent his entire life searching for ingredients that could yield the maximum harvest. He himself not only didn't enjoy gourmet food but hadn't even eaten his fill once in over five hundred years, to the point where his Gourmet Cells had nearly atrophied from disuse.
Yet even so, he still possessed terrifying, world-destroying level power.