Faced with the long-legged girl's outrageously shameless demands, Rayfa surrendered.
"Hmph. One day, I'll get my revenge," he cursed silently in his heart.
Fortunately, his surrender was not without reward.
The next day, after noticing the massive golden greatsword he carried, the long-legged girl brought him to a temporary storage warehouse. Inside lay enormous chunks of butchered Sea Kings.
"Here. This is what you wanted," she said casually. "Your big sister always keeps her word."
"Oh, and that half hour of cheek-pinching? I'm putting it on your tab for now. Something urgent came up and I need to head out. When I'm back, I'll collect. Don't even think about dodging it."
Her tone was light and cheerful, and she left with visible satisfaction, golden greatsword in hand.
Only Rayfa remained, standing there with his head drooping.
"Forget all that," he muttered. "What matters now is finishing the task."
Staring at the massive slabs of Sea King meat, his eyes lit up.
That evening, Rayfa cooked two different Sea King fish into two separate dishes. Once they were done, he could not wait. He took several eager bites of each.
At that moment, golden text surfaced once more in his mind.
[Ding.]
[Detected successful consumption of "gourmet food." Initial task progress: 2/3]
[Ding.]
[Detected successful consumption of "gourmet food." Initial task progress: 3/3]
[Initial task completed. Gourmet System initialization complete.]
[Basic Status Detection function unlocked.]
[Distributing initial task reward…]
[Processing… Processing…]
[Ding.]
[Reward acquired. Low-tier Food Skill: Sound Wave Control (Beginner).]
[Tip: Training and gourmet consumption are the fastest ways to raise Food Cell Awakening Level.]
[Tip: System missions trigger randomly. The more events you experience, the more missions may appear. Details are left for the host to explore.]
"It worked!" Rayfa clenched his fists, trembling with excitement.
After days of effort, and even enduring the humiliation of being buried under an enormous "debt," everything had led to this moment.
He had finally succeeded.
At the same time, unfamiliar information flooded into his mind.
"Basic sound wave control… sound weakening… sound wave punch… sound wave laser…"
Rayfa muttered softly as he carefully absorbed the new knowledge.
Ha!
He suddenly turned and threw a punch at the wooden wall beside him.
A fist-shaped indentation appeared instantly.
It was not very deep, but it was unmistakably the exact outline of Rayfa's small fist.
"Sound Wave Punch. Compress sound waves into the fist. Upon impact, release high-frequency vibrations to amplify destructive power," Rayfa murmured thoughtfully.
"At its peak, the vibrations can bypass the surface entirely, inflicting simultaneous internal and external damage. No part of the body is spared. Everything is struck equally…"
The Food Skill, Sound Wave Control, was the signature ability of Zebra, one of the Four Gourmet Kings from the world of Toriko.
Among the four, Zebra was the most violent, and his cooking style reflected his temperament. Brutal, overwhelming, and capable of annihilating everything in its path.
Rayfa had already prepared himself mentally. He knew his first Food Skill might not be particularly powerful.
But realizing that it was actually Zebra's Sound Wave Control made him so excited he nearly jumped into the air.
"Of course, this is only beginner-level sound wave control. It is nowhere near Zebra's true power," he reminded himself calmly.
"The applications are simple, too. Most of Zebra's signature techniques are far beyond what this level can handle."
"And even using the most basic move, Sound Wave Punch, left me feeling drained. That must be food cell energy consumption."
"At my current awakening level, I can probably only use it two or three times. If my Food Cell Awakening Level does not increase, even mastering stronger skills would be meaningless in actual combat."
Rayfa summarized his situation silently, his thoughts unusually clear.
He understood better than anyone that relying on a low-tier Food Skill and a pitifully low Food Cell Awakening Level was nowhere near enough to survive in this world.
"The revolution has not yet succeeded. Comrades, we must continue to work hard."
He patted his stomach and glanced at the remaining Sea King dishes. Unwilling to waste them, he continued eating with determination.
After all, the system had made it clear. Training and gourmet food were among the fastest ways to strengthen food cells.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
All the Sea Kings that Gion had hunted for him were gone. Rayfa's Food Cell Awakening Level rose from an initial 0.01 percent to 0.2 percent.
In other words, his awakening level was now twenty times higher than it had been half a month ago.
The growth was astonishing.
Because an increase in Food Cell Awakening Level did not merely represent more energy. It meant comprehensive improvement to the body as a whole.
Of course, that did not mean Rayfa had become twenty times stronger.
Food cell enhancement was not a simple linear multiplier of physical strength.
Still, Rayfa could clearly feel that his physical ability had improved by at least two to three times compared to before.
Half a month ago, his strength was roughly that of an ordinary seven-year-old who never exercised. At best, he could barely lift five kilograms.
Now, lifting over ten kilograms was effortless.
In terms of raw strength alone, he had already doubled or even tripled.
As for other aspects, he had not yet had time to test them thoroughly.
Unfortunately, he would not have time anytime soon.
Because just moments ago, Hina had come to find him and informed him that the youth training camp would officially begin tomorrow.
Since Rayfa had asked Hina to help register him, he naturally would not miss it.
The only troublesome part was this.
Once the youth training camp began, all participating Marine children were required to move into designated dormitories.
The official explanation was simple.
Centralized management.
And the cultivation of collective discipline.