These were the Nitro tribe members hibernating at the bottom of the Gourmet Pyramid; inside every coffin lay a Nitro that looked like a dried corpse.
As long as they didn't come into contact with water, these Nitro would continue to hibernate like this. Perhaps one day they would wake up by chance, or perhaps they would step into death as long periods of time passed.
But at this moment, there was only one outcome for all the Nitro here, and that was to serve as research consumables.
"You go open the coffins, and I'll harvest them one by one from behind. After all, to maintain the integrity of the corpses, I can only extract their souls," Zombie Xia Yu said to Gourmet Xia Yu, who was standing to the side examining a coffin.
Hearing this, Gourmet Xia Yu nodded. Zombie Xia Yu was not only a chef but also a Necromancer. Compared to playing with souls, the other was indeed more suitable than him. Although he could also perform soul extraction, the other was definitely more skilled at it.
As the first coffin was opened, the hibernating Nitro inside was revealed—a humanoid mummified corpse with a head like a bird's.
But upon careful inspection, one could find that these mummies still maintained the lowest level of life signs. Because they hadn't touched any water, opening the coffin wouldn't stimulate them to wake up.
Zombie Xia Yu looked at the Nitro inside the coffin, which resembled a mummy. He reached out to press its head and then directly extracted its soul.
With the soul's violent departure from the body, that last remaining trace of life disappeared.
Because the body was in hibernation, the extracted soul was also very weak. Zombie Xia Yu straightforwardly crushed this bit of soul into the purest soul energy and then absorbed it.
As for the dead Nitro corpse, which was now considered an object, Zombie Xia Yu casually sent it to those two Mad Scientists in the Resident Evil World.
He didn't know if those two Mad Scientists could use the Nitro's corpse cells to clone a new Nitro.
However, even though Zombie Xia Yu was not proficient in biological knowledge like cloning, he could imagine that it probably couldn't be cloned.
After all, a Nitro was not a normal life form but a manifestation of the appetite of gourmet cells. Whether the cells composing its body could even be cloned was an unknown.
In the following time, the two Xia Yus quickly collected the Nitro corpses.
One person opened the coffins while the other extracted and crushed the souls before sending the corpses off. In a short while, rows of coffins were all opened, and all the Nitro inside were sent away.
"Phew, that should be about it," Gourmet Xia Yu said casually, looking at the rows of empty coffins.
"Just about. The population of the Nitro tribe is quite small, so don't be fooled by how big the Gourmet Pyramid is; in reality, there are only this many hibernating Nitro. There might be a few others scattered elsewhere, but this is the largest concentration."
After speaking, Zombie Xia Yu suddenly looked toward the bottom-left corner. "It's time for us to step in and save someone. Komatsu is about to encounter the biggest monster here, the carrier of the rich cola, the Salamander Sphinx."
...Meanwhile, at the bottom of the Gourmet Pyramid.
In a mysterious corridor, simple ancient murals were carved on both walls, depicting interactions between Nitro and various monsters.
At the very front of this mural corridor was a rectangular platform carved from a single piece of stone, on which lay an extremely old book.
"W-what is this?"
Komatsu, who had accidentally fallen to the bottom floor, spotted the book on the platform at first glance. He had just accidentally caused the floor to collapse, so he had fallen all the way to the bottom, and groundwater had seeped into the interior of the pyramid.
Whether it was good luck or not, he didn't suffer any collateral injuries. Instead, at the end of the corridor, he discovered an ancient book.
The moment he saw the book, Komatsu felt as if he were being called by it. He couldn't help but step forward and approach the book.
But at that moment, a long, thin shadow silently came up behind him while he was moving forward to look at the book.
And then—
Clang!!
A scrawny Nitro, awakened by the groundwater seeping into its coffin, fiercely pecked at Komatsu with its shriveled beak, but this attack was bounced off by a layer of transparent sound wall.
This was the 'Sound Armor' Zebra had draped over Komatsu. Using sound to form a layer of sound wall on the body's surface, it was precisely the Ultrasonic Armor Zebra had put on him when he lost his last bit of physical strength.
Startled by the sudden attack, Komatsu immediately held his head and crouched down. Because of the Ultrasonic Armor, he wasn't injured.
But the Nitro would not be polite. Sensing a thin layer of armor, it frantically pecked at the armor again. Under the frantic pecking that even produced afterimages, that layer of armor thinned at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Noticing this, Komatsu immediately used all four limbs to crawl toward a corner not far away. But who would have thought that a giant monster would also appear at the next corner?
With a monster in front and one behind, caught in a pincer attack, Komatsu screamed in terror.
But good luck always arrives. After seeing the giant monster, that scrawny Nitro immediately abandoned the thin and small Komatsu and instead took the monster as its prey.
Taking advantage of the moment the Nitro was devouring the giant monster, Komatsu hurriedly turned to run. But for some reason, he glanced back at the book on the platform. A mysterious feeling told him that the book was very important and must be taken away.
Without any hesitation, Komatsu immediately turned back to the platform, grabbed the book, and escaped through another exit.
Meanwhile, at Toriko and Zebra's location.
Because there were a large number of monsters in the pyramid, the two of them hunted for food while heading toward the lower levels. Soon, both of their stamina was fully replenished.
Zebra, who had lost his voice due to overusing his throat, felt his voice returning and revealed a cruel grin.
In the next moment, Zebra directly opened his Sonar Map, wanting to check on Komatsu's current state.
Before his voice went completely hoarse, he had turned his last sound into an Ultrasonic Armor to drape over Komatsu. Now he could only pray that the Sound Armor on the other person hadn't disappeared yet.
As the Sonar Map unfolded, everything inside the Gourmet Pyramid took shape in his mind. But in the next second, his expression suddenly changed.
"Kid, don't go over there!"
Zebra's warning was a step too late. Komatsu, running like a headless fly, encountered a colossal creature at another corner.
It was a monster like a lion, with thick and curly mane, but its body was covered in a layer of scales. It had a pair of pure white wings on its back, and its tail was in the shape of a venomous snake.
This monster's image was like a legendary Chimera, but its real name was the Salamander Sphinx. It was precisely the strongest monster in this Gourmet Pyramid.
Sensing that Komatsu had already encountered the monster, Zebra immediately solidified sound waves, attempting to use intimidation to scare the massive monster away. But those solidified sound waves were directly canceled out by a roar from the Sphinx.
Feeling his sound waves being canceled out, Zebra snorted unhappily. Just as he was about to retract the Sonar Map and then destroy the floor to take a shortcut to Komatsu's position, he suddenly froze.
In his Sonar Map, those two people who always had a strong presence suddenly broke through a wall and appeared, then rescued the endangered Komatsu, and incidentally faced off against that massive monster.
Sensing the actions of those two people, Zebra's mouth curled up in a cruel grin. "Toriko, we've really been too full of ourselves. That kid actually needs others to help us save him."
"What do you mean? Is Komatsu in danger? Someone else is helping us save him? Is it those two?"
Facing Toriko's inquiry, Zebra only revealed a ferocious smile and then took a deep breath.
"Ultrasonic Rocket Launcher!!!"
In an instant, the surroundings began to shake as if the ground were moving and the mountains were swaying. The violent sound wave vibrations caused the walls and floors in all directions to collapse layer by layer, as if a violent earthquake had occurred.
The damaged floor collapsed directly downward, and Toriko and Zebra also fell toward the bottom floor along with it... a few minutes ago.
Komatsu, who had been running non-stop from the shriveled monster, was leaning against a wall, panting for breath as he rested.
By now, the Ultrasonic Armor on his body had thinned to the point where it was almost invisible. If he suffered another attack, this armor would probably truly disappear here.
To avoid dying here, Komatsu could only run with all his might and then wait for Toriko and the others to find him.
Because of Zebra's sound ability, Komatsu had no doubt that Toriko and the others would find him. What he could do now was hide well and wait for rescue.
To prevent that scrawny monster from catching up again, Komatsu took a deep breath and continued to flee toward the corner ahead.
But in the next moment.
"Kid, don't go over there!"
Zebra's voice suddenly rang in his ear, but it was already too late; he had already rushed out.
"Eh..."
Seeing the colossal creature in front of him, Komatsu let out a dazed 'eh' and only then reacted, his eyes immediately bulging as he screamed.
"Uwaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Coincidentally at this time, Zebra's sound wave intimidation arrived, attempting to scare the monster away to achieve the goal of rescue.
But the monster, feeling the sound wave intimidation in front of it, was not afraid at all. Instead, it split open its bloody maw.
"Gaohhh!!!"
The massive roar directly canceled out Zebra's intimidation. Subsequently, the monster looked at Komatsu, who was slumped on the ground due to fear.
"Don't eat me, I don't taste good..."
Just as Komatsu was conscientiously murmuring in a low voice, a cracking sound suddenly came from the wall next to him.
And then—
Bang, bang, bang!!!
Along with the sound of layers of walls shattering, a figure suddenly flew out and kicked the Sphinx into the wall.
"Are you okay?"
Zombie Xia Yu, who was a step slower, arrived at Komatsu's side and asked him.
Komatsu looked to his side in a daze. When he saw Zombie Xia Yu clearly, his face turned pale, and he screamed, "Eek—a red-eyed purple monster!! Red-Purple Monster for short!!"
"What the hell is a Red-Purple Monster?!"
Zombie Xia Yu grabbed Komatsu, who was preparing to flee, and said fiercely, "We saved you! Is this how you treat your savior? Besides, I'm not purple, I'm lavender!!"
"Saved me?"
Only then did Komatsu react. The Sphinx that had been roaring at him was no longer in front of him.