After officially joining the Light Music Club, Bai Mo no longer had to borrow the Cooking Club's microwave just to heat up his meals.
The very next morning, he packed up the microwave from home and brought it to the Light Music Clubroom for personal use. As for his household? Naturally, he just bought a brand-new one!
Life after joining the Light Music Club didn't feel much different for Bai Mo.
Every day at noon, he still ate lunch as usual with Yui Hirasawa, Megumi Kato, and Manabe.
Sometimes after school, he'd report to the Light Music Clubroom briefly before heading off.
Even though being the only boy was a bit awkward, the rest of the club members gradually accepted him.
There were also days when he just sat around the clubroom, drinking tea, nibbling cake, and listening to others play music.
That kind of peaceful life was certainly enjoyable—
But today wouldn't be one of those relaxing days.
After school, Bai Mo simply said goodbye to Yui and left Sakuragaoka High School.
The results of the ingredient analysis conducted by the Totsuki Group were finally complete after more than ten days of rigorous testing.
Now sitting across from Senzaemon Nakiri, Bai Mo placed the final report down and said flatly, "So, the tests confirmed everything, right?"
"That's right. The ingredients you provided pose no danger whatsoever—in fact, they contain immense potential. Long-term consumption could extend lifespan and improve physical strength significantly."
"And those capable of preparing these ingredients meet our academy's teaching standards as well."
"What I want to know is... the share we discussed earlier—how much can Totsuki have?"
Senzaemon's eyes burned with anticipation as he asked, so much so that Bai Mo almost felt the heat himself.
If this report were to leak, forget just Japan—Bai Mo's ingredients might become coveted by the entire world.
And that, of course, could lead to some rather unsavory methods being used to acquire them.
But Bai Mo wasn't too concerned.
With his Magnetic Field Martial Arts, he could withstand a small-scale nuclear blast with a strength of just 100,000 horsepower—though he'd still be seriously injured.
He could even fly—though the energy cost was high—and most importantly, he had the ability to sense the thoughts of anyone weaker than himself.
At 500,000 horsepower, an anti-gravity field would form around him, allowing effortless flight.
And with the evolution of Cellular Regeneration, as long as either his brain or heart remained intact, he could survive.
Once he reached 100,000 horsepower, Bai Mo would have more than enough power to protect himself.
Maybe even enough to flip the table entirely.
After all, in this world, power was the only truth!
Having realized that, Bai Mo became even more eager to harvest ingredients from other worlds to evolve himself.
As for Senzaemon's question, Bai Mo thought for a moment before replying, "The terms are unchanged. These ingredients cannot be wasted on the unworthy."
"Therefore… Let's have a Shokugeki!"
Bai Mo stroked his recently grown stubble and smiled.
"Why not make all of Totsuki into a battlefield? A battlefield for chefs?"
Senzaemon hesitated.
But as expected of the man known as the Demon of Cuisine, he agreed after only a few minutes of contemplation.
"Fine. Totsuki has always followed a survival-of-the-fittest ideology. Using Shokugeki to decide is only natural."
"But how will this be implemented?"
"Simple. Just like before, remember the show you had during the entrance ceremony?"
Senzaemon instantly thought of the Sumeru Butter Chicken Bai Mo had presented back then.
He nodded. "Understood. Will you be the head chef again this time?"
Seeing Senzaemon's expression, Bai Mo shook his head.
"No, I'll be choosing someone else."
"You should already know, the last dish using the spice fruit—Yuki Yoshino from Polar Star Dorm had better execution than Erina."
Senzaemon didn't just know—he had personally tasted Yuki's final dish.
The flavors had even shocked him.
Even if her success might've been partly due to luck, she had still surpassed his granddaughter.
So Bai Mo's suggestion wasn't something he could refuse.
"I understand. As long as they're students of Totsuki, you may select anyone you wish—even me."
Tch, this old geezer is so sly.
Why would I pick you when I can pick a cute girl?
After finishing their discussion, Bai Mo took his leave.
Once Bai Mo was gone, Senzaemon opened his laptop and initiated a secure video call.
"Zongwei, any luck tracking the source of those ingredients?"
"Sorry, Father. We've tried everything. The genetic sequences of those ingredients show no known matches. It's as if they're not from this world."
"I see…" Senzaemon didn't look surprised.
"If that's the case, stop investigating the source. Shift the funds toward cloning. Can we recreate them?"
"Our company is quite advanced in molecular gastronomy and biology," answered Nakiri Zongwei with a wry smile.
"But with just some flesh samples, replicating an entire organism is extremely difficult. And we can't guarantee that even partial samples will retain those unique properties."
His response made Senzaemon sigh.
"If so, we'll need to consider other options."
"Zongwei, I trust you understand the significance of these ingredients to the future of culinary evolution?"
"Yes, Father."
"Then here's what we'll do. Set aside a portion of the samples for research. Send the rest to Shinomiya immediately."
"Understood."
"For the sake of the Nakiri family's future, we'll have to prepare on multiple fronts. Let's just hope Erina and Alice won't force us to make too many compromises."
Once the call ended, Senzaemon picked up his phone and sent a message to an unknown recipient.
As for Bai Mo, he remained unaware—and unconcerned—about what was going on behind the scenes at Totsuki.
To him, Totsuki Culinary Academy was nothing more than a testing ground.
A kitchen laboratory to see how ordinary people handled ingredients from other worlds.
Now that he had decided to ramp up his efforts with Totsuki, Bai Mo headed straight for Polar Star Dorm.
Compared to other students, he was more familiar with the people there.
Each of them had their own specialties, and many were stronger than even Erina Nakiri when it came to their signature dishes.
Upon arriving at Polar Star, Bai Mo didn't head straight inside.
Instead, he walked around to the garden behind the dorm and found Megumi Tadokoro picking vegetables.
Seeing Bai Mo suddenly appear, Megumi jumped in fright.
"B-Bai Mo-kun?! What are you doing here?"
"Come with me."
Without giving her time to protest, Bai Mo grabbed her hand and led her away.
Sitting behind Bai Mo on his bike, Megumi was clearly nervous.
She had no idea what he wanted from her so suddenly.
Could it be… Bai Mo-kun was planning to do that kind of thing to her?
But… but if it was Bai Mo-kun, and considering she was already "ruined" by that previous incident…
Wasn't this just natural?
No, wait! Isn't this all happening too fast?
Didn't Ryoko and Yuki say that couples should go on at least two dates first?
And besides… if it's her first time, she really didn't want it to be outdoors…
B-But the dorm was just too crowded… so maybe this was more convenient…!?
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T/N:
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