Chapter 21: The Heavenly King, Coco
Heh heh heh... Later, when we go to capture a Pair, I'll have to bring Zongeh along. Let him and the Monkey King share a nice, long kiss. I'm sure the Monkey King would be more than willing.
A deep, simian-style French kiss.
Ugh...
The mental image was too beautiful to imagine.
The fact that Mr. Zombie's face so closely resembled the Monkey King's lover was a bizarre coincidence of cosmic proportions. Perhaps it was the subtle hand of Gourmet Luck at work.
(Zongeh: My name is Zongeh! Get it right! Not Zombie!!!)
"Kenji, do you know anything about the Cave Beach?" Toriko asked.
"The cave passages of the Cave Beach are a tangled maze. One wrong turn and you can get lost, trapped inside forever."
"They say a Devil Serpent with a Capture Level of over 20 lives in there. Most of the people heading there are either trying their luck or waiting to play the role of the opportunistic hunter who swoops in at the end."
If they ran into a Devil Serpent, most of those people would be goners. While it couldn't compare to the original Devil Serpent species from the Gourmet World, which had Capture Levels in the thousands, ordinary weapons were still useless against it.
Toriko nodded. He had done some homework. If he were to face a Devil Serpent alone, it would be a tough fight, especially with the poor visibility inside the caves.
"We have arrived at our destination."
The train's announcement indicated they had reached Fortune Teller Town.
With the development of gourmet commerce, this town had become a major hub for food-related corporations, investors, and even ordinary stockholders. Although it was filled with scammers, the fortune-tellers of this town had a surprisingly high accuracy rate.
Toriko was scheduled to meet the Heavenly King Coco here. This wasn't their final destination.
"Master, we're heading out. See you later," Kenji said with a smile, spotting Jiro sitting and drinking as they disembarked.
"Hiccup... I won't be joining you," Jiro slurred, looking like any other ordinary, drunk old man.
Toriko's expression was serious. That amazing hairstyle... it really is the legendary Gourmet Hunter. But the train was about to depart, so he didn't have a chance to approach and talk to Jiro. He would have to wait for another time.
As the train doors closed, Jiro muttered to himself, "Toriko... a fine young man. The future belongs to them... hiccup..."
"I sense a beast," Toriko said.
The streets of Fortune Teller Town were deserted, with only sand and dust blowing in the wind.
"Huh?"
Komatsu yelped, cautiously looking around. When he looked up, he saw a sign that read: "Beware of Beasts."
In the decades of Fortune Teller Town's existence, not a single person had ever been attacked by a passing beast. This was because the town's fortune-tellers would predict when beasts would appear, and the residents would hide in their homes. The walls of the houses were coated with a poison that repelled the creatures.
Thump, thump!
Just then, the ground began to tremble. A creature with a pointed head appeared. It had sharp, menacing teeth, a ruff of black fur like a collar, and massive wings on its back. It was taller than the three-story buildings nearby.
"A Gaiden Dragon. No matter how you cook it, it's not good. Capture Level 10," Toriko said with a glance, showing no desire to capture it. Like the Troll-Kong, it was not an edible creature.
"That's a monster!" Komatsu's eyes bulged out of his head, his mouth agape. It was even taller than the Troll-Kongs.
"Knocking."
"Bang!"
Without another word, Kenji appeared in front of the Gaiden Dragon in a flash, delivering a single punch to its stomach.
"Aaarrrgh!"
The Gaiden Dragon let out a pained cry, its eyes bulging even wider than Komatsu's. It didn't fall but stood frozen in place, unable to move.
Clap, clap, clap...
"Such an incredibly precise Knocking technique."
A man slowly approached, clapping his hands in admiration. He wore a black, tight-fitting suit with green wrappings around his head, arms, wrists, abdomen, and legs.
"Coco! You finally made it. Long time no see, you gentle soul of the Four Heavenly Kings," Toriko said with a grin.
Coco smiled back. "Likewise, Toriko, you gluttonous child of the Four Heavenly Kings."
"And these two are?" Coco's gaze fell on Kenji and Komatsu. Komatsu seemed ordinary, but the incredibly powerful electromagnetic waves radiating from Kenji indicated that his strength was off the charts. Coco's vision allowed him to see these waves, which were invisible to normal people, and he could judge a person's strength by them. The waves coming from Kenji were terrifyingly strong, many times more powerful than Toriko's. He was one of the strongest individuals Coco had ever seen.
"Let me introduce you. This is Kenji, and this is Komatsu. Both are friends I've made recently," Toriko said.
"Hello, I'm Coco," he said with a smile, nodding. He had the same gentle demeanor Toriko had described.
"Mr... you... you're Mr. Coco of the Four Heavenly Kings?!" Komatsu suddenly shouted in shock. In this age of gourmet, the Four Heavenly Kings were celebrities among Gourmet Hunters.
"Hello, Coco. Just call me Kenji," Kenji said, nodding back.
Coco was a "Poison Man," possessing five hundred different antibodies in his body. His primary method of attack was to use the various deadly poisons he produced. Unless you had the corresponding antibodies, he was an incredibly difficult opponent to face. However, the accuracy of his long-range attacks, like the Poison Cannon, was notoriously low.
Kenji released the Knocking, and the Gaiden Dragon immediately tucked its tail between its legs and fled. It now knew, with absolute certainty, that Kenji was not someone to be trifled with. The newcomer, Coco, also gave off an extremely dangerous feeling, as if a single touch would mean death. Time to get out of here. If it weren't for the fact that it tasted terrible, it would probably be on a cutting board right now.
Coco was filled with admiration. Kenji's Knocking skill was among the best he had ever seen, reaching a state of effortless mastery. He hadn't even used a Knocking Gun, paralyzing the beast with a seemingly casual touch. To perform Knocking with his bare hands, Coco himself would need to observe carefully and strike with precise timing. Knocking wasn't just for paralyzing enemies; for a master, it was a highly effective offensive technique. The legendary Knocking Master Jiro, for example, was a super-powered individual known throughout the world for his Knocking skills.
"Oh no! We have to go, now!"
The next second, Coco seemed to sense something. His expression changed drastically, and he turned and ran out of town, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
"Where did Mr. Coco go?"
"Wait, he was just here a second ago!"
"How disappointing. I wanted to get a fortune reading from him."
...
A large crowd of men, women, and children of all ages poured out from the surrounding houses, all shouting Coco's name.
Kenji and the others now understood why Coco had bolted. They had no idea he had so many fanatical fans. They wiped the sweat from their brows. If Coco hadn't run so fast, they would have been trapped there all day. They quickly chased after him.
"Coco, you have a lot of crazy fans," Toriko teased when they caught up with him outside of town, finding him breathing a sigh of relief.
"I can't help it," Coco said with a helpless smile. His fortune-telling was probably too accurate, and he had unwittingly amassed a large and very enthusiastic fan base. He had been mobbed a few times before, so he had learned from experience how to escape before being completely surrounded. Now he just had to make it back to his home.