Chapter 72: Aurora Crystal Jelly
The Ice Cream Mountains, a range composed of vast quantities of ice cream, featured everything from rich vanilla-mint and fragrant chocolate to durian... It was a place where you could find any imaginable flavor of ice cream. The perennial -24°C temperature maintained the ice cream's form.
"Delicious! Even the falling snow is ice cream," Elysia said, sticking out her pink tongue to catch a snowflake. It was peach-flavored ice cream snow.
"Melon-flavored ice cream is the best. I will accept no arguments," Kenji declared, picking up a green, head-sized chunk of ice cream and taking a large bite. It had the fragrance and sweetness of a real melon, and if you savored it, you could even taste the texture of melon pulp.
"Atashino, what's our target here?"
"The Aurora Crystal Jelly. It's said to be an ingredient that can bloom with seven-colored aurora ripples at night. I suspect it has a variety of flavors, similar to the Rainbow Fruit," Atashino explained.
As he ate his melon ice cream, Kenji thought of the Century Soup. Aurora, aurora... but he figured it couldn't possibly compare to the Century Soup.
"Then let's just eat ice cream and wait for nightfall."
Anyone who loved ice cream would be in heaven in this mountain range. It was a holy land for ice cream enthusiasts. The portions were large and satisfying, though it might lead to a bit of a... run.
[Star Forger]: "Kizaru, do you have any Devil Fruits on hand? A common one will do."
Although the chat group's point shop had refreshed with Devil Fruits after Kizaru joined, there was no need to redeem one. He could just ask Kizaru for one to study. Then, they could mass-produce them for fun. If Vegapunk could create an artificial Devil Fruit from Kaido's blood, he and Ruan Mei could surely do the same.
[Monkey D. Kizaru]: "Yare yare, even the most common Devil Fruit is worth 100 million Berries. I have no interest in collecting them, so I don't have any on hand right now."
[Monkey D. Kizaru]: "If you want one, Kenji, I can go 'source' one from a pirate crew for you."
While he's at it, he can catch a few pirates for his performance review.
"Sourcing..." Kenji was speechless. Kizaru was going to go bully some small-time pirates.
Small-time Pirates: "Admiral Kizaru, don't come over here!"
Kizaru: "So scary~ You're all as strong as monsters. Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"
As night fell, the group saw a faint, seven-colored aurora drifting from the depths of the mountain range. It was truly hard to detect during the day.
"Huh, the temperature here is actually -50°C."
When they reached the source valley, the air was filled with a light mist, and the temperature was twice as low as it had been in the Ice Cream Mountains.
In a cold pool, there was a millstone-sized, translucent, gelatinous substance. Inside, seven-colored aurora ripples flowed. It was the source of the continuous cold mist and the aurora that stretched across the sky.
"Atashino, how do you cook this?"
"..."
"The voice of the ingredient tells me that it must be harvested with a tool made of ice. If you touch it with your bare hands, the Aurora Crystal Jelly will freeze to your hand and become completely inedible."
Atashino closed her eyes, concentrating on listening to the voice of the ingredient.
Kenji was a little curious. His Gourmet Luck wasn't weak, but he couldn't hear the voice of ingredients at all. Was this a skill only a chef could develop?
"An ice tool♪?"
Elysia was an ice-type. She used her ability to create a large spoon, saving them the trouble of finding a block of ice.
Kenji gave a thumbs-up. Elysia was so helpful.
Plop.
Like scooping jelly, it was effortless. Kenji only scooped up about half, not taking the whole thing.
"Itadakimasu."
Even the spoon was made of ice. The jelly, with its flowing, seven-colored aurora, bloomed on his tongue the moment it entered his mouth.
It was a perfect coolness, about -10°C. He couldn't figure out why it released a -50°C cold mist.
"Mango flavor... blueberry flavor... lychee flavor... dragon fruit flavor..."
As the Aurora Crystal Jelly gradually melted in his mouth, the flavors of seven different fruits visited his taste buds one after another.
With the second bite, the order of the flavors changed. The process was like opening a blind box; you could never accurately guess what the next flavor would be.
It didn't have the same shocking impact as the Rainbow Fruit, but the taste was quite unique. Anyone who liked jelly should give it a try.
"Aurora Crystal Jelly, Capture Level 54. The difficulty lies in overcoming the surrounding -50°C cold mist and using an ice tool for capture..."
Kenji sent the data to the IGO research institute, which would then upload it to the IGO's official website.
When civilian Gourmet Hunters captured an unknown ingredient, they usually didn't contact the IGO. So, to collect data on ingredients, the IGO had to issue these kinds of commissions.
"Atashino, how many ingredients from the Gourmet World has the IGO recorded?" Kenji asked.
"If you're talking about cooking methods, Biotope 0 does know quite a few. But as for actual observation data, the IGO hasn't collected much yet."
"You know, the locations where many ingredients grow are a headache even for the members of Biotope 0, and imaging equipment is difficult to use."
Kenji nodded. The treacherous climate of the Gourmet World was a major obstacle to data collection.
"Let's just do these few commissions. We should head back."
Kenji opened a spatial rift and took the two of them home. Now that he knew the coordinates, he could come back whenever he wanted. He no longer had to freefall to enter the Gourmet World; he could go directly to the Angra Forest.
"Ely, what are you thinking? You've seemed a little distracted this whole trip."
Elysia was slightly taken aback, then she voiced her thoughts:
"Kenji, I'm thinking about my authority. Since you said that the Herrschers fifty thousand years in the future will have humanity because of my influence, can I also use this authority to help the Herrschers of my time regain their humanity?"
If she could save them, Elysia didn't want to watch her own kind be killed one by one. On one side was humanity, and on the other was her own kind. She had to make a choice.
"It probably won't be that easy. Even if you can do it, the price you'll have to pay won't be small."
Kenji shook his head. He didn't know either.
Elysia's choice to sacrifice herself was partly to unite the remaining people and partly to pull at the strings of fate. He didn't understand why the Herrschers of the next era having humanity required Elysia's sacrifice. Was it because the price for achieving this was Elysia's life?
The authority of Origin was different from the other Herrschers'. The Herrschers of Thunder and Wind were related to the laws of physics, while the authority of Origin seemed to involve causality and fate.
"I don't recommend you use your authority to do that, especially before you're one hundred percent sure," Kenji said in a serious tone. He would never allow a living Elysia to choose sacrifice.
As Otto had said, for a future where Kallen could live, he would not hesitate to subvert the causality of all world lines.
"I know. Smile, don't be so serious♪" Elysia's heart warmed, and she laughed softly.
...
(Author's Note: In these two chapters, I made up two ingredients. The future plot will definitely not be like this. I will occasionally make up ingredients.)
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