"How about today, we each make one dish, and they can judge them?" Tendo issued a challenge to Raven.
"If you like to be defeated, I'm certainly happy to oblige," Raven replied with supreme confidence.
Jyuka entered the living room just then and noticed the Zecters Tendo had collected: Kabuto, TheBee, Drake, and Sasword. The Zecters darted around the room like tiny, living insects.
"Onii-chan, what are these things?" Jyuka was already accustomed to strange occurrences, and she looked at the little gadgets with excitement.
"Them? They're my fans, I suppose," Tendo answered casually.
"You're still so narcissistic," Raven shook his head helplessly.
Soon, the two entered the kitchen together and prepared several exquisite dishes. Jyuka sat down, savoring the feast.
"You should eat too," Tendo said to Renge Takatori, who was sitting alone on the side.
"No need, I prepared something," she said, pulling out a handful of dried rice grains. She seemed to consider this her sustenance for survival.
"You call that food?" Raven remarked.
"I'm used to it. I haven't eaten a proper meal in years," Renge Takatori said, her eyes betraying her hesitation.
"Grilled salmon, rice in a clay pot, tofu miso soup, and pickled rice bran. It's delicious, you know," Tendo said to her.
"Delicious food is a sin. It causes the sublime spirit of a warrior to fall into degeneracy," Renge Takatori stated with an air of forbearance.
"That's what that guy named Mishima taught you, isn't it?" Tendo murmured cryptically. He already knew that Renge Takatori was an undercover agent sent by Masato Mishima to monitor him.
Raven, however, directly flicked his chopsticks, and a piece of the delicious food flew into her mouth.
"That's just his method of tormenting you," Raven said calmly. "He has no sense of taste himself, so he can't enjoy any of this, and thus demands the same of you."
Renge Takatori was momentarily stunned. How did he do that, when his back was turned? She tried to spit it out, but it was too late. Unconsciously, she had already chewed and swallowed the food. Her will gradually lost control over her body's instincts. The tightly sealed door could no longer be kept shut.
This was Raven's confidence in his own cooking, the ability to easily manipulate a person's emotions.
Soon, Renge Takatori was completely captivated by the food, a prisoner of Raven's culinary skill. The ideology she had been brainwashed with by Mishima was finally broken.
Tendo noticed that the dishes Raven made were the ones eaten the fastest. He sighed internally. The gap between himself and Raven still existed. He thought his rate of improvement was fast enough, but he realized his rival wasn't standing still. This was the first time he had met someone whose evolution speed surpassed his own.
"I'm full! Thank you for the meal." Renge Takatori devoured several large bowls of rice like a storm, then voluntarily took up the task of washing the dishes.
"Renge-oneechan, I'll help you," Jyuka followed her.
Soon, only Raven and Tendo remained seated in the dining area.
"Raven, where exactly did you hide Hiyori?" Tendou still wanted the answer to this question.
"I told you, she's in a very safe place," Raven replied without rushing.
"How long do you intend to hide her? This is no way for her to live," Tendo pressed.
"We can talk about that after we deal with the biggest threat in this world," Raven looked up at Tendo.
"The biggest threat? Are you talking about the Worms, or..." Tendo's eyes narrowed slightly.
"It seems your investigation into ZECT has made absolutely no progress. Fine, I'll have to tell you the truth." Raven shook his head.
Tendo didn't refuse this time. He just watched Raven, ready to listen, as he truly hadn't been able to uncover any useful truth despite his efforts.
"Haven't you always wondered why the meteorites only arrived seven years ago, yet the Worms killed and mimicked your parents even earlier?" Raven asked him.
Tendo's pupils constricted. This question had plagued him for a long time.
"Actually, an affiliated species arrived on Earth even earlier than the Worms: the Native Worms."
"And ZECT was founded through a partnership between the Native Worms and humans," Raven revealed calmly.
"What did you say...?" This was the first time Tendo had ever heard about the Native Worms and ZECT's true origins.
"Worms and Native Worms are like the difference between civilization and barbarism. The Native Worms... so Hiyori isn't a Worm, but a Native Worm," Tendo stated, appearing to understand.
"The difference is that one species, the Native Worms, possesses high intelligence and is generally docile, but their evolution speed is slow, making it difficult for them to molt. The other species, the Worms, evolves quickly and molts easily."
"The Native Worms fled to Earth because the Worms were squeezing their living space," Raven continued.
Hearing this, Tendo immediately realized something: "So the Rider System was developed to protect them from being harmed by the Worms."
"That's right. However, while the Native Worms are less aggressive and weaker in combat than the Worms, there are still ambitious individuals among them who want to rule the world."
"Your biological parents were killed precisely because of that," Raven elaborated, revealing many shocking details to Tendo.
All these facts aligned with the fragmented information Tendo had gathered over the years, so he didn't doubt them at all.
"Wait, even if all this is true... how do you know all of this?" Tendo still couldn't understand. Why did Raven, who seemingly had no connection to any of this, know everything? He couldn't help but recall Raven's previous claim of being omniscient.
He then allowed his imagination to run wild: "Are you perhaps from the future?" He felt this was the only explanation.
"You're only half right, but for now, you can assume that," Raven said, standing up.
Having disclosed so much information to Tendo, it signaled that this world was approaching its conclusion. The growth speed of the Golden Fruit could be accelerated slightly now.