"Because I found Island Wheat."
Luo Gen's voice was calm and steady, yet it was like a stone tossed into a lake, creating ripples in the ears of the surrounding chefs. Many faces showed excitement.
"Island Wheat?"
"There's... wild wheat on this island?"
"If that's the case, it all makes sense. Although wild wheat isn't as high-quality as common wheat, it can still produce gluten when made into dough."
Island Wheat meant flour, and by extension, a staple food.
Finding Island Wheat would greatly expand their culinary possibilities.
Low murmurs of discussion quickly spread.
Okabe and the others also wore looks of surprise, but upon careful thought, it seemed quite reasonable. This place was located in a subtropical-temperate climate, which was perfect for wheat to grow.
"Even though Island Wheat exists on the island, for you to find it in such a short time and have enough time to make it into ramen, your luck is quite good."
Gin Dojima nodded slightly, unable to help but marvel at Luo Gen's luck.
Finding wheat in a short time was already difficult. To have the resolve to make it into ramen—that was a level of decisiveness not possessed by ordinary people.
After all, processing wild wheat into flour, then kneading it into dough and pulling it into noodles, the slightest mistake could waste all previous efforts. This required absolute confidence in one's own skills.
"Actually, it wasn't luck."
Hearing Gin Dojima's words, Luo Gen shook his head slightly and stepped aside, revealing the dark-skinned youth behind him.
"Allow me to introduce myself. Sequence 57, Hunter Yataro.
I was abandoned by my birth parents when I was little. I was lucky enough to be carried off by a wolf and raised. Later, by chance, I integrated into human society, systematically learned wilderness knowledge, and I'm skilled at finding all sorts of ingredients based on the terrain."
"Awoo."
The dark-skinned youth grinned, and a wolf's howl came from beside him. A young wolf, about a meter long and weighing around thirty-two kilograms, stood at his side.
That wolf stood its ground with perfect composure, its amber pupils calmly scanning everyone present, showing none of the aggression a typical wild animal would have when facing a crowd.
"This is Abu, Wolf Mom's youngest child. He's my brother. He's smelled the scent of grain before. He deserves the credit for finding the Island Wheat this time."
As he spoke, Hunter Yataro patted the wolf's head, his fingers sinking into its warm fur, his face filled with pride for it.
"A wolf... that thing is actually a wolf?! I thought it was a dog."
"I thought it was a dog too, but it's true, its tail is hanging down, while a dog's is usually up. I originally thought it was just unhappy, I didn't expect..."
A person who had been in the same vehicle as Hunter Yataro said with dawning realization.
When Abu got on the vehicle, he was quite popular with the girls. Everyone gathered around to pet him, and some even went so far as to vigorously rub the wolf's head, having a great time. Thinking back now, the girls who had petted him couldn't help but feel a little scared.
It was a good thing Abu had a gentle temperament. Otherwise, if he had gone wild in the vehicle, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Sequence 57, Hunter Yataro. Friends with animals, how peculiar."
As Hunter Yataro's voice fell, Alice Nakiri couldn't help but marvel.
"This year really has all sorts of strange people..."
Erina Nakiri also wore a look of amazement. Looking at Abu wagging his tail beside Hunter Yataro in the distance, she felt a little envious. Seeing that master-servant bond, so close they were like shadows, made her want to get a dog too.
"After all, this is the first time in all these years that admissions have been opened to the entire world, and with all sorts of generous conditions offered. It's normal for some extraordinary people to show up."
Okabe was also watching Hunter Yataro.
In the original work, to usher in the Jade Sequence, Senzaemon Nakiri personally traveled the world to scout talented young chefs.
Unfortunately, there were too few geniuses in the world of Shokugeki no Soma, so not many stood out in the original story, only a few with special talents.
Now, with the Chuuka Ichiban patch added, this world's setting has gradually become more complete, and the number of young, uniquely talented geniuses has increased.
Under these circumstances, it was normal for some extraordinary people to appear.
These individuals had different upbringings and different culinary focuses. Even the stronger, higher-ranked Sequence members wouldn't dare guarantee they could win against an opponent in their specialized field. The difference between an amateur and an expert was very clear.
Unless the gap in skill was simply too vast.
Like Okabe and Ikumi Mito.
"Your dish is impeccable in all respects. However, due to the scarcity of ingredients, aside from the outstanding noodles, the rest of the experience was average.
In other words, you wasted too much time collecting wheat, grinding flour, and making noodles, which resulted in the final sense of satisfaction this dish presented being..."
Putting down his chopsticks, Gin Dojima spoke at length, pointing out many shortcomings.
However, even he didn't notice that for every flaw he pointed out about the ramen, he would subconsciously praise the noodles.
In the end, Luo Gen received a score of 96.
Another wave of gasps erupted at the scene.
Through this assessment, they saw for the first time the gap between themselves and the top ten of the Sequence.
Erina Nakiri's team, which they had originally thought was very impressive, now seemed a bit weak in comparison. A score of 90 really wasn't that high here.
"Ahem, everyone, look over here."
Seeing that no more students were coming over for the time being, Gin Dojima coughed twice to test the microphone, while also calling for the attention of the people who had started discussing among themselves.
"After tonight's assessment, I've found that everyone's problems are very similar. That is, the coordination between teammates is clearly insufficient.
You among you, not a single team's dish has truly brought out the strength of their teammates.
I can responsibly tell you, even a team of the five weakest members, as long as their strengths are utilized, the final result will not be bad."
As his voice fell, Gin Dojima's sharp gaze swept through the crowd, landing on the students. Many students subconsciously avoided his line of sight.
"I know that many of you haven't even truly gotten to know your teammates. You've simply formed groups based on personal relationships and then mechanically started 'cooperating'.
This is not cooperation. This is each person fighting their own battle."
Gin Dojima's voice echoed in the silent plaza: "If you continue like this, I can assert that in this training camp, at least two-thirds of you will be eliminated."
A chorus of sharp intakes of breath sounded through the crowd.
"Therefore, I have a suggestion for you."
Gin Dojima paused, then continued: "Tonight, you have one evening to get to know your teammates, to discover their abilities, to think about how to integrate everyone's specialty into a single dish. 1
For the dish you present tomorrow, I need to see the traits of other contestants. This will become the most important part of the scoring.
Given that it's the first day, and you need to gather ingredients, I won't put too much pressure on you.
You only need to fuse the personal traits of two contestants into your dish. As for which two will partner up, you can discuss and decide among yourselves."
He put down the microphone, and the scene was dead silent.
Gin Dojima's words had hit the nail on the head. They were all geniuses who had shown amazing talent in their respective fields. Even if their ranking was lower than others, they wouldn't feel they were truly inferior, only that everyone has their own specialty.
Now that they were stranded on a deserted island, due to the limitations of ingredients, it was difficult for them to show their true strength.
At such times, they could only prioritize the cuisine of the higher-ranked Sequence member, letting them take overall command, which also determined the hierarchy within the team.
Now that Gin Dojima was telling them to cooperate with each other, it was undoubtedly giving the lower-ranked contestants a chance. It would allow the higher-ranked members to listen to their experience, and after mutually understanding each other's strengths, it would also help raise their status.
Furthermore, it was difficult to create a perfect dish by fighting alone, especially when ingredients were so scarce. Only by rationally using every ingredient could the flavor of the dish be improved, and this required using each person's area of expertise.
When creating a dish, don't just consider yourself, but also whether your teammates can integrate what they've learned into the dish. This was the task Gin Dojima had given them.
"Possessing the characteristics of at least two people's cooking, he's certainly given us a difficult problem."
Feeling the silent atmosphere around him, Okabe stroked his chin and began to think.
Gin Dojima's assessment wasn't actually that difficult. He just wanted everyone to cooperate well and bring out their respective advantages to create better dishes.
But this was an island. For ordinary people, just surviving was already a challenge. The ingredients they could find each day were completely random, making it very difficult to truly utilize everyone's specialty. Thus, the implementation was very hard.
"It's not really a difficult problem. He said it has to fuse the cooking of two people, but he didn't say which two. We can just let whoever's skills suit the ingredients we find cooperate."
Alice Nakiri tilted her head to look at Okabe. The molecular gastronomy she had learned was a jack-of-all-trades, suitable for pairing with any type of cuisine.
The downside was that in a wild environment, most of her skills were sealed. She couldn't perform many of the cooking steps that required precision instruments.
However, she could still do things within her power.
Her martial arts training over the years was not for nothing.
"Searching for ingredients is the real difficult part. We've explored less than 1% of this island. A team was eliminated today, right?"
Okabe recalled seeing a team being dejectedly dragged to the shore and thrown onto a fishing boat, to be sent away by the fishermen who had been waiting there for a long time.
"Two teams, actually."
Erina Nakiri added softly, "Those two teams didn't have any members with wilderness experience. One team made a very bland mushroom and wild vegetable stew. The other was even worse; they picked poisonous plants. The one who tasted it fainted from poisoning and was reported to Chief Officer Dojima by their teammates, leading to their tragic elimination."
Okabe was silent for a moment.
The island had no professional medical equipment. Once poisoned, you could only be sent back. So, it was best to just give up on unknown plants, or find a wild animal to test for poison.
But obviously, on the first day, they didn't have that option. And the outcome was clear: the one responsible for tasting was carried away, and the rest were all eliminated.
Just on the first day, ten people had been eliminated. Who knew how many teams would be left in the end.
"Don't worry too much. I asked my grandfather before we came. This island is a common training ground for second-year high school students.
The ingredients on the island are quite abundant, and poisonous ones are in the minority. There are even temporary gardens left behind by previous years' students. After several years, finding them might yield some harvest."
Training on a remote island was a Tōtsuki tradition.
It was only because this year's students were too outstanding that they were brought here a few years early.
"That explains what the boatman said when we arrived. But to pull a second-year high school curriculum to the present for our training, the Headmaster really thinks highly of us..."
Okabe couldn't help but complain, but his face didn't show a hint of discouragement. Instead, it was filled with fighting spirit.
Tonight, he had witnessed the cuisine of so many powerhouses. It was a real eye-opener, and he couldn't help but feel that the world was full of heroes as numerous as carps crossing a river. He wondered who would be left riding the waves in the end.
"Let's get ready to go. I suddenly feel so cold for some reason. I remember it's summer right now, isn't it? Even if it's colder at night, it shouldn't get this cold this fast..."
Erina Nakiri couldn't help but shrink back. It had been hot enough for short sleeves during the day, but now at night, she still felt cold even after putting on a jacket.
"We're by the sea. The sea breeze blows in without any obstruction, so it'll be much colder than in the city."
Watching the shivering Erina Nakiri, Okabe naturally took her hand, gently rubbing the back of it with his fingertips, using his own warmth to warm her.
Erina Nakiri was stunned for a moment, then her face turned bright red as she looked at Okabe. She glared at him but didn't pull her hand away.
"My hands are cold too, Okabe-kun, warm mine up for me too!"
Alice Nakiri saw this and felt a bit envious. She took the initiative to extend her delicate hand in front of Okabe, her eyes full of expectation.
"Alright."
Seeing this, Okabe was a bit speechless.
Even though he knew she was most likely faking it, he couldn't favor one over the other. So he took her hand and gently rubbed it in his palm.
As expected, the girl's hand still had a faint warmth from being in her pocket for a long time and was nothing like the 'cold' she claimed.
However, he didn't expose her. He held the two sisters' hands and rubbed them gently until their palms became warm before letting go.
Throughout this process, Erina Nakiri's body was stiff, and she didn't say a word, her mouth slightly agape.
Alice Nakiri, on the other hand, looked like she was thoroughly enjoying it. When it was over, she seemed to want more, but she also knew she couldn't continue.
In just that short while, she could feel her bones going soft.
If this went on, she might have to change her panties tonight.
"By the way, I still don't know where you guys are staying now."
Before leaving, Okabe suddenly asked the two sisters out of curiosity, but his gaze went past them to Hisako Arato standing behind them.
"We're staying in the cliff caves on the west side."
Hisako Arato felt Okabe's gaze and naturally took over the conversation: "The terrain there is higher, and while the sea breeze is strong, it's relatively dry. There's a freshwater stream nearby, making it very suitable as our base of operations. "
"Cliff caves?" Okabe was a little surprised. "Your luck is pretty good, to find a ready-made shelter."
"Yes, we found it while exploring in the afternoon."
Erina Nakiri had returned to her usual self by now, explaining proudly: "It's a naturally formed rock cave. The space inside is quite large, and because the terrain is higher, there aren't many wild animals around. Plus, the entrance of the cave happens to avoid most of the sea breeze. 1
"Good luck indeed."
Okabe said with sincere admiration, "Many teams are worrying about shelter right now. Without a stable residence, I imagine they'll lack the confidence to go out looking for ingredients."
Alice Nakiri added with a cheerful smile: "Hisako was the one who found it! She said that based on her judgment of the terrain, that kind of rock formation was very likely to have caves, and she turned out to be right. She's really amazing. "
Hisako Arato lowered her head slightly, her small face a little red, and said humbly, "I just studied some geology before, it was just good luck."
"That's not just good luck, it's the best example of applying knowledge to practice. Reading more books usually proves invaluable when you need it."
Looking at the somewhat shy Hisako Arato, Okabe patted her head. He clearly felt the girl's body tremble slightly, but she didn't say anything, her already red face just turning redder.
Alice Nakiri watched this scene quietly, a thoughtful look on her face.
"We'll be leaving then. See you tomorrow."
Seeing that no new people had arrived for a while, Okabe turned his back and waved at Erina Nakiri and the others to say goodbye, then headed back the way he came.
Soma Yukihira, Ikumi Mito, and the others saw this and followed.
They had wanted to leave for a while, but seeing Okabe chatting with Erina Nakiri and the others, they had stopped to wait for him.
As for why they didn't go up?
They were mainly pondering Gin Dojima's words. Most of the teams at the scene were silent because of this assessment, which showed just how difficult it was.
Not long after Okabe and his group left.
Erina Nakiri and her team also departed. The other students left one after another, with only a small number of people waiting in place, because there was still one team that hadn't arrived.
It was now less than ten minutes before the deadline.
Gin Dojima glanced at the time, his brow slightly furrowed. There were fewer than three teams left at the scene, currently gathered together chatting, planning to leave after seeing the last dish.
"Is this team really that slow?"
Glancing at his watch, Gin Dojima frowned imperceptibly, a feeling of doubt rising in his heart.
The remaining team was not a straggler. On the contrary, the quality of its members was very high.
Led by a Sequence 3 powerhouse, with Sequence 11, Sequence 25, Sequence 42, and Sequence 88 as his teammates, they shouldn't be this slow.
Could it be that they ran into some kind of accident along the way?
This thought uncontrollably surfaced in his mind. Just as he was about to get up and find the staff to check on the team's situation,
a series of heavy footsteps sounded in the distance.
The person in the lead had an ordinary face, but his eyes were frighteningly bright, as if he had just returned from the abyss, still burning with an unextinguished flame.
On the giant platter he held in both hands was a covering of scorched brown banana leaves.
Through the gaps, a wild, smoky aroma seeped out.
"We're not late, are we?"
The youth spoke softly, but his voice was like sandpaper grating against iron. He placed the platter steadily in front of Gin Dojima, and the moment the leaves were lifted—
A wave of heat washed over them!
A thick, ferocious crocodile tail lay across the platter, its skin roasted to a crispy, cracked state, like obsidian armor.
Beneath the cracks, the flesh was a startling pinkish-white, locking in scalding juices. Spices found on the island and the scent of charcoal fire intertwined and rose, like a violent hurricane frozen in place.
"Island Wind: Charcoal-Grilled Crocodragon Tail."
A slow smirk spread across his lips, a smile devoid of any warmth, containing only the near-maniacal flame of a conqueror.
"We had a little accident in the afternoon. Our meal was stolen by this beast.
So, we could only—
Let it become our meal as a substitute."
____
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