"Secchan, you really did take in an amazing disciple."
Master Jiro couldn't help but sigh. Most disciples were respectful toward their masters, sure—but very few could actually bring their teacher any real benefit.
Someone like Kael was practically unheard of. He hadn't even been apprenticed for that long, yet he had already given Granny Setsuno something this incredible. Thinking back to when they themselves were disciples, they hadn't been able to help their master at all.
"Of course," Granny Setsuno said with a smile. "Jiro-chan, you should also take some time to teach Kael knocking. His talent isn't limited to cooking—his combat potential is terrifyingly high as well."
She said this casually. Although Master Jiro's true successor was Teppei, that didn't mean knocking techniques couldn't be taught to others.
"Then let's pick a time," Master Jiro replied without hesitation. "I'm free whenever."
He understood exactly what Granny Setsuno meant. Kael's talent in cooking was so absurdly high that, after a while, she realized she didn't have much left she could teach him.
Now that she'd also received such an enormous benefit, there was no way she wanted to shortchange her own disciple. Naturally, she thought of Master Jiro's knocking techniques—an inheritance so precious it was practically priceless.
After all, the outside world's understanding of knocking barely reached the beginner or intermediate level. Techniques like Vast Knocking, Destruction Knocking, or Eternal Knocking were virtually unknown.
Master Jiro agreed immediately. He knew exactly how precious the life energy Kael had infused into Granny Setsuno was. To Kael, it might have been nothing more than a casual effort—but to them, it was invaluable.
"Then let's make it a little over a month from now," Kael said after some thought. "I still have a few things to deal with."
Master Jiro's knocking techniques were absolutely something he had to learn—these skills were practically conceptual-level abilities. That kind of power was absurdly rare.
Now that it was basically being handed to him, Kael would have to be an idiot to refuse. That said, he still needed to deal with Grinpatch first, and then make a trip back to the world of Food Wars. So he set the time for a little over a month later.
Kael's plans going forward were actually pretty simple. For especially valuable ingredients, he'd capture them himself if possible. If he didn't have time, he'd just ask Toriko to bring him a portion.
As for Kael himself, he planned to make a trip to the old First Biotope and bring some ingredients back for Toriko as well—an even exchange. Most of his time would be spent learning knocking from Master Jiro.
"Then we'll wait a month. Oh, right—when you went to the First Biotope earlier, G7 sent over an invitation. They want you to enter the chef rankings. As for the achievements required, that's trivial."
Granny Setsuno finally remembered something she'd meant to mention earlier, but had forgotten in her excitement over becoming younger again.
Kael knew what G7 was. Also known as the Taste Masters, their tongues were so sharp they could accurately judge the capture level of ingredients. They were also responsible for managing the chef rankings—and even organizing the Gourmet Festival.
But Kael had zero interest in G7 or the chef rankings.
To get on the list, you needed not only strong cooking skills, but also notable achievements. In the original story, Komatsu entered the rankings thanks to a stack of accomplishments—creating Century Soup, discovering Morse Oil, and being Toriko's partner.
Others, however, could get in through connections alone. Take Otake, for example. He had no partner and hadn't discovered any earth-shattering ingredients, yet he still made the list.
The water in those ranking was deep. Aside from the top names, who were genuinely impressive, how much filler there was beyond the top fifty was probably something only G7 themselves knew.
The reason G7 wanted to invite Kael was simple: he was Granny Setsuno's disciple. If the disciple of a Living National Treasure of the gourmet world didn't even appear on the rankings, it would raise questions about their authority. That was why G7 took this so seriously.
Unfortunately, when the invitation arrived, Kael had been in the First Biotope, so it was sent to Granny Setsuno instead. Now she was just asking for his opinion. If Kael wanted in, she could easily attach a few achievements to his name and push him straight into the top fifty.
"No need," Kael said, shaking his head. "There's way too much padding in that ranking. I'm not interested at all."
What he pursued was real strength and higher culinary skill—not empty fame.
Granny Setsuno wasn't surprised by his choice. She could tell Kael didn't care about reputation. Even she herself had participated in the Gourmet Festival many times in the past, dominating first place for years. Eventually, she lost interest, and that spot went to Zaus instead.
"In that case, I'll decline it for you," Granny Setsuno said. "Honestly, this kind of empty fame really is useless."
Kael thanked her and left soon after. Next, he was heading to the Wul Forest area. If nothing unexpected happened, Toriko was probably preparing to leave as well. Terry hadn't eaten or drunk anything—Toriko couldn't just ignore that.
In the original story, Toriko went to the Wul Forest specifically to find food for Terry. The BB Corn there hadn't originally grown in the Human World—it was a Gourmet World ingredient whose seeds had somehow made their way over.
Compared to Gourmet World BB Corn, the Human World version was much weaker, since it could only absorb nutrients from Human World soil.
As a complete Battle Wolf, Terry was extremely picky about food. Most things didn't interest him at all. Only BB Corn could truly satisfy his appetite, which was why it became his designated partner ingredient. Komatsu would also be heading to the Wul Forest, aiming to obtain Wul Star Sauce to entertain guests.
By this point in time, Komatsu had already begun to show just how absurd his Food Luck was. When he found the Wul Star Sauce, it wasn't even ripe yet—but the moment he encountered danger, his Food Luck stopped pretending altogether.
One of the Wul Star Sauces ripened on the spot. If that wasn't Food Luck pulling strings, Kael refused to believe otherwise. After that, Toriko showed up and handled the enemy.
Kael, however, planned to camp directly at the Wul Mountain. Before Toriko arrived, he intended to deal with Grinpatch first. Gourmet Corp members were fair game—There was no moral burden in killing them..
Honestly, none of Gourmet Corp's people were innocent. Even someone like Stajun kidnapped chefs. If they were useful—like Ootake—they were kept. If not, they were disposed of. In the original story, Komatsu and the others were released only because Komatsu cooked something Midora found delicious. The chefs taken before that? Gourmet Corp definitely didn't let them go so easily.
They would kill without hesitation to achieve their goals. They were no different from the Dark Cooking Society. Kael had zero psychological burden about killing them.
Kael traveled to Volcano Wul riding Behemoth. Its speed was far faster than Toriko's plane. In just over a day, he arrived. He immediately sent Behemoth to capture BB Corn—just like Grinpatch had done using his Jack Giant Beetle Elephant.
Behemoth returned quickly with a gigantic ear of corn. Kael stored it in his space, then effortlessly peeled away the husk. His strength made both the husk and the silk meaningless obstacles. He took out a single kernel and stored the rest.
One kernel was more than enough. Once popped, the quantity wasn't just enough for a hundred people—thousands could eat their fill.
As for popping it, Kael didn't need to copy Toriko's slow method of descending the volcano and relying on ambient heat. He controlled flames himself. Reaching temperatures above a thousand degrees was trivial for him, and far more reliable.
Toriko failed so often because he wasn't a chef. At best, his cooking skill was probably around three-star level. A top-tier chef like Kael wasn't going to make mistakes that basic.
Kael focused on the BB Corn kernel, steadily increasing the heat in his hand. Under the intense temperature, the kernel reacted quickly. His control over heat was so precise there was no chance of burning it.
Soon, the BB Corn began to tremble violently. Kael knew it was about to pop. He immediately enveloped it in a large net. The next instant, it exploded.
Thanks to the net, the BB popcorn didn't scatter everywhere and instead fell neatly inside. Kael stored the net and popcorn in his space—he had no intention of letting them roll around on the ground.
He took out a single piece of BB popcorn. It was larger than a basketball. There were tens of thousands of pieces like this in his storage.
BB Corn was ridiculous. A single kernel producing this much popcorn was already insane—if all the kernels popped at once, the amount would be downright horrifying.
"The flavor really is good," Kael muttered, shaking his head. "But it doesn't do much for the cells. For Toriko, this is a partner ingredient—proof of his bond with Terry—which is why it goes on his Full Course Menu."
He didn't need a Full Course Menu himself. From the start, he hadn't expected much from BB Corn. His real purpose here was Grinpatch. The corn was just a bonus—something he could bring back to the world of Food Wars for others to try.
After that, Kael camped at Volcano Wul, gathering volcanic salt during the eruptions. In the world of Toriko, even volcanic ash could be an ingredient. Even magma itself qualified—just like the stewed magma on Master Jiro and Granny Setsuno's Full Course Menus.
In this world, truly anything could be eaten. As long as you awakened new senses and had strong enough teeth, everything was an ingredient.