Without the Seven Beasts blocking their way, the group quickly reached their destination.
Before them stood a colossal shellfish so massive that the end of it couldn't even be seen with the naked eye. This was the largest living creature in the world—and the largest shellfish—Giant Shell.
Its length couldn't compare to the Snake King, but in terms of sheer mass, the Snake King didn't even come close.
Giant Shell covered a terrifying ten million square kilometers, and inside it lived a population of five hundred million people.
That was also why Giant Shell rarely moved. A behemoth of this size could stir up the entire Sixth Continent with a single shift. Most of the time, the Shell King remained dormant.
As the group approached, sensing the presence of its offspring, Giant Shell slowly opened a gap in its massive shell.
They stepped into Blue Grill.
This wasn't Ichiryu's first time here. As the Magnetic Shell rose to the surface, he looked around and sighed.
"It's exactly the same as before."
Kael caught the faint trace of dissatisfaction in his tone. He could understand it. Ichiryu had devoted his entire life to humanity. Everything he did was for the sake of mankind as a whole.
Even when it came to humans living in the Gourmet World, he never treated them differently.
On the surface, Blue Grill looked civilized and prosperous. But if you dug a little deeper, you'd realize that beneath that prosperity, plenty of things were hidden.
The most critical of them were the Food Spirits.
Blue Grill had been able to develop to such a flourishing state precisely because of Food Spirits. They could possess the bodies of the deceased and return to the world.
And the ones capable of coming back were all incredibly powerful Food Spirits. The inheritances they brought with them were what allowed Blue Grill to thrive.
Don Slime maintained a careful balance, preventing the entire region from falling into chaos. That was the only reason Blue Grill had continued to prosper.
Elsewhere in the Gourmet World, the natives didn't live nearly as well.
In Area 8's Bewitching Food World, things were manageable as long as Midora didn't stir up trouble. But once something went wrong, they were helpless.
They worried about food. They struggled to survive.
The natives of Area 7 were even worse off—they had already gone extinct. Once, that place had also been prosperous. According to their own records, the disaster had been caused by mistakes they themselves made.
As for what those mistakes were, Kael didn't know—and didn't care to find out. It had nothing to do with them.
Among all the natives of the Gourmet World, only Blue Grill lived well.
Of course, while Food Spirits were the reason for its prosperity, those whose bodies were taken over by them wouldn't see it that way.
Here, those with value could live comfortably. Those without value… didn't have that right.
Take Chako from the original story.
He was born with a physical defect—he had no sense of taste.
The only reason he managed to grow up safely was because that defect had never been discovered.
Don Slime's cells were everywhere in Blue Grill, even inside people's bodies. But he wasn't omniscient.
That was why Chako could grow up normally.
But once his flaw was exposed—thanks to Komatsu—his fate was sealed.
Those with defects would be taken away, turned into a part of cooking GOD, and their bodies would later be possessed by Food Spirits.
That was the darkness of Blue Grill.
Cruel and absolute.
No value meant no future.
Still, speaking of Chako, his mother deserved a mention.
She was truly formidable.
Perhaps she couldn't bear to leave her child behind. She had already become a Food Spirit, yet in an incredibly short amount of time, she returned.
And she even retained her memories of her son.
Maybe she used some special method. Regardless, she was worthy of respect.
Even someone like Asarudy had forgotten who he was after returning—but Chako's mother remembered.
In Blue Grill, humans and Food Spirits were distinguished by masks.
Those who wore masks were Food Spirits. It helped differentiate them—and also made it easier to adapt, since their current appearance wasn't their original one.
"Kael, you know how things work here. Even though it's almost impossible for a Food Spirit to take over your body with your strength, you still need to be careful."
Ichiryu's warning was simple.
Kael nodded.
He wasn't afraid of the Food Spirits here. As long as he didn't fall into a near-death state, they wouldn't be able to seize his body.
And he had three terrifying Gourmet Demons inside him.
If any Food Spirit tried to take his body, it would be a one-way trip—gone without a trace.
In this place, he was actually quite safe.
"Let's go. The Five 10-Shell Cooks have already prepared plenty of dishes. Everything's ready. Whenever you want to go cook Another, one of them will guide you."
Jiji spoke up.
Unlike when Komatsu and the others arrived, Kael didn't need to prove himself or earn the recognition of the Five 10-Shell Cooks.
This was Don Slime's order.
Kael had no interest in wasting time with them.
There were eight ingredients to capture, and they had to be obtained one by one.
He didn't have teammates.
Before GOD emerged, he had to secure seven ingredients—and complete both Character Inheritance and Faction Inheritance.
Otherwise, facing Acacia would still be risky.
In the late game, these monsters grew stronger and stronger.
To be safe, he had to prepare everything himself.
He refused to leave it to luck—or anyone else.
Following Jiji, they arrived at the highest-tier restaurant in Blue Grill.
A Ten-Shell restaurant.
There were only five such establishments in all of Blue Grill, run by the Five 10-Shell Cooks.
Normally, they only served the most distinguished guests.
"We've been waiting. Long time no see, Ichiryu boy. Didn't expect you to still be alive."
Ichiryu had been here before. The Five 10-Shell Cooks knew him.
Calling him "boy" wasn't strange.
Each of them was an ancient monster who had lived for who knew how long.