Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 162: The Mark of IGO.

Chapter 162: Chapter 162: The Mark of IGO.

"Main General Liangzi?"

As Xia Yu served a freshly steamed plate of dragon roll fish fin sausage, he noticed an additional figure in the teahouse, a woman in a tight-fitting outfit.

Liangzi Lina was once again channeling the detective vibe she had the first time she met Xia Yu.

She was conversing with Eriina and Hizaki, and when she heard footsteps, she looked up and nodded at Xia Yu.

Lately, Liangzi Lina must have been very busy. She seemed to have forgotten about the improved ’Magical Mapo Tofu’ and hadn’t visited Xia’s shop for a while. Xia Yu was quite surprised to see her.

"Try this."

After placing down a dish, Xia Yu smiled, turned back to the kitchen to fetch a pair of chopsticks, and handed them to Liangzi Lina.

On the plate, the dragon roll fish fin sausages, which had been fried, were neatly stacked.

The cooking of each fish fin sausage was just perfect; the casing was slightly curled but not the slightest bit charred.

The dices of ham, strips of bamboo shoot, and pieces of shark fin inside released a unique and permeating flavor.

"Spices?"

Sniffing, Liangzi Lina and Tiqie Eriina exchanged surprised glances.

Fried with added spices?

With chopsticks, Tiqie Eriina picked up a piece of fish fin sausage and took a small bite. Her mouth trembled, and her heartstrings instantly tensed.

A tornado!

"Cinnamon powder, galangal powder, clove powder, cardamom powder... Hmm, is that a hint of spiciness from white pepper?" Tiqie Eriina’s shoulders shook as she bowed her head, hiding her eyes that had become misty with emotion.

"Ugh—"

Suddenly, it was as if the spices were ignited by an ethereal flame, conjuring up a tornado in the mouth, intertwining with the flames, merging into an ultimate fire tornado. Screaming internally, Tiqie Eriina felt as though she was set on fire, her body going limp, without strength in her limbs.

She quietly clenched her legs.

Eriina struggled to finish the rest of the fish fin sausage.

Liangzi Lina and Niho Fuyuka both had flushed cheeks, exchanging looks with an atmosphere that was inexplicably awkward.

"How is it?" asked Xia Yu.

Eriina slightly turned her head away, her lips muttering. She actually wanted to say "delicious," but when the word reached her lips, she swallowed it back down. For some reason, she just didn’t want to praise this guy.

Seeing her silence, Niho Fuyuka didn’t dare speak, and she quietly moved her hand to the side, giving a thumbs up. When Xia Yu saw her, she quickly withdrew her hand like a startled deer, sitting up straight, with eyes on her nose, nose on her heart.

Xia Yu chuckled, focusing only on Liangzi Lina.

"The fusion of creativity and intelligence!" Although Liangzi Lina was a cold beauty, her personality was more straightforward. She spoke her mind, "However, the culinary skills are still not proficient enough, giving a sense of haste..."

Xia Yu nodded.

Using "Bursting Flame" and "Spices Inequality" cooking techniques to make ’Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage’ was bold!

One must know, fish fin sausage, flames, and spices are normally as mismatched as can be.

The experience of improving Egyptian spiced roasted chicken and creating the ’Nine Feathered Phoenix’ recipe cannot be rigidly applied; the reasons were simple. If one strictly followed the original recipe for ’Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage,’ "Bursting Flame" and "Spices Inequality" just couldn’t make their way in.

Forcing them in would mean destroying the recipe.

But after being enlightened by the cooking of Shen He, Kazasaki Tatsuki, Iwazaki Jun, and Kikuchi Sankaku, Xia Yu decided, with a determined heart, to temporarily cast aside the shining recipes in his mind and to gamble on his own ideas!

It was not only the sausage casing that he had rubbed with spices – the strings of ham, bamboo shoots, and the shark fin strips had all been marinated with spices as well.

Of course, Xia Yu also used the "Spice Inequality" to simply calculate a reasonable spice formula, adding spices without destroying the original flavor of the ingredients, to ensure that the aftertaste of the dish lingered on.

His approach, it seemed, was correct!

...

Xia’s shop had started business for the day.

In the tea lounge, only Liangzi Lina remained.

Staring at the clear tea in her cup, Liangzi pondered with her head bowed, her pale fingers unconsciously moving the teacup back and forth, creating ripples that spread out in the water.

After seeing off a group of customers, Xia Yu finally found time to return to the tea lounge to serve familiar faces.

"Take a look—"

Upon his return, the woman merely spoke in a soft voice, placing a document bag she had brought with her on the coffee table.

Xia Yu’s forehead creased with question marks, but he opened the document bag as instructed.

Hmm?

It was an intelligence dossier, and just the photo of the person on the first page made Xia Yu’s eyes widen, "Wait, isn’t this the guy who is Lancelot?!"

In the photo, a blond young man was dressed in chef’s attire, his smile was radiant, and the background featured a resplendent Western-style academy.

"Lancelot, a graduate of the Orlando International Culinary Academy in the United States, was hired by an international culinary giant right after graduation last year, but according to our intelligence, Lancelot had already been a core member of the ’Gourmet Society’ during his studies!" Liangzi Lina stated calmly.

"Orlando International Culinary Academy in the United States?" Xia Yu felt the name sounded familiar.

"In the American culinary world, its status is similar to Far Moon in Neon’s homeland," Liangzi Lina said, "Moreover, it’s younger than Far Moon, founded about thirty years ago by Mr. Orlando, and it has been expanding rapidly over the past decade. We have always suspected that the Gourmet Society is the power behind Orlando Academy’s rise, but we have never had concrete evidence..."

"Gourmet Society!"

Xia Yu’s breath caught.

He had originally thought Lancelot was hired by real estate developers to strike at the shopping district, but to his surprise, the real background was the core of the ’Gourmet Society’!

Knowing Lancelot’s background, Xia Yu silently stuffed the intelligence documents back into the bag, his mind unable to settle down no matter what.

It seemed that the Tokyo Three Tigers Construction Company was just a facade for the ’Gourmet Society,’ a smokescreen to deceive people.

But it was illogical for a dark overlord to seize control of a shopping district, unless there was a special purpose.

"What on earth do they want to do?!" Xia Yu couldn’t help but ask in a deep voice.

"The IGO Neon Department is cooperating fully with headquarters to investigate!" Liangzi Lina stared at him with a hint of pleading in her eyes, "Whatever they intend to do, we must stop them! Our investigation found that Tokyo Three Tigers Construction Company is legal, and their acquisitions are within the permissible scope of the law, even their financial records are clean, without any loopholes to exploit... So, we can only fight them using the culinary world’s methods! You can’t lose in next week’s Food Duel!"

"I certainly can’t lose..."

Xia Yu laughed bitterly. He didn’t want to be embroiled in a fight between big institutions when competing against Lancelot in the Food Duel; he just wanted to protect the shopping district, to protect Xia’s shop.

"Lancelot has already submitted a Food Duel application, and the theme is... shark fin!" Liangzi Lina hesitated, "The Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage earlier, that was your research for the Food Duel, wasn’t it?"

"What do you think?" Xia Yu rolled his eyes.

Thinking of the IGO and the Gourmet Society, he was planning to send people away. Liangzi Lina sitting in his small shop for so long, wasn’t that telling the Gourmet Society that he had a deep relationship with the IGO Neon Department?

"No getting out of it now!" he thought silently. Xia Yu suddenly remembered the old man.

The old man and Shinohara Shigetaro also had a close relationship.

From any perspective, Xia Yu found himself already branded with the "IGO" stamp.

"The five judges have already been decided, I, the director, and Aoki are three of them, and the other two are also from IGO, so don’t worry about the judging, it will absolutely be fair..." Liangzi Lina said.

"Mm..." Xia Yu rubbed his furrowed brow, giving a short response.