Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 292 - 291: The So-Called ’Food Justice

Chapter 292: Chapter 291: The So-Called ’Food Justice

"It’s really different!"

After tasting a spoonful of the seafood rice, Mars chewed carefully.

The jet-black rice was cooked to perfect doneness; not a hint of undercooking remained as it whipped up a cold whirlwind on the tip of the tongue.

Then came the hidden structure of spices within the dish!

The rich aromatic quality of artichokes mingled sweetly with the black rice, blending together, enhancing each other’s flavor, like a chemical neutralization reaction that seamlessly infused the two tastes into the dish without any incongruity.

"This pairing is like the perfect couple in a recipe!"

Mars couldn’t help but praise it out loud.

After tasting the same dish for two consecutive days, yesterday and today, he began to discern a fraction of the seafood rice recipe’s structure, but a recipe was more than just a combination of ingredients. Even someone with the ’Divine Tongue’ like Tiqie Helinai couldn’t fully replicate a super chef’s recipe just by tasting it.

"Weird!"

His head shaking.

With a hint of confusion, he took several more spoonfuls.

Beyond artichokes and black rice, other spices such as the faint woody aroma of saffron, the scents of fines herbes, bay leaves, rosemary, and even the fresh fragrances of garlic puree, onions, and lemon juice caused ripples of tidal sensation on the tongue, an electrifying experience!

Furrowing his brows, Mars grunted.

Noticing his reaction, Shinohara Shigetaro and Yuchuan Yuriko stopped their whispered conversation and looked over with intent gazes.

Tiqie Helinai, who was also in the private room, pursed her lips and said, "Are you not satisfied?"

"No..."

Mars shook his head, "It’s just so strange!"

His lips moved slightly, barely audible as he repeatedly muttered the word "weird."

It tasted bland!

Comparing today’s seafood rice with yesterday’s, Mars distinctly sensed that today’s dish lacked the explosive flavor that yesterday’s had, which felt like alternating eruptions of a volcano and an iceberg.

More importantly, he couldn’t taste the ’intention’ that the culinary skill imbued the dish with!

Was there no cooking spirit?

No!

The cooking spirit had to be there. Mars couldn’t discern the illusion, but that didn’t mean there was no cooking spirit.

Mars didn’t know how to explain it. Within a single day’s difference, the ’intention’ that had been fused together before had now dispersed into nothingness within the dish, completely eluding any attempt to pinpoint it upon closer inspection.

He touched his stomach.

A curious feeling of satisfaction!

"Uh..."

He could even hear the "demon" in his stomach letting out satisfied burps as if he was stuffed. It seemed almost like an illusion. But indeed, he felt completely satisfied, which was unbelievable!

"How many bites was that?"

"I’ve only had a few bites!"

He was inwardly alarmed. Mars, of course, knew why his appetite was so terrifying. To put it simply, the ’demon’ appetite was part of the process of a top-tier super chef from the ’Gourmet Association’ climbing towards the level of a Lin Chef, taking a different path to promotion than that of a Bright Qilin Chef.

Bright Qilin Chefs walk a righteous path, understanding ’Food’s Profound Meaning,’ offering gratitude to ingredients, and thanking all living things—a noble path.

Chefs from the ’Gourmet Association,’ or those from the Dark World, embark on a path of evolution, using their own bodies as a foundation to fully explore their appetite, nurturing it into a demon, and eventually comprehending ’Food Dominance.’

Food’s Profound Meaning and Food Dominance.

Or, ’Food’s Profound Meaning’ and ’Food’s Emptiness’—these two culinary philosophies strictly distinguish Bright Qilin Chefs from Dark Qilin Chefs.

Dark Qilin Chefs, who gobble and guzzle without restraint, truly indulge in eating and drinking, and need at least a hundred chefs to serve them. They stand in a realm beyond human, having obtained culinary cells that surpass human limits.

Bright Qilin Chefs, who follow the realm of ’Food’s Profound Meaning,’ start by expressing gratitude to their ingredients.

Just like Seven-star Saber Ren in the original ’Shota no Sushi,’ when slaughtering cattle or fish, they communicate with the ingredients to earn their submission.

But how do Bright Qilin Chefs communicate with seemingly lifeless vegetables and fruits, let alone live poultry and livestock? That’s the essence that top-tier super chefs must grasp as they progress toward the realm of the Lin.

The voice of the ingredients!

Touching his stomach again, a flicker of horror passed through Mars’s eyes as he couldn’t help but stand up, staring fixedly at the steaming seafood rice on the table.

He moved so suddenly that Eriina, Shinohara Shigetaro, and Yuchuan Yuriko all looked over.

"What’s wrong?"

Eriina asked him quietly, seeing him petrified.

"No, it isn’t my stomach making a full-burp sound! I haven’t eaten my fill!" Mars shook his head frantically, muttering non-stop, his eyes revealing a horror that seemed to only deepen.

"Impossible!"

He stood up straight and scooped another spoonful, trembling as he ate it.

Chewing!

Nothing strange!

Mars’s expression was focused, with a sort of "inner-vision" spiritual power, as he focused entirely on the food as it travelled down his throat and flowed into his stomach.

"Gurgle~"

The moment the food entered, the blackness of his stomach shuddered, then began to spasm, as if cheering in ecstasy.

Dimly, he heard the sound of a hiccup again.

"Did you guys hear that?"

"Hiccup!"

Mars abruptly turned his head to ask Eriina, Shinohara Shigetaro, and Yuchuan Yuriko.

Shinohara Shigetaro and the female Tokyo Mayor exchanged glances, remaining silent.

Eriina looked at Mars with an odd expression that seemed to say, "Are you kidding me?" and said, "Principal Mars, I’m certain there was no such sound just now!"

Stunned for a moment, Mars then returned to his cushion, apologizing to the three for his rudeness.

He took a deep breath.

Mars no longer showed any signs of abnormality, quietly finished the bag of seafood rice, and finally let out a long breath.

"I’m full!"

His hands came together in gratitude, facing the empty foil bag, as if to give thanks.

"Full?"

Shigetaro Shinohara was astounded.

"Yes, full!" Mars threw him a meaningful glance, "Not just spiritually satisfied, but also satiated in appetite!"

These two had met the previous day, and Shinohara Shigetaro knew about how Xia Yu had used seven identical dishes to satisfy Mars spiritually. But today Mars actually claimed his appetite had been satisfied!

On hearing this, Shinohara Shigetaro’s first thought was:

You’ve got to be kidding me, right?

Shinohara Shigetaro had every reason to believe this was the opponent playing tricks.

Seeing Shinohara Shigetaro’s change in expression, Mars couldn’t help but feel a laugh bubbling up from within. He didn’t try to contain it; he burst into a raucous laughter, slapping the table as he laughed more and more uproariously, making Shinohara Shigetaro scowl.

Eriina and Yuchuan Yuriko’s expressions weren’t right either.

Mars felt he had discovered a great secret, a secret unknown to both the Neon Department and the IGO administrators to this day.

That was why he was laughing so heartily.

He was the first to discover it! An indescribable excitement!

"Check, please—"

Mars stopped laughing, stood up, waved to Ichise Hui at the front desk, and took out a black card.

Beep beep beep.

Ichise Hui hadn’t even started the process when Mars pressed keys at the cash register himself, and out came the receipt, leaving Ichise Hui dumbfounded.

"Eh..."

She opened her mouth, wanting to call out to Mars, but he was already at the entrance, slipping on his shoes and striding toward the kitchen.

Eriina, Shinohara Shigetaro, and Yuchuan Yuriko all came out from private room number one.

Eriina glanced unintentionally at the unchecked receipt at the front desk and saw a series of zeros. At the bottom of the receipt, the consumption tax was listed separately, also a string of zeros.

Tiqie Helinai’s pupils shrank slightly, startled by Mars’s display of wealth.