Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 324 - 323: Fierce as a Shark

Chapter 324: Chapter 323: Fierce as a Shark

"Speaking of which, the hunting level only indicates the rarity of the ingredients, not their actual quality, right?"

Makki Morioka felt that something wasn’t right.

"That’s not necessarily true. Logically speaking, the more difficult it is to hunt an ingredient, the higher its quality naturally is," Tiqie Helinai replied to her. "For example, level 100 Fantasy Ingredients versus level 1 Fantasy Ingredients—putting aside their hunting levels, do you really think their qualities are on the same level?"

Makki Morioka shook her head, and her peers from the Polar Star Dormitory shook their heads too.

"But, but there’s still a difference!" Tanaka Hikari clenched her fists without realizing it, her palms sweating despite being just an audience member. Her heart was filled with tension, chiding herself for her lack of composure.

"Don’t worry, Instructor Xia has the upper hand with the ingredients!" Reiko Shen, like an older sister, said gently next to Xiao Hui.

"But, but..." Tanaka Hikari bit her lip, "Mr. Takai might be replicating the ’Beer Red Pepper Golden Shrimp’ dish from the Super Chef exam—"

Without bringing it up, it would have been fine, but this point made the kitchen atmosphere suddenly awkward.

Mars and Elizabeth cast playful glances.

The Polar Star Dormitory group looked toward Hase Ichiro with uneasy eyes. Their initially sincere respect seemed to fade, replaced with a hint of disdain.

"Cough! Cough!"

Hase Ichiro, sensing the shift in atmosphere, could only cough forcefully.

Logically speaking, he and Takai were on shaky ground.

They were the instigators of this unofficial culinary battle, possibly having plotted for about two months, fully prepared. They chose the right moment—when Xia Yu’s momentum was at its lowest, unceremoniously visiting Xia’s Restaurant the day after the super chef assessment.

But for the sake of victory, Hase Ichiro truly felt Takai Masashi was not in the wrong.

The memory of being upstaged by the prodigious young chef during the Chiyoda assessment, losing all glory, haunted Hase Ichiro like a demon lingering in his heart.

The culinary battle had already begun!

No matter what, he had to fight for a victory!

The over-fifty-year-old Hase Ichiro felt his blood boiling with excitement, as if returning to those early days when he had just opened ’Hasegawa Workshop’ and was struggling to make a name in the gourmet world of Tokyo.

The word ’compete’!

Competition is everywhere!

...

On the other side.

Xia Yu, with no time to care for the audience, opened the lid of the ingredients box, circling it to inspect the ’Starry Sea Bream’ inside.

As Mars had said, the ’Starry Sea Bream’ was one of the oldest Fantasy Ingredients in the gourmet world. Therefore, unlike the newly developed Fantasy Ingredients that hit the market, even ordinary people had some knowledge of ’Starry Sea Bream’.

This sea bream, over a meter long and weighing a hundred kilograms, was purchased by Xia Yu from the IGO Fantasy Ingredients Market for 280 million yen. It was a hefty bet he was willing to place for the sake of victory.

If he won, trading this fish for the culinary notebooks of two Super Chefs would be worth it.

If he lost? While the fish wouldn’t be wasted, the title he proudly wore as ’Neon’s youngest-ever Super Chef’ would equate to being publicly challenged and trampled upon.

"I can’t lose..."

He thought to himself, Xia Yu stomped his foot and then stood still in front of the ingredients box, suddenly motionless.

On the other side, Takai Masashi was already boiling water, beginning to blanch the lobster.

He glanced over and said indifferently: "Although there is no time limit in a private culinary battle, I hope you give it your all and don’t get distracted during the cooking. That would be an insult to me!"

Xia Yu chuckled.

"Mr. Takai, rest assured, I guarantee I will fight with all my strength!" he said.

"Hope that’s the case!"

Takai Masashi continued busying himself with his cooking.

The peers from the Polar Star Dormitory, seeing Xia Yu not yet in a hurry to start, seemingly undecided about the recipe, grew anxious.

"Uncle Mars, he doesn’t know where to begin, right?"

Upon seeing this, Elizabeth whispered to Mars, "Starry Sea Bream, a ferocious creature by nature..."

Her words came to an abrupt halt.

Because Xia Yu had already made a move—no, not a move, but a kick!

Bang!

With one fierce kick, the metal ingredient box immediately dented inward significantly.

At the same time, the ’Starry Sea Bream’ inside the box was obviously startled, splashing water erupted suddenly, and a huge sea bream jumped out of the tank at that moment!

"Hey, I’ve been waiting for you!"

Xia Yu stepped forward, steadily catching the falling large fish.

His arms forcefully sank down, a weight of a hundred pounds pressing down on his hands, and coupled with the sea bream’s violent struggles—even with Xia Yu’s inhuman level 30 physical fitness grade, cold sweat quickly broke out on his forehead!

At this moment, Xia Yu’s mind was in chaos.

His knowledge of the ’Starry Sea Bream’ was also gathered from diving into the internet or browsing through IGO Super forums.

It’s just a sea bream with a hunting level of 10, right?

This sentence was a reflection of Xia Yu’s mindset before he personally captured the ’Starry Sea Bream.’

It was like holding onto a ferocious shark! I have to carry on with the bravado I’ve put on, even if it brings me to tears!

"Heave—"

His gaze sharpening, Xia Yu took a deep breath, and forcefully slammed the huge fish onto the countertop.

Boom, the vibration sound lingered in the kitchen for a long time.

The Polar Star Dormitory buddies were dumbfounded, Ichise Hui, Kobayakawa Ryodan, and Elizabeth looked on in shock.

"This, this..." Hase Ichiro didn’t know what to say, a hint of horror in his eyes, "Is he planning to cook the fish alive? No way! The Starry Sea Bream can’t be treated like this!"

Xia Yu was disordered, and even the professional chefs who knew their stuff felt a thousand alpacas stampeding through their hearts.

"Wrong! It’s wrong!"

Hase Ichiro kept muttering, seeing Xia Yu firmly pinning a huge sea bream to the countertop, his face blank.

Snap! Snap!

The sea bream slapped its tail on the countertop, and the small droplets scattered out like bullets, hitting many people in the face with a stinging sensation.

With veins popping out on his arms, Xia Yu simply used his palms to hold down the sea bream.

Ten minutes later, as the sea bream’s struggles gradually weakened, Xia Yu found an opening to retrieve a scaling knife from the rack!

"Cling—"

Unexpectedly, as the scaling knife scraped against the sea bream’s fine and compact black scales, it was like rubbing forcefully against metal armor, sparks even flew from the blade.

"Holy shit!"

Xia Yu cursed inwardly, lifting the knife to look at it, his expression stunned.

The edge was curled, and there were even some chips on the blade.

This knife was clearly a goner.

Naturally, the knives placed on a professional kitchen’s rack were fine quality Hundred-refined Steel Knives, if not blue, then at least it should have been green quality. Yet not a single scale had been removed, and the knife had already fallen apart.

This scene, witnessed by the buddies from Polar Star Dormitory, resulted in a collective intake of breath.

"That’s a scale? Looks more like a steel plate to me!" Xingping Chuangzhen’s eyes widened.

Hearing this, Mars simply smiled.

These past ten minutes, he was the calmest one in the kitchen.

"Starry Sea Bream, apart from its ferocious nature, akin to that of a shark which makes it difficult to tame, its scales also pose a thorny problem for many Super Chefs," Mars said, "Even some specially made knives struggle to scrape off its scales, and cleaning them thoroughly is even more of an arduous task."

"Turtle shell, indeed!"

Everyone fell silent.

It seemed that choosing high-level Fantasy Ingredients at a great cost didn’t guarantee one could handle them.

If one couldn’t even clean the scales off, there was no talking about moving onto the next step.

Tricky!

The kitchen atmosphere became increasingly suffocating.

"What on earth does Instructor Xia plan to cook?!"

Yoshino Yuji boldly asked, but no one answered him, including Mars, whose eyes also flickered with doubt and curiosity.

Indeed, what is he going to make?