Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 497 - 496: Harvest

Chapter 497: Chapter 496: Harvest

Soon,

Xia Yu, having released his "magic hair" form, returned from afar.

The Five-headed Bird had been strangled to death, hidden in a secretive corner, but when he returned to the battlefield, Jintan Shun was nowhere in sight, and the items that had exploded from his backpack seemed to have been cleaned up by the mercenaries—the ground was spotless.

In front of the cliff, Xia Yu found a climbing rope dangling down and he shouted downward,

"Come down—"

The mercenary uncle replied.

As Xia Yu descended the rope, the "magic hair" form had drained quite a bit of his energy, leaving him almost famished and desperately needing food and drink to recover, but he still had the strength to move and didn’t completely collapse after transforming.

His feet touched the ground, and a fishy smell hit him as he approached the cave in the mountain wall.

There was the glow of a flashlight inside, and Xia Yu stepped in.

"Hey, I’m really lucky this time!"

A large nest was built in the deepest part, made of dry branches and resembling a small platform, about a meter tall.

Jintan Shun was leaning on a giant white bird egg, striking a pose with one hand extended in a classic peace sign.

"Take a few photos for me, send them later!" the untidy mercenary said, "I want to post them on the mercenary forum, make those guys jealous."

Xia Yu was speechless.

He patted his trouser pocket, feeling it empty, and suddenly remembered that his phone had been in his backpack.

"I’ve gathered your things—" Jintan Shun pointed to the backpack at the entrance of the cave, and so Xia Yu found his phone and took a few photos, "Do you want one?"

Xia Yu hesitated, scratching his face, "Maybe not."

He didn’t want to expose himself.

During the fight, encountering hikers and Tang Yuqiong, he figured it couldn’t be kept secret. Worse, Tang Yuqiong was live streaming. By now, the internet was probably abuzz with videos of the "furry ball battling the Five-headed Bird." If his photo with the Taboo Bird Egg accidentally leaked, it would definitely catch the attention of those who were observant.

It wasn’t about how killer the colorful hair was.

But rather, he couldn’t risk exposing his "Gourmet Cells"!

Jintan Shun didn’t ask further, and Xia Yu secretly nodded. Despite the uncle’s unkempt appearance, his emotional intelligence was extremely high.

"There are three eggs."

Xia Yu stood next to the nest, noticing the eager and desirous look in Jintan Shun’s eyes as he gazed at the eggs, and chuckled, "Uncle Jintian, I’ll take two, you take one... Is that split okay?"

Yesterday, they had negotiated a hiring agreement of one-fourth.

But with only three Taboo Bird Eggs, which couldn’t be divided, not to mention Jintan Shun’s brave combat performance, Xia Yu also needed to use the ingredients to seal his mouth. Moreover, the moment he had killed the Five-headed Bird, the hunting mission was accomplished—a bountiful harvest!

"No problem! Absolutely no problem!"

Jintan Shun, excited, rubbed his hands together, stood at ease, and saluted Xia Yu: "Reporting, sir, I didn’t see anything today!"

That was exactly what Xia Yu had wanted to hear.

Xia Yu smiled. Strictly speaking, only Jintan Shun knew the true identity of the "colorful furball," and other witnesses likely thought the "colorful furball" was some sort of strange creature.

Thinking about it depressed Xia Yu even more.

"Mission objective—Kill the marked fantasy raptor (1/1) completed."

"’Five-headed Bird Egg’ is now unlocked in the store."

"’Five-headed Bird Meat’ is now unlocked in the store."

Two types of ingredients unlocked at once! A great harvest!

The meat, a purple top-grade ingredient, priced at 5,000 Fame Points per 500 grams.

The eggs, marked with a golden frame, a definite Taboo Ingredient.

Priced at... 30,000 Fame Points each!

Xia Yu was relieved now.

Secretly comparing the prices of the "Five-Headed Bird Egg" and "Gem Meat", even though both were golden-framed Forbidden Ingredients, the bird egg’s price was far less than that of the "Gem Meat", which cost 50,000 Fame Points for 500 grams!

Moreover, a giant bird egg at 30,000 was definitely more than a pound.

Working together, they improvised with materials on hand, weaving a carrying basket from branches and vines for transporting the eggs, joyfully traversing the mountain terrain as if it were flat ground. On the way back, Xia Yu did not forget to drag away the corpse of the dead five-headed monster bird.

...

That day.

Furano City and Asahikawa City Government received a call from Jintan Shun, so by evening, several helicopters hovered above the mountains. However, the helicopters did not come for rescuing people. Based on Jintan Shun’s clues, the search team located dozens of deceased bodies at the bottom of the valley where the monstrous bird had built its nest—the entire volcanic research survey team that had gone missing a month ago had perished.

Strangely, the bodies were relatively well-preserved. It seemed the monstrous bird had little interest in human flesh, killing them and discarding the bodies at random. Having returned to Chuyun Shrine, Xia Yu, upon hearing Jintan Shun’s explanation and corroborating the system data, couldn’t help but exhale in relief.

Meanwhile.

A short video rapidly went viral online; indeed, on that very night, discussions about this video saturated the internet in Japan.

Given that the monstrous five-headed bird appeared in Hokkaido, it was hard for the Japanese people to stay calm. Furthermore, what exactly was that "fuzzy ball"? Such questions stormed across Japan overnight like a typhoon.

That night, Asahikawa City and Furano City jointly issued a condolences tweet. They announced the demise of the entire volcanic research team and reported that several unidentified bodies of mountain climbers needed identification. Additionally, the city governments decided to grant a bounty to a Gourmet Mercenary named ’Jintan Shun,’ specifically wiping out a predatory bird dangerous to humans.

This condolences post further verified the authenticity of the viral video. The discussions remained intensely hot for an entire week, with related posts, news articles, and analysis videos frighteningly receiving high traffic.

Even.

The fiercely competitive legendary cooking tool contest in Sapporo was affected by this news.

October 8.

The final match of sixteen to eight was underway.

Yet, at the venue, the audience and competing teams frequently discussed not the duel underway—for the fight was one-sided—but instead, the Gourmet Organization’s Orlando Team dominated their opponents with just their presence, making them sweat. This team, organized by a culinary conglomerate, stood little chance against teams like Far Moon or Orlando.

"Have you followed the news?"

"Of course!"

"So, IGO has issued a statement about the monstrous five-headed bird, confirming it as an invasive predatory species... but what exactly is that ’colorful fuzzball’?"

"I feel like it might be a Gourmet Hunter..."

"On what basis?"

"Uh!"

Gourmet Organization’s research faction.

Hearing the whispers around, the conglomerate’s Lei Zhe frowned, turned his head to look at Tiqie Ji, who was sitting leisurely with his legs crossed, and couldn’t help asking, "What do you think, Tiqie?"

"Just overly aggressive gourmet cells. Nothing to worry about!" Tiqie Ji replied with a light smile, "Compared to the types of gourmet cells, I’m more curious... who is that Gourmet Hunter?"

"Who could it be?"

The curiosity was not exclusive to Tiqie Ji; other conglomerates had it too.

Far Moon Contest Team.

Dojima Yin glanced at Shura Saito Chiyokuro who had just arrived in Sapporo from Asahikawa to meet up with them two days ago.

"Chiyokuro, any news from Asahikawa?" Dojima Yin asked.

"Dojima, you still care about this news?"

Saito Chiyokuro laughed.

"Of course! It’s all the buzz... and, I want to purchase a ’Five-Headed Bird Egg’; could it be possible to get in touch with Jintan Shun?" Dojima Yin rolled his eyes, then seriously added, his hunger for Forbidden Ingredients evident.

"You want to buy an egg? Dojima, don’t overthink it. Give it up!" Saito Chiyokuro enjoyed his misfortune, "Heh, Japan’s uncrowned mercenary king, missing for ten years, now making a strong comeback. It looks like he’s hunted enough ingredients and is coming back to seek revenge!"

Pausing a moment, he stared intently, "The top eight from Zone A have been decided. We Far Moon need to watch out for the research teams, Orlando, and Dragon Town Restaurant!"

"Also, when is that kid coming back? He is our top champion!" Shura’s eyes held a trace of mockery.

"Maybe... in the next few days!"