Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 524 - 523: River Puffer Whale

Chapter 524: Chapter 523: River Puffer Whale

The semifinal, round two.

Dojima Yin’s opponent was Orlando Team’s number two special chef, the Danish giant with the nickname "Lion King," Leon.

Xia Yu changed back into his regular clothes and sat on the sofa when a fragrant breeze hit his nose. Zhu Qing naturally took a seat on the armrest of a single sofa, almost whispering in his ear,

"Tell me the truth, did you go out to hunt for ingredients earlier?"

"..."

"That strange furball wasn’t you, was it?"

"..."

"What exactly are your gourmet cells that they resonated with ’Gem Meat’? Don’t play dead, you know the first kind of resonant ingredients are forbidden-level, do you realize how terrifying, how unbelievable this is for chefs like this?" Zhu Qing emphasized.

Hearing this, Xia Yu was also quite puzzled.

He had eaten a Qilin Forbidden Dish "Gem Feast" and a special grade forbidden dish "Pan-fried Gem Meat," and unwittingly awakened the "Demon" in gourmet cells, becoming a "Dark Chef" by accident.

Simply put, he became one halfway through, until Jintan Shun explained it to him, only then did he barely understand the difference between the two paths of "food righteousness" and "Food Dominator."

But he didn’t have any idea about the specifics of becoming a "Food Dominator."

Otherwise, knowing before the competition that he could use resonant "Forbidden Ingredients" to force Mars to admit defeat, he wouldn’t have been nervous at all. He would have gone straight to preparing for the finals against Ghost Father by simply storming through the semifinal.

Crushing a powerhouse so easily gave Xia Yu some unusual thoughts.

The path of the "Food Dominator" seemed quite good.

Since his starting point was so high, why not try to explore it?

"Auntie, tell me—"

Xia Yu’s attitude suddenly softened.

"Hmph!"

Zhu Qing hummed and was very satisfied with her nephew’s attitude, as long as he wasn’t playing dead. She paused for a moment and said: "To put it simply, using the international standards of the ’Gourmet Society,’ cell strength can be divided into ABCD levels, and only exceptional chefs can inject gourmet cells. The likelihood of awakening depends on the kind of cell; the more obscure and rare the cell, the lower the chance of awakening..."

"Generally speaking, when gourmet cells first awaken, their strength is only C or D, so the ingredients that resonate with the cells are at most genetically modified and mass-cultivated Fantasy Ingredients..."

Xia Yu’s eyes lit up as he listened.

Did C and D levels correspond to the blue quality of Fantasy Ingredients?

He patiently continued to listen.

"Remember, after injection and awakening gourmet cells, if you want to increase the cell strength, injections won’t work anymore. The chef needs to constantly hunt and pursue new resonant ingredients, cooking delicacies with resonant ingredients, so by eating, you can evolve the cells within your body—"

Evolve through eating?

Was that the terrifying "Demon Stomach" of the "Dark Chef" born from this? Xia Yu couldn’t help but think.

"B level basically corresponds to the tier of top special chefs. Mars is stuck here, but he’s clearly reached the end of B level, controlling countless resonant ingredients. However, he can’t find higher-level resonant Forbidden Ingredients, so his gourmet cells have no hope of evolving to A level. Qilin level is an unreachable dream for him!" Zhu Qing continued, her lips curling in faint disdain and mockery.

"That’s why these chefs who entrust their culinary skills and even their lives to external things are fundamentally on a crooked path. They claim to be ’Food Dominators,’ what a joke—" Zhu Qing covered her mouth, chuckling softly.

She patted Xia Yu on the shoulder, passing him a warning look:

"Yu, it’s alright that you’ve awoken gourmet cells, but don’t get too involved. You have the blood of the Xia Family and Zhu Family in your veins; you don’t need to pin your hopes on any gourmet cells, just walk the right path from here on out!"

Xia Yu remained silent.

At that moment, the broadcast screen in the lounge switched from a replay of the event to the live competition.

On the screen, the chefs for the second round were already in place.

"Welcome back—"

The hostess, Chiyoda Aichi, with her cheeks flushed, spoke to the camera: "Here we are in Sapporo, at the legendary kitchenware competition, the A-Block semifinals. Just fifteen minutes ago, the first round concluded, with Xia Yu securing the lead for the Far Moon Team. The current score between the two teams is 1 to 0. Now, please pay attention to the second round of the battle—"

Cough!

She turned her head and saw Leon and Dojima Yin staring at her from their cooking stations, giving an embarrassed smile, she wasted no more words, grabbed a dart, and hurled it towards the spinning target!

"Oh, it’s ’Seafood’! The theme is ’Seafood’!"

Chiyoda Aichi stared intently at the target that had stopped spinning and bellowed loudly.

Seafood!

Backstage with the team, Xia Yu frowned: "President Dojima will be fine, right?"

"What do you think?"

Saito Chiyokuro sat with his arms crossed and opened his eyes at the question, his gaze carrying a relaxed smile, "Just watch. The match between Mars and you was different. Dojima and Leon’s showdown is a clash of the ’Food Justice’ and ’Food Dominator’ styles!"

"You might be able to learn something from their battle."

It was a clear indication.

Xia Yu turned solemn, watching the match intently.

"Rumble rumble..."

The audience didn’t have to wait long as both contestants had already decided on their recipes and ingredients. Crews pushed seafood carts onto the stage one after another, a thick scent of seafood spun through the venue like a whirlwind.

One crew member after another carried seafood boxes to Leon’s cooking station.

In contrast, Dojima Yin’s station was much quieter, with only one seafood box and the rest being supplementary ingredients.

"Click!"

Leon cast a cold glance across at Dojima Yin and then unlocked a box of ingredients:

"For this competition, I’ve prepared countless ingredients, and this is one of them... Dojima Yin, you have no chance of winning!"

The lid was lifted, and a tangible sea breeze swept out!

The audience stirred, craning their necks.

Chiyoda Aichi brought the camera closer, and there, Leon took out a piece of pure white, translucent flesh that gave off a strong seafood fragrance.

Upon seeing this, professional chefs in the guest area whispered amongst themselves.

"It’s the meat of a River Puffer Whale!"

One chef’s complexion turned stiff.

"My god... Another Forbidden Ingredient!" another chef stared wide-eyed.

"River Puffer Whale?"

The next day, both Xia Yu and Eriina frowned.

Zhu Qing explained: "It’s a creature known as the ’Phantom Whale’, a delicacy of the deep sea, essentially a giant puffer fish with the size of a whale. Moreover, the River Puffer Whale is toxic throughout its body. In the Chinese Cuisine World, even if a Gourmet Hunter succeeds in capturing the River Puffer Whale in the deep sea, there are less than 10 chefs who can perfectly process it, remove its poison sac, and eliminate the toxins."

"Even the Dragon Chef wouldn’t dare to casually use River Puffer Whale meat for cooking," she said.

"Then..."

Xia Yu’s eyes conveyed concern.

"That guy’s ’River Puffer Whale meat’ has been treated," Zhu Qing said with a hint of solemnity, "In this battle, Dojima Yin will likely have a hard time winning."

Saito Chiyokuro’s brow furrowed tightly, and he said with a mix of anger and laughter:

"It seems that in the third round, my match against Madeline will have to be very careful as well!"

Amidst the discussions, Leon and Dojima Yin had already begun cooking.