Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 618 - 617: Chaos

Chapter 618: Chapter 617: Chaos

Kogawa Shinyiro personally took on the role of the competition emcee, while the two female hosts, Chiyoda Aichi and Dubian Yuuki, stepped down to move between the various cooking stations. They guided the cameras for close-up shots and, if the head chef was available, might even offer a microphone for questions.

"Whoa—"

Suddenly, an exclamation of surprise broke the silence.

Chiyoda Aichi looked at cooking station 50, bewildered, "The head chefs Adams and Oraora at station 50 have already completed their ’wine’ culinary creation!"

The camera swiftly focused in.

On the screen was a white Lin Giant in his forties and a slightly darker-skinned Female Special Chef of South American descent.

The Female Special Chef respectfully stepped aside, watching as the Lin Giant named Adams carried the plate up to the stage.

Adams was in his prime, with long brown hair draped over his shoulders, chiseled features, blue eyes, and a hawk-like nose. If he weren’t wearing a pristine white chef’s uniform, one might mistake him for a cowboy with a strong personal style as he strode onto the stage.

The venue fell silent for a second or two, then erupted in uproar.

"That was so fast!"

"It’s only been an hour!"

No wonder people were surprised.

The cooking phase had just lasted an hour, with another hour remaining.

After all, delicacies required time and careful crafting; completing and serving a dish in just half the time inevitably gave an impression of being rushed and not very serious.

However, when the camera focused on Adams’ dish, the commotion seemed to encounter a silencing spell, disappearing in an instant.

Everyone’s mouths hung open.

Even on the stage, many busy teams, including Lin Giants and Special Chefs, looked up at the large screen above.

"Thud!"

The plate landed on the dining table as Adams transported five transparent glass dishes from the tray, each containing a small "shell" pieced together with ingredients.

The shell, with an outer layer that appeared to be some kind of baked vegetable leaf, was golden and very beautiful, while the interior was rich, with solidified white frozen pieces and translucent jelly-like elements.

"Please enjoy. This is my culinary creation—’pineapple frost’!"

Adams bared his teeth slightly, raising a transparent goblet, tilting the glass over the dish. The transparent liquid instantly spilled onto the golden shell, and with a crackling sound, the shell slowly opened—

Simultaneously, an intense tropical fruit aroma swept out like a tornado!

Kogawa Shinyiro, acting as the event’s emcee, inhaled the scent and secretly marveled, "I feel like I’m in a tropical fruit jungle, surrounded by a hurricane, in the eye of the storm... Fruits come crashing towards me chaotically..."

"Not bad!"

An expression of admiration that couldn’t be suppressed.

The red-haired, handsome judge who identified himself as "Yoshitsune" pointed at the transparent glass dish in front of him, using his index finger instead of a spoon to dip into the shell. He didn’t care about the attention from the outside world, sucked his finger with a "tsk tsk," and mumbled, "...Hmm, indeed a tropical flair. Pineapple juice turned into crushed ice? And the creamy coconut milk jelly, wait, the liquid just poured on was actually lime juice! Whoa, the roasted pineapple pieces hidden inside are truly the finishing touch..."

The red-haired judge transitioned from sucking to devouring voraciously.

"Wrong!"

Exhaling a sigh, he set down the empty dish, overturning his earlier evaluation, "Wine!"

"Indeed! The white rum jelly is the soul, enhancing the flavor of each fruit. This wine’s quality is extraordinary, forcibly unlocking the Gate of Extremes with ordinary fruits!"

The silver-haired elder Nuliang nodded, "The white rum jelly is extraordinary!"

"Chef Adams, could you tell us more?" Kogawa Shinyiro tossed the question.

The first Lin Giant to present his dish calmly replied, "In fact, this white rum is self-brewed by me. Its raw materials are sugarcane from Cuba’s fertile land, where the climate yields the best rum ingredients. I used aged rum, crafted into a special cocktail with various fruits, before mixing with isinglass to form the wine jelly..."

"No wonder! Not to mention the coconut milk jelly, pineapple frost, lime juice... the wine jelly itself was flavorful enough!" Nuliang praised, eyes full of depth, summarizing, "Truly a Lin Chef’s work. Consuming this snack felt like experiencing a tropical storm in a fruit garden, and the howling wind seemed to echo in my ears... This is the voice of food, the embodiment of culinary meaning. You succeeded!"

Yet there was no smile on Adams’ face.

Noticing this, the audience was immediately curious.

The judges remained silent; only Nuliang and Red-haired Yoshitsune spoke, while the other three judges quietly tasted without commenting.

"So, may the five judges score!"

Kogawa Shinyiro announced.

The audience, including many teams on the field, paused, watching the large screen as they counted silently:

One, two, three!

In the third second, score prompts beeped, and suddenly, red numbers appeared under the five judges’ avatars on the screen.

"7 points, 8 points, 8 points, 9 points, 7 points!"

Chiyoda Aichi announced in one breath, "Adams and Oraora’s team scores... 39 points!"

points!

Upon reading this score, Chiyoda Aichi’s mood and expression collapsed.

With a maximum of a hundred, this score was not just unqualified; it was simply dismal.

"Uh!"

The entire audience was aghast.

Even on the field, Lin Chefs and Special Chefs reacted dramatically.

However, when the camera focused on Adams’ face, people noticed that this Lin Giant remained calm, seemingly already prepared for such a low score.

"Heh, just as expected!"

Adams removed his white chef hat, slightly bowed to the judging panel, then stepped down.

Kogawa Shinyiro immediately gave the two female hosts a look, and the stunned Chiyoda Aichi and Dubian Yuuki instantly realized it, chasing after him, "Chef Adams, do you have any objections to this score?"

"Objection?"

Stopping in his tracks, Adams remained expressionless, "This 39 points is only the score for my dish!"

"What do you mean?"

A few people understood, but most were still puzzled.

"After the rules changed, the second stage’s scoring, Lin Chefs and Special Chefs each account for half!" The camera returned to the judging panel, with Kogawa Shinyiro saying from the side, "In other words, with the Special Chef hidden, a Lin Chef’s individual work can only earn up to 50 points..."

Special Chef hidden!

The scene was filled with booing as Adams’ female partner Oraora turned pale, clenched her fists reluctantly. But after a while, she loosened her grip, her shoulder slumping in resignation, harboring resentment in her heart:

"...Pairing with a Lin Giant, it’s impossible to add my work to the same dish!"

"The culinary meaning of Qilin Domain will crush them all!"

The Female Special Chef gave up trying.

Adams had a similar mindset. After multiple unsuccessful attempts, he simply presented his dish.

What, present the collaborative work with a Special Chef? That kind of crude, incongruent dish was intolerable to most Lin Giants who had a culinary purism.

Imagine a great artist; how could they allow someone else to scribble or leave marks on their canvas?

The first team ended dismally with 39 points.

While the audience and hosts were still processing, there was suddenly a commotion of footsteps.

Doom, doom, doom...

This time, a total of three Lin Giants stepped off the cooking station.

Tang Shan, Red-clad, Lei Zhe.

Chiyoda Aichi took a breath, about to stir up the atmosphere, when the venue suddenly erupted into chaos, and in a wave of astonished gazes, several more Lin Giants stepped out.

Yan Mo, Desani, Xue Feichen, Lan Chuhai.

"Yu, hurry up—"

Zhu Qing looked up to see Lan Chuhai, another female Lin Chef, casting a provocative glance this way, gritted her teeth, and urged, "We can’t fall behind!"

"Alright, alright!"

Putting a cocktail shaker on the cooking station, Xia Yu shook his limp right arm, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.

The recent shaking and mixing had indeed put a considerable strain on his arm.

He placed a wooden tray, arranging five exquisite glass goblets on it. Without excessive decoration, like lemon slices or anything, Xia Yu finally placed the cocktail shaker on the tray, "Take it up then!"