"Found it. This is the place."
After searching around for a while, Kael stopped in front of a small, single-story building. A sign reading Setsuno's Dining Hall hung by the door.
He glanced at it once, then knocked.
The door opened almost imdiately. Standing there was a short old woman with a pink mushroom-cut hairstyle.
It was Setsuno.
"Young man, what business do you have here?"
She was clearly surprised. Under normal circumstances, no strangers dared knock on her door. Her restaurant operated strictly by reservation—and she was the one who notified guests when to co, never the other way around.
Even when the dining hall was open, people waiting outside wouldn't dream of knocking.
"Hello, Granny Setsuno. I'm here because of this."
Kael took out a transparent container.
The instant it appeared, a faint aurora shimred above it. The amount of soup inside was tiny, so the aurora was small as well—but unmistakable.
"An aurora…? Century Soup? Co in."
The mont she saw it, Setsuno realized sothing.
The timing was right. Century Soup should have matured by now—though the exact mont was always a range, which was why no one had gone to investigate yet.
And yet, soone had already obtained it.
And brought it straight to her door.
Having lived for centuries, Setsuno imdiately understood what Kael was after and waved him inside without hesitation.
Inside the dining hall, Kael took a look around. The décor was old-fashioned, almost archaic. There was no one else present—her disciple, Nono, was nowhere to be seen.
She was probably either in the underground kitchen or handling matters at the Setsuno Group.
"Sit. And tell this old woman—what are you looking to get from ?"
As she spoke, Setsuno poured him a glass of water.
Not ordinary water, but air water—high in nutritional value, excellent in taste, and correspondingly expensive.
"I didn't just bring Century Soup," Kael said. "I brought the key to completing it."
He didn't state his demands right away.
What he wanted was a lot. A single bowl of soup wouldn't be enough—so he laid his strongest bargaining chip on the table first.
Sure enough, Setsuno's expression didn't change, but the aura around her subtly shifted.
As for how Kael knew she was attempting to recreate Century Soup—it wasn't exactly a secret.
Many people who had eaten here knew about it.
Despite being several hundred years old, Setsuno was a child at heart. And a boastful one, at that. Even though the soup wasn't finished yet, she was already just one step away.
So whenever guests ca, she'd happily talk about Century Soup.
Over ti, word spread.
In truth, Setsuno herself knew it well—she couldn't complete it.
She'd been in the culinary world for centuries. If it were possible for her, she would've succeeded long ago. There was no way she'd be stuck on the final step for decades otherwise.
That was exactly why she'd sent Komatsu to look for the real thing.
Perhaps the mont she realized he could perceive subtle changes in flavor, she sensed it.
In the original story, the instant Komatsu completed Century Soup, Setsuno noticed Yun's(Wall penguin) presence.
And she imdiately understood—the key lay there.
How could soone with her level of intuition be stuck on a single soup for decades otherwise?
It was obvious. This world favored its protagonists.
Just like in Cooking Master Boy, the world itself leaned toward the chosen ones.
Those who weren't favored would never receive that final push.
Setsuno was one of them.
"You're saying… you know the key to completing Century Soup?"
She couldn't help asking. After all, she'd been stuck for decades. Soone suddenly claiming to have the answer felt unreal.
"That's right. The key lies within Century Soup itself."
Kael pointed to the container.
"Century Soup is a miracle ingredient—born from countless ingredients gathered by humans and nurtured by nature itself."
"In that case, trying to perfectly recreate it through human effort alone is nearly impossible. Granny Setsuno, you've already completed every step except the last."
He didn't need to say much more.
Setsuno was already at the threshold. A single reminder was enough.
"I see… No wonder I could never complete it."
She sighed, annoyed with herself.
"To think I overlooked the most crucial part."
Her restaurant operated the way it did because she respected ingredients. She only opened when the ingredients 'spoke.'
And yet, she'd ignored the most fundantal natural factor.
It was like holding a phone while searching everywhere for it.
"All right," she said. "Now you can tell what you want."
She could tell Kael wasn't lying.
"So long as it isn't excessive, I'll agree."
"I want an identity," Kael said calmly. "And I want one sample of every ingredient in the Human World—excluding rare ones."
He wasn't being greedy.
An identity was essential. The world's tech level was high, and having one would make everything far more convenient.
As for the ingredients—anything that wasn't extrely rare could be obtained with a few calls from the Setsuno Group.
To soone like her, this was trivial.
Money and rare ingredients weren't a concern. A powerful Gourt Hunter never lacked money—capturing a single high-level ingredient could set soone up for multiple lifetis.
He didn't ask for Gourt World ingredients.
He knew better.
Very few could even enter that place.
Asking for those would only sour the relationship he was trying to build.
"That's it?"
Setsuno was genuinely surprised.
What he asked for was almost laughably easy.
Easy enough that she felt she was the one getting the better deal.
What Kael offered was Century Soup—and the thod to complete it.
With the soup already taken, anyone else going to Ice Hell would co back empty-handed.
The Gourt Showcase was already at its limit. No more Century Soup would form.
Even if it weren't, the next batch would take another hundred years.
And the Gourt Eclipse was only a few years away.
All the top figures knew it would bring massive change—possibly even the destruction of the world.
Who had a hundred years to wait?
Kael held the only key.
Sothing that couldn't be asured in money.
She'd prepared herself for him to make outrageous demands.
And yet—
"Yes. That's all I need right now."
Kael nodded.
He ant it.
Next, he planned to hunt rare ingredients using the knowledge inherited from Toriko, activating his Gourt Cells as much as possible in preparation for entering the Gourt World.
His starting point was already far higher than Toriko's had been.
If he consud those ingredients and then mastered Monkey Martial Arts…
Entering the Gourt World would be much safer.
And he still had his trump card—Food Luck.
It was already strong, as proven in Ice Hell, and it would only continue to grow.
He suspected that, eventually, his Food Luck might even surpass Komatsu and Zonge.
So he wasn't particularly worried.
Kael knew exactly what he needed.
He never chased things that were out of reach at his current stage.
So things had to be earned personally.
"I understand. In that case, co with to the kitchen."
Setsuno didn't waste words.
Kael intrigued her.
Black-market identities like his weren't uncommon. Plenty of people chose to live in the wild, and their descendants grew up without registration.
Zonge himself had no Gourt ID in canon and was stopped outside Gourt City.
What surprised her was Kael's request for ingredients.
One of each ant he had no intention of selling them.
More likely, he wanted to understand them.
For a chef, that was essential.
A chef who couldn't even recognize ingredients wasn't a chef at all.
She didn't pry further.
Instead, she led Kael toward the underground kitchen and made a call to Nono along the way.
Nono was currently at the Setsuno Group headquarters—the largest chef organization in the Human World.
These days, Setsuno rarely handled affairs personally. Nono managed almost everything while she focused on research.
Nono was surprised by the request.
An identity for a blacklisted individual was one thing—but gathering such a wide range of ingredients?
Still, it was her master's order.
She imdiately arranged everything.
Setsuno sent Kael's photo and basic information over as well.
"This is my kitchen," Setsuno said once they arrived. "You'll get a copy of every ingredient here. The rest will be gathered as soon as possible—it'll take so ti."
"Would you like to see my Century Soup?"
Kael nodded without hesitation.
He was curious what her version tasted like.
Even if it was still Century Soup, the ingredients used were completely different.
They soon arrived in a vast chamber hundreds of ters tall.
At its center stood a massive pot, equally imnse, with stairways spiraling up its side.
For ordinary people, climbing it would be exhausting.
Setsuno leapt lightly onto the platform at the top.
Kael followed in a single bound.
"Hm? Your mastery of Food Honor isn't bad."
That jump revealed everything.
Only soone with Food Honor at the proficient level could exert force like that.
Anyone who reached that level was, without exception, a powerhouse.
She'd already sensed Kael's cell strength—but to reach proficiency at his age?
A true genius.
"I've reached proficiency," Kael said plainly. "And I've mastered Food Imrsion."
He didn't bother hiding it.
There was no point in front of soone like her.
"Very good. At your age, this is impressive."
She paused, then asked, "Are you a chef?"
"Yes. Though I'm not very strong yet."
Kael was honest.
He was still at the Dragon Chef level.
He hadn't advanced further because his qi hadn't reached its limit yet.
It was frustrating—but he knew rushing it would only harm his foundation.
Setsuno nodded and asked no more.
She took the Century Soup Kael had given her and tipped a single drop into the massive pot below.
If he was right…
That one drop would be enough.
Because all that was missing—
Was nature itself.
___________________
Every 100 Powerstones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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