"What's going on?"
Seeing such a scene, Okabe stepped forward quickly without hesitation, frowning as he stood in front of Ikumi Mito to confront Adana and the others in her place.
Seeing Okabe arrive, Megumi Tadokoro and Ikumi Mito finally revealed expressions of relief. Just as they were prepared to open their mouths to explain, Adana, who was standing opposite them, spoke first:
"Oh, Sequence 1 is here too."
"Just in time. You judge the reasoning. Wilderness survival emphasizes first come, first served. We surveyed this area earlier than them; don't you say they should move to another place?"
"Nonsense!"
Hearing these remarks, Ikumi Mito was so angry her face turned red: "We simply didn't see any markings left by you guys. We were the ones who discovered this place first!"
"Markings?"
Hearing Ikumi Mito's words, Adana chuckled aloud: "What markings are needed? We Indonesians have lived in the jungle for thousands of years, relying on the perception of nature. The mountains, rivers, and trees are all our markings.
The stones here, the water flow, and even the pine trees beside us are all markers guiding us back here. This is the gathering place we settled on!"
"Exactly, exactly! We Indonesians are a people who developed from the forest. We know every detail of the forest like the back of our hands. This is no different from our home!"
"That's right. Rather, it's better to say this is my home, and you guys are the rude intruders!"
"Hahahaha!"
As Adana's voice fell, people beside her immediately responded, followed by a burst of boisterous laughter.
Seeing this scene, even Soma Yukihira and Takumi, who arrived later, were choked with anger. Just as they were preparing to step forward to argue, they were stopped by Okabe reaching out his hand.
"You say you surveyed earlier, then I ask you: fifty meters upstream of this stream, there is a half-section of a withered tree struck by lightning. What is growing on the tree?"
He roughly understood the situation.
It was nothing more than these few foreigners seeing that the location they selected was good and wanting to forcibly occupy it, so they found such a lame excuse.
What forest is their home? I could even say Earth is my home!
Such a reason obviously could not convince the public.
And as Okabe's voice fell, Adana was obviously stunned for a moment. The team members behind her also stopped their laughter, looking at each other in dismay.
"Withered tree trunk... of course mushrooms are growing on it."
A young girl with a tender appearance said uncertainly.
"What kind of mushrooms?" Okabe questioned closely.
"Just, just ordinary brown mushrooms..."
Looking at the aggressive Okabe, the uncertain look on the young girl's face became even more intense. But after glancing at Adana, whose expression remained as usual, she still bit the bullet and spoke.
"Is it like this?"
Hearing her words, the corners of Okabe's mouth rose. He took out the mushrooms Soma Yukihira had just picked on the road from his pocket, his expression carrying mockery.
"No, the color should be a bit darker..."
The young girl spoke with pretended seriousness, observing Okabe's expression while speaking, then added self-righteously, as if there really were such mushrooms on the withered tree.
"I lied to you. There is no withered tree at all, and even less so mushrooms. Fifty meters upstream is a wasteland; we just came from there."
Hearing her words becoming more and more confident, even carrying some certainty, Okabe's face suddenly turned cold, and an indescribable imposing aura emerged from his body, pressing forward.
"Wha..."
As his voice fell, the young girl retreated two steps in some fright, while Adana's expression remained unchanged, staring at him quietly just like that.
"In the jungle, the weak will be preyed upon by the strong. Once the tiger comes, the wild buffalo must move away from its habitat. This is the natural law of the weak falling prey to the strong."
"And we are the tigers. As creatures at the lower end of the food chain, it is normal for you to make way."
After staring at each other for a long time, Adana's voice rang out. The gaze looking at Okabe carried a trace of disdain; that was the attitude a superior had when looking down on an inferior.
"Well said. The jungle indeed adopts the law of the weak falling prey to the strong, but you guys aren't necessarily the strong, and we aren't necessarily the weak."
As the voice fell, Okabe immediately retorted sarcastically. At the same time, a gust of wild wind blew from the horizon, messing up the hair of both sides and adding a bit of disorder to the environment of the scene.
"However, you are right about one thing. The jungle is survival of the fittest. Since this is your way of survival, then let's use the law of the jungle to resolve this dispute!"
"Oh? What do you want to do? A Shokugeki?"
Hearing Okabe's words, Adana revealed an interested expression. Regarding Shokugeki, she was confident she wasn't weaker than anyone.
"A Shokugeki isn't out of the question, but ingredients here are scarce, making it difficult to exert one's full strength.
Why not limit it to today's dinner? Let the two teams disperse to collect ingredients and see who can make a dish that satisfies the assessment teachers. How about it?"
An opportunity to properly probe the bottom of this Sequence 5!
The previous duel with Natsuo had already given him enough surprises. At Ryōzanpaku, aside from Erina Nakiri, there were no such formidable experts to compete with him!
"Acceptable. Since it is unit-based teams, naturally the team's victory or defeat will be the standard."
"However, there is one thing I must remind you of first. We Indonesians are the darlings of the forest. In our team, there are also a few guys born in primitive villages. Returning to this forest is no different from returning home."
"And you guys... are just city kids who occasionally come to the forest for a picnic!"
Adana looked at Okabe, her words revealing overflowing contempt. As her voice fell, the group of people following behind her laughed heartily one after another.
"Better hurry back, don't lose face in front of us!"
"Exactly, you city bumpkins probably can't even distinguish between Sauropus androgynus and Crown of Thorns!"
This was an unfair duel.
At least in terms of finding ingredients, Okabe's group of city kids was definitely not as skilled as this group of Indonesians who grew up in the forest, and the possibilities for cuisine were also fewer.
However, no one on the scene was afraid.
Especially upon hearing these guys say these things in a contemptuous tone, a fire was lit in their hearts, and their eyes turned cold in an instant.
A duel is a duel.
If I can't beat you, that's my uselessness.
But spouting trash talk before the duel and using such a contemptuous tone was truly hard for them to accept, especially under the circumstance that the team was full of young, hot-blooded lads.
Takumi Aldini took a step forward, standing beside Okabe, coldly gazing at the ponytail man who was clamoring the most happily in front of him: "Hope your cooking is as amazing as your tongues."
This guy was making faces while clamoring, as if wanting to attract everyone's attention. Little did he know that such behavior would give people a kind of uncivilized aesthetic.
"If you talk big during the day, your tongue will be pulled out by the Tongue-Pulling Demon at night."
Soma Yukihira arrived at Okabe's right side. The three formed a wall, isolating the unkind and contemptuous gazes of the Indonesian team members.
"Then let the Tongue-Pulling Demon taste whose tongue is harder."
Adana's gaze swept over the three people standing shoulder to shoulder before her, the corner of her mouth curving into a provocative arc.
The noisy team members behind her also quieted down at this moment, waiting for her next instruction. The air was filled with a tension ready to trigger at any moment.
"Then, before the sun completely sets, submit the dishes to the examiners. At that time, they will give scores according to ranking. We just need to see whose ranking is higher."
"Just what I intended!"
"This place is temporarily yielded to you. Remember not to leave too much trash; we will come over to recycle it tonight."
"No need for you to say. We also won't fill the place we are living in for the next month with trash."
After finishing this sentence, Adana left with her team. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared without a trace, as if they had merged together with the woodland bushes.
"Phew..."
As they completely disappeared, Ikumi Mito and Megumi Tadokoro also revealed expressions of relief. Confronting the Indonesians alone just now truly put them under immense pressure.
Although these people were generally short, every single person's face carried a wild nature that they didn't have. Adana, the leader, even held a rugged machete in her hand.
Who wouldn't feel tight in the heart seeing that.
"Sorry, Okabe-kun, Yukihira, Takumi, we caused you trouble."
Raising her head and seeing that the faces of the three boys in the team weren't very good, Megumi Tadokoro immediately apologized.
"You did very well, no need to apologize. The ones without manners are them. Next, consider how to beautifully win the victory of this competition."
Hearing Megumi Tadokoro's words, Okabe shook his head slightly, many ideas surfacing in his mind.
Regarding innate conditions, Adana and her group who grew up in the Indonesian forest definitely had the advantage.
The opponents could rely on experience to split into five directions to search for desired ingredients, while they were currently completely in a state of darkness.
And compared to the Indonesians with rich wilderness experience, apart from Okabe on their side, it was difficult for the others to move freely in the forest alone, let alone search for ingredients.
Originally, for the first day's dish, Okabe only planned to make something casual to get by, letting Soma Yukihira and the others adapt to the wilderness environment. He hadn't considered collecting ingredients at all.
Now that a cooking duel was to be conducted.
Casually serving an ordinary dish definitely wouldn't work. Since the opponent was a Sequence 5 powerhouse followed by Sequence List experts, possessing abundant ingredients, they would absolutely be able to serve a high-grade dish.
"No matter what, first find all the edible ingredients in this vicinity and gather them together. Leave the last two hours to research the recipe."
Under the condition of being completely in the dark, it was difficult to use ready-made recipes because they simply couldn't gather the ingredients. They could only think while searching.
Thus, Okabe stated his idea.
"Let's do this big! Let those guys who look down on others see exactly how we crush the fellows they are so proud of head-on!"
Soma Yukihira punched his palm, revealing that hot-blooded expression unique to shonen manga protagonists on his face, and this emotion quickly infected the others.
"Oh! Show them some color!"
Takumi was likewise, his face full of determination.
"I know some knowledge about basic wild vegetables and spices. I went up the mountain to pick them with Grandma when I was little, so I have a slight impression."
"For me, I can judge the fat content inside animals by observing their body shape. Although my hunting skills aren't very good, I can make some traps."
Megumi Tadokoro and Ikumi Mito behaved equally excitedly, introducing the things they excelled at while speaking. Looking at the other three ignited a raging fighting spirit.
"Your abilities are all quite good. This way, we won't be completely clueless in the wild. When the academy told us to form five-person groups, they probably also considered this aspect. Having people in the team who understand forest common sense will be of great help to the upcoming cooking..."
Different from the hot-bloodedness displayed by the boys, Okabe was obviously much steadier. On one hand, his soul age was older; on the other hand, this duel wasn't easy to win.
"Takumi, Megumi, you two form a team, responsible for collecting various ingredients on the ground: fungi, wild vegetables, and various things similar to spices.
Soma, Mito, you two are responsible for collecting fuel. Run around diligently, and collect fungi and wild vegetables along the way if you see them. If you encounter animals, mark the location, then send one person to tell me. I'll be responsible for catching them. As for this river area, leave it to me!"
Okabe naturally took over the duties of the captain, assigning tasks to every member.
What needed to be solved currently were ingredients and fire. Aside from that, spices. The former could determine the lower limit of the cooking flavor, while the latter determined its upper limit.
The place where the team was located was the middle section of the river. Compared to the turbulent upstream and the shallow flow downstream, the water potential here was stable, with a large number of river creatures surviving here.
This was also the main reason why Adana wanted to occupy this place rather than the upstream or downstream.
"Understood. Megumi, let's set off."
"Okay! Leave the ingredient collection to us; we absolutely won't let you down!"
Hearing her task, Megumi Tadokoro behaved very solemnly. Subsequently, she followed Takumi in front. The other party glanced at her and nodded slightly.
On the other side, Soma Yukihira and Ikumi Mito also set off, starting to collect withered branches scattered on the ground.
As for Okabe.
He followed the river to a tree, then selected a relatively straight thick branch on it. Leaping up, he broke it off and stripped away the leaves on it.
He found a large stone and a slightly smaller stone. Striking the two stones together created a sharp angle on the fracture surface; this was the most primitive hand axe.
Then, using the hand axe, he constantly adjusted the angle to knock the large stone into the shape of a spear tip, then bound it to the wooden stick with rattan, forming a wooden stone spear of primitive society.
"Feels not bad. Pity the durability of stone tools isn't good. Estimate it will be about scrapped after using it today. After nightfall, I'll craft other tools together."
Weighing it in his hand, Okabe revealed a satisfied expression. Subsequently, he took off his outer trousers and came to the riverside, starting the simple and unadorned day of a fisherman.
The depth of the river water was average, reaching about his waist. With his current strength and body control, it was enough to walk freely in water currents of this degree.
This was also the reason he chose to stay and catch fish.
He was seen slowly raising the stone spear, his gaze locking onto the shadows passing under the water surface from time to time like a falcon.
Because the stream was clear, he could clearly see the schools of fish swimming among the water weeds. Most were palm-width river fish, and occasionally he could glimpse one or two larger black shadows.
Okabe held his breath, his gaze wandering over the larger black shadows, slowly probing the tip of the stone spear into the water.
Water currents refract light, causing a deviation in the target's position. This was what Shigure Kōsaka told him when teaching him hunting skills back then, and it was also the hardest point of spear fishing.
He adjusted the angle, his wrist sinking slightly—
"Whoosh!"
The stone spear pierced the water surface, bringing up a string of splashes.
A solid tactile sensation came from the spear tip; a silver-gray fish was accurately impaled.
Okabe lifted the stone spear high. The fish struggled and swung on the spear tip, looking extremely bewildered.
Did I not have no natural enemies in this river? Why was I suddenly speared up? What is this eight-foot-tall fellow? A new species of beast!?
"The first one."
Okabe reported the count coldly, throwing the fish onto the grass by the shore, and continued searching for the next target.
At the same time, on the other side of the forest.
Adana's team did not scatter to search for ingredients as Okabe expected. They gathered under a giant banyan tree, the atmosphere relaxed like a picnic.
"Captain, are we really going to let that group of city kids toss about until night?" The ponytail man asked while whittling a wooden stick with a dagger.
Adana leaned against the natural seat formed by the banyan tree's aerial roots, playing with a dark purple fruit in her hand: "Let them toss about. In this primitive forest, experience is more important than any talent."
"But..." The young girl hesitated: "That Sequence 1 looks hard to deal with. I watched the duel between him and Natsuo earlier; he's really amazing!"
"Sequence 1?" Adana chuckled lightly: "That is just a ranking in the kitchen. This is the forest, our home court. Don't forget, we are 'Children of the Forest'!"
She stood up and walked toward a tree hollow of the banyan tree.
There was an area cleverly covered with leaves and vines. Adana lifted the cover, revealing a mountain of various nuts piled inside.
"This is the gift the forest gives us."
She spoke softly.
There were dark brown acorns with hard shells, light brown hazelnuts with stripes, and a few round pecans with spots, while the edges were packed with dense pine nuts as filler.
"Ji ji—"
The roof of the home was suddenly lifted, and five large faces came into view. The few squirrels living in the center of the banyan tree cried out, wanting to scare them away with this.
"So cute! But so fierce..."
The young girl let out an exclamation of surprise. She reached out wanting to touch its fur, but ended up being scared back by its teeth-baring and claw-brandishing appearance, so she couldn't help but complain.
"Don't provoke them. Squirrels are very timid creatures. We'll just take some useful high-quality nuts. Leave the rest for them to survive the winter, lest they commit suicide on the spot because of survival difficulties."
Glancing at the father squirrel who was bluffing but actually covering the retreat of his descendants, Adana covered the vines and leaves again and said to the young girl.
"Alright, then what are we going to do next?"
"Cato, you go to that sunny slope on the west side. When we came just now, I saw a patch of wild ginger and lemon grass. Pick some more tender shoots to bring back.
Sumi, you walk downstream along the stream. Pay attention to observing the soil by the water; there might be wild water celery and mint there.
Others are responsible for searching for firewood. I'll go look for spices that can make curry. Gather here in two hours; don't lose to the city kids."
Adana quickly assigned tasks. After hearing their tasks, the others nodded and turned to leave. Soon, only she remained at the scene.
"Sequence 1's Okabe, huh?"
"Hope you can make me joyful."
____
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