Kael, who knew the story inside and out, was fully aware that Sunny had mistakenly brought back a Regal Mammoth calf instead of a full-grown one. The main reason was that Sunny had gotten a little overconfident and careless.
If he'd bothered to actually look up the Regal Mammoth's data, this never would have happened. His only impression of the creature was that it was gigantic, so when he ran into a baby and saw that its size was still absolutely monstrous, he automatically assumed it was an adult. After all, even a calf of that species was already terrifyingly huge.
By the time everyone had finished three full rounds of… whatever bizarre meal they'd just eaten, Sunny finally returned to the 1st Biotope's base with the young mammoth in tow.
"S-So… big…!"
Staring at the mountain-like creature in front of them, Komatsu and Tina gaped in shock. Even as a baby, the Regal Mammoth was nearly one hundred meters long.
What surprised people even more was Sunny himself.
At a glance, it looked like he was casually carrying the mammoth with one hand while walking, but Kael's vision picked up on something the others couldn't—countless faint, hair-thin strands stretched through the air.
The abilities of the Four Heavenly Kings were all extremely practical. In the early stages, only Toriko's felt comparatively straightforward, while the other three possessed techniques that were absurdly useful.
Sunny's power lay in his hair.
He possessed the Devil's Sense of Touch, and the Gourmet Demon inside him was a hair-type entity. That allowed him to control enormous quantities of strands, each individual filament stronger than an average adult human.
Those strands—thousands of times thinner than normal hair—were invisible to the naked eye. Only someone with extraordinary perception could notice them.
When gathered together, Sunny's hair could unleash truly terrifying force. The problem was that his application of it was still pretty crude.
Honestly, Kael thought that if he had that ability, the very first thing he'd do would be master Knocking.
Sunny's power was practically tailor-made for that technique. His hair could slip anywhere, and most of his moves already revolved around restraint and control.
So what if one strand wasn't enough to hit a point? Just bundle a few together.
Sure, turning tens of thousands of hairs into perfectly aimed Knocking guns might be unrealistic for now—but firing off dozens, or even hundreds, of strikes at once? That shouldn't be a problem.
Later on, thousands… tens of thousands… would probably come easily.
Right now, though, Sunny's usage was rough to the extreme. He mostly just relied on overwhelming quantity.
As he approached, Sunny flicked the Regal Mammoth calf forward with his hair.
The massive body went flying straight toward them.
Kael and the others immediately jumped out of the way.
Only Mansam stayed put.
He caught the falling calf with both hands.
"You bastard! Don't just throw something that precious around like that!"
Mansam glared at Sunny, veins popping.
Ahgain,to everyone else, this just looked like brute strength—Mansam casually holding up something that huge.
But Kael noticed what no one else did.
A body that massive, hurled through the air—even if only for a few dozen meters—carried terrifying momentum.
Yet when it landed in Mansam's arms…
His feet didn't even leave footprints in the ground.
That meant he'd dispersed the entire impact into the earth in an instant—and spread it so perfectly that not a single tremor followed.
In Kael's eyes, that wasn't just Food Honor. There was Enbu mixed into it too. That martial art focused on synchronizing force, and at high levels, even gravity itself could be shed.
Kael had already begun practicing Enbu as well. His Food Honor was solid now—what he really needed was to keep developing Food Immersion. Techniques for releasing force were also essential.
Still, fully unifying every cell in his body was no easy task.
He could clearly sense them. He could control some of them.
But even getting that portion to act in perfect harmony was difficult.
Synchronizing every single cell? That was on another level entirely.
The sheer difficulty gave him a headache.
He even wondered if, once they got back, he should ask Setsuno or Master Jiro to release some killing intent at him—just so he could experience that pressure firsthand. Toriko and the others had only grasped the concept after being forced into that state.
Of course, that was a problem for later.
Right now, Kael spread a layer of calories over his body, forming a thin defensive coating.
He'd done it because he'd noticed Sunny extending his sensory hairs again.
This was one of Sunny's scouting methods. Thanks to his Devil's Sense of Touch, a single brush was enough for him to instantly grasp the nature of something—even a person.
When he'd first met Toriko and the others, Sunny had already done the same thing.
Frankly, it was pretty rude.
According to Toriko, being scanned like that was basically the same as someone running their hands all over you.
Maybe it'd be tolerable if it were a beautiful woman—
—but this guy?
No thanks.
Kael blocked the strands with his calorie barrier.
Terry had sensed them too and immediately dodged.
The others weren't so lucky.
Toriko had been completely unguarded, only realizing what was happening when the hairs touched him.
Rin and Komatsu didn't even notice at all—the gap in strength was simply too large.
"Hm? You must be Mr. Kael. You noticed my sensory hairs right away."
Sunny glanced at him in surprise.
His strands had been stopped by the calorie layer—proof that Kael had detected them instantly.
Sunny promptly pulled those back.
The ones on Toriko and the others, though, he left alone.
"Sunny, can you not touch people with that creepy hair thing all the time? It's gross."
Toriko sounded tired and irritated.
Sunny's behavior really did bother him. The original story leaned hard into bromance, but Toriko definitely wasn't interested in men like that.
His priorities lay elsewhere—mainly eating.
So much so that he'd once left his wife behind to go exploring space.
Sure, time moved differently out there, and a few years for him only meant days back home…
Still felt irresponsible.
Space was far more dangerous than Earth. If he died out there, it'd be devastating for Rin.
"Looks like you've been eating pretty well lately. Your Gourmet Cells leveled up a lot."
Sunny didn't look embarrassed at all.
They weren't blood-related, but he and Toriko were close enough that the teasing didn't faze him in the slightest.
"Your sensory hairs are impressive. Strong ability."
Kael spoke calmly.
"But using them on people the moment you meet them? That's extremely rude."
He knew Sunny wasn't a bad person—otherwise Kael might've already swung.
"Mansam sighed.
"Sunny, be more careful in the future. Don't just use your sensory hairs on people whenever you feel like it. And hurry up and get ready to head for Regal Plateau."
He gestured at the massive creature.
"The one you caught is a calf. Whether it even has Jewel Meat is still unknown."
He was genuinely exasperated now.
Mistaking a baby for an adult was one thing.
But probing Kael on top of that?
Kael wasn't even part of IGO.
Ichiryu had specifically said they should build a good relationship with him—maybe even pair him up with one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Judging by how things were going…
Two of them were already out.
Toriko already had Komatsu. They hadn't officially declared themselves partners yet, but Mansam could see where that was headed.
Sunny had just offended Kael on their first meeting.
That left… Zebra?
Mansam grimaced.
Zebra's mouth was even worse than Sunny's.
Half the time Mansam himself wanted to smack him—if the guy weren't secretly soft-hearted, he wouldn't put up with him at all.
Which meant only one candidate remained.
Coco.
But Coco was extremely poisonous.
With his profile, he probably would've found a partner long ago if not for that.
The more Mansam thought about it, the more he felt like none of the Four Heavenly Kings were a perfect fit for Kael.
"Wait—what? You're telling me that thing's a baby?"
Sunny's eyes nearly popped out.
"So that's close to one hundred meters… and it's still a calf?! How big are the adults?!"
Toriko and the others stared too.
None of them had bothered looking up Regal Mammoth data.
"The adults are over ten times that in height," Mansam replied flatly. "You can do the math."
He rubbed his temples.
These idiots had clearance high enough to access everything.
And they didn't even check the basics.
"Ten times… that's… over a kilometer tall, isn't it?!"
Just imagining it made Sunny feel numb.
A walking mountain.
"That's right. Over a kilometer."
Mansam waved a hand.
"Anyway, get moving. Gourmet Corp's GT Robots have already entered the area. You need to beat them there and secure the Jewel Meat first."
Then he looked at Kael.
"Mr. Kael, I'll have to ask you to keep an eye on them. They're strong, but the GT Robots this time aren't weak either."
He knew full well that Kael stood above Toriko and Sunny in combat ability. With him around, things were much safer.
The robot from the arena earlier clearly hadn't been the main force.
Against Toriko's group, it still would've caused serious trouble.
And there could be even stronger ones.
Add the beasts roaming the 1st Biotope…
This mission was dangerous.
"No problem. Leave it to me, Director."
Kael nodded.
Toriko and Sunny exchanged looks.
Mansam wasn't the type to exaggerate.
If he said that, then Kael really was stronger than both of them.
The odds of him being wrong were basically zero.
Being outdone by a chef stung a little.
As Gourmet Hunters, their pride took a hit.
After getting Kael's answer, Mansam left to confirm whether the calf actually contained Jewel Meat.
If it did, they'd extract it.
If not, no big loss.
Kael and the others headed back into the undeveloped areas of the 1st Biotope, entering Black Grassland.
From there, they could go straight to Regal Plateau.
On either side of Black Grassland lay White Forest, Gourmet Coliseum, Mushroom Forest, and the Ancient Marsh.
Aside from Mushroom Forest, every one of those places was extremely dangerous.
Especially Gourmet Coliseum.
In the original story, Toriko took a beating in White Forest, then charged straight into Gourmet Coliseum. If Terry hadn't helped him, he might not have made it out alive.
Honestly, that plot never made much sense.
Leaving aside whether Rock Drum could really kick someone hundreds of kilometers…
White Forest connected directly to Black Grassland.
After reaching the coliseum, the smartest move would've been to retreat, circle back through Black Grassland, and approach Regal Plateau from another direction.
Instead, Toriko had stubbornly forced his way through.
It was baffling.
But this was reality now.
Rock Drum wasn't that absurdly powerful, and nobody was getting punted hundreds of kilometers away in scattered directions.
"By the way—why are you tagging along?"
Sunny glanced sideways at Tina.
"This biotope is the most dangerous one there is."
He'd only just noticed her—she'd been busy snapping photos nonstop.