"Relax. If I dared bring it back for you to eat, then it's definitely safe. The sugar content in the Rainbow Fruit does look terrifying, but even ordinary people can eat it. Any excess energy will naturally dissipate."
Kael gave a brief explanation. If normal people really couldn't eat it, then by the later stages of the original story, countless people in the Human World would have died already.
After all, toward the end, the Human World was eating not only Billion Bird meat, but also all kinds of ingredients brought back from the Gourmet World. If those ingredients truly couldn't be handled by ordinary people, they would have died from energy overload the moment they ate them.
Yet nothing ever happened. That alone proved they were edible.
Hearing this, no one said anything more. Since Kael had said so, they naturally stopped holding back.
After eating the Rainbow Fruit, everyone was indeed completely fine. But its deliciousness instantly captivated them. It was a flavor they had never experienced in their entire lives.
Compared to every ingredient Kael had brought back before, the Rainbow Fruit was on a completely different level. It was a taste beyond words. After just one bite, everyone became fully immersed in it.
Besides the Rainbow Fruit, Kael had brought back plenty of other gourmet ingredients. However, since the others didn't have Gourmet Cells, he could only leave a large portion of the ingredients behind. Thankfully, Kael's qi had the ability to restore freshness and preserve ingredients permanently.
He directly remodeled a massive underground cellar and stored all the ingredients there.
He then transformed the cellar into something similar to the Eight Spirit Tower, so there was no need to worry about refrigeration ruining flavor or texture.
The ingredients Kael stored would always remain at peak freshness. The stockpile alone was enough to feed Erina Nakiri and the others for decades. Even if they shared with their families, it would still last a very long time.
After that, Kael stayed in the World of Food Wars for a while, enjoying a comfortable stretch of life before returning once more to the Toriko world. Compared to here, time over there was much tighter.
Although it seemed like he still had plenty of time, it was better to hurry, just in case. As long as the issues in the Toriko world were resolved, he would have all the time in the world to relax later.
Now was not the time to take it easy. He wanted to grow stronger as quickly as possible.
And so, Kael returned once again to the Toriko world. When he arrived at Setsuno's dining hall, he ran straight into Master Jiro.
The two had already agreed on a time. Now, Kael would begin training under Jiro.
During this period, Jiro had already planned out Kael's training path.
The first stage was theory. This stage wasn't a problem for Kael at all—he already had some foundation in Knocking.
The second stage was practical training in the Human World. This phase was mainly about building a solid base, focusing on beginner and intermediate Knocking techniques.
Then came the third stage. But before entering that stage, Kael needed to raise his strength as quickly as possible, because the third stage required entering the Gourmet World.
Even Teppei back then had never enjoyed the treatment of a full third stage. It wasn't that Jiro was unwilling to teach him advanced Knocking techniques.
Rather, after seeing Jiro's expression, Teppei decided to become a Gourmet Regenerator instead. By that point, his Knocking had already reached an intermediate level, and regeneration didn't conflict with Knocking.
On top of that, Teppei's cell level back then wasn't high enough to enter the Gourmet World, so Jiro's teaching was put on hold.
Afterward, Teppei went deeper and deeper down the path of regeneration. Seeing this, Jiro taught him the advanced Knocking techniques and left him to study on his own.
Teppei's main focus had already shifted to regeneration techniques and knowledge. Jiro didn't interfere further—until Kael appeared.
Strictly speaking, Kael hadn't yet reached the level required for the third stage either. But Jiro felt that Kael might actually be able to undergo that training.
After all, Kael spent most of his time out in the field capturing ingredients. He was a genuine combat-oriented type.
Teppei was different. He had to divide his attention between regeneration techniques, which limited his growth somewhat. Even so, his progress was still impressive—he chased closely behind the Four Heavenly Kings in the original story.
Even after Toriko and the others awakened one arm, Teppei could still fight them head-on. His talent was undeniably high; it was just that regeneration studies delayed him for a time.
...
The first stage of training went smoothly. Kael already had full command of the fundamentals. Only some of Jiro's personally summarized insights needed relearning.
Fortunately, Kael had the Gourmet Corp as a cheat. By entering the Gourmet Corp state, his learning efficiency skyrocketed.
Whether Jiro was teaching theory or demonstrating techniques, Kael could grasp everything extremely quickly.
For Kael, this was business as usual.
For Jiro, it was anything but.
"Your talent is terrifying. Not just in cooking—your talent for Knocking is the strongest I've ever seen!"
After teaching Kael for a few days, even Jiro was completely convinced.
He still remembered when he first met Acacia and trained under him. Back then, Acacia had told him that his talent in Knocking was monstrous—perhaps the strongest Acacia had ever seen.
But now? Comparing his own learning speed back then to Kael's current pace…
The difference was embarrassing.
Kael responded with a few modest words. How others praised his talent was their business. He still believed it was better to stay humble.
He wasn't pretending. He genuinely felt that way.
His perspective was broader than that of most people in the Toriko world. He knew what kind of crises Earth would face, and he knew there were far more terrifying lifeforms out there in the universe.
For Kael, continuous self-improvement was what mattered most—not getting complacent just because of a cheat ability.
After completing the first stage, Jiro took Kael to several special locations. All of them were in the Human World; they didn't enter the Gourmet World yet.
Even so, these places were still extremely dangerous.
Their first stop was one of the three entrances between the Human World and the Gourmet World: the Road to the Underworld.
They came here because of Kael's strength. Ordinary beasts posed no threat to him anymore. Only a place like this could serve as proper training.
The beasts here weren't particularly strong—right at the boundary between the Human World and the Gourmet World.
The Road to the Underworld was special. It periodically transported beasts into the Human World.
These beasts weren't very strong by Gourmet World standards. But compared to the Human World, any one of them wandering into a populated area would be a natural disaster.
This place was guarded year-round. The one stationed here was the Gourmet Banchō, Uemon—an IGO member of the Zero Biotope.
In the original story, he had taught Sunny his "spacing out" technique.
Of course, that "spacing out" wasn't true absent-mindedness. It was more like Ultra Instinct—handing everything over to instinct, abandoning conscious thought to boost combat power.
Still, it wasn't the same as Ultra Instinct. Ultra Instinct was more like a special transformation, a state tied to gods. In the Dragon Ball world, even mortals couldn't sustain it for long.
When Jiro and Kael arrived, they saw Uemon still completely spaced out. He hadn't even noticed their presence.
Mainly because neither Jiro nor Kael carried any malice. If they had even the slightest hostile intent, Uemon's instincts would have detected it instantly.
He wasn't stupid—he was simply accustomed to fighting in that trance-like state.
"Uemon."
Jiro called out to him and released a trace of aura. Even the tiniest sliver of Jiro's aura was terrifying.
Though it carried no malice, the sheer pressure triggered an overwhelming sense of danger. Uemon's cells screamed in alarm.
His consciousness snapped back instantly.
"Ma—Master Jiro?! Why are you here? And who is this?"
Uemon was startled. He never expected to run into Jiro here. As for Kael, he didn't recognize him.
In truth, Ichiryu had already passed Kael's information to the core members of the IGO. With Kael's terrifying talent, he was destined to become a major figure. Letting others know was necessary—to avoid offending him, or even to offer help if they encountered him in danger.
Everyone in the Zero Biotope already knew about Kael—except Uemon. Unless someone called him directly, he rarely paid attention to such information.
So Jiro introduced Kael.
"To think he's Granny Setsuno's disciple—and learning Knocking under you, Master Jiro… that's really—"
Uemon wanted to say Kael was incredibly lucky, but realized that might be rude, so he swallowed the words.
"Then why are you two here?"
He looked at Jiro. Since Kael was here to train, surely they weren't planning to enter the Gourmet World through this place.
To be honest, Uemon had rarely seen anyone use this route.
Compared to the Port of the Dead Spirits, this place was safer—but almost no one chose it.
After all, the number of beasts here was overwhelming. Going through Life Falls was far safer and the environment was much better.
As for the Port of the Dead Spirits, while more dangerous, it connected to the Gourmet World via the Demon Food Realm. Anyone with the right connections could take that route.
All things considered, both options were better than the Road to the Underworld. So despite guarding this place for so long, Uemon had seen very few people pass through.
"We're here to practice Knocking. Beasts appear here regularly, making it a great training ground."
Jiro stated their purpose plainly.
"Training Knocking here? Isn't the risk a bit too high? Even if these beasts are bottom-tier by Gourmet World standards, they're still terrifying to people in the Human World."
Uemon was baffled.
"Kael's strength is too high. Ordinary beasts can't help him train anymore. This place barely works."
Jiro's words made Uemon's gaze change instantly.
He had assumed that no matter how talented Kael was, his strength would still be limited at this age.
But to think he had already reached the boundary between the Human World and the Gourmet World…
That meant with a bit more time, Kael could enter the Gourmet World.
A future Gourmet World-level powerhouse, backed by Granny Setsuno and Master Jiro.
Even someone as absent-minded as Uemon understood how terrifying Kael's potential was.
"I see. Understood."
Uemon nodded and returned to his seat. This time, though, he didn't space out. He wanted to see just how strong Kael really was.
After a while, thick mist once again enveloped the Road to the Underworld.
When the fog dispersed, waves of ferocious beasts surged out from the road, pouring into the Human World.
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