Inside a lodging house at the Ropeway Station.
"I'm so bored! I say, let's have a fight, Toriko!"
Sitting on a two-seater sofa, Zebra shouted at Toriko out of boredom, to which Toriko responded with a look of disdain.
"I'm not doing it. Just sit still, you bastard."
"What's the big deal? It's been a while since we last saw each..."
Hearing Zebra suddenly stop mid-sentence, Toriko turned his head in confusion, only to find that the previously noisy Zebra had now adopted a listening posture, tilting his head to one side.
"What's wrong?"
"Shh..." Zebra looked at Toriko and held a finger up to his lips, "I heard human voices in the Valley of Dust."
"Human voices?"
Toriko was startled. That was a valley even they didn't want to set foot in, because there was no prey there at all, meaning they couldn't replenish their energy. Going deep into it was essentially a death sentence.
But now, Zebra was actually saying there were human voices inside the valley?
He never doubted Zebra's hearing, as the man was capable of clearly hearing the sound of a coin dropping tens of thousands of meters away.
Furthermore, Zebra could freely manipulate his own voice and possessed the ability to destroy anything using sound wave vibrations, making him extremely sensitive to sound.
If he said human voices were coming from the valley, the possibility of him being mistaken was extremely low.
"I didn't expect anyone to actually be crossing the Valley of Dust. Can you hear who it is?" Toriko asked.
After a moment, Zebra shook his head: "I can only vaguely make out that it's two people. The voices are already fading; they're probably also trying to get to the Desert Garden, and they just overtook us."
After saying this, Zebra gave a sinister grin: "Getting too full of themselves, those two guys. I don't know who they are, but anyone who dares to get cocky in front of me better hope I don't run into them!"
"Hey, hey, just take it easy," Toriko sighed with a helpless expression. "Don't go looking for trouble, we still have to go to the Gourmet Pyramid."
"Toriko, you bastard, you dare to get cocky too! You want to fight?" Zebra roared, his face contorted as he glared fiercely at Toriko.
"Who cares about you, idiot!"
"Who are you calling an idiot? I'll kill you, you bastard!"
Not far away, Komatsu, Toriko's chef partner, watched this scene with a weary heart. If the ropeway cabin was damaged, they would have to pay for the repairs.
Fighting every single day... the amount they'd have to pay in compensation would be astronomical... Meanwhile, in the Valley of Dust, two figures were flying through the air, rising and falling.
One of them, a pale purple figure holding a battle-halberd wreathed in flames, swung his hand and sent a Crimson Flame Slash toward the other figure.
That figure didn't dodge, instead throwing a punch directly at the slash. However, the moment they collided, the figure was instantly sent flying, disappearing into the depths of the dust.
A moment later, the figure came flying back, wobbling unsteadily.
"Hahaha, you can't even beat a frail chef like me, yet you want to be a Gourmet? The dream is nice, but reality is cruel."
Zombie Xia Yu, holding his upgraded Flaming Battle-halberd, laughed loudly as he watched the Gourmet Xia Yu fly back from the distance.
Hearing this, veins popped on Gourmet Xia Yu's forehead as he roared, "You call yourself frail?! And besides, since when are chefs this strong?"
"They are," Zombie Xia Yu said, his smile fading. "In this Gourmet World, except for Komatsu, any chef with superb culinary skills knows how to fight, and their combat power is almost always at the peak."
"But a Gourmet who can't beat his own chef partner? It seems you're the only embarrassing fellow like that."
"You bastard! It's clearly just because you joined the group earlier than me that you're stronger. If I had joined earlier, I'd definitely be stronger than you."
As soon as those words were spoken, Zombie Xia Yu's gaze gradually became serious. This was something he couldn't just let slide.
Back then, he had pushed his way to the final boss all by himself. It was only because the final boss was a bit troublesome that he relied on the strength of others in the group, but before that, every battle had been fought by him personally.
This newcomer Xia Yu actually said he only had his current strength because he joined the group early? Then he couldn't be blamed for giving the newcomer a proper education.
Thinking of this, Xia Yu gripped his most familiar weapon and grinned at Gourmet Xia Yu: "Don't go crying because the gap in our strength is too big."
With that, Zombie Xia Yu's arm muscles suddenly bulged. He raised the halberd high and suddenly slashed down at the unsuspecting Gourmet Xia Yu.
Whoosh—!
Boundless flames condensed into a solid beam of crimson light, reaching Gourmet Xia Yu's side in the blink of an eye.
The scorching crimson glow was already close, but Gourmet Xia Yu didn't feel any heat; he only felt a bone-chilling coldness.
"Holy crap!!"
Facing this attack that could very likely leave him heavily injured, Gourmet Xia Yu mobilized all his strength, barely managing to sidestep the slash.
But even so, a lock of his long hair was sliced off, and a burnt smell immediately drifted from his head.
"Are you trying to kill me?!"
Looking at the scorching heat waves rising after the crimson slash vanished into the dust, Gourmet Xia Yu roared at Zombie Xia Yu in lingering fear.
Boom—!!
But before Zombie Xia Yu could reply, that slash exploded deep within the dust. In an instant, a gale of heat mixed with dust whipped up, making Zombie Xia Yu's coat flutter loudly.
"What? Is that all you've got?"
Zombie Xia Yu gave a contemptuous smile, clenched his left hand into a fist, and then extended his thumb and index finger in a certain mocking gesture.
Even though Zombie Xia Yu didn't say anything, Gourmet Xia Yu, being the same person, immediately understood what the other was saying.
The other was calling him short and weak.
This was something no man could tolerate.
"I'll kill youuuu!!!"
Gourmet Xia Yu roared, his muscles bulging and expanding as he transformed into a muscular hunk, perfectly matching the art style of toriko.
The two then collided in the blink of an eye. Explosive sounds echoed through the Valley of Dust, but for the most part, it was Gourmet Xia Yu taking a beating, being swatted back and forth like a ping-pong ball by Zombie Xia Yu.
The two continued to advance rapidly toward the Desert Garden while fighting... After an unknown amount of time, solid land finally appeared after the endless Valley of Dust.
The Desert Garden had been reached.
Boom—!
A boom sounded at the entrance of the Desert Garden, sending a wave of sand dozens of meters high. Then, the sand particles fell like a light drizzle, drenching a figure in tattered clothes.
"Pah! Hitting so hard... no wonder you're purple."
Gourmet Xia Yu pulled himself out of the sand pit and spat out the sand he had accidentally inhaled.
Although there was edible sand here, the fine sand in the Valley of Dust was clearly not edible.
"I think I heard you badmouthing me again?"
Zombie Xia Yu appeared suddenly like a silent specter and thrust his halberd into the sand pit. In an instant, the spot where the halberd entered melted.
Looking at the melted sand pit less than half a meter away from him, Gourmet Xia Yu's eyes twitched, and he immediately followed his heart, bowing his head.
"I am very sorry! I was too arrogant! Please forgive my ignorance!"
"Heh, that's more like it."
Zombie Xia Yu casually pulled out the halberd. The molten sand brought out with it sparkled in the sunlight, turning into shiny glass in just a few moments.
After putting away the halberd, Zombie Xia Yu surveyed the surroundings and then brought up a map projection from his wristwatch.
"So this is the entrance to the Desert Garden. Hmm... if we just go straight, we'll hit the Desert Town. To the front-left of the town is the Gourmet and Jewel Desert, to the front-right is the Resource Desert, and straight ahead is the Red Desert Dessert Labyrinth, the Gourmet Pyramid."
"It's decided. We go to the Desert Town first, then to the Gourmet and Jewel Desert, then turn toward the Resource Desert, and finally head straight for the Red Desert's Gourmet Pyramid!"
"Uh... about that." Gourmet Xia Yu silently pointed to the Desert Town on the map and asked, "Why do we need to go to the Desert Town? There's nothing special there."
"Who said that?" Zombie Xia Yu swiped the light screen, and an image from the manga was extracted. "This is the specialty of the Desert Town—the Drink Camel. Don't tell me you're not interested?"
"Uh..."
He knew about the Drink Camels. They were giant camels that stored various drinks in their humps. The common ones were Water Storage Camels, and the higher-grade ones were Wine Camels. Their storage capacity was about 2,000 liters, making them a special creature of the desert regions.
Although Gourmet Xia Yu really wanted to say he wasn't interested, the dull aches in various parts of his body made him follow his heart and nod: "You're right, I'm very interested."
"Then let's go."
Zombie Xia Yu took a set of his own clothes out of a Red Envelope, tossed them in front of Gourmet Xia Yu, and then started walking forward.
"Hey, wait for me!"
Gourmet Xia Yu hurriedly used psychokinesis to grab the clothes, changing as he followed. The injuries he had sustained from the beating had already fully recovered under the healing of the Holy Light.
The Newbie Gift Pack contained Energetic Xia Yu's memories of converting mana into a Priest's Holy Light, and besides, these minor injuries didn't require a healing potion.
A few minutes later, the two figures disappeared into the endless yellow sand.
The Desert Town was not far from the Desert Garden, as it was the town that operated the lodging houses at the Ropeway Station.
In the past, before the neighboring countries went to war, the Desert Town could be considered prosperous due to tourism. But since the countries started fighting and even released dangerous creatures into the desert, the tourism industry of the Desert Garden had gradually declined.
Because of the dangerous creatures, the people in the town were struggling to survive, having to both watch out for the creatures and endure the harsh environment.
Therefore, although it was called a town, it was actually more like a small village, with even the houses being dilapidated.
Before long, two foreign figures appeared at a camel rental shop.
"Oh my, it's been a long time since we've had guests. Welcome, welcome." Outside the shop, an old woman wearing a tattered sand-proof headscarf welcomed The Xia Yus.
"We're not here to rent camels. We just want to collect some drinks from the camel humps, but we'll pay for it."
"Huh?" Hearing this, the old woman looked puzzled. "Aren't you here to sightsee in the Desert Garden?"
"Something like that, but we don't need camels. We're just here to get some drinks," Gourmet Xia Yu said as he pulled out some cash he had specifically prepared. "Don't worry, we'll pay properly."