As The Xia Yus wandered through various types of deserts collecting special sand, time slowly passed, and the trailing trio of Toriko also arrived at the entrance town of the Desert Garden.
Upon arriving at the town, Toriko and Komatsu first went to rent Drink Camels. In this desert without any water source, it was very easy to die of dehydration.
Therefore, if one wanted to cross the desert, a Drink Camel was a necessity.
However, the old woman at the camel rental shop spoke words that left the two of them astonished.
"More guests have arrived, eh? Welcome to my shop."
Hearing this, Komatsu asked in disbelief, "More? Old lady, were there other guests here before us?"
"Yes, and they were two rather strange guests. They didn't rent any camels when they came to my shop, but instead bought the drinks from inside the humps."
"Eh?" Toriko looked surprised at the old woman's statement. "Did they take all the drinks from all the Drink Camels? Ma'am, are there any camels left in your shop that haven't had their drinks taken?"
Seemingly knowing what Toriko was worried about, the old woman said with a chuckle, "Don't worry, those two didn't take much drink—only a few liters per camel. For a Drink Camel that can store 3,000 liters, that amount is hardly a loss."
"But those two guests were a bit odd. They took a little bit of drink from every single camel, but they didn't rent any camels. Instead, they walked directly into the depths of the desert. I tried to stop them, but they just smiled and said it was no problem, then disappeared into the heart of the sea of sand."
Is it like that again? Entering the desert on foot without any means of transportation... that's truly bold.
After listening to the old woman's explanation, Toriko lowered his head in thought, but in his memory, there was no Gourmet who matched that description.
That meant there were Gourmets he didn't know who were also heading for the rich cola.
As for why he was so certain the other party's goal was also the rich cola, it was because many people had come to challenge the Gourmet Pyramid in the past, but almost no one had successfully returned alive; they all remained in the desert due to insufficient strength.
But this time, these two people could not only forgo the Mountain-Climbing Stair-House but also head into the Desert Garden alone. Their strength was definitely not something an ordinary Gourmet could compare to.
"Komatsu, it looks like we need to speed up our journey. Otherwise, the cola might be snatched away by others first."
Looking at the still somewhat dazed Komatsu, Toriko grinned and said with a chuckle.
"If the other party gets the rich cola first, then we can only hope they are a Gourmet who understands the spirit of sharing."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Komatsu's mouth fell open in surprise, and his pupils trembled slightly: "Someone else is targeting the rich cola too? Could they have also received a mission to obtain it?"
"Hmm... not necessarily. The rich cola is a target mission the Chairman set for me, specifically designed for my training. They might just be aiming to challenge the Gourmet Pyramid for the sake of it," Toriko said, voiced his speculation after some thought.
"But if they enter the Gourmet Pyramid, they will definitely find clues to the rich cola, so we can't waste any more time!"
"I understand, Mr. Toriko."
Seeing that Toriko had turned serious, Komatsu immediately went to negotiate with the old woman about renting the camels, but in the next moment, loud laughter came from not far away.
"Hahahaha! Those two guys are certainly getting ahead of themselves, arriving before us. If they really do get the cola, we'll just snatch it right out of their hands!"
"Mr. Zebra?" Komatsu subconsciously turned his head and shouted.
"Zebra? That gentleman is Zebra?"
The old woman renting the camels cried out in surprise. Before Komatsu could react, a large number of residents suddenly appeared from those dilapidated houses.
These residents cheered and swarmed over as if Zebra were some kind of superstar, crowding around him one after another.
This scene dumbfounded Komatsu, who had been traveling with them. In his understanding, Zebra had always been a vicious and unrepentant criminal, so why was he so famous in this run-down town?
Why weren't those people afraid of Zebra? Even entire nations were exceptionally wary of him.
In the next moment, Toriko explained the reason to Komatsu. After hearing the explanation, Komatsu's view of Zebra also changed.
In Toriko's explanation, it was Zebra's intimidation that had caused the surrounding countries to stop their wars. Thus, this desert town, which had long suffered from the ravages of war, had gained a rare moment of respite.
And once the residents of the town learned of this, they practically viewed Zebra as a god, which was why he was so welcomed here.
Because Zebra had indirectly saved the town, the old woman renting the Drink Camels generously gave them two Drink Camels for free.
The Desert Garden had an intense desert climate with daytime temperatures exceeding 60 degrees. Therefore, without a large supply of water to stay hydrated, one couldn't get very far at all.
"So, those two people didn't rent Drink Camels. How exactly are they advancing through this desert? We've only been walking for a little while, and I already feel like I'm not going to make it."
Sitting on the back of a water-storing camel, Komatsu couldn't help but ask Toriko, who was sitting in front of him. There were two camels in total; Toriko and Komatsu shared one, while Zebra rode one by himself.
Since Komatsu was Toriko's chef partner, Toriko also bore the responsibility of protecting him. After all, Komatsu was just a chef without the strength to even truss a chicken.
One slight lapse in attention and it would be easy to die in this desert that had swallowed numerous Gourmets.
"That's why those two are too full of themselves, daring to go deep into the desert without bringing anything. I really want to run into them soon," Zebra said on the other camel, laughing as he ate.
To Zebra's remark, Komatsu could only give an awkward smile. Toriko didn't respond; he wasn't sure if he could beat Gourmets who were capable of crossing the desert on foot.
But the road ahead was always full of uncertainty; for now, they could only keep moving forward... Meanwhile, the two people Komatsu was worrying about had already reached the Resource Desert zone.
Since arriving at the Desert Garden, the two Xia Yus had been circling around it without stopping, because the very center of the Desert Garden was the Red Desert and the Gourmet Pyramid.
And the surrounding deserts circling the Red Desert were various special desert zones.
The Xia Yus had first set out from the desert town, went directly to the Food Desert zone, then followed the Food Desert to the Gem Desert zone, and finally, after making a full circle around the Desert Garden, they returned to the Resource Desert zone at the front right of the entrance.
"It really is Rare Earth Quicksand. This place is just left like this, with no one coming to collect it."
Zombie Xia Yu reached out and scooped up a handful of rare earth, rubbing it finely. Although he couldn't tell anything from it—after all, he was just a cook.
However, in the Rice Desert they had encountered at the beginning, he could tell that the rice there was indeed rare, high-quality rice. He wondered if the rice from there could be used to grow paddy fields.
Hmm... probably not, since the rice there wasn't grown; it gushed out from the ground.
If only this kind of Rice Desert could appear in famine-stricken areas, then no one would starve to death.
Although this was the Gourmet Age, poor and hungry people still existed. It seemed this was a law of the world; no matter how resource-rich a world was, there would always be poor people.
Zombie Xia Yu sighed and put down the rare earth he was holding, then placed his hand on the entire Resource Desert. In the next moment, half of the rare earth in the desert simply vanished.
"Holy crap—!"
Standing on the other side, Gourmet Xia Yu screamed as he fell into the deep pit that had suddenly appeared, but he soon flew back up, swaying.
"Can't you say something before you collect it!"
Looking at Zombie Xia Yu, who was floating in the air as if standing on flat ground, Gourmet Xia Yu couldn't help but roar.
Zombie Xia Yu just glanced at him indifferently and said, "Why are you shouting so loud!"
A corpse talking... though zombies are technically corpses to begin with... Gourmet Xia Yu scratched his head, suppressed the awkwardness in his heart, and asked casually, "So now that all the special deserts have been collected, is it time to go to the Red Desert?"
"What else? We've almost finished wandering the outer perimeter of the entire Desert Garden, and the special sands have all been collected. It's time to head toward the Red Desert," Zombie Xia Yu said, looking at the map.
"And I've calculated the time. Toriko and the others should have arrived by now. We probably need to hurry, or they might take the cola first."
"Alright, alright, I'll listen to you." Gourmet Xia Yu shrugged and stepped forward to follow.
However, even though Zombie Xia Yu said they needed to hurry, he didn't choose to fly directly to the Gourmet Pyramid, because there were still many precious ingredients in the Desert Garden.
He had come to this world specifically to collect ingredients, and the flora and fauna appearing in the Desert Garden were all among his collection targets.
Of course, he didn't waste time collecting inedible flora and fauna, and he quite admired the principle Toriko had always followed.
If it wasn't for eating, there was no need to cause slaughter—this principle of respecting nature and respecting life.
As the two Xia Yus advanced while collecting ingredients, the Red Desert at the very center of the Desert Garden appeared before their eyes.
The Red Desert was just as its name suggested, a sea of crimson under the blazing sun. Because the sand contained a large amount of iron, it had oxidized to red under the sunlight, and it was also mixed with the crimson flesh and blood of many beasts.
Just looking at it, one could tell that the Red Desert was a completely different situation from the outside world.
"We've finally arrived."
Looking at the Red Desert before him, Gourmet Xia Yu sighed. If Zombie Xia Yu hadn't wanted to collect ingredients along the way, they could have flown directly here.
"Let's go. If we don't have to fly, we won't. It's still very exciting in here; just think of it as seeing some different scenery."
Zombie Xia Yu stepped in, and in an instant, a scorching heat wave rushed at them, as if it were about to melt a person.
In the next moment, all the scenery before his eyes changed, turning into a labyrinth with no regularity or direction.
Shinkiro, also known as the Dessert Labyrinth, is a phantom formed by the refraction and reflection of light caused by temperature differences in the atmosphere.
In the Red Desert, because of the different environment, the mirages that were originally phantoms directly formed physical Shinkiro that were like a labyrinth.
Phantoms and reality, truth and falsehood intermingled, along with fierce beasts hidden within, causing the Gourmets who came here to all die with regrets. It was almost impossible to survive the Red Desert.
Of course, to The Xia Yus who possessed Divine Sense, the Shinkiro was not a problem at all; it was just a special piece of scenery.