After entering the city, Haruto quickly made his way to an ingredient market.
He sold some of the ingredients he had collected on Baron Archipelago and secured a decent amount of starting funds.
Haruto was not particularly happy about selling them, but he had little choice.
In the Toriko world, gold and gemstones certainly had value, but far less than rare ingredients of an equal weight.
As for obtaining money through less honest means, Haruto dismissed the idea immediately.
Once he had enough funds, he purchased a large quantity of supplies, including a portable Knocking Gun, an ingredient encyclopedia, maps, and identification papers.
After finishing his preparations, Haruto sampled some of the city’s local seafood dishes and decided on his next destination.
He boarded a train that carried him through bustling cities, vast fields, and rolling hills.
Outside the window, tightly packed buildings gradually gave way to uninhabited wastelands and dense forests.
After more than ten hours of travel, Haruto finally arrived at his destination—the outskirts of the Beibat Sand Hills in the northern region of the Human World.
With limited money, he naturally had to capture ingredients himself.
Haruto had chosen the Beibat Sand Hills only after careful consideration.
His strength was respectable, but he still lacked experience in this world.
The region was somewhat more dangerous than Baron Archipelago, but not to an unreasonable degree.
He was unlikely to encounter anything overwhelmingly lethal as long as he remained cautious.
More importantly, the area covered an enormous amount of land and contained many rare ingredients, making it an ideal place to explore.
After leaving the station, Haruto quickly gained a firsthand understanding of what it meant to live in the Gourmet Age.
Nature here seemed to exist entirely for the sake of food.
Even a random clump of ordinary-looking grass plucked from beside the road tasted like a crisp, sweet vegetable salad.
Leaves brushed from nearby shrubs were naturally crunchy and delicious.
There was no need to search carefully. Ingredients grew everywhere, and even the air carried a mixture of sweetness and savory fragrance.
Haruto walked forward with shining eyes, eagerly scanning his surroundings.
It did not take long for him to discover a field of Cake Pumpkins.
He reached beneath the dense vines and soon pulled out a round, plump pumpkin about the size of a soccer ball, its skin a rich orange-yellow.
A natural layer of white powdered sugar dusted its surface, gleaming delicately beneath the sunlight.
It felt soft and slightly cool beneath his fingers, without any of the hardness or rough texture of an ordinary pumpkin.
Haruto drew his kitchen knife and cut into it.
The blade passed through the skin almost without resistance.
Once he removed a slice, layers resembling an actual cake appeared inside.
Golden pumpkin sponge alternated with pale cream filling, the texture airy and soft like a chiffon cake made by a master pastry chef.
Haruto took a bite.
The fluffy cake seemed to melt across his tongue, gently sweet without becoming heavy.
The natural fragrance of pumpkin blended perfectly with the rich cream, and a wave of happiness rushed through him.
Haruto narrowed his eyes in pleasure, allowing himself to savor the flavor.
"This is a wonderful ingredient."
A smile appeared on his face.
Following the green vines spreading across the ground, he found many more Cake Pumpkins hanging from the thick stems, each one plump and inviting.
In less than twenty minutes, Haruto had gathered a sizeable harvest.
Cake Pumpkins were not the only delicacies in the area.
Among the moist soil and grass nearby crawled Bread Snails and Cake Snails, each about the size of a fist and surprisingly cute.
The shells of the Bread Snails were golden brown, with patterns resembling freshly baked loaves.
They tasted soft and dense yet pleasantly chewy, carrying the deep fragrance of fermented wheat that grew richer with every bite.
The Cake Snails, meanwhile, had shells made of fluffy sponge cake covered in smooth cream.
They melted almost immediately in the mouth, leaving behind a rich sweetness and lingering milky fragrance.
Haruto naturally had no intention of leaving such delicious creatures behind.
He stored plenty of both varieties inside Gourmet Restaurant.
After collecting a large quantity of Cake Pumpkins, Bread Snails, and Cake Snails, Haruto finally straightened with some reluctance and looked deeper into the hills.
Everything he had found so far was only the tip of the iceberg.
Countless ingredients he had never seen or even heard of were still waiting ahead.
After leaving the Cake Pumpkin field, Haruto continued onward until he reached a wide stretch of grassland.
He looked around, uncertain which direction to choose.
Then he noticed a single tree standing in the meadow.
It had a thick trunk and a broad, leafy crown.
That gave Haruto an idea.
If he climbed to the top, he would be able to survey the surrounding terrain for several miles and choose a better route.
He immediately walked toward it.
Before he even reached the trunk, however, an incredibly rich aroma entered his nose.
Haruto carefully identified it as the mellow creaminess of mayonnaise mixed with a faint fruity acidity, instantly stirring his appetite.
When he reached the base of the tree and looked up, his eyes brightened.
It was a Mayonnaise Tree.
The trunk and branches were pale brown, while broad green leaves filled the crown.
Hanging from the branches were dozens of smooth, plump brown fruits shaped like teardrops and slightly longer than his palm.
Haruto plucked one.
He took out a Bread Snail, squeezed the Mayonnaise Fruit, and watched as thick, creamy-white liquid flowed from its tip.
Haruto dipped the Bread Snail into it and took a bite.
The texture was silky smooth, and the fragrance was wonderfully rich.
Delighted, Haruto harvested every Mayonnaise Fruit he could find.
Only then did he remember why he had approached the tree in the first place.
After storing the fruit, he gripped the rough trunk and climbed upward with ease, relying on his strength to reach a thick branch within moments.
From his elevated position, the landscape opened before him.
A strange-looking forest in the distance immediately captured all his attention.
Haruto decided to head there at once.
Even before he entered, countless aromas drifted toward him, so rich they seemed almost tangible.
The trees inside came in every shape and form.
Some had thick trunks with branches covered in potato chips.
Every leaf was a naturally grown chip that shattered with a satisfying crunch when bitten.
Even more remarkably, different trees produced completely different flavors—fresh lime, smoky barbecue, refreshing cucumber, rich cheese, and countless others.
There were also Rice Cracker Trees, Snow Cracker Trees, Shrimp Chip Trees, and Arare Trees.
Practically every puffed snack Haruto could imagine grew somewhere in the forest.
It was an entire woodland made of snack-food trees.
Haruto immediately gathered large amounts of potato chips, shrimp chips, snow crackers, and more.
The forest was also home to many unusual creatures.
There were Potato Chip Butterflies with thin, crispy wings, Shrimp Chip Bugs with curled bodies, and Corn Snack Snails whose shells resembled triangular corn chips.
At the very center of the forest, Haruto discovered a bubbling spring.
Instead of water, brown cola flowed from the ground.
Cola paired perfectly with puffed snacks, so the arrangement felt strangely appropriate.
The sky gradually darkened, and the setting sun dyed the horizon orange-red while an evening breeze carried the fresh scent of grass and trees.
After traveling a little farther, Haruto found a grove of White Apple Trees.
Their trunks were sturdy, their leaves dense, and their branches heavily laden with smooth, round White Apples.
Haruto collected a number of them.
By then, night had fully fallen.
He climbed one of the trees, found a stable fork among the branches, and lay down.
With the sky as his blanket and the tree as his bed, Haruto fell asleep surrounded by the faint fragrance of fruit.
...
The following morning, the first rays of sunlight slipped between the leaves and warmed his body.
Haruto woke feeling completely refreshed.
He casually took out several White Apples and began eating them, their crisp sweetness awakening his still-sleepy palate.
While he ate, a flash of golden light suddenly caught his eye.
Curious, Haruto followed it.
When he approached the White Apple Tree that had produced the gleam, he looked up and discovered a single golden fruit hidden among the many pale apples.
Haruto picked it and examined it with a puzzled expression.
He took out the ingredient encyclopedia he had purchased earlier and searched for information on White Apples.
According to the book, there was only a one-in-a-million chance that a Golden Apple would grow among them.
An ordinary White Apple had a Capture Level of 1.
A Golden Apple, however, had a Capture Level of 11.
"Looks like my Food Luck is pretty good."
Haruto could not help smiling.
In the Toriko world, Food Luck was extraordinarily important.
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