Haruto, Toriko, Coco, and Komatsu approached Tina, who was still standing there in a daze.
"Miss Tina, are you all right?" Komatsu asked worriedly.
Tina slowly shook her head.
"I’m fine, but..."
She looked at the people scattered across the ground, her expression complicated.
Coco surveyed the unconscious crowd.
"These are all bandits who were waiting to steal the Puffer Whales from anyone returning from the cavern."
"I see."
Toriko immediately understood what had happened.
"They must’ve tried to rob that thing we saw carrying the Puffer Whales and got taken down without any effort."
"They picked a fight with something they never stood a chance against," Haruto said calmly.
He felt no sympathy for people who tried to steal the rewards others had risked their lives to obtain.
"That thing is terrifying," Coco murmured gravely.
None of the bandits were top-class fighters, but there had been a great many of them.
The fact that they had all been defeated so easily suggested the strange "creature" was even more powerful than Coco had imagined.
After they exchanged a few words, the distant roar of helicopter blades reached them. The IGO rescue team had arrived.
Coco had no interest in dealing with a large crowd, so he immediately said goodbye and left.
Haruto also briefly parted ways with Toriko and Komatsu before leaving the area.
For the next several days, he did not hunt any new ingredients. Instead, he experimented with different ways of preparing Puffer Whale.
Steamed, grilled, simmered into soup...
Only after he had thoroughly satisfied his curiosity did Haruto begin considering his next target.
This time, he wanted to challenge himself with an ingredient that was rarer and more difficult to capture.
Haruto recalled the many precious ingredients found throughout the Human World.
BB Corn, Century Soup, Ozone Herb, Melk Stardust, Mellow Cola, Surprise Apples...
After considering his choices for a long time and researching as much information as he could find, Haruto decided to pursue BB Corn.
In truth, it was the only one currently suitable for him.
The time had not yet come to capture Century Soup, Mellow Cola, or Surprise Apples.
Ozone Herb required two people working in perfect harmony.
It was technically possible to harvest one alone, but only with overwhelming strength, and Haruto was not yet capable of that.
As for Melk Stardust...
That had originally been Haruto’s first choice.
He could have visited the second-generation Melk at the same time and asked her to forge a personal kitchen knife for him.
Unfortunately, no matter how many sources he consulted, Haruto could not discover the location of the mountain where Melk lived in seclusion.
After giving it some thought, he understood why.
As the world’s greatest knife sharpener, Melk’s skills naturally attracted plenty of people with malicious intentions.
The original Melk had little reason to care, since his own strength was extraordinary.
The second-generation Melk, however, was nowhere near as powerful. The fewer people who knew where she lived, the safer she would be.
Toriko had only found her because he possessed information supplied by the IGO.
For anyone else, locating her was nowhere near as simple.
Haruto was clearly one of those "anyone else."
With no other choice, he abandoned the idea of pursuing Melk Stardust and turned his attention toward BB Corn instead.
BB Corn was an exceptional ingredient in its own right.
Its full name was Blue Blood Corn.
A single kernel could sell for several hundred thousand yen, while an entire ear was worth at least one billion.
BB Corn possessed an overwhelmingly rich sweetness.
Just one kernel, roasted over intense heat until it burst, could expand into enough BB Popcorn to feed one hundred people.
It was also known as a snack once reserved exclusively for the gourmet nobility of ancient times.
Haruto knew that those so-called "ancient gourmet nobles" were the Blue Nitro.
In the Toriko world, the Blue Nitro were an incredibly ancient species.
They were the ones who had brought Gourmet Cells to this planet.
Their purpose was to cultivate the planet’s Full-Course Menu, and they had remained here for an unimaginably long time to achieve that goal.
The fact that BB Corn was worthy of being served as a snack to the Blue Nitro spoke volumes about its flavor.
Of course, the Blue Nitro ate BB Corn grown in the Gourmet World.
The variety found in the Human World could not compare.
Even so, Human World BB Corn still ranked among the finest ingredients available there.
Once Haruto had chosen his target, he wasted no time.
He packed his equipment and set out for the Wuu Continent in the far western reaches of the Human World.
...
After three full days of travel, Haruto finally reached the Wuu Continent aboard a privately hired helicopter.
By the time he arrived at the edge of the Wuu Jungle, the sky was already beginning to darken. The setting sun painted the horizon in brilliant shades of gold and crimson.
Haruto stood at the forest’s edge and gazed over the vast, vibrant sea of greenery before him.
After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to wait until morning before entering.
Forests were rarely safe at night, and that was especially true of the Wuu Jungle, a place known as Vegetation Hell.
Although he did not enter the jungle immediately, Haruto still found plenty of ingredients around its outskirts.
Large numbers of Sponge Cake Trees grew near the forest’s edge, their branches bearing fluffy pieces of cake that released a rich, sweet aroma.
There were also Salmon Roe Grape Vines covered in clusters of glistening roe, along with Wine Palm Trees whose red, lantern-shaped fruits were filled with alcohol.
Haruto gathered plenty of ingredients and ate a satisfying meal.
Once his stomach was full, he found a relatively dry and secure place to rest.
He closed his eyes and slept peacefully through the night.
...
The first rays of morning sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell across Haruto’s face.
He opened his eyes, rose to his feet, and looked around.
Then he froze in astonishment.
The place where he had gone to sleep had been an open clearing.
Yet in a single night, the entire area had become completely overgrown with densely packed, towering trees.
The Wuu Jungle had expanded all the way to his resting place before morning.
"So this is Vegetation Hell—the Wuu Jungle."
Haruto could not help murmuring in amazement.
The vitality of the plants here was terrifying. Their growth speed completely defied common sense.
And all of it was undoubtedly connected to BB Corn.
The entire Wuu Jungle was essentially formed from the roots, stems, and leaves of the BB Corn plant. Every nutrient it absorbed was ultimately transported toward the corn itself.
Even the tiny portion of its true nature that had reached the Human World was enough to inspire awe.
"The Gourmet World really is something to look forward to."
Haruto sighed softly.
Of course, he was fully aware of how terrifying the Gourmet World could be.
Until he possessed enough confidence in his strength, he had no intention of setting foot there.
After steadying himself, Haruto casually gathered some food and quickly filled his stomach.
Then he began walking deeper into the Wuu Jungle.
He had not traveled far when a foul-smelling mass of bird droppings suddenly fell from above.
Haruto shifted lightly to the side.
The droppings splattered against the ground beside him.
The next instant, a green sprout emerged from the filth and began growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It extended branches, produced leaves, and burst into bloom. Within only a few breaths, it had become a carnivorous flower nearly half as tall as Haruto.
The flower immediately lunged toward him with its jaws wide open.
Haruto casually swung one hand.
His hand blade split the plant apart.
After dealing with the minor nuisance, he continued deeper into the jungle without slowing.
The air became increasingly humid.
Layer upon layer of branches and leaves blocked the sky almost completely, allowing only a few thin rays of sunlight to struggle through and cast shifting patches of light across the ground.
The deeper Haruto went, the more trouble he encountered.
Most common were the carnivorous plants that seemed to grow everywhere throughout the Wuu Jungle.
Some resembled the flower he had just encountered, though those farther inside were much larger and more vicious.
Others possessed jagged, sawlike leaves, sucker-covered tendrils, and the ability to spray highly corrosive slime.
Haruto avoided them whenever possible.
The vitality of these carnivorous plants was so abnormal that even if they were chopped into pieces, they could regenerate within a short time.
Completely destroying one would probably require burning every last root and stem.
That would consume too much energy and waste far too much time.
Fortunately, the carnivorous plants he had encountered so far were unable to move.
As long as Haruto stayed out of their reach, they were easy enough to avoid.
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