Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

After leaving Charizard in charge of the heat, Haruto returned to the cooking station and continued preparing the Silver Shuttle Flying Fish.

Following the natural gaps between the bones, he carefully removed the silver-white flesh piece by piece.

The grain of the meat was as fine as freshly fallen snow, threaded with evenly distributed streaks of fat that resembled marble. It felt cool and pleasantly springy beneath his fingertips.

Once all the flesh had been removed, Haruto turned his attention to the remaining skeleton, particularly the spine.

The entire vertebral column gleamed with a cold metallic sheen, almost like polished silverware.

Haruto knew the Moonlight Marrow was hidden inside.

However, he did not immediately cut the spine open. The marrow could not remain exposed to air for long, so opening it prematurely would only risk ruining the ingredient.

Instead, Haruto prepared a steamer and poured stock into the pot beneath it.

He placed the entire spine inside the steaming basket, covered it with a heavy lid, and brought the stock to a boil over high heat.

The moment thick white steam began escaping through the gaps around the lid, he reduced the flame to medium.

From there, the bones simply needed time to steam.

With the two most important parts of the fish already underway, Haruto returned his attention to the flesh waiting on the counter.

He selected the richest section of belly meat, where the fat was distributed most evenly and the texture was at its softest.

Taking up the Melk Knife, Haruto moved his wrist with practiced precision.

In barely more than ten seconds, the entire piece had been sliced into dozens of extraordinarily thin pieces.

He arranged them neatly across a plate, then looked toward Charizard.

"Use Ember at the lowest possible power. Just sweep it quickly across the surface."

Charizard immediately leaned closer.

Carefully opening its mouth, it released an extremely thin stream of orange-red flame at precisely controlled temperature.

The fire swept rapidly across each slice.

Their surfaces tightened almost immediately, curling slightly at the edges as a faint golden char appeared.

The fat within the fish began to melt just enough to release a delicate roasted fragrance, blending perfectly with the natural sweetness of the flesh.

Haruto nodded in satisfaction and brought over a dipping sauce he had prepared beforehand.

Using his chopsticks, he picked up three lightly seared slices, rolled them gently through the sauce, and placed them in his mouth.

The first sensation was the faint crispness of the lightly charred surface.

Then his teeth sank into the supple flesh beneath.

The juices trapped inside burst across his tongue.

A delicate roasted aroma intertwined with the fish’s natural sweetness like two streams merging into one.

The mild acidity of the dipping sauce cut through the slight richness of the fat perfectly, making the fish’s freshness stand out even more clearly.

The flesh was silky yet pleasantly resilient. The longer Haruto chewed, the more concentrated its sweetness became.

It almost felt as though the essence of an entire ocean had been compressed into each paper-thin slice.

There was no trace of fishiness.

Only layer after layer of clean umami spreading through his mouth and lingering long after each bite.

Haruto’s eyes lit up.

His chopsticks barely stopped moving.

One slice followed another, and before long, he had eaten well over half the plate.

Then Haruto suddenly sensed an unusually resentful stare.

He turned his head.

Charizard was standing beside him, staring longingly at the remaining slices while its tail swayed back and forth.

Haruto laughed and pushed the rest of the plate toward it.

Charizard immediately brightened.

With a delighted roar, it tipped all the remaining seared fish into its mouth and chewed slowly, a satisfied rumble rising from its throat.

Even the flame on its tail seemed to burn a little brighter.

"All right, back to watching the heat."

Haruto patted Charizard before preparing another batch of seared fish.

By the time he had eaten most of the Silver Shuttle Flying Fish meat, both the Cloudsea Bladder soup and the steamed Moonlight Marrow had reached the ideal point.

Haruto turned off the steamer first and lifted the heavy lid.

A cloud of steam carrying a clean, delicate sweetness drifted outward.

The fragrance was gentle rather than overwhelming, but unmistakably fresh.

Inside the steaming basket, the spine had become almost translucent, like pale jade.

Haruto could even see a faint silver glow shifting within it.

He picked up the Melk Knife and carefully split the vertebrae open along their natural seam.

Inside lay the Moonlight Marrow.

It looked like a pool of flowing silver-white liquid, almost as though actual moonlight had been gathered and poured into the hollow spine.

An impossibly pure, refreshing sweetness radiated from it.

Haruto let out an appreciative whistle.

A small white figure immediately came running over.

It was an Alolan Vulpix, one of the descendants of the Alolan Ninetales Haruto had obtained through Professor Oak—the same line he often relied on to help freeze desserts.

Haruto gently rubbed the top of Vulpix’s head.

"Use Powder Snow to cool it down. Slowly. Don’t lower the temperature too quickly."

Alolan Vulpix nodded eagerly.

It opened its tiny mouth and breathed out a gentle stream of cold air filled with fine snow crystals.

The chilled air enveloped the liquid Moonlight Marrow.

Its temperature gradually fell.

Before long, the once-liquid marrow began to solidify, becoming translucent and jelly-like, with a faint silvery glow suspended within it.

When the container moved slightly, the light inside seemed to flow.

Haruto scooped up a small portion with a spoon and placed it in his mouth.

Coolness touched his tongue first.

It was light and refreshing, almost weightless, instantly cleansing his entire palate.

Then Haruto bit down.

The Moonlight Marrow burst apart.

A wave of sweetness and umami dozens of times more concentrated than the fish meat surged across his mouth like a tidal wave and seemed to rush straight into his head.

The flavor was almost impossible to describe.

It was not heavy or overwhelming in the greasy sense.

Instead, it was extraordinarily clean, refreshing, almost ethereal.

Haruto felt as though he were standing above an endless sea of clouds thousands of meters in the sky, moonlight falling across his body while all the purity and freshness in the world had been condensed into a single bite.

As the marrow warmed inside his mouth, its flavor unfolded in stages.

First came a clear sweetness.

Then an explosive rush of umami.

Finally, a long, pristine finish lingered behind, completely free of any unwanted flavor.

Even his breathing seemed faintly sweet afterward.

At the same time, Haruto clearly felt his Gourmet Cells erupt into activity.

They seemed almost to ignite.

Every cell in his body trembled with excitement, greedily absorbing the energy contained within the Moonlight Marrow.

Without Haruto realizing it at first, an oppressive presence began radiating from his body.

The Pokémon and other creatures living throughout the Gourmet Restaurant immediately sensed something was wrong and scattered into the distance.

Even Charizard instinctively stepped back half a pace, looking at Haruto with a trace of awe.

Alolan Vulpix fared even worse.

It curled itself into a tiny ball on the spot.

Haruto slowly exhaled and suppressed the boiling activity of his Gourmet Cells.

Not yet.

There was still one more dish.

He lifted the lid from the simmering pot.

A warm, creamy fragrance immediately drifted out.

The once-clear water had transformed into a milky-white broth, almost like liquid clouds, with a faint soft glow across its surface.

The Cloudsea Bladder had completely expanded during cooking.

It now looked soft and fluffy, almost like a white cloud floating gently in the creamy broth.

Haruto filled an entire bowl.

The soup was thick and silky, clinging briefly to the sides of the bowl before slowly sliding back down.

He raised it and took his first sip.

The broth flowed across his tongue like silk and slipped smoothly down his throat without the slightest resistance.

Despite its richness, it was not greasy at all.

A gentle warmth spread from his throat into his stomach before continuing through his entire body.

Then Haruto scooped up a piece of the softened Cloudsea Bladder.

He placed it in his mouth.

It was astonishingly soft and springy, almost like biting into a cloud or freshly made marshmallow.

The slightest pressure from his lips caused it to melt.

A rich, gelatinous texture coated his mouth, yet there was no fishiness or unpleasant oiliness whatsoever.

There was only a pure, mellow freshness that blended seamlessly with the flavor of the broth.

The taste was gentle, smooth, and extraordinarily long-lasting.

By the time Haruto finished the bowl of Cloudsea Bladder Soup, every part of his body felt deeply satisfied.

Then the real change began.

An even greater surge of energy erupted from deep within his cells.

Haruto could clearly feel his Gourmet Cells undergoing another evolution.

Every individual cell became fuller and more powerful.

His physical strength, speed, perception, and total amount of Nen all began rising at a frightening pace.

Haruto slowly clenched his fist.

Feeling the tremendous power flowing through his body, an extremely satisfied smile appeared on his face.

The Silver Shuttle Flying Fish really had been exceptionally compatible with his Gourmet Cells.

Haruto shared some of the Cloudsea Bladder soup and chilled Moonlight Marrow with Charizard and Alolan Vulpix, much to the delight of both Pokémon.

After resting for a while and bringing the turbulent energy and oppressive presence within his body back under control, Haruto left the Gourmet Restaurant and returned to his room at the inn.

The moment he appeared, however, he sensed something was wrong.

His En expanded instantly.

In a heartbeat, it covered a radius of three hundred meters.

Haruto immediately detected countless people surrounding the inn.

Even stranger, everyone who had originally been staying inside the building was gone.

"Here for me?"

Haruto raised an eyebrow.

His first thought was that someone had learned about the Silver Shuttle Flying Fish and wanted to steal it.

But when he stepped outside the inn, that idea disappeared.

The streets were filled with Marines.

Hundreds of soldiers in white uniforms stood with rifles in hand, their cold gun barrels aimed toward the building as they surrounded the inn from every direction.

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