Chapter 22: The Emperor Crow
"Mr. Coco's popularity is terrifying," Komatsu marveled. Toriko was also one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and he had been out with him several times, but he had never seen such fervent fans.
"I'm currently working as a fortune-teller. Many people seek me out for readings. Being a Gourmet Hunter is more of a side job for me," Coco said with a calm smile.
"President Ichiryu would be heartbroken to hear that," Toriko chuckled. Above all else, Ichiryu probably wanted to see them become powerful Gourmet Hunters, though he never forced them into any specific path.
"My work is fortune-telling for now, but that might not be the case in the future," Coco said, slowly shaking his head.
"Being a Gourmet Hunter isn't so bad. It's a high-status profession in this era," Kenji commented.
In the world of Toriko, those who starved to death were mostly ordinary people. The deaths of Gourmet Hunters were usually caused by overestimating their abilities and challenging beasts far stronger than themselves, becoming a monster's dessert, or succumbing to harsh environments. Most valuable ingredients grew in dangerous, wild places.
"By the way, how is that guy Zebra doing?" Toriko asked.
"He's been arrested. He's currently being held in Gourmet Prison," Coco replied with a smile.
Toriko burst out laughing. "Haha! So that problem child Zebra finally got caught!" He felt no sympathy. He knew Zebra would be fine. As one of the Four Heavenly Kings, his imprisonment was more of a formality. If the IGO did nothing and let him run wild, public opinion would turn against them.
Zebra was a special case among the Four Heavenly Kings. The reason he was thrown in Gourmet Prison was entirely because of his eating habits—he could drive dangerous species to extinction with his appetite. While Toriko was called a glutton, Zebra's appetite was even more voracious. Toriko wondered who had been strong enough to capture him; Zebra's destructive power was something he acknowledged.
"How nostalgic... those days of life-or-death training in the garden," Toriko said, a wistful look on his face as an image of the four of them fighting side-by-side flashed through his mind.
Coco felt the same. Those days were unforgettable. But after they left the garden, they had scattered across the world, and their meetings became few and far between.
CAW! CAW!
A massive shadow fell over them, accompanied by the loud cawing of a crow.
"Is that an Emperor Crow? Weren't they supposed to be extinct?" Toriko said in surprise. He hadn't seen this creature the last time he met with Coco.
"Emperor Crows aren't extinct, Toriko," Kenji explained. "You just can't find them in the Human World. In the Gourmet World, there are entire flocks of them. The Capture Level of their leader, the Bird King, is over six thousand."
The Eight Kings of the Gourmet World were the apex creatures of the planet. Not only were they incredibly strong, but their senses were also so sharp that they had managed to survive multiple world-ending calamities.
"The Bird King?" A faint memory sparked in Toriko's mind. "I think President Ichiryu mentioned it once. A very powerful creature." He remembered Ichiryu mentioning it over a meal once, but he hadn't gone into detail, so Toriko only remembered the name.
"S-six... thousand?" Komatsu's jaw dropped. It was hard to even imagine how powerful a beast with a Capture Level of 6000 would be. It could probably blow him out of the Earth's atmosphere with a single breath.
He wasn't wrong. A single puff of air from the Horse King's nostrils could obliterate a person into dust. Even Toriko, in his first encounter with the Horse King, had half his body blown away. If it weren't for his Gourmet Demon, the series could have ended right there.
Although Toriko was shocked by the Capture Level, he was confident that he would one day reach that level of power. The Gourmet World really is terrifying, he thought, to have creatures with such ridiculous Capture Levels. No wonder Ichiryu had forbidden them from going there now. At their current strength, it would be a suicide mission. But the danger only made the ingredients of the Gourmet World more enticing.
Kenji knew that besides this Emperor Crow, the next member of the Eight Kings' species they would encounter in the Human World would be a cloned Battle Wolf. He made a mental note to go see it when the time came; he wondered how magnificent it would look.
"Kiss, I'll need you to give us a ride. Toriko is quite heavy," Coco said to his crow.
Toriko was not light. As the glutton of the Four Heavenly Kings, his body mass and stored energy were second only to Zebra's. Coco weighed 100kg, while Toriko was more than double that.
"I'm good," Kenji said, simply flying up. Coco was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected Kenji to have such a skill.
Kiss, the Emperor Crow, carried the three of them to Coco's house, which was built on a solitary rock pillar surrounded by sheer vertical cliffs—a very secluded and peaceful place.
"Toriko, you're here to commission a job, aren't you?" Coco asked, sipping his tea as he watched Toriko devour the food on the table. He was momentarily speechless. Just as crude as he was back then.
"Mr. Coco, can you remove the poison sac of a Puffer Whale?" Komatsu asked expectantly.
"...I've never tried," Coco admitted. "The Puffer Whale only surfaces at the Cave Beach every ten years to spawn. The ones that circulate on the market are often already poisoned. People still eat them because they're so delicious. Are you sure you haven't come to the wrong person? I'm not a professional chef. And the probability of capturing a Puffer Whale without it releasing its poison is only fifty percent. The probability of successfully removing the poison sac is even lower. One or two percent would be considered very lucky."
Although Coco had already divined their purpose for coming, he felt helpless.
"Haha, that's more than enough! If I tried to do it, the probability would be zero. The whole thing would be poisoned," Toriko laughed, unconcerned. If I get it, it's my luck. If I don't, it's my fate. Besides, they had Komatsu. Although they had only been on a few trips together, Toriko had great respect for his cooking skills. With all of them working together, they would surely succeed.
"Alright, I'll go with you," Coco sighed. It had been a while since he had done anything related to being a Gourmet Hunter. For the past few years, besides finding a few ingredients for his own Full Course Menu, he had mainly been working as a fortune-teller. His combat skills had gotten a little rusty.
"Hold on, I haven't finished eating yet," Toriko said, starting to inhale his food at an incredible speed. Wasting food was a disgrace.
"Kenji, when did you become a Gourmet Hunter?" Coco asked, making small talk while he waited.
"I just graduated a few months ago," Kenji replied with a smile.