The group rushed forward. Under normal circumstances, with Kaiyu's personality, there was no way he would tolerate such open betrayal. He would have attacked immediately.
But there was one massive problem.
That monster was watching.
Yes—he feared the GT Robot. They had all witnessed its terrifying destructive power earlier. If that thing moved, every single one of them would be wiped out.
Kaiyu didn't know what it was or why it followed Kael, but he knew one thing for certain: acting rashly now meant certain death.
What Kaiyu didn't realize was that even if he did act, his fate was already sealed. Kael had no intention of sparing him.
"Arkan, Ensei," Kael said calmly. "Take the GT Robot and rescue anyone who can still be saved."
The Dark Cooking Society had never stopped training expendables and grooming talent. Plenty of people were still imprisoned here. Kael had no intention of abandoning them.
So he sent Arkan and the others—people familiar with the layout—along with the GT Robot to free the captives. As for himself, he stayed behind to deal with Kaiyu and the rest.
"Leave it to us," Ensei said, nodding.
He glanced at Kaiyu, his expression complicated, but he knew there was no point interfering. Arkan, Ensei, and their group left with the GT Robot.
Ensei wasn't worried about Kael's safety. In his eyes, Kael's strength was terrifying—possibly even greater than the GT Robot's.
That assumption, however, was a bit off. Right now, Kael couldn't beat that GT Robot head-on. To forcibly dismantle it, his Gourmet Cells would need to reach at least level ten.
"You actually dared to let them take that monster away?"
Kaiyu felt like his mind had short-circuited. In his view, Kael's terror came entirely from that creature. All those people who had vanished without a trace—Kaiyu had assumed they were slaughtered and devoured by it. Otherwise, there was no explanation for their disappearance.
That monster was Kael's trump card.
And now, Kael had sent it away.
"Are you panicking?" Kael said lightly. "If I dared let the GT Robot leave, that means I'm confident I can deal with you myself. By the way… have you been wondering where all those people you lost actually went?"
Kael smiled.
The people stored in his Storage Space—Shan and the others—had never been dealt with. With a wave of his hand, he released them.
Time inside the space had been frozen. They looked as though they had only just died—nothing like people who had been missing for months.
"Shan?!"
Kaiyu and the others stared, eyes wide. They couldn't comprehend where Kael had produced more than fifty people from.
"Monster…"
He had to be a monster. There were no records of Kael ever existing in the culinary world before. He traveled with a creature like that—how could he possibly be human?
Their imagination ran wild, instantly branding Kael as some kind of demon, a creature of the same species as the GT Robot.
It wasn't an entirely unreasonable conclusion. The GT Robot's appearance was bizarre, its combat power utterly foreign to this world. And Kael himself seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
"Why not just say I'm a god while you're at it?" Kael said dryly. "That monster is my pet, right?"
He glanced at them, speechless.
The Legendary Kitchenware wasn't here. The moment Kaiyu realized how dangerous Kael was, he had clearly ordered it moved.
A pointless effort.
With his Gourmet Cells evolved further, Kael's Qi had grown stronger as well. He could now easily scan the entire Dark Cooking Society headquarters.
Three massive presences stood out unmistakably.
The Legendary Kitchenware.
Even without Qi, Kael could have tracked them through their life energy alone.
Kaiyu was clever. He knew his only bargaining chips were the Legendary Kitchenware, so he had three people carry them off in different directions. As long as Kael couldn't get the utensils, Kaiyu believed he wouldn't be captured outright.
That logic made sense—if you didn't understand Kael.
"Let's make a deal, Kael," Kaiyu said quickly. "You want the Legendary Kitchenware. This time, the Dark Cooking Society admits defeat. But I've already had the utensils taken away."
"If you want them back, you'll have to spare our lives."
Regret flooded Kaiyu's heart. If he'd known Kael was this terrifying, he would never have provoked him. He was arrogant, yes. Ambitious, yes. But he wasn't stupid.
The moment his people were slaughtered so easily, he had already ordered the utensils moved.
"You really are smart," Kael said. "The moment things went wrong, you relocated the Kitchenware. But Kaiyu… did you ever consider that I might have a way to locate them?"
"You miscalculated. From the very first time you acted against me, your life stopped belonging to you."
In the blink of an eye, Kael appeared in front of Kaiyu.
By the time anyone reacted, Kaiyu was already lifted into the air, Kael's hand clamped around his throat.
To Kael, Kaiyu was utterly insignificant. A moral sewer, and his inherited abilities had already been taken.
There was no reason to keep him alive.
"Goodbye, Kaiyu," Kael said coldly. "If hell exists, enjoy the trip."
With a sharp twist, Kael snapped his neck.
Honestly, killing people so casually in what was supposed to be a food-focused world felt surreal even to Kael. But this era was brutal. He was simply using the most fitting method available.
He didn't waste Kaiyu's remaining lifespan either—whatever could be extracted, he took.
The corpse was tossed aside.
"Now it's your turn."
A massive pressure erupted from Kael's body. Crimson Qi poured out, twisting and condensing into a gigantic demonic silhouette.
A red Gourmet Demon—Red Ogre.
A manifestation any Gourmet Cell user with awakened stomach cells could unleash.
Back then, Toriko had used this pressure alone to suppress Troglodites with capture levels of nine in the Eighth Biotope.
Kael's Gourmet Cells weren't at Toriko's level yet, but intimidating ordinary people was effortless.
There was one person he didn't kill.
Mila the Blue-Eyed Tiger.
It wasn't because she was beautiful. Plenty of beautiful people had died by Kael's hand already.
He spared her because, despite being one of the Five Tiger Stars, Mila wasn't like Kaiyu or Juchi. She hadn't committed atrocities.
She was more like a puppet—raised and shaped by Kaiyu from childhood. She barely had a will of her own. Even her cooking relied on copying others.
In the Dark Cooking Society, Mila was a tragic existence.
In the original story, after meeting Xie Lu, she resolved her inner conflict and revealed herself to be a lively, genuine girl.
Juchi was different. He still retained a trace of conscience, but he was ruthless by nature.
Everyone except Mila was crushed to the ground by Kael's pressure, unable to move.
"Fine," Kael said. "I'll give you a painless death."
He released a spread of poison into the air, then turned and left with Mila.
Those left behind wouldn't survive the toxins. The Dark Cooking Society's upper ranks were wiped out in one stroke.
At the same time, Arkan and the others successfully rescued the prisoners.
After leaving Mila behind, Kael went to retrieve the remaining three Legendary Kitchenware.
With his ability to track them, it was effortless. There was no way the carriers could escape the headquarters in such a short time.
After regrouping, Kael had Arkan and the others empty the Dark Cooking Society's entire stockpile.
Then he set it ablaze.
Every building at the Dark Cooking Society headquarters was reduced to ashes.
Though many branches still existed elsewhere, they were no longer a threat. With the headquarters destroyed, the remnants would either disband or re-form into something insignificant.
In Kael's estimation, the imperial court and the Chefs' Union would soon eliminate them entirely.
The Dark Cooking Society became history.
Spies from the Light Culinary World had followed Kael's group all the way here, eager to see what would happen.
What they saw was a towering inferno.
And then Kael and his people walking away.
Kael handed the rescued prisoners over to the Light Culinary World. It wasn't perfect—corruption still ran deep—but good people outnumbered the bad. He wasn't about to manage their lives personally.
Soon, news of the Dark Cooking Society's destruction spread throughout the culinary world.
No one could believe it.
That organization's scale was well known. The idea that Kael had annihilated it single-handedly sounded like fiction.
But when the Light Culinary World began purging the remnants, reality set in.
The Dark Cooking Society was truly gone.
Whether Kael had personally done it all remained a question—but the result was undeniable.
"I never imagined the Dark Cooking Society would fall so quickly," someone murmured. "It hasn't even been that long since we handed over the Legendary Kitchenware maps to him."
In Guangzhou, the Chefs' Union had just undergone a massive reshuffle. Guan Qiulan had become an elder—there was no helping it. The losses had been catastrophic.
In retaliation, the Dark Cooking Society had assassinated elders indiscriminately. Even Elder Guan, bedridden at home, hadn't been spared.
Qiulan felt a bit regretful. She had planned to let him slowly waste away. She hadn't expected such brutality.
With no other choice, the Light Culinary World appointed Madam Lei Hua to temporarily take over the Guangzhou Chefs' Union.
After witnessing Qiulan's extraordinary sense of taste, Madam Lei Hua promoted her to elder—not as a tool, but because the union genuinely needed capable leadership.
After the reshuffle, Liu Maoxing and Lan Feihong both passed the Special Grade Chef examination, earning the title from Madam Lei Hua herself.
They had officially stepped into the culinary world.
At present, Lan Feihong's skills surpassed Liu Maoxing's by quite a margin. But he had been waiting for Liu Maoxing to grow.
It was to repay a debt.
Years ago, Master Pai had saved him.
Now that she was gone, Liu Maoxing was the only one left.
"Yes," Zhou Yu said with a nod. "It really hasn't been long. Mao just became a Special Grade Chef, and the Dark Cooking Society is already gone."
"But that's fine. Their existence was always a threat. And when Mao truly grows, those vultures would've targeted him eventually anyway."
"Better to remove the danger now, so he can grow without interference."
Zhou Yu agreed. Even if it meant losing an external pressure, the Dark Cooking Society was one influence the world was better off without.