"Grinpatch is dead? And it happened at Mt. Wul's Volcano Five? Who could've killed him so fast that he didn't even have time to send out a distress signal?"
When they received the news, Starjun and Tommyrod were both shocked—but for very different reasons. Tommyrod was surprised, but more than that, he was dismissive. He'd never thought Grinpatch was all that impressive to begin with.
Tommyrod was an extremely arrogant man. He didn't see others as companions at all. Starjun, on the other hand, genuinely regarded the two of them as comrades.
That was exactly why Starjun's personality was so ill-suited for the Gourmet Corp. Unfortunately, it was already too late—he had joined, and was now one of its sous chefs.
At the moment, his authority within the organization didn't seem all that great, but everyone knew how terrifying his talent was. Once Starjun truly matured, he would very quickly become the Gourmet Corp's second-in-command.
"Jojo(Joejoe), have you figured out who did it?" Starjun asked.
He knew exactly what kind of place the Wul Forest was. There was absolutely nothing there that could threaten Grinpatch. Forget Grinpatch—even his mount, the Jack Elephant, would have been invincible there.
So there was no way Grinpatch had been killed by some wild beast.
That left only one possibility: a powerful individual had appeared there. Most likely someone qualified to enter the Gourmet World. Only someone on that level could kill Grinpatch outright.
Otherwise, even if Grinpatch couldn't win, with his personality he would've run at the first sign of danger. And if he couldn't escape, he definitely would've sent out a distress signal. Yet there was nothing.
Which meant Grinpatch had been killed in an extremely short time—possibly in an instant.
"I checked the records of anyone who entered the Wul Forest recently," Jojo replied. "The most likely suspect is Toriko, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. He was in the Wul Forest on the day Grinpatch was killed."
Toriko had arrived by jet, so there were traces left behind. Kael, on the other hand, hadn't attracted anyone's attention at all.
"It wasn't him," Starjun said, shaking his head. "I fought him in the First Biotope before. Even teaming up with the other two Heavenly Kings, he still couldn't beat that GT Robot of mine."
"Even if he ate Jewel Meat afterward and his Gourmet Cells evolved further, there's no way he could surpass Grinpatch in such a short time. It couldn't have been Toriko."
Starjun knew Toriko's strength very well, so he didn't believe for a second that Toriko could have killed Grinpatch.
"I agree, it couldn't have been Toriko," Jojo said. "I also found another piece of information. After Grinpatch was killed, the Jack Elephant was reportedly seen flying over several cities."
A creature that massive passing over cities was bound to be noticed. Some people had even taken photos and videos, which Jojo had seen.
"Grinpatch's Jack Elephant…" Starjun muttered. "He only ever raised one. That means whoever did this tamed it. To tame a beast with a capture level over 80 in such a short time…"
"Do you know where it went in the end?" Starjun asked.
"No. The last sighting was in a city closest to Gourmet City," Jojo replied, shaking his head.
"Gourmet City?" Starjun frowned. "That narrows it down way too little. There are plenty of people in Gourmet City who could deal with Grinpatch. But I've never heard of anyone there with such terrifying beast-taming abilities."
As long as Kael didn't actively expose Behemoth, even the Gourmet Corp wouldn't suspect him. After all, Kael had only shown his beast-taming abilities in front of Toriko and the others.
And Gourmet City was full of powerful individuals—many of whom could defeat Grinpatch. With the clues they had now, it was basically impossible to determine the killer unless the person revealed themselves.
Starjun's desire to avenge Grinpatch quietly fizzled out.
"Jojo, keep an eye out for the Jack Elephant," Starjun said. "I want to know who dared to make a move against the Gourmet Corp."
"Lord Kuromado has already issued the same order," Jojo replied. "If there's any news, I'll notify all of you immediately."
Jojo didn't mind repeating the order. All he had to do was pass along information—it wasn't like he was being asked to avenge Grinpatch himself.
If Kuromado knew the killer was Kael, he would probably give up on revenge immediately.
Sure, having one of their own killed was infuriating. But Kael was still part of the younger generation. If Grinpatch died, that only meant he was weaker—no one else could be blamed.
As seniors, they couldn't directly intervene. If revenge were to be taken, it would have to be by Tommyrod or Starjun.
But Tommyrod would never get involved in something like this, and Starjun wasn't strong enough to face Kael anyway. Just the fact that Kael had killed Grinpatch proved that.
Among the three sous chefs, Starjun was the strongest and could defeat Grinpatch—but killing him so effortlessly was something even Starjun couldn't do.
So revenge was basically impossible. For now, they still didn't know who the killer was, so the thought lingered. Once they learned it was Kael, they'd likely have no choice but to give up.
While the Gourmet Corp began monitoring the Jack Elephant, Kael had already returned to the World of Food Wars.
Everyone had graduated by now and was busy with their own careers, so when Kael got back, the house was completely empty.
He didn't mind. After being gone so long, all it would take was one phone call and Alice and the others would rush back immediately.
There was nothing Kael needed to worry about in this world anyway. Erina and the others weren't just decorative figures, and behind them stood Kael himself, along with Nakiri Senzaemon and others.
The Nakiri family's influence had expanded even further. No one dared provoke them now, because the strongest chef in the culinary world—Kael—belonged to the Nakiri family.
And aside from Kael, there was also Mana Nakiri, a Special Executive. Anyone who tried to cause trouble, openly or in secret, would be crushed.
Especially those operating in the shadows.
After Asahi Nakiri joined the family, he never forgot his identity as a dark chef. His talent was terrifying. Given enough time, he could dominate the entire underground culinary world.
With the Nakiri family backing him, Asahi had already begun integrating the dark chefs. It wasn't impossible that he might unify them all.
So Erina and the others had nothing to worry about in terms of safety.
After calling everyone, Erina was the first to rush back. As the Director of Totsuki, she lived on campus.
The moment she saw Kael, she threw herself into his arms.
"Kael, you're finally back. You were gone for quite a while this time," she said.
"Can't be helped. There were things I had to take care of," Kael replied with a smile. "But this time, I brought back a lot of gifts for you all."
As he spoke, he took out several GT Robots.
He already had the technology, and IGO had managed to replicate them as well. While they weren't that strong by Gourmet World standards, in the World of Food Wars they were absolute monsters.
Kael had also asked IGO to give them synthetic skin.
So now, the GT Robots looked like beautiful maids—except they couldn't talk, eat, or sleep. They only followed commands.
Despite how advanced Gourmet World technology was, artificial intelligence lagged behind. Perhaps because humans there were so powerful that their brains were already highly developed, they simply didn't need AI assistance.
The Blue Nitro were a perfect example. With their near-immortality and ability to build things like Gourmet Satellites, there was no way they couldn't create advanced AI—they simply chose not to.
"What are these? People?" Erina asked, confused, as she looked at the maid-like figures.
"Strictly speaking, they're robots," Kael explained. "I prepared them as bodyguards for you. Your safety isn't really an issue, but there's always the chance someone might try something dirty."
"They have synthetic skin, so they look just like real people. But they can't talk and don't have much intelligence. They only act on your commands."
"Oh, and one more thing—their combat power is absurd. One punch is enough to blow apart an entire building. So don't use them recklessly."
Kael knew exactly how terrifying GT Robots were.
"One punch… destroying a building? That's impossible!" Erina exclaimed.
She'd seen things like that in manga before, but never in reality.
"It's absolutely possible. Once everyone's here, I'll explain everything at once," Kael said.
He no longer planned to hide the fact that he could travel between worlds. In the World of Food Wars, he was already invincible. Even if someone dropped a nuclear weapon on his face, he wouldn't bother dodging.
It wouldn't hurt him at all—not even the radiation afterward.
Since he was already invincible and had brought back GT Robots, there was no reason to hide anything except the system itself.
That, he would never reveal.
Erina suppressed her curiosity. After a while, Alice Nakiri and the others returned to the villa one by one.
Kael explained the GT Robots and his ability to travel between worlds.
The revelation hit hard. Everyone was stunned for a long time, and even then, they couldn't fully accept it. It would take time.
But once they saw the strange ingredients Kael had brought back, they stopped overthinking.
He'd brought ingredients back before from the Cooking Master Boy World, but those couldn't compare to Gourmet World ingredients.
This time, Kael took out a Rainbow Fruit, and everyone's eyes widened.
"One drop of juice can turn an entire swimming pool into fruit juice?" Alice couldn't help asking. "Just how concentrated is that? And… are we really going to be okay after eating this?"
She really wanted to try it—but she was scared.
With that much sugar, one bite felt like it could kill someone outright.