"I am IGO Gourmet Investigator Miyamoto Yayako." The voluptuous beauty with a single ponytail, dressed in a sharp black blazer, miniskirt, and black stockings, stepped onto the high platform in high heels, surrounded by a group of agents in black sunglasses. She immediately flipped open her ID badge containing her photo.
"Three-Star Chef Yoshino Takashi is currently suspected of involvement in a homicide case." Miyamoto Yayako snapped her black credentials shut and waved her hand. "Take him away."
Several agents in black stepped forward and hauled away a lifeless-eyed Yoshino Takashi.
Yoshino Takashi knew he was finished; the harsh Gourmet Law was about to descend upon him.
"Regarding the shokugeki wager, our IGO Gourmet Investigation Department will audit all assets and send the transfer contract to your current residence."
After saying this, Miyamoto Yayako turned and led her team away with crisp efficiency.
"Holy crap, are Gourmet Investigators that badass these days? She didn't even acknowledge a Qilin-level Chef?" Wang Yao, halfway through standing up, saw Miyamoto Yayako turn and leave, freezing him in place.
Mo Bai almost snorted with laughter.
That's what you get for acting so cool—you crashed and burned, didn't you?
However, Mo Bai's schadenfreude didn't last long. Various media reporters broke through the flesh-and-blood defense line formed by the staff, swarming toward the high platform like a zombie siege.
The primary target was naturally the Qilin-level Chef, a rarity almost extinct in the Far East. The reporters who were a step too slow wittily turned their gaze to the secondary target: the Akihabara Summit Battle champion, Mo Bai.
"Screw this!"
The scene instantly turned into a chaotic mess.
Outside the shrine, inside a black sedan, the agent in black sunglasses expressed admiration for Miyamoto Yayako in the passenger seat, his feelings surging like the endless waters of a great river, and out of control like the Yellow River flooding.
"Team Leader Miyamoto, you were truly amazing!"
"In our line of work, we have to be hard-headed, fear no power, and enforce the law resolutely. No matter how big their background is, can they beat the IGO?" Miyamoto Yayako untied her hair tie, letting her jet-black hair cascade down. Her sharp, capable image instantly transformed into that of a long-haired Yamato Nadeshiko.
"Yes, yes, yes! Team Leader, your mighty image of not flinching even before a Qilin-level Chef is deeply imprinted in our hearts."
"We will learn from you in the future, Team Leader."
Miyamoto Yayako trembled as she reached into her pocket for her phone, then suddenly stood up, forgetting she was inside a car.
With a loud bang of collision, Miyamoto Yayako clutched her head, letting out a low whimper like a puppy.
"Team Leader Miyamoto?! Are you okay? Do you need ointment?" The team member looked panicked.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Miyamoto Yayako's beautiful violet eyes were misty, with teardrops hanging from the corners, but her mind wasn't on the pain in her head. "Where did a Qilin-level Chef come from just now?"
"The one sitting right in the middle of the judges' table. Look, Team Leader, we have the data."
The team member handed over the phone. In the center of the screen, Wang Yao's IGO-certified profile clearly displayed the words [Qilin-level].
"Team... Team Leader, you didn't..." The team member seemed to realize something, his eye twitching furiously.
"Eek!" Overwhelmed by shock, Miyamoto Yayako rolled her eyes back and collapsed onto the passenger seat.
Yayako really hadn't thought the young man in the center of the judges' table was a Qilin-level Chef. As for the conspicuous Qilin on Wang Yao's chef uniform, she had dismissed it as some rich second-generation kid having too much time and money to spend on custom embroidery.
"If you don't need your eyes, you can donate them to someone who does!" In her faint, Miyamoto Yayako could already hear the furious roar of the Department Head in the near future.
"Team Leader!!!" A piercing shriek rang out from inside the black sedan, tearing through the sky.
=====
Harano Hotel.
Two brothers in adversity, having escaped by the skin of their teeth from the reporters' blockade, were leaning against the wall, panting heavily.
"Old Mo, I'm returning to my country this afternoon."
"So rushed? Not staying for a celebration banquet?" Mo Bai was a bit surprised by Wang Yao's schedule.
"I came to the Far East on a mission, you know. Besides... are you sure you want to invite me to eat your cooking?" Wang Yao's look of disdain made Mo Bai want to punch him.
"Alright, I have something serious to tell you now." Wang Yao put away his joking expression and spoke solemnly.
"Your Culinary Heart is somewhat special. Not only can it merge with others' Culinary Hearts, but it also seems to catalyze and strengthen them." Wang Yao had formed a few more theories after watching today's competition.
After all, it was truly rare for a low-level Three-Star Chef to independently comprehend the embryonic form of a Culinary Heart and soar to the skies.
"In short, try not to cook with others."
"Before you have the ability to protect yourself, hide it as much as possible."
"Catalyze and strengthen others' Culinary Hearts?" Mo Bai rubbed his chin in thought. "Wouldn't that make me very popular?"
"Yes. In Hua nation, a figure as popular as you has only one ending: being captured by the powerful families of certain Dragon-level Chefs for breeding." Wang Yao's tone carried a chill.
"Breed... ing?"
"What? You don't believe me?"
"It's not that I don't believe you, it just sounds a bit too fantastical." Mo Bai held up his jaw, which was about to drop to the floor.
"Fantastical? The Hua nation culinary world has never been a nice place. There's never a shortage of old immortals who dream of reaching the realm of the God of Cooking to dominate the Inner World, and thereby dominate the Surface World."
"Bloodline improvement is, in their view, the fastest way to make their descendants rise."
Wang Yao's casual mention of "bloodline improvement" gave Mo Bai goosebumps all over his body.
This kind of thinking was definitely not something a normal person could understand.
Sick, or perhaps it could simply be called... perverted.
"In short, try not to return to Hua nation before you reach Qilin-level."
"Damn! But if you put it that way, isn't it dangerous for me in the Far East too?" Mo Bai was genuinely cowed. Flirting with beauties was fine, but losing his freedom to become a 'human stud'—the latter was a completely different scenario from the former.
"No, in the Far East, relying on my name and my master's name, they wouldn't dare act recklessly."
"Are you sure?"
"My master is the leader of the Hua nation culinary world, ranked number one in the IGO World Chef Ranking."
Mo Bai had a retort stuck in his throat: "Are you the protagonist or am I?"
"Don't worry, Elder Han's trainee will also come over soon to protect you."
"Just consider this leveling up in the novice zone."
"I've never heard of a BAD END where failing to level up turns you into a breeding tool." Mo Bai covered his face, not knowing what expression to use to face this tragic life.
Wang Yao patted Mo Bai's shoulder; everything was understood without words.
"Also, try to use tricks from the Dark Cooking Society and the Gourmet Corp as little as possible in the Far East. The reason the Far East culinary world is so miserable right now has a lot to do with the Dark Cooking Society."
===
Private Flight.
"Hey, I heard everything you said to that kid earlier." After the private jet took off, the young man who had spoken with Elder Han at the competition venue spoke up.
After Elder Han uttered the words "Dark Cooking Society," he was swarmed and subdued by the plainclothes Gourmet Police stationed at the scene. Fortunately, Elder Han claimed him at the critical moment, otherwise, he would have inevitably enjoyed a forced repatriation trip.
"So what if you heard? Isn't the reason Master tolerates your Dark Cooking Society's activities precisely because he wants you to become a force that suppresses those old immortals?"
"Elder Han is a celebrity after all; his every move is under a magnifying glass. When it comes to the function of a bodyguard, no one understands the methods of the riffraff better than you guys." Wang Yao closed his eyes to rest. His holiday in the Far East was over; next, he had to adjust his mindset to face the Hua nation culinary world—calm on the surface, but surging with undercurrents in reality.
"Wanting us from the Dark Cooking Society to act as bodyguards... that depends on whether the other party has the capability," the young man muttered softly.
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