The fishing trip started out normally enough, but since several people just couldn't get a bite no matter what they tried, Kael decided to give them a proper experience.
He tossed in some of his specially made bait to chum the waters.
The results were… effective. Too effective.
Kael had underestimated just how powerful this special bait really was.
In the world of Chuuka Ichiban!, there were plenty of bizarre and extraordinary ingredients. Kaiyu's secret recipe for this bait originally came from the Taiji Cuisine Realm. According to legend, it could even lure out the Dragon King of the seas.
Of course, Kael figured that so-called "Dragon King" was probably the same kind of thing Liu Maoxing and the others encountered in the original story—a supermassive eel whose sheer size made people mistake it for a mythical creature.
Kaiyu's bait had proven incredibly useful there. Kael had recreated it successfully, but he seriously underestimated its impact.
This bait could attract special sea creatures from the Chuuka Ichiban! world. Dropping it into the world of Food Wars! was nothing short of dimensional overkill.
In less than ten minutes, everyone's fishing rods bent at once.
"I've got one!"
"So do I!"
One after another, people shouted in excitement as they started reeling in their catches. But the bait worked too well. They weren't just hooking fish—they were hooking monsters.
Large fish, one after another.
Even though Kael kept rushing around to help, he couldn't keep up.
In the end, a few of the guys simply cut their lines, abandoned their own fishing, and ran over to help the girls. Only then did they barely manage to control the fish.
Finally, Kael stepped in and directly hauled the big fish aboard, one after another.
"This won't work," someone said breathlessly. "We have to split into groups. There's no way one person can reel these in alone." After personally experiencing what "utterly outmatched" felt like, everyone agreed.
Seeing everyone reorganize, Kael nodded and went back to fishing.
At this point, his Divine Sight clearly showed him the situation beneath the surface. The water below the yacht was packed with fish—huge ones.
Plenty of smaller fish had been drawn in too, but with so many giants around, the little ones were either eaten or chased away. Beneath the boat, there were only big fish left.
Kael wasn't fishing blindly. He chose his targets deliberately.
Spotting a sea bream nearly a meter long, he suddenly thought of Liu Maoxing's True Sea Bream Continental Map and Reincarnation Spring Rolls. Maybe he could recreate them.
With that thought, Kael reeled the massive sea bream up without hesitation.
After that, he searched again—and quickly found another target.
A colossal grouper.
This was a fish Kael recognized. Even before transmigrating, he had read about it. It was considered an ancient species, often called a "living fossil": the giant grouper.
In his original world, this fish had been a strictly protected species. Touching one was out of the question.
But this wasn't his old world.
In the world of Food Wars!, many extremely rare creatures existed in surprisingly large numbers. It really lived up to being a gourmet universe. While it couldn't compare to the worlds of Chuuka Ichiban! or Toriko, it was still far richer than reality.
Here, giant groupers could be caught—though doing so was incredibly difficult.
Their size alone made them a nightmare. Most were over two meters long and weighed more than two hundred kilograms. Catching something like that in open water was no easy feat.
Kael hadn't expected one to be nearby at all, much less drawn in by his bait.
But since it was here, he wasn't about to hold back.
He locked onto the giant grouper precisely. The instant it bit, an overwhelming force surged through the rod.
The fishing rod bent to its absolute limit, on the verge of snapping. Kael immediately adjusted, using technique rather than brute force, dispersing the fish's explosive strength.
The rod rebounded slightly.
Reeling this fish in wouldn't be hard for him. His physical conditioning and technique were more than enough.
After all, back in his previous life, someone had once caught an eight-meter-long whale shark. Kael had felt stunned just reading the news. When he watched the video, it turned out the shark hadn't been fully hauled in—it had merely surfaced—but it was still terrifying.
That was fishing culture for you. They joked that fishermen could catch anything except fish—but sometimes, what they did catch was even more absurd.
Even so, this grouper was no joke. Normally, Kael could reel in a big fish in ten or so minutes. This one fought him for nearly half an hour.
Everyone else was too busy wrestling with their own catches to notice what was happening on Kael's side.
Finally, after exhausting the fish completely, Kael applied his technique once more.
A massive shadow flew out of the water.
BANG!
The deck shook violently as the giant slammed down. Everyone felt the tremor beneath their feet. Turning around, they saw it—a gigantic grouper, far larger than a person, lying on the deck.
It was completely spent, barely able to twitch.
H-Huge… it's enormous," someone stammered. "Since when do groupers get that big?!
"This thing actually exists?" Soma Yukihira stared in disbelief. "Isn't this some kind of sea monster?"
"That's a giant grouper," Zenji Marui said after a moment. "They're extremely large. I've read about them. But fish this big often contain ciguatoxin."
"Toxin?" Alice Nakiri laughed. "Isn't that Kael's specialty?"
"With Kael, that's not even a problem," someone added.
Zenji nodded. "True. Poison cuisine is exactly his field."
At this point, no one had any interest in fishing anymore. They all gathered around the massive grouper, staring in awe.
Megumi Tadokoro had seen large fish before—her home was near a port—but nothing even close to this size.
"We got a good haul today," Kael said. "Let's head back. Once we're back, I'll cook something special for everyone."
The reaction was immediate—faces lit up all around.
Kael's cooking wasn't something you could buy with money. No amount of wealth could make him lift a finger.
The only way to taste his food was through personal ties.
Right now, the yacht looked… strange. A luxury vessel filled with handsome men and beautiful women should've been out for leisure. Instead, it had turned into a fishing boat, piled high with gigantic fish.
When they docked, the people at the pier stared in disbelief.
Especially when they saw the giant grouper.
Normally, catching something like that required a full fishing vessel and nets. But this yacht didn't have any of that.
Which meant one thing.
It had been caught by rod and line.
The shock was unavoidable.
And it wasn't just the grouper. There were several other giant fish too, all different species. Anyone who'd made their living off the sea their entire life was left utterly confused.
Before returning, Alice had already arranged for people to be waiting. Once the yacht docked, the fish were immediately transported away.
No one bothered showing them off. They weren't hardcore anglers, after all. They headed straight back to Ryokan.
Megumi's mother was stunned all over again when she saw the haul. Kael and the others hadn't even been there that long, yet she'd lost count of how many times she'd been shocked.
There was far too much fish to eat. After quickly processing them, Kael distributed portions to Megumi's family and to others present. Some were even sent to the Nakiri family.
He also dealt with the ciguatoxin beforehand—sending dangerous fish to people was not an option.
Kael kept a portion for himself: two large sea bream.
He planned to recreate Liu Maoxing's two legendary dishes.
To preserve the mystery, Kael barred everyone from the kitchen and worked alone.
They could only wait.
As time passed, an irresistible aroma spread through Ryokan—and even beyond it. Guests and nearby residents were drawn in, gathering outside.
The staff had to hold them back, explaining that this wasn't a dish for sale, but something a guest was cooking.
When people learned that the cook was Kael, they gave up immediately.
After all, this was the youngest Nine-Star Chef in history.
Eventually, the fragrance reached its peak.
Kael emerged from the kitchen, carrying the completed dishes.
The portions were shocking.
The first was an entire sea bream—whole and intact. But the fine threads wrapped around it, along with the scent leaking from within, made it obvious that it wasn't that simple.
The second dish was a mountain of spring rolls, stacked densely.
They had been made from an entire fish. Some were for the Polar Star Dormitory residents, and some were for the staff.
"There's something hidden inside this fish, right?" Alice asked, circling it.
"Cut the strings and see for yourselves," Kael said with a smile.
They didn't hesitate.
The moment the threads were cut, the fish unfolded like a blooming flower—
And four completely different dishes were revealed inside.
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*The Bonus Chapter*