"So good… This roast has a really special flavor to it. It tastes like flame itself. That must be because you grilled it directly in fire, right?"
"By the way, Kael, can you explain your new Special Ability?"
Alice Nakiri asked curiously. Thinking back on it now, the roasted meat really did have a unique flavor—something like the smoky wok hei you get from high-heat cooking.
That kind of taste existed in barbecue before, sure, but it was never this pronounced. Most grilling used charcoal fire, after all. Open flames were rare, and Kael had taken it even further, cooking straight inside a sea of fire.
Yet instead of feeling out of place, that intense flame flavor blended perfectly, elevating the dish instead of overpowering it.
"Sure. I call this ability Explosive Flame," Kael said calmly. "You already saw most of its effects. It releases ultra-high-temperature steam directly from my body."
"That steam is hot enough to ignite anything my hands touch."
"And just so you know, it won't set my clothes on fire."
"On top of that, I'm immune to flames. Because of that, I can use fire to drastically speed up cooking, cutting the total time down by several times—or even dozens of times."
Kael explained it briefly. These were things everyone would see sooner or later anyway.
"That's insane," someone blurted out. "Fire immunity alone would be broken, but accelerating cooking by that much? No wonder you finished an entire roast pork leg in just a few minutes."
The group stared at him in shock. One absurd ability after another—and all of them belonged to the same person. Kael was becoming more and more outrageous by the day.
What really unsettled them was that no one even knew what level Kael truly stood at anymore. He hadn't taken any official chef assessments recently, so on the WGO website, he was still listed as an Eight-Star Chef.
But in everyone's eyes, he was already a solid Nine-Star—if not higher.
Given Kael's growth rate, even Nine-Star felt uncertain now. Outside the circle, speculation was rampant.
Kael himself ignored all of it. His focus was solely on improving his cooking.
In fact, when he used Explosive Flame earlier, he'd deliberately held back. His Chef's Heart was too domineering. If he hadn't weakened it, the oppressive force of a Lin Chef-level Chef's Heart might have caused unpredictable effects.
At times, a Chef's Heart that powerful wasn't much different from a form of mental assault.
Of course, someone like Liu Maoxing—whose Chef's Heart warmed and healed people—was a special case.
That kind of Chef's Heart could influence people positively no matter how high its level became, even changing their mental state for the better.
Still, Kael didn't dare imagine what a Chef's Heart would be like at the level of a Supreme Dragon Chef—or beyond.
That night, Erina Nakiri returned.
The dishes had been reheated, so technically they shouldn't have tasted as good as before. But with God's Tongue, Erina perceived something entirely different.
Kael's cooking, to her senses, had reached a state it never had before.
Perfect.
Previously, his dishes were nearly flawless—but nearly wasn't enough. God's Tongue magnified even the tiniest defect. As long as something hadn't surpassed its upper limit, flaws—no matter how small—would always be exposed.
But this time, there was nothing.
Not even the slightest imperfection.
"I… I can't taste any flaws at all," Erina said softly, disbelief shaking her voice. "Kael, your cooking is perfect."
Even after reheating. Even with Kael suppressing his Chef's Heart.
God's Tongue found nothing.
"So that's how it is," Kael murmured. "Looks like God's Tongue has reached its limit."
The others were confused and immediately asked what he meant.
"It's simple," Kael explained. "Special Abilities must have limits. They can't improve endlessly. God's Tongue magnifies flaws, but it can't work on every dish."
"I've been testing its upper limit for a long time without success. Now we have our answer. If Erina senses perfection, then God's Tongue has hit its ceiling."
Kael understood this clearly. God's Tongue was inferior to Divine Taste—so it had to have a cap.
That cap was the upper limit of a Special-Grade Chef.
Once a chef reaches the Lin Chef level, even a casually made dish can surpass God's Tongue entirely. At that point, flaws simply can't be detected—unless the chef intentionally makes something inedible.
"Wait," Alice Nakiri said sharply. "If what you're saying is true… and God's Tongue has a limit…"
"Then that means no one in the culinary world today can make a dish God's Tongue considers perfect."
"In other words—Kael, you've already surpassed every chef alive?!"
She'd connected the dots.
Kael wasn't just the greatest genius in the culinary world anymore. He was its undisputed number one.
"That's not wrong," Kael admitted. "So let me redefine the ranks."
"From One-Star to Nine-Star, nothing changes. WGO already has clear standards for that."
"But beyond Nine-Star, things get vague. 'Nine-Star and above' isn't a real classification, because there are so few people at that level."
"So from now on, I'll call that tier Special-Grade Chef."
"The requirement is simple: a fully formed Chef's Heart, no longer just a prototype."
Everyone exchanged glances and nodded. Compared to the sloppy term "Nine-Star and above," Special-Grade Chef sounded far more fitting.
After all, there were barely enough chefs at that level to count on two hands. It made sense that no proper title had existed before.
Now that Kael—recognized as the strongest chef alive—had named it, no one would object.
"As for what comes after Special-Grade," Kael continued, "both fundamentals and Chef's Heart improve even further. The basics are obvious, so let's talk about Chef's Heart."
"You've all experienced Eight-Star and Nine-Star Chef's Hearts already. You know what they're like."
"They're manifestations of a chef's will—something that can influence people."
Erina nodded. "Yes. Different Chef's Hearts have different levels of impact."
"The best examples are Sarge and Bunnyhair. One is violent, the other carries the authority of a queen. Both have overwhelming dominance."
"In terms of influence, their Chef's Hearts surpass those of many Eight-Star and Nine-Star chefs."
Everyone agreed.
"At the Special-Grade level, that influence increases dramatically," Erina went on. "When I was young, Grandpa invited Joichiro Saiba because of his Chef's Heart."
"It didn't completely erase my trauma, but it helped me step out of it."
"Back then, Joichiro-san wasn't a Special-Grade Chef yet—but he was very close."
"Exactly," Kael said. "Each major breakthrough causes a qualitative transformation in Chef's Heart."
"When I became a Special-Grade Chef, I had to weaken my Chef's Heart in my cooking. Otherwise, it would've overwhelmed you."
"But the level beyond Special-Grade—the one I'm at now—brings another evolution."
"If Special-Grade Chef's Hearts are about influence, then at my level, it's pure impact."
"It's like the mental shock you see in novels, manga, or games."
Everyone finally understood. Every major level was a rebirth of Chef's Heart.
"…That's terrifying," someone muttered. "So just how strong is your Chef's Heart now, Kael?"
They knew better than anyone how domineering Kael's Chef's Heart was. Sarge and Bunnyhair had been completely conquered by it.
Even knowing they'd been influenced, they still followed him without hesitation—because at their core, they'd already been utterly subdued.
"I honestly don't dare test it," Kael said, rolling his eyes. "The consequences wouldn't be pretty."
"Unless it's against an enemy—but good luck finding one."
Azami Nakiri was long dealt with. And who else would dare provoke him now?
"That makes sense," someone laughed. "So what do we call this level?"
Everyone looked at Kael again.
"Lin Chef," he said without hesitation. "As in qilin—a symbol of extraordinary talent and boundless potential."
"It represents brilliance, fortune, and a future that's still unfolding."
"That name is perfect," they agreed. "Grand, powerful—and it clearly means the road doesn't end here."
They were curious. And a little regretful.
Because that road was one only Kael could walk.
Talent had limits.
Kael did have methods to increase talent, but they were flawed. Some enhanced only specific abilities, like Alice improving her eyesight—and even those had hard caps.
There were other methods, too.
But Kael would never use them.
They burned lifespan to force talent growth.
Sure, progress came fast—but death followed just as quickly. Chefs created that way peaked early and collapsed just as fast.
Even Kaiyu wouldn't use such garbage methods.
They were only useful for expendable pawns.
Which was exactly how the Dark Cooking Society used them—turning people into disposable weapons.
Those missions were already near-suicidal anyway. Lifespan didn't matter.
Honestly, Kaiyu was rotten to the core.
Kael couldn't raise everyone's ceiling—not yet. Maybe with stronger inheritances in the future.
For now, all he could do was keep improving himself.