After finishing their discussion with the Horse King, the group left Horse King Hill and headed for the Slow Rain Hills.
As soon as they arrived, the difference was obvious.
The falling raindrops slowed to dozens—no, even hundreds—of times slower than normal. You could clearly see each droplet drifting down in front of you. And the closer they got to AIR, the slower the droplets fell.
It was all because of the air leaking from AIR itself. The surrounding atmospheric pressure had been completely altered. Everything in the area moved sluggishly under the overwhelming pressure—even AIR's own growth had been suppressed.
"So this is AIR… As expected of a Treasure Ingredient. Even the surrounding air pressure has changed. No wonder Mr. Kael said we needed to artificially mature it. At this rate, who knows how long it would take to ripen naturally!"
As a Gourmet Regenerator, Dino might be seeing AIR for the first time, but he understood perfectly how the environment could backfire on its growth. That only confirmed it—Kael's decision to accelerate its maturation had been the right call.
The moment Kael stepped closer, his Food Luck activated.
A faint golden glow shimmered from AIR's massive fruit. Information flowed directly into Kael's mind—the remaining time until full maturity, the number of ingredients required to accelerate it, and even the precise method of preparation.
"The ingredient… it made a sound!"
Brunch's eyes widened.
As a chef, he knew ingredients could "speak." But in the past, those moments had been random, uncontrollable. No one could summon them at will.
And in all the history of the Bewitching Food World, there had never been a record of one of the Eight Kings' ingredients making a sound—let alone responding like this.
Before, Brunch had respected Kael because of what he had done for the Bewitching Food World—and because he had dared to negotiate with the Horse King.
Now?
Now it was professional admiration.
If not for his personality, he might've already turned into Kael's die-hard fan. Honestly, he wasn't far off.
"I'll tell you the cooking method for AIR—and the exact number of ingredients needed to mature it."
As Kael spoke, he listed out key precautions and steps. Everyone memorized them immediately.
Meanwhile, far away at Horse King Hill, the Horse King sensed the subtle shift in the atmosphere.
It had been observing them all along. The moment AIR changed, it noticed.
Now, it completely trusted Kael.
If even the ingredient itself had responded, there was no room left for doubt.
With that trust came an order.
The Horse King commanded the massive horses surrounding it: they were not to provoke Kael under any circumstances. On the contrary, they were to protect him.
The giant horses departed from Horse King Hill and spread across Area 8.
Their mission?
To escort Kael.
In the Horse King's eyes, even someone strong could easily fall in the perilous Gourmet World. And it needed Kael alive.
For the sake of the child growing in its womb.
A healthy birth required an unimaginable volume of air. Even after modifying the Air Trees throughout the Horse King's territory, it still wasn't enough.
Only the air contained within AIR would suffice.
Since Kael could release that air through proper preparation, the Horse King had no intention of letting him come to harm.
Of course, Kael himself wasn't worried.
If things turned ugly, he could unleash the Blue Demon and fight head-on. If retreat was necessary, he could escape to another world entirely.
That was why he had dared to negotiate with the Horse King in the first place.
And it was the same confidence he would bring when negotiating with Midora later.
After confirming AIR's condition, Kael and the others returned to the Bewitching Food World.
Along the way, they passed several giant horses heading toward other regions of Area 8.
"What's going on? Why are all these giant horses leaving Horse King Hill?"
Brunch frowned.
They were taking the route through Horse King Hill again. For them, it was now the safest path. Other regions were far more dangerous—the Poison Rain Zone, Laser Rain Zone, even Meteor Rain.
"I'm not sure," Noss said. "But whenever they see us, they greet us kindly. Whatever the Horse King is planning, let's report back to Elder Daruma first."
Everyone nodded.
They hurried back without hunting for ingredients along the way. There was no time.
"You're finally back."
The moment they arrived, Daruma Hermit saw the smiles on their faces and relaxed.
"It seems things went smoothly."
"The Horse King agreed," Mappy said, grinning from ear to ear. "We also went to Slow Rain Hills and saw AIR. It responded to Mr. Kael. Now all we have to do is accelerate its maturation."
He had every reason to be happy.
This mission had brought enormous benefits to the Bewitching Food World. Everyone's strength had increased dramatically. Many who once couldn't venture out could now search for ingredients on their own.
And thanks to preparing the Air Tree, their standing with the Horse King would only rise further.
After all, the Air Tree wasn't a one-time deal.
Before being harvested, it stored nutrients inside its fruit, constantly absorbing air to sustain it. Once the fruit was removed, new fruit would grow—but it wouldn't require as much air.
After each preparation, the air levels would temporarily increase again.
And when the next fruit matured, the cycle would repeat.
The Horse King would need them again and again.
After all, beasts couldn't cook.
Even though monkeys in Area 7 had chefs among them, that didn't mean every creature could manage such a feat.
The giant horses certainly couldn't.
Only the chefs of the Bewitching Food World could handle AIR properly.
"So, Mr. Kael, what are your plans now?" Daruma Hermit asked.
The immediate crisis had passed. Now it was time to consider the future.
"I'll be staying in the Gourmet World for a while," Kael replied. "Area 8 is a treasure trove. I don't plan on moving to other continents yet. I need to strengthen myself here."
Even if these ingredients only gradually enhanced his Gourmet Cells, improvement was improvement.
Ingredients from the Human World were practically useless to him now.
As for the cooking manual in the Gourmet Pyramid? He didn't care.
He could hear the voice of ingredients.
He was a living, breathing ultimate cookbook.
In fact, Kael had begun recording everything he encountered—ingredients, preparation methods, techniques—into a book of his own.
He was considering sharing it with other chefs.
After all, he was Setsuno's disciple. Setsuno was the pillar of the culinary world.
He had no intention of hoarding everything.
Sharing those methods would only elevate his and Setsuno's standing in the Human World.
And realistically? Most chefs couldn't even make use of them.
Very few could enter the Gourmet World.
Even fewer could capture these ingredients.
And many Gourmet World ingredients required Food Honor mastery to prepare properly.
Just that one requirement alone would block out the vast majority of chefs.
Even at Shokurin Temple, second-seat masters had spent their entire lives without reaching mastery.
Chiryu was already ranked highly among chefs—yet even his Food Honor still hadn't reached mastery.
Reaching that level wasn't something most people could achieve in decades.
For ordinary chefs, it might take multiple lifetimes.
So sharing the methods would only bring Kael a better reputation.
Of course, he would discuss it with Setsuno first.
If necessary, the book could remain a private inheritance for their lineage.
From then on, Kael settled in the Bewitching Food World.
He frequently checked on AIR. With a constant influx of ingredients feeding it, its maturation speed accelerated rapidly.
Faster than even he had anticipated.
Or rather—the Bewitching Food World had exceeded his expectations.
Perhaps because of the immense benefits he had brought them, they spared no effort in helping him.
It was good news.
Kael decided to stay until AIR was fully prepared. After that, he would return to the Human World and seek out Midora to deal with Monkey King Bambina.
Once he obtained PAIR, he would have the confidence to enter the Soul World.
He was especially looking forward to preparing ANOTHER.
Even knowing it would take over sixty years—even with hearing the ingredient's voice—didn't deter him.
He wasn't afraid of challenges.
If he were, he wouldn't have negotiated with the Horse King in the first place.
Following the original timeline would've eventually let him taste all Eight Kings ingredients anyway.
But deep down, he had his pride.
After all, as someone with a system backing him, his mindset was bound to be different.
As time passed, Kael's strength steadily improved.
AIR approached full maturity.
When it neared completion, Kael stopped hunting altogether and remained at Slow Rain Hills.
He didn't know if the Blue Nitro or the NEO organization would try anything.
Realistically, they probably wouldn't. They had no idea AIR's growth had been accelerated.
From the outside, it would look like nothing unusual was happening.
Even the IGO likely wouldn't imagine that Kael had entered the Gourmet World, accelerated AIR's growth, prepared it—and would simply leave afterward.
As for the Bewitching Food World, with the Horse King's protection, there was little to worry about.
"I can't believe… that one day we'd actually get to taste AIR."
The residents of the Bewitching Food World had all gathered.
They stared at the colossal fruit before them in awe.
In the original timeline, they only arrived after the preparation succeeded.
This time was different.
This time, they already knew it would succeed.
They had traveled together from Horse King Hill. The path was safe now.
Kael floated above the massive AIR fruit.
The final batch of ingredients was on its way.
He had already sliced open the surrounding high-pressure air with his knife.
This wasn't an ordinary knife—it was custom-made by the system.
The finest blade in the world.
Cutting through air pressure was effortless.
Without the suppression of air—and with constant feeding—AIR was finally on the verge of ripening.
"Brunch, bring up the final batch. I'm ready."
Kael raised his knife.
Preparing AIR required no extra ingredients.
Just a single blade.
Brunch and the others piled the final ingredients at AIR's roots.
In an instant, the roots absorbed everything.
AIR was domineering like that.
With the final nutrients infused—
It ripened.
Unlike the original timeline, where Zebra and the others had to desperately secure the fruit to keep it from falling, Kael didn't need to struggle.
His physical strength and culinary skill far surpassed Komatsu's.
In a single flash—
A massive, deep cavity was carved into AIR's surface.
And there was still time before it fell.
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