"Children? Lady Frohze had two children? And she sent them away wrapped inside a Warp kitchen? That's a problem!"
The three of them were stunned, brows furrowing at the same time.
A Warp kitchen wrap was essentially layering a fragment of the Back Channel onto someone.
The flow of time between the two worlds was completely different. They had no idea what method Frohze used to keep the two children alive for so long. With time distorted like that, there was no telling when those children would actually be born.
For all they knew, the children might have already been born hundreds of years ago.
Or they could still be developing even now.
Time itself had been thrown into chaos. Everything was too uncertain.
Finding those two children would be unbelievably difficult. The three of them couldn't help but frown.
As for asking Kael whether he knew where the children were—that was pointless. He had already said he learned about Frohze and Joie through a special method. There was no way that information included what happened to the children afterward.
Even Frohze herself couldn't have predicted their future, making it impossible to track them down now.
"You don't need to worry too much," Kael said calmly. "Back then, Frohze definitely possessed terrifying Food Luck. That kind of Food Luck would influence her descendants. Those two kids won't be in danger."
He didn't elaborate further. His current strength wasn't enough to explain everything.
The three nodded. They had been so anxious that they almost forgot about Food Luck.
With Food Luck protecting them, those two children wouldn't easily meet disaster.
As for whether they would think of Toriko and Starjun—impossible.
If Toriko or Starjun carried Frohze's aura, they would have recognized it long ago. There was no way they would only realize it now.
Food Luck truly was mysterious.
Not only did it protect the two children, it even guided them to Midora and Ichiryu.
But compared to Starjun, Toriko had it rough.
Starjun was born early. He absorbed Toriko's nutrients and Food Luck in the womb, which allowed him to be born sooner and avoid too many hardships.
Toriko was different. Because his nutrients were drained, his birth was delayed. On top of that, much of his Food Luck had been taken by Starjun, leaving Toriko miserable in his early years.
He was constantly starving. He even chewed his own fingernails out of hunger.
Only after his Food Luck gradually reassembled did he encounter Ichiryu and get adopted. His childhood had been harsh.
"Things here are settled. I'm heading back to the Human World. What about you?"
Kael planned to return and experiment with modifying PAIR using Qi. After the Cooking Festival ended, he would come back to the Gourmet World.
With Midora having come to his senses, this year's Cooking Festival shouldn't spiral out of control. There was no need to gather chefs from around the world to cook for him anymore.
Midora would also be purging the Gourmet Corp internally. They wouldn't have the chance to cause trouble.
As for Joie, he probably wouldn't show up either.
In the original timeline, Joie dared to attend the Cooking Festival only because Ichiryu and Midora were busy fighting in the Gourmet World with the Human World's powerhouses.
Otherwise, even with a hundred times the courage, he wouldn't dare stir up trouble there.
Of course, who knew? Maybe Joie was reckless enough to try something anyway.
If he did and got caught by Midora, that would be the end of him.
"We'll head back too," Ichiryu said. "Jiro and I need to handle matters within IGO. The members of the 0th Biotope and other key personnel are all gathered—it's the perfect time to resolve everything. As for you, Midora, gather your people."
Midora didn't object.
Now that he had sorted out his thoughts, Ichiryu was still his older brother. And with the guilt he carried, he wouldn't argue.
Besides, Ichiryu was right. The Gourmet Corp's members were scattered everywhere. Pulling them together wouldn't be easy.
The four of them returned directly to the Human World.
Even Kael hadn't expected things to go this smoothly. Not only did he obtain AIR, he captured PAIR as well.
After returning, Kael went straight to Setsuno and told her everything that had happened in the Gourmet World.
She was deeply shocked.
Still, she immediately ate the two ingredients Kael had prepared for her. Her strength skyrocketed.
After that, Setsuno headed to IGO to help.
Kael, meanwhile, began studying how to modify PAIR.
—
At IGO headquarters, everyone had already gathered.
With Jiro and Ichiryu standing there, the pressure alone was overwhelming.
"Little Setsuno, you came too?" Jiro asked, slightly surprised when he saw her arrive.
It had taken some time to assemble everyone, which was why she managed to make it in time.
"That brat Kael told me everything," Setsuno replied. "So I figured I'd see if I could help."
She was confident she hadn't been cooked.
It was her first time hearing about cooking Gourmet Cells, but such a thing likely required a massive gap in strength.
While she couldn't match the three strongest, she could still fight Joie.
In the original timeline, Joie injured her in a single move. But she had already been wounded beforehand and was protecting other chefs, leaving her no room to dodge.
In the later stages of the Toriko world, taking a direct hit from someone at your level—or even slightly stronger—was basically suicide.
The difference between her and Joie wasn't that big.
Now that she had eaten the two ingredients, she was even stronger. There was no way she'd be controlled.
"In that case, you can help feed PAIR later," Ichiryu said. Then he turned to the crowd. "Listen carefully. Some of you have been controlled. It wasn't betrayal on your part—"
Before he could finish, someone moved.
It was Kousairou.
The moment Ichiryu mentioned Joie's name, he knew everything had been exposed.
Gathering them here meant one thing—they were going to remove the control.
Those who were controlled were aware of it.
But the control was tyrannical. Even knowing they were manipulated, they remained utterly loyal to the one who controlled them.
Kousairou's first instinct was to flee.
A few others moved as well.
But no matter how fast they were, they couldn't compare to Jiro.
Jiro slammed his fist into the ground.
A weakened version of Grand Knocking spread out.
The earth shattered. Everyone except Jiro, Ichiryu, and Setsuno was frozen in place.
"To be safe, everyone will experience a near-death crisis," Ichiryu continued. "Master Jiro is here. He'll stabilize you when you reach the brink of death. Then you'll consume PAIR, recover, and grow stronger."
The un-controlled members relaxed.
They had worried that some controlled individuals might remain hidden, sowing distrust among them.
Now that the president himself said this, it meant no one would die.
And this problem had to be resolved.
What truly shocked them was PAIR.
One of Acacia's Full Course Menu ingredients.
They hadn't expected Ichiryu to possess it.
No matter what, this was a huge gain. Drinking PAIR wasn't something that came easily.
"Since no one objects, we'll start with Kousairou."
Ichiryu stepped forward and punched him.
The force was terrifying—but precisely controlled.
It left him on the brink of death without actually killing him. Otherwise, he would have been reduced to nothing.
The moment he was gravely injured, Jiro acted, using Knocking to stabilize his life signs.
Setsuno fed him PAIR.
In the next second, his Gourmet Cells surged and rapidly repaired his body.
In the blink of an eye, he recovered.
Except now, he had turned into a woman.
"Kousairou, drinking PAIR causes a temporary gender swap," Ichiryu reminded him. "You can switch back."
With that prompt, he returned to normal.
"Thank you, President, Master Jiro, Lady Setsuno. That control… it felt like a nightmare. My memories and awareness were intact, but I was absolutely loyal to that man."
He shuddered.
The others felt chills as well.
It was a distortion at the level of cognition itself.
Keeping memories and consciousness intact, yet completely twisting loyalty—terrifying.
"Kousairou, do you know who else was controlled?" Ichiryu asked.
"I know a few," he said. "Not many. I wasn't always in NEO. Joie sent me to infiltrate IGO."
He listed several names, including Vice President Shigematsu.
"Even Shigematsu was controlled?" Mansam broke into a cold sweat.
It was hard to imagine the damage if someone like Shigematsu had turned on them.
Soon, Shigematsu was freed as well.
Compared to his original fate—where he was sent with Teppei to target Toriko, only for Teppei to suddenly crush Komatsu's heart while Shigematsu overestimated himself and got blasted into near-death—this was far better.
One by one, the controlled individuals were restored.
It became clear that some had indeed planned to continue hiding among them.
"Be careful during missions from now on," Ichiryu said. "And keep detailed records of your existing scars. Once controlled, scars will spread. That's a precise way to detect it."
After drinking PAIR, most of them had experienced a temporary gender swap before reverting.
Their strength had increased significantly.
IGO's situation was resolved.
Only the higher-ups and 0th Biotope members had been gathered. Ichiryu believed Joie wouldn't bother controlling lower-level personnel.
Controlling management and core members was enough.
"Our side's settled—for now," Ichiryu said. "I wonder how things are going over there with Midora. Let's go take a look."
With IGO handled, next was the Gourmet Corp.
Before parting, Midora had already told them the location of the Gourmet Corp's headquarters.
This time…
The Gourmet Corp was about to have a very bad day.