Chapter 240: Joie's Fully Stacked Sur
"Master, what was that just now?"
Chiryu and the others were pale. For a split second, that overwhelming Intimidation had made them feel like they were about to die.
"It was the aura of several of the Human World's strongest," Chiyo said, shaking her head. "You don't need to worry. I don't know who could force all of them to act at once, but whoever it is… their fate is sealed."
The three strongest in the Human World—Ichiryu, Jiro, and Midora.
Chiyo was intimately familiar with their auras. She had once traveled with Chin Chinchin, so she knew Ichiryu's presence well. As a close friend of Setsuno, she was also familiar with Jiro's.
And as for Midora—she had joined Gourmet Corp these past few years. She saw the chairman often enough.
If anyone could recognize those three, it was her.
Honestly, what shocked her more was the identity of their opponent. To force those three to move together… Even one of the Eight Kings of the Gourmet World might not deserve that kind of treatment.
"The strongest in the Human World? You mean Chairman Ichiryu and the others?" Chiryu's voice trembled. "What's going on with this Cooking Festival?!"
She had thought this would be like any other year—come, compete, leave.
Instead, a flood of major figures had gathered. And now it looked like they were about to fight.
Before her shock faded, the region sealed off by the Pressure Dome exploded outward. Everything not protected by Setsuno's technique was erased instantly.
Even Kael bolted straight into the Pressure Dome's safe zone without hesitation.
Right now, Ichiryu, Jiro, and Midora were furious—especially Midora, who had already made a move. Kael wasn't weak, but he had no intention of clashing head-on with those three.
After all, they had been strengthened—by his own hands. Their power was no joke.
"Chef Kael!"
When they saw him enter the barrier, everyone turned.
They all knew Kael was strong—Nono had said so. The only reason he hadn't participated in the Cooking Festival was because he simply wasn't interested.
But now he had burst out from the battlefield… with another chef in tow.
The one he brought was Ume.
As for the top tycoons who had been there?
Kael didn't bother saving them.
Midora's strike had wiped them out instantly.
In their rage, neither Ichiryu nor Jiro paid them any mind. Their lives ended just like that.
Joie's condition was even worse.
With a single blow from Midora, his body was shattered—bones crushed, flesh mangled. The attack had come too suddenly for him to react.
But before Midora could follow up, Ichiryu's chopsticks flashed.
One strike.
They pierced straight through Joie's head.
"Nosy."
Midora shot Ichiryu a glance and spat out the word.
He understood exactly what Ichiryu was doing.
No matter what Joie had done, the body he occupied was still Frohze's.
Midora was obsessed with Frohze. Even in the original story, Acacia had known not to let Midora destroy Frohze's body himself.
Ichiryu and Jiro clearly thought the same.
Jiro had sensed Ichiryu's move and held back, letting him finish Joie off.
Just as everyone thought it was over—
Crack.
A sharp, brittle sound echoed through the air.
Joie's ruined body suddenly restored itself completely.
At the same time, a phantom figure appeared where he had fallen. It let out a piercing scream before vanishing.
The next second, Joie's healed body blurred and slipped into the surrounding space.
Midora reacted instantly.
From his mouth shot the Spear Tongue—faster than Joie could fade into the void.
And yet—
His attack twisted midair, bent aside by an invisible force.
Using that opening, Joie vanished completely.
"What was that just now? He should've been dead. Why did he come back unharmed? And how did he warp my attack?!"
Midora's voice carried both anger and genuine confusion.
Ichiryu narrowed his eyes.
"Slipping into the void… That should be the effect of NEWS, one of the Eight Ingredients. It's said that after eating NEWS, you can enter the void at will."
"He's using Frohze-sama's body. She consumed all Eight Ingredients and fused with a Gourmet Demon. Entering the back channel isn't strange for her."
"As for twisting your attack—that's probably Food Luck."
"You don't possess Food Luck, so you've never encountered a trick like that. But using it like that permanently depletes her Food Luck."
Jiro stroked his beard.
"And the resurrection… It's those Orbs on his head. I saw one shatter the moment he died."
"Something else took the fatal blow for him."
In the original timeline, Jiro had noticed the same thing when fighting the Blue Nitro. In the final battle, he even used one of those Orbs himself to survive a fatal blow from Acacia.
Unfortunately, the gap in strength had still been there. And at the time, he had held back.
Now, they had clearly seen it.
Joie was terrified of death. He had an entire head full of life orbs.
Each one was an extra life.
Caught off guard and unaware of his tricks, they had let him slip away.
If they had also eaten NEWS—and could track his position—then even the Back Channel wouldn't have saved him.
"Quite the collection of survival tricks," Jiro said coldly. "But those kinds of moves only work the first time."
His eyes flashed with killing intent.
"Next time… he won't escape."
vival Tricks