"Good. I still haven't settled the score with him. Let him live two more days."
After saying that, Midora shifted his gaze to Kael.
Joie could wait for now. The more urgent issue was Starjun. They still weren't certain whether Starjun was Frohze's child.
That meant Kael had to handle ANOTHER.
And it wasn't just ANOTHER. There was also NEWS—the ingredient that could open the Back Channel.
Once NEWS was prepared, the Back Channel would open. Whether for escaping or chasing someone down, that passage was crucial.
No matter what, they needed Kael.
"You don't have to stare at me like that. I was planning to go to Blue Grill anyway. Just make sure the Cookware is ready before I get there."
Kael wasn't Komatsu from the original story. This time, it was three top-tier powerhouses asking him to capture ANOTHER.
On top of that, Don Slime had always listened to Ichiryu. Kael had no intention of proving whether he could cook ANOTHER or not.
If they wanted him to handle it, then they'd better prepare everything properly.
Besides, he still needed to continue modifying PAIR. He'd already tested it—it could be altered.
The problem was the cost. The consumption was massive. There was no way to complete it in one go. It would take multiple attempts.
As for the Cookware needed to enter the World of Souls—the Golden Cookware—it honestly wasn't necessary for Kael.
He knew that once someone could hear ANOTHER's voice, it would take at most sixty-five years to complete the cooking process.
Sixty-five years was long. For an ordinary person, it could be most—or all—of a lifetime.
But the materials Kael possessed were top-tier. They wouldn't deteriorate just because of sixty-odd years.
To him, the Golden Cookware was optional.
Of course, he hadn't even seen ANOTHER yet, so there was no point saying that outright. Blue Grill could prepare the utensils as they pleased.
With Blue Grill's strength, gathering the materials for Cookware wouldn't be difficult.
Honestly, Kael thought they were out of their minds.
They were in the endgame now, yet they still wanted to mess around with tests and trials.
Did they not realize that if any single step went wrong, the entire plan would collapse?
He was genuinely speechless.
"That won't be a problem. I'll inform Blue Grill in advance. Once you arrive, you can go straight to cooking ANOTHER."
Ichiryu nodded.
This was exactly his specialty.
He only needed to communicate with Don Slime inside his body.
As for Don Slime, there was no objection. Ichiryu had approved it, and once Kael cooked ANOTHER, it would bring them nothing but benefits.
With that settled, Don Slime immediately relayed the order through his clone in Blue Grill.
"A chef who's already cooked AIR and PAIR? And even Don Slime is personally endorsing him? Interesting."
The Five 10-Shell Cooks looked surprised.
They were the highest-ranking figures in Blue Grill beneath Don Slime. Each of them was an immensely powerful Food Spirit who had returned from the World of Souls and taken over another body.
That was how it worked in the Toriko world.
A powerful Food Spirit could return from the World of Souls—as long as there was a suitable body. If the target was gravely injured or on the brink of death, the spirit could seize control.
Joie had taken over Frohze's body.
Of course, that was only possible because Frohze herself had no desire to be revived. Otherwise, Joie might as well have packed it up and gone to bed—because she'd only stand a chance in her dreams.
The Five 10-Shell Cooks were ancient monsters who had lived for who knew how long. They had returned to this world by stealing other bodies.
But the outcome wasn't exactly ideal.
Most of them had forgotten who they originally were.
The World of Souls gradually eroded a person's memories. In the end, the soul would completely fade and disappear from existence.
Even those who managed to return couldn't escape unscathed. Some of their memories were always lost.
Take Asarudy, for example.
He wanted to come back because he had made a promise to his wife—to reunite with her at the Snow Church.
He did return.
But he forgot who he was. He forgot why he came back.
It was only with ANOTHER's help that he eventually remembered.
The Five 10-Shell Cooks were old demons. They rarely saw Don Slime act this seriously.
That meant the order had to be carried out—and carried out flawlessly.
"I wonder what this Human World chef is really capable of. Sure, he cooked AIR and PAIR. But ANOTHER isn't on the same level as those two."
They all knew how to cook ANOTHER.
But no one had ever actually attempted it.
It was too brutal.
Six hundred thousand years.
That was how long it normally took.
They weren't sure their souls could endure another six hundred thousand years in the World of Souls without collapsing entirely.
So they didn't dare casually enter the World of Souls to cook ANOTHER.
After all, in the World of Souls, fully matured ANOTHER fish weren't exactly rare—one matured every few hundred years.
But success wasn't guaranteed each time.
As a result, just like PAIR, the stockpile of ANOTHER kept accumulating.
"Let's go see Chef Jiji. Have him bring out the prepared Cookware."
The Five 10-Shell Cooks decided to get the utensils directly from Jiji.
The Golden Cookware had already been prepared long ago—just like how Ichiryu had commissioned the first-generation Melk to forge a knife in advance.
Blue Grill hadn't been idle either.
In the original story, Jiji only wanted to test them. The Golden Cookware had always been ready.
Otherwise, forging or gathering the materials at the last minute would be a nightmare.
Waiting until the very end to start collecting? That would be pure gambling.
Soon, they found Jiji.
Jiji didn't hesitate. Since Don Slime had given his approval, he immediately brought out the Cookware.
He was also deeply curious about how Kael had cooked AIR and PAIR.
As Red Nitro, they struggled to hear the voice of ingredients.
Let alone hearing the voices of all eight ingredients.
Their cooking methods relied entirely on experience and endless experimentation.
After all, with lifespans that stretched on indefinitely, they had to find something to occupy themselves.
That was how so many unique ingredient preparation methods were developed.