Early morning.
As the birds awoke and chirped crisply, a new day began!
At Totsuki Culinary Academy.
Inside a towering building.
There was a particularly spacious kitchen, which was the private kitchen of Erina, the current Tenth Seat of the Elite Ten.
Upon entering the kitchen, all that could be seen were various everyday cooking utensils.
Stoves, ovens, microwaves, steamers, stew pots, refrigerators, freezers, and more—all gleamed under Hisako's diligent daily care, as if they could tell the kitchen's story!
At this moment, Erina, already dressed in her chef's uniform, was holding her breath.
Then, she began to emulate Zhang Fan's method, adding her own blend of coffee and plum jam to the rice bran she had bought from the grain store.
"Mistress!"
"Surely, such commoner cuisine isn't worth your extensive research, is it?"
Hisako Arato, standing nearby, asked in confusion.
"No!"
"Hisako."
"I intend to find all the flaws in Zhang Fan's dishes and then improve upon them."
"Then, I'll take these improved dishes and completely dismantle his culinary philosophy!"
Erina, evidently, still felt very unwilling to concede.
"But."
"Even if you win against him, what then?"
Hisako Arato scratched the back of her head, asking again with doubt.
She always felt that Erina was being overly serious about this matter!
However, at the same time, she was also very much looking forward to seeing how far this noble young lady, possessing the talent of the God Tongue, could elevate Zhang Fan's cuisine.
Would she stand on his shoulders and surpass him?
Or would she be completely trampled under his feet, forced to accept the reality of defeat no matter how many times she struggled?
"You don't understand!"
"His cooking has already shaken my resolve!"
"If I cannot use my own methods to overpower him, I fear the path I've pursued throughout my life will completely collapse!"
With that, Erina's gaze sharpened like a sword, and she immediately began making chocolate brownies.
…
Time.
Passed slowly.
Pots of green plants by the window brought fresh air to the entire kitchen.
On the cutting board, there were now three Western fast-food items: beef burgers, anchovy fries, and chocolate brownies! And judging solely by their appearance, they were almost identical to what she had seen last night at the Izakaya!
"Amazing!"
"As expected of Erina."
"Indeed, in this world, there's no cuisine that can elude your grasp!"
Seeing Erina perfectly replicate all of Zhang Fan's dishes using her God Tongue ability, Hisako couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
"Hmm!"
"I knew it!"
"His cooking is nothing special after all."
Putting away her chef's knife, Nakiri Erina looked at her creations with satisfaction.
But she also knew very well that the taste of a dish was often more important than its appearance.
Even if the appearance was identical, if the taste couldn't surpass it, it would ultimately be useless!
Just like the No.1 cuisine in the entire culinary world, Chinese cuisine, many of its stewed and boiled dishes might not be visually stunning in terms of color or ingredient arrangement, but they taste incredibly rich!
Similarly.
What moved Erina.
It wasn't how good Zhang Fan's cooking looked, but rather... how delicious it was!
So, next, Erina picked up her beef burger. She first smelled it, and after confirming there were no issues, she took a bite.
…
"Ugh!"
"Ugh ugh ugh!"
Unexpectedly, the moment she bit into it.
She felt dizzy, and a particularly nauseating sensation welled up from within her, making her face increasingly pale!
Helplessly, she quickly covered her mouth, continuously making "ugh ugh ugh" sounds.
This situation naturally startled Hisako, who seemed to understand what was happening and quickly found a disposable vomit bag, handing it to Erina!
"Blech!"
Finally, Erina spit out what she had eaten.
"Are you alright?"
"Erina."
Hisako asked with both worry and concern.
"I'm fine!"
"It just tasted too much like toast."
"And I inherently dislike the taste of that kind of food!"
Erina, slowly calming herself, quickly waved her hand, signaling to Hisako not to worry too much about her.
"Ah?"
"How could this be?"
Upon hearing that the beef burger Erina made.
Tasted too much like toast, Hisako couldn't help but be shocked.
This meant that Erina was no longer able to use her God Tongue ability to uncover all the secrets of Zhang Fan's cuisine!
No!
That's impossible, isn't it?
In this world, the fact that a dish could conquer the God Tongue was already absurd enough!
Now, Zhang Fan's cuisine not only conquered the God Tongue but could also render its ability completely ineffective?
…
"Hisako!"
"Do you think there's a way…"
Erina's expression gradually turned serious as she continued, "...to surpass Zhang Fan's cuisine using other means, without relying on the God Tongue ability?"
"With all due respect."
"If you can't surpass him even with the help of the God Tongue ability."
"Then the only person in this world who can defeat him is himself!"
Hisako replied without hesitation upon hearing this.
It should be noted that the God Tongue ability was not merely a physiological superpower; it also represented Nakiri Erina's own culinary experience and knowledge!
After all, since childhood, under her "demon father's" strict training, she had already developed the God Tongue ability to its fullest.
Even her own culinary experience and knowledge were already far beyond what ordinary people could compare to!
Therefore.
Any dish.
Erina could truly taste it once, and then perfectly replicate it, or even improve upon it.
This was evident in the original plot, where she improved Yukihira Sōma's "Peanut Butter Squid Legs," thereby directly defeating Eishi Tsukasa and Kobayashi Rindo.
However.
When facing Zhang Fan's cuisine.
Her God Tongue ability seemed to fail.
And this outcome, naturally, struck Erina deeply once again!
"Why?"
"I… I clearly remember the taste of his dishes!"
"And at the Izakaya, I saw his every move at the counter, the entire process of him making the dishes, very clearly."
"But why can't I perfectly recreate his dishes?"
"He… he… what kind of person is he, exactly?"
It was only at this moment that Erina felt a deep sense of fear towards Zhang Fan from the bottom of her heart!