163: Hell's Gate

"Hey, hey, isn't this ability of yours a bit too much of a cheat?" Toriko joked as he walked over, rolling his wrists, his voice breaking the eerie silence on the deck. "At least leave a few for me to warm up with!"

His banter lightened the tense atmosphere slightly. Takimaru also recovered from his initial shock and deep wariness. Taking a deep breath of the cold air, he said to Lin Luo with a bitter smile, "As expected of the man even Mr. Toriko admits is superior... Mr. Lin Luo, the power you've shown is truly... awe-inspiring."

Not far away, Machi, the Gourmet Gang leader who had previously clashed with Takimaru at the bar, subconsciously tightened his grip on the hilt of the blade at his waist, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

The scars on his face seemed to throb with pain; they were the branding marks of fear left behind after challenging Zebra, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. At this moment, facing this black-haired youth who seemed calm yet possessed even more eerie and unpredictable methods, he found that even the courage to draw his blade seemed frozen.

Lin Luo just shrugged at Toriko's complaint and nodded slightly at Takimaru's praise. His demeanor was peaceful, as if the thunderous display that had just shocked everyone hadn't come from his hands. His gaze swept over the various expressions of the crowd on the deck before finally landing on the now-calm surface of the sea.

"Toriko, there's more and more drift ice on the surface." Lin Luo pointed to the sea ahead of the ship's bow.

Compared to the port they had departed from, a large amount of drift ice of various sizes had begun to appear in their field of vision. They bobbed and collided with the grayish-blue seawater, making dull "crack" sounds, signaling that the environment of the sea ahead was changing drastically.

The icebreaker's sturdy bow began to crush the larger ice blocks more frequently, emitting a continuous, tooth-grinding sound of squeezing and shattering. The chill in the air also deepened significantly, and exhaled breath instantly turned into white mist.

"Yeah, it looks like we're not far from 'Ice Hell'." Toriko reined in his joking expression, his gaze sharp as he looked toward the increasingly thick white mist where the sea met the sky in the distance.

As the icebreaker continued to push into higher latitudes, the extreme cold truly began to show its fangs. Even wearing high-tech "ignition jumpsuits," the pervasive cold from all directions still managed to seep in bit by bit. If one stood still inside the cabin, their feet would soon feel cold and numb, as if their blood were about to freeze.

This made some Gourmet Hunters, who had originally intended to stay in the cabin and conserve their energy until they reached their destination, unable to sit still. Some paced anxiously in the small space, trying to dispel the chill; those less tolerant of the cold simply ran onto the freezing deck, seemingly preferring to face the biting wind rather than endure the accumulating, Soul-freezing silence of the cabin.

Erina wrapped her jumpsuit tighter, but she still couldn't stop herself from shivering slightly. She stomped her feet in place and blew warm air into her palms, but that little bit of warmth was instantly carried away by the cold wind, her pretty face and the tip of her nose turning red from the frost.

"See, we haven't even arrived yet, and you can't take it." Lin Luo's voice sounded beside her, carrying a hint of teasing, but his actions were perfectly natural. He reached out and firmly grasped Erina's hands, which were cold to the point of being stiff, enveloping them in his warm and broad palms. At the same time, a gentle but pure warmth flowed from his palms, quickly dispelling the biting cold.

Erina felt as if her hands had instantly moved from an ice cellar to a warm fireplace. The comfortable temperature caused her stiff body to relax unconsciously, and she even instinctively leaned a bit closer to this "heat source." Then, realizing her actions, a deeper blush immediately crept onto her cheeks, though it was hard to tell if it was from the cold or embarrassment.

"I... I'm just a little too cold, that's all!" she said stubbornly, though her voice lacked confidence because of her previous shivering.

Lin Luo looked at her forced composure, the smile in his eyes deepening, but he didn't expose her. He just followed her lead and smiled, "I didn't say anything."

This nonchalant reaction made Erina feel even more embarrassed and annoyed, as if she were making a big deal out of nothing. She pulled one hand free and gave Lin Luo a light, annoyed kick. It wasn't hard, more like a small tantrum to hide her embarrassment.

In the biting wind, Erina, who had tucked herself into Lin Luo's embrace, suddenly caught sight of a majestic, massive cliff wall made purely of ice and snow rising from the distant horizon, piercing into the gray sky. At the same time, someone on the deck shouted excitedly:

"I see it! It's the Ice Continent!!"

Everyone's spirits lifted as they looked up one after another.

Suddenly, the sound of countless people gasping for breath rang out.

"Wow... it's, it's huge!"

"Is this the Ice Continent? It's... so high, how are we supposed to get up there?"

"Do we have to climb it with our bare hands? That's a cliff thousands of meters high!"

Feelings of despair and disbelief began to spread through the crowd. Facing this wall of ice that seemed to have been forged by a god, human power felt so insignificant.

Just then, Carnel, who hadn't appeared for a long time, walked over slowly, his voice calm but carrying an air of authority: "My plane can take you to a certain height midway up the cliff. For the rest of the journey, you must climb up yourselves. The plane cannot reach the summit area." He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone, "I wish you all... good Food Luck!"

Everyone looked at each other. Although dissatisfied, they had nothing to say. At least this was much more realistic than climbing directly from sea level.

However, while everyone was lost in their own thoughts—

*Crack—Rumble!!!*

A dull but deafening roar came from overhead!

Everyone looked up in horror to see a massive ice shelf, comparable in size to a small hill, breaking off from the edge of the towering ice cliff thousands of meters above. With an Aura that threatened to destroy everything, it came crashing down toward the icebreaker below!

Shadows instantly enveloped the entire ship!

"Ah—! It's too big, we can't budge it at all!"

"Run! Jump ship!"

"We're going to die! Run, quickly!"

The shadow of death plunged the deck into instant panic. Even those with considerable strength like Takimaru and Machi felt a sense of helplessness and despair in the face of this terrifying force of nature, their faces turning pale.

"Everyone, get back!!" Toriko roared, his voice like a thunderclap. He charged toward the shadow without hesitation, his muscles bulging and his gourmet cells' energy exploding to the limit!

"Knife!!" His right hand transformed into a sharp energy kitchen knife, slashing fiercely at the falling giant ice!

*Bang!*

Ice shards flew, and a deep crack appeared on the ice surface, but the main body of the ice remained massive, its downward momentum undiminished.

"Fork!!" Immediately after, his left hand transformed into a sharp energy kitchen fork, thrusting out with all his might!

*Crack!*

The ice block exploded at the point of impact, showing even greater damage, but... it still hadn't completely disintegrated! The remaining massive ice block continued to fall with the force of ten thousand tons!

"Still a bit short on power!" Toriko gritted his teeth, a flash of determination in his eyes as he prepared to launch an even stronger attack even if it meant getting injured.

"Toriko, get out of the way!"

Lin Luo's calm voice interrupted his desperate thought. Hearing this, Toriko didn't hesitate to dodge to the side.

In the next instant, Lin Luo's figure appeared like a ghost directly beneath the falling ice block. Facing the colossal object that blotted out the sky, he made no fancy moves. He simply twisted his waist, dropped his shoulder, and concentrated all his power—a Fusion of gourmet cell energy and the newly born Life Essence—into his right fist. He punched out toward the shattered center of the ice block!

*Boom—!!!!*

A sonic boom, far more shocking than the sound of the ice breaking, exploded between the ice cliff and the sea!

At the moment his fist made contact with the ice, time seemed to freeze for an instant.

Then, the mountain-like giant ice block erupted with countless blinding white cracks from within, and then... *Boom!!*

It completely and utterly exploded! It turned into a sky full of fine ice crystals and snow dust that refracted the seven colors of the rainbow in the sunlight. Like the most spectacular ice fireworks, it scattered and fell, no longer posing any threat to the ship below.

Lin Luo withdrew his fist, his body making a light turn in the air as he landed steadily back on the deck, the hem of his clothes barely fluttering.

And on the entire deck, there was nothing but the sound of the whistling wind and the rustle of ice crystals falling into the water. It was dead silent.

Everyone, including Toriko, Takimaru, Machi, and all the Gourmet Hunters, was petrified. Their eyes were wide, their mouths agape, their jaws nearly dislocated, and their faces were written with extreme shock and disbelief.

One punch!

Just one punch!!

To shatter that massive ice shelf, which looked like a natural disaster and required Toriko's full effort just to partially damage?!

"Waaa—!! We're, we're saved!!"

"The ice has been shattered!!"

It took several seconds for someone to recover from the extreme shock, erupting in the wild joy and cheers of a narrow escape.

Machi took a heavy breath, his gaze toward Lin Luo having completely changed, now filled with awe and deep wariness. He had originally thought that since he had challenged Zebra of the Four Heavenly Kings, he had seen the pinnacle of power. But now he understood that if he had faced that ice just now, he would have barely been able to escape with his life. Yet this man... with such a nonchalant punch, had resolved a natural disaster that even Toriko found troublesome.

Thinking that he might have to compete with this person for the century soup later, Machi felt his scalp tingle.

Takimaru also looked at Lin Luo with disbelief, murmuring, "So... so strong! Is this really a level of power a human can reach?"

Toriko also breathed a sigh of relief, wiping away non-existent cold sweat from his forehead. He knew that if Lin Luo hadn't acted in time, even if he could have barely shattered the ice, that arm of his would probably have been ruined. He walked to Lin Luo's side and patted his shoulder hard, everything left unsaid.

The danger was over, and the ice crystals were still slowly falling. Lin Luo glanced at Toriko and Komatsu, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth. "Erina and I will go ahead. Toriko, let's meet at the summit!"

The smile on Toriko's face froze instantly. Before he could react, he saw Lin Luo firmly pick up Erina.

"Hey! Wait—!"

Before he could finish, Lin Luo exerted a slight force under his feet. The deck made a soft sound, and the two of them shot into the sky like a cannonball! Faint five-colored light flowed around them as they broke through the biting wind, turning into a streak of light and shooting straight up along that towering ice cliff. Their speed was incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, they became two tiny black dots.

"..." Toriko's outstretched hand froze in mid-air. He stared at the direction where the two had quickly disappeared for a few seconds, then shouted helplessly and amusedly, "Hey! Lin Luo! You guy! Couldn't you have taken me up with you too?! That's not very nice of you!"

However, the only response he got was the whistling wind from high above and the increasingly distant figures.

Komatsu couldn't help but laugh beside him. "Mr. Toriko, it looks like we'll have to climb it ourselves."

Toriko withdrew his hand, scratched his blue pompadour, and sighed. "Sigh, forget it. Climbing up with our own two legs is also part of the training! We can't fall too far behind either. Komatsu, let's get ready to go!"

That said, as he looked at the steep, razor-sharp ice wall and then at the direction where Lin Luo had disappeared, he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Being able to fly... sure is convenient!"