171: The oriole is behind

Gourmet Showcase, deep within the cave.

The space here was far wider than imagined, with a dome and walls made of ten-thousand-year-old solid ice reflecting a faint blue light.

Besides Erina and Komatsu, who had arrived earlier, there were surprisingly several other groups of people already present in the cave.

Erina quickly scanned the others: a girl holding a camera, her face full of excitement, who was Tina, a frequently appearing anchor on the Gourmet Channel; Sunny, who had a rough appearance and a physique as robust as a gorilla; and two others, who were Sunny's subordinates.

Her gaze finally settled on a man whose back was to the crowd, his finger outstretched, intently touching the crystalline ice pillar in the center that sealed countless ferocious beasts.

The man had a slightly exaggerated pompadour hairstyle, out of place in this icy world, yet his back exuded a peculiar tranquility.

Though she had only met him a few times, Erina would never mistake him—this guy was Teppei, the grandson of her teacher's partner, Great Master Jiro!

"Teppei!!" Erina's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to pierce through the whispers in the cave and clearly reach the man's ears, interrupting his focused observation.

The pompadour man—Teppei—slowly turned around, revealing a handsome and dashing face that didn't quite match his eccentric hairstyle.

However, this smile only lasted for a second before he began to babble: "Oh, isn't this Erina! What a coincidence! Why have you come to such a freezing place? Did Granny Setsu give you another strange special training task? I'm telling you, this kind of place isn't good for your skin. Although your Gods Tongue might not care, girls should still pay more attention to maintenance..."

A vein throbbed on Erina's forehead, and she raised her hand without hesitation to interrupt: "Enough! Less nonsense. What are you doing here? Also, where is the century soup? Is it here?" She cut straight to the point.

"Ah, ah, well..." Teppei scratched his firm pompadour, sighed, and his tone became a little more serious, "I was entrusted by my master to check on the Gourmet Showcase. As expected... it looks a bit bad now."

He pointed to the surrounding ice walls and the huge ice pillar in the center: "The Gourmet Showcase... is probably about to 'collapse.' This place was originally a 'refrigerator' used by ancient gourmets to preserve top-tier ingredients. After all these years, most of the essence of the ingredients has actually been lost and depleted; only the husks remain frozen. My master is really something, always throwing these troublesome 'cleanup' jobs at me. I still have a pile of research topics unfinished, and the ingredients I promised to regenerate for someone last time..."

Erina's face darkened a few more shades. Suppressing the urge to listen to another long monologue, she interrupted: "Enough! Do you mean, the century soup is already gone..."

"Shhh—!!!" Teppei's expression changed, and he suddenly put his index finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture, "Lower your voice! That cunning old man is always listening!"

"Ah?! The century soup is already gone...!" Komatsu, beside him, couldn't help but exclaim.

"Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!" Teppei darted forward, covering Komatsu's mouth again, lowering his voice, and speaking rapidly, "That's just how it is! If you keep making such a fuss, it will be impossible to hide the fact that 'the century soup is already gone'!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly paused, as if realizing something. Cold sweat instantly broke out on his face, and he froze in place.

"…" Erina looked at him speechlessly, unable to resist gently kicking him, and whispered, "You idiot... who's the bigmouth leaking secrets now!"

Teppei sheepishly lowered his hand from Komatsu's mouth, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and forced a "don't worry" smile, signaling everyone to relax: "It's, it's fine! Even if Carnel knows now and wants to escape by boat, we don't need to worry too much..." His tone sounded unconvincing.

"But..." Komatsu looked lost at the pool in the center of the cave, where the century soup should have gathered. Now, only a barely visible, almost dry, crystalline trace remained at the bottom. "If the century soup is really gone, then everyone risking their lives to come here, all their hopes..."

Before he could finish—

Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!!

The entire cave suddenly vibrated violently! The ice dome overhead emitted a grating "crack" sound, and countless ice cones and chunks of ice of varying sizes began to fall! Clearly, the destructive power of the fierce battle between Lin Luo and the Gourmet Association above had finally reached deep underground!

"Oh no! The ice pillar is going to collapse!" Teppei's face changed, and he no longer cared about hiding anything. He quickly pulled out an inconspicuous green seed from his In my arms, emitting a faint aura of life.

"Forest Seed!"

He took off an earring and quickly dripped a drop of emerald green nutrient solution onto the seed. Then, aiming accurately, he exerted force with his arm and slammed the seed fiercely into the edge crack where the central giant ice pillar connected to the ground!

Puff!

The seed embedded itself into the ice crack.

The next moment, a miracle occurred!

The seed swelled and cracked at a visible speed! Emerald green sprouts broke out of the shell, then grew and spread wildly!

Thick, tough vines, like living giant pythons, rapidly climbed and entwined along the surface of the ice pillar, while their roots deeply penetrated the ice layer!

In just a few breaths, a giant green net woven from countless thick vines firmly enveloped and secured the precarious giant ice pillar from top to bottom! Even the surrounding vibrating ice walls were significantly reinforced by the spreading vines.

The vibration of the cave gradually subsided, and the falling ice stopped.

"Phew... temporarily stabilized." Teppei let out a sigh of relief, wiping sweat from his brow. "But this is just a stopgap. The structure of the Gourmet Showcase has been damaged, and its essence has been completely lost. Its collapse is only a matter of time."

However, no one expected that while they were arguing and stabilizing the ice pillar underground, the "eyes" and "hands" of the Gourmet Association had already quietly arrived.

It was a miniature gt robot, only the size of a fist, pure white. It was pulled by a modified cold-resistant flying insect, with a sealed, temperature-controlled gourmet box delicately suspended below.

Through the translucent box wall, one could clearly see a mere handful of thick liquid, yet it was crystal clear, with a dreamy, multicolored glow flowing within—the last and only essence of the century soup in the world!

Just as Lin Luo finished the battle above and chased at full speed towards the depths of the cave, this miniature gt robot happened to complete its mission and quietly ascended to withdraw.

One man and one "machine" passed each other in the intricate ice cave passages, separated by only a thick ice wall!

Lin Luo's keen Divine Sense instantly captured the extremely pure yet faint life and deliciousness fluctuations emanating from the gourmet box! Alarms blared in his heart, and without hesitation, he punched out!

Boom!

The several-meter-thick ice wall shattered in response! Amidst the flying ice shards, he only caught a glimpse of a white glimmer flashing around the corner of the passage.

"What's wrong? More enemies?!" Toriko, who was close behind, asked in astonishment.

Lin Luo's brows were tightly furrowed, his Divine Sense fully deployed like an invisible radar, instantly locking onto the faint signal rapidly fleeing. "You guys go meet up with Komatsu and the others first! I'll chase that guy!" His words were rapid, and as soon as he finished speaking, he transformed into a streak of light, wildly pursuing in the direction the gt robot had disappeared, moving so fast that he left a trail of afterimages.

Boom, boom, boom, boom...!

On the pursuit path, Lin Luo did not bypass any ice walls or pillars in front of him. Instead, he directly smashed them with his fist, enveloped in multicolored energy, in the most brutal and violent manner! For a time, the interior of the ice mountain rumbled continuously, ice dust permeated the air, and the entire mountain body trembled, as if it would be torn apart from within by him at any moment!

Deep underground, Teppei, who had just stabilized the ice pillar, felt this new, more intense vibration, and his brows furrowed: "Didn't the battle above end? Who's causing destruction now? If this continues, we'll really be buried alive here!"

Outside the ice mountain, in the blizzard.

The miniature gt robot finally broke through the ice mountain's crevices, exposed to the howling wind and swirling snow. Its operator, Gourmet Association Vice Minister Yu, just breathed a sigh of relief before immediately activating the optical camouflage and environmental simulation System. The small machine's color rapidly changed, almost blending with the vast white wind and snow around it.

"I can use this sky full of strong winds and flying snow to hide myself; the other party definitely won't find me!" Yu secretly rejoiced.

The next instant, visually, it indeed "disappeared" into the violent blizzard background.

Boom!

Almost simultaneously, Lin Luo crashed through the last ice wall, emerging from the mountain and landing on the ice plain. Before him was a vast expanse of white with extremely low visibility, and strong winds carrying ice shards blasted him. If relying solely on eyesight, it would indeed be difficult to spot the perfectly disguised miniature robot.

However, Lin Luo didn't need to see with his eyes at all.

His Divine Sense had already, like an invisible net, firmly locked onto that "signal source" desperately fleeing towards the coastline in the strong wind!

"Found you." Lin Luo's eyes were cold. He lightly tapped his foot, and a multicolored halo lifted him. He instantly rose into the air, ignoring the obstacles of the terrain, and chased in a straight line towards the direction locked by his Divine Sense! His speed was so fast that it left a long sonic boom trail in the air!

Yu, inside the gt robot, immediately sensed the terrifying aura rapidly approaching from behind like a shadow, and his heart sank.

"I must find a way! I must!" Yu's brain frantically raced, searching for any possible escape route.

Just then, on the distant sea horizon, a black dot was rapidly enlarging!

It was a ferocious-looking flying beast, a hybrid of a giant bat and a pterodactyl. And on the beast's back, a tall figure stood steadily—he had a huge nose, eight arms each holding a white plate as a weapon, and his expression was indifferent.

Yu recognized the newcomer's identity and immediately felt as if he had grasped a life-saving straw, shouting:

"Lord Alpha Luo! The century soup is in my hands!!"

The newcomer was indeed Alpha Luo, a trusted subordinate of Gourmet Association BOSS Midora, and a mysterious person of unfathomable strength.

Alpha Luo noticed the flustered miniature gt robot, clearly fleeing for its life, and the powerful aura relentlessly pursuing it from behind.

His nose twitched slightly, he frowned, and grumbled discontentedly: "Yu? Why are you in such a state? Capturing the century soup is so slow..."

Though displeased, he still urged the flying beast beneath him to speed up, heading towards Yu.

Soon, the two met in the air.

The miniature gt robot, like a startled sparrow, quickly hid behind Alpha Luo.

At this moment, Lin Luo also caught up. His cold gaze swept over Alpha Luo and the gt robot behind him, finally settling on the hanging gourmet box emitting a dreamy glow.