174: Lost Erina

Inside the airship.

"It feels like top-grade jelly, so cool to the touch!" Komatsu poked the semi-transparent inner wall curiously.

"Is this really a living creature?" Tina leaned in, her face full of wonder.

Toriko, who was climbing the spiral staircase, didn't look back: "Who knows? The world is vast and full of wonders."

"This is a 'Ginseng Jellyfish'," Lin Luo explained with a smile, leaning against the jelly-like wall, "a rare and gentle flying creature, and it's very much alive."

"Granny Setsuno!" Toriko climbed to the second floor and saw Setsuno waiting.

"Come in and warm up quickly." Granny Setsuno stepped aside.

Stepping onto the second floor, the warmth dispelled the chill. Even more enticingly, a rich and complex aroma was drifting down from the third floor, teasing everyone's hunger-stricken nerves.

"Smells so good!" Toriko twitched his nose violently, and drool instantly flowed like a small stream. While sniffing, he shouted to Takimaru who was helping him: "Takimaru, did you smell that? It's time to eat!"

"Toriko, your drool..." Takimaru looked at his sleeve helplessly.

Toriko couldn't care less and rushed up to the third floor in two strides!

In the center of the third floor, a large, low round table was laden with a dazzling array of dishes: golden, crispy roasted beast ribs, crystal-clear steamed fish, colorful fruit and vegetable salads, aromatic soups... dozens of delicacies radiated an enticing glow.

"Wow—!!! So sumptuous!!!" Toriko's eyes lit up, and he almost threw himself onto the table.

On the other side, Tina chattered away next to Lin Luo: "Lin Luo! We saw you as soon as we entered the ice field, but you were moving too fast for us to catch up! Then we followed Sunny and the others... oh my, it was perilous the whole way!"

Upon hearing this, Sunny yelled: "Hey! Could you have cleared it without yours truly?!"

Lin Luo smiled: "Alright, it's good that you made it safely. Hurry up and eat something, we can chat while we eat." He pointed to the dining table where the "battle" was already intense.

Tina's stomach rumbled, and she immediately joined the "battlefield." Granny Setsuno's cooking was something one could only dream of!

Lin Luo's gaze, however, drifted past the dining table and landed on Erina, who was standing alone by the porthole. She was gazing at the receding ice field outside the window, looking lonely. Lin Luo quietly got up and came to her side.

"What's wrong with our little Erina?" Lin Luo bent down, his handsome face suddenly leaning close to Erina, almost touching her nose, his tone filled with concern and a hint of teasing, "Why are you suddenly so listless? Who made our Young Miss unhappy?"

Erina was startled by his sudden proximity, subconsciously stepping back half a step, turning her face away, and pouting, her voice muffled: "It's none of your business."

"What kind of talk is that?" Lin Luo raised an eyebrow, deliberately straightening his face, though his tone carried an unquestionable seriousness, "Your business is my business. Tell me, who upset you? I'll go beat them up."

Upon hearing this, the little awkwardness and inexplicable bitterness in Erina's heart grew stronger. She couldn't help but mutter in a jealous tone: "You should go back to chatting with that chattering, lively, and cute woman up there; you don't need to worry about me."

Lin Luo paused for a moment, then realized, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes. Not only was he not angry, but the curve of his lips widened.

"Oh~" He drew out the tone, looking as if he had just realized something, "So that's how it is. It seems I'll have to keep my distance from other girls from now on. It's my fault for making our Young Miss jealous."

"Who, who's jealous?!" Erina, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly bristled, her cheeks flushing with a rosy glow, and she glared at him in shame and annoyance, "Why would I be jealous? You and I... don't have any special relationship!"

Just as she finished speaking.

Lin Luo suddenly leaned down, moving so fast that Erina couldn't react at all.

Smooch~

A kiss, as soft as a feather brushing by, yet carrying an unmistakable warm touch, was gently and accurately pressed onto the Young Miss's cherry lips, which were slightly pouted in anger.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Erina's violet eyes widened instantly, filled with unbelievable shock, panic, and a glimmer of something she hadn't even noticed herself, quietly blossoming.

Lin Luo slowly pulled back a little, still maintaining a close-range gaze, with a triumphant, gentle smile on his face, his voice low and clear:

"Now... we have a relationship."

"You... you... shameless!" Erina suddenly covered her burning cheeks with her hands, revealing only a pair of watery, shame-and-annoyance-filled violet eyes, her voice as thin as a mosquito's hum, and she almost curled into a ball.

Lin Luo watched her, his triumphant smile deepening, but his eyes were full of tenderness. "Seeing you so unhappy," he softened his joking tone and asked gently, "is it because... you didn't get to drink the 'century soup'?"

Erina's movements stiffened slightly, and the gaze peering through her fingers held a hint of surprise: "How did you know?"

"I guessed." Lin Luo reached out, gently pulled down her hands covering her face, and held them in his palms, "It's just that you didn't get to drink it, it's no big deal. You'll definitely encounter better ingredients in the future."

"It's... it's not because of that." Erina turned her face away, refusing to make eye contact with him, her voice muffled, carrying a trace of imperceptible grievance and disappointment.

Lin Luo waited patiently.

After a few seconds of silence, Erina spoke in a low voice, revealing her true knot: "When we arrived at the crypt... there really were no traces of the 'century soup' left. However, Teppei used a special method to forcibly condense and extract the last remaining essence of the entire 'Gourmet Showcase' ice pillar..."

She paused, her voice lower: "Only... one drop."

"Teppei said that ingredients of this level will choose their own 'diners'. And then..." Erina bit her lip, her unwillingness and frustration clearly revealed, "that drop of essence didn't choose me, but instead... flew towards Komatsu."

So that was it.

Lin Luo understood instantly. Erina's unhappiness wasn't just because she didn't get to drink the soup; the deeper reason was that the legendary top-tier ingredient, in a "recognition" of two choices, hadn't chosen her—the culinary Genius with the "Gods Tongue" and Granny Setsuno's Personal Disciple—but had instead chosen the seemingly ordinary Komatsu.

For Erina, who was proud, carried her teacher's expectations, and had absolute confidence in her own abilities, this was undoubtedly a significant blow. Her proud heart found it somewhat difficult to accept this result.

"Coming here carrying my teacher's hopes, only to receive this kind of 'recognition'..." Erina's voice carried a hint of self-deprecating bitterness, "I feel... a bit sorry for my teacher's expectations."

Lin Luo squeezed her hand, his tone serious and gentle: "Erina, the choice of an ingredient sometimes isn't just about technique or talent. Perhaps that drop of essence felt a purer, more direct gratitude and love for food and cooking in Komatsu's heart? Or perhaps it was just some indescribable 'food luck'? This doesn't negate your excellence, and it certainly doesn't mean Granny Setsuno's judgment was wrong."

He paused, looking into her eyes: "Don't forget, Granny Setsuno chose you as her Disciple because she saw your infinite potential, your obsession with deliciousness, and the heights you could reach in the future. How can one accidental choice define everything? And..."

Lin Luo suddenly leaned close and whispered in her ear: "In my opinion, you are more precious than any rare ingredient. Your 'Gods Tongue', your pride, your hard work—those are unique and irreplaceable."

Erina's heart trembled gently because of these words. The pent-up gloom in her chest seemed to dissipate quite a bit.

She raised her eyes, meeting Lin Luo's sincere and smiling gaze, her cheeks slightly red, and she muttered softly: "...Sweet talker."

But her tone was already much lighter.

Lin Luo gently gathered her slightly cool hands into his palms.

"Is there a possibility," he slowed his speaking pace, his voice low and clear, "that the drop of century soup didn't choose you not because you weren't good enough, but because—it knew that the one that truly belonged to you had already been prepared separately."

The moment his words fell, Erina froze.

Immediately after, she saw Lin Luo release her wrist, his freed palm facing upward, gently lifting something from the void—

A mass of liquid, swirling with seven-colored light like a dreamy star held by an invisible hand, slowly emerged above his palm, every glimmer containing an indescribable richness and umami.

In the air, a rich aroma, indescribable in words and layered to the extreme, silently permeated, as if instantly pulling everything around into a Domain composed of pure "umami."

Erina's pupils constricted suddenly!

Her violet eyes were completely occupied by that light, reflecting the dreamy colors swirling within. She subconsciously held her breath, as if afraid to disturb this miracle.

"This... this is..." Her voice was so light it was almost a whisper, trembling with disbelief, every syllable slightly floating, impacted by the almost tangible "deliciousness" rushing towards her, "...Century... Soup?"

She looked up abruptly, gazing at Lin Luo, her eyes filled with shock and immense confusion: "How could you..."

Lin Luo still held that gentle yet determined smile at the corner of his mouth; he gazed at her, his eyes seemingly able to penetrate all her surprise and pride.

"I got a share from the Gourmet Association." He stated calmly, as if it were just a trivial matter; then, the warmth in his gaze became focused and solemn.

"This is your share, Erina."

He paused, his voice softer, yet every word was clear, carrying an unquestionable sense of promise.

"The food luck you couldn't find, the favor you didn't wait for—it doesn't matter."

"—I will make it up to you."

Erina stared blankly at him, at the dreamy liquid in his palm that existed only for her, and then looked into his deep, gentle eyes.

In an instant, the lingering disappointment from not being chosen in the ice field crypt, the fatigue of the long journey, all the heavy, complex emotions seemed to be silently melted and lifted by the light before her and these simple words.

The tip of her heart felt as if it had been brushed by the softest feather, and after the bitterness, a dense sweetness welled up.

She opened her mouth, but in the end, it only turned into a mutter with a nasal tone, devoid of any deterrent force, and a thin layer of moisture unconsciously welled up in her eyes:

"...You guy..."

The voice was light and soft, like a complaint, yet also like a helpless resignation.

"That's cheating..."