193: meet

Lin Luo looked up, carefully sizing up this legendary figure. He appeared to be around fifty or sixty years old, with deep brown skin that seemed to hold a metallic luster under the sunlight. He had a burly physique, and even while leaning on a cane, he possessed an Aura as steady as a mountain and as deep as an abyss.

It was this very person who, since the dawn of the Gourmet Era, had led the trends: forming the IGO, integrating the global order of ingredients, building the magnificent "Dining Table" on the sea, leading the establishment of the eight gourmet laws, setting up gourmet security agencies, isolating the dangerous Gourmet World, introducing the capture rank system, opening gourmet research institutes, and establishing the gourmet id system... In short, he was a giant standing at the pinnacle of the era.

"You know of me?" Lin Luo frowned slightly. He was somewhat surprised to be noticed by such a figure.

"Yahahaha..." President Ichiryu leaned on his cane with both hands, his laughter hearty. "None of that matters. By the looks of it, you've just returned from the Sky Vegetable Garden?"

Lin Luo nodded, his expression turning solemn. "Unfortunately, I couldn't bring back ozone grass as a greeting gift. On the way... I encountered a strange creature and almost lost my life there."

Hearing this, the curiosity in Ichiryu's eyes deepened. Based on his judgment, there should be very few existences in the Human World capable of threatening this young man. A faint premonition of unease quietly arose.

Lin Luo continued, "That thing's appearance was very similar to a gt robot from the Gourmet Association, but it was a living creature with unfathomable strength. President, do you know what that was?"

The smile on Ichiryu's face slowly faded, and his brows furrowed sharply as that unease was finally confirmed. He remained silent for a moment, his voice dropping low with a hint of gravity:

"I didn't expect... they would start moving again."

Toriko took the cheese platter handed over by Modan, stuffed a large handful into his mouth, and asked indistinctly, "Old man, do you really know what that thing is?"

Ichiryu didn't answer immediately. With a soft 'pop' sound, he opened the bottle of Rainbow Fruit Wine.

He poured some into three glass cups, picked up his own, gave it two vigorous shakes, and then tilted his head back to drain it in one gulp.

"With wine, you have to shake it twice and drink it in one go for it to have the right flavor." Before he could finish his sentence, his face instantly turned bright red. "Waaah... this concentration is high enough!"

"You clearly can't handle your liquor!" Toriko shouted.

Lin Luo, however, keenly captured that right after that second of drunkenness, an invisible power seemed to instantly circulate within Ichiryu's body. The alcohol vapor was silently expelled from his body, and his complexion returned to normal in the blink of an eye.

"You don't need to worry about that thing for now," Ichiryu said, setting down his wine glass, his tone regaining its steadiness. "The IGO has its own arrangements."

Toriko nodded.

Although he wasn't very clear on the specifics of that mysterious creature, since the old man said so, he wouldn't press further.

He turned to the main topic: "So, old man, did you suddenly look for me because there's an ingredient you want to eat and want me to help capture?"

Ichiryu crossed his legs, his gaze teasing. "You've got a big mouth, Toriko. Do you really think you can capture the ingredients I want?"

Toriko sat up straight again, his eyes serious. "Tell me about it. I've eaten a lot of good things lately and gained a lot of strength. Speaking of which, old man, what do you want most right now?"

Ichiryu pondered for a moment, his gaze looking toward the distant waters, and slowly uttered a few words: "Yeah... something like GOD."

In an instant, the air on the balcony seemed to freeze. Even the sound of the wind and the ripples of the water came to a standstill.

Lin Luo's brow twitched slightly. "GOD? Is it the one I know? The legendary ultimate ingredient with which the Gourmet GOD Acacia ended the war?"

"That's right," Toriko said deeply, a burning light igniting in his eyes. "GOD is the main dish in Acacia's full-course menu. It is the king of ingredients, and every living creature in the world wants to taste it."

Ichiryu recalled, "Hundreds of years ago, it was successfully cooked by Lady Froese and used by Acacia to stop the nuclear war in the Human World."

Toriko looked at Ichiryu in shock. "Old man, you want to get GOD too?"

"No, it's nothing," Ichiryu waved his hand, returning to his casual demeanor. "Forget what I just said."

"In other words..."

"Forget it."

Toriko stared intently at him. "The news that GOD will appear within a few years... is it true?"

Lin Luo also looked at Ichiryu, waiting for an answer.

Ichiryu took out a cigar tree branch from his robe, lit the cigar by rubbing his fingertips against it, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled smoke without responding directly. "In his later years, to leave the essence of his ingredients to future generations, Acacia took three Disciples. The first was me, the second was the Knocking Master Jiro, and the third... is the current Boss of the Gourmet Association."

Toriko gasped, "To think there's Great Master Jiro and the Boss of the Gourmet Association!"

Ichiryu continued, "Master gave us all the ingredient knowledge in the world without reservation, but regarding GOD and his life's menu... he told us nothing."

At this point, Toriko reached out to grab a piece of cheese from the platter, but he was intercepted by Ichiryu's lightning-fast hand. He tried several times but failed.

However, Lin Luo slowly reached out from the side, picked up a piece of cheese, and calmly put it into his mouth. It wasn't that Ichiryu hadn't tried to intercept him, but rather that his swift movements seemed half a beat too slow before Lin Luo and failed to take effect.

Lin Luo chewed the rich cheese and suddenly asked, "President, you are a contemporary of Acacia... exactly how old are you?"

Ichiryu hummed and laughed, avoiding the question. He pushed the cheese platter in front of Toriko instead, his expression turning serious. "The ingredient GOD, which stopped the world war back then, might once again become the trigger for a war. Although no one knows the true taste of GOD anymore, its legend will never disappear from people's memories."

Toriko clenched his fist. "Will there be a fierce struggle for GOD?" He instinctively turned his gaze toward Lin Luo. Lin Luo just sat there calmly, his face devoid of the near-instinctive desire and obsession that Toriko showed.

"The struggle... has already begun." Ichiryu's voice was low and powerful. "Since the goal is GOD, you are already in the middle of this struggle. But it's not a simple matter of stopping a war to solve the problem. As a Disciple of Acacia, for me, this is the greatest and final mission of the Gourmet Era."

"The final?" Toriko was puzzled.

Ichiryu looked out at the calm water, his gaze distant. "I called you here today because I wanted to see you again before this final job arrives. The next Gourmet Era... will have to be supported by you."

Hearing this, Toriko suddenly grinned. "Honestly, that's not like you at all. Has the old boss of the Gourmet Era become dull from being in seclusion for too long? We've already become the pillars of this era—Sunny, Coco, Lin Luo, and Zebra. If discovering GOD is your mission, then we'll just inherit it. As for you, old man, just take a good rest!"

Ichiryu was stunned for a moment, then burst into a booming laugh. "Hahaha! And here I thought you were going to say something serious. You're really killing me, Toriko! Who are you calling the 'old boss'? You're just a brat who hasn't even figured out the Gourmet World yet, and you've got quite the mouth!"

He snatched off his sunglasses, his gaze suddenly becoming as sharp as a blade. "I haven't been in seclusion; I'm just taking a vacation. Don't compare me to that Jiro who's drunk all day!"

As he spoke, he casually pulled open the front of his bathrobe, revealing a torso as lean and hard as cast iron. The muscle lines were smooth yet full of explosive power, like ancient rocks tempered a thousand times over. The sense of power it contained was not the least bit inferior to Toriko's in his prime; it was even more restrained and profound.

"Let me give you a long-overdue taste of my strength. Daring to speak such bold words means you've grown quite a bit stronger, right?" Ichiryu stood up, his Aura suddenly soaring, making the surrounding air feel several degrees heavier.

"Are you going to fight me, old man?" Toriko also stood up excitedly, his muscles bulging as his Battle Intent surged. "I won't go easy on you!"

"Give it your all and attack me seriously, little Toriko!"

"Then leave GOD to me and just retire peacefully, old man!"

Between the two, an invisible Aura clashed violently, the air crackling, and even the water surface showed unusual ripples.

At this tense moment, Lin Luo slowly leaned back on his lounge chair, picked up a piece of cheese, and interjected inappropriately:

"You two, if you're going to fight, please move somewhere further away. I want to sunbathe for a while and relax."

Ichiryu's toes lightly tapped the water surface. With a few leaps as graceful as a swallow, he stood steadily on a small island in the center of the water.

In comparison, Toriko's way of appearing was much more "down-to-earth"—he huffed and puffed as he rowed a small rubber dinghy behind him. Before the fight even started, a portion of his stamina had already been consumed.

Upon stepping onto the island, the battle ignited instantly.

"I'm going to use my full strength in one go, old man!" Toriko roared low, his muscles bulging and his Aura erupting. His hands swung violently: "Flying Knife!"

Swish, swish, swish—!

In an instant, countless dinner knives flew like a torrential rain, tearing through the air and whistling toward Ichiryu ahead!

"Ho, being able to throw knives like that is quite impressive, Toriko!" Ichiryu's expression remained unchanged. He simply took a deep breath, his chest swelling high, and then exhaled sharply.

Whoosh—!!!

The violent airflow turned into a visible wind pressure, pushing forward like an invisible wall.

The dense rain of knives hit the wind wall and immediately scattered in all directions, clattering as they fell to the ground or into the water around them.

"Take this!" Toriko roared as he seized the opportunity, his right hand striking out like a venomous snake. A huge, heavy iron fork condensed out of thin air, piercing toward Ichiryu's chest with a piercing sound of breaking air!

The corner of Ichiryu's mouth curled up. He merely raised his right hand casually and opened his palm.

Clang—!

With a dull, massive sound, the tip of the iron fork slammed into his palm, but it was as if it had hit a substance harder than refined steel. The entire fork head instantly twisted and collapsed, and the whole iron fork disintegrated into a pile of scrap metal, clattering to the ground.

Toriko's offensive didn't stop. His figure had already charged in front of Ichiryu like a cheetah. The bones in his right fist made a crisp sound like popping beans, his power raised to the limit as he swung a punch fiercely toward Ichiryu's abdomen: "13-Fold Nail Punch!"