207: Find Toriko

A heatwave hit his face, and the air was distorted by the high temperature. Beneath his feet was parched earth, and in the distance stood countless giant cacti, dozens or even hundreds of meters tall. Their surface spines reflected a metallic, cold light under the scorching sun.

The most shocking sight was the giant fireball suspended right in the center above this desert!

It was like a miniature sun, radiating infinite light and heat, illuminating the entire sky in a brilliant white.

Countless strange vines, as thick as Dragons and shimmering with crimson light, extended from the fireball's surface like chains. They hung down and buried themselves deep into the tops of those giant cacti, as if drawing or delivering something, forming a bizarre and spectacular scene.

The perceived temperature here was terrifyingly high, likely exceeding fifty degrees. After standing for just a moment, beads of sweat seeped from Lin Luo's forehead, only to be instantly evaporated by the heat. The ground beneath his feet was scalding; ordinary creatures would likely die of dehydration in an instant here.

But interestingly, in this desert region, the ubiquitous, terrifying gravity of the Gourmet World had disappeared! Or rather, it had been cleverly offset.

Lin Luo could feel a certain radiation power from the giant fireball above counteracting and neutralizing the gravitational pull from deep underground. This caused the gravity in this area to return to a normal level close to that of the Human World. Although the heat was unbearable, movement became much easier.

Lin Luo looked up, gazing at the high-hanging "little sun," his eyes revealing undisguised amazement.

He could clearly feel what terrifying and pure flame and life energy were contained within that fireball!

Lin Luo licked his somewhat dry and cracked lips; he had an impulse to swallow this "little sun"!

Withdrawing his heated gaze, Lin Luo refocused his attention on tracking.

The lingering Qi of that fellow Toriko was becoming increasingly thin and erratic, but finally, an extremely faint clue pointed toward a particularly massive cactus nearby, its surface spines like white spears.

"Hmm? Why would his Qi be attached to this?" Lin Luo felt puzzled, but his footsteps did not stop as he cautiously approached.

He didn't dare to be careless. The Five-Colored Protective Halo on his body surface flowed slightly, splitting off a denser energy membrane to better isolate the terrifying high temperature that was enough to char flesh.

Walking up to the giant cactus, Lin Luo reached out and lightly touched a particularly thick white spine that shimmered with metallic coldness at its tip.

"Hmm?"

The moment his fingertip touched the spine, a sudden change occurred!

The seemingly static cactus was instantly activated! A blast of scorching high-pressure gas erupted from the base of the touched spine. Immediately following, the tens of thousands of spines on the surface of the entire cactus trembled and detached in unison, as if receiving a unified command!

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!!!

The sound of breaking air was shrill and piercing, as dense as a torrential downpour!

Lin Luo's pupils constricted, but his reaction was even faster! The fingers of the hand that touched the spine suddenly clenched. Instead of retreating, he grabbed the thick, gas-spraying spine he had initially touched with a lightning-fast grip!

At the same time, his protective halo flared up, becoming even more solid.

Thud, thud, thud, thud...!

The sound of dense impacts rang out instantly! Countless white spines shot forward and slammed hard into Lin Luo's protective halo! The flowing five-colored light rippled violently, like a lake surface hit by a giant boulder, emitting an overburdened hum and even denting inward, but ultimately, it was not penetrated.

In an instant, Lin Luo and his protective halo were completely covered and pinned by the dense white spines. From a distance, he looked like a giant human-shaped hedgehog! The impact of the spines made his body sway slightly, but his feet were as if rooted, standing firmly.

Crack!

Crack!

Exerting force with his fingers, he forcibly snapped the thick main spine in his hand!

The expected plant sap or bizarre mucus did not appear. Instead, a small pool of clear, transparent spring water instantly gushed from the break, carrying a refreshing chill that was completely out of place in the surrounding sweltering environment!

Lin Luo was slightly stunned, then his wrist flicked lightly.

Hum—

The protective halo vibrated, and the countless white spines pinned all over him were all bounced off, turning into a sky full of white debris.

With a gesture of his fingertips in the air, the newly emerged spring water turned into a ball of crystal-clear water and flew lightly into his mouth.

Cool! Sweet!

It was as if, in the fifty-degree desert noon, he had suddenly gulped down a mouthful of ice spring from the depths of a snow mountain!

A pure, cool energy rich in vitality instantly slid down his throat. It not only dispelled the internal and external heat but also refreshed his spirit, which had been slightly depleted from continuously resisting the high temperature and gravity.

Interesting.

Lin Luo took a few more sips of the clear spring from the broken spine. The coolness permeated his lungs and organs, and even his mind cleared up a bit.

He didn't stay any longer. The halo on his body surface flowed slightly, locking that rare coolness inside to resist the continuous external heat. His figure once again turned into a swift stream of light, following Toriko's increasingly clear lingering Qi.

The trajectory of the Qi showed that Toriko didn't seem to have gone deep in a straight line, but had been thrown out by some massive force, deviating from his original direction. After Lin Luo passed through a patch of hardy, heat-resistant shrubs bordering the desert, the scene before him suddenly opened up.

It was no longer a scorching sea of sand, but a relatively moist, lush green open plain.

In the center of the plain, a giant tree of indescribable grandeur stood tall. Its trunk was as thick as a mountain range, and its canopy blotted out the sun. Most peculiar was that from somewhere high up in its canopy, a massive water curtain dozens of meters wide poured down like a waterfall.

Near the plain, a peculiar creature was resting and hunting—the Bird-Beaked Toad! They were as large as oxen, with swamp-colored dark green skin, frog-like bodies, and strong hind limbs. Their heads, however, were like those of fierce birds, with hard, sharp, hooked beaks. When opened, rows of sharp teeth were visible inside, and they emitted a piercing "quack" sound.

Lin Luo's intrusion was like a stone thrown into a calm pond. These sensitive Bird-Beaked Toads immediately sensed the unusual aura on this outsider—not a prey, but a threat!

"Quack—!!"

The piercing cries joined together as dozens of Bird-Beaked Toads abandoned their rest or hunting. Their powerful hind limbs kicked off the ground, and their massive bodies leaped from all directions like cannonballs. With their tooth-filled bird beaks wide open, they lunged at Lin Luo with terrifying momentum!

Lin Luo's eyes turned slightly cold, but his movements were smooth as flowing water.

He held his right fingers together like a sword and flicked his wrist. A condensed Five-Colored Light Whip instantly lashed out, tearing the air with a crisp explosion! The light whip was like a living serpent, accurately striking the first few Bird-Beaked Toads that lunged.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Accompanied by dull impact sounds and the crisp cracking of carapaces, those Bird-Beaked Toads flew back faster than they had come, screaming as they slammed heavily onto the ground, unable to get up for a moment.

At the same time, Lin Luo turned his left hand into a palm blade and slashed through the air to his side!

Hum—!

A giant, semi-transparent blade made entirely of energy formed instantly above his left side. Following his slashing motion, it hacked down with the force of splitting mountains and cracking rocks!

Ripp—!

A Bird-Beaked Toad that had sneaked in from the side and leaped into mid-air was cleanly sliced in half from head to tail by this energy blade! Foul blood and internal organs splattered all over the ground.

The scent of slaughter instantly stimulated the remaining Bird-Beaked Toads, and they swarmed forward even more crazily.

Behind Lin Luo, countless semi-transparent milky-white light filaments once again spread out silently, like a hunting spiderweb or greedy tentacles. They were incredibly fast, accurately entangling those Bird-Beaked Toads that had been whipped away, slashed, or were still lunging.

The light filaments tightened and squirmed slightly.

The entangled Bird-Beaked Toads emitted short, shrill wails, and their struggles quickly weakened. Their flesh essence and life energy were crazily absorbed by the light filaments, and their strong bodies shriveled and withered at a visible rate.

In just a few breaths, the dozens of Bird-Beaked Toads that had swarmed were all wrapped by the light filaments into slightly pulsating "cocoons" suspended in mid-air. They then went completely silent and turned into ash, drifting away, leaving only the purest energy to be delivered back into Lin Luo's body.

Silence returned to the plain, with only the roaring sound of the waterfall from the giant tree.

Just as Lin Luo was about to continue his tracking, his ears sharply caught a strange noise from the side of the waterfall—not the piercing cry of a Bird-Beaked Toad, but more like... the sound of someone struggling out of the water, accompanied by heavy, painful panting.

His gaze narrowed, and his figure flashed, instantly appearing at the edge of the pool.

He saw a figure struggling to crawl out of the deep pool under the waterfall's impact.

He was soaking wet, his clothes in tatters. His exposed skin was covered in sunburn marks and scratches, with some wounds still seeping blood, mixing with the pool water and dripping continuously.

He lay on the grass, with half his body still in the waterfall, gasping for air in large gulps. Every breath seemed exceptionally laborious, and his body trembled slightly from exhaustion and pain.

Most striking were his eyes—the pupils were abnormally dilated, the whites were filled with terrifying bloodshot veins, and there was even a trace of blood seeping from the corners of his eyes. Clearly, both his mental state and his body were under an immense load.

Who else could it be but Toriko?

Lin Luo stood before him, looking down at his wretched appearance. The slight urgency and helplessness he had felt from tracking now turned into undisguised mockery and a sense of "as expected."

He gave a soft tsk, shook his head, and spoke in a flat but clear tone:

"You're really... in a sorry state, Toriko."

Toriko looked up with great difficulty and extremely slowly. His wet blue hair clung to his forehead, and water droplets mixed with blood slid down his cheeks.

When his bloodshot, abnormally dilated eyes finally focused and saw the person standing in front of him, they were instantly filled with extreme shock and disbelief!

"Lin... Luo...?"