"Hiss… That slash—how?!"
Sunny recoiled, his Devil's Touch tingling with residual menace. Even from afar, he sensed the Black Slash's lethality—a technique that could bisect him and his 250,000 hair strands in an instant. Zed's growth since their IGO days was unnerving.
Toriko eyed the immobilized Regal Mammoth, its mountainous form frozen mid-stomp. "Getting into its mouth won't be easy."
"Easy enough." Zed flicked his wrist. A golden Chopstick materialized, piercing the beast's pressure point with surgical precision. The Kilometer-Class Beast stiffened, a living statue.
"Your knocking's gotten absurd." Sunny grimaced, envy and awe warring in his voice.
With Zed here, their mission felt less like a perilous hunt and more like a stroll through Gourmet Tower's floor.
Tatsu slithered forward, scales grinding against the Regal Mammoth's teeth—each one the size of a city block. The group clambered into the cavernous maw, greeted by a labyrinth, glowing with ethereal light.
"Why is it so bright?" Erina squinted, her God Tongue tingling at the ambient richness.
"Jewel Meat." Zed gestured ahead. "Its radiance rivals sunlight. Remove it, and this maze drowns in darkness."
The walls pulsed with bioluminescent veins, their light refracting off crystalline stalactites. Toriko licked his lips—the air tasted of caramelized marrow and primal energy.
"I can't wait to taste the Jewel Meat! Let's move!"
Toriko drooled openly, his stomach roaring. But as the group ventured deeper into the labyrinth, Zed froze. His system—an enigmatic force tied to culinary growth—had pulsed. Movement.
Hisako and Erina's skills hadn't advanced yet, though their Gourmet Cell-enhanced talents simmered with potential. Hisako neared a breakthrough, while Erina's progress lagged, her focus split between mastering this world's basics and honing her craft.
Zed's perception exploded outward, mapping the Regal Mammoth's innards. No need for the Path-Finding Sunflower—his heightened senses pierced the maze's twists.
" Let's split up. I need to handle something. Tatsu, that way."
The Devil serpent veered down a branching corridor, leaving Toriko and Sunny bewildered.
"Did he find the Jewel Meat? Why ditch us?!" Toriko confused.
"Trust him. If he wanted the Jewel Meat, he'd have taken it already." Sunny shrugged, though unease prickled his Silk Touch.
Zed's Group – Maze Interior
"Someone is here." Zed's voice tightened. "Most likely… similar to you two."
Erina and Hisako stiffened. Another Transmigrator? Hope and dread coiled in their chests. Returning home remained a fragile dream, tethered to strength they hadn't yet grasped.
Tatsu slithered faster, scales scraping against bioluminescent walls that pulsed like living veins. The air thickened with the Jewel Meat's saccharine glow, its light warping around a figure ahead—a girl in a crimson dress, her snow-white hair shimmering like moonlight.
She turned, ruby eyes wide with confusion and fear.
Zed's mind raced. Who—?