A cook, vice-captain of the Rocks Pirates?

Lockes drew a tricky route on the nautical chart.

"Thunderous Abyss?"

Dorum's face turned pale.

"Captain, that's a notoriously dangerous sea area, with constant thunderstorms and terrifying sea monsters lurking around. It's known as a graveyard for ships!"

"That's just right."

Locus grinned: "The most dangerous place is often the weakest point in the defenses, and..."

He glanced in the direction of the kitchen, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

"I heard that there is a very special ingredient in that place."

Raine emerged from the kitchen, holding a self-drawn ingredient guide with a ferocious and majestic beast depicted on it.

"Leviathan of Thunder Abyss".

Raine's voice was calm and unwavering.

"A super-giant sea monster that inhabits stormy seas and feeds on lightning."

"Its flesh contains pure lightning energy, and its heart is known as the Heart of the Thunder God. It is a dream ingredient that can activate the body and greatly enhance the speed of nerve reactions in those who consume it, but..."

Renn paused for a moment, then said, "This creature only appears in the center of the most violent thunderstorms, making it extremely difficult to hunt."

"Hahaha! Did you hear that?! Thor's Heart!"

Gatz's eyes lit up instantly, and he felt his mouth watering again.

"If I eat that, will my fists also become electrified?"

"Maybe it will make you feel a little better when you get struck by lightning."

Silver suddenly made a sarcastic remark.

With the decision made, the dilapidated sailboat turned its bow once more, like a fearless challenger, and resolutely sailed towards that forbidden sea filled with lightning and thunder.

Three days later, they entered the Thunderous Abyss.

The sky was shrouded in thick, leaden clouds, making daytime appear like dusk.

Streaks of lightning, like silver snakes, tore through the sky and exploded on the sea, creating deafening roars that made people's eardrums ache.

The waves became violent, like moving mountains, crashing against the small boat that seemed on the verge of falling apart.

"Hold on! Hold on tight!"

Dorum roared at the top of his lungs, clinging tightly to the rudder, waging a desperate battle against the raging nature.

Just then, Silver from the lookout tower issued a warning.

"It's coming!"

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and saw a huge column of water, thicker than the hull of a ship, shooting into the sky in the distance.

Within the column of water, an indescribably enormous beast slowly revealed its form.

Its entire body was covered in dark blue-black, steel-like scales, and a huge, ferocious horn grew on its head, with blinding lightning converging at the tip of the horn.

Each of its breaths was accompanied by thunder and lightning.

This is the Leviathan of Thunder Abyss.

Chapter 31 Promotion: Master-level Culinary Skills!

"Gurgling! What a big guy!"

Newgate stood up, stretched his limbs, and a fighting spirit rose in his eyes.

"I'll take care of it."

Rocks also stood up, radiating an aura of domineering arrogance.

The two monsters stared at each other simultaneously, and it seemed as if invisible sparks flew in the air.

"Let's do it together and finish this quickly."

Ryan's voice broke their standoff.

"Its heart must be removed within three minutes of its death, otherwise the lightning energy will dissipate."

"Hahaha! Alright! Let's see who makes the biggest commotion!"

"Gurarararar! Just what I wanted!"

The next second, both figures disappeared from the ship at the same time.

Locus appeared to the left of Leviathan, his fist wreathed in dark gravity and domineering lightning, as if it could devour everything.

Newgate appeared on the right, his fist covered in a pure white, vibrating aura powerful enough to shatter space itself.

"Dark Water!"

"Air shock!"

Two loud shouts rang out, and two fists powerful enough to destroy an island slammed into the massive body of the Leviathan from two directions simultaneously.

Boom!

In that instant, heaven and earth fell silent.

What followed was an explosion that defies description.

The seawater in the Thunder Abyss was forced to create a huge depression with a diameter of over a kilometer, and the surrounding seawater was pushed aside, forming a towering tsunami hundreds of meters high.

The thunderclouds in the sky were completely shattered by this terrifying force, revealing the long-awaited sunshine.

When everything calmed down, the once invincible Leviathan of Thunder Abyss was floating on the sea with its belly turned white, completely lifeless.

On each side of its body is a terrifying, bottomless fist-shaped mark.

Gatz and Dorum on the ship were completely numb to what they were seeing.

Ryan rushed over immediately, his figure moving across the sea as if it were flat ground.

"Silver, do it!"

Silver was already prepared; his spear moved like lightning, piercing Leviathan's chest with pinpoint accuracy.

With a forceful flick, a heart, still shimmering with lightning and resembling a blue crystal, was flung out and landed steadily in a specially made food box made of seastone that Renn had prepared in advance.

A perfect hunt.

That night, Raine used the Heart of Thor as the main ingredient to prepare a final feast for the upcoming battle.

Instead of using complicated cooking methods, he sliced ​​it into thin slices to create sashimi that best showcased the original flavor of the ingredients, accompanied by a sauce that also shimmered with electric light, made from Leviathan's blood and several special seaweeds.

When the first piece of Thor's Heart entered their mouths, everyone felt as if their souls had been struck by a gentle lightning bolt.

A surge of pure energy instantly flowed throughout his body, every cell rejoicing, and his nerve reaction speed was elevated to a whole new level.

Gatz felt he could see every flap of a mosquito's wing, Silver felt his thinking speed had increased several times, and Dorum felt his hands, which had become somewhat dull from years of repairing ships, had become more agile than ever before.

Rocks and Newgate felt a strange resonance between their domineering aura and the lightning energy, making them even more violent and destructive.

Looking at the satisfied crowd, and then at his own experience bar that was about to fill up, Renn's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile.

He knew that he was about to undergo a complete transformation.

On the distant horizon, the outline of a steel fortress is already faintly visible.

……

The afterglow of the feast had not yet faded, and the fury of the Thunderous Abyss had subsided.

The dilapidated sailboat sailed on the washed-out azure sea, the air fresh and carrying the unique scent of the rain.

The crew members are adapting to the new physical changes.

Gatz excitedly waved the anchor, discovering that his reaction speed was now astonishingly fast, even able to predict the wind pressure trajectory created by the anchor as it was swung.

Silver closed his eyes quietly, his Observation Haki range expanded several times, and his perception became more three-dimensional.

He could no longer merely hear and see, but could feel the flow of all things, as if the whole world had become an intricate network of countless lines.

Dorum then took out his toolbox and began an unprecedentedly meticulous maintenance of the ship's hull.

His hands moved so fast they left afterimages; every movement was incredibly precise, and his efficiency was more than twice as high as before.

Rocks and Newgate were still drinking, but their occasional glances at each other carried a subtle, almost imperceptible, electric glint.

That was their domineering aura testing each other; catalyzed by the Heart of Thor, their power was advancing towards a higher level.

As for Raine, he stood in the kitchen calmly wiping his kitchen knife, but his heart was far from as calm as he appeared.

Just now, the moment the feast ended, the voice he had been waiting for rang in his mind.

[Ding! Detected that the host has cooked the legendary ingredient, Heart of Thor, resulting in a massive boost to the entire Rocks Pirates crew, granting them a huge amount of experience points!]

[Ding! Top-tier culinary skill experience points are maxed out (200000/200000), currently undergoing promotion...]

Raine's consciousness was pulled into a pure white space.

Before my eyes, the huge system panel is undergoing a dramatic transformation.

The badge, representing the pinnacle, shone brightly before shattering into countless points of light.

These points of light converged again, coalescing into a new badge that is more complex, more ancient, and shimmers with a warm luster.

The badge bears two powerful characters: Master.

[Promotion Successful! Congratulations, host, your culinary skills have been upgraded to Master level!]

[Master-level culinary skills: Returning to simplicity, the host's understanding of ingredients has greatly improved, and they can perceive their energy essence and spiritual essence.]

[Ding! Congratulations, host, on advancing to the Master level! Your mental strength has greatly increased, and your Observation Haki has activated in conjunction with your Food Principle, unlocking a brand new exclusive ability—Soul of Food!]

[Food Soul: The host can infuse their will and soul power into the dish, imbuing the food with a specific soul. While enjoying the delicious food, the consumer will directly inherit the temporary and powerful targeted boost brought by this soul.]

[Example: A dish imbued with the spirit of rage can be created, greatly increasing the eater's aggression and destructive power for a short period; or a dish imbued with the spirit of tranquility can be created, allowing the eater to conceal their presence and enhance their senses.]

[Ding! Congratulations, host, on advancing to Master level! You are rewarded with 50000 Cooking Points, unlocked the Master-level exclusive exchange list in the system shop, and receive a Master-level recipe gift pack.]

A flood of information rushed into his mind, yet Ryan felt his thinking was clearer than ever before.

When Raine opened his eyes, the whole world seemed to have changed in his perception.

If previously, when looking at ingredients, Renn focused on their texture, fibers, and freshness.

Now, what Rennes sees is the energy flowing inside the ingredients, everything it went through from growth to being captured, the root and soul of its flavor.

Ryan picked up an ordinary piece of dried fish; in his eyes, it was no longer an inanimate object.

He could see the fish swimming freely in the sea before it died, feel the marks left by the sunlight and sea salt on its body, and hear its deepest flavors whispering.

"So that's how it is... This is master-level culinary skill..."

Raine muttered to himself, a look of understanding flashing in his eyes.

This is no longer an improvement in skill, but a leap almost to the level of life itself.

Raine felt that his understanding of the meaning of food had entered a whole new realm.

Chapter 32 A Simple Appetizer

If the previous Food Spirit passively amplified the power of companions, now, with the Food Soul, Raine can actively and precisely design the power of her companions.

Raine could become a true war chef.

"Hey! Chef Ryan!"

Gatz's loud voice pulled Ryan back from that mysterious state.

He poked his head in, looking expectant, and asked, "When are we having breakfast? I'm starving after defeating that giant monster!"

Rein turned his head, looked at Gatz's face which was filled with hunger, and then looked at the steel fortress on the horizon in the distance that was becoming clearer and clearer. A confident, even playful, smile appeared on his calm face.

"breakfast?"

Ryan's voice wasn't loud, but it reached the ears of every crew member clearly.

"After capturing G-8, but before that..."