Food: I found Eri Nakiri in the world of Food Prisoners

While this number may not be accurate, it does reflect the difficulty of preparing pufferfish.

Xu Yong could tell that the two of them really wanted to give it a try, but they were also very self-aware, knowing that their cooking was destined to fail and waste ingredients, so they suppressed their desire to try.

Chapter Thirty: The Greatly Nourishing Pufferfish Whale

As everyone made their cuts, it became clear that they were all making cuts from completely different places. Some cut directly into the belly of the fish, some cut from the head, and some cut from the tail.

This is all due to the different locations of the venom sacs and venom glands in the pufferfish whale's body.

All the chefs who began their work were intently focused on the pufferfish whale in front of them, because handling the pufferfish whale was like defusing a bomb; the slightest carelessness could result in direct poisoning.

The other spectators remained silent, afraid that their noise might affect their performance.

There were more than a dozen people in total. Soon, someone touched the venom gland, causing the venom to leak out, and the pufferfish whale's body was instantly stained purplish-black.

Clearly, this was a failure, but the person who failed only showed a frustrated expression and did not make a sound, because making a sound might affect others.

However, his failure was like lighting a fuse, and soon five more people failed, making a total of six people fail, including him.

The remaining people have already exposed their venom sacs to the air. At this point, all that's needed is to carefully remove the venom sacs and pull out the venom glands.

Although the venom glands are distributed throughout the entire body of the pufferfish whale, they can be pulled out by applying force from the venom sac if you are careful.

Of course, you need to control the force yourself. If you use the wrong force, the venom gland will be torn off, and the pufferfish dish will naturally fail.

Everyone was very careful during the process, and in the end, everyone succeeded except for one person who failed because their hand trembled.

The successfully cooked pufferfish whale turned golden, looking quite magnificent.

"Huh? Why are there two different colors even though both dishes were successfully cooked?"

Hisako Shinoto suddenly noticed a problem: the pufferfish cooked by Chef Sumire didn't change color, but everyone else's turned golden. Could it be that Chef Sumire had failed in his cooking?

And even if the cooking failed, shouldn't it turn purplish-black? How come there's no change at all?

"Because the speed at which the venom sac is removed is too fast, the pufferfish whale, as food, also has a reaction speed, just like the mimosa plant. If you touch it, the leaves of the mimosa plant will shrink, but if you touch it too fast, what if the mimosa plant can't react?"

"The same is true for pufferfish whales. Even if they are dead, their flesh will react to the venom sac. Once the venom sac and venom gland are completely separated, the flesh of the pufferfish whale will react and turn golden."

"But if the speed is too fast, so fast that the pufferfish whale doesn't even have time to react and doesn't know that its venom sac has been removed, then naturally there will be no change."

"However, regardless of whether there are any changes, the taste and texture of the pufferfish whale after the venom sac is removed are the same; at most, the color will be slightly different."

Xu Yong said that ingredients have a reaction speed. As long as a person is fast enough, the ingredients cannot react in time. Ozone grass is the best example.

Ozone grass needs two people to eat it to become delicious. This is not because ozone grass can recognize how many people are there, but because ozone grass can sense how many mouths are biting it.

Toriko and the others had no choice but to eat it together, but Blue Netero, Master Jiro, Chairman Ichiryu, and others could eat it by themselves, as Ozone Grass couldn't react at all.

"Is that how it is? But just how fast is the dean? He's so fast that the ingredients can't even react."

Erina Nakiri and the other woman were also very alarmed.

"This involves food etiquette, but you can't access it right now."

Xu Yong said that the two of them were terrible cooks, and now was not the time to learn about cooking. What they needed to do first was to lay a solid foundation.

This so-called foundation is also the foundation of the world of Gourmet Devil. After all, the standards of the two worlds are different. In this world, their foundation is not a complete mess, but it is not very good either.

"Successful people can stop now, and those who fail should adjust their mindset and continue."

After glancing at everyone, Chef Jin spoke up, saying that opportunities to cook pufferfish and whale are rare, and she doesn't care about those who fail. She just hopes that those who fail can learn from their mistakes and succeed next time.

As for the lost pufferfish whales, she didn't feel any heartache at all.

Hearing this, the successful person breathed a sigh of relief. Although successfully cooking a pufferfish whale was indeed very rewarding, he really didn't want to experience that feeling of walking on a tightrope and defusing a bomb again.

As for those who failed, they were not discouraged. It was clear that Chef Jin's teaching was very effective. They did not give up because of a temporary setback, but instead began to adjust their mindset.

After getting into a good state, they continued cooking. Being selected by Chef Sumire meant that these people were all highly skilled.

Ultimately, only one student failed twice, but succeeded on his third attempt.

As for the rest, Chef Jin will naturally take care of it herself. After all, for her, dealing with all the pufferfish and whales here is a matter of a moment.

Chef Sumire is quite skilled; after all, she's ranked tenth, a ranking she earned at the food festival.

The food festival tests more than just cooking skills. Komatsu was lucky to run into Blanche; otherwise, given his physical condition, he would have been eliminated in the first round.

Therefore, the fact that she was able to achieve tenth place through her own strength shows just how powerful the hidden strength within this little old lady truly is.

After quickly processing the other pufferfish, Chef Sumire brought one of the dishes to Xu Yong and Erina Nakiri.

As for Xiao Mo, Xu Yong had already prepared its food.

"I won't drink the fish fin wine."

Seeing that Chef Jin had also prepared fish fin wine, Xu Yong said that he really had no taste for alcohol. Chef Jin was quite surprised by this, after all, it is really too difficult to find a person who does not drink alcohol in this era.

"The meat is so chewy."

The meat of the pufferfish whale is best used for sashimi, while the bones are used to make soup.

After everyone took a bite, Erina Nakiri realized that the pufferfish was indeed very difficult to chew, but because it was so delicious, she couldn't bear to spit it out.

As for Xu Yong, he didn't find it difficult to chew. After all, his strength was undeniable. Let alone a pufferfish whale, he could easily chew up even a block of steel.

However, after eating most of the pufferfish whale's meat, its muscles began to swell again, this time not because of cell activation, but because of the excessive calories consumed.

Chapter Thirty-One: Two People Awaken Their Gourmet Cells

"Unfortunately, it only has a strong nourishing effect, but it cannot improve the cell level."

Looking at his body, Xu Yong realized that, let alone cell activation, he would probably need to consume a large quantity of pufferfish whales to upgrade his cell level.

Just as Xu Yong was feeling a bit regretful, he suddenly sensed a change in the auras of Erina Nakiri and Hisako Shinoto.

"This is... he gained gourmet cells and they've even awakened!"

The idea flashed through Xu Yong's mind. He looked at the two of them with some surprise. The system had increased their chances of obtaining food cells, so it wouldn't be difficult for them to obtain food cells.

However, Xu Yong did not expect that he would not only obtain the food cells, but also awaken them directly.

In this world, having a knack for food and not having one are worlds apart.

With the addition of Gourmet Cells, the two women's potential is completely transformed. The Gourmet Cells will enhance their potential, allowing them to catch up with or even surpass others more quickly.

You could say that having a knack for food is a shortcut, and most importantly, they don't need to build up a lot of foundational knowledge, just like Komatsu.

The reason is simple: they don't need to fight; they only need to be able to protect themselves.

Like Toriko and the others, Xu Yong had been constantly building his foundation so that when his strength increased dramatically, he could adapt immediately, fully unleash this power, and make his strength several times or even dozens of times greater.

Therefore, their food cell level did not increase rapidly at first.

In the original work, when adapting to various harsh environments, Komatsu either didn't go with them or survived with Toriko's help.

This is the difference between combatants and non-combatants. As chefs, Erina Nakiri and Hisako Shinoto only need to adapt to their increased power; they don't need to perform like Xu Yong and the others.

In the world of Toriko, the partners are Gourmet Hunters and Chefs. There is no doubt that Gourmet Hunters are stronger than Chefs, just like combat professions and life professions in the game, with completely different focuses.

"Your gourmet cells have awakened? And they awakened at the same time! It seems that pufferfish and whales are suitable ingredients for your gourmet cells!"

After noticing the changes in the two, Chef Jin also spoke up.

Female food cell holders differ from males; when male food cells awaken, become active, and level up, their muscles swell.

However, changes also occur when female food cell holders awaken and their cells become activated, but these changes are very different.

Their changes include improved figures and smoother skin, which can be seen as a shift towards beauty enhancement.

Of course, their strength is also improving, but this improvement is not outwardly apparent, which is why the female characters in the Toriko world don't all become super-strong Barbies.

All I can say is that the food cell is truly incredibly human-centered.

Chef Jin's judgment has been wrong, but it can't be blamed on him. After all, who would have thought that these two could obtain gourmet cells simply by eating some human ingredients, and not even particularly rare ones?

It's important to know that obtaining gourmet cells in this way requires not only exceptional luck in food but also consuming large quantities of precious ingredients. Simply obtaining gourmet cells from ingredients available in the human world is virtually impossible.

This is all thanks to the system, which amplified the probability so many times that the two of them developed a taste for gourmet food after eating pufferfish and whale.

Chef Jin now believes that the two of them are born with a natural talent for food, but their culinary abilities have just not yet awakened.

It's important to know that awakening one's culinary skills is also an extremely dangerous process; countless people born with such skills haven't made it through.

However, the two awakened very smoothly, and Chef Jin could only sigh that they were very lucky with food.

At the same time, two beams of energy suddenly appeared above the heads of the two who had awakened their gourmet cells, followed by two not-so-strong pressure beams spreading in all directions.

Since they had just awakened, their strength was still too weak, so the pressure they released could only cause fear in ordinary people, and wouldn't have much of an impact.

However, Xu Yong also noticed the appearance of the food demons above the two of them; one was gold and the other pink, exactly the same as their hair colors.

Its body was covered with hideous spikes, and as for the rest, it was impossible to determine, since food demons don't have a gender.

However, the food demons within both of them had their minds erased by the system, so these two food demons, like the leader slime within Xu Yong's body, could be controlled by themselves.

Of course, it's not possible now. It will take time to learn how to control the food demons. Right now, they can't even enter their own consciousness space.

The food demon resides within the host's consciousness space.

"How does it feel to have your foodie cells awaken?"

Xu Yong asked with a smile.

"It feels great! I feel like I could easily kill a bull with my current strength!"

Erina Nakiri spoke.

"Me too, it feels like I have inexhaustible energy."

Hisako Shinoto nodded as well. You see, the two of them were just ordinary people with slightly better physical abilities before, but after awakening their Gourmet Cells, they became like little superhumans in the eyes of ordinary people.

"Your current strength is far more than just being able to kill a cow. Let's test your levels first!"

Xu Yong then tested the cell levels of the two individuals, and the result was 3 for both. Although the level was still low, level 3 was already acceptable, considering it was a benefit brought about by the awakening of the Gourmet Cells.

Furthermore, their level 3 cell level is equivalent to their strength, and they might not even be a match for a level 3 beast.

Unlike Xu Yong, Xu Yong had a very solid foundation, so even with cell activation, Xu Yong could unleash combat power beyond the cellular level.

Especially after mastering the art of food, this increase became even greater.

However, neither of them had any foundation, and they couldn't even perfectly control their surging power. They could only maintain the most basic control, which was a benefit of their Gourmet Cells, preventing them from losing control as their power surged.

Therefore, with their current cell level of 3, if they were to actually fight, they would probably only be able to exert combat power at a level of 2 or higher but less than 3.

"Your Gourmet Cells have already reached Level 3 after just awakening. It seems that the potential of your awakened Gourmet Demons is not weak either."

Chef Jin glanced at it and said, "You should know that even among gourmet demons, there are differences in strength."

Chapter Thirty-Two: Return to the Land of Healing

Food demons also vary in strength. Before completely devouring a food demon or merging with a food demon, the holder of a food cell can generally improve their strength in two ways.

One way is to eat foods that are suitable for cells, which can rapidly enhance their strength, also known as cell activation.

However, this kind of improvement is actually about constantly tapping into the power of the Gourmet Demons, and Toriko and others are the best examples.

Their improvement comes purely from constantly activating their cells with eight ingredients, which is undoubtedly the fastest way to enhance their strength.

Another method is the one used by veteran powerhouses in the human realm. The eight ingredients only appear once every few hundred years, and they had not yet risen to power when they last appeared, so they could not obtain the eight ingredients.

Over the next few centuries, they relied on various ingredients and their own training to continuously improve their cellular level.

The strength gained through this method can even surpass that of the food demon within the body.

Then, by using special ingredients to continuously tap into the power of the Gourmet Demon, the combined effect of the two will greatly enhance one's strength.

That's why, despite the immense power of the Gourmet Demon within Toriko's body, the final battle still relied on the Three Tigers for the main offensive.

It was because the three tigers hadn't explored much of the power of the Gourmet Demons before that they ended up eating six different ingredients, which somehow raised their strength to the point where they could hold their own against the fully-formed Acacia for a while.

However, very few people can improve their strength in the same way as Sanhu and others, since it took them hundreds of years to reach that level of strength.

Normal people don't live for hundreds of years, so the strength of these few people cannot be used as a standard.

In the human realm, the way to measure the potential of Gourmet Hunters is actually to see how strong their Gourmet Demons are.

The stronger the Gourmet Demons are, the higher their potential naturally becomes.

Therefore, after seeing this scene, Chef Sumire judged that the two's culinary demons, while not the strongest, were still in a relatively strong category.