Zephyr kept picking up the sliced meat, dipping it into the seasoning, and stuffing it into his mouth—his movements were as fluid as a champion in an extreme eating contest.
Having the experience of tasting it before, he had long since figured out the patterns in this regard.
According to the description previously provided by the system, the core characteristic of the Barbecue Pig was using the heat within its body to cook itself to perfect doneness.
Self-Heating.
Zephyr was actually feeling a bit apprehensive inside. If the talent he obtained was to roast himself...
But then again, the system had never failed. Unicorn, Dragon Scales, Blaze, Dragon Roar—every single one was very practical. It shouldn't result in a disaster.
He maintained his original eating pace. Having lost count of how much Barbecue Pig meat he had eaten, Zephyr gradually felt a strange sensation rising within him, one that was all too familiar. It was exactly the same feeling as when he previously ate the Hellhound meat and obtained a talent.
A surge of heat began to spread from his stomach. It flowed along his blood vessels to every part of his body, the temperature on the surface of his skin visibly climbing.
Faint steam began to rise from the surface of his body. He raised his hand to touch his cheek and found that it was scorching hot.
Lefiya's gaze swept over Zephyr's bright red face, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
She couldn't help but cover her mouth. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and she couldn't suppress the curve of her lips, eventually failing to hold back a laugh.
"Pfft!"
"Ahem!"
After realizing her lapse in composure, Lefiya hurriedly coughed to cover it up.
Zephyr's face.was flushed red by the heat, with faint steam drifting off his skin. Looking at him from a distance, he didn't seem much different from fresh Jagamarukun, did he?
Lefiya tried her best to maintain a composed on her face as she asked, "What's going on?"
Zephyr reached out to brush off the grease on his hands. He stretched his body, feeling the surge of heat within him, but he wasn't worried at all.
"It's nothing, I just feel very hot. If there's a problem, I'll tell you guys."
Lefiya nodded.
She picked up a roasted rib and continued to eat, occasionally glancing up at Zephyr.
Charles stared intently at the steam rising from the surface of Zephyr's skin, his eyes full of curiosity. "Zephyr..."
Remembering Zephyr's incredibly absurd talent—being able to acquire monster abilities just by eating—Charles quickly guessed the outcome. But that didn't stop him from being curious.
"Are you going to turn into a roasted human?"
Hearing this, Zephyr's expression nearly cracked. When he first met Charles, the team atmosphere was clearly still quite normal. How did it feel like the overall vibe was gradually going off the rails?
Just then, a system prompt appeared before Zephyr's eyes.
[Obtained Talent: Overheat]
[Effect: By increasing blood flow speed and pressure, it brings a stronger power boost to the body, but it will significantly increase stamina consumption.]
Huh? Are you sure this isn't Luffy's Gear Second?
When he obtained this ability, Zephyr didn't actually feel too surprised. After all, the description of the Barbecue Pig clearly stated the same effect. After being angered, the blood inside its body would boil, eventually leading to it being burnt.
However, when this ability was applied to himself, he had an indescribable sense of bizarreness, but considering it from the perspective of the skill's effects, it was quite powerful.
Increasing stamina consumption in the short term in exchange for stronger explosive power.
Unlike Luffy's early use of Gear Second which would consume his lifespan, this talent just accelerated stamina consumption.
At the very least, when encountering tough opponents, perhaps he could rely on Overheat to achieve a miracle of turning the tables in a desperate situation.
After obtaining this talent, Zephyr's skin returned to its original appearance at a speed visible to the naked eye.
He stretched his shoulders, his joints making a faint clicking sound. The residual heat within his body was slowly dissipating.
He looked at the team members who had long since eaten their fill and suggested, "Then let's continue on our way."
"No problem!."
—
The subsequent Dungeon exploration gradually returned to normal. The familiar monsters they had encountered during previous explorations reappeared in the distance of the passage—War Shadow, Orc, Hellhound.
Strictly speaking, the effect brought by Outsider was not something that was guaranteed to appear, but rather closer to the result of a random probability trigger. There was a probability of encountering Gourmet Creatures.
Besides that, at least in terms of terrain, Zephyr didn't feel any changes, but for him, this was definitely good news.
Barbecue Pig wasn't particularly strong. As long as they figured out the specific patterns, Lefiya, Charles, and the others could easily resolve it. At worst, the meat quality might just get a bit tougher.
The key was that other Adventurers exploring the Dungeon might not necessarily possess such strength.
Zephyr didn't want to see the normal exploration of other Adventurers being affected because of the effects of the skill he possessed.
The current situation was quite good. When following the team to explore, there was a probability of encountering Gourmet Creatures. At that time, they just needed to resolve it on the spot.
As for the remaining Gourmet Creatures, he would just consider them a gift from nature to other Adventurers who happened to pass by.
When the team explored to the 14th floor, they didn't choose to continue pushing deeper while exhausted. They rested in a spacious hall, and Charles took out a portion of roasted pork ribs.
He leaned over to Zephyr's side, rubbing his palms together. His smile carried a hint of embarrassment as he asked, "Um... Do you have any more of your barbecue seasoning?"
"Yes."
This guy has such a craving for food?
He took a small bottle of seasoning powder from the leather pouch at his waist and handed it to Charles.
"Use as much as you like. You can buy this stuff right here in Orario. If you really think it tastes good, I'll help you buy some when the time comes."
"Thanks. It's actually quite delicious, much better than those bentos." Charles felt a bit embarrassed.
Watching him devouring the food, a bit of confusion rose in Zephyr's heart.
It was basically confirmed that for other Adventurers, the native monsters of Orario didn't contain Gourmet Cells, and only had an effect on him.
But could other Adventurers produce an effect similar to his after eating the Barbecue Pig that contained Gourmet Cells?
Thinking of this, Zephyr silently observed Charles. After confirming that the other party's body hadn't undergone any special changes, he took the initiative to ask, "Charles, after you ate the roasted pig, did you feel anything special in your body?"
"Hmm? Does feeling very satisfied count?"
Charles carefully pondered his own feelings. The final conclusion the he reached was that he had eaten too deliciously and accidentally overate, leaving him so stuffed he had to pace back and forth to digest it.
But upon realizing that this wasn't what Zephyr was asking about, he scratched the back of his head.
"No special feelings. The meat tastes good, sure, but there were no changes to my body after eating it. If there were any changes, I would definitely have told you."
Zephyr frowned.
His gaze swept over the rest of the party members, and the feedback he received was all just blank head-shakes. So, the answer was actually obvious by now.
The reason he could possess such improvements was entirely due to the special existence of the system.
In other words, was the Strongest Gourmet Hunter System something similar to the Gourmet Devil inside him?
That was actually pretty good.
At least in the future, Orario wouldn't descend into a chaotic dance of monsters.
After all, up to this point, no one in this world had ever served monster cuisine on the dining table.
If one day, monster meat could really make everyone stronger...
Zephyr found it hard to imagine such a scene. But in a certain sense, this was a good thing. If the enhancement effect brought by Gourmet Cells belonged only to him, at least it wouldn't attract unnecessary trouble.
"It looks like, it should only be me, who can obtain the monsters' special abilities."
Facing Charles's confused gaze, Zephyr shook his head, pulling all his thoughts back together to give the most definite answer.
"That's for sure." Charles replied with a matter-of-fact tone.
"I don't have your skill to obtain special abilities from Dungeon monsters—that's something only you can do."
"Even if I did, I wouldn't want to wake up one day after eating a Goblin and have my skin turn green."
"How would that be any different from a monster?"
Why did it feel like Charles was mocking him?
Zephyr's lips twitched.
He chose to continue eating. Improving stats was a process of accumulating small gains, so for now, he would just have to work his stomach a bit harder. To the best of his ability, he would grow within the Dungeon environment.