"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! RAINBOW FRUIT?!"
Akira, Erika, and Erina stopped at the same time.
They turned toward the voice.
Not far away, three figures stood in the middle of the crowded lane.
A tall, muscular man with wild, spiky blue hair stood casually in the center of the path.
He wore a tight orange muscle spandex jumpsuit with cargo pockets.
Beside him was a much smaller, enthusiastic young man with short black hair, large expressive eyes, and a wide nose, dressed simply in a khaki shirt and pants.
Facing them was a sharp-looking man in a black suit and sunglasses.
Erika blinked.
"…Did that guy say Rainbow Fruit?"
Akira narrowed his eyes.
"That has to be the main character, Toriko, and Komatsu. Just to be sure, let me check."
His gaze sharpened as he activated the True Name scanning function of his Mystic Eyes of Truth.
Although his Mystic Eyes were always active, the True Name scan of his evolved eyes required conscious activation.
Names appeared.
Toriko – Gourmet Hunter
Komatsu – Chef
Johannes – IGO Development Bureau Chief
Something strange happened too.
He could see not only their names, but also faint lines of information about the surrounding ingredients—
Capture levels.
Values.
Effects.
Other incomplete data.
Some complete.
Some unfinished.
Akira paused.
"…What happened…? Since when did it do this?"
Selena's voice echoed in his mind.
"Brother, your eyes are evolving again. You never stop training your mana circulation, remember?"
Akira frowned.
"Does that make sense…?"
Erika nudged him sharply.
"They're talking. Focus."
"…Right."
Akira raised his hand and cast a subtle wind spell, directing a gentle current of air to carry their conversation clearly toward them.
They watched from a distance as the smaller man nearly exploded with excitement.
"The legendary fruit that changes into seven different flavors depending on temperature and humidity?!"
Johannes immediately hushed him.
"Hey! Keep your voice down! What happens if someone overhears us?"
"You expect me not to shout?!" Komatsu said.
"Just one drop of Rainbow Fruit juice can turn an entire twenty-five-meter swimming pool into rich, mellow juice!"
He was practically vibrating.
"That's how concentrated it is! I heard one can sell for 500 million yen!"
Then he froze.
"…But weren't they extinct?"
Erina glanced at Akira.
"If it's that rich, wouldn't eating it give you diabetes?"
Akira shrugged.
"…Weird, right? Probably the Gourmet Cells."
In the distance, Johannes continued.
"It's true. They no longer exist in nature."
Toriko grinned.
"So this is one of the IGO's selective breeding projects, huh?"
"There is one problem."
Johannes adjusted his glasses.
"The Troll Kongs have built a nest around the Rainbow Fruit tree. No one can get near it."
Komatsu went pale.
"Troll Kongs?!"
"The ultimate gorilla," Johannes said grimly.
"A two-billion-yen Gourmet Tank unit was sent in. It was completely overturned. A forty-ton tank. Just like that. For reference, their Capture Level is 9."
Erika blinked.
"…What does Capture Level 9 mean?"
Akira answered quietly.
"The Flyer Duck we fought was Level 15. So not a big deal."
Toriko cracked his neck.
"I've always wanted to eat Rainbow Fruit. Maybe I should visit that old garden again."
Then suddenly—
He turned.
Straight toward Akira's direction.
Akira instantly cut the wind spell and cloaked the three of them in magic.
Komatsu blinked.
"What's wrong, Toriko-san?"
Toriko stared for another moment.
Then relaxed.
"…Nothing. Must've been the wind."
Only after they walked away did Akira release the spell.
Erika exhaled.
"How did he notice us?"
Akira shrugged.
"He's the protagonist of this world. His senses are ridiculous."
Erina crossed her arms.
"They're going for the fruit now, right? So what do we do?"
Akira turned and started walking.
"We get there first."
Then he added casually—
"Come on. Shopping time is over. It's time to buy a car."
The girls sighed but followed him.
A few hours later, a sleek black limousine sped along the highway at a speed no limousine should have been capable of.
Akira was lying comfortably on Erika's lap, reading something on his phone while Erika slowly fed him grape-like fruits, occasionally eating some herself.
Her fingers brushed his lips gently with each piece.
Erina sat across from them, arms crossed, grinding her teeth as she watched.
"Can they act normal? I'm still here…"
It was mostly because Akira was being clingy again, and Erika was simply indulging him with a soft, content smile.
Erina finally couldn't hold it in.
"Why did we need something this expensive?!"
Akira didn't even look up from his phone.
"Because comfort matters. And we have money."
Erina pointed at the luxurious interior.
"You said we're going to infiltrate a restricted place! Why are we doing this so extravagantly?"
Akira shrugged.
"Exactly. Stressful missions require legroom."
Erina took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.
Her gaze shifted to the driver's seat, where a golden humanoid robot was driving smoothly, and beside it, a small dome-shaped unit sat quietly.
"Is it even safe to let them drive?"
Akira replied without missing a beat.
"That's R2-D2 and C-3PO. Well, replicas I made. Don't worry, they're great at this."
C-3PO turned his head slightly.
"Don't worry, young lady. We will make sure you get there safely."
R2-D2 let out a cheerful series of beeps.
Erina still looked skeptical.
"What's the blue one doing anyway? It's just sitting there."
R2-D2 immediately let out a string of furious beeps and electronic screams.
C-3PO explained,
"R2-D2 is helping me with navigation, young lady."
Then he turned to R2-D2 and scolded him.
"That's not the way to speak to a lady, R2-D2!"
Erina asked, confused.
"What's it saying?"
Akira didn't even look up.
"You don't want to know."
Erina opened her mouth, then closed it again.
"…Hmph. Whatever."
She turned her face away with a huff.
Erika smiled softly and fed Akira another grape.
"What are you reading anyway?"
Akira answered casually.
"I'm basically reading all the knocking techniques available."
Erika tilted her head.
"Knocking techniques?"
Akira explained,
"It's a pressure point technique Gourmet Hunters in this world use to knock out beasts so they can capture them alive."
Erika asked,
"Capture them alive?"
"Yeah," Akira said. "Apparently it's to preserve the freshness of the ingredients."
He took out a knocking gun—a stun gun with needles—from his inventory and showed it to her.
"Most of them use this to do it."
Erika examined it.
"It's one of the things you bought in Toriko Harbor, right?"
Akira nodded.
"Yeah. It's a knocking gun. They use it to knock them out."
Erika asked,
"So are you trying to learn them now?"
Akira smiled.
"Well, yeah. It's easy for me. But the reason I'm reading it is for another reason, actually."
Erika raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?"
Akira's grin widened.
"To make more money."
Erika asked curiously, still feeding Akira another grape.
"To make more money?"
Akira nodded, still lying comfortably on her lap.
"Yeah."
He explained casually while scrolling on his phone.
"In this world, new knocking techniques can be patented. You earn royalties every time other Gourmet Hunters use them. I'm planning to create some original ones. With Transparent World, I can study the pressure points perfectly."
Erika tilted her head.
"What about your Golden Rule skill? Doesn't it just generate money?"
Akira shook his head.
"It's only B-rank. It doesn't create money out of nowhere. It just makes things go in my favor—like how Tom bought all those ingredients at a high price because they were incredibly fresh from the inventory. It also helps when I invest or patent something. It increases the chances of success and profit."
Erika asked,
"Do we even need more money here?"
Akira smiled.
"Of course. There are so many more ingredients in this world. We'll definitely come back."
Erina, sitting across from them, opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something…
But closed it again and looked out the window instead.
A few hours later, the sleek black limousine slowed to a stop far away from the massive gates of Biotope 8.
Huge, endless walls surrounded the restricted area, stretching far into the distance.
C-3PO turned his head politely from the driver's seat.
"You have arrived at your destination."
R2-D2 let out a cheerful series of beeps.
Akira stored both robots and the limousine into his inventory with a quick motion.
Then they heard it—
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Loud, rhythmic drumming echoed from inside the walls.
Erina frowned.
"What is that?"
Akira listened for a moment.
"It's drumming. They're trying to intimidate anyone who gets close."
Erika looked up at the wall.
"So how do we get in?"
The three of them stood in silence for a moment, thinking about how to enter without permission.
Akira suddenly grinned.
"Simple. Erika, can you use your technique to keep the cameras from working?"
"Sure."
Akira nodded.
"Alright then. All that's left is getting there the normal way."
He wrapped one arm around Erina's waist and the other around Erika's.
"Hold on tight."
A burst of magic launched them high into the air.
They cleared the wall in a single leap.
Erina screamed the entire way.
The moment their feet touched the ground inside Biotope 8—
A huge boulder covered in venomous snakes came flying straight toward them, thrown by a roaring Troll Kong.