After a moment of thought, Ichiryu asked, "Setsuna, when exactly is the next solar eclipse for the cooking?"
"Two and a half years from now." Setsuna gave a precise timeframe.
"Two and a half years..." The crowd felt somewhat relieved. The time didn't seem too pressing yet.
Setsuna added, "Although the solar eclipse is a method of adjusting the cooking 'heat', it's not impossible to intervene. If everyone is prepared, I can manipulate the Moon's orbit to trigger the eclipse early."
'Manipulate the Moon? Trigger an eclipse?'
The crowd was secretly astonished.
The current Setsuna was incredibly powerful, beyond their comprehension.
Ichiryu quickly weighed the options: "Let's set the time for the final battle two years from now. The initiative to start the war must be in our hands."
Coco frowned deeply. "Two years? Theoretically, a lot of preparation is possible, but improving strength, especially reaching the level required to participate in that kind of battle..."
He looked at the other Four Heavenly Kings. Their current strength was still far, far from the level of the Eight Kings of the Gourmet World or the Blue Nitro.
Setsuna said, "Don't worry. I can open the entrance to the Spirit World for you. Training there for a month would be equivalent to just one minute in the outside world."
He was now powerful enough to create spaces similar to the Room of Spirit and Time. Opening the [Spirit World], which inherently existed in this world, was naturally effortless.
The Four Heavenly Kings exchanged glances, and their eyes instantly ignited with blazing battle lust.
Although training in the Spirit World certainly couldn't compare to the real world, such a long period of time would still allow them to improve significantly.
...
The rarely visited Spirit World had now become a training sanctuary for everyone.
The Four Heavenly Kings, along with elite warriors selected from the IGO and Bishokukai, entered the Spirit World one after another to train.
Setsuna found Toriko, who was training, and said bluntly, "Toriko, I came to find you because I want to enter your body..."
The smile on Toriko's face instantly froze. He instinctively stepped back half a step, stammering:
"W-Wait a minute! Setsuna! Although you're amazing and I really respect you, b-but! I like women! Really! I have no interest in men! And this is way too sudden!"
Setsuna rarely paused for a full second, his mouth twitching as he said, "Let me finish. I mean entering the Gourmet Cell space inside your body to spar with your Appetite Demon."
"Huh? You can do that?" Toriko looked bewildered.
He knew Appetite Demons could come out of the Gourmet Space, but could humans also enter the Gourmet Space?
Setsuna nodded. "I can temporarily transform into a 'Food Spirit' form."
For him, who had devoured the Tree of Devil Fruits, temporarily transforming into such a state was not difficult.
Toriko didn't fully understand, but trusting Setsuna, he scratched his head and eventually agreed. "Alright, since you say so, let's give it a try."
"However," he added a bit sheepishly, "Although my Red Demon and Blue Demon are very strong, they're probably far from a match for you, right?"
Setsuna smiled faintly. "It's not those two I'm looking for."
Toriko was confused again. "?"
"Inside you, besides those two, a third Appetite Demon is sleeping." Setsuna's tone carried a hint of solemnity.
"A third one?" Toriko was completely shocked. He instinctively patted his stomach, looking utterly incredulous. "How come I don't feel anything at all?"
Having two Appetite Demons already made him abnormal…
But he never imagined he had a third one.
Setsuna shook his head gently. "You are far too weak now. Even just perceiving its existence would be an overly heavy burden."
Toriko was left somewhat dazed by this information, but he still nodded. "I understand. What do you want me to do?"
"Relax. Don't resist." Setsuna soothed Toriko's mind while completely hollowfying himself.
The next moment, Setsuna, transformed into [Food Spirit] form, entered Toriko's Gourmet Cell space.
Deep within the Gourmet Space, Setsuna sensed the presence of the [White Demon].
Just a wisp of its aura made the resurrected Setsuna feel an unprecedented heaviness.
Regarding the so-called final boss, Acacia's Appetite Demon NEO, he didn't actually think much of it.
Although after being defeated in the original work, NEO vomited out over 1.3 billion years' worth of devoured energy, enough to create dozens of galaxies, NEO had no idea how to utilize such immense power.
Like a planet, if it had its own will, its combat power, leveraging its vast energy, would be at least hundreds of millions.
But because a planet itself cannot fight back, a warrior with combat power in the tens of thousands could destroy it.
The same went for NEO. Never having trained, it only used instinct, only mobilizing a tiny fraction of its own power. Setsuna even regarded it merely as food.
But the White Demon inside Toriko was different. It defeated NEO with a single blow, even making NEO feel fear it had never experienced before.
No matter how poorly NEO utilized its power, its essence was a galactic-level existence containing dozens of galaxies.
For NEO to feel essential fear, in Setsuna's view, the White Demon's power was perhaps no weaker than that of major gods like Hades or Poseidon.
Sensing Setsuna's arrival, the White Demon appeared.
It had a pair of delicate, small wings on its back, seeming somewhat incongruous with its robust body.
Its appearance was not ferocious, but rather had a kind and benevolent look.
The White Demon seemed aware of the outside conversation. Upon seeing Setsuna, it asked calmly, "Mr. Chiaki, is there something you wish to discuss with me?"
Setsuna spoke candidly, "I came to seek your guidance, White Demon-dono. But before that, I am curious about your origin."
The White Demon did not hide it, speaking frankly: "I come from a universe that has long since perished. You might call it the [White Universe]. There, I trained myself and eventually became a Buddha."
"Buddha?" Setsuna was quite surprised. "In this world dominated by appetite? Is there even room for an ascetic?"
The White Demon explained, "As long as one is sufficiently powerful, they can naturally dominate everything. At that time, I believed that eating meat was the root cause of all conflict. To eliminate suffering, one must first forbid eating meat."
Setsuna's expression was rather subtle. "Then how did you come to this universe?"
The White Demon sighed. "I used my supreme power to forcibly enforce absolute vegetarianism."
"In that universe, all creatures, regardless of their original position in the food chain, were forcibly modified to eat only plants."
His words were plain, yet painted a terrifying picture: "Creatures that did not obey were directly 'purified' by me."
"I thought this would bring peace and tranquility." A trace of bitterness entered the White Demon's smile. "However, I was wrong. After all the predators in the entire ecological chain disappeared, it leaves only herbivores."
"But then, plants were over-consumed. Life planets lost their balance. Energy cycles collapsed... One by one, the life systems of planets were destroyed in the midst of peace."
"The surviving creatures struggled on resource-depleted planets, ultimately evolving into a situation even more cruel and desperate than the age of carnivory... mutual consumption of sentient beings."
He sighed again. "Only at that moment did I truly understand my mistake. Forcibly distorting the laws of nature, committing extinction in the name of good, only brings about greater evil."
"To atone, I decided to cut off my own flesh to feed them, to let all beings devour me. My flesh and blood would be enough to compensate for the losses of many planets, perhaps restoring balance."
Having said this, the White Demon paused, a hint of helplessness entering his voice: "But I overlooked one thing. I was far too powerful."
"My existence had become an indispensable cornerstone of that White Universe."
"When I actively headed towards my own destruction, the White Universe also collapsed because of my death."