Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

After returning home, Haruto cleaned away the dust that had accumulated during his absence and packed everything he might need.

Once he was ready, he approached the World Gate leading to the Toriko world.

Without hesitation, he stepped through.

The next instant, Haruto reappeared inside the Regal Mammoth.

As soon as he regained his footing, he got to work.

First, he used magic to establish a stable teleportation marker within the mammoth’s body.

Then he found a relatively flat area and began drawing the magic circle needed to support long-distance teleportation.

Once all the preparations were complete, Haruto focused and gathered the Nen within his body while quietly chanting the teleportation spell.

The magic activated successfully, and his figure vanished from inside the Regal Mammoth.

When Haruto reappeared, he found himself standing in the middle of a forest.

He looked up at the sunlight filtering through layer after layer of leaves. Pale golden rays slanted between the trees, bright without being particularly harsh.

Judging by the angle of the light, it was probably already afternoon.

Haruto did not rush to move. He steadied himself and carefully examined his surroundings.

Towering trees filled his vision.

Some trunks were so thick that several people would have been needed to wrap their arms around them, while their enormous crowns spread like umbrellas, blocking most of the sky and allowing only scattered patches of light through.

All kinds of unusual plants grew between them.

Some vines glowed a vivid green while bearing leaves shaped like strips of bacon.

Other plants had straight stalks topped with fruits no larger than a thumb that looked exactly like miniature grilled sausages.

Haruto picked several of the sausage-like fruits and placed one in his mouth.

The moment he bit down, his eyes widened.

”Mm!”

It was firm and springy, with just the right amount of salt.

The rich meaty flavor carried a faint herbal freshness, making it even more delicious than an ordinary grilled sausage.

Haruto immediately tossed the remaining fruits into his mouth and slowly chewed, savoring the delicious juices spreading across his tongue.

Still enjoying the miniature sausages, he looked out over the forest again.

After a brief hesitation, he decided to explore the surrounding area.

As he moved deeper into the woods, Haruto encountered one bizarre plant after another.

There were flowers with petals that tasted like cream and leaves that crunched like potato chips when bitten.

The sheer number of delicious plants left him almost overwhelmed, excitement swelling in his chest.

This truly was the Toriko world.

Even so, Haruto kept En extended in a three-meter radius at all times.

He knew very well that this was a world where gourmet wonders and deadly danger existed side by side, and where the law of the jungle was taken to its absolute extreme.

His current strength was nowhere near enough to roam freely throughout the Human World without caution.

Even the relatively safe regions were filled with wild beasts of varying Capture Levels.

Haruto had no desire to be forced out of a world overflowing with delicious ingredients so soon after arriving.

The reason he kept En limited to three meters was simple: conserving Nen.

A battle could begin at any moment, and he could not afford to waste too much aura before it started.

Haruto continued searching for ingredients.

As he rounded an enormous tree, he suddenly sensed something falling rapidly from above.

Without knowing what it was, he immediately moved aside.

Several soft thuds sounded behind him.

A few tiny orange-red creatures, each only three or four centimeters long, landed where he had just been standing.

Their bodies were round and plump, making them resemble miniature bread rolls from a distance.

When they failed to land on Haruto, the creatures did not linger.

They bent and sprang like fleas, bouncing swiftly into the undergrowth before disappearing at an astonishing speed.

”These creatures are...”

Haruto frowned as he stared in the direction they had vanished.

He quickly searched through his memories of the Gourmet World and soon understood.

”Baron Leeches. So I teleported to Baron Archipelago.”

Now that he knew where he was, some of the tension left his expression.

Baron Leeches lived exclusively throughout Baron Archipelago.

They were creatures deliberately cultivated inside the body of the archipelago’s ruler, the Garara Gator.

They could be found across every forest on the islands, usually clinging to trunks, branches, and leaves.

The moment a living creature passed underneath, they would drop and latch tightly onto its body.

The truly dangerous part was their bite.

Wounds caused by Baron Leeches continued bleeding without stopping.

Even a tiny injury would refuse to close for quite some time, allowing the scent of blood to travel far through the forest.

That was how the Garara Gator hunted.

By following the scent left behind by its leeches, it could locate prey with perfect accuracy before using its overwhelming strength to kill it.

Fortunately, the strongest creature on Baron Archipelago was merely an enormous Garara Gator more than three hundred years old, with a Capture Level of 8.

With Haruto’s current abilities, defeating a Capture Level 8 Garara Gator should not be particularly difficult.

And Garara Gator meat was far too valuable an ingredient to ignore.

The only question was whether the creature was still on the islands.

Now that he had confirmed his location, Haruto relaxed his caution slightly and increased his exploration speed.

However, after wandering through the dense forest for hours, circling through one area after another as the sun began to sink, his harvest remained disappointing.

Aside from several edible plants with pleasant flavors, he had encountered almost no large creatures.

Only a few enormous birds occasionally crossed the sky overhead.

It made sense.

The three-hundred-year-old Garara Gator had dominated Baron Archipelago for a very long time.

With its incredible strength and relentless appetite, it had likely killed or driven away nearly every large animal on the islands.

Haruto stopped and looked up at the gradually darkening sky, considering his options.

He had two choices.

The first was to head toward the outer forest, away from the center of the islands.

He would probably find many creatures hiding there to escape the Garara Gator’s hunting grounds.

The second was to continue deeper into the forest and search for the Garara Gator itself.

Judging by the lack of large animals throughout the area, the creature was almost certainly still alive.

Haruto barely needed to think before choosing the second option.

He had returned to the Toriko world specifically to search for ingredients.

The most precious and valuable ingredient on Baron Archipelago was undoubtedly the massive Capture Level 8 Garara Gator.

Leaving such a delicacy uncaptured would be an unforgivable waste.

With his decision made, Haruto chose a direction and continued swiftly toward the deepest part of the forest.

Before long, the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.

Night covered Baron Archipelago, plunging the forest into darkness. Only thin fragments of moonlight slipped through gaps in the canopy, leaving visibility extremely poor.

Haruto had also begun to feel tired.

Exploring a forest at night was unnecessarily dangerous, so he decided to find a secure tree hollow or rocky crevice and rest until morning.

Once he had recovered his strength, he could continue searching for the Garara Gator the next day.

Just as Haruto began looking for a suitable place to sleep, a deafening beastly roar erupted from deep within the forest.

At the same time, the ground began shaking violently.

It sounded as though some colossal creature was charging through the woods.

Trees snapped apart one after another, followed by the repeated crashes of something immensely heavy striking the earth.

”That sound...”

Haruto’s eyes sharpened, and every trace of fatigue vanished.

He immediately raced toward the source of the roar and vibrations.

After forcing his way through the dense undergrowth, he reached a clearing within moments.

The sight before him made Haruto sigh in disappointment.

”I’m still one step too late.”

It seemed the Garara Gator would not be his after all.

An enormous Garara Gator was attacking someone in the center of the clearing.

The creature was nearly twenty meters long, with a body as thick as a moving hill. It stood more than four meters tall and likely weighed dozens of tons.

Unlike an ordinary crocodile, it possessed eight huge, powerful legs, each covered in hard scales. Every step left a deep impression in the ground.

Its head was enormous, and rows of blade-like fangs interlocked within its jaws.

When it opened its mouth, countless Baron Leeches could be seen clinging densely to its scarlet tongue, creating a deeply unsettling sight.

Thick, dark-red scales covered its entire body like armor tempered in flame. Ordinary firearms and bladed weapons would not leave so much as a scratch.

The Garara Gator’s opponent was a muscular man over two meters tall.

He had short blue hair, and three prominent claw marks ran across his left cheek.

Haruto recognized him instantly.

Toriko, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

He was the adopted son of IGO Chairman Ichiryu.

His true identity was the biological son of the Gourmet God Acacia and the Divine Chef Froese, and three Gourmet Demons dwelled within his body.

At that moment, Toriko radiated an overwhelming presence.

His gaze remained locked firmly on the Garara Gator, without the slightest trace of fear.

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