Chapter 203: Turning into Light After Eating
The Sun Jewel Meat was massive enough that taking just a part of it was sufficient. Once they reached the meat, the rest of the capture was not difficult. The real challenge was enduring the scorching heat emanating from the beast's surface to successfully enter the Cosmic Mammoth's body, and then crossing the various powerful beast colonies living in its internal world.
"Godly Star River Light-Year Slash!"
Atashino swung her kitchen knife. A slash as white and pure as moonlight flew out, and the planet-sized Sun Jewel Meat was directly split in two.
BOOM!
The lower half crashed to the ground. Upon impact, a fragrant meat aroma erupted like a solar storm, sweeping towards the two of them. The aroma alone contained an astonishing amount of energy, and their cells greedily absorbed it.
"What beautiful meat."
The moment it hit the ground, crystalline juices splashed out like crystal beads, sparkling and shining. They were all the condensed essence of the Sun Jewel Meat. The marbling of fat and lean meat was distributed in a perfect and coordinated ratio, and the patterns were so natural they looked like magnificent feathers engraved upon it.
The impactful aroma of the meat stimulated their appetites. It had a gravitational pull as vast as a planet; no spice could ever 100% replicate this scent.
BOOM—
I swallow the Sun Jewel Meat into my stomach. My fate is my own, not decided by the heavens.
A terrifying energy exploded. In that instant, Kenji became light.
Every inch of his skin, even every strand of his hair, began to radiate a light like the sun.
If one were to look inside his body, every cell, every drop of blood, was glowing. This was an emotion of pure joy; his cells were cheering.
Delicious...
The meat from the liver, heart, leg... all the different parts were perfectly combined. Although the textures were different, the layers of flavor presented a perfect golden ratio, with no abruptness or disharmony. With every bite, juices as abundant as a fountain flowed in his mouth. He had the illusion that he was not eating a meat dish, but a soup. After a long period of aging and maturing, the taste of the Sun Jewel Meat had already reached its absolute peak. Eating it raw was already delicious, but if it were cooked, the flavor could be taken to an even higher level.
"So bright!"
Atashino couldn't help but put on her sunglasses. Kenji was now even brighter than the Sun Jewel Meat itself, glittering with gold. And his eyes... for some reason, a phrase popped into her head... electrifying gaze. It was a little too ridiculous. When she had eaten the Jewel Meat, she hadn't had this kind of change.
Atashino took a bite and also began to glow. The flavor was even richer than the Jewel Meat. For a Cosmic Mammoth to grow to the size of a star required a very long time, not to mention the gestation of the Sun Jewel Meat.
"Kenji, are you going to make this your menu's meat course?" Atashino asked.
"...Sun Jewel Meat will be a temporary choice for now. I have another target for my meat course," Kenji shook his head.
The Space Taipan, a cosmic beast with a Capture Level of 530,000. It was said that its meat was extremely delicious. The capture method had no bells and whistles; you just had to defeat it. After he had tasted the Space Taipan's meat, he would compare them and then decide on his meat course.
"Then I won't be polite. My meat course will be the Sun Jewel Meat," Atashino confirmed for her own menu.
"As long as you like it." Kenji had no objections. What ingredient one chose was their own personal freedom.
After storing the Sun Jewel Meat in his dimensional space, Kenji and Atashino left the Cosmic Mammoth's body.
Standing in space, Kenji frowned. Where was his Planet Ship? Where on earth had the Cosmic Mammoth run off to?
"It seems we've been carried quite a long way off, haven't we?" Atashino said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Don't ask why you can hear voices in space.
"The Cosmic Mammoth seems to move slowly, but with a body that large, every step covers a long distance," Kenji nodded.
Kenji sensed the aura of his creation. It really was quite far.
"Let's go back to Earth first. After Toriko's wedding, we'll come back to space."
"Kenji, don't you think Icy's size is a bit exaggerated?" Atashino couldn't help but say, looking at the Cryophoenix's form. An exaggerated body length of over 5,000 meters was a bit too much for the Human World. Lotta's size was fine; its body was only about a hundred meters long.
"What's the big deal? The Deer King Sky Deer is 60,000 meters long. If I were to take the Deer King as a pet, I definitely couldn't bring it to the Human World," Kenji said. Even if the Deer King restrained itself, just moving around in the Human World would be world-destroying, even more severe than the Four-Beast's invasion. A flying creature like Icy was fine. Besides speed bumps (airplanes), there were no other buildings in its way.
"But I'm not without a solution."
Snap.
Kenji snapped his fingers. Icy's time began to rewind. Its 5,000-meter body reverted to the size it was when it had just hatched from its shell. During a battle, it could instantly change back to its peak form.
Icy glanced at its new self and then paid it no more mind. As long as it didn't interfere with its "lying flat," it was fine.
"I'm more used to this," Atashino said, stroking Icy.
Kenji looked at Lotta. It didn't need to be changed back to its childhood form.
He pushed the door open, entered the house, and his face was immediately covered in black lines.
"Saber Alter! It's one thing for you to be a shut-in, but how could you corrupt Gardevoir too?!"
On the sofa, Saber Alter and Gardevoir each occupied a corner, both radiating the aura of a salted fish.
Gardevoir was eating chips and drinking the happy water of the gods, learning with great proficiency. It was so human-like.
Seeing Kenji, an embarrassed expression appeared on Gardevoir's little face, as if it had just been caught by a parent.
"Kenji, stop being like a nagging old mom," Saber Alter said lazily. She continued to eat and drink, living the good life.
Kenji's eyebrow rose. An old mom?
Looking at a corner of the room, Saber Alter's holy sword was placed there. Kenji picked it up directly. It felt quite good in his hand.
"What do you want?" Saber Alter looked at Kenji's malicious smile and watched him cautiously.
"Didn't you say I was like an old mom? Then I'll act the part." Kenji smiled benevolently, swinging the holy sword, which made a whistling sound as it cut through the air.
"A loving mother's sword in hand, for the wandering child's back to be slammed. A dozen slashes in a single second, every single one a critical hit."
And that wasn't all. Kenji took out a leather belt.
"A father sees his son, not yet dead, and pulls his leather belt from its stead. The son sees the belt held high, and feels a deathly chill pass by."
"Gulp..."
Saber Alter swallowed hard. Although she wouldn't die, being whipped with that would surely be an intense experience.
"Kenji, can we reconcile?"
Kenji smiled slightly. "At a time like this, you're not joking."
"Don't run away! Run towards me!"
"This is too dangerous!"
Saber Alter took off running. Kenji chased after her. She had no wings to escape.
Atashino covered her forehead. Can't you just be a little more serious?