Inside a room made of ice blocks, the ground was covered with animal hides, and countless men snored like thunder.
Zhang Wei suddenly sat up and looked around, the unfamiliar environment making him feel dazed.
Wisps of white smoke dispersed into mist, and the temperature was terrifyingly low.
"Didn't I die of illness in Shokugeki no Soma... how could this be..."
"It seems the Treasure Vault still holds secrets I haven't unlocked."
Feeling his strong heartbeat and robust body, Zhang Wei finally believed the fact that he had transmigrated again.
Looking at the thick fur coat on his body and the bedding made of unknown animal skins, he still felt a chilling cold.
Exhaling a puff of white frost, Zhang Wei frowned, "At least minus 20 degrees... that's already the standard for a cold storage room."
"How can these people live here?"
Ice houses were usually warm, and Zhang Wei had even hunted for ingredients in the far north, living and eating with the local Eskimos.
But the whistling wind would carry away all the accumulated heat.
"With this level of ventilation... people wouldn't last long."
Closing his eyes, fragmented information appeared one by one.
Ice Hell... dormant volcano... all ingredients in the world gathered and frozen here... gourmet display case...
Capture Level... Gourmet Cells... Gourmet Hunter...
After much thought.
"Toriko?"
"There is a beast whose entire body is prime marbled meat..."
"A tree that bears king crab meat year-round, with firm and plump flesh..."
"A brandy spring that continuously spouts amber-colored, mellow and potent liquid..."
Comparing the manga from his previous life with the residual memories in his body, Zhang Wei had basically confirmed his location.
"The most glorious era for chefs... this is great."
Wrapping himself tightly in the animal hide bedding, he lay down with a satisfied and longing smile and soon fell asleep.
After an unknown period, supervisors, beating gongs and drums and wielding whips, burst into the dormitory.
"Room 455, get up and wash!"
The men under the animal hide bedding reacted with slight delay, and whips would come down.
For those who remained motionless, the supervisors would only glance at them before notifying people to carry out the corpses.
Here, people couldn't endure it every night.
Zhang Wei followed the crowd, and everywhere he looked, the walls and ceilings were made of huge blocks of ice, a masterpiece of craftsmanship.
Chatting with the passersby, Zhang Wei learned that their living quarters were not snow huts, but spaces carved out from the interior of a giant glacier.
As far as the eye could see, the gathered crowd grew to over a thousand...
"The space inside this glacier is as vast as a stadium, and the height..."
Zhang Wei looked up, his gaze lost on the vertical rope ladders that seemed to lead nowhere.
This place had more than one level!
"Such a scale of construction would be difficult to achieve even in the 21st century. Is this the extraordinary power exclusive to Toriko's world..."
The water for washing was bone-chillingly cold, and he could feel many ice chips when he scooped it up with his hand.
After a simple cleanup, Zhang Wei received his breakfast with his identification card.
It was an energy bar made of chocolate, butter, starch, and salt. It tasted quite good, just a little too frozen to eat.
Looking at the packaging, one bar contained 800 kilocalories.
"Table 107, Roni Xiu."
"Yes!"
"Table 118, Zhang Wei."
"Yes!"
"Table 119, Turtle Field Scum."
"Yes!"
"Table 120, Kuro."
There was no response for a long time. The supervisor picked up a pen and made a mark on his notebook.
Clearly, there would be no dinner prepared for Kuro.
Tables stretched out in rows, laden with various knives and cutting boards. Zhang Wei and other laborers were to begin the first step of ingredient processing here.
Yak bulls weighing several tons dragged plows, and supervisors unloaded sealed boxes from them.
These preservation boxes were very expensive, extending storage life while maximizing flavor retention.
A large amount of rare ingredients were distributed, any one of which could be considered a treasure by ordinary restaurants.
"Damn it! Ghost Face Mushrooms again!"
A cry of despair came from the next table, belonging to the plump Turtle Field Scum.
As expected, Zhang Wei was also assigned these.
Inside the freshness box lay three or four vibrantly colored large mushrooms, their blood-red ghost faces on the caps sending shivers down one's spine.
The stems were covered in shriveled round sacs, which contained highly toxic spores.
[Ding~ Found obtainable ingredient!]
[Ghost Face Mushroom]
[Capture Level: 2]
[Habitat: Poisonous Rainforest of the Hengduan Mountains]
[Description: A mushroom that grows in rainforests full of poisons. Untreated spores are highly toxic, making it a high-grade ingredient obtainable only by Gourmet Hunters. It's an indispensable seasoning for soups, and just a few can elevate the broth's flavor to the next level...]
[Nutritional Effect: Rich in cellulose, vitamins, etc. Nourishes the body, strengthens the yang, and enhances kidney function.]
Zhang Wei let out a soft "Hmm," and said with a hint of amusement, "The Treasure Vault has been triggered?"
"This picky one, it's the first time it's been so proactive."
Taking a deep breath, he softly called out to the Treasure Vault in his mind.
The next second, the ice walls and snow walls disappeared.
Eaves, brackets, black tiles, red pillars...
On the huge palace plaque were inscribed the three characters 'Treasure Vault'.
The dark hall seemed endless, resembling the exhibition halls of the Forbidden City, or the grand hall where the emperor held court.
It was fully equipped with kitchen facilities such as preparation tables, stoves, and sinks.
The stoves burned with an inextinguishable flame, and the clear water seemed inexhaustible.
On both sides of the hall stood over two hundred display stands, most of which held prepared dishes, with only a small number of top-tier ingredients being cataloged.
These were all Zhang Wei's most proud collections.
The swim bladder of the yellow-lipped fish from the southeastern coast...
The sea cucumber, the king of the eight delicacies of the sea...
Kobe A5 marbled beef...
Italian Alba white truffle...
Bluefin tuna...
Each item, if taken out, would drive diners and chefs wild.
For ordinary foie gras and matsutake mushrooms, the Treasure Vault showed no reaction.
And for those coveted by diners and chefs, they were mere common items to Zhang Wei.
Ingredients and dishes stored in the Treasure Vault would be perfectly replicated after a certain period.
Repeatedly storing them would refine the ingredient information, not only bringing the quality of stored items up to the highest level but also shortening the replication cycle.
For example, in his previous life, Zhang Wei had obtained bluefin tuna four times, shortening the replication time from thirty days to nineteen and a half days.
The bluefin tuna in the display case combined the advantages of all four, appearing exceptionally plump.
In addition to ingredients, Zhang Wei's collection also included top-tier culinary tools from around the world.
Clothing, spatulas, carving knives, etc...
These were all filled with Zhang Wei's memories, each imbued with considerable effort.
His consciousness withdrew from the Treasure Vault, and only thirty seconds had passed outside.
The time flow inside and outside had a ratio of ten to one.
He looked at Turtle Field Scum next to him, who was cautiously processing the Ghost Face Mushroom with a look of extreme caution.
His knife skills were surprisingly good; in his previous life, he could have easily been a three-star head chef.
But even so, he was struggling with the Ghost Face Mushroom, his frozen fingers trembling slightly.
"Hey, Table 118, stop daydreaming!"
"If you delay the work, you know the penalty!"
Zhang Wei smiled gently, "No rush, I'm just learning from my colleagues' experience, it won't take long."
His words were neither humble nor arrogant, and his tone was confident and relaxed.
In this hopeless Ice Hell... it was exceedingly rare.
The supervisor felt a flush of shame.
What's with the act?
Just a lowly laborer who might die at any moment, why are you so optimistic?
The supervisors were also at the bottom of the Ice Hell.
Apart from not having to labor, their daily lives were no different from Zhang Wei and the other laborers.
Having stayed in the dark and deep glacier for too long, what difference did any position make.
The supervisor said angrily, "If you don't complete the task today, you'll get your share of the whip!"
Having stayed in the darkness for too long, one would eventually be scorched by the sun.
Under the supervisor's furious gaze, Zhang Wei picked up another Ghost Face Mushroom.
Taking a deep breath, he thought about the information from the Treasure Vault in his mind while recalling Turtle Field Scum's processing method.
"Likes darkness... moist roots... cut along the texture of the stem..."
"Gentle... press on the four points of the cap..."
"The sac has a thin membrane... pull gently from top to bottom..."
With unwavering focus, Zhang Wei poured all his mental energy into processing the ingredient before him.
He rubbed his frozen hands to make them nimble.
Ignoring his surroundings, his spirit and energy converged.
The thin wire knife in his hand slowly pierced the gap between the sacs, using the sharp steel wire to scoop out the sacs...
"Hoo~"
Finished!
For his first attempt, his speed was no less than Turtle Field Scum's next to him!
After all, Zhang Wei was a man who had once reigned supreme in Blue Star and Shokugeki no Soma!
[Collection Complete!]
[Obtained Ghost Face Mushroom, Replication Time: 100 days]
So long?
The higher the grade of the ingredient, the longer the replication time.
Zhang Wei's longest replication time was for the swim bladder of the yellow-lipped fish from the Pearl River estuary, which he had only obtained once in his life.
Even the top-tier ingredients in Blue Star had a replication time of no more than 35 days.
As expected of the gourmet world, it easily surpassed it!
Zhang Wei did not know that ingredients with Capture Levels were also extremely rare in this world.
Ordinary ingredients would not be sent here.
But it didn't matter, repeated storage could reduce replication time, and there were still many of these mushrooms.
Looking at the remaining three Ghost Face Mushrooms, Zhang Wei felt a rare spark of interest...