After his Gourmet Cells were activated, Kael's strength had skyrocketed. With his Gourmet Demon backing him up, the Blue Nitro were no longer a threat to him at all.
If too few of them showed up, he'd just send them straight to the respawn.
The Blue Demon inside him wasn't something to mess with. In the original story, if Toriko hadn't been affected as the host, how could the Blue Demon have gone down so easily?
Kael wasn't afraid of anyone right now. His power was on a completely different level from Toriko and the others.
Meanwhile, after saying his goodbyes, Ichiryu returned with the meat of Another. The journey back was smooth. No one in their right mind would try to ambush him—not the Blue Nitro, not Joie, and not even Acacia.
They all understood one thing.
Ichiryu was too strong.
Acacia might be able to put up a fight, but he had yet to make his move. With time still remaining before the Gourmet Eclipse, he was biding his time.
After returning to the Human World, Ichiryu didn't head to the IGO. Instead, he went straight to the Gourmet Corp headquarters.
Starjun was still at the main base. Midora had given him a direct order—wait there until Ichiryu arrived.
After that, he was to follow Ichiryu's arrangements.
As for Midora himself, he had already entered the Gourmet World to investigate certain matters.
Starjun didn't understand why his boss would give such an order, but Midora's word was absolute. So he waited.
Thankfully, Ichiryu and the others moved quickly. He didn't have to wait long.
Ichiryu arrived at Gourmet Corp headquarters with the meat of Another and went straight to Starjun.
"Eat this," Ichiryu said calmly. "After you do, try to recall your memories. See what comes back."
Whether Starjun was Frohze's child was still just speculation. No one could control exactly when Frohze's child would be born.
But the overwhelmingly dense Food Luck around Starjun had always been strange.
The Gourmet Corp was the last place someone should possess Food Luck. Yet Starjun's was immense. That alone meant he had to be special.
Even if he wasn't Frohze's child, his origins definitely weren't simple.
Starjun stared at the piece of meat in front of him, confused.
"What is this?"
He didn't recognize it—but one thing was certain.
It smelled incredible.
His appetite was already stirring, urging him to take a bite.
"It's Another," Ichiryu replied. "Eat it. You'll understand afterward."
Starjun's eyes widened.
Another.
He knew exactly what that meant. One of the dishes on Acacia's Full Course Menu—the fish course countless people had chased after for years.
And now it was placed right in front of him.
He couldn't understand why Ichiryu wanted him to eat something like this. But if Midora had allowed it, then there had to be a reason.
Midora would never harm him.
Starjun stopped hesitating.
The ingredient was right in front of him. There was no reason not to eat it.
He swallowed the fish meat in one bite.
The world changed.
Before he could fully immerse himself in the overwhelming flavor, memories surged through his mind.
They were strange memories.
Things he had forgotten.
Even memories from the moment he first gained consciousness.
He remembered now.
He hadn't been born from a mother's womb, but from something entirely strange.
There had been another baby beside him.
A baby with blue hair.
A baby with three scars across his face.
When those details came together, one name surfaced in his mind.
Toriko.
The same blue hair.
The same three scars.
Put together like that—
Wasn't that his own biological brother?
More memories flooded in.
He had been born earlier because he had absorbed Toriko's nutrients and Food Luck.
That was why Toriko's birth had been delayed.
And having been drained of his Food Luck at birth, one could only imagine what kind of life Toriko had to live afterward.
It was obvious.
Starjun, on the other hand, had grown strong from the abundant nutrients.
With powerful Food Luck, he had been taken away the moment he was born.
He hadn't suffered much at all.
All of it—
Because he had forcibly taken Toriko's share of Food Luck.
Even joining Gourmet Corp, rising quickly to become Sous Chef—
Food Luck had been guiding him the whole time.
Helping him grow stronger.
Helping him survive in such a terrifying organization.
Guilt swelled inside him.
As a child, he had taken so much from Toriko.
And during their clashes in the Human World—
He had nearly killed him.
Toriko had almost died from his injuries.
As an older brother, he had stolen from his younger brother—
Then beaten him half to death.
Starjun clenched his fists. He almost wanted to slap himself.
Ichiryu watched him with a strange look.
Starjun's face kept shifting—guilt, relief, shock—all flickering across it.
"What did you remember?" Ichiryu asked. "Anything about your parents? Brothers or sisters?"
"I don't know who my parents are," Starjun said quietly. "When I was born, I emerged from something strange. I remember floating on the water. When I gained awareness, it had already drifted to shore."
He paused.
"And my biological brother… is Toriko, one of the Four Heavenly Kings."
He lifted his head.
"President Ichiryu… can you take me to the IGO? I have something I need to say to him."
He had to apologize.
Absorbing the nutrients and Food Luck had been instinct. Something he couldn't control.
But that didn't change the fact that Toriko had suffered because of him.
And what happened recently—
If he didn't apologize, he'd never forgive himself.
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