140: Cooking Puffer Whale

The sea surface shimmered. After about ten minutes of waiting, with a crisp splashing sound, the figures of Coco and Toriko emerged from the water, droplets sliding down their bodies.

"Komatsu, we caught the Puffer Whales!" As soon as Toriko surfaced, he excitedly held up the fishing net beside him and shouted toward the shore.

They gathered their catch with the ones Lin Luo had caught earlier. "S-So amazing! You actually caught so many!" Komatsu stared at the mountain of Puffer Whales before him—nearly fifty of them—his mouth hanging open in surprise.

Coco smiled and said, "This is all thanks to Lin Luo; he caught more than half of them, and their vitality is generally higher than the ones we caught."

Toriko was quite curious about Lin Luo's capture method. "Lin Luo, how exactly did you do it? After these Puffer Whales were touched by you, they won't poison themselves no matter how they're handled."

Lin Luo smiled and explained, "They only have the instinct to swim underwater left now; they can't even eat. How could they be sensitive or fragile to the outside world? Since they don't know how to be afraid, they naturally aren't that fragile."

Coco seemed to understand why these Puffer Whales wouldn't turn poisonous—these fish appeared to be alive, but their consciousness had long since vanished. "You mean, they actually have no consciousness left?"

Lin Luo nodded. "Exactly, I've wiped away their consciousness." He turned to tease Tina, "With that explanation, you don't have to worry about becoming an idiot if you eat these fish, right?"

Tina's cheeks flushed slightly as she grumbled, "You didn't explain it earlier, so how was I supposed to know?"

Hearing about Lin Luo's ability, Toriko couldn't help but feel a bit wary. "I still want to spar with you; just don't use that ability on us."

Lin Luo burst out laughing. "My ability isn't as powerful as you think. Even if I used it on you, I couldn't wipe out your consciousness. At most, it would just make you dizzy for a bit."

Toriko breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good then!" He then urged Coco, "Coco, hurry up and prepare these Puffer Whales. I can't wait."

"The main event starts now," Coco said, pointing at the Puffer Whales. "The market price for one Puffer Whale is about a hundred million Yen. If the poison sac can be completely removed, the price can rise to five hundred million Yen. But if it becomes poisoned, it's worthless."

Lin Luo curled his lip. "The price IGO offered me was eighty million each, not even the market price."

Toriko laughed. "You're an exclusive Gourmet Hunter under IGO, so your compensation naturally won't be calculated at market price. Some capture missions for low-level ingredients don't even have a reward. However, in return, you can purchase many precious ingredients at prices lower than the market rate."

Lin Luo nodded. "That's true, and the benefits IGO provides are already good enough." He was mainly doing this for a legal identity and didn't care much about the rest.

Toriko swallowed hard and said to Coco, "I'll leave the rest to you, Coco!"

Komatsu also stared intently at Coco's every move, preparing to learn his technique for handling Puffer Whales. Although Lin Luo appeared casual, his Divine Sense was already locked onto Coco's hands. Tina, in order to film the entire process from capture to consumption, almost shoved her camera right next to Coco's hand.

Coco took a paring knife from his bag, pressed lightly on the fish's body, and inserted the knife from the tail, slowly slicing toward the belly. However, as soon as the blade reached the belly, the entire silver-white body of the Puffer Whale instantly turned purple-black—it had been poisoned with just one cut.

Coco wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Komatsu. "Komatsu, can you cut it for me?"

"Eh? Me?" Komatsu asked in disbelief.

Coco rubbed his stiff arm. "I might be a bit tired, and my hand isn't following orders. A one-millimeter mistake will cause the Puffer Whale to poison itself."

"But..."

Coco reassured him, "It's fine. You're a professional chef. I'll teach you the sequence for gutting the fish. Have some confidence!"

"Is it really okay!" Encouraged, Komatsu immediately became determined. "In that case, I'll take on the challenge. It's like a dream, being able to handle a Puffer Whale personally."

Toriko was a bit worried. "We caught quite a few, but I don't know if it's enough for Komatsu to practice. Should we go catch a few more?"

Coco shook his head. "The Puffer Whales are gone."

Lin Luo probed the bottom of the water with his Divine Sense. "They really are gone; it seems they've started their migration."

Coco explained, "Puffer Whales only stay in the shallows for a few hours. They migrate back after spawning."

Komatsu looked at the fifty-plus Puffer Whales before him, feeling apprehensive—he didn't know how many he would waste. This was everyone's hard work; if not a single one succeeded, it would be such a pity.

Lin Luo encouraged him, "Komatsu, calm down and believe in yourself. You're the chef of a five-star restaurant!"

Tina also said grandly, "You'll definitely succeed. I believe in you, chef Komatsu!"

Toriko grinned. "Just go for it!"

With everyone's trust, Komatsu gathered his thoughts, changed into his chef's uniform, and took out his meticulously maintained chef's knife. "I will definitely succeed!"

Coco looked at Komatsu's chef's knife and secretly praised it. "A fine blade. The body of the knife is as warm as a sunset glow and is extremely well-maintained. From this set of knives, one can see Komatsu's dedication and strength as a chef."

Once ready, Coco pointed at a Puffer Whale and explained:

"The position of the poison sac is different for every Puffer Whale. You must memorize hundreds of processing sequences to accurately handle the poison sac."

"Even a deviation of just one millimeter during processing can cause poisoning, so you must be extremely careful."

"The poison sac of this Puffer Whale is located directly below the swim bladder. First, use the Three-cut method to enter the knife ten centimeters from the base of the tail fin; this process must be slow."

The knife in Komatsu's hand fell precisely, without the slightest error.

Lin Luo praised, "Impressive. It stopped exactly at ten centimeters, without any deviation."

Coco continued to guide him, "Next, strike with the knife from the gills to cut the jawbone."

Before he could finish his sentence, a soft "crack" was heard as Komatsu neatly severed the Puffer Whale's jawbone. However, in the next moment, the bright red gills were exposed to everyone, and the toxin spread rapidly, turning the entire fish poisonous in an instant.

After five or six attempts, Komatsu successfully severed the jawbone again. Coco carefully reminded him, "Now, carefully remove the gills from the abdominal cavity." Komatsu followed the instructions and gently removed the gills.

"Next, slice the abdominal cavity to the position of the tail fin." Komatsu's blade sliced lightly, the fish's belly opened up, and the poison sac below the swim bladder was suddenly revealed.

"Oh! I see it! It's the poison sac!" Tina shouted excitedly.

By this time, Komatsu was covered in sweat, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief—as long as the poison sac was removed intact, this Puffer Whale would be considered successfully prepared.

"The final step must be done by hand. Gently peel away the membrane around the poison sac and remove the sac in its entirety."

Komatsu cautiously reached in with both hands and began to peel the membrane. However, during the process, the fingernail of his right index finger twitched slightly and accidentally touched the poison sac.

"Crack~"

A soft sound came from the poison sac.

Everyone froze, and Komatsu's pupils constricted.

"It's over!"

Just as that thought flashed by, the poison sac burst, and purple-black toxin gushed out instantly. In the blink of an eye, the pure white Puffer Whale was stained purple-black.

After witnessing Komatsu's many attempts, Lin Luo had roughly mastered the steps of gutting the fish. Coupled with his Divine Sense, which scanned the poison sac's location as clearly as a CT scan, he picked up a Puffer Whale.

Tina said in surprise, "Lin Luo, what do you plan to do?"

"After watching Komatsu try so many times, I want to try too."

Under everyone's surprised gazes, Lin Luo requested of Komatsu, "chef Komatsu, could you let me try once?"

Toriko quickly tried to stop him. "Hey, hey, Lin Luo, you're not good at cooking. Don't waste it."

Komatsu was stunned but still handed over the chef's knife. Lin Luo took the knife, praised it, and said, "I'll just try this one. If I fail, I won't ruin any more."

Toriko curled his lip. "Well, you caught it anyway, so the waste is on you."

Lin Luo gave a light chuckle, confirmed the position of the poison sac in this Puffer Whale, and followed the steps Coco had taught: he entered the knife from the base of the tail fin using the Three-cut method—though not precise to the centimeter, he avoided the poison sac; then he cut the jawbone from the gills, removed the gills, and sliced open the belly, exposing the poison sac instantly.

"So fast!"

"And there's absolutely no error!"

"Way to go, Lin Luo!"

Several people were shocked by Lin Luo's neat knife work. Such casual movements could actually reach the level Komatsu had practiced for years; even Coco felt inferior.

"It's almost as if he can see the position of the poison sac..." Coco murmured to himself.

Facing the poison sac, Lin Luo did not intend to peel it by hand—even a skilled hand like Komatsu's had failed at this step, so he naturally wouldn't take the risk. His Divine Sense gently wrapped around the poison sac, and with a slight tug, the entire sac was peeled away intact. In an instant, the entire Puffer Whale burst with golden light, its silver-white body appearing as if cast in gold—this miraculous scene announced the success of the preparation.

"Super amazing! Lin Luo! You're really something!!" Toriko shouted in surprise.

Facing this successful delicacy, everyone's face was brimming with smiles, cheering for this hard-won victory.

Looking at this exciting moment in her camera, Tina was moved to tears. Toriko teased, "We haven't even eaten yet, so why are you crying from emotion? You should save your tears for the moment the delicious food enters your mouth!"

Lin Luo smiled and said to Coco, "You've probably guessed it. My ability allows me to see the position of the poison sac, so preparing the Puffer Whale isn't difficult for me."

Coco nodded. "The hardest part of the Puffer Whale is locating the poison sac. Since you can see it, it's naturally as easy as turning over your hand."

Toriko urged, "It's a pity for someone with your ability not to be a chef. Alright, let's finish preparing all of these in one go. How could one be enough to eat!"

However, Lin Luo returned the chef's knife to Komatsu. Amidst the confused looks of the crowd, he explained, "Among us, only Komatsu is a professional chef. Successfully preparing the Puffer Whale is crucial for his growth. Let's leave the rest to him."

Komatsu quickly waved his hands. "No, no, if I prepare them, I'll waste the Puffer Whales you all worked so hard to catch."

Lin Luo laughed and said, "Actually, tasting one is enough. And with me telling you the position of the poison sac, you will definitely succeed."

Coco also encouraged him, "That's right, Komatsu. Are you going to give up on this rare opportunity?"

Toriko grinned and gritted his teeth, saying, "Go for it, Komatsu!"—He actually preferred Lin Luo to continue preparing them so he could eat more, but to help Komatsu grow, he swallowed those words.