“Pffft—"
The perfectly sealed silver-white metal cabinet instantly glowed with countless delicate golden lines, resembling the intricate patterns of a circuit board.
Following these lines, the hard, sturdy metal outer shell, like a hatch, automatically opened.
In the process, a wave of white gas billowed out.
“Here it is, the intelligent food-catching robot worth one hundred million yen on the black market.”
“They say it’s a secret weapon newly developed by some super power. Let’s not get our hopes up.”
Ruiyama Shizuka looked at the open silver-white metal cabinet.
Inside, a robot lay quietly, its body covered in silver-gray long hair, its head resembling a metal bird’s beak, its stature not particularly tall.
Ruiyama Shizuka lowered his head, and the rectangular lenses on his face flashed brightly, examining the robot.
“Buzz—”
The silver-gray robot suddenly activated.
An unknown metal hand rose up, grasping the edge of the silver-white metal cabinet, then slowly got up, twisting its metal bird-beak-like head, looking around. It seemed a little cute.
“This… this robot, really worth one hundred million yen?”
Ruiyama Shizuka was shocked.
He felt like he had been scammed.
“Is it here?”
“The ninth habitat garden of Totsuki Academy…”
“Huh, Rainbow Fruit?”
“As expected, it was transferred from the eighth habitat garden by the IGO. To encounter it here is an unexpected gain.”
The silver-gray bird-headed robot didn’t speak, but a muffled sound seemed to come from within its machinery.
“Rainbow Fruit, that’s right. Go capture the Rainbow Fruit for me!”
Ruiyama Shizuka stepped on the metal cabinet and pointed at the tall and strange Rainbow Fruit Tree in the distance.
“Heh, even if you didn’t say it, I would capture the Rainbow Fruit.”
The bird-headed robot emitted a muffled laugh, crawled out of the metal cabinet, and slowly walked towards the Rainbow Fruit Tree.
And.
It completely ignored the dozen Dorokingangs, walking straight through them.
The one-meter tall bird-headed robot, compared to the four-five-meter tall Dorokingangs, was like a cat amidst a pride of lions.
A strange scene occurred.
These fierce Dorokingangs stood still, like wooden sculptures, motionless, allowing the bird-headed robot to pass.
When it got close to the Rainbow Fruit Tree.
The Silverback Elder standing under the tree finally couldn’t bear it anymore, roaring at the Dorokingangs.
“Roar!”
“Roar! Roar! Roar!”
The Dorokingangs, receiving their leader’s order, went berserk. Their thick four arms pounded their stone-like chests like drums, they raised their heads and howled like apes, their eyes blood-red with ferocity. One by one, they ferociously charged towards the bird-headed robot.
“Little things, isn’t it nice to be alive?”
The bird-headed robot sneered.
Faced with the Dorokingangs attacking from all directions, the bird-headed robot spun rapidly in place, its body shooting out silver-gray needles.
“Whizz! Whizz! Whizz! Whizz…”
The silver light was like a downpour!
Like pear blossoms exploding in the rain!
In an instant, thousands upon thousands of needles, centered around the bird-headed robot, shot out, piercing the surrounding space, turning the Dorokingangs, whose bodies were as strong as steel, into sieves. They collapsed onto the ground, their fur stained red with blood.
“!!”
“Roar—“
Two ferocious and powerful gray-furred unicorns, upon seeing this, were terrified. They flapped their bat-like wings and turned to flee, escaping into the depths of the forest.
“Hahaha, as expected of a one hundred million yen robot specifically designed for capturing food. It’s truly incredible.” Ruiyama Shizuka laughed excitedly.
“One hundred million?”
The bird-headed robot turned its head and gave Ruiyama Shizuka a cold, icy glance.
In an instant.
The complacent Ruiyama Shizuka felt a chill run down his spine, his hair standing on end.
“Its cost is far more than one hundred million.”
“But the deputy head chef said, if we set the price too high, you guys wouldn’t be able to afford it.”
The bird-headed robot calmly withdrew its gaze and looked at the Rainbow Fruit in the distance.
Underneath the tree.
The Silverback Elder with silver hair and long fur was nowhere to be seen.
The bird-headed robot looked up and noticed that the dazzling sunlight was blocked by a huge shadow.
“Roar—!!”
Taking advantage of the bird-headed robot’s moment of turning to look at Ruiyama Shizuka, the six-meter tall Silverback Elder leaped into the air, his two fists clasped together, smashing down towards the bird-headed robot like a falling meteorite.
With a loud “Bang!”
The hard, dry ground of this clearing collapsed into a huge pit, cracks rapidly spreading outwards, even reaching Ruiyama Shizuka’s feet.
Ruiyama Shizuka retreated in fright, looking over, his pupils constricted.
He saw the bird-headed robot, like a silver nail, brutally hammered into the earth by the Silverback Elder, only its metal bird head was still visible on the ground.
“It even knows how to sneak attack?”
The bird-headed robot seemed completely unscathed, saying calmly.
“Roar! Roar! Roar!”
The Silverback Elder immediately went berserk, his eyes filled with ferocity. His four arms transformed into massive hammers, relentlessly pounding the ground.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…”
A deafening roar.
The hard dry earth kept cracking and sinking, dust billowed, and stones flew.
The entire forest seemed to tremble under the Silverback Elder’s attacks.
“Enough!”
A muffled voice rang out from the gray-colored dust.
The next moment.
“Swoosh—“
A bluish-black beam of light instantly slashed through the smoke and dust, piercing the Silverback Elder’s head, shooting towards the azure sky, seemingly coincidentally hitting the drone.
The wildly attacking Silverback Elder immediately stood still, then fell straight to the ground.
With a “Plop.”
The drone in the air also exploded, swallowed by fire and thick smoke, falling apart and crashing towards the forest.
At this time.
The Totsuki students watching the live broadcast were completely blown away.
“What’s going on?”
“What exactly is that strange robot?”
“It’s so powerful. Killing the Dorokingangs and the Silverback Elder is like chopping vegetables.”
“This strength is even stronger than a normal Silver-Level Gourmet Hunter.”
“Awesome. This bird-headed robot, isn’t it comparable to a Gold-Level Gourmet Hunter?”
“It’s here, our boss’s secret weapon!”
“Boss is invincible, he’s going to capture the Rainbow Fruit and win the Shokugeki battle.”
“Hey, isn’t this cheating?”
Niito Hinako pointed at the bird-headed robot on the giant screen angrily.
Nakiri Erina frowned slightly, immediately took out her phone and called her grandfather—Totsuki Academy’s headmaster Nakiri Senzaemon.
She had to apply to terminate the Shokugeki battle!
“Finally, the rat is gone.”
The silver-white bird-headed robot emerged unscathed from the ground, shaking off the dust and dirt, successfully reaching the Rainbow Fruit tree.
As it was about to capture the Rainbow Fruit, a sharp figure descended from the sky under the sunlight. One leg, like a mountain-splitting axe, smashed towards the bird-headed robot.
The bird-headed robot sensed something, instantly turning its head to look.
It, which had never taken any defensive measures while killing the Dorokingangs and the Silverback Elder, actually raised its furry mechanical arm, crossing it above its head, blocking the attack.
“Boom—!!”
In an instant.
The hard, dry rock ground, like a thin crispy cracker, was suddenly broken in half, a ten-meter long giant gully splitting down the middle.
…
It’s unbelievable, I ate some corn and got food poisoning. I feel dizzy and nauseous.
It’s really unbelievable!
This is the third time I’ve gotten food poisoning this summer.
The first two times were while writing my old books!