At the Living District, Nadia realized how large the city truly was. Both the living and entertainment district looked like they could be separate cities alone, but combined it looked even larger despite being separated by the tunnel between the two. From what Nadia could see, the buildings all surrounded a lush park where Loomians roamed about. Despite the city being underwater, the park looked like it received ample sunlight regardless. People were scattered and scarce, but the place is no less populated. Nadia could see a white marble mansion in the distance. 

After taking in the scenery, Nadia finally looks back at her LoomiWatch for further instructions on how to get to Colosso-Chops. "Let's see..." She mutters, thumbing across the screen to see where she is. "Okay, it's that way." Nadia nudges Felver, who had taken a nap while she was searching the map, to get up and follow her. Felver takes a moment to fully wake up before bounding over to Nadia to keep up with her.

Upon entering, Nadia had to return Felver to his disc. She then takes a look around and could see the restaurant is almost Heiwa-style, but not exactly the same. She could see tables surrounding hibachi chefs in the middle, the chefs performing spectacles with their food before they serve it. There is a receptionist behind the podium in front of Nadia, eyes boring into her as she asks how many people are in her party.

"Two," Nadia answers, "I'm supposed to be meeting up with someone here."

The receptionist nods. "I understand. Is your friend already here, or are they on the way?"

Taking one more look around the restaurant, Nadia confirms that Lucas isn't here yet. "I think he's on his way." She confirms.

Just as she finishes her sentence, Lucas opens the front door and sees Nadia. "Oh, perfect timing! I thought I could make it here on time, but I seemed to have gotten lost along the way. Lucy and Aunt Luna are at the park, they told me where to go."

Nadia nods. "That so?" She looks back at the receptionist. "It looks like my friend's here now."

The receptionist quickly understands and bows. "Yes, no problem. Right this way, please."

She ushers the two to follow her as she grabs two menus from under the podium. They follow and are seated not far from the entrance. Once she left, Nadia turns to Lucas, who had already opened the menu. 

"So, Lucas, how come Lucy wasn't suspicious of you going to Colosso-Chops?"

Lucas looks up at her, menu still in hand. "I promised her we'd ask about the stone tablet after we ate. After all, I haven't been to a fancy restaurant like this in a while."

Nadia sighs and opens her own menu. "Sure. Uh-huh. So are you actually going to investigate or...?"

Lucas had the decency to look sheepish. "I'll be honest, I was planning on just laying back and enjoying my time here before investigating. I know we're supposed to, but I think it's still important to take breaks and rest, you know? ...Please don't look at me like that." He could feel Nadia's judgement from here, even with her deadpan expression. "Alright, alright, I promise to investigate after! Just don't tell Lucy I just came here to eat. I tend to lose focus easily when I'm hungry." 

Nadia shakes her head. "I won't tell her only if you promise to actually ask around once we're done eating."

"I promise!"

"Though, why does it feel like you think Lucy is too serious all the time?" Nadia asks. Lucas looked surprised.

"Oh! Don't get me wrong, Lucy knows how to have fun, but she prioritizes important tasks first. She's always been that way, I kind of admire her ethic. Anyways, I swear I'll get on with the investigation after we have our food. For now, though, I'm kinda starving..." He sighs.

Feeling satisfied for now, Nadia looks down at the menu. "Okay then. Now, what should we eat?"

Lucas then buries his head into the menu, already excited by the prospect of food. "It's all hibachi here, so I'll love whatever I order. After all, the chefs prepare it in front of you and you get to watch the show! Now, let's see..."

"There's a lot of meat and egg options here, the drink section has variety too..." Nadia mutters, when Lucas makes a shout of excitement.

"Nadia, look at this! They have a five-pound noodle and meat bowl!"

"Isn't that too much for you?!" Nadia exclaims.

"We can share the bowl! Anyway, it's a promotion where if you beat the head chef in a Loomian battle, the bowl's free! Otherwise, you pay full price. You get it, right? We gotta try this bowl." There's sparkles in Lucas' eyes, and Nadia can tell he's serious about this. "Come on! I'll owe you one. I'll even give you more portions!"

"Eh? You don't need to owe me. I'll do the battle, and we'll split the bowl evenly, how about that?" Nadia put her hands in front of her to prevent Lucas from getting too close. Except, the boy's nodding so fast she's now afraid it might fall off his body. 

"Thank you, Nadia!! Let's do this then!" Lucas waves his hand to signal a waiter over. "Excuse me, sir!"

A man comes over, bowing as he does. "Hello, esteemed guests. Are you ready to order?"

Lucas nods. "Yes, we are. We'd like to try the Five-Pound Noodle and Meat Challenge."

The waiter looks mildly taken aback. "Are you sure? The head chef's in a really good mood today, it may be tougher to defeat him in battle."

Nadia replies, "We'd still like to try. I'll challenge him to a battle, so just one five-pound noodle and meat bowl, please."

The waiter adjusts himself and nods in understanding. "Alright. I shall have the head chef come over. Just a moment, please."

Lucas could barely sit still from the excitement, so Nadia had to tell him to calm down.

"I get you're excited, Lucas, but don't cause a commotion..." Nadia says just as the head chef arrives.

"Hey, kids!" The chef greets happily. "I was told one of you will be challenging me for the Five-Pound Noodle and Meat Bowl, yes?"

Nadia, upon noticing the chef's presence, stands up. "Yes, that would be me." She answers. The chef laughs heartily.

"Good luck, Nadia, you got this!" Lucas cheers.

"I see, I see! So you're my opponent today," the chef remarks. "You look strong, but I won't go easy on you just because you're a customer. After all, it's five pounds worth of food on the line! Now, let's get cookin'!" The chef ushers Nadia out to the back of the restaurant, where there is a patch of land for battling. The chef takes one side while Nadia takes the other. Both of them send out their Loomians, and the battle begins.

The fight took longer than Nadia expected, but she supposed it made sense now that she's taken note of what the guy said at the Battle Theatre. She tried more head-on attacks than she'd realized at first, which battered half her team by the time the chef sent out the last Loomian, Colossotrops. Eventually, Felver took down Colossotrops with a well-aimed Toxic Tail.

After Colossotrops had finally fainted, the chef returns it with a hearty chuckle. "That was quite the interesting battle, I'd say! Since we started this promotion, nobody was able to beat me till now."

He walks over to Nadia, and pauses right at her side. "You've got impressive skills, kid. I'd hate to see it wasted with that battle style."

Nadia's eyes widened. "...What do you mean by that."

The head chef ignores the question and stretches his arms. "Welp, there's nothing to do but make that bowl you won fair and square! Let's head back in. You just sit tight while I go whip up the food for ya."

He leads Nadia back to her seat before going towards the back to the kitchen. Nadia slowly sits down, weighing the chef's words in her mind when the waiter interrupts her by clapping his hands in congratulations.

"Congratulations on your victory! The last fight had our head chef fight quite fiercely, I've never seen it before. Not bad, not bad. If either of you need anything else, do let me or another staff member know. Enjoy your meal~" And with that, he heads off to assist another customer. 

"Thank you so much, Nadia!! I knew you had it in you! I owe you big for this one, really." Lucas claps his hands together in gratefulness. 

"I'm a little worried about what the chef said, to be honest," Nadia comments, drinking a bit from the glass of water the waiter had prepared when they were first seated. "What did he mean by 'wasted on that battle style'? I don't get it."

"Hm? Was that what he whispered to you on your way back? I didn't see much difference back there, but hey, what do I know?" Lucas sets his arms on the table, but it doesn't do much to quell his excitement. "We scored ourselves a meal we'll never forget, though! AND it's free!" He looks at Nadia, who sat frozen with the drink still on her mouth. "...You okay, man?"

Nadia doesn't reply, instead she furrows her brows in deep thought. She's only snapped out of it when Lucas shouts something in surprise. Looking up, she almost spits out her water at the sight of the head chef holding in one hand a huge bowl with tons of steaming meat peeking out of the top. The aroma seemed to waft through the whole restaurant, as all the customers curiously watched as the chef brings their food over (again, in one hand).

"Here you are! The Five Pound Noodles and Meat Bowl. You earned it, kids." The chef grins as he uses both hands to set the bowl down in between them. The waiter returns with smaller bowls along with chopsticks and spoons. 

"Ah, thank you...very much..." The sheer size of the dish in front of Nadia made her slightly regret ordering it at all, but it had Lucas' mouth immediately watering. 

"This...this...THIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I'VE EVER SEEN...!" Lucas yells out, grabbing the attention of the customers nearby. Nadia can't blame him though. The meat is somehow neatly laid in a flower shape, topped with white-and-purple flowers and herbs. The broth is steaming hot as well, and Nadia could see the accompaniment of various vegetables and a small heap of ginger in an attempt to help the food digest better. It's all fitted into the bowl that Nadia can't see the noodles, nor the bottom of the bowl at all. 

The head chef chuckles lightly. "I have to give a fair warning to you though. It's a lot of food, so remember to pace yourselves. Eat too fast and it's not gonna be fun. Enjoy your meal!"

When he walks away, Lucas picks up his chopsticks and makes a grab for the topmost beef. "Well, this heaping pile of food doesn't stand a chance against us both! Let's dig in, Nadia!" With that, he swiftly brings the meat over to his own bowl, barely able to keep it from slipping out from between the chopsticks. Nadia, with a little trouble, finally manages to grab a piece and bring it to her bowl.

Putting the words in the back of her head, Nadia quickly devours the bowl of food along with Lucas. The meat was never ending...it felt like it was pulling Nadia into the Meat Dimension. It took a great amount of Courage to keep eating, a lot of Understanding to maintain a steady pacing, a bit of Knowledge to figure out the right pacing, a bit of Diligence to tackle the amount of meat in the dish, and the Expression to maintain a straight face as she ate...

Wait, no! There's something wrong with that, like it didn't belong in their universe...the bowl of food is driving Nadia crazy. Crazy? She was crazy once. They locked her in a room. A room full of--

NO. Nadia may be seeing the whole galaxy by now with the amount of meat and noodles she ate but she swears by the ancient Loomians themselves she's not going to lose herself to a copypasta. 

What even is a copypasta?

When Nadia finally snaps back to reality, she's holding in her soup spoon the last bits of broth and some corn in it. Looking to her right, she can see Lucas slumped over the table in defeat. 

Drinking the broth and setting down her spoon in the bowl, Nadia lightly taps Lucas' shoulder. "...Hello? Lucas? You good?"

Lucas groaned. "I can barely move...I think I made a big mistake, Nadia..."

Nadia sighs. "The chef warned us to take it slowly, though I think I ignored that too." Nadia was sure she didn't eat as much as Lucas probably had, but her stomach still protested. 

"I think we both learned a lesson today--urk!" Lucas tried to sit up, but nearly puked and had to fall back on the table. "Thanks for helping me out, though..."

The waiter from earlier comes by to clean up their table. "Oh dear, you don't look too good, sir. Are you alright?" He asks in concern when he sees Lucas nearly dead on the table. When he manages a nod, the waiter sighs. "The head chef did warn you to take it slow, didn't he? The restroom is over there. If you need it, you can head there once you feel well enough." The waiter smiles as he takes the empty dishes and walks away. Nadia wipes her mouth and is about to leave when Lucas signals her to listen to him.

"Hey, Nadia. Today was really fun. Winning that food and eating it in one go...I'll never forget today."

Nadia sighs in exasperation. "Okay, dude. You need to rest up first."

Lucas nods. "I'll stay here for a bit and catch up with you guys later. Don't forget me...!"

"Don't make it sound like you're dying!"