This was no place for a young woman like you to end up alone in this train, filled with shady people. Now you understood why Coco didn't even recommend you to wait on your own at the station for the Underground Train. Most of the passengers didn't inspire confidence or trust, and few of them had their gazes lingering a bit too long on you. As if they didn't see a woman in years.

The interior of the black steam locomotive wasn't better, covered in blade cuts, bullet holes and is worn and torn in several parts. Likely due to making regular trips to a crime infested kingdom and carrying dangerous fugitives. You were sitting next to the window with Coco at your side, while Toriko and Komatsu took the seat across of you.

"Even though it's a long subway ride, when I think about how we're getting close to that big entertainment spot, I get so lighthearted!" the Gourmet Hunter grinned after he finished another bottle of rich alcohol.

"Entertainment spot, Toriko-san?" Komatsu repeated skeptically, arching one brow. "This train certainly doesn't look like it's headed to a fun place like that"

"This is a train that runs 500 meters below the surface, Underground Train. It's the one line that goes to central Jidar Kingdom" explained your partner.

"Jidar Kingdom?"

"Coco went there before us to train, you see" said Toriko.

"Jidar is a country that's under international surveillance. It's a region where Gourmet Crime runs rampant. Even on this train, there are a lot of dishonest riders that would frighten you"

"Still...Why is the world's biggest gambling den in a country like that?" you inquired, kneeling on the seat to take a look around you.

"Because it's not affiliated with the IGO. The most valuable things in the Gourmet Age are not money or jewels" answered Coco.

"They're ingredients, right?"

"Yes, and there are many unobtainable illegal ingredients that circulate in the Jidar Kingdom through black market channels, since it's not bound by the laws established by the IGO, the Eight Gourmet Laws"

"Awesome...A lawless zone..." you sighed sadly while Coco simply smiled at you.

"Generally, they're all things like poison ingredients and narcotic ingredients, things that would be treated as illegal"

"I'm pretty sure I heard that they even have toxic Puffer Whales selling there normally, right?" asked Toriko.

"But among them, there are high-class ingredients that are difficult to obtain via legal routes that frequently circulate through illegal channels"

"And one of those is our target for this trip, the Meteor Garlic" stated the blue haired male.

"Meteor Garlic?" echoed in confusion Komatsu.

"It's a mysterious garlic plant that is said to grow in ground where meteorites fell on rare occassions. When it grows, it sucks up every bit of the nutrients in that ground, so it's got some pretty damn good nutritional fortification. It's supposed to give you enough power to not need to rest a whole month when you eat it"

"It has restrictions under the Eight Gourmet Laws, but what's more restricting is that it's so rare, you never get a chance to see one on the market"

"So that's why we're going to the underworld..."

"Yeah" nodded Komatsu's partner. "Apparently, it's displayed as a prize you can win at Gourmet Casino"

"Nowadays, all ingredients that are difficult to get are said to gather in Jidar" told Coco.

"I suppose that if they're not regulated by laws, even a casino can openly display all kinds of ingredients as prizes" mused the young chef.

"So that' why it's called the greatest gourmet casino in the world..." you trailed.

"That damn old man. So gambling is my training now?" huffed Toriko, taking another sip of alcohol.

The train finally reached your destination, and the moment you exited to step for the first time in Jidar Kingdom, you were taken aback by how desolated the place looked. The atmosphere and air were already eerie, with dark clouds covering the sky.

The residents here seemed sick, with a few children having little meat to envelop their bones. And the smell. You couldn't tolerate it as you brought a hand over your nose, covering it as the best as you could.

That's a group of thugs walked in your direction, and Coco brought you behind him with his arm without saying a word, glaring darkly at them. Toriko blinked in confusion as they approached closer, stopping in front of him:

"Welcome, cool bro's. I hope you enjoy the kingdom of crime, Jidar" spoke one of them, wearing glasses.

"Ya here to sightsee?"

"Yer a pretty big guy, ain'cha? Brought a pretty lass, too, huh?" the man wondered, leering at you with his small and creepy eyes behind his shades. "Bet you eat some pretty good stuff"

"I know this is sudden, but could you strip down to your underwear and leave everything here for us?" another thug surprisingly asked?

"Oh boy! Am I getting into a fight right now?!" Toriko couldn't believe it, bringing his hands to his face while he blushed. "Am I, Coco?"

"What are you so happy about?" your partner grunted in an exasperated manner, shaking his head.

"But it's so rare I get into fights with normal humans!"

"I guess that's true" sweatdropped Komatsu while the Gourmet Hunter giddily danced on his feet like a schoolgirl that has just being noticed by her crush. "I suppose there are more people in countries not affiliated with the IGO that don't know Toriko-san"

"Sheddep!" slurred the thug, bringin his face close to an eager Toriko. "I don't know who the hell you guys are"

"Um, I don't want to sound rude, but you'd be better off not picking a fight with Toriko-san..."

"I told you to shut your traps! You're such a pain in the ass, die!"

"Oh! I'm so scared!" Toriko feigned to panic at the sight of the man's gun.

The thug fired, and Toriko caught the bullet easily between his fingers. The men blinked once, slowly taking a step back while they gazed in horror at the Gourmet Hunter who smiled evilly at them:

"I'm Bishokuya Toriko, remember it" the man stated, using intimidation to scare the thugs off.

Which worked without any problem. Those men ran away with their tails between their legs, leaving Toriko to laugh and mock their stupidity. Your next destination was Gourmet Casino, but before that you needed to buy some ingredients since you needed some to bet in the games there. If you didn't trust in the first place the train station, then the black market was no better.

An elderly and bony woman tried to sell you Poison Stars, to which you were unaware of until Coco seized them before you could even touch one.

"You should stay close to me, (y/n)-chan" Coco told you, before heading to another stand to buy some food.

"S-Sorry!" you exclaimed, quickly following after him.

You found more ingredients like them: Drug Snails, Electric Bananas, toxic Puffer Whales, etc. All illegal ingredients made from selectively bred endangered species. But when you arrived at Gourmet Casino, it was as if you entered a different dimension. Jidar Kingdom's greatest attraction for tourism, made of 650 square kilometers. Lots of the buildings here were modern hotels, and the atmosphere of the people changed a lot, too.

Big-name gourmets and VIPs that love gambling come here from all over the world to play in this shiny area.

"Are we getting close to Gourmet Casino yet? This place gives me the shivers..." you said.

"It's right in front of us" told Coco.

"Man, I'm so hungry!" said Toriko, running ahead to a golden light that was shining down a hill.

Gourmet Casino was a large building in the shape of a pyramid, with tall panels that displayed different rare ingredients as prizes. You gaped in awe at the sight, finding the colors and the architecture beautiful.

"Now then, shall we go play some games?" suggested Coco, stopping next to you, winking.

"That's why we are here for, isn't it? Let's keep going..."

The casino space, which comprises 20% of that, is said to have 100 trillion yen being exchanged each day. Top-level 10-Star hotels and restaurants could be found all lined up side by side. As you were on your way to the casino, you caught sight of thief trying to escape with a bag filled of money.

"I guess even in the city, the public order is bad" sweated Komatsu, gazing at the stranger who pushed through the crowd to get away.

"Well it's a lawless area after all" hummed his partner. "Of course there'd be a lot of crimes aimed against casino customers"

"Do you think that robber is gonna get away, or you think he'll be shot with a gun and that'll be the end of it?" a rich-looking man inquired to his comrade.

"Gun?" you blinked, your eyes wandering around until they fall on a man wearing a black suit.

In his hand was a gun, and he was directing the weapon at the robber. The rich men were actually betting on the man's life or escape, laughing heartily like it was a good joke and a normal wager. And whoever wins gets 1 million. How messed up were they?!

The thief was now running in your direction, and the man with the gun prepared himself to shoot. Toriko used his Knife Shield to stop the criminal. The robber collided head first in the invisible wall, falling backward and letting the money bills scatter all around him.

"Do you intend to side with this criminal?" the man in the dark suit inquired, approaching the Gourmet Hunter.

"We had the same goal as you. We were just trying to catch him" told Coco, and the man just sighed.

"Take him away!" he ordered.

"With it being in a large country with lots of crime, the security is pretty unforgiving, isn't it?" your friend poked his head out behind Toriko's leg as the security took the robber away.

"There are times when the security goes too far, but Gourmet Casino is not under the control of the Gourmet Gambling Commission, or GGC"

You were too focused on the scene unfolding in front of you that you didn't see another thief creeping his way to you and aimed to steal your wallet from your bag. That is until the blade of a sword slammed against his hand and knocked your wallet out of his reach:

"OW! What are you-?!" he started, but panicked at the sight of a familiar blonde with scars decorating his face.

The thief let out a scream, and ran away to your disbelief and confusion, oblivious to what just happened.

"The ones that are in charge here are the Underground Cooking World" told Match, earning a smile from both Komatsu and Toriko.

"Match-san!"

"It's been a while, Match!" Toriko greeted. "Your hometown, Nerg City, isn't too far from here, huh?"

"It's nice to see you again, too, Shin-san, Louie-san" Komatsu nodded at Match's men.

"You look like you're all doing okay. And I see Chef (y/n) is here too. The children adored the cakes you made for them. Thank you" the Yakuza stated.

"There's no need to thank me. Come by anytime if you want or need more" you replied.

"The Century Soup was also a big hit with the kids in the villages. You have my thanks to the both of you"

"Y-You're welcome!" smiled Komatsu.

"So two of the Four Heavenly Kings have com here to gamble, huh? Your target is a prize ingredient, I'd expect. It's you guys, after all. It's easy to guess you'd be going after a valuable ingredient" stated Match. "The kind you couldn't get unless you got into the exclusive VIP area"

"Exclusive VIP area?" you echoed.

"Boss" another man in a dark suit walked to stand next to Match.

"Ram? How's it looking?"

"As we thought, lots of dangerous ingredients are out on the market"

"Yeah, I expected as much" scoffed the blonde swordsman, narrowing his eyes.

"Match-san, did Ram-san just call you 'boss'?" asked Komatsu.

"It's true that Match-san was the number-two man before, but now he's the boss" explained Ram.

"The former boss, Ryuu-san, resigned"

"Resigned?" Toriko repeated in a stunned manner. "That former boss of yours was a pretty well-renowned powerful person. Wasn't he highly active? What brought this on all of a sudden?"

"Don't know. All he told me was he had a 'big job to do', and he brought a few subordinates with him to Gourmet World. Apparently he was invited by Saiseiya Yosaku" spoke Match. "But he didn't tell me any details about his goal"

"Saiseiya Yosaku?"

"Yeah. Ryuu-san just said 'I'm leaving my cute little Gourmet Mafia sons and Nerg City in your hands' and left. I saw his back disappear from view, and that was it. Well, anyhow I've taken his place and now I'm in a position where I need to get firm control hold over Nerg City"

"So what would a Mafia boss like you be doing coming to somewhere outside his territory like Jidar?" wondered Coco, tilting his head a bit.

"There are narcotic ingredients circulating in Nerg City" told grimly the swordsman, shocking you and the Heavenly Kings. "Some illegal ingredients with high toxicity that we've never seen in Nerg City before. The Underground Cooking World is an underground organization specializing in handling illegal ingredients that can't be served in normal shops. They scatter illegal foods and narcotic ingredients like nothing we've ever seen before"

"And the source of it all is none other than this place, Gourmet Casino. It's managed by Jidar Kingdom's state management, but the king entrusts the casino to the underground society"

"In other words, the ones really pulling the strings here are the Underground Cooking World, huh?" frowned the Gourmet Hunter as the grip Match had around his weapon tightened.

"Yeah. And the mastermind behind it is the boss of the Underground Cooking World, Livebearer. A dark chef that currently acts as a dealer in the casino. We came here to take those narcotic ingredients they're currently controlling" explained Match.

"We don't want to see little kids eating Electric Bananas!" spat Ram.

"We're not letting any more dirty poison flow into our city!" the boss declared, unsheathing his sword.

"Match-san, then you came to Gourmet Casino to..." trailed Komatsu.

"Impossible" Coco interrupted, to which Match and his men gave him a look. "With the power you currently have, you don't stand a chance against that organization..."

"Heavenly King Coco, what makes you say that?" Match implored.

"I am a fortune teller. If you want to win, it won't be by force, it can only be by gambling. I know this city quite well. And Livebearer's power as well"

"How about we leave this part to Coco-san?" you suggested to the Mafia boss and his men. "We can get rid of the illegal ingredients as fast as possible, too. What do you think, Match-san?"

"Well, that sounds good. Shall we do this together?" Toriko put a hand on Match's shoulder. "Our target ingredient is in the casino as well. So when we win a crushing victory, you can confiscate all of the illegal prize ingredients and bring them home with you. Kay?"

"Yeah. Let's go together, Match-san" nodded Komatsu.

"Hm. Well, I'm not a big fan of shit like gambling, but if we can take it all legally, that would be the best way to do it" grinned the blonde.

"Then it's decided"

Passing the gates of the casino, you reached the general main area. Customers can exchange cash for 'Gourmet Coins', in order to play classic casino games such as the 'Like Number Tree' or the '100 Face Slot' for a chance to win rare ingredients. Gourmet Coins are edible tokens used as food and cash, and the higher the value, the more delicious it is.

The general main area was a vast room filled with sparkling decoration and lots of games that you could find in any casino. You gazed around the room, an uneasy feeling settling inside of you. There was a song, completely distorted, that you could hear.

"(y/n)-chan...Is there something wrong?" Coco gazed at you worriedly, noticing the expression of discomfort plastered all over your face.

"I-It's fine..."

Your partner stared at you, a little bit unsure. But didn't comment further since it was time to start the plan. Win those casino games.