A fight erupted in the arena as both the Mafia and the Underground Cooking World battled each other. You and Komatsu quickly exited the area so you wouldn't get caught between them. But when Coco brought down Livebearer on his back, the rest of his men abandoned.

"What the hell? What a creepy room..." Toriko clicked his tongue. "I never would've thought there was a place like this deep under the casino"

After the Gourmet Hunter finished the Poison Potato cooked by Komatsu (who surprisingly worked well with his Gourmet Cells), the defeated boss led your group to a room filled with brains. Livebearer's collection of all the food data he gained was stored there. They were tagged with a silver board that displayed the names, along with major ingredients. Also, you could find full courses of famous gourmets written here.

"So...Is this where the Meteor Garlic is?" asked Toriko to the red chef who was tied down by a barrier of poison from Coco. "Or information that's supposed to be a hint?"

"Do you really not want the memories in my head?" inquired Livebearer. "You can enjoy the taste of the Meteor Garlic from that data"

"Oi, don't lump me in with you. I ain't interested in coveting memories. Food isn't something in the mind, it's something that goes into the mouth"

"B-But...I'm a little interested in your memories, Livebearer-san" Komatsu smiled nervously.

"If it weren't for Heavenly King Coco's poison knocking, I would still be trying to take your memories" spat Livebearer, drooling a bit.

"C-Creepy..." shuddered your friend.

"Toriko!" yelled Match as he ran up to the man. "We found the ingredient you guys are after! The actual Meteor Garlic!"

"Eh?! The real deal?!"

At the far back of the hallways filled with columns of brains, there was a huge purple tank filled with an ingredient. The Meteor Garlic's bulb was enormous, layers red in color. You slowly walked to it, gazing at the ingredient in awe. Your headaches were long gone, and now you could think more clearly. Strangely, you felt it calling out to you.

"So even Livebearer-san has an affection for real ingredients" you mused.

"Not particularly. Let me say this though, the Meteor Garlic is also a special preparation ingredient. I wonder, can you cook it?" asked Livebearer.

"Of course! We'll do it somehow!" Komatsu nodded at you, pumping his fist out.

"Heh. We're counting on you two. If we've decided that, we should get preparations for a party" grinned Toriko.

"Always thinking about parties..." you sweatdropped at the man.

Livebearer possessed an overlook restaurant in Jidar Kingdom, a secret and private room he prepared for your group. You were able to have a view of the casino city and a mountain of liquor to which Toriko was beyond pleased. The others went ahead to that room while you were left alone with Komatsu and Livebearer in the kitchens, ready to work on the large bulb. Currently, the small chef was struggling to rip the skin of the garlic.

"I can't peel the skin off..." huffed Komatsu, sweat gathered at his forehead. "What do we do here?"

"We'll be at it for our whole lives if we continue that way" you frowned. "Try going along the lines of the skin..."

"Ah, you're right!" Komatsu exclaimed, and went to grab a cooking torch and his Melk knife. "If we cut them while scorching it at a low temperature, it will cut"

You helped him in removing the first layer of skin of the Meteor Garlic, with Livebearer watching the two of you silently. He was still under the poison knocking Coco pulled on him, and it was impossible for this man to move on his own. The red chef hasn't let out a single hint on how to properly cook the ingredient yet.

"(y/n), it looks like the direction of the fibers changed" said Komatsu when his knife refused to dig deeper into the red skin.

"Hm...?" you hummed, tilting your head to the side as you thought about it.

"....Oh! Livebearer-san, is there any more Cheese Napa Cabbage?"

Dipping the leaves into hot water, you placed each of them on the skin of the Meteor Garlic. That way, the microbes of the Cheese Napa Cabbage might be able to break down the hard skin. With the right temperature, it could make the microbes active. You wondered why you haven't thought of that beforehand.

Once the skin has gotten softer, Komatsu was able to pierce it without any problem. The question now was what you should do now. Where exactly you should cut? Both you and the young chef were unaware of the knocking wearing off from Livebearer's body, and that he was slowly crawling his way to Komatsu. It's only when he suddenly gripped your friend's waist who released a panicked yell that you noticed the change.

"Komatsu?!" you shouted, paling at the smiling face the red chef was making.

His hand reached forward, and you thought that he was trying to grab Komatsu's knife when he instead pointed directly on a fiber of the Cheese Napa Cabbage.

"Right there" he simply stated.

"....Huh?" your mind went blank as a real smile made its way on Livebearer's lips.

"How long has it been...since I've seen chefs like you that gave their all to find a cooking method...?" he spoke more to himself while you sighed in relief. "The next part is tricky. Pierce your knife into the fibers upside-down..."

Livebearer helped you for the rest of the preparation, until the three of you finished succesfully the Meteor Garlic. You were beyond excited to show the result to the rest, and see how they will like it. As Komatsu put the finishing touch to the dish, you turned to the red chef:

"Livebearer-san. You called me earlier a 'Musical Chef'. What does it mean exactly?" you asked, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Ah, yes. Musical Chefs, or simply 'Music Chefs' are particular people. There's small data I possess on them, but I will tell you all that I know" the man responded. "They are chefs that specialize a lot in the harmony of their dishes, and few of them are able to hear the 'song of the ingredients'. Much like Food Luck, Food Music is indispensable to them"

"Food Music?"

"The fundamental belief of orchestrating the ingredients to one's wish, or simply following their flow like any music piece to make the perfect combination of foods" Livebearer explained. "But that's pretty much all I know...There's also supposed to have a village filled of them somewhere, but who knows where they are?"

"I see...Well, thank you for answering..."

The dish finished completely, the three of you brought it to the private room where Toriko, Coco, and Match were waiting. The first raised a brow inquisitively at the sight of the red chef, while Komatsu simply smiled at everyone:

"Thank you for waiting!" he told. "The cooking of the Meteor Garlic is complete!"

"Well done!" grinned Toriko. "And...Why is Livebearer here?"

"He helped us in finishing the preparation of the Meteor Garlic" you told, causing Coco to smile knowingly while Match arched a brow in his direction.

"Your specialty is fortune telling, eh? So you predicted all of this?" inquired the blonde.

"It wasn't even fortune telling. I just thought that their passion for cooking would extract the evil in Livebearer's heart"

"Coco..." breathed in shock Match, but the fortune teller quickly cleared his throat.

"I didn't set that up to mean 'evil' as in wickedness, and 'scum' as in cooking" Coco stated bluntly, saying it with the same tone he used when he gave backhanded compliments. (A/N:"The word 'scum' as in 'cooking scum' and the word 'evil' are homophones in Japanese").

"You sure don't change..." you sweatdropped while Match deadpanned at the Heavenly King, earning a chuckle from your partner.

After the silver plate was placed in the center of the table, Livebearer did the honors of lifting the lid to reveal the steaming Meteor Garlic, using Teppan-yaki as a method of cooking on an iron plate. The others gaped at the dish while Toriko smirked at the red chef:

"So you did want to eat one after all, too?" he prompted playfully. "A real ingredient"

"Be careful. The clove is going to burst open" the giant simply replied.

A single golden tear rolled down on the skin of the Meteor Garlic, before it began to glow brightly. It then suddenly shot up from the heat of the iron plate, exploding in the night sky as multiple fireworks of purple color. Your face brightened at all the lights that looked like falling stars as they descended.

"A clove with the hardness of a meteorite, pops like popcorn. Truly a shooting star, a meteor!" told Livebearer as something landed back into the plate. "The edible part of the Meteor Garlic is just one section at the center of the clove. And now it's complete"

The smoke dissipated to reveal a sprout of the garlic much more small, barely the size of an apple. It glowed in a golden color, sparkling brightly. It separated into six equal parts, and Toriko couldn't help but drool just at the scent of the dish.

"I really appreciate it, Livebearer!" the Gourmet Hunter told the chef.

"Thank you very much!" added Komatsu, beaming while Livebearer simply looked away in embarrassment.

"Okay, let's dig in" continued Toriko, folding his hands in a prayer as did the others. All except for Livebearer. "What are you waiting for? Take a seat!"

"Huh? May I?" the giant inquired, not sure that he heard him right.

"Of course. It's thanks to you that we're getting to eat like this. And anyhow, food tastes better when everyone eats together, don't you think?"

Thanking all the ingredients in the world, each one of you took a seed of the Meteor Garlic. You wondered what it tasted like, and you will soon find out.

"This is all you can eat from that gigantic garlic clove, huh? Just how many nutrients are packed into this things?!" Toriko wondered, taking a look at the golden seed in interest.

"WOAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!!! WHAT IS THIS?!"

Komatsu's sudden scream was what stopped you from taking a bite of the Meteor Garlic. Your eyes traveled to your friend inquisitively, and your jaw nearly hit the table as you almost dropped the ingredient. After eating it, all of the young chef's muscles suddenly bulged immensely, making him hit a six-pack without even trying.

"WHAT'S WITH THAT BODY, KOMATSU?!" cried out Toriko at his partner in disbelief.

"I-I got all muscular like this when I ate the Meteor Garlic" he said sheepishly, blushing brightly.

"Just what I'd expect. They say eating one will make it so you can move non-stop without sleep for a month" Match smiled down at himself, his body having growing much more muscular just like the young chef did.

"EH, YOU TOO?!"

"The outside has a texture like a deep-fried potato. And the inside is like a moist cream cheese. It's been so long I've forgotten it. The joy of a delicious dish that fills the mouth" hummed Livebearer, having grown in height.

"HE'S GOTTEN EVEN MORE GIGANTIC!" cried out Toriko.

"Looks like you've remembered the joy of cooking, huh, Livebearer?" smiled Coco, and you nearly fell down from your chair at the sight of your partner. To resume his state, he was a mass of muscles.

"COCO?! COCO?! IS THAT YOU?!" yelled the blue haired man.

"It seems the Meteor Garlic was an ingredient compatible with me" the fortune teller continued, flexing his bulging bicep. "My cells have evolved"

"THEY'VE EVOLVED WAY TOO MUCH!" your saliva caught in your throat.

"Ah? You're not eating it, (y/n)-chan?"

"THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL I WILL EAT THAT AFTER SEEING WHAT IT DOES!"

"A muscular (y/n), that would make my day!" Toriko managed to say before exploding in laughter.

"In any case, if you ate Meteor Garlic with Poison Potato...I bet it would taste even better. I'm still a novice, so learning how to extract the poison from this ingredient is my next hurdle" sighed sadly Komatsu.

"...I know how that can be done" stated after a short pause Livebearer. "Well, to be exact, I know a man who knows it. The method for perfectly removing the poison of the Poison Potato"

"Really?!"

"Yes. I'd think, Coco...that he would know about the ingredient that you said you wanted to know about, Atom" he continued, making Coco's eyes widen.

"Who is that?"

"The private chef to the king of Jidar Kingdom, Joie. His true identity is a mystery, also known as the chef of darkness. He should be in the royal palace far to the West from here"

When you arrived at the palace, you were surprised to see there wasn't a single person here. Not even security guards, or maids that tended the castle. The place was ridiculously huge, filled with doors and long corridors that led to the same destination.

It certainly could give the Gourmet Pyramid a run for its money, since most of the proceeds from the casino got brought here. Easier for them to make a castle of this magnitude. Climbing the staircase that led to the king's room, Toriko burst the doors open:

"Sorry for the intrusion" he simply said, but blinked when he realized the room was empty.

No signs of the dark chef Joie, or the evil dictator. Most of the food on the dining table was left over, the ground covered with dust and sand. Coco walked to the center of the room, his eyes traveling all over the area.

"It seems they left quite a while ago. I can't sense any electromagnetic waves. They don't seem to be in the royal palace any longer" the man concluded.

"So the king abandoned his country?" wondered Match.

"Why would a dictator, that has so many high-class ingredients flowing in, abandon his country?" enriched the Gourmet Hunter.

"Maybe they found a place with ingredients even more delicious than here" suggested Komatsu.

"Joie, huh? I wish I could've had a chance to meet him"

Something was telling you that you would eventually meet this mysterious figure one day, and you weren't sure if it was what you really wished. Not while you were hearing this cacophony of a song the moment you entered this room.