The world market was similar to normal wholesale markets, just with larger, more bizarre creatures (although he had seen some creepy, prehistoric looking creatures in Asian markets). Sunny went to unload his catch (that he carried in a massive box held up by the power of his hair.) He was about to introduce Adam to the buyer when a booming voice asked,"SUNNY'S WHO'S YOUR FRIEND?"
"What in the h-l?" Adam and any one with normal healing had to cover their ears. But what was stranger was the fact that the man who was 'speaking' seemed to be projecting a hologram of himself, before making his presence known.
"oh lord," sunny rolled his eyes," Adam this is Zebra another of the 4..." Sunny could not bring himself to say the rest of that sentence.
The 7 foot tall 'pro-wrestler'-like man with a large scar on his mouth approached.
"Let me guess- the power of sound?"Sound was a relevant element of cooking- but this guy just came off as insane.
"Is this your chef?" Zebra asked in a voice that came off as creepy even when he wasn't trying to be.
"No, just a 2 star chef I'm giving a tour to." the last time Zebra though Sunny had a chef he tried to steal him. Plus adding the fact he was only 2 stars would be enough to deter Zebra.
Sunny sold his items then took Adam too meet Komatsu at his 6 star hotel restaurant. But one of Sunny's favorite people was already there. "Coco!" Sunny shouted happily as he joined him at his table.
"Coco this is Adam, Adam this is Coco another of 4 heavenly kings, much more of a joy to be around then Zebra."
"Zebra's in town for only a few days, then he will be off to the desert lands." Coco said, as if he was reciting a train of thought.
"Coco's is a clairvoyant."Sunny told Adam as they sat down. It was the power of sight, in all its meanings. Coco did have a fortune teller vibe to him, with his black hair, black clothing, green hair wrap and purple ear cuff.
"Adam, you're not from around here." Coco said, taking a sip of tea, offering a bit of the massive amount of food on the table.
"No, not really." he said, as casually as he could.
Coco started to pour Adam a cup of tea. "You come from a place where food is of great value. Your mentor once told you, God created all food; perfect recipes that cannot be improved upon- but it is a chef's job is to try."
If this was a dream, clearly this character represented his memories. "Let me guess you're next line is -I can't change who I was?"
"On the contrary you already have; you gave you self time to think, contemplate, over a self imposed sentence of 1 million oysters- a little over 2 years of toiling in obscurity, to learn the value of humility."
"And yet in your new role as leader in the restaurant that represents your new beginning, you choose take on every burden alone- a state of being based on the idea that your thoughts and decisions are superior to those of the rest of your team."
Adam was too shocked to say anything. Sunny changed the subject; the 4 were going to be going on a hunt in a few days (even Zebra) for a creature called 'a Heavycliff'.
"That sounds disgusting." Adam smirked. Just the words 'heavy' and 'cliff' together -that did not sound like an edible creature. But what did he know; there was a lot of edible earth creatures with less then appetizing names.
"Actually!-Though at first glance they appear to be inedible, their meat is actually soft and marshmallow-like and a rare delicacy with a sweet meaty taste." piped in a young male voice.
"Why hello, Komatsu." Sunny smiled.
Komatsu? the 6 star chef? He was a small man, no more the 5 feet tall, and he could not have been older than 15. (Adam would later learn he was actually 25.)
"Komatsu this is Adam Jones, he's a 2 star chef. Adam this is Komatsu the head chef of this restaurant." He said before returning to conversation with Coco.
"It's an honor to meet you." Adam shook hand. Komatsu took a seat and they talked for a while. About the unique food of the region; Komatsu was an expert in the local food, but there was so much more that he had yet to experience.
"I don't just mean different ingredients, it's the combinations, the possibilities," he told Adam the story of Century soup, the ultimate example of ingredients literally combining over the course of a century (A culinary miracle that he managed to reproduce using every technique at his disposal.)
Next the conversation turned to Komatsu's role as the assistant of the 4th of the 4 heavenly kings- Toriko, vs the stress of running a kitchen. Komatsu admitted he would sometimes leave with Toriko at the spur of the moment, much to the dismay/annoyance of the owner.
"So you leave for indeterminate amounts of time to assist this Toriko person? And you don't worry about the state of your kitchen." He asked.
"Well, not really. I have a great team, any one of us could run the pass." The small man said. "And when I come back it's always with more knowledge and ingredients then before. Why don't you come with us!" he asked, like an excited child.
"To hunt a heavycliff?" he said with a laugh
"As chefs we don't do the actual hunting. We observe, try not to get in the way, then when it's all over we cook." He was saying 'we' a lot as if there were ever multiple chefs on hunts. Sunny, Coco and Zebra did not have personal chefs/partners, and they were always trying to convince Komatsu to partner with them instead, it would get real annoying real fast.
"So what do you say?!" Komatsu looked at him like a puppy.
"Sure," what else could he say.
"Great! If you like you can spend the rest of your day touring my kitchen, and I could probably get you a room at the hotel." He said goodbye to Sunny, and informed him of Komatsu's idea.
Sunny shrugged, "What's the worst that could happen…"