Boom!
Tom was sitting idly on the beach when a sudden explosion rang out.
Startled, he quickly turned toward the pitch-black cave behind him.
What the hell was that noise?
As the saying went, curiosity killed the cat.
Although Tom was a little afraid, he still headed toward the source of the sound.
Saku Hayashi and the others heard the explosion and felt the resulting tremor even from beneath the sea.
Many Puffer Whales were so frightened that they instantly turned poisonous.
Their entire bodies became dark purple, making it obvious that they contained deadly poison.
Yet even Puffer Whales like these were sought after by countless people willing to risk their lives just for a taste of their delicious meat.
Tom soon arrived at the source of the noise.
When he saw a Devil Serpent preparing to eat the unconscious Komatsu as dessert, his mouth dropped open in shock.
Komatsu made delicious food and was a pretty decent human, so Tom decided to intervene.
Sizzle… Tom pulled a red firecracker from behind his back.
After lighting the fuse, he tossed it onto the Devil Serpent’s head.
Compared to the Devil Serpent’s enormous head, the firecracker was like a tiny pebble drifting down onto it.
It wasn’t enough to attract the beast’s attention, let alone interrupt its meal.
Art was an explosion!
Boom!
The firecracker unleashed a shock wave that completely defied common sense, sending the Devil Serpent’s head flying into the stone wall.
Tom glanced at the unconscious Devil Serpent.
All the thick hair covering its head had disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a scorched-black, bald head.
It had already been ugly before, but now it was hideous beyond description.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tom grabbed Komatsu and fled at the speed of light.
He sprinted back toward the beach and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
If anyone learned that a Capture Level 21 Devil Serpent had been defeated by a single tiny firecracker, their jaws would probably hit the floor.
After all, even a tank couldn’t deal with an aggressive beast of this level.
… “Komatsu!” Just as the Devil Serpent was beginning to regain consciousness, the injured Toriko and Coco arrived, gasping for breath.
A trumpet-shaped object lying on the ground caught Toriko’s attention.
It was the special self-defense tool he had given Komatsu.
There was also a pool of blood nearby—the remains of the person who had kidnapped Komatsu and been crushed to death by the Devil Serpent.
Rage overwhelmed their reason.
They no longer had the patience to investigate what had actually happened.
“You bastard!” Toriko’s expression twisted until he resembled a demon.
An overwhelmingly dense killing intent erupted from his body and enveloped the newly awakened Devil Serpent.
Coco’s face also turned black—in the most literal sense.
It was the result of his body secreting an intensely lethal poison.
Although Coco hadn’t known Komatsu for long, he had already accepted him as a friend.
Komatsu had never treated him like a monster because of his poisonous constitution.
Driven by rage, the two men’s exhausted bodies instantly surged with energy.
They shared the exact same thought.
They were going to kill this bald Devil Serpent!
“?” The Devil Serpent sensed their pure killing intent and became confused.
Why were these two humans so furious?
However, it was still a wild beast and didn’t think too deeply about such matters.
It simply interpreted their actions as a provocation and declaration of war.
“Hiss!” Already in a terrible mood, the Devil Serpent decided to use them as an outlet for its anger and released a piercing shriek.
Although the reasons for both sides’ anger had absolutely nothing to do with each other, a fierce battle still erupted.
At the beach, Tom returned with Komatsu.
Saku Hayashi and the other two had also captured enough Puffer Whales.
They surfaced from the sea and began walking toward the shore.
“Komatsu?” Saku Hayashi froze momentarily before realizing what must have happened.
The blast from Toriko’s special tool had ruptured Komatsu’s eardrums, while his heart was now on the verge of stopping.
“So it’s this little fellow.
I took some wine from him on the train,” Jiro said, recognizing Toriko’s companion.
In his eyes, injuries of this level weren’t particularly serious.
“Diluted sap from Heart-Stimulating Grass.
Its medicinal effect isn’t especially powerful, which makes it suitable for Komatsu’s physique.” Saku Hayashi took out a syringe and injected it into Komatsu’s chest, carefully avoiding his heart.
The entire pale-green solution entered his body.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
The medicine took effect immediately.
Under its stimulation, Komatsu’s heart, which had nearly stopped beating, began pumping normally again.
“Master Jiro, you should have something that can repair his eardrums, right?
I didn’t bring anything for that this time,” Saku Hayashi said.
This was only basic first aid for a Reviver.
Under normal circumstances, he would have used a cardiac defibrillator to restart Komatsu’s heart.
“Hehe.
Leave it to me.” Jiro pulled open his vest and took out a tool resembling an ear pick.
He inserted it into Komatsu’s ear canals and replaced the ruptured eardrums with artificial ones made from a special polysaccharide.
There were no compatibility issues whatsoever.
“Ugh…” Komatsu soon regained consciousness and slowly opened his unfocused eyes.
He immediately saw Saku Hayashi and the others standing around him.
“Mr.
Hayashi… and Mr.
Tom…” Tom nodded.
Very few people addressed him as Mr.
Tom.
That alone was enough for him to refuse to stand by and watch Komatsu die.
“The operation was a success.
You’re a girl now,” Saku Hayashi joked with a smile.
“Huh?” “Mr.
Hayashi, please don’t make jokes like that!
I almost believed you!” Komatsu hurriedly sat up and checked his body.
After confirming that none of his parts were missing, he stared speechlessly at Saku Hayashi.
That joke wasn’t funny at all.
It had nearly scared him to death.
Saku Hayashi smiled and shook his head.
Once Komatsu ate Pair in the future, his body really would change sexes.
He wouldn’t even need surgery to complete the transformation.
“Were you the ones who saved me?” Komatsu stood up as his memories returned.
He remembered being knocked unconscious by the explosion from Toriko’s special firecracker.
“Hehe.
You nearly died.
Your heart was only a hair’s breadth away from stopping,” Saku Hayashi explained.
“Tom brought you here, and Master Jiro and I performed some emergency treatment.” Komatsu nodded, and lingering fear appeared on his face.
So he had come that close to dying.
Toriko’s special tool really was dangerous.
“Thank you very much.” Komatsu bowed deeply, expressing his sincere gratitude.
“Wait… Are you Chef Tsurara?” The instant Komatsu recognized Tsurara, his body moved faster than his mind.
He pulled a pen and paper from his bag and once again demonstrated his unmatched dedication to bowing.
“Please give me your autograph!” She was one of the world’s top one hundred chefs and was normally extremely difficult to meet.
One of Komatsu’s dreams was to collect the autographs of all those famous chefs.
“…Of course.” Tsurara froze briefly.
This was the first time she had encountered such an earnest fan.
Komatsu carefully put away the autograph, a blissful smile spreading across his face.
“Little Saku, this old man will be leaving first.
You and Little Tsurara should visit Setsuno when you have time.” Drinking from his bottle and carrying a bucket filled with Puffer Whales, Jiro staggered leisurely away.
“We will,” Saku Hayashi and Tsurara replied.
Tap, tap, tap… Not long afterward, hurried footsteps approached.
The utterly exhausted Toriko and Coco ran over.
When they saw that Komatsu was still alive, they both breathed sighs of relief.
After defeating the Devil Serpent, Toriko had caught Komatsu’s scent and realized that he might still be alive, so the two of them had followed it all the way here.
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