Chapter 1

In a room built of ice blocks, the floor was covered with animal skins, and countless men snored like thunder.

Zhang Wei suddenly sat up and looked around, the unfamiliar environment making him dazed.

Steam rose into the air, and the temperature was frighteningly low.

"Didn't I die of illness in Shokugeki no Soma... How could I...?"

"It seems the Treasure Hall still has secrets I haven't discovered."

Feeling his strong heartbeat and robust body, Zhang Wei finally believed he had crossed over again.

Looking at the thick fur coat and the bedding made from unknown animals, he still felt a bone-chilling cold.

Exhaling a puff of white frost, Zhang Wei frowned and said, "At least minus 20 degrees... It's already the standard for a low-temperature freezer."

"How can these people live here?"

Igloos are usually warm, and Zhang Wei had once gone to the far north to hunt for ingredients, living and eating with the local Eskimos.

But the howling wind in his ears would take away all the accumulated heat.

"With this level of ventilation... people won't last long."

Closing his eyes, fragmented information surfaced one by one.

Ice Hell... dormant volcano... all the world's ingredients frozen here... food display window...

Capture level... Gourmet Cells... Gourmet Hunter...

After much thought.

"Prisoner of Food?"

"There's a beast whose entire body is top-grade marbled meat..."

"A tree that grows king crab meat all year round, with firm and plump flesh..."

"A spring that continuously spouts rich and strong amber brandy..."

Comparing the memories of his previous life with the physical sensations, Zhang Wei basically confirmed where he was.

"The most glorious era for chefs... that's nice."

Wrapping himself in the fur bedding, he lay down with a satisfied and longing smile and soon fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, the supervisors burst into the dormitory, beating drums and holding whips.

"Room 455, get up and wash up!"

The men in the fur bedding would be whipped if they were slow.

Occasionally, some would remain motionless, and the supervisors would have to take a closer look and notify others to carry the bodies away.

Every night, some people couldn't take it.

Following the crowd, Zhang Wei walked along. The walls and ceilings were all carved from huge blocks of ice, a marvel of craftsmanship.

From conversations with others, Zhang Wei learned that they weren't living in an igloo but in a space carved out of a massive glacier.

As far as the eye could see, the gathering crowd numbered in the thousands...

"The space inside this glacier is as vast as a stadium, and the height..."

Zhang Wei looked up, but the vertical rope ladder seemed to lead nowhere.

There was more than one level here!

"Such a scale of construction would be extremely difficult to achieve even in the 21st century. It must be the extraordinary power of the Prisoner of Food..."

The water for washing was icy cold, and he could feel ice chips when he scooped it up.

After a simple clean, Zhang Wei received breakfast with his ID card.

A chocolate, butter, starch, and salt energy bar, which tasted quite good but was a bit hard from the cold.

The packaging showed that one bar had 800 calories.

"Table 107, Ronnie Shu."

"Here!"

"Table 118, Zhang Wei."

"Here!"

"Table 119, Kameda Betsusaburo."

"Here!"

"Table 120, Black Hair."

After a long pause, no one responded, and the supervisor marked it in his notebook.

Clearly, they wouldn't need to prepare dinner for Black Hair.

The tables were lined up, with various knives and cutting boards. Zhang Wei and the other helpers would process the ingredients here.

A massive ice yak pulled a plow, and the supervisors unloaded sealed boxes from it.

These preservation boxes were extremely expensive, extending the storage period while preserving the flavor to the maximum extent.

A large amount of rare ingredients was distributed, and any one of them could be the pride of an ordinary restaurant.

"Damn! Ghost Face Mushrooms again!"

A cry of despair came from the neighboring table, where the fat Kameda Betsusaburo was.

As expected, Zhang Wei also got the same thing.

In the preservation box, three or four brightly colored large mushrooms lay, with blood-red ghost faces on the caps that were terrifying.

The stems were covered with numerous shriveled sacs, containing highly toxic spores.

[Ding~ Discovered obtainable ingredient!]

[Ghost Face Mushroom]

[Capture Level: 2]

[Origin: Poisonous Rainforest of the Hengduan Mountains]

[Description: A mushroom that grows in a forest full of toxins. The spores are highly toxic if not properly cleaned, making it a high-grade ingredient that only a Gourmet Hunter can obtain. An excellent seasoning for soups, a few pieces can significantly enhance the flavor...]

[Effect: Rich in fiber, vitamins, etc. Nourishes the body, strengthens the kidneys, and invigorates yang energy.]

Zhang Wei lightly exclaimed, "The Treasure Hall actually triggered?"

"This picky guy is being so proactive for the first time."

Taking a deep breath, he mentally called out to the Treasure Hall.

The next second, the ice walls and snow disappeared.

Overhanging eaves, black tiles, and red pillars...

A huge palace sign read "Treasure Hall."

The dark hall stretched endlessly, resembling an exhibition hall in the Forbidden City or an imperial court.

It was equipped with all the kitchen facilities, from workbenches to stoves and sinks.

The stoves burned with an eternal flame, and the water seemed endless.

On both sides of the hall, over two hundred display stands mostly held dishes, with only a few top-grade ingredients.

These were Zhang Wei's proudest collections.

The swim bladder of a yellow-lipped fish from the southeastern coast...

The top of the eight sea delicacies, the sea cucumber from Liaoning...

A5 marbled beef from Kobe...

Alba white truffles from Italy...

Bluefin tuna...

Each one could drive diners and chefs crazy.

Ordinary items like French foie gras or matsutake mushrooms wouldn't trigger any reaction from the Treasure Hall.

But these items, which diners and chefs dreamed of, were just ordinary to Zhang Wei.

Any ingredient or dish stored in the Treasure Hall would be perfectly replicated after a certain period.

Repeating the storage would refine the ingredient information, improving the quality to the highest level and shortening the replication cycle.

For example, in his previous life, Zhang Wei had obtained the bluefin tuna four times, reducing the replication time from thirty days to nineteen and a half days.

The bluefin tuna in the display case combined the best qualities of the four, making it exceptionally plump.

Besides ingredients and dishes, Zhang Wei's collection also included top-grade kitchen tools.

Clothing, pots, spatulas, knives, etc...

These were full of Zhang Wei's memories, each one infused with a great deal of effort.

Exiting the Treasure Hall, only thirty seconds had passed outside.

The time flow inside was ten times faster.

Looking at Kameda Betsusaburo, who was carefully processing the Ghost Face Mushroom.

His knife skills were surprisingly good, and he could have been a three-star chef in the previous life.

Even so, he was struggling with the Ghost Face Mushroom, his frozen fingers trembling slightly.

"Hey, Table 118, stop daydreaming!"

"Delaying the work will result in punishment, you know?"

Zhang Wei smiled lightly, "No rush, I'm just learning from my peers. It won't take long."

His words were neither humble nor arrogant, and his voice was confident and relaxed.

In this strictly hierarchical Ice Hell, such behavior was rare.

The supervisor was displeased.

A higher rank meant absolute authority, and these laborers were always respectful.

Just a mere laborer, who knew when he would die!

The supervisor was also at the bottom of the Ice Hell.

Except for not having to work, their living conditions were the same as Zhang Wei's, and the cold could take their lives too.

But with the laborers to compare, life seemed bearable.

The supervisor said, "If you don't complete the task today, you'll get a whipping!"

Under the supervisor's strange gaze, Zhang Wei picked up the Ghost Face Mushroom again.

Taking a deep breath, he recalled the Treasure Hall's information and Kameda Betsusaburo's processing method.

"Prefers darkness... stem is moist... cut along the stem's texture..."

"Gentle... press the cap at the one-quarter mark..."

"The sacs have a membrane... pull gently from top to bottom..."

Focusing entirely, Zhang Wei put all his energy into processing the ingredient.

He rubbed his frozen hands to make them more flexible.

Ignoring the surroundings, he concentrated his spirit.

The wire knife slowly pierced the gaps between the sacs, using the sharp steel wire to remove them...

"Phew~"

Done!

On his first try, his speed was no less than Kameda Betsusaburo's!

After all, Zhang Wei was once the best on Earth and in Shokugeki no Soma!

[Storage complete!]

[Obtained ingredient: Ghost Face Mushroom, replication time: 100 days]

So long?

The higher the grade of the ingredient, the longer the replication time.

The longest replication time for Zhang Wei was the swim bladder of a yellow-lipped fish from the Yangtze River, which he had only obtained once.

The replication time for the best ingredients on Earth was only 35 days.

No wonder, in the world of food, it was so easy to surpass!

Zhang Wei didn't know that ingredients with a capture level were also extremely rare in this world.

Ordinary ingredients wouldn't be sent here.

But it didn't matter; repeated storage could reduce the replication time, and there were many of these mushrooms.

Looking at the remaining three Ghost Face Mushrooms, Zhang Wei became unusually interested...