Menchi crouched down, carefully iing the scorpion. Its sheer size alone was already arming—easily twice as rge as a typical Pale Fang Scorpion. What really stood out, however, was its golden tail stinger. Ordinary Pale Fang Scorpions had white stingers, but the golden hue indicated something far rarer. Menchi's voice was filled with awe. “This is a Pale Fang Scorpion King.”

  Larry’s eyes widened. “King?”

  Menodded. “Pale Fang Scorpions are already difficult to find, but a King? This is on another level. It's almost as rare as an A-rank ingredient!”

  Looking at the unscious scorpion, Larry’s mind wao theories about its behavior. The scorpion had surfaced at night, which made sense given the desert’s extreme temperature fluctuations. During the day, the surface was blistering hot while the deep yers remained cool. At night, the surface cooled down, drawing the scorpions closer to the top. “Smart creatures,” Larry mused. “They probably avoid the heat by burrowing deep during the day.”

  Looking at the unscious Pale Fang Scorpion King lying before them, Menchi couldn’t help but feel her eyelids twitg. She had clearly uimated Gardevoir’s strength. Larry might not fully grasp the significe, but as a professional Gourmet Hunter, Menchi uood just how formidable their target was.

  Ordinary Pale Fang Scorpions were already a nightmare to catch due to their incredible speed. But as the king of its kind, the Pale Fang Scorpion King was not only faster but boasted siderable bat strength. The enormous, ferocious pincers still glowed faintly uhe moonlight, and the golden tail stinger hi its deadly potential. Yet Gardevoir had captured it effortlessly, and what was even more impressive—alive.

  Capturing prey alive was far more challenging than simply eliminating it, a fact that made Menchi's heart race with admiration and a tinge of disbelief. Meanwhile, Larry stood beside her, pletely unfazed, staring at the scorpion with an expression of mild curiosity. "Is this thing's venom edible?" he wondered aloud, rubbing his thoughtfully.

  Menchi bli him in disbelief. ‘Seriously? That's your first ?’ Before this journey, she had always known there were people strohan her, but she had taken pride in being a leader among her peers. After all, she held the record as the you oar hunter in the Hunter Association. But since meeting Larry, her fidence had beeedly shattered. She couldn’t help but question herself—‘Was I ever that impressive to begin with?’ pared to Larry, who could summon such powerful Nes with astonishing abilities, what did she really have to offer? Cooking?

  Larry, oblivious to Menchi’s iurmoil, simply assumed she was deep in thought about how to hahe scorpion. If he knew what she was thinking, he would probably just pat her on the shoulder and say, "Geniuses and prodigies don't mix."

  After a moment of self-doubt, Menchi shook off her thoughts and repced them with determination. ‘I ’t let myself get distracted. I’m a Gourmet Huhis is my passion, and I o focus on what I do best!’ She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and turo Larry with newfound fidence. “You rex for now and leave the preparation to me!” she decred, rolling up her sleeves with an eager smile.

  Larry raised an eyebrow, notig the sudden boost in her energy but shrugging it off as excitement. “Alright, I’ll leave it to the expert,” he said, plopping himself down on a nearby sand dune, ready to watd learn.

  Menchi moved with precision, spreading her arms wide as a transparent ptform of Nen energy rose from the ground, lifting the Pale Fang Scorpion King to an ideal w height. With a flick of her wrist, a pair of gleaming silver knives materialized in her hands—perfectly sized for the massive scorpion.

  The scorpion’s tough carapace made it difficult to cut through, so Menchi expertly targeted the saps betweees, swiftly w her way through the creature’s body. To Larry, watg her work was like witnessing an artist dug a symphony. Her knives danced gracefully through the air, slig with both precision and elegance. Within moments, the once imposing scorpion was ly disassembled into ly categorized parts, each piece carefully pced onto a floating preparation table.

  Menchi cssified the parts with an experienced eye, expining her process to Larry as she worked. "The belly meat is the most tender and fvorful," she said, holding up a thick sb. "It's best for soups and stews." She gestured to the tail se. "This area has a slightly stronger st but offers a crispy texture when braised." "The cws," she tinued with a grin, tapping them lightly, "are packed with firm, juicy meat. They’re perfect for steaming to preserve their inal taste."

  Larry listened ily, abs the knowledge as he watched her sort through the scorpion with practiced ease. Menchi’s voice carried a newfound warmth—expining everything to Larry made her feel like she was doing something meaningful.

  Ohe scorpion was fully processed, Menchi’s Nen abilities truly shone. Larry had always known she could materialize kit utensils, but seeing it in a was aory entirely.

  In a fsh, a row of kit appliances, all made from aura, appeared before them. A rge preparation table stood in the ter, holding the sorted scorpion parts. To the left, a steaming boiler, and to the right, a braising pot atop a fme-produg stove that emitted a trolled aura. Larry's mouth twitched slightly at the sight. “So... you basically carry aire kit with you at all times, huh?”

  Menchi smirked. “Pretty much.”

  Larry finally uood the limitations of Menchi’s ability. The tools she materialized were just that—tools. They couldn't preserve ingredients over long periods, as ste required a spatial Nen ability, which Menchi cked. The reason she couldn’t materialize a w refrigerator was likely because it involved a of spatial manipution—something outside the realm of basic materialization. Instead, her ability focused entirely on the cooking process, turning any location into a fully funal kit. Despite this limitation, there were impressive aspects—such as the self-sustaining stove fme, which clearly didn’t fall within the scope of pure materialization.

  Her ability to gee fmes fell uhe Enha and Transmutation categories, allowio push her cooking teiques to an even higher level. As a materialization-type user, she could utilize up to 80% of transmutation's power, which was more than enough to achieve the perfect bance of heat and precision.

  Under her focused trol, a powerful yet steady fme roared beh the cooking pots, far strohan the small flickers they had entered before. Finally, after putting her heart and soul into the process, three dishes and a soup were ready—steaming hot and radiating an irresistible aroma that filled the desert night. As Larry stared at the mouthwatering spread, he could have sworn he saw a faint golden shimmer rising from the food. ‘Am I imagining things, or is this food literally glowing?’ He couldn't help but wonder if taking a bite would bring him to tears from sheer bliss.