A cook, vice-captain of the Rocks Pirates?

Rein remained noncommittal. He glanced at the distance, where Gatz had already started arm wrestling with Joz over the last piece of roast meat, while Dorum was shouting at the top of his lungs, "Don't be on the deck, my ship will fall apart!"

A slight smile curved at the corners of Ryan's lips.

"However, from a chef's perspective, what's wrong with going crazy once in a while if it's to present the best feast for the family?"

"Okay, I'm about to start eating, I'm very busy."

"If you want to reserve the first bowl of that soup, remember to prepare enough ingredients in advance to satisfy me as payment for the meal."

After finishing his sentence, Ryan hung up the phone decisively.

Only the five supreme rulers of the world, standing frozen in place with incredibly complex expressions on their faces, remained.

"He...he hung up the phone?"

"How dare he hang up on us?!"

"He even asked us... to prepare money for our meals?!"

Chapter 243 Ancient Recipes

The five elders felt that their worldview had been completely overturned at this moment.

For the first time in eight hundred years, they were humiliated in this way.

Moreover, they couldn't even refute it.

Although their words were arrogant, they also revealed a crucial piece of information—they didn't seem to intend to use Ohara's knowledge to do anything substantial or world-shattering in the short term.

They really do seem to be just... studying recipes.

This realization left the Five Elders feeling a profound sense of powerlessness.

It's like you're fully armed, ready to face a world-destroying dragon, only to find out that the dragon just wants to borrow your kitchen to roast a sweet potato.

You're caught between fighting and not fighting, feeling utterly frustrated.

"How to do?"

"Let's wait and see."

The towering Five Elders finally delivered the final blow, his voice filled with exhaustion.

"Strengthen the monitoring of all historical texts worldwide, and at the same time, make CP0 spare no effort to find ingredients that can rival or even surpass the knowledge of Ohara."

"That chef reminded us."

His eyes became incredibly deep.

"To win this war, we can no longer stick to the old ways; we also need to prepare our own... menu."

……

On the back of the ancestral giant tortoise, the atmosphere of the banquet reached its peak because of Ryan's shocking phone call.

"Hahaha! Head Chef! You were so cool just now!"

As Gatz stuffed meat into his mouth, he mumbled, "I've never seen anyone dare to talk to those old guys like that!"

Newgate also burst into laughter, looking at Ryan with admiration and pride in his eyes.

He knew that choosing to believe in this young man was the best decision he had ever made in his life.

The future of this ship will hold infinite possibilities because of the chef's presence.

After the banquet, Ryan found Dr. Clover.

"Doctor, starting today, your research direction may need some adjustments."

"Adjustment?"

Dr. Clover was somewhat puzzled.

"Yes."

Renn nodded and took out an old cookbook from his pocket. It was made of some kind of animal hide and smelled faintly of milk.

"I need you to temporarily set aside your research on the blank century and do your best to help me decipher this cookbook."

Dr. Clover took the recipe with a puzzled look, and after flipping through only a few pages, his cloudy old eyes suddenly trembled.

What is recorded on it is not writing, but an extremely ancient and unknown system composed of various pictographic symbols and energy diagrams.

But with all the knowledge he had accumulated in his life, he could clearly sense that the depth and breadth of knowledge contained in this cookbook was even... beyond those historical texts!

"This...this is..."

"A cookbook from ancient times, about the concept of how to cook."

Ryan explained calmly.

"I need your strength to help me finish that soup called the era."

Dr. Clover looked at the young man before him, whose calm demeanor seemed otherworldly, and his heart was filled with turbulent emotions.

For the first time, he truly understood that he and the scholars of Ohara had not boarded a pirate ship, but an ark sailing towards the unknown, towards truth, and perhaps even towards the realm of the gods...

And this young chef is the only helmsman of this ark.

After the scholars of Ohara officially joined, some subtle and interesting changes occurred on the back of the ancestral giant tortoise.

The most noticeable change is the addition of a mobile library.

Thanks to the painstaking efforts of Dorum, a top shipwright, a temporary library, constructed from shape memory alloy and fire-resistant and moisture-proof wood, with a structure strong enough to withstand the shockwaves generated by Gatz's sleepwalking burps, was erected.

The scholars were like fish in water, immersed in the ocean of knowledge every day, and their research enthusiasm was ignited like never before.

Meanwhile, the Whitebeard Pirates gained a group of teachers with peculiar styles.

Dr. Clover would occasionally give history lectures, which most of the crew would fall asleep to, but Newgate and a few captains would listen with great interest.

For the first time, they systematically learned about the hidden side of this world, and the weight of history gave them a deeper understanding of their future voyages.

Of course, the biggest change is in Gatz.

This giant has recently become obsessed with playing with little Robin.

Of course, what he meant by "playing" was to have Robin sit on his shoulders and then run around the island carrying the anchor, euphemistically calling it a live-fire exercise of the Giant Chariot.

Robin would use her little hands to scratch the itches he couldn't reach on his own.

The combination of one man and one giant has become a unique sight on the ship, and has also brought new and unpredictable challenges to Dorlum's maintenance budget.

Rennes remains the same Rennes: calm and focused.

He devoted most of his time to studying that ancient cookbook.

With the help of Dr. Clover and a host of top scholars, the deciphering of the recipe is progressing rapidly.

As each ancient symbol was deciphered, a door to a completely new culinary world slowly opened before Renn.

The recipe book contained information that went far beyond traditional cooking.

How to marinate a piece of meat with sound, so that its texture changes with different tones.

How to use light to bake a pastry so that it presents different flavors under different light spectrums.

There are even ways to add emotions as a seasoning to soup, so that the taster can experience the joy, anger, sorrow and happiness that the maker wants to convey the moment they drink it.

Renn was completely absorbed; he felt his understanding of food was undergoing an incredible transformation at this feast of knowledge.

That day, Raine was in the kitchen trying to replicate a special seasoning called Resonance Salt from a recipe, which required grinding and blending several kinds of crystal minerals containing different frequencies of energy in a specific ratio.

Just as he was completely absorbed in his thoughts, a vibrant voice interrupted him.

"Brother Renn! Brother Renn!"

It was Little Robin, who ran in carrying a huge botanical encyclopedia that was taller than her, her face flushed with excitement.

"what happened?"

Raine put down the crystal mortar and asked with a smile.

Look at this!

Robin turned to a page in the encyclopedia and pointed to a plant illustration with a peculiar style.

It was a peculiar coral that grew near an underwater volcano, its entire body resembling a burning flame, yet exuding a chilling aura.

"I found this while organizing ancient plant literature. The book says that this coral is called the Ice and Fire Twin Flower. It is not edible on its own, but its roots and stems produce a peculiar crystal when mixed with a spring called the Tranquil Spring of the Deep Sea."

Chapter 244 Flame Island

Robin raised his head, his large, black, gem-like eyes gleaming with wisdom.

"The book says that this crystal is called the Stone of Contradiction, and it is the main ingredient for making a top-grade tranquilizer that can instantly calm a person's emotions and put them into a state of absolute rationality."

"I suspect that this calming property might be able to neutralize the violent emotions contained in the ingredient you mentioned earlier called Nightmare Heart, right?"

Looking at the four-year-old girl in front of him, who had already shown amazing academic talent, Renn's eyes flashed with a heartfelt admiration.

He took the illustrated guide and carefully examined the description of the Ice and Fire Twin Flowers.

"The Stone of Contradictions..."

Renn's eyes lit up instantly.

He remembered the ultimate seasoning recorded in that ancient cookbook—the Philosopher's Salt.

It is a legendary seasoning that can completely neutralize and purify the energy properties of any violent, negatively charged ingredients, leaving only the purest primal power.

The most crucial core ingredient for making the Philosopher's Salt is a neutralizing core that can only be created by perfectly fusing two completely opposite extreme energies.

Isn't this contradictory stone the answer he's been searching for?!

"Robin, you are truly my lucky star."

Raine couldn't help but rub her little head.

"Then...can we go find it?"

Robin's eyes were filled with anticipation.

"of course."

A smile crept onto Ryan's lips.

He picked up the picture book and walked out of the kitchen.

"Captain, men."

Ryan's voice wasn't loud, but it reached clearly the ears of every crew member who was fooling around on deck.

"Our next destination has been decided."

He showed everyone the illustration of the twin flowers of ice and fire in the picture book.

"According to ancient food records, near an island called Flame Island in the latter half of the Grand Line, there grows a peculiar coral called the Ice and Fire Twin Flower."

"This coral is the main ingredient in a special seasoning that I call the Philosopher's Salt."

"Just a little bit of this can purify any dish of negative energy and impurities, allowing the ingredients to return to their purest and most original perfect state."

"I want to try it..."

Raine's gaze became incredibly profound as he glanced at the rubbing of the historical text, which was being carefully protected by scholars.

"...What kind of taste will it take when the truth of history is sprinkled with this salt?"

This idea sent a chill down the spines of all the monsters present.

"Gurarararar! Great! As expected of my head chef!"

Newgate was the first to burst into laughter. He rose from his throne, his mountain-like figure exuding an undeniable aura of dominance.

"My men! Set sail! Destination—Flaming Ice Island!"

"Oh oh oh oh oh!"

The ancestral giant tortoise let out a long cry, and its massive body slowly turned around.

The voyage to Yanbing Island was fraught with trials of ice and fire.

The colossal body of the progenitor tortoise glided smoothly across the unpredictable seas of the latter half of the Grand Line, like a moving continent.