Chapter 333

Haruto circled the Breath Brachiosaurus, running his fingertips over its neck, thick muscular tail, and broad, rounded rib section.

When he pressed down, he could clearly feel the springiness of the muscle beneath his fingers, along with the remarkably even distribution of subcutaneous fat.

Haruto withdrew his hand and nodded in satisfaction, admiration flashing through his eyes.

"The meat on this Breath Brachiosaurus is excellent."

He turned toward Kagura and Kanna and began explaining the different cuts with obvious enthusiasm.

"The neck muscles are constantly working whenever it raises or lowers its head and turns from side to side while feeding. All that repeated stretching has made the muscle fibers exceptionally fine, and the fat content is less than one percent, so the texture should be crisp, tender, and springy."

"It would be perfect for a quick stir-fry. All it needs is simple seasoning to preserve the natural flavor."

"The tail is the exact opposite. The muscle fibers are dense and tightly packed, wrapped in a thick layer of connective tissue loaded with collagen."

"If you braise it slowly or simmer it in a clay pot for several hours, the connective tissue will melt down into a rich, sticky gelatin while the meat itself still keeps a satisfying chew."

"And then there are the ribs."

Haruto slapped the Breath Brachiosaurus’s enormous chest, producing a deep, muffled thud.

"The meat here has beautiful marbling, with fat and lean distributed almost like marble. Once the fat renders during grilling, it’ll soak into the lean meat, combining that roasted richness with the natural savoriness of the flesh. These ribs are going to be incredible over charcoal."

Listening to Haruto describe each cut in such mouthwatering detail, Kagura unconsciously rubbed her flat stomach.

A faint growl came from it.

Her cheeks reddened slightly, and she immediately turned her face away.

Beside her, Kanna pressed her lips together, a trace of anticipation appearing in her eyes.

Haruto himself was already getting hungry.

He raised Myriad Worlds, and with a thought, the kitchen knife transformed into an enormous bone cleaver nearly five meters long.

The blade was heavy yet razor-sharp, its edge gleaming coldly beneath the sunlight.

Haruto leapt into the air.

The giant cleaver followed the natural grain of the Breath Brachiosaurus’s musculature and cut cleanly into the carcass.

Soft slicing sounds accompanied the blade as it passed through flesh, punctuated by sharp cracks whenever joints and bones separated.

Haruto moved with effortless precision.

Every cut landed exactly between muscle groups and along the gaps in the skeleton. A slight turn of his wrist was enough to remove an entire section of meat intact, without wasting even a scrap.

His eyes were sharp and completely focused, as though the rest of the world had disappeared and only the Breath Brachiosaurus before him remained.

Kagura and Kanna stood quietly nearby, unconsciously softening even their breathing so they would not disrupt his rhythm.

In barely fifteen minutes, the enormous carcass that had once resembled a small mountain had been completely broken down.

Haruto sorted the different cuts according to how he intended to cook them—neck meat, tail, ribs, organs, and everything else—before storing all of it inside the Gourmet Restaurant.

The Gourmet World was filled with dangerous beasts. Cooking something this fragrant outdoors would almost certainly attract unwanted guests and ruin the pleasure of the meal.

Naturally, dinner would be prepared inside the Gourmet Restaurant instead.

Haruto opened the passage and stepped through first, with Kagura and Kanna following behind him.

The three went directly to the kitchen area.

Haruto approached the spacious prep counter and waved a hand. The Breath Brachiosaurus ribs and its full assortment of organs appeared neatly across the work surface.

"Tonight, we’re having a barbecue feast."

Haruto smiled, anticipation filling his eyes.

To speed things up, he called over Charizard and the now fully evolved Gardevoir.

Then he activated Myriad Worlds.

An exact duplicate of Haruto appeared on the opposite side of the counter and immediately picked up a knife in perfect synchronization with him.

"Kagura, Kanna, can you handle cleaning the large intestine and lungs?"

"Charizard, get the charcoal ready. Use fruitwood and keep the heat around medium."

"Gardevoir, use your psychic power to bring over all the seasonings we’ll need for marinating and grilling."

Haruto distributed the work methodically, and everyone immediately got started.

Once the tasks were assigned, Haruto took up his knife and chopped the enormous Breath Brachiosaurus ribs into half-meter sections, each containing three evenly spaced bones.

He submerged the ribs in a huge basin of clean water.

The water soon turned pale red as the residual blood slowly seeped out.

While the ribs soaked, Haruto accepted the seasonings Gardevoir floated over with psychic power, all ingredients he had collected within the Gourmet World.

There was three-colored Tri-Color Salt, plump and intensely aromatic Sesame Black Pepper, translucent Crystal Garlic bursting with fragrance, Red Crystal Chilies that looked like pieces of crimson gemstone, and Skull Ginger shaped like tiny skulls.

There was also sweet-and-sour rice vinegar from a Vinegar Spring, finely milled Red Wheat Flour, and fragrant Sweet Honey carrying a delicate floral scent.

Haruto processed and prepared each seasoning.

By the time he finished, most of the blood had been drawn from the ribs.

He removed them, drained them thoroughly, and transferred them into an enormous stainless-steel basin.

Then he added Tri-Color Salt, Sesame Black Pepper, minced Crystal Garlic, and Sweet Honey before carefully massaging the marinade into each rib section.

His pressure was perfectly controlled, helping the seasoning penetrate deep into the meat. The pale red ribs gradually took on a richer, more appetizing color as their aroma began to spread through the kitchen.

Next, Haruto turned his attention to the Breath Brachiosaurus hearts.

The creature possessed seven of them, each roughly the size of a millstone.

Haruto sliced one in half, exposing the blood vessels and clotted blood inside.

He carefully trimmed away the clots and white connective tissue before cutting the heart into uniformly thin slices, each only about the thickness of a coin.

The clear muscle grain remained visible across every piece.

Haruto transferred the heart slices into a large ceramic basin and added a small amount of Tri-Color Salt, natural cooking wine, and several slices of fragrant Skull Ginger. After mixing everything thoroughly, he left them to marinate and lose any lingering gaminess.

At the same time, Haruto’s duplicate was methodically preparing the Breath Brachiosaurus kidneys.

Each kidney stood taller than a person.

The duplicate split one lengthwise and carefully removed the white central glands responsible for most of the strong odor.

Then its wrist moved rapidly, scoring the kidney into beautiful wheat-ear patterns. Every cut was identical in depth, allowing the seasoning to penetrate without slicing all the way through.

The scored kidney pieces went into a large basin along with natural cooking wine, sweet-and-sour rice vinegar, and Red Wheat Flour.

The duplicate repeatedly kneaded and washed them.

Red Wheat Flour possessed excellent absorption properties, drawing out the remaining blood and unpleasant odors from the meat.

After washing them three times, until the water finally remained clear, the duplicate drained the kidney pieces and seasoned them with Tri-Color Salt, Sesame Black Pepper, and a strong clear spirit extracted from Red Lantern Wine Coconuts.

It mixed everything thoroughly and set the kidney aside to marinate.

Then the duplicate moved on to the liver.

Fresh Breath Brachiosaurus liver was dark brown, smooth, and glossy.

It was sliced into pieces about a centimeter thick and repeatedly rinsed in clean water until every trace of blood had been removed and the liver turned a lighter brown.

The slices were then gently mixed with natural cooking wine, Red Wheat Flour, and a small amount of Tri-Color Salt.

The flour would form a thin protective coating over the liver during grilling, locking in moisture and keeping the interior exceptionally tender.

Meanwhile, Kagura and Kanna had finished the initial cleaning of the large intestine and lungs.

The Breath Brachiosaurus intestine had been turned inside out and scrubbed repeatedly with large quantities of Red Wheat Flour and rice vinegar.

The flour absorbed the grease and impurities clinging to the inner wall, while the vinegar neutralized the odor.

After five or six thorough washings, the intestine had become clean and translucent, without the slightest unpleasant smell.

Kanna had handled the lungs with equal care.

She inserted a hose into the trachea and repeatedly flushed water through the organ, washing out all the pooled blood and impurities.

The lung tissue gradually changed from a dark red to a clean milky white.

Haruto accepted the prepared intestine and lungs and placed them into a huge pot of boiling water Charizard had already heated.

He added natural cooking wine and Skull Ginger and blanched everything.

Once the water boiled, Haruto skimmed away the foam, removed the organs, and immediately cooled them in fresh water.

He then used a bamboo skewer to pierce tiny holes all across the surface of the intestine.

That way, when it went onto the grill, the fat inside could escape through the openings instead of building up enough pressure to burst and splatter.

The lungs were cut into two-centimeter slices, squeezed dry, then mixed with Tri-Color Salt and minced Crystal Garlic before being left to absorb the seasoning.

By the time the last ingredient finished marinating, the entire kitchen was filled with the mouthwatering mingled aromas of meat and spices.

Charizard had already prepared a glowing bed of fruitwood charcoal.

The coals burned steadily, releasing a faint, pleasant woody fragrance.

The enormous barbecue grill had been set above them, its metal surface gleaming in the firelight.

Haruto looked across the spread covering the prep counters: richly seasoned rib sections, bright red heart slices, beautifully scored kidneys, tender liver, spotless sections of intestine, and clean white lung slices.

He nodded in satisfaction.

Everything was ready.

Now the barbecue feast could finally begin.

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