"Haah! We finally reached our destination!"
A few hours later, the moment Zebra's feet stepped onto the Gravel, he finally couldn't help shouting, "...This is the territory of the Desert Kingdom, right?!"
"Looks like you're pretty excited, Zebra."
Seeing Zebra so exhilarated, Toriko laughed as well. "Even though you didn't say it, you were really looking forward to this Desert Garden, weren't you? Makes sense, since this is a super-desert with a total area of nearly forty million square kilometers..."
"Didn't say it?"
Zebra immediately turned and glared at him. "...Do you think I had a chance to say anything before?"
"Who told you to go courting death?"
Toriko obviously wasn't going to indulge Zebra. He immediately shot back, "You knew what that guy's temper was like, yet you deliberately provoked him every single time... You deserved to be punished, didn't you?"
"You bastard..."
Zebra had always had a fiery temper and was about to fly into a rage without thinking, but at that moment, he suddenly noticed someone staring at him. "...Hm?"
"Ah... uh... ah..."
A frail local young man in the distance was looking at him in disbelief. "I-It's Zeb..."
"What are you looking at?" Zebra strode over irritably, his face dark as he threatened, "Look one more time and I'll kill you, bastard."
"Eek!"
The native boy really did seem terrified. He quickly shut his eyes and begged, "P-Please... spare my life!"
"Fine. I'll let you keep your pathetic little life for now."
Seeing him act like that, Zebra shook his head in disgust. "Forget that. Hurry up and take me somewhere to eat... You look like a local around here. I heard there's something edible called Sand Cuisine. You know about that?"
"I-I do..."
The boy hurriedly introduced the place. "This is the Desert Kingdom, a