Plant Manda, Harvest a Queen Snake

"Sure enough, this is the Gourmet World. Everything has to be decided by food." Setsuna mused inwardly as he began taking stock of his Senzu Beans.

"Twenty-two Senzu Beans left. No problem." Setsuna breathed a sigh of relief. He had originally brought back thirty Senzu Beans from the Dragon Ball World. Using only eight to save his own life was already well worth it.

"Poor Orochimaru. He'll have to choose a new summon in the future. Hopefully, he won't discover Manda is gone only when he needs to use him in battle."

Even so, Setsuna felt no guilt whatsoever. He and Orochimaru had always been using each other. Whether Orochimaru got screwed over placed no psychological burden on him at all.

At that moment, a thunderous voice rang out from the sky. "Little one, what was that food that satisfied my appetite just now?"

"This is called a Senzu Bean." Setsuna raised the cloth bag in indication, somewhat surprised. "You can talk?"

He did not remember much about Toriko anymore, but he seemed to recall that the Eight Kings had never been shown speaking.

"Merely vibrations of sound. It is not difficult for beings like us." The Snake King's head descended from the clouds like a meteor suspended in midair. Its sheer colossal size made Setsuna's body tense instinctively.

"Senzu Beans? Are these the latest product of human research?" The Snake King's voice boomed like thunder, making Setsuna's ears ache.

As for the method Setsuna had used to summon that snake from afar, it had no intention of asking. It was merely a spatial ability. Though rare, it was far from extraordinary. For instance, the Sky Deer, one of the Eight Kings of the Gourmet World, could even create an Inner World where time flowed ten thousand times faster.

What truly intrigued it was the Senzu Beans. Something so tiny could make it feel full. It was simply miraculous.

"That's right. More precisely, they are the product of my research." Setsuna shamelessly bestowed the title of researcher upon himself.

In the Gourmet World, chefs were the most prestigious profession. Every faction fought over them, and they could even spark world wars. As for agricultural scientists, while they were not as important as chefs, they were still respected.

"You are quite impressive." The Snake King did not doubt him.

Although it was one of the Eight Kings of the Gourmet World, it did not completely ignore the human world.

At the very least, it had never heard of food like Senzu Beans, where merely a few could make a creature of its size feel full. It completely defied the laws of matter.

"However, your Senzu Beans taste far too ordinary. They can only fill the stomach and lack the true essence of gourmet food." The Snake King gave its assessment, hoping it could taste Senzu Beans in all sorts of flavors someday.

"Yes, that is also the direction of my future research." Setsuna readily agreed. In the Gourmet World, deliciousness truly was what mattered most.

After a moment of silence, the Snake King said, "I accidentally ate your friend just now. As compensation, I will give you one of my descendants as your companion."

As it spoke, a circular "mountain" several hundred meters tall descended from the sky and landed before Setsuna.

The mountain split open, and a baby snake several times larger than Manda hatched from within. Looking at the Snake King, it gave several affectionate cries.

"Follow your master and leave this continent." The Snake King sounded rather emotional. The food on this continent was only barely enough for it to survive. It absolutely could not support two fully grown Queen Snakes.

Setsuna had happened to display the "Senzu Beans," so letting the little snake leave with him was also a way out.

Setsuna was somewhat dumbfounded. Trading Orochimaru's Manda for a Queen Snake of his own was definitely a huge profit, but considering a Queen Snake's size, if he brought it back to the Naruto World, once it grew up, perhaps all the creatures on the entire planet would not be enough to feed it.

After thinking briefly, Setsuna quickly agreed.

He could worry about the future later. The key right now was that if he did not take this baby snake with him, he would not even be able to leave this continent.

His strength was only enough to throw his weight around at the edge of the Gourmet World. In this central region, any random ferocious beast could kill him.

But bringing the Queen Snake along changed everything. The Snake King was the absolute ruler of the Fourth Continent. What beast would dare provoke the descendant of a Queen Snake?

Seeing Setsuna agree, the Snake King nodded. "I will give you one more gift."

As it spoke, the Snake King opened its enormous blood-red maw. The next moment, a fruit resembling a globe flew out and landed before Setsuna, giving off an indescribably sweet fragrance.

Setsuna did not have much of a sweet tooth, yet the sweet scent emitted by this fruit made saliva gush uncontrollably in his mouth. The aroma alone was refreshing and intoxicating.

"What is this?" Setsuna had a faint guess, but he still forced himself to ask with tremendous willpower.

Seeing that Setsuna had not lost himself in the sweet fragrance, the Snake King's opinion of him rose further. "In your human legends, there is the full-course menu of Acacia, the God of Gourmet Food. This is the dessert on that menu: [EARTH]."

"So it really is EARTH!" Setsuna's breathing quickened. The food in this world was already far superior to that of any other world, while "EARTH" was the ultimate dessert among all the gourmet food in this world. Even he was filled with anticipation for it.

The Snake King continued, "But this EARTH has not yet fully ripened."

Setsuna asked, "Then how can it ripen?"

The Snake King said, "My race is born with an other-dimensional space within our bodies. The Gourmet Garden, known as the Floating Garden, exists inside me. My descendants are naturally the same. This fruit can be planted inside its body until it ripens."

Setsuna did not know whether to laugh or cry. After all that, the Snake King was still worried that he might abandon the little snake midway. This EARTH was essentially the Snake King's child support payment.

"I understand." Setsuna flew before the baby snake and soothed it gently. "Come on, open your mouth."

After the baby snake swallowed the fruit, Setsuna stroked its scales and said, "I'll call you Titan from now on."

"Woo, woo." Titan seemed quite pleased with the name and affectionately rubbed against Setsuna's palm, accidentally knocking him flying.

"What a monster." Setsuna could not help but sigh. Once Titan grew a little bigger, if there was any village he disliked, he could just toss Titan into it. The destruction it caused would probably be greater than even the Nine-Tails.

With that in mind, Setsuna took out a scroll and coaxed Titan into signing a blood contract.

Unlike the scrolls of Ryūchi Cave, which had been signed for countless generations, this was a brand-new scroll. Once Titan signed it, it would be the first generation. He had originally planned to see whether, after traveling to the Dragon Ball World again, he could use a wish to contract Shenron.

As for responding to the Summoning Technique, Titan was already a mature baby. It should learn chakra on its own and help ease its master's burdens.

"Is this the spatial ability you used to summon that foolish snake from afar? Interesting." The Snake King examined it with great interest but did not stop him. It could sense that the power within the scroll was rather intriguing.

"Yes. Would Snake King like to try it?" Setsuna's gaze was sincere. If he could summon the Snake King over, he could speedrun the God Tree dungeon.

"Heh. Are you sure the spatial passage can accommodate my body?"

"Oh, apparently not." Setsuna sighed.