Our quest to locate the Legendary cookware led us to the city of Shanghai.
There, we were happily reunited with Sanche.
But the evil tendrils of the Underworld Cooking Society already infiltrated the city.
They took Sanche's father hostage, and declared war on us!
What’s that noise?
The battle will begin at half-past midnight, on a boat by the River.
Liu Mao Xing! Bring along your maps!
Please take off your blindfolds.
A-are we there?
The Underground Cooking Society’s Floating Qilin Palace...
Huge Floating Cooking Arena! Magical Iron Arm Soup
Please come this way. Tee hee hee hee.
This place must be packed by the enemy.
Without a doubt. There may be hundreds, no... thousands of them!
Guess we'll be lucky to get out of here alive.
Oh man! Let's go back, Brother Mao!
This is the chance of a lifetime.
Huh?
Leon?!
The Underworld seeks ways to make ordinary chefs submit to them.
They are motivated by pride and a demented sense of justice.
And now, we're about to see the Underworld's stage.
We can't get luckier than this.
Maybe so, but...
Why, why do I feel like I'm descending into hell?
It's so creepy!
So you're scared huh? As expected from a girl, I guess.
Oh really! Who was the one who wanted to go back just now?
Tee hee hee hee.
Don't worry, Mei Li. Shell and Leon are with us.
That's right! Not to mention me, Lord Shilou, who's of Japanese descent.
Underworld or Overworld, they'd better not mess with me!
Eeeek!
Help me, Brother Mao!
Keep it down, Shilou!
You perplex me at times. You actually chose him as your student?
Tee hee hee hee hee.
Hey, just how far are we supposed to go?
We're not here for a sightseeing tour, you know!
Tee hee hee hee.
It's right ahead.
I commend you for not running away.
Come in! This is our battlefield!
Does the Lord of Hell await beyond this door?
They've put a huge cooking arena... inside this ship?!
They all look so ferocious.
Are they all from the Underworld Cooking Society?
Father, where did they put you? Where are you?
I'm sure you know what we want.
The Legendary Cookware.
But, we can't just take it from the Shanghai Cooking Guild.
So, we've decided to challenge you for it with cooking, fair and square.
You took hostages, and you have the gall to speak of fairness?!
Release my father at once!
Hostage? You wound me greatly.
The Elders are staying in a different room from here.
Once the contest is settled, you may return with them.
Prove that they're fine then. Show them to us right now!
Your father gladly provided this to us.
A map which shows where Shanghai's Legendary cookware is sealed.
But this piece alone is gibberish.
Did you bring the corresponding maps said to be the key to decoding this?
I have them right here!
That's it!
The code and the map! The winner of our duel takes both!
Fight us, Underworld Cooking Society!
Very well! The Floating Qilin Palace's Banquet Cooking Tournament will now commence!
Four chefs from each side will each compete individually in one round.
We will duel in four categories: soup, dim sum, and two main dishes.
Whoever wins the most rounds is the champion.
Hold it! You said there are four matches, but there are only three of you!
Fear not. One more will arrive later.
One more?
The first contest is a soup battle.
Looks like it's my turn.
What kind of hand is that?!
I am Rouko, the Multicolored Tiger of the Underworld. Who do I face?
I've never seen anyone that uses a tool like that!
He's like a mechanical chef!
We have to compete against a monster like that?
Who's our representative?
Interesting. Multicolored, shmulticolored, or whatever he calls himself...
As the greatest Super Dim Sum Chef in the Continent, I won't let...
Shell. Let me take him on.
Sanche!
The Legendary cookware legitimizes the ruler of Shanghai's cooking world.
A contest with the Legendary cookware at stake means that the Shanghai Cooking Guild is at stake!
Please let me lead the charge!
Bah, I don't care who I fight. Just hurry it up!
Well then. Let me introduce our judges before we begin.
No way! All of you...
Who are they, Sanche? Do you know them?
That's the boss of the marketplace, Master Zhang.
He's the chief of the sailors, Master Hu.
The leader of the Merchant's Union, Master He.
The other two are also leaders of Shanghai's various guilds.
Shanghai is a modernizing city, and there aren't many social systems in place.
So people from different professions organized themselves into unions to protect the city themselves.
The Cooking Guild, a great alliance, is but of many here.
But...
Why? Why are you allied with the Underworld now?
You've always worked with our guild in the past!
So why do this now?!
Listen, Sanche. We don't care who runs the Shanghai cooking world.
Be it the Underworld or the Cooking Guild!
What?
That's right. So long as the strongest one runs things and keeps the peace in Shanghai.
I hear that Underworld Cooking Society has chefs that surpass even Super Chefs.
And they're willing to use their skills for the betterment of Shanghai.
So today, we've come to see for ourselves what they can really do.
Be warned, Sanche. We'll only vote for the better-tasting dish.
Don't think that we'll favor you just because we know each other.
Here in Shanghai, might makes right.
Sanche!
So the Underworld plans to control Shanghai and the cookware.
Enough talk, let's get going! My arm's itching to start!
All right! Both contestants, take your positions!
The first round is a soup contest. Use whatever ingredient is available.
Let the battle begin!
So many chickens.
What's he going to do now?
Arhat Tiger Claw!
What's he going to do now?
Arhat Tiger Claw!
Arhat Tiger Claw... It's amazing!
He plucked five chickens in the blink of an eye.
And not a single feather is left.
Removing feathers and bones, and filleting the meat without using a knife...
All done easily with that mechanical iron hand.
Such skill. That guy's something else.
I'll show you the deepest mysteries of soup, with ingredients cut by this razor-sharp claw!
Five whole chickens inside the same pot?!
How extravagant, adding five chickens to a stew simmering with pork bones prepared beforehand.
This must be an incredible soup in the making.
I can't wait to taste it.
This doesn't look good, Brother Mao.
But using a soup they prepared beforehand isn't fighting fair!
You're right. Hey you, that's not fair!
You prepared that soup even before the battle started!
Bunch of dirty cheat—
Shut up!
Stop your gibbering.
We know very well that the Underworld doesn't fight fairly.
Our duty is to win regardless of this fact.
That's right, Shilou, Mei Li. This is a battle!
What's wrong, Ryuchin boy? I don't see you doing anything.
Are you despairing because of my Arhat Tiger Claw?
That's okay. Now's your chance to surrender.
Sanche...
I hope he's all right.
He was probably shaken to find guild leaders cooperating with the Underworld.
What's with that face, Mao?
What?
In Shanghai, people visit our restaurant daily to eat my dishes.
Every day, I cook my best so I can see them smile.
You showed me that cooking can be a good thing.
For that, I thank you, Mao.
What?
For the first time, I could cook with a smile on my face.
Smiles create dishes, and dishes in turn create smiles.
Smiles create dishes, and dishes in turn create smiles?
That's right! You're absolutely right, Sanche!
Sanche will be fine.
Yeah, Mei Li.
But there's precious little that can compete against Rouko's fancy soup.
What primary ingredient does he intend to use?
I won't let the Underworld defeat me.
I'll protect everyone's smiles and the Shanghai Cooking Guild with my own hands!
What's that?
I'll take you on with this!
That's... a snapping turtle!
So he'll go with a Shanghainese specialty - a snapping turtle.
I've never had a snapping turtle dish before.
My mother spoke about eating some snapping turtles in Japan, where she came from.
It's also here in China. But it's hard to crack open the shell.
And it smells like mud, so it's a very tricky ingredient to use.
So why did he choose a snapping turtle?
Using snapping turtle to make soup? What kind of soup is that, Sanche?
I challenge you, Underworld Cooking Society!
That's amazing, Sanche!
Yeah. His knife skills are equal to Mao's.
Go for it!
Fight, Sanche!
It looks like both contenders are finished.
We will now proceed with the tasting.
You first, Rouko.
An entire chicken in each soup bowl.
Quite a dynamic dish.
It's been boiling for a while, but there's no color to the broth.
It looks just like plain hot water.
There's stuffing inside. How amusing.
The chicken's soft and tender. Proof it's been boiling for a long time.
But it's the taste that matters.
I'll say this first, Underworld Cooking Society.
It takes more than an ordinary dish to satisfy our palates.
Hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk.
Such a thin soup...
This tastes great, damn you!
The broth is so transparent, but its multiple ingredients have blended to create a thick flavorful soup!
The taste of the broth has seeped into the chicken.
It's an incredible soup!
Hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk.
Transparent yet thick? How did he make such a soup?
I'll tell you. The secret lies in the egg white I added to the pot.
E-egg white?
Adding egg white as an emulsifier stabilizes the soup by allowing all ingredients to mix harmoniously.
Thus creating this beautifully-transparent "Ultimate Soup".
And once the thick taste of the best ingredients soak into the chicken...
It becomes Heaven on Earth.
This is the Lord of all soups! The Emperor!
Not bad, Rouko. As usual.
Hyuk hyuk! Once you've fallen for the taste of his magical soup, no one can take a sip from another.
How can anyone beat an amazing soup like that?
Yeah. Even Brother Mao would have a hard time facing that.
Don't worry. No matter what he's up against, I have faith in Sanche.
But what kind of soup did Sanche make to counter that?
Sanche.
Did you see that, Ryuchin boy? Now's your last chance to give up!
Bark after the match is done.
What did you say?
You don't understand anything that's important about soup.
What? What do you mean by that?
I'll prove it to you now.
This is my soup!
W-what is that?
A m-melon?
A melon soup?
What's this all about? What kind of soup has Sanche made?
The city center has a bustling din,
As I jump over the guard rails unseen.
Must hurry over to our meeting place,
And beat the dusk in a race.
In your twinkling eyes, I see so clearly,
The soothing warmth that you feel for me.
And with only that, my poor defenseless heart,
Is starting to melt and break apart.
This is a feeling that won't stop; it just keeps going straight.
And it's starting to speed up and accelerate.
I'm by your door, and knocking hard. Won't you let me in?
Let me show you my spirit filled with passion. Yeah!