E23 - The Limitless Hero
Source: Crunchyroll
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[00:05] Meili
Zhu Qi! Even his hair has turned white.
[00:10] Shirou
He's breathing, but he's out cold...
[00:12] Shirou
What happened to him?
[00:15] Mao
Zhu Qi...
[00:17] Mao
Why did you do this to him?
[00:21] Kaiyou
He betrayed us.
[00:24] Kaiyou
He got was he deserved.
[00:27] Mao
What do you want?
[00:29] Mao
What are you trying to accomplish here?!
[00:32] Kaiyou
We are simply trying to
establish righteousness.
[00:35] Mao
Righteousness?
[00:36] Kaiyou
It's in the name Mount Liang.
[00:39] Kaiyou
We inherited the ambition of the
righteous Timely Rain Song Jiang.
[00:44] Kaiyou
He entered these mountains
during the Sung Dynasty,
[00:48] Kaiyou
seeking to create a utopia
in this rotten land.
[00:51] Kaiyou
But he and his companions ultimately
failed to realize their ideals.
[00:57] Kaiyou
The remnants of the chefs who served him
[00:59] Kaiyou
passed down his story to their descendants
[01:02] Kaiyou
and eventually established
the Cooking Underworld.
[01:05] Kaiyou
This land is a massive culinary continent.
[01:08] Kaiyou
The people follow the hand that feeds.
[01:13] Kaiyou
Well, Liu Maoxing?
[01:14] Kaiyou
You could hold the lives of thousands
in the palm of your hand.
[01:19] Kaiyou
Doesn't that sound marvelous?
[01:22] Mao
I don't want to hold people's
lives in the palm of my hand.
[01:28] Mao
My mother Bei and Master Zhou Yu taught me.
[01:33] Mao
The zongzi you eat as a hungry traveler...
[01:36] Mao
The mapo tofu you eat while
surrounded by warm family...
[01:39] Mao
The bowl of porridge that gently
helps the sick recuperate...
[01:44] Mao
Helping people achieve those
tiny moments of happiness
[01:48] Mao
is the greatest joy a chef can experience.
[01:52] Kaiyou
I could kill you here and take your map,
[01:56] Kaiyou
but there's one man
who wouldn't accept that.
[01:59] Kaiyou
Your ideals against ours.
[02:02] Kaiyou
Let us prove whose are superior in a battle
for our lives and the utensils.
[02:08] Meili
Mao...
[02:09] Shirou
Mao!
[02:17] Mao
This will be our final battle,
Cooking Underworld!
[02:20] Chef A
Wh-What a kid!
[02:22] Chef B
He shackled his own leg!
[02:24] Kaiyou
Liu Maoxing, you will be facing
[02:28] Kaiyou
the Five Tiger Star who has come
closest to achieving perfection.
[02:31] Kaiyou
Mainstay of the Cooking
Underworld, revered by all.
[02:39] Meili
Could it be?
[02:41] Kaiyou
That's right. He is...
[02:50] Kaiyou
Flaming Chef Ya Kan!
SIGN True Cooking Master Boy
[04:27] Mao
The heavens will never side
with the Cooking Underworld,
[04:31] Mao
Flaming Chef Ya Kan.
[04:35] Yakan
Our battle will determine that,
Liu Maoxing, son of Lady Bei,
[04:40] Yakan
in the most ceremonious
of Mount Liang's kitchen stadiums,
[04:45] Yakan
Song Jiang's resting place,
the Protector of Justice Cave!
[04:55] Like
Allow me to announce the subjects
selected for this decisive battle.
[05:01] Like
The first subject is yakisoba!
SIGN Yakisoba
[05:05] Like
Adding color to this first-class battle
is the second special subject...
SIGN Heroes of the Land
[05:11] Like
...heroes of the land!
[05:13] Like
Please use yakisoba to represent
[05:15] Like
the heroes of China you
picture in your hearts!
[05:21] Like
Lastly, the rules require the loser
of this battle to pay in blood.
[05:26] Like
Just as Lord Song Jiang did 700 years ago,
[05:28] Like
they must drink a cup of poisoned wine.
[05:33] Shirou
What?!
[05:35] Like
Let the Protector of Justice
Cave battle begin!
[05:44] Yakan
I shall crush you, Liu Maoxing!
[05:48] Yakan
I swear on my honor as the Flaming Chef!
[05:55] Mao
Ya Kan.
[05:58] Shirou
He cut an entire cow in half
with his bare hands!
[06:01] Wuyong
That single blow is the beacon signaling
the start of his flaming cooking.
[06:05] Ludaci
Those skills and that spirit were born
and bred in Mount Jiang.
[06:10] Ludaci
Always leading the charge,
[06:12] Ludaci
he is the great protector
deity who inspires us.
[06:16] Kaiyou
Impressive as always, Ya Kan.
[06:18] Kaiyou
He truly is the brave leader who will
shake the culinary world to its core.
[06:22] Kaiyou
The spirits of the Kirin Chefs
will be lifted to the heavens.
[06:29] Like
Lord Ya Kan is taking this seriously.
[06:32] Like
Though he gracefully withdrew
on the Yangtze River that day,
[06:36] Like
Mao's shadow must have grown
unbelievably large inside Lord Ya Kan.
[06:43] Like
That's the kind of chef Mao is.
[06:53] Shirou
H-He really did it!
[06:54] Shirou
He turned the holding pond
into a sea of fire!
[06:57] Shirou
That water buffalo and boiled fish...
[07:02] Shirou
That's it.
[07:03] Shirou
Ya Kan's cooking a hearty yakisoba
with fish and meat in a thick sauce.
[07:12] Shirou
What is Mao doing?
[07:14] Shirou
He's spending an awfully long
time choosing his ingredients.
[07:24] Shirou
Should he be cooking so calmly?
[07:28] Kirin
There's an unspeakably fragrant
aroma coming from the holding pond!
[07:33] Ludaci
He's begun cooking his
noodles in the lake of fire!
[07:38] Kaiyou
Only a man so fascinated by the god of fire
could achieve such divine techniques.
[07:46] Meili
Mao...
[07:47] Meili
What kind of hero of the
land will he represent
[07:49] Meili
with so many ingredients available to him?
[07:53] Shirou
Mao, he's incredible!
[07:55] Shirou
They don't call him
the Flaming Chef for nothing!
[07:59] Mao
You're right. He is amazing.
[08:02] Mao
But ultimately, he hasn't changed
since our battle on the Yangtze River.
[08:07] Shirou
Huh?
[08:09] Mao
He's just doing the same thing.
[08:12] Shirou
But don't forget, Mao.
Ya Kan still has a mysterious power.
[08:18] Shirou
The wondrous power he used
on the Yangtze River
[08:23] Shirou
to grill those fish without charring them.
SIGN Great Heavenly Grilled Black Carp
[08:25] Shirou
He'll use that same hellfire to overcome
[08:28] Shirou
the greatest hurdle of cooking
yakisoba, uniform browning.
[08:33] Mao
Shirou, I'm not the same
chef I was back then.
[08:38] Mao
I figured something out through
my battle against Zhu Qi.
[08:41] Shirou
What do you mean?
[08:43] Mao
Ya Kan, Zhu Qi...
[08:45] Mao
Every Five Tiger Star has exceptional senses
[08:48] Mao
far greater than the common person's.
[08:51] Mao
Ya Kan's power is most likely
his sense of touch.
[08:56] Mao
His extraordinary skin accurately measures
the temperature of all parts of a fire,
[09:01] Mao
allowing him to make optimal
use of it at all times.
[09:06] Shirou
Can you beat him, Mao?
[09:09] Mao
Take a look, Shirou.
[09:11] Shirou
Huh?
[09:18] Shirou
The noodles are falling like a waterfall!
[09:22] Mao
This is my chance
to root out the Underworld.
[09:32] Wuyong
Such a vivid color!
[09:36] Wuyong
The noodles are becoming a golden
brown right before our eyes!
[09:39] Shirou
Ya Kan uses his exceptional sense
of touch to detect the heat of the fire
[09:43] Shirou
and the wind pressure generated
by his arms to control the heat.
[09:48] Like
Chinese cuisine is about cooking with fire.
[09:51] Like
Lord Ya Kan's control over fire makes
him the greatest chef in the land!
[10:02] Shirou
What's he doing?
[10:03] Meili
He's steaming it so that
the flavors will blend.
[10:09] Shirou
He uses a knife so delicately
despite his size.
[10:13] Shirou
Damn! His skills with both fire
and knives are perfect!
[10:17] Shirou
He's a flawless chef!
[10:19] Shirou
Will you be okay, Mao?
[10:27] Mao
All done.
[10:27] Shirou
Huh? What?
[10:30] Mao
I carved up a carrot. Cute, right?
[10:32] Shirou
Why are you wasting your time doing that?!
[10:35] Shirou
Why can't you take this seriously?!
SIGN Mogao Caves, Dunhuang
[10:43] Xielu
That's odd. It should be
around here somewhere.
[10:53] Leien
This wall looks like it was built later.
[10:57] Xielu
Huh? All right. In that case...
SIGN Spirit Storehouse
[11:06] Leien
This is the sixth utensil!
[11:08] Xielu
All right!
SIGN Daxian Temple, Guangzhou
[11:52] Like
Time's up!
[11:54] Like
We'll now move onto the judging!
[11:56] Like
Lord Ya Kan, who shall judge this contest?
[12:03] Ya Kan
Mei Li of Yang Spring Restaurant, you do it.
[12:06] Meili
What? Who, me?
[12:09] Shirou
He's choosing someone on our side
just like he did on the Yangtze River.
[12:13] Shirou
He's as fearless as ever.
[12:15] Yakan
You don't object, do you, Liu Maoxing?
[12:20] Mao
I do!
[12:21] Mao
Jade Arrowhead Li Ke,
I'd like you to judge, as well.
[12:24] Like
What?!
[12:27] Kaiyou
He hates losing just as much as Bei did.
[12:31] Yakan
You just pulled the rug out
from under yourself.
[12:35] Mao
Did I?
[12:42] Like
First, Lord Ya Kan.
[12:47] Meili
Wow, so thick.
[12:49] Like
The subject was heroes of the land.
[12:52] Like
Which hero did Lord Ya Kan choose
to represent with his yakisoba dish?
[13:03] Shirou
Mao, something's not right.
[13:05] Shirou
I don't see the beef or fish he was cooking,
[13:09] Shirou
and his noodles aren't in a thick sauce.
[13:20] Shirou
What was that?
[13:24] Like
I-Incredible!
[13:26] Like
He wrapped the noodles into spirals
[13:28] Like
and fried them so they'd harden
into a cylindrical shape.
[13:30] Like
And inside the noodles is a thick
sauce as intensely hot as lava!
[13:35] Wuyong
What? He didn't pour his
sauce over the noodles?
[13:39] Ludaci
He hid it inside the noodles?!
[13:43] Like
The sauce contains flatfish,
sea bream, bamboo shoots,
[13:46] Like
Chinese cabbage, wood ear mushrooms,
and chopped vermicelli.
[13:49] Meili
The powerful flavor of
the noodles ties together
[13:52] Meili
the textures of the various ingredients
that spread throughout your mouth
[13:55] Meili
and their light and elegant taste.
[13:58] Meili
It's powerfully delicious.
[14:00] Meili
I can't believe he tied together
so many different ingredients.
[14:04] Meili
What's his secret?
[14:05] Like
Could it be that the rich
flavor of these noodles is...
[14:10] Like
It's beef!
[14:12] Like
He made these noodles by grinding up
that entire water buffalo
[14:15] Like
and mixing it into the dough.
[14:17] Like
Normally it's the noodles
that are seasoned by the sauce,
[14:20] Like
but in this case, it's the noodles
that are powerfully seasoning the sauce!
[14:23] Wuyong
I've never seen anything like this.
[14:26] Ludaci
The power of these noodles
will allow us to bring together
[14:29] Ludaci
the culinary worlds of this land!
[14:35] Ludaci
If we follow this man,
our success is guaranteed.
[14:38] Ludaci
Hurrah! Three cheers for Panther Head Ya Kan!
[14:42] Like
Lord Ya Kan, your dish is perfect.
[14:42] All
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
[14:45] Like
How does it connect to the theme
of heroes of the land?
[14:51] Yakan
Not even you can tell, huh? This is—
[14:54] Mao
This land was once divided
into seven kingdoms.
[14:57] Mao
It was split amongst the lands of
Qin, Han, Wei, Zhao, Qi, Yan, and Chu,
[15:04] Mao
known as the Seven Warring Kingdoms.
[15:08] Mao
However, two thousand years ago,
[15:12] Mao
there was a man who unified China
for the first time in history.
[15:16] Mao
His name was Qin Shi Huang.
[15:21] Yakan
Th-This boy...
[15:22] Mao
The six ingredients: flatfish, sea bream,
bamboo shoots, Chinese cabbage,
[15:28] Mao
wood ear mushrooms, and vermicelli
represent the six other kingdoms,
[15:32] Mao
and the water buffalo noodles
holding them together
[15:35] Mao
represents the kingdom of Qin
and Qin Shi Huang.
[15:38] Mao
Am I wrong, Ya Kan?
[15:41] Yakan
He saw through everything. In that case...
[15:48] Mao
Now, it's my turn.
[15:50] Yakan
What did he make?!
[15:56] Kirin
What's that?
[16:00] Ludaci
There's nothing special about it.
[16:02] Like
He's right. It's ordinary yakisoba.
[16:04] Like
I'm a little disappointed.
[16:06] Meili
You don't know Mao.
[16:08] Meili
There's no way he'd cook ordinary
yakisoba for such an important battle.
[16:16] Yakan
It certainly looks like ordinary yakisoba.
[16:20] Yakan
But what have you hidden
behind it, Liu Maoxing?
[16:25] Both
N-No...
[16:30] Like
It's just one dish.
[16:32] Meili
But with each bite, a completely different
flavor spreads throughout your mouth.
[16:37] Both
That's right!
[16:41] Both
It's like eating thousands
of different types of yakisoba!
[16:49] Yakan
What...
[16:51] Yakan
What in the world did he do?!
[16:56] Wuyong
Li Ke's still eating Liu Maoxing's
yakisoba without slowing down.
[17:01] Ludaci
The capricious and fickle Li Ke,
[17:04] Ludaci
whose strict tongue has earned her
the title of God's tongue?
[17:06] Like
I... I can't stop eating!
[17:09] Mao
This is Liu Maoxing's
special Henghesha Noodles!
SIGN Henghesha Noodles
[17:16] Ludaci
H-Henghesha?
[17:18] Kaiyou
Henghesha...
[17:21] Kaiyou
A numerical value far greater
than 100 million, or even one trillion.
[17:25] Kaiyou
A term derived from the number
of grains of sand in the Ganges River.
[17:30] Kaiyou
Is he saying it contains that many flavors?
[17:33] Like
Wait.
[17:34] Meili
What?
[17:35] Like
I'd like to confirm something.
[17:37] Like
Cut, braided, folded, twisted.
[17:41] Like
Though the noodles are of uniform thickness,
[17:43] Like
different techniques have been applied
to each individual noodle.
[17:47] Meili
That's why the textures are so diverse.
[17:53] Meili
I see.
[17:54] Meili
Unlike Ya Kan, whose dishes
are browned perfectly uniformly,
[17:56] Meili
Mao altered the shape of his dishes
and deliberately produced varied textures.
[18:06] Like
This one is spinach.
This one is century eggs.
[18:10] Like
Crab innards, shrimp,
yams, soft-shelled turtle,
[18:13] Like
red perilla, and silkie chicken, too.
[18:16] Like
Each noodle has a different
ingredient mixed into it.
[18:21] Kirin
E-Every noodle?
[18:24] Meili
It's like a compilation of all the
ingredients Mao has ever encountered.
[18:28] Meili
That's why each bite tastes so different.
[18:32] Mao
That's right. For example, the same
longxia noodles taste totally different
[18:35] All
when combined with
the salted duck egg noodles
[18:38] All
versus the sweet kabocha squash noodles.
[18:42] Mao
Furthermore, the shapes of the
noodles themselves are different,
[18:45] Mao
so you can enjoy the change in texture.
[18:47] Mao
The combinations change
every time you take a bite.
[18:50] Mao
The flavors and textures change endlessly.
[18:53] Mao
The flavors are truly limitless.
[19:00] Like
No matter how delicious
the first bite of yakisoba is,
[19:04] Like
the persistent and monotonous
flavor will eventually slow you down.
[19:08] Like
But you'd never grow bored
of this incredible dish
[19:10] Like
that expands your appetite infinitely.
[19:14] Like
So, Maoxing, how does this dish tie
into the subject heroes of the land?
[19:21] Mao
Well...
[19:23] Mao
Over four thousand years, as many people
as there are stars have appeared in this land.
[19:27] Mao
Some found success, while others failed.
[19:31] Mao
I think everyone who
lived the best they could
[19:34] Mao
was the hero of their own story
who fulfilled their destiny, so...
[19:45] Mao
this limitless flavor represents
all the people of China.
[19:53] Like
All the people?
[19:56] Like
What a mysterious dish.
[19:58] Like
What is this feeling? It's like the knot
inside my heart is being unraveled.
[20:08] Kirin
The winner gets the utensils and the map.
[20:11] Kirin
And the loser drinks a poisoned wine.
[20:14] Kirin
Who will they chose?
[20:16] Like
Lord Ya Kan's dish made
from six ingredients tied together
[20:19] Like
with water buffalo noodles
represented Qin Shi Huang.
[20:21] Like
It embodied unification.
[20:24] Like
Liu Maoxing's dish embodied liberation.
[20:29] Like
Unification and liberation.
[20:31] Like
Lord Ya Kan, I...
[20:36] Yakan
Li Ke.
[20:38] Yakan
You don't need to pass your judgment.
[20:42] Like
Lord Ya Kan?
[20:45] Yakan
The winner of the Protector of
Justice Cave yakisoba battle
[20:50] Yakan
is Liu Maoxing!
[20:56] Ludaci
Impossible!
[20:57] Ludaci
The undefeated Five Tiger Star
Lord Ya Kan declared his own defeat.
[21:03] Yakan
His dish was impeccable
in both flavor and idea.
[21:08] Yakan
Li Ke, your tongue proved it all.
[21:12] Yakan
Losing this contest was my destiny.
[21:21] Kaiyou
No! He's going to drink it.
[21:24] Kaiyou
He's actually going to drink it.
[21:28] Kirin
No way...
[21:30] Ludaci
Li Ke, overturn his ruling!
[21:33] Ludaci
Why aren't you saying anything, Li Ke?
[21:36] Yakan
The rest is up to you, Kai You.
[21:42] Wuyong
L-Lord Ya Kan...
[21:44] Ludaci
We're going to lose everything...
[21:47] Shirou
Is he serious?
[21:55] Like
Lord Ya Kan!
SIGN Next Time
SIGN "Creators of an Era"
[23:56] Narration
"Creators of an Era."