Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 20 (Patreon)

Chapter 20: The Hand of God

"Bang... Bang...!"

A heart full of vitality was beating inside a transparent sphere in Luo's left hand, its pace intensifying, the frequency of its beats starting to increase.

"That's right, you are afraid."

Luo glanced at the heart he had extracted from Cook's body, now beating in his hand. Judging by its rapid pulsation, Cook was indeed terrified.

"Is this... your Nen?"

Cook's face twisted grotesquely, a scene of eerie unknown forcing him to confront his innermost fears, especially with his heart in Luo's grasp, leaving him no room to even consider reckless actions.

The tables had turned.

"Honestly, I am quite surprised myself." Luo took a deep breath, eyeing the lively heart, and remarked, "You're not bleeding, nor do you seem to be in pain. This seems too lenient on you."

Just as Luo's gaze shifted for a moment, Cook's pupils dilated then constricted, and in the moment they widened again, he lunged at Luo.

"So, I cannot agree."

As if prepared, Luo squeezed the heart in his left hand, pressing his fingers into it through the layer of the transparent sphere.

"Ah!"

Cook, mid-leap, shuddered violently, his face twisting in pain, while Luo calmly stepped aside, letting Cook crash heavily to the ground.

Luo then walked a few steps forward, back turned to Cook lying on the ground, before slowly turning around to observe Cook, now curled up in agony.

He remained silent for a while before sighing softly, his tone self-mocking, "To extract a man's heart and not allow him an immediate death is like cloaking slaughter in false mercy."

As Luo's words fell, he slightly loosened his grip, no longer squeezing Cook's heart.

At the same time, Cook's tense body began to relax as the intense pain quickly faded away with Luo's loosened grip.

Incomprehensible, utterly incomprehensible!

What kind of power is this?

Why did I lose?

Cook slightly raised his head, looking up at Luo with a gaze full of incomprehension, his voice trembling, unable to accept defeat, "I can't lose to you! I can't lose to a brat like you!"

Luo remained silent but squeezed the heart once more, causing Cook to scream again, enduring inhuman pain.

This is what it feels like to control life and death...

Luo's expression was complex as he tossed aside Cook's severed palm, then a book with a black and white cover appeared in his right hand amidst a surge of white light.

This was a black hardcover book, about four centimeters thick, mostly black except for a part of the cover which had a white design and letters.

Within a rectangular black frame on the cover was a picture of Jesus crucified, below which were four Chinese characters in regular script:

【The Hand of God】

"This must be part of the ability as well."

While still gripping Cook's heart, Luo examined this out-of-place black book.

The crucifixion of Jesus on the cover looked like a white paper cut-out pasted onto the completely black cover, and the four Chinese characters below it were also white.

If this had been an entirely white book, Luo might have accepted the crucifixion image and the four Chinese characters.

White would be the color befitting Jesus, yet the book's dominant black hue created a sense of conflict.

Despite being four centimeters thick, the book wasn't large, seemingly designed to fit in Luo's hand.

Snap!

With a slight motion of his right hand, Luo opened the first page of the book, which was white, bearing only two black Chinese characters: Cook.

Life and death, merely a thought away.

Luo glanced at Cook, who was writhing in pain on the ground, then retreated ten meters away, pressing the heart in his left hand onto the first page of the book.

The heart slowly merged into the page until Luo's left hand was completely pressed against the page, the heart vanishing into thin air.

Watching this, Luo's eyes began to ripple, and as he slowly lifted his left hand, the previously blank page now bore an image of a blood-red heart.

"This is the Hand of God." Luo muttered to himself, looking at Cook, who was still alive.

Meanwhile, as the pain subsided, Cook's rigid body gradually relaxed, the ground beneath him damp with sweat.

Cook was in despair.

"Do you want to know why you lost?"

Luo lifted his left index finger, pressing it against the heart image on the page.

Cook looked at Luo with a gaze filled with despair, too weakened by the torture to speak.

"I won't tell you."

The killing intent arose as Luo's finger decisively swiped across the heart image.

Ultimately...

"Ugh..."

Cook's body on the ground suddenly convulsed, a large amount of blood spilling from his mouth, and his wrist, missing a palm, also began to spurt blood.

"I..."

The color in Cook's eyes gradually faded, his mouth moving slightly as his gaze fixed on Luo with intense resentment.

Simultaneously, the page bearing Cook's name in the book transitioned from pure white to pitch black, with both the name and the heart image consumed by darkness.

Observing Cook's hate-filled gaze even in death, Luo slowly closed his eyes, the book in his hand dissipating into light and vanishing.

"This day has come all too quickly, but it's for the protection of Machi and the others, so it had to be done. There will be more people like him to face in the future."

Luo sighed softly, preparing to check on Machi and the others, when he noticed a stream of smoke-like black gas rising from Cook's corpse.

"Hm?"

On seeing this, Luo's aura manifested once more, his expression wary, but the black smoky entity, resembling a small snake, darted towards him.

Luo felt no danger, yet the sinister approach of the black smoke suggested malice, possibly a final move from Cook before his death.

In a moment of peril, Luo's right hand conjured a transparent sphere, aiming it at the black smoke.

However, the smoke easily passed through the sphere, entering Luo's body under his astonished gaze.

Luo's heartbeat skipped as he frantically checked his body, finding nothing amiss.

At the same time, white smoke-like text appeared in his consciousness.

【Nen detected, absorption recommended.】

Surprised, Luo connected this to the ominous hand, immediately realizing that the black smoke was likely formed from Cook's Nen after his death.

"Out of resentment and unwillingness to let go, even in death, you wish to entangle me with your malice?"

Luo silently commanded the absorption in his mind, then coldly observed Cook's lifeless body, remarking, "Unfortunately, your resentment, strengthened by death, will only benefit me."

After absorbing the posthumous malice, his body's consciousness swiftly displayed the awakening levels of six Nen categories.

Enhancer: Awakening level 2%

Emitter: Awakening level 4%

Transmuter: Awakening level 2.1%

Manipulator: Awakening level 2.1%

Conjurer: Awakening level 4%

Specialist: Awakening level 5%

"An overall increase of 2%..."

Luo was mildly surprised; he hadn't expected such a significant boost from absorbing Cook's malice. If killing Nen users could enhance his strength, then eliminating enough individuals could rapidly achieve a hundred percent in all categories.

With this thought, Luo shook his head, dismissing the idea, and hurried to see how Machi and the others were doing.

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