Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 67 (Patreon)

Chapter 67: Human Puppets and Enhancement

Luo has three ways to enhance his power: training, gourmet food, and ancient artifacts.

Compared to gourmet food and ancient artifacts, hard training is the least effective and slowest way to increase strength. Consuming rare ingredients is thirty times more effective than training, while absorbing the Nen from ancient artifacts is a hundred times more effective than that.

Thus, absorbing Nen from ancient artifacts is the fastest method for Luo to enhance his strength.

However, ancient artifacts capable of Nen absorption are the rarest among the three, and he had only intended to casually deal with Elly, not expecting to find an item capable of Nen absorption in her room.

This was truly an unexpected joy.

Luo's gaze fell directly on the exquisite doll, not even noticing the glass screen next to the living room, which lacked the round glass stickers.

Elly hopped to the sofa, picked up the doll, and sat down.

Suppressing the surprise in his heart, Luo silently walked to the side, glancing at the chairs and dressing table on the coffee table.

Judging by their appearance, they were items of age, and the matching doll looked not very old but certainly had years on it.

Though it was a set, only the doll had Nen attached to it.

"What are you standing there for? Sit down."

Seeing Luo standing, Elly patted the sofa next to her while holding the doll.

Luo, changing his previously dismissive attitude, decisively sat next to Elly.

For the Nen on the doll, putting up with the child's tantrums for a while was acceptable, considering it an advance payment.

"May I see the doll?" Luo asked directly after sitting down.

Elly looked surprised and asked curiously, "You like dolls too?"

For a moment, Luo didn't quite know how to answer. He was worried that if he said he didn't like it, Elly wouldn't let him touch the doll, so he smiled and said, "I quite like it."

"Oh."

Elly nodded, but instead of handing the doll to Luo, she said, "But this is not a doll; it's a puppet."

"..." Luo.

"Alright, since you seem to like it so much, I'll let you see it." Elly handed the doll over, cautioning, "This is a finely crafted puppet by the Ogygia family, one of only seven sets in the world. Be careful not to handle it too roughly."

Luo was quite surprised as he took the doll, saying, "You're pretty knowledgeable."

Elly proudly smiled and boasted, "I know much more than just this. Out of the one hundred and twenty-eight ancient artifacts Barney collects, I can recount the origins of thirty-six."

Luo was astonished.

This girl, who casually called her father by name, was quite a character. Moreover, Barney had collected one hundred and twenty-eight ancient artifacts...

What did that imply?

With the Elder of the Eastern Street owning only seven artifacts, two of which had Nen attached, how many of Barney's one hundred and twenty-eight artifacts could possibly have Nen?

If the collector's level was too low, then there wouldn't be many artifacts with Nen attached, but with such a large base, there would likely be no less than ten special artifacts.

Thinking this, Luo became excited.

His current data average was only at 5%, and reaching 100% would take an unknown amount of time and effort. Absorbing Nen from ancient artifacts was the quickest shortcut.

With data enhancement, not only could he increase his internal aura, but his strength and accuracy would also improve.

While regular training could gradually increase these abilities, it would feel slow and gradual, unlike the rocket-like sensation of absorbing Nen from ancient artifacts.

If he could visit Barney's collection... five, ten, or even twenty artifacts might be possible. If one artifact could increase his average by 1%, twenty artifacts would mean a 20% increase.

"How old are you this year?" Not dwelling on the currently unrealistic thoughts, Luo shifted the topic while examining the Ogygia puppet, seeking to converse more with Elly.

Elly thought for a moment and said, "I'll be ten in another month."

"Knowing so much at not even ten, that's impressive."

If not for what Elly had said before, Luo's praise would have been insincere.

A girl not yet ten being knowledgeable about antiques was remarkable, indirectly reminding him of Chrollo Lucilfer.

Elly, being praised by Luo, smiled very happily. She only knew so much from being influenced by Barney.

Usually, she was grounded at home, with her only chances to go out being with Barney.

Her childhood lacked peers and games; all she had were the antiques Barney brought home.

Over time, Elly grew to love these antiques and even read books about them earnestly.

Most of her conscious life had been devoted to this pursuit.

Luo could see that Elly was genuinely happy, understanding that even his casual praise meant a great deal to her.

His gaze shifted slightly, landing on the exquisitely made Ogygia puppet. In the silence, he activated his ability to absorb the Nen attached to it, integrating it into his body.

After a moment, his Manipulator data jumped by 4%, reaching 7.3%, surpassing the Specialist data at 6.2%, and nearly breaking the 6% average across all six Nen types.

The most direct effect of this data increase was the boost in his internal aura.

Maintaining maximum aura output in battle, Luo could last fifteen minutes, but after absorbing the Ogygia puppet's Nen, this extended to seventeen minutes.

Though it was only a two-minute difference, such an enhancement was instantaneous, whereas achieving this through training would take at least a month.

As the duration of consistent training increased, the difficulty of improvement also rose, but this difficulty might be negligible if enhancement came solely through absorbing Nen from ancient artifacts.

As long as the duration was sufficient, against an equally matched opponent with no clear opportunity for victory, employing a war of attrition could exhaust the opponent to death.

"The Ogygia family's puppet series indeed has its uniqueness, being able to preserve so well even after five hundred years, but I won't grow fond of this artifact." After absorbing the Nen, Luo handed the Ogygia puppet back to Elly.

This delicate puppet, made from a living person, was as Elly said, one of only seven sets, belonging to a series, and a pinnacle of the Ogygia family's craft.

The series' special aspect was using infants as raw material; presumably, the other six puppets also had Nen attached.

Luo wasn't sure if Elly was aware of this, but he wouldn't disclose it voluntarily, seeing how much she cherished the human puppet.

The Nen absorbed from the puppet was predominantly from the Ogygia family, with a minor part being resentment, extremely weak, hence not affecting the living. Now absorbed by Luo, any potential danger was eliminated.

Resentment, capable of growth, could become a unique entity if not discovered and removed by an exorcist.

Like this human puppet, meticulously made from a living body, if the resentment had a chance to grow, it might become a moving 'life form' of sorts.

Luo was unclear about the current state of the other six sets of puppets, but he had neutralized any threat from this set.

"You know about this too?" Elly, taking back the puppet and hearing Luo mention the Ogygia puppet's age, was visibly surprised.

Luo smiled, downplaying, "I know a bit, not too much."

He was interested in Barney's collection and needed to find a way to get closer to them, hoping for a chance to examine the artifacts up close.

"So, you don't like Xiao Cheng because of how it was made?" Elly pouted, Xiao Cheng being the name she gave to the human puppet.

Now it was Luo's turn to be surprised, asking, "You know the original material of this human puppet?"

"Of course, I do." Elly huffed.

"Then you…" Luo hesitated, wondering how she could still like it despite knowing.

"I can't stop its creation, and its birth doesn't prevent me from loving it, from accepting it." Elly gently stroked Xiao Cheng's cheek, her actions tender.

Watching this, Luo fell silent.

For some reason… he regretted absorbing the Nen from the human puppet.

It seemed, inadvertently, he might have snuffed out Elly's chance to become a master of the Manipulator Nen type.

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