Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 73 (Patreon)

Chapter 73: Dilemma

Just as Kenda was about to make a final stand like a cornered beast, the sudden explosion of the wall took the three people present by surprise.

The explosion occurred on the right side of the bearded man and the man with a missing ear, as if someone had smashed it with a powerful force, turning it into pieces of rubble that flew through the rain toward the bearded man and the man with a missing ear.

However, the bearded man and the man with a missing ear reacted in time and quickly enough. After hearing the booming sound near their ears, they reflexively responded.

The bearded man faced the wall, raising his wide-bladed scimitar in front of him to block the flying rubble, while the man with a missing ear hid behind the bearded man.

"Clang clang..."

The shattered rocks struck the blade of the scimitar, instantly crumbling.

Watching this unexpected scene unfold, Kenda laughed. He stretched his left hand backward, quickly drew his pistol from his waist, disengaged the safety, loaded the chamber, and pulled the trigger in one fluid motion.

Bang!

The sound of the gun firing, the bullet, wrapped in high temperature, traveled the short distance of less than ten meters and penetrated the bearded man's temple.

The bearded man's eyes widened in anger as his body heavily fell to the ground on the right side, splashing a large amount of rainwater.

The man with a missing ear was suddenly shocked, his mind stirred.

Then, after the rubble, a figure rushed over, a palm strike aimed directly at his chest, deeply embedding itself.

The man with a missing ear's body shook violently as he spat out a mouthful of thick blood, staring blankly at the young figure in front of him, his eyes rapidly trembling, his lips slightly moving: "It's you..."

Luo calmly withdrew his blood-stained hand and stepped back.

This was just a palm strike wrapped in a significant amount of aura, without employing the power of God's Hand.

The man with a missing ear's chest immediately oozed a large amount of blood, helplessly slowly falling to the ground, eyes wide open in death.

The rain continued to drizzle, silently filling the alley with the scent of blood, washing away large patches of blood on the ground.

Luo looked down at the corpse at his feet, extending his blood-stained hand, allowing the rain to wash over it, but the blood was not so easily removed.

"Calm enough to scare even myself."

Luo let out a bitter laugh. During his training battles with Nobunaga, he thoroughly enjoyed the experience of dodging strikes in dangerous situations, indicating his enjoyment of the fight.

Now, after stabbing the man with a missing ear in the chest with a palm strike, his emotions were calm as water, what did that imply?

"Why did you come back? Where is Missy?"

Kenda lowered his gun, and after speaking, he spit out a small mouthful of blood, his calf slightly shaking, feeling somewhat weak.

Even though Luo's support was very timely and appropriate, his first concern was Elly, even using a tone of reproach.

I did save you...

Luo shook his hand, looking towards the circular hole in the wall, and said: "You can come out now."

As soon as his words fell, Elly crawled out from the hole, seeing the blood on Luo's right hand, her eyes trembled, she anxiously asked: "Luo, are you hurt?"

"No, this isn't my blood. It's Kenda who's injured," Luo shook his head.

Hearing the first part of his statement, Elly felt relieved, but her concern rose again upon hearing the latter part, and she immediately ran towards Kenda.

"I'm fine." Seeing Elly's worried and anxious expression, Kenda bore the pain and managed an ugly smile.

Elly's gaze dimmed, her lips pressed tightly in silence.

"Let's go inside."

Luo looked up at the sky, the rain showed no signs of lessening, instead, it was getting heavier.

The three of them went through the broken wall and took shelter inside a house, whose original owner, due to the dense gunfire in the streets, was hiding under the bed, shivering, and dared not go downstairs to check even after hearing a loud noise in the living room.

After entering the house, Kenda immediately said: "We must meet up with the old man as soon as possible."

"Before that, tell me about Kuli and Wogret, how did you know they were plotting something?" Luo found a dry towel in the bathroom, first helping Elly dry off as much as possible, who cooperated well.

Kenda, anxious in his heart but injured and relying on Luo's assistance, honestly replied: "It was Martin's Nen."

Luo, who was drying Elly's hair, suddenly stopped and turned to look at Kenda, puzzled: "What do you mean?"

Kenda explained: "Martin's Nen can utilize conjured sticker patterns for surveillance purposes."

"The patterns that look like eyes?" Luo suddenly thought of the pattern on the glass screen, saying: "Is it that one? No wonder Elly's room didn't have it."

Kenda nodded, continuing: "Not just your room, but the others' as well. The images seen by the patterns are directly transmitted into Martin's head, though without sound. However, Martin knows lip-reading, which allows him to understand the content of conversations."

Martin's Nen ability, known as Omnipresence, can conjure up to nine circular sticker patterns, creating nine surveillance screens.

The pattern on the glass screen was the only one conjured by Martin; the others were imitations, meant to camouflage and not stand out too conspicuously.

Omnipresence's patterns can eliminate their presence, avoiding detection of the spying.

Luo was frustrated, questioning: "Aren't there pinhole cameras for this purpose?"

"There are many ways to detect a pinhole camera, and besides, if I hadn't mentioned it, would you have noticed Martin's Nen?" Kenda countered.

Luo found himself at a loss for words, indeed not having noticed. Who would bother using Gyo to inspect a sticker pattern?

He initially wanted to criticize Martin's Nen for its seeming uselessness, but on second thought, considering the unique aspects of this Nen, he found it somewhat useful.

Unlike cameras that require power and wiring, sticker patterns can be placed anywhere as surveillance points.

If being pursued, one could set up surveillance points along the way to monitor the pursuer's movements and set up ambushes, essentially becoming a powerful tool for spying.

"Thanks to Martin's Nen, we knew Kuli and Wogret harbored ill intentions, planning to use an enemy attack as an opportunity to swallow up all the collectibles and kill everyone involved, including you."

"They were very cautious. When they moved into the hotel room, the first thing they did was to check for eavesdropping and hidden cameras. Though there were no listening devices, they never mentioned this during that time."

"It might be because these ten days were too peaceful, without any assassins coming after us, so they slipped up today."

Kenda gritted his teeth as he spoke, for Kuli and Wogret's plan was to eradicate everyone, leaving no survivors, including Elly.

"Not bringing disaster to family members" was a line Barney always held, but not all enemies shared this principle. Thus, the assassins targeting Elly were not numerous, but not few either.

The goal was simple: to inflict mental suffering on Barney.

"Even if you only found out today, there was still time to deal with the two of them, right?" Luo's gaze turned cold; he had to consider more factors. This matter definitely had the Elder Council's approval since their goal was to take all the collectibles.

"We only had time to plant a bomb in their car, planning to detonate it once they left the city," Kenda sighed.

Luo frowned, without hesitation, said: "Was the bomb powerful? There might have been a chance to detonate it earlier."

"It's powerful, enough to affect us too," Kenda explained.

Luo pondered this, feeling somewhat relieved that Kenda and the others were not more decisive.

If Kuli and Wogret had not taken the collectibles back to Meteor City, he definitely couldn't return openly. Moreover, Machi and the others were not strong enough, making it difficult to ensure the Elder Council wouldn't vent their anger on them.

In other words, killing Kuli and Wogret meant Luo couldn't return to Meteor City, and Machi and the others might be implicated.

Not eliminating Kuli and Wogret meant Luo wouldn't just sit back and await death, nor would he allow them to harm Elly.

This presented a dilemma.

With the concern for Machi and the others, Luo found it even harder to act.

"Is there a way to achieve both?" Luo's furrowed brows tightened further.

Not returning to Meteor City didn't matter much to him, but he couldn't let Machi and the others be affected, nor could he allow Elly to be killed by Kuli and Wogret.

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