Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 77 (Patreon)

Chapter 77: Silent Confrontation

The dark-haired boy, timely in action, was Illumi Zoldyck.

His mission was to assassinate Barney J. Geffel, so the heart that was dug out naturally belonged to Barney.

On a rainy night, he openly watched a play and then appeared towards the end of the drama to effortlessly complete his mission.

Barney was stunned, wondering why his chest hurt, as his consciousness blurred and he weakly fell to the ground.

Blood quietly spread from beneath him, turning into numerous bright red serpents in the water.

Elly Geffel stared blankly at Barney lying before her, her pale blue eyes slowly stained red by the blood.

The scene before her overlapped with the memory she was reluctant to touch.

Her thoughts were forcibly twisted into ropes by someone's hands and then harshly snapped.

The severed thoughts left her eyes slightly empty, standing stiffly, as the biting cold devoured every corner of her body.

Barney died in front of her, and Kenda's life and death remained uncertain.

Illumi was only focused on completing his mission and did not consider Elly's feelings, even if it meant twisting Barney's head off in front of her, which to him, was a trivial matter.

Two boys with similar ages, both with black hair and eyes, stood facing each other in the alley, amidst the rain, each holding a beating heart.

The heart in Luo's hand maintained its beating rhythm, while the heart in Illumi's hand was stained with blood and began to beat faintly.

Illumi noticed this difference, a trace of doubt flickering in his black eyes, recalling the cause of Kuli's death and the sudden appearance of a book, concluding it must be related to Nen.

"Your employer is dead."

Illumi casually threw the heart in his hand, not sure if it was intentional, and the discarded heart rolled a few times on the ground, stopping in front of Elly.

Luo's pupils contracted and then dilated, his heartbeat involuntarily speeding up because Elly was not far behind Illumi. If Illumi decided to attack Elly, he would be powerless to stop it.

Moreover, he didn't fully see the movement of Illumi extracting Barney's heart.

This boy, around ten years old, was the same one he saw in the hotel lobby that day.

During the silence, Luo materialized a book and sealed Wogret's heart within its pages.

He didn't kill Wogret because he still had value to use. Facing a sudden confrontation, he first sealed the heart in the book to free his hands.

Illumi watched quietly, finding it interesting.

The mission was completed, and he had no reason to stay, but he was curious about Luo and decided not to leave immediately.

The direct pain to the nerves ceased when Luo sealed the heart in the book's pages.

Wogret felt despair, shakily rising from the ground, only wanting to escape.

Luo did not look back at Wogret but stared at Illumi, not daring to shift his gaze even to check on Elly.

"Stay where you are, don't move." He suddenly said in a deep voice.

Though he was looking at Illumi, this statement was not intended for him.

Upon hearing it, Wogret screamed in agony, falling clumsily to the ground as the torturous pain hit his nerves again.

After a moment, the pain subsided.

Wogret dared not make any rash moves anymore, staying obediently against the wall, his heart chillingly cold.

The sudden severe pain, like being forcefully awakened by a hammer, made him acutely aware of his situation.

As long as Luo wished, he would continuously endure this inhuman pain, and his life and death were merely at Luo's whim.

This scene piqued Illumi's interest even more.

Taking the heart and sealing it into a book, a mere thought could take a life or cause unbearable pain, allowing for control and coercion over others, was an interesting use of Nen.

Illumi was also proficient in Nen, not only in terms of physical foundation but also in controlling aura, though he had yet to develop his own Nen abilities. He wasn't in a hurry about this.

Whenever he wished, he could develop his Nen, which would be related to control.

Seeing Luo's abilities, he became more interested in the aspect of control.

"Your Nen is interesting," Illumi stepped back, moving closer to Elly.

Seeing Illumi's deliberate move, Luo's expression cooled, and he restrained any slight movement, fearing any action might provoke Illumi to harm Elly.

Mainly because Illumi's speed in extracting the heart was too fast for Luo to react in time to save Elly.

Illumi smiled, taking another step back, seemingly provoking Luo intentionally.

With the second step back, Luo remained calm, his emotions gradually stabilizing.

Seeing Luo responding more coldly, Illumi decided to stop playing, saying lightly, "I have good news for you."

Luo's brows slightly furrowed, his gaze cold.

"The mission I received was to take Barney J. Geffel's life. As for his daughter, she wasn't part of the mission," Illumi said with emotionless, pitch-black eyes fixed on Luo, "Are you relieved?"

As long as Illumi was so close to Elly, how could Luo feel relieved? However, upon hearing Illumi's words, his furrowed brows relaxed slightly, indicating there might be room for negotiation.

"What do you want?"

Luo maintained a steady output of aura, on guard for any surprises. If Illumi wanted money, that would be easy to handle.

Illumi pondered for a moment on how to answer, then with a deathly still gaze fixed on Luo, he said lightly, "I have no particular purpose. However, there's something I'd like to try."

"What is it?" Luo remained highly vigilant.

Illumi took another step back, extending his slender right hand. As he twisted it, his fingers underwent a rapid transformation, their joints slightly protruding and his nails becoming sharp and elongated.

He placed his sharpened nails against the neck of the dazed Elly, emitting a cold and merciless killing intent, and seriously said, "For example, I wonder how you would react if I killed her."

Luo's eyelids slowly lifted, then gently fell, his aura visibly growing at a slow pace.

Because of the slow speed, it was very pronounced.

The transformation in Illumi's right hand reminded him of Kite, leading him to speculate about Illumi's identity, with the answer seeming apparent.

"If you touch Elly, I assure you, even if you run back to the desolate mountains, I will take your life," Luo said with a gaze as calm as a corpse's.

This look, similar to Illumi's, held a fundamentally different essence.

When he spoke, Luo's tone was utterly steady, devoid of any killing intent, yet it carried an undeniable presence.

This certainty of dominating life and death, aided by the aura slowly emanating from his body, created an absorbing atmosphere that enveloped Illumi.

The sound of the heavy rain in the alley seemed to vanish, marking this moment of silent confrontation between the two.

Facing Luo's gaze, Illumi's youthful face gradually showed a solemn expression, and for an instant, he saw the shadow of his grandfather in Luo.

Dominance, certainty, indisputability... all based on the power over life and death.

It seemed... he might have gone too far.

"Ah, just kidding."

Illumi quickly withdrew his hand, along with the killing intent, shrugging his shoulders.

He wasn't completely sure he could defeat Luo, and killing either Elly or Luo would be an unprofitable act.

Moreover, Luo's mention of the desolate mountains meant he had been recognized.

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