Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 85 (Patreon)

Chapter 85: Enhancements and Limitations

Kenda strode down a long corridor, heading towards a wooden door at the end, guarded by two tall figures in black.

"Kenda, stop there."

As Kenda approached within about ten meters of the door, the two figures in black turned towards him, calling out to halt him.

Kenda paused momentarily, then suddenly moved his arm, firing two silenced shots. The guards' heads burst with blood, and they slumped to the ground, lifeless.

Observing the bodies lying beside the door, Kenda expressionlessly holstered his silenced pistol, then opened the door to reveal stairs leading downwards.

...

The circular room was vast, with a large stone pillar at its center. Around the pillar were real leather sofas, and aside from that, there were no other furnishings, wasting most of the space.

The collectibles were arranged in wall cabinets along the walls, neat and orderly, encircling the entire room.

The design of the cabinets also wasted much of the space, with only one collectible placed within each meter-wide section, all at heights above one meter, presumably for easy viewing.

Unlike the bright lights of the elder's basement, the lighting in the circular room was softer and dimmer.

This setting lent a quiet, eerie aura to the various collectibles, evoking a sense of decay over time.

Collectors typically have specific preferences, limiting their collections to a narrow range of items, but Barney was not your ordinary collector.

At a glance, Luo noted exactly 128 items, a diverse and eclectic mix that screamed nouveau riche among collectors.

"We've struck gold..."

Luo couldn't help but walk in, his gaze sweeping over the room's collectibles without needing a reminder from the white smoke font. Focusing his gaze, he counted only 15 items imbued with Nen.

Out of 128, only 15... This ratio was lower than Luo's estimate but still represented a significant number.

What would absorbing the Nen from these 15 items do to his data and how much would it increase the aura inside him?

Luo took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement welling up inside him.

"Luo, over here."

Elly dashed to the third collectible on the right side of the door.

Hearing her, Luo moved towards where Elly was.

"I only recognize 36 of these items, let's start with this one!" Elly said, pointing excitedly at a peculiar copper cup in the cabinet, like a child sharing a treasured find with a playmate.

On the ship, Luo had been able to recount the origins of human puppet dolls, so Elly thought he would also be interested in collectibles, quickly leading him to the collection room.

Of course, showing off her knowledge of the collectibles was also a reason.

"Elly, wait."

Luo stopped what Elly was about to do next.

"What's wrong?" Elly looked at him, puzzled.

Luo suggested with a smile, "How about we play a game?"

"A game?" Elly tilted her head slightly.

"Yes, a very fun game," Luo nodded, his tone enticing as if luring a Lolita with a lollipop.

After a moment of hesitation, Elly agreed, "Okay, what game?"

Luo's eyes sparkled as he said, "Guess how many of these items' origins I can recount."

"35," Elly responded without hesitation.

"..."

Luo twitched, managing a wry smile, "What if I can recount the origins of more than 35 items, would you consider that a loss for you?"

"Then I guess you can recount 127 items," Elly quickly retorted, not to be outdone, elevating the number from 35 to 127.

"Alright," Luo agreed decisively, his aim merely to touch all the items here and absorb the Nen from them.

"Let's start here."

Luo moved to the first collectible on the right side of the door, opened the glass cabinet, and picked up a rust-stained dagger, beginning his explanation of the first item.

Elly listened quietly by his side. At first, she didn't find anything amiss, but as Luo recounted more and more items, she was shocked.

"Item 45..."

"Item 46..."

"..."

"Item 89..."

"Item 90..."

"..."

"Item 127..."

Luo picked up each item and explained their origins. His explanations were streamlined, but to Elly, they seemed incredibly detailed.

By the time he reached item 127, Luo had absorbed the Nen from those 14 items. Throughout this process, he hadn't had the chance to summon the data interface, instead focusing on the repetitive action of picking up, putting down, and explaining.

With each item's Nen absorbed, the aura inside him grew. Now, his internal aura could sustain full output for 40 minutes, effectively doubling his endurance.

As a listener, Elly's reaction evolved from surprise to shock and finally to numbness as the explanation progressed.

Among the 127 items, including the 36 she recognized, Luo's account of their origins was flawless, indicating that Luo's explanations weren't just made up.

"Item 128..."

Luo moved to the left side of the door, circling back almost to where he began.

This was the last item, a slightly weathered double-headed serpent stone sculpture, also the last item imbued with Nen.

"The Guardian of Yemendalo..."

Luo named the sculpture and began to absorb the Nen from it. After recounting its origin, the Nen from all 15 items had been completely absorbed.

Placing the sculpture back in the cabinet and closing the glass front, Luo turned to look at Elly, only to find the blonde girl standing there, dazed.

Luo chuckled to himself, seizing the moment to summon the data interface.

The average values for the six categories had just breached 20%, with Manipulation at the highest, around 24%, and Transmutation the lowest, at about 17%.

"The aura has at least doubled. I wonder if it's just my imagination, but it feels easier to control the aura now," Luo thought to himself, eager to test the results.

He attempted to use Ren to release his internal aura, but his aura nodes wouldn't open fully, and the aura on his body remained at the level of Ten.

"What's happening?"

This unexpected change startled Luo, causing his brows to furrow, as he tried using Ren again, attempting to control the abundant aura within him, but to no avail.

"My aura nodes... can't open anymore?" Luo panicked.

His understanding of Nen was relatively superficial, unsure of what caused this condition. If he couldn't open his aura nodes, then having abundant internal aura was useless, as he couldn't even use Nen abilities, only Ten.

Refusing to give up, Luo tried several more times to open his aura nodes, but they remained closed, though he could still maintain Ten.

In his panic, he noticed something new beneath the data interface displayed by the white smoke font: a set of numbers that were counting down.

【83:23:50:32】

The last number was decreasing by the second, clearly indicating a countdown timer.

If "23" represented hours, then "83" likely indicated days.

"84 days?"

Luo's frown deepened.

The inability to use Ren was obviously related to this timer. Was it because he absorbed too much Nen in a short period, or because the average data values exceeded 20%?

Was he doomed to only maintain Ten without being able to use Ren, let alone Nen abilities, for 84 days?

"When I checked the category data earlier, this countdown wasn't there. It appeared after my failed attempt to use Ren, but only about three minutes had passed, not ten."

Luo pondered, concerned about his inability to use Nen during this period.

Unlike in a state of Zetsu, at least he could still use Ten, a small consolation.

Moreover, Luo had a hunch that after the countdown ended, his ability to utilize Nen would improve significantly.

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