Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 89 (Patreon)

Chapter 89: Nightfall

【16:12:26:22】

Luo slowly opened his eyes and looked down at his hands, his gaze flickering slightly.

After twelve days of meditation, the eighty-four days required to lift the seal had been reduced to about sixteen days. According to the current progress, the seal could be lifted in about three more days.

With a slight thought, a faint white light appeared on his palm, indicating a small amount of aura, covering his hand.

"It's already barely possible to use Ren, but it feels uncomfortable to use, like something is blocking it."

Luo removed the aura from his palm and sighed softly. Such silent and lengthy meditation practices, lasting up to twenty hours a day, were truly monotonous.

Continuously using Ren without receiving any response from within was like throwing a stone into a lake without causing any ripples, making Luo seem like a fool talking to the air.

The monotony was one thing, but the frustration of accumulating aura without being able to release it was another matter entirely.

That feeling was agonizing, like having a bladder full of urine but being unable to urinate.

"Only sixteen days left until the seal is lifted. Yesterday, Kenda said that the enemies had already made their move and might band together to attack the house directly soon."

"Now, I can barely use Ren, but when releasing aura, there's a noticeable stagnation, which makes the Nen become very unstable."

"Let's continue..."

Luo rested for about ten minutes before closing his eyes and entering the state of meditation again.

Though it seemed like imaginary training, Luo not only used Ren in his mental state but also simulated the control over Nen.

Practical operation versus imaginary operation was like the difference between molding clay and molding air.

It was unclear what the actual effects were, but Luo persisted in this training every day.

...

Nearly half a month had passed since Kenda and the others returned to La Xiang City.

The news of Barney's death had spread within the first few days. Since then, two or three ambitious leaders had become restless, but knowing that the early bird gets the worm, they hesitated to act immediately.

After several discreet meetings, they formed a temporary alliance and began persuading other local leaders to join them.

At first, many local leaders refused the invitation due to the high risks and the stable supply of goods from G1, which had led to a long period of comfort that many were reluctant to jeopardize.

However, the leading gang leaders did not give up; they patiently persisted, continued to grow their forces, and kept inviting those who had refused.

People tend to follow the crowd, and as their numbers grew, more people were attracted to join, but this also meant the profits had to be shared among more individuals.

However, the leading gang leaders didn't care about this; they weren't fools and knew that only by sticking together could they avoid being crushed like eggs against rocks.

They saw Barney's death and the losses he had suffered from previous attacks by other bosses as an opportunity not to be missed.

The mansion built on the mountainside represented a huge cake. Not to mention the channel for producing G1, there must be a significant amount of cash in the house, along with Barney's collection, which was worth a lot of money.

Seeing such a big cake in front of them, they were willing to take the risk and bite hard into it.

They were like fragile eggs, and the mansion on the mountainside was like a rock, but if all the eggs in the area gathered together, they could turn into a silver egg capable of smashing the rock.

After more than ten days of patient persuasion, more and more local leaders agreed to join, and their numbers slowly increased to over five hundred, forming a formidable force.

You have to eat one bite at a time, so after successfully gathering together, they didn't directly attack the mansion on the mountainside but first took over territories under Barney's control.

Initially, they pretended to cause trouble at Barney's entertainment clubs during night operations. Kenda had already ordered his men to respond strongly, even finding opportunities to incapacitate the opponents.

After several back-and-forth skirmishes over two days, the gang leader alliance lost more than a dozen members, but they also tested Kenda's bluff.

Then, the gang leaders gathered their forces and attacked Kenda's entertainment venues during the day. However, Kenda had already ordered the guards at those places to return to the mansion, avoiding unnecessary losses.

This avoidance also reassured the gang leaders, who then set their sights on the biggest cake.

That night, the gang alliance didn't directly attack the mansion on the mountainside but held a meeting to assign tasks.

There were nine leaders in the alliance, and whether they had the most or the least subordinates, none intended to lead the charge.

Therefore, each leader dispatched twenty of their men, forming a vanguard team of one hundred eighty members.

The remaining less than four hundred people formed the main force, whose primary task was to encircle the mountain and shrink the battle perimeter, providing support to the vanguard team as needed.

Despite Kenda's success in buying time and avoiding unnecessary losses, even with the personnel assigned to watch the territory returning to defend, the number of people inside the mansion was still less than one hundred eighty, not even matching the number of the small leaders' vanguard team.

The next night.

Kenda, burdened with heavy concerns, went to Luo's room, interrupting his meditation.

"Have they arrived?" Luo sat on the bed, looking at Kenda with a grave expression.

"Not yet, but even if they don't come tonight, they will definitely come tomorrow. I've already called everyone back to guard the house, but the enemy has more than three times our number."

Kenda's voice was heavy. If his hands hadn't been crippled, he might have been able to take on a hundred by himself, or at least forty to fifty.

The difference in numbers was too great, and to compensate for this disadvantage, Nen users would need to step in.

"If only Martin were still alive. With his and Martin's cooperation, along with our colleagues' assistance, no number of enemies would be a threat."

Unfortunately, there were no 'ifs'. Now, all hopes were pinned on Luo, as the power of a Nen user was a nightmare for ordinary people.

Hearing Kenda's words, Luo pondered for a moment, then stretched out two fingers, saying, "Two more hours should be enough."

"Two hours, huh..." Kenda let out a sigh and nodded slightly.

"Is Elly safe?" Luo asked.

Kenda replied gravely, "Before we repel the enemies, she'll stay with me in the surveillance room. If we can't repel them..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the implication was clear.

If they couldn't repel the enemy, hiding anywhere would result in the same outcome.

Luo checked the time displayed in smoke letters, which showed more than eight hours remaining.

At that moment, Kenda's expression suddenly changed, and his earpiece transmitted a report from his subordinates.

Seeing Kenda's grim face, Luo felt a stir in his heart, guessing that the enemy had arrived.

As expected, Kenda said, "They're here. Do you want to stay with us in the surveillance room?"

"No need, I'll stay here," Luo replied calmly. Even if he couldn't freely use Nen at the moment, just using Ren would be enough to deal with any small fry defending the entrance.

"Understood."

After leaving these words behind, Kenda turned and left. With both hands crippled, he had no fighting capacity and could only stay in the surveillance room to command.

After Kenda left, Luo calmly entered a state of meditation.

"There's still... 8 hours."

...

The night was cloudless, with the crescent moon hanging high.

The moonlight poured into the forest, and hundreds of figures took advantage of the moonlight, forming an encirclement towards the mansion on the mountainside.

On the winding concrete mountain road, several vehicles stopped not far from the mansion's entrance, and about two hundred people, each armed with firearms, got out.

The vanguard of one hundred eighty people launched a strong attack on the main gate, drawing Kenda's men to gather at the front to defend, while the remaining four hundred sneaked through the woods towards the fence. Once the defenders were drawn away, they would invade directly, tightening the encirclement for a pincer attack.

This was the plan of the gang leader alliance, not intending to spare any escapees.

As the covert battle between the gang leader alliance and Kenda's side was about to erupt, unbeknownst to both, two pairs of eyes in the shadows observed everything.

At the mountaintop, a person clad tightly, revealing only a pair of black eyes, silently watched the lights below.

"This is the place where the G1 virus is made. It seems like we've come at an inconvenient time," a clear and pleasant female voice emanated from behind the mask of the observer.

If Luo were present and used Gyo, he would be able to see the aura wrapped around this person's body.

Meanwhile, a young man who had acquired the method to produce G2 by unknown means was also waiting for the right moment.

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