Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 142 (Patreon)

Chapter 142: Cooperation of Nen

“Puff.”

The old lady took another drag, exhaling clouds of white smoke, and said indifferently, “So, he wasn’t your target, yet you encountered him twice?”

She was well aware of the kind of business the Zoldyck family was involved in, and she was equally clear about their method of educating their children.

Despite her infrequent contact and connection with the Zoldycks, she knew that Illumi's time away from Kukuroo Mountain was mostly spent on missions.

These missions naturally involved assassination targets.

In her view, it was unlikely for Illumi to have encountered any peer twice.

Illumi, with his dark eyes, calmly said, “The first time I met him, I sensed danger and fled.”

Young children often try to act tough. If they end up fleeing from a fight with peers, they wouldn’t admit to being chased away; they’d rather define their retreat as a tactical withdrawal.

Illumi was not a typical child. His upbringing shaped his unique personality, and he did not see fleeing out of fear as a disgraceful act.

“Dangerous?” The old lady was surprised. A few months ago, when she saw Luo, she found his Nen level to be passable but not impressive. Yet, Illumi perceived Luo as dangerous?

She hadn’t used Gyo to observe Luo again recently, so she was unaware of the meteoric rise in Luo’s strength over the past few months.

“Yes, surprisingly…” Doubt flickered in Illumi’s dark eyes as he earnestly added, “I feel he has become even more dangerous now.”

Who is Illumi? The eldest son of the Zoldyck family, trained to be an assassin from birth.

Though the family was not large, its elders were powerful Nen users. In such an environment, Illumi underwent brutal training from a young age and was exposed to Nen abilities.

Physical conditioning, knowledge, technique, combat experience, Nen abilities…

Frankly, among his peers, he was invincible.

Yet, this invincible Illumi considered Luo to be dangerous, to the point of fleeing from him.

Knock knock…

Unable to comprehend, the old lady tapped her pipe against the wall beside her, remarking, “When I saw that brat a few months ago, his Nen was average at best. Decent for his age, but far behind you.”

“Is that so.”

Illumi’s expression remained neutral. The first time he encountered Luo, he was intimidated by Luo’s aura and gaze. But just now, he had specifically used Gyo to observe Luo.

Though he couldn’t glean much information, at the very least, he could tell that Luo had become much stronger since their first meeting—significantly so, even if Luo wasn’t exuding any aura. Illumi could keenly sense the gap.

But, if what his grandmother said was true, then had Luo made such exaggerated progress in just a few short months?

“Are you concerned about that brat?” the old lady asked, noticing Illumi’s thoughtful but expressionless face.

“A bit,” Illumi admitted with a nod.

His family’s way of upbringing determined his path forward.

From the moment he began undertaking missions, he felt he was not on the same level as his peers, be it in terms of experience or skills—in all aspects, really.

He thought this was normal. After all, what normal child undergoes life-or-death training at the age of three?

But now, there appeared to be someone only a few years older but seemingly stronger than him.

Hearing Illumi’s response, the old lady was once again surprised.

“Grandmother, you don’t need to see me off,” Illumi suddenly said.

Realizing Illumi’s intentions, the old lady exhaled a long stream of smoke and asked, “Heading home now?”

“No,” Illumi replied candidly.

“If you think that brat is dangerous, stay away from him,” the old lady advised lightly.

Her opinion of Luo was still based on their encounter a few months ago, but since Illumi felt that way, she reminded him based on what Illumi considered to be true.

Illumi nodded, then started walking in the direction Luo had left.

“Don’t ruin your clothes; that’s for your mother,” the old lady said, a hint of helplessness in her voice as she saw Illumi nod but ignore her advice.

Hearing her reminder, Illumi waved his hand to show he understood.

“Really now.”

The old lady shook her head slightly before turning to walk back into the alley.

She wasn’t worried about Illumi at all. Why? Because even she, with her years of experience, couldn’t beat Illumi.

After saying goodbye to his grandmother, Illumi walked slowly on the path Luo had taken.

He inadvertently used Gyo and noticed that Luo had become stronger. With the keen senses honed from his childhood training, he also

 detected a faint killing intent emanating from Luo.

In the language of assassins, this meant Luo was preparing to kill.

After realizing this, Illumi decided to follow Luo quietly, wanting to gauge his current level.

Confident in his Zetsu and ability to hide his presence, he was sure Luo wouldn’t detect him.

...

Luo was unaware that Illumi was also on Meteor Street, much less that he was being followed.

He and Sanbica Norton arrived in the eastern district, turned into an alley, and after walking some distance, finally reached the elder’s house.

The rusty iron gate was guarded by two men, with an unknown number inside the house.

“This is the place,” Luo remarked, glancing at the two guards.

Under the watchful eyes of the guards, the two stopped not far from the main entrance.

The guards scrutinized Luo, their expressions changing from surprise to a hint of malice, seemingly recognizing him.

“Do you need my Nen to assist?” Luo asked Sanbica, casually flicking his fingers at the two guards.

Two pellet-sized Nen bullets flew from his fingers, striking the guards’ throats with a hiss, creating bloody holes.

These Nen bullets didn’t carry the ability of God's Hand, being merely a low-level application of emission, so harming people wouldn’t occupy a page in the book.

The guards didn’t realize what had happened before they collapsed, blood flowing from their palms, their eyes dimming as life left their bodies.

Seeing Luo easily kill two men, Sanbica responded coolly, extending her hand, “Let’s try. The effect might be better.”

“Alright,” Luo agreed.

Sanbica’s body then emitted a large amount of aura, with a significant portion gathering on her right hand.

She selected one of the many viruses within her body to use, nourishing it with aura to 'breed' a sufficient quantity rapidly.

'Breeding' wasn’t exactly the right term; it was more about using aura to replicate the virus. This was one of the applications of her Pandora’s Box, having its advantages and disadvantages.

Replicating the virus through aura was a Conjurer's method. The replicated virus had the same effect as the original. The advantage was quick formation, but the disadvantage was that it was easily detected by Nen users who could defend against it with aura, and it had a limited duration.

“Extend your hand,” Sanbica said after replicating enough virus.

Luo approached and extended his hand towards Sanbica, gathering aura in his palm to form a transparent sphere the size of a ball.

“I’m going to put it in now. Control it well,” Sanbica said, transferring the replicated virus into Luo’s transparent sphere.

Luo focused as he received the virus from Sanbica into the sphere. After she withdrew her hand, he slightly compressed the sphere to reduce the control difficulty and then threw it into the house.

The transparent sphere enveloping the virus passed through an open window into the house.

Luo didn’t know the effect of the virus extracted by Sanbica, but as long as it was airborne and could infect the elder and his men, it would suffice.

This was their only plan, to weaken the elder and his subordinates, making things easier.

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