Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 162 (Patreon)

Chapter 162: The Summit and the Arrivals

Babson Forest is vast, not dangerous enough to merit assessment, and an ideal place for camping and picnicking.

Throughout the year, apart from visitors coming to enjoy the greenery, one can always spot outsiders intent on making a fortune by grave digging, equipped with complete gear, roaming in the forest or around the mountain base.

The term "grave diggers" sounds unpleasant, and they prefer to call themselves treasure hunters, especially since the local authorities support them. However, if they actually find the immeasurable burial goods in the tombs, they can’t keep them for themselves.

The local authorities' support is merely a way to gain significant benefits at a minimal cost, and they have also specifically enacted several regulations to restrict incoming treasure hunters.

Among the many treasure hunters, there are a few with remarkable patience who are familiar faces, and even more are constantly changing new faces.

Every year, many give up while new treasure hunters join, some of whom are quite renowned, and some are officially licensed hunters.

It’s a pie not deliberately drawn, yet many are drawn to it.

People only know that the still-unrevealed tomb holds unimaginable wealth—even without the world-famous rare gem of that era, even a single antique could fetch a good price on the black market.

The treasure hunters coming here in hopes of a big win mostly retreat after expending a lot of energy, mocking the persistence of the old faces as they leave.

Over the years, the area has been dug three feet into the ground, yet nothing has been found. Although ancient texts confirm the tomb’s existence, seeing is believing is also a criterion for judgment.

Despite this, the influx of new faces into the pit continues unabated every year.

Knowing there's a pit yet still wanting to fill it, this mindset is just like buying lottery tickets—only when they've banged their heads do they consider turning back.

Luo is one of the new faces. During this period, he has encountered many people, and many have noticed him.

Initially, they thought Luo was just a tourist visiting Babson Forest. However, after several encounters, they vaguely guessed that Luo's motives might be similar to theirs, although Luo only carried a long sword wrapped in white cloth, lacking other equipment, which made him seem more casual.

Treasure hunters don’t have a fixed exploration range in the forest; only a few focus on specific areas. Luo encountered a group of treasure hunters in Mount Grul, the treasure hunters targeting Mount Grul.

Mount Grul is one of the three mountains in Babson Forest and the largest, closest to the ruins of Parlo City.

Luo targeted Mount Grul based on a clue from a letter from Fringe, unaware of how other treasure hunters came upon the same clue.

“The information found mentions Fringe and Stadgy—one a craftsman of some renown back then, and the other a well-known female city lord.”

“One underground, the other in the heavens.”

“If not for the Heart of the Singer, this letter would seem like unrequited love's soliloquy.”

“It’s because of the identification feature of the white smoke font that I knew this secret. Where did this group get their information?”

Standing atop Mount Grul, Luo faced the biting cold wind, gazing at the sparse forest below. Focusing, he could even see the treasure hunters moving in the forest.

He noticed many people, and others noticed him too.

During this time, he had circled Mount Grul several times, going up and down, but he couldn't figure it out or find any signs of human construction.

At the mountain base and even in the forest, there are many deep pits dug by treasure hunters, which in China would be called "thieves' holes," but these are unsuccessful ones, dug deep with nothing to show.

With such a vast forest, all sorts of birds are present.

The amateur treasure hunters can be caught in droves; they generally adopt more direct, violent methods.

Wherever they suspect, they just dig with shovels, fortunately restrained by local regulations, ensuring that most diggers cover their holes.

All in all, this forest constantly witnesses many meaningless scenes, yet sadly, those who come here never tire of it.

Not only are there many traces left by thieves’ holes, but the mountain walls near the ground also bear many chiseled marks. Without the restrictions from the local authorities, many treasure hunters would probably have resorted to explosives.

Luo also thought about using the power of God’s Hand to bore through Mount Grul, but the operation was too challenging.

“Still too optimistic. So many people come here, but not even the entrance to Stadgy’s tomb has been found. Perhaps this clue is false.”

Mount Grul’s shape is like bamboo shoots, with layers of rock wrapping around each other, narrowing as it reaches the top.

The mountain's shape creates many steep cliffs in the middle of Mount Grul, and

 the outwardly jutting rocks host several trees of unknown species, sparse in number.

From afar, these green trees look like decorative items in a large dish.

Luo was at the summit of Mount Grul, where there wasn’t much room to stand due to the many large protruding rocks.

For days, he had been following this clue from Mount Grul. Although there were still many cliffs he hadn’t inspected, the lack of findings made Luo begin to doubt the veracity of Fringe’s letter.

If there were no online information about the whereabouts of the Dark Sonata, Luo might have given up on this harp version of the solo movement.

The memory fragments from Fringe could be incorrect, which Luo always found puzzling.

“Keep searching for a while longer, if still nothing is found... then dig the mountain!”

Luo steeled himself internally. Digging through a mountain wasn't as simple as saying it. Even with God’s Hand, creating a vertical tunnel was no easy task, and getting the location wrong would mean all efforts were in vain.

Besides digging through the mountain, there was also digging through the ground...

Thinking about possibly training his Nen abilities, maybe he really could carve out a hole in Mount Grul in the end.

Luo stood up from the rock, preparing to descend along the cliffs to check unexplored areas.

Just as he was about to move, he suddenly froze, turning his head towards the mountain's edge about twenty meters to the right. He heard climbing noises—someone was coming up, and not just one person.

A moment later, a dark-skinned hand pressed against the cliff edge, with noticeably thick knuckles and protruding bones.

Then, a head with a bright green cauliflower hairstyle emerged first. If it weren’t for the hand that came up first, it would look like a cauliflower had suddenly grown next to the cliff.

Watching the deep green cauliflower hair appearing from the edge, Luo's mouth twitched slightly.

After the cauliflower head appeared halfway, a pair of eyebrows resembling those of Crayon Shin-chan followed, then a pair of extravagant black sunglasses.

Before Luo could fully see the face, the person used their arms to lift themselves up. Not sure where they borrowed the strength from, they agilely jumped up.

After landing, the newcomer spun several times in place. After stopping, they turned sideways, making a handgun gesture with both hands, then pointed directly at Luo.

"Bro, do I look cool?"

"...," responded Luo.

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