Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 254 (Patreon)

Chapter 254: No Chance of Winning

Before Hisoka was pulled back, Luo had imbued the stone slab with Nen, so it managed to inflict some damage on Hisoka.

Luo, losing his balance, straightened up and looked towards Hisoka, who had fallen outside the ring.

In such moments, Luo could have pursued his advantage, smashing a ‘Ko’ enhanced punch on Hisoka's head, but since Hisoka had not agreed to a fight to the death, Luo couldn't proceed with that action.

The referee quickly approached Hisoka to check his consciousness and then raised his hand, making a scissor gesture, and shouted, "An excellent attack!"

This indicated that Luo had gained an edge, earning two points.

If Hisoka were knocked out, these points would be insignificant.

Hisoka lay on the ground, his heels sticking to it, then using his abdominal strength, he slowly sat up.

His arms were covered with scrapes, looking severe but they were merely superficial wounds.

Before the stone slab reached him, he managed to block it with his arms, preventing more serious injuries.

Bungee Gum, which combines the properties of both gum and rubber, failed to show its effect and was instead used by Luo in a way that seemed as if one were punching one's own face.

"His eyes kept ‘Gyo’ activated, never moving the aura in his eyes. Thus, even if I used ‘In’ to make my Nen invisible, he could still see it," Hisoka thought as he walked towards the ring.

Bungee Gum can stick to targets or objects with its gum-like properties, then use its rubber-like elasticity to perform various actions.

Hisoka clearly understood how to maximize Bungee Gum’s effect by using ‘In’ to make the Nen threads invisible, making them more stealthy.

However, Luo preferred to weaken his own defense and attack slightly to maintain ‘Gyo’ constantly, rendering ‘In’ useless.

Using ‘Gyo’ broke the invisibility, significantly reducing the power of Bungee Gum.

Hisoka's strength was much greater than when he was at Meteor Street, and so was Luo’s!

"Luo… is truly formidable!"

Hisoka reached the edge of the ring and lightly jumped back onto it.

Assuming that Luo wouldn’t remove his ‘Gyo’ before the fight ended, there was no need to use ‘In’. To make Bungee Gum work effectively, it could only be used out of Luo's sight or by increasing its amount.

Hisoka saw no chance of victory in this fight, but he could try to create one. If he couldn’t, he would quickly surrender and make a clean getaway.

Watching Hisoka stand on the edge of the ring, Luo made no move, as at this distance, long-range attacks had virtually zero accuracy.

"Twenty meters, no, it should be within ten meters—this is the 90% hit rate range for Nen projectiles," Luo calmly watched Hisoka approaching.

Even within ten meters, there was no guarantee that a Nen projectile would hit 100%, so beyond that range, Nen projectiles were mainly for harassment and cover.

As Hisoka walked, he conjured several playing cards with his hands.

These weren’t manifested through Nen but hidden via a ‘thin illusion’ that concealed the cards, which he could reveal at will.

Clutching a handful of cards, Hisoka suddenly accelerated and launched into a sprint.

The distance closed rapidly as Hisoka flung the cards in a spinning motion towards Luo.

A total of sixteen cards, spinning like boomerangs, didn’t head directly towards Luo but split into two groups, aiming to bypass him on both sides.

Knowing Luo could stop the cards, Hisoka wouldn’t waste his energy on such a meaningless attack.

His aim was… to create opportunities with quantity, which wouldn’t matter even if Luo could see them.

"Sixteen, even without using ‘In’."

Watching the Nen on the cards, Luo considered his options.

He could either fire ten Nen projectiles to sever the Nen on ten cards or choose either side to stop eight with his field.

Regardless of his choice, he couldn’t sever all the Nen on the sixteen cards.

Thus...

Luo pushed off the ground, ignoring the cards, and closed the distance to within ten meters, then launched ten Nen projectiles at Hisoka.

"Hmm?"

Seeing Luo so decisively ignore his feint, a trace of surprise flickered across Hisoka’s eyes, but he reacted swiftly, redirecting the Nen from his hands to several stone slabs in front of him.

This connected the sixteen strands of Nen between the cards and the slabs, with the cards that bypassed Luo now converging together.

In an instant, Hisoka activated the constrictive property of Nen, pulling back the sixteen cards flying past Luo towards his back,

 while the slabs lifted from the ground, blocking the path of the incoming Nen projectiles.

"Boom!"

The Nen projectiles struck the slabs first, shattering them and sending debris flying.

If... Luo’s Nen projectiles couldn’t sever Hisoka’s Nen, then Hisoka would have chosen differently.

He was confident, so despite the short distance, he still tried to flick the Nen above the projectiles, creating a line between two points.

Then, he intended to use the speed of the projectiles to pull back the cards bypassing Luo even faster, aiming for a back attack.

This scenario was built on if.

Because Luo’s Nen was special, somewhat countering him, Hisoka could only redirect his Nen to the stone slabs.

The slabs shattered by the Nen projectiles raised a dust cloud, and Hisoka seized the opportunity to rush into it.

At the same time, Luo sensed the cards flying back from behind and easily dodged to the right.

At that moment, Hisoka burst from the dust, arriving in front of him with a punch.

Luo raised his right elbow to block the punch.

His punch blocked, Hisoka immediately knee-striked towards Luo’s abdomen.

Luo quickly lifted his leg, trapping Hisoka’s knee, and swung a punch, hitting Hisoka’s abdomen and forcing him back several steps.

Nen restrained, body techniques suppressed by Luo—this should be a battle with no chance of winning, but… finding a hint of darkness in a world full of light is the joy of fighting.

At that moment, Hisoka forcefully stopped his backward momentum.

In this situation, his momentum was weak, and he needed to distance himself to regroup, but he didn’t do that and instead stepped forward fiercely, lifting his right leg high, kicking towards Luo’s left temple.

"Daring to take such a risk…"

Luo glanced quickly at Hisoka’s knee and elbow where he had managed to stick his Nen during their exchange, temporarily unable to cut it off.

Facing Hisoka’s obviously weak kick, Luo raised his left hand and easily blocked it, simultaneously stepping forward and striking Hisoka’s chest with a heavy elbow.

The brief exchange saw Luo hitting Hisoka twice.

"Crack!"

The sound of breaking bones.

Hisoka flew back, ignoring his injuries, twisting in mid-air, and lifting his right leg to kick at Luo, resembling a clumsily hung inverted hook.

If Luo hadn’t previously separated Hisoka’s right foot using God’s Hand, then his mid-air action would have been meaningless, merely clowning around with the air.

Meanwhile, Luo severed the sticky Nen on his body, guarding against Hisoka using it to his advantage.

When he cut off the sticky Nen, Hisoka’s right foot, separated, flew directly at him.

"Hmm?"

Luo raised an eyebrow, surprised, but it was too late to defend.

The flying right foot kicked him in the chest, not much force behind it, just sticking there.

Luo clearly saw a pink strand of Nen extending from Hisoka’s ankle, connecting to the detached right foot.

Previously, Luo had used Hisoka’s Nen for a counterattack, and now, Hisoka was using his own Nen to create an offensive opportunity.

Bungee Gum, activate!

Suddenly, Luo’s body was pulled forward, and simultaneously, Hisoka also moved towards him.

The two seemed like magnets of opposite poles being rapidly pulled together, a feeling of a face-to-face bayonet charge in mid-air!

In mid-air, Luo raised his hand, intending to sever the Nen on Hisoka’s right foot, but Hisoka, using the elasticity of rubber, quickly closed the distance.

"Too late."

Luo concluded swiftly, abandoning his plan to cut the Nen, and instead faced Hisoka.

"I see it now, the chance of victory…"

Hisoka’s mouth twisted into a grin, about to launch his fully prepared attack at Luo’s face when suddenly, he felt a resistance in front, slowing his speed.

"Hmm? Air resistance?"

Hisoka’s eyebrows furrowed unusually tight, a chill of crisis swiftly passing through his body.

His poised and confident attack was affected by this inexplicable resistance…

Suppose the attack he had gathered at that moment was ten points, then to land all ten points of damage on Luo, he needed ten points of agility to create a 100% hit chance.

Using the separated nature of his right foot and body, along with Bungee Gum, he pulled Luo towards him, thereby temporarily constructing the ten agility points.

Ten attack points, ten agility points, that was his perceived chance of victory.

However, when this mysterious resistance appeared, it acted like a negative debuff, directly reducing his agility to six points.

What that implied, Hisoka understood very well, so in an instant of reflection, his explosiveness reached an unprecedented peak.

"How wonderful!"

An experience like never before made every cell in Hisoka’s body wildly surge.

At

 the moment the resistance appeared, he decisively abandoned his sure-win attack, converting all ten attack points into defense points.

What kind of decisiveness and choice was that?

In a world filled with light, tirelessly searching for a speck of darkness, yet upon finding it, sensibly expelling this darkness from the world of light.

In endless despair, how many people would willingly let go of a sliver of hope?

"The right decision."

In the spectator seats, Biscuit’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she couldn’t help but inwardly commend Hisoka.

This was someone not yet fully matured; if his body and Nen capabilities were exploited to their utmost, the resulting combat power would be unimaginable.

However, Luo stood on higher ground…

On the ring.

Hisoka shifted from offense to defense, a decisively horrifying change, raising his arms and bending his knees, shielding all vital areas, concentrating his aura on his arms and knees like a solid shield.

Just as they were about to collide due to the Bungee Gum, Luo also changed his attack at the sight of Hisoka’s shift.

He lifted his right foot, like the rope pressing in a childhood jump rope game, pressing Hisoka’s pink Nen strand to the ground in mid-air.

That strand of Bungee Gum immediately turned into a ‘V’ shape, and simultaneously, Hisoka’s body flipped forward, his defensive stance suddenly facing the ground, exposing his back.

In that instant, Luo raised his arm, an elbow striking down hard on Hisoka’s back.

"Boom!"

Hisoka crashed heavily onto the ground, spitting out a mouthful of thick blood.

The hard stone slabs cracked apart, and then his body rebounded up.

Their gazes met in that moment.

Hisoka’s eyes caught a glimpse of a fist.

Enduring his injuries, he made a slight head-tilting gesture upwards, then his head flew upwards, attempting to dodge Luo’s second heavy strike this way.

However, from their previous exchange, Luo had seen how Hisoka used his Nen combined with his God’s Hand-separated right foot. How could he forget that Hisoka’s head was also maintained in a separated state?

This fist, originally meant for Hisoka’s face, was adjusted by Luo about fifty centimeters upwards in anticipation.

Thus, this scene looked as if Luo’s punch was meant to miss, but Hisoka instead brought his face forward to meet it.

This was no coincidence…

"Boom!"

A deafening thud echoed through the entire venue.

Hisoka’s head flew backward, his body, stuck with Bungee Gum, also followed, crashing into a wall, his life or death uncertain.

After delivering this punch, Luo intended to grab Bungee Gum and pull Hisoka back before he hit the ground to finish him off.

However, he had used all his strength in that punch, so Hisoka flew too fast, stretching over ten meters, forcibly breaking the Nen connection.

"Too late for another strike, but that should have finished Hisoka, right?" Luo watched the dust-filled distance, silently pondering.

The continuous heavy strikes, plus the last full-force punch, should have been lethal.

The referee ran to where Hisoka had fallen to check his condition but didn't announce a KO, instead starting a countdown.

He counted to seven seconds, then suddenly shut his mouth, because Hisoka, staggering, had stood up.

"..."

Luo frowned, not expecting Hisoka to be so resilient, but it was good in a way; if the fight continued, he’d have more opportunities to take him down.

If it had been a fight to the death, there would have been no need for such trouble, no need to wait for the referee to check.

Looking at the wobbly Hisoka, the referee first announced three points for Luo, then asked, "Can you continue?"

Hisoka’s face was almost flattened, his nasal bone likely broken into several pieces.

He paid no heed to the referee, instead staring at Luo standing in the ring, his nearly disfigured face breaking into a sinister smile, then said, "No chance of winning... I surrender."

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