Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 264 (Patreon)

Chapter 264: Association

Just along the way?

Who would believe that!

Bisky wordlessly looked at the chairman, guessing the reason he specifically came over, and honestly, she was also curious about what the relationship between Luo and the chairman was.

Initially focused on the food, Buhara instinctively stood up, cautiously observing Luo and Netero, quite fearful of Netero.

Luo sized up Netero, this being his first encounter with Netero, who looked no different from his memory of him more than a decade later.

Thinking this, he stepped aside, making way for Netero to enter, and commented, "This is the 230th floor of the Heavens Arena, there’s no way this is on the way, right?"

"Um, that was just an excuse I made up."

Seeing Luo so bluntly debunk his excuse, Netero didn't mind, he slowly walked into the room, easily admitting it.

"..." Luo was speechless, following behind Netero.

The two sat down, and Machi went to the kitchen to bring out a set of chopsticks and placed them on the table next to Netero.

Netero glanced at Machi, his gaze lingering on her flat chest for a second longer before calmly shifting it away.

Just then, Netero suddenly sensed a gaze and looked up to find Luo staring at him with a deadpan expression, as if to say: "You old pervert."

"Cough cough."

Netero coughed lightly, pretending not to notice, picked up the chopsticks, and surveyed the table full of delicious dishes, his bright eyes flickering with an unusual light.

Machi didn’t notice Netero’s subtle actions; she set down her chopsticks and sat down next to Luo.

Luo, seeing Netero's attention on the meal he had painstakingly prepared, wondered why Netero had suddenly visited. Was it because of Bisky?

With that thought, he looked at Bisky, who, sensing his gaze, turned her head away, clearly not wanting to bother with him.

"Still angry..." Luo muttered with a helpless smile.

"Shall we start eating?"

Before Buhara could finish speaking, an unmasked wave of Nen emanated from Luo's hand, and a black cat materialized, floating beside him.

Everyone at the table, except Netero, was familiar with the black cat, so they did not react to the sudden Nen fluctuation.

Netero was unaware of this, but the Nen fluctuation was quite obvious. Until the black cat materialized, he showed no reaction, as if he hadn't noticed it at all.

Not noticing? That was clearly not possible.

The reason he did not react was simply that the Nen fluctuation carried no malice, so Netero, more than anyone present, quickly noticed but chose to ignore it.

"Let's eat, except for you."

Luo said, looking at the black cat, cruelly excluding him.

"It's okay, I'll use my paws," the black cat retorted, flaunting its claws.

Unable to hold back, Buhara began to eat, and the others also started.

Netero picked up a piece of meat and chewed it, and the moment his taste buds processed the flavor, his eyes narrowed slightly.

The taste wasn’t outstanding because the ingredients were ordinary, but it felt subtly different, perhaps due to the cooking technique?

He felt there were two distinctive aspects to the meal.

One aspect was... seasoning? Or rather, the perfect fusion of seasonings and ingredients?

In the Hunter World, graded ingredients inherently have a significant advantage, but their natural superiority makes it difficult for seasonings and spices to penetrate the ingredients.

This is why ordinary chefs struggle to prepare graded ingredients, one reason being the difficulty in handling the ingredients themselves.

Ordinary ingredients don't have this drawback, and although inherently inferior to graded ingredients, nine-star chefs can use their culinary skills and various spices to bridge this gap.

However, having tasted many flavors, Netero still sharply detected something different about the dishes.

The other distinctive feature was the dish itself.

There were twelve dishes on the table, three of which looked very familiar to Netero, reminding him of two old friends.

One was Maha Zoldyck, the old monster of the Zoldyck family and Zeno's grandfather, and the other was Linne Horsdoeuvre, the oldest gourmet hunter in the Hunter Association, who few people today have tasted her cooking, but Netero and Maha were among them.

Why would these three dishes remind him of these two old friends?

Explaining from the beginning would be a long story, too long to tell in a short time.

So, better left unsaid.

After swallowing the meat, Netero quickly picked up his chopsticks and sampled a bit of each

 dish, surprising Buhara and others who paused, staring at Netero.

Bisky was calmer, among those present she understood Chairman Netero’s strength, in fact, even Luo, who had read the original work, understood well.

Facing everyone’s gaze, Netero casually tasted each dish’s flavor and concluded that each dish indeed had its unique aspects.

"Is that your Nen beast?"

Netero raised his chopsticks towards the floating black cat, setting aside the cuisine and instead curiously looking at the black cat.

"Yes." Luo nodded.

"Very autonomous and quite intelligent, a remarkable Nen beast," Netero commented.

Although he hadn't paid much attention to the black cat, he easily recognized its uniqueness, not just its autonomy, but its rare intelligence.

"Purely a troublemaker," Luo commented dryly.

"Ha ha…"

Netero chuckled, then turned his chopsticks towards the table and changed the subject, "Did you cook these dishes?"

Luo nodded again.

"Exceptional culinary skills," Netero praised, then abruptly changed the topic, "Is it related to your Nen?"

Luo raised an eyebrow but didn't hide the fact, admitting, "How did you notice?"

He was certain, none of the dishes on the table bore any traces of Nen, yet Netero had noticed.

"Taste."

Netero continued, rapidly moving his chopsticks again, sweeping through the table’s dishes at a speed that made Buhara tremble.

"Taste…?" Luo queried, puzzled.

Netero, chewing at a terrifying speed, swallowed the picked dishes and then laid down his chopsticks with a thankful gesture.

He closed and opened his eyelids, quietly watching Luo, not responding to Luo's question, but steering the conversation elsewhere.

"Thanks for the meal, I’m full and would like some activity, how about playing some ball with the old man?" he looked at Luo, smiling as he made a request.

"Volleyball?" Luo blurted out instinctively.

This time, it was Netero's turn to be surprised, quite unexpected that he hadn’t specified what kind of ball, yet Luo guessed it was volleyball.

"Yeah, how about it?"

Netero said, looking towards Bisky, who subtly shook her head, indicating she hadn’t revealed his fondness for teasing the younger generation with this particular hobby.

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