Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 408 (Patreon)

Chapter 408: Annihilation of a Clan

The next day, Luo informed Salin and headed to the royal city.

Crossing the towering walls, he entered the dust-covered royal city once again, heading straight towards the tower-like structure.

Most of the ancient artifacts within the royal city had been taken by Salin, but there were still many treasures of gold.

Luo's target was the items in the metal vault. Preserved so cautiously by the emperor, they were surely not just gold.

Passing through the complex buildings, he stepped onto the jade stairs and entered the grand hall.

Creak.

The glow of the phosphorescent stones reappeared, illuminating the shadows of numerous decayed weapons.

He walked down the steps leading to the basement, quickly arriving at a messy room, and then headed straight to the metal vault without stopping.

Given the recent major events in the residence, Salin couldn’t come with him, but Luo had informed her beforehand about opening the vault to investigate.

Luo moved away from the vault door and stood by a metal wall, starting to cut through it without hesitation.

The unique glow of Nen energy slowly emanated from Luo’s palm, then seeped into the metal wall like water.

With a backward pull of his arm, he extracted a square piece of metal, gently placed it on the ground, and continued to dig into the gap.

The highly durable and tough metal was as fragile as tofu under Luo's God's Hand.

Moments later, Luo tunneled through the metal wall of the vault, measuring the thickness, which was over two meters. It was unimaginable how the people of that era transported such metals and built this extravagant vault.

Thinking of the pyramids and the Great Wall from Earth's history, Luo felt relieved. Entering the vault, he activated his Domain to shield himself.

Although vaults and tombs differ fundamentally, the vault might still have deadly traps like toxic gas or mercury to deter intruders.

Suppressing the excitement brewing in his chest, Luo used the phosphorescent light to see the inside of the vault.

There were no ancient artifacts, no gemstones or gold, no treasures. In the vast vault, there were only piles of books on wooden shelves, with nothing else of value.

“Uh…”

Luo stared incredulously at the numerous books in the vault. He couldn’t fathom the king’s logic from a thousand years ago—spending so much manpower and money to build such a thick metal vault just to store books?

“Is this a joke?”

Feeling frustrated, Luo approached a shelf to take a book, but as soon as his hand touched it, the book silently turned to powder.

Witnessing this, Luo tried picking other books, but the result was the same—they all turned to powder.

Realizing this, Luo stopped touching the books and wandered around the vault, finally confirming the harsh truth: there were no treasures imbued with Nen, only wooden shelves and books.

Visually, the books were made of paper.

Luo recalled that the Oasis Nation used paper brought in by merchants. Yet, this ancient kingdom had preserved so many books.

“The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.”

Luo sighed, left the vault, and sealed the tunnel he had dug, pretending he had never been there. He wouldn't disclose this information, leaving it to deceive the next group who opened the vault.

If some books were preserved, this place would hold significant research value, earning substantial merit and fame if handed over to relic hunters.

Luo left the basement, returned to the surface, and climbed atop a building, quietly gazing at the sprawling city below.

The never-ending sandstorm, the constantly churning black clouds.

Various high-risk species within the mountain paths.

Countless marching ants across the plains.

How did the strongest empire in history meet its demise?

Why were paper books stored in a trap-filled vault?

What were the reasons and motives behind building a golden house?

Many mysteries shrouded the empire, but Luo felt it was time to return to Elba. He jumped off the tower and headed towards the residence.

There were still many gold and jewels in the royal city, but Luo didn’t bother to loot them. Carrying all those items during departure would be impractical. If he wanted to take everything, he’d have to be ruthless and make multiple trips.

Luo had no such intention for now, so he didn’t focus on the gold and jewels in the royal city.

Returning to the residence, Salin came to him, joking, “Did you open it? Was there a mountain of treasures inside?”

“No mountain of treasures, only a pile of books,” Luo replied seriously.

“Ha ha.” Salin patted Luo’s shoulder, dismissively saying, “Who are you trying to fool?”

In these times, telling the truth was indeed difficult.

Luo shook his head slightly, intending to change the topic, and then smiled, “Just kidding.”

“Feeling cheeky, aren’t you?” Salin playfully slapped Luo and said, “Come on, it’s time to eat.”

Rubbing his head that didn’t hurt at all, Luo followed Salin out.

At the residence, people sat together, each with an equal share of hot food.

Luo quickly finished his meal and, without saying a word to Geru and Salin, led Buhara towards the city gates.

Noticing Luo’s actions, Geru followed.

The plains were silent, with no signs of any living creatures.

“Wait here.”

Luo instructed Buhara before heading into the plains.

“Boss, what are you planning?” Buhara asked, startled as Luo walked into the plains.

“You’ll see soon enough.” Luo waved his hand, not looking back.

At this moment, Geru also arrived at the rocky clearing, standing beside Buhara, her eyes fixed on Luo, who was already dozens of meters away.

“This is good. The sooner it’s tested, the sooner it’s over,” Geru thought silently.

After walking nearly a hundred meters, the once silent plains suddenly stirred. It began subtly but soon became very apparent, with the ground even shaking slightly.

“They're coming.”

Luo took out a glass vial, extracting half of the toxin and controlling it in his palm.

Boom!

A red torrent emerged from the ground, rushing towards Luo.

Calmly watching the terrifying swarm rapidly approaching, Luo flung the toxin from his palm, striking the leading ants, then instantly retreated several dozen meters using Nen.

Boom!

The swarm missed, making a dull sound.

The grinding of hard joints became the sole melody on the plains.

Luo easily exited the plains, returning to the clearing. The ants, like helpless little creatures unable to cross a chalk line, clustered at the edge, unable to move further.

“Now to check the results.” Luo glanced at Geru, who had followed.

Sensing Luo’s gaze, Geru silently observed the ants nearby.

At that moment, a large section of the red torrent collapsed. The army ants in that area inexplicably died, quickly consumed by their kind.

Geru noticed this and was secretly amazed. Did Luo really concoct a contagious poison?

Without instruments, sufficient materials, or test subjects, how was this possible?

On the plains, in a large swarming ant cluster, an area continuously saw many ants inexplicably die, their bodies swiftly eaten by others, which then died shortly after, repeating this cycle.

Each second, numerous ants died, yet the swarm didn’t diminish, as more ants kept emerging from the ground.

“Looks like we’ll have to wait a while. Let’s head back.”

Luo looked up at the rolling black clouds in the sky, then turned to leave.

Seeing Luo leave, Buhara quickly followed.

Geru remained still, watching Luo's retreating figure with a complex expression.

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