Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 439 (Patreon)

Chapter 439: The Premise of the Plan

From Bit Airport to the Ohara Museum, it takes an hour by car.

On the way to the Ohara Museum, Salin found the books and light baggage she brought with her to be a bit of a hassle, so she had the driver change the route to the pre-booked hotel.

She seemed a bit anxious.

Every year during the appraisal conference, the hotels near the Ohara Museum would be fully booked in advance due to the influx of guests who are generally wealthy and often book an entire floor with their bodyguards and staff.

An hour later, Salin walked into the hotel lobby. Seeing the queue for registration, she frowned slightly but had no choice but to wait.

After nearly two hours, Salin finally completed the registration. She placed her books and luggage in the room and hurriedly left for the Ohara Museum.

It was around three in the afternoon.

The Ohara Museum, located in a private park, is the most famous landmark in Bit City. It was built from three ancient millennium trees by five of the world's most renowned designers.

The ancient trees were felled from a remote forest and transported to Bit City at great expense and effort, then processed into a breathtaking structure.

The three ancient trees stood in opposition, with doors and windows crafted to minimize damage to their original forms. Several aerial walkways connected the trees.

Not far away were two buildings made primarily of wood, designed to blend with the surrounding park environment and the iconic Ohara Museum.

These two slightly modern palace-like buildings were the residence of Croba and his servants.

Creating a private park in the city, transporting three millennium trees to build a famous museum, and filling it with valuable collections, all speak to extravagant wealth.

Unsurprisingly, the area where the Ohara Museum is located is incredibly valuable.

Salin arrived at the small square in front of the main entrance of the Ohara Museum, where a five to six-meter-tall humanoid statue of Croba stood.

The main entrance was a grand iron gate, with tall, white walls extending from both sides. Two large guard pavilions stood opposite each other, with six black-suited bodyguards standing outside and at least twenty more inside.

The bodyguards were of various skin colors—yellow, white, and black—but they all shared a common trait of being tall and strong.

"As rumored, the security is tight."

Salin thought silently. Although the Ohara Museum was a private museum not open to the public, its security level was unmatched by any other museum.

After all, Croba named it the Ohara Museum, but it was also his residence, so security couldn't be taken lightly.

Salin took out a small, exquisite gold-embossed invitation from her pocket, ignoring the several prying eyes around her, and walked towards the guard pavilion.

Those prying eyes belonged to reporters who hadn't received invitations.

To get an invitation, one needed to meet at least one condition: being a renowned collector, wealthy, influential, or knowledgeable.

Reporters who could attend the appraisal conference were selected by Croba's organizing committee, leading to many unqualified reporters lurking at a distance.

Outside the guard pavilion, a black bodyguard coldly looked at Salin as she approached. His gaze softened slightly upon seeing the invitation in her hand, and he walked forward to greet her.

Five meters from the main gate, both the bodyguard and Salin stopped.

Salin handed over the invitation, which the bodyguard carefully checked. He then opened it and took out a badge resembling a work ID with a large photo on it.

The appraisal conference wasn't set to start until the day after tomorrow, but Salin wasn't the only guest arriving early.

After rigorously confirming the invitation, the bodyguard returned it to Salin and stepped aside, gesturing an invitation for her to proceed.

Salin took back the invitation, nodded to him, and walked towards the main gate.

Creak…

The iron gate opened. Not far away, several small open-top tour cars were on standby, with several men in butler uniforms and white gloves standing beside them.

Salin leisurely sat on one of the tour cars. The driver also boarded and started the car, driving along the wide road towards the distant palace-like building.

Bit City, Highlander Square.

Outside a fast-food restaurant, a group of people dressed in various styles occupied three tables. Perhaps the aura they unintentionally exuded was intimidating enough, creating a vacuum area around them, incongruous with the bustling scene in the square.

This group of people was the Phantom Troupe, who came for the appraisal conference. Each person had slightly disguised themselves, wearing hats or sunglasses.

The three tables were pushed together, laden with burgers, cola, and fries, with all members sitting around them.

Shalnark, the baby-faced young man, took out a schedule and pressed it on the table, saying, "By noon the day after tomorrow, all one hundred invited guests will have entered. According to the organizer's regulations, each guest can only bring five bodyguards."

"Due to the number limit and the distinguished status of the guests, the bodyguards they choose should be elite. This means that besides the Ohara Museum's own security forces, we will face about five hundred elite bodyguards."

"The schedule for the appraisal conference is as follows: At noon, the host and guests will dine at the mansion, finishing lunch at one o'clock. Then, they will walk for three minutes to the Ohara Museum to start the conference."

"The event ends at five-thirty in the afternoon, followed by an open-air banquet."

"During the meal, around seven-thirty in the evening, three priceless treasures will be displayed on the erected stage, one of which is said to be one of the world's seven beauties."

"Currently, the number of security personnel employed by the organizers is unknown. Including the approximately five hundred elite bodyguards, the number of Nen users among them is also unknown. Although having five hundred more bodyguards is bad news, the good news is that the guests have brought treasures."

Shalnark briefly explained the schedule of the appraisal conference. After finishing, he looked at Chrollo and asked, "Before finalizing the plan, we need to decide whether to attack or outwit. Leader, will you decide, or should we vote?"

Shalnark, though younger than the average age in the Troupe, was responsible for planning many of the Troupe's actions and gathering information.

"Vote," the leader said calmly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the battle-hungry Uvogin chuckled and cast the first vote, "Attack."

"Outwit," Machi said.

"Outwit," Pakunoda added.

"Attack," Feitan said.

"Outwit," Nobunaga concluded.

Uvogin glared at Nobunaga and mocked, "Coward."

Nobunaga ignored him, thinking the Ohara Museum's security wasn't something to be taken lightly.

The voting results came out quickly, 10 to 3, with outwitting winning.

Upon getting the results, Shalnark smiled and raised three fingers.

"Perfect, the three who voted for attack will be in the team to attract fire."

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