Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

The stall owner was a bearded man, likely a local.

There are many things on the stalls, and there is no specific categorization. There are knives, coins, pottery, copper ornaments, masks, stone carvings...

These seemingly valuable items were casually spread out on a red cloth, left for customers to pick through.

The two targets Law had identified were a sheathed dagger and a rather plain-looking copper ring.

"Boss, how much is this ring?"

Law squatted in front of the stall and picked up the ring. He secretly activated the ability of the White Smoke Font, and absorbed the Nen entangled in it into his body.

"1.6 million jenny."

The stall owner glanced at Law, who didn't look very old, and casually threw out a price.

"Isn't it just an ordinary ring made of copper? Plain and unadorned, without even a single pattern, and you're selling it for 1.6 million?" Law feigned surprise.

In fact, he already knew the details of the ring, and the White Smoke Font estimated its value at 3 million.

When the stall owner heard this, he immediately became unhappy and said, "This is was excavated from the burial site of Queen Shuer. It might not look like much, but just the fact that it's tied to Queen Shuer makes it worth the price."

'Keep spinning your tales. This is clearly just a ring carried by a famous ascetic, but you insist on linking it to Princess Shuer from seven hundred years ago.'

"How about 200,000? I just happen to be short of a nut for my sand sled." Law smiled, smiling as he toyed with the ring.

The stall owner couldn't help but laugh, but his expression quickly turned stern, "I bought this for 1.2 million, and you want it for 200,000? Do you think the world works that way?"

"Fine, forget it."

Law decisively placed the ring back on the red cloth. Since the stall owner had outright stated he'd bought it for 1.2 million, then no matter how he bargained, he would not be able to get it down to a few hundred thousand Jenny.

From a profit standpoint, buying it would net him around 2 million, but Law thought it was too little and gave up.

The amount of Nen on the ring is relatively thin, and after absorbing it, the value of a single Nen Category only increased by 0.2%, which is pitifully small.

It was unclear whether the low gain was due to the thin Nen or if the difficulty of improvement had risen again after surpassing 60% mark.

After setting the ring aside, Law picked up the sheathed dagger and activated the White Smoke Font, absorbing the Nen into his body. This immediately increased his single Nen Category by 0.4%, and combined with the ring, it raised his average proficiency by 0.1%.

At the same time, the White Smoke Font provided detailed information of the sheathed dagger and estimated the price to be 65 million Jenny.

Law's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged. He held the dagger and casually tossed it, asking, "Boss, how much is this dagger?"

The earlier haggling over the ring had given the stall owner a taste of Law's absurd bargaining style, so he cut straight to the point: "2 million. Take it or leave it. If you want to lower the price, just put it down."

"Wow, is this how you do business?" Law flicked the blade open slightly with his thumb, revealing a glint of cold steel.

"So, are you buying or not?" Perhaps due to Law's age, the stall owner grew visibly impatient.

Seeing the stall owner's reaction, Law knew there was no room for negotiation. He pretended to be hesitant, but after a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and said resolutely, "I'll take it!"

A flicker of delight flashed deep in the stall owner's eyes, though his face remained indifferent. He still showed the same 'take-it-or-leave-it' expression, and said, "Two million."

Law immediately took out a 50-gram gold bead from his pocket and handed it to the stall owner. The stall owner took it, carefully inspected it, then weighed it. His face immediately brightened, and he made a gesture toward Law, saying "May Elba bless you!"

This marked the completion of the transaction, as 50-gram gold bead was equivalent to 2 million Jenny. There is a slight deviation in the conversion, but because the difference is not that big, neither buyer nor seller cared much.

There were only two items with Nen attached on the stall, and while there might have been other valuable pieces, Law didn't have the patience to touch them one by one, so he just left with the dagger in his hand.

Watching Law's departing back, the stall owner kept praising this 'fat' outsider in his heart. He had bought that dagger for 200,000 Jenny and now he sold it for ten times the price in a short time. He was so happy.

Little did he know that the dagger was worth at least 65 million.

Law put away the valuable dagger and continued browsing the Vulture Street.

65 million is the estimated value of the White Smoke Font, which is equivalent to the 'market price', but it's not the exact price.

If the dagger is put up for sale online, it may get a price lower than 65 million. But if it is taken to the Yorknew City's Auction, the price may exceed 100 million. It all depended on the environment and the buyers.

Law planned to take the dagger to the Yorknew Auction, which was why he had no interest in the low-profit ring.

Soon, two hours passed.

The stage in the center of Vulture Street is still there, and the crowd showed no signs of thinning.

After browsing most of the street, Law had made quite a haul, but he couldn't help but marvel at the sheer volume of items on Vulture Street.

Even the large antique market in Yorknew City couldn't compare to a tenth of what was here.

Setting aside the countless fakes, the genuine treasures alone were just the tip of the iceberg buried beneath the Kandhia Desert's endless sands.

'Just considering the treasures buried under the endless yellow sand, it is no wonder that so many people would flock here without regard for their lives.'

Gold rush is something that never failed to ignite human passion.

Law stopped after picking out ten antiques from Vulture Street. Since Kuro hadn't returned yet, he had nowhere to store these items, and his hands were already full. Continuing would leave him unable to carry anything else.

Although he had only picked up ten items, Law had absorbed Nen from a total of seventy objects. Each one provided a meager increase, ranging from 0.1% to 0.5% in a single Nen Category.

By the time Law stopped, his overall average across the six Nen categories had only risen by about 1%, which was equivalent to the result of a year of rigorous training.

But it the next milestone of 80% still loomed far away, nearly 18% beyond his current level!

Gaining a year's worth of training in just two hours seemed absurdly efficient, but places like Vulture Street were rare. Moreover, the Nen absorbed from these antiques was weak, and its effect entirely dependent on sheer quantity.

The lingering Nen on these relics was clean and bright, like the gentle sunlight of early spring, warm and soothing. However, its conversion rate was poor, far inferior to the potent Post-Mortem Nen.

After all, pure Nen had no effect on ordinary people and would gradually weaken over time. But resentment is the exact opposite.

Even in its weakest form, the Post-Mortem Nen formed from resentment could influence normal humans, and at its strongest, it could kill them outright. And over time, it would only grow more powerful.

Therefore, the results obtained from absorbing Post-Mortem Nen are far more efficient than consuming high-grade food or absorbing Nen from antiques.

'Compared to clean Nen, the Post-Mortem Nen is definitely more energy-dense. If I want to rapidly increase my strength, maybe I should consider expanding my exorcism business…'

Law stepped into a narrow alley between buildings to sort through the ten antiques he had acquired. Each one had a profit margin in the tens of millions, and when the time came, he would take them to Youkexin to dispose of them together.

At that time, it should not be difficult to obtain 500 million.

A 1% average increase in two hours left Law very satisfied. He was also looking forward to seeing how much stronger his Nen Abilities would become once he reached 80%.

Before breaking past 60%, implementing Ging's theory of Emission-based teleportation had been extremely difficult. However, after surpassing 60%, the difficulty dropped significantly, and he could now perform the technique with relative ease, though true mastery was still out of reach.

Perhaps reaching 80% would bridge that gap.

Law believed that to venture into the Dark Continent, he would have to at least increase his Six Nen Categories to 100%. That would be a very long journey, perhaps ten, maybe even twenty years.

'If progressing from 60% to 80% is already this tough, how much harder will 80% to 100% be?'

As Law's thoughts wandered, an absurd idea suddenly flashed through his mind, 'What if I absorbed the Chimera Ant King?'

As soon as this thought came into his mind, he immediately shook his head.

After about ten minutes, Kuro slipped into the alley and rejoined Law.

"Too slow." Law remarked.

Kuro spit out several antiques and said, "I waited for more than two hours before I found the right opportunity, but it was not in vain."

Including the Pot of Greed, there are five pieces in total.

"They were a group, and I took them all out at once when they gathered."