Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

They finally encountered people, but they come with ill intentions. Without a word, five poison-coated crossbow bolts were shot at him the moment they met.

"Sand bandits..."

In this desert, the only group that would act like this is the sand bandits.

A cold expression flashed across Law's face as he reached out and grabbed the five suspended crossbow bolts mid-air. Then, he leaped off the Armored Bull and advanced toward the charging bandits.

Whether the bolts were lethal or not didn't matter, the fact that they were poisoned meant the attackers had already decided to kill.

Linne watched as Law jumped off the Armored Bull, her opened eyes slowly closing again as she muttered to herself: "The water delivery has arrived."

The massive bull hooves stamped into the sand, kicking up clouds of yellow dust. The riders on the Armored Bulls were indeed sand bandits, a group notorious for raiding without warning, never announcing themselves, and preferring action over words.

"The bolts stopped in midair?"

The sand bandits were shocked. With their excellent eyesight, they could clearly see that the crossbow bolts were stopped by Law.

They weren't sure what kind of trick Law had used, but they made their living by dancing on the edge of a blade and were never afraid of anything.

Without hesitation, they urged their Armored Bulls to charge faster, stowing their crossbows and drawing their broadswords, exuding a ruthless, bloodthirsty aura.

The sand bandits in the Kandhia Desert are notoriously brutal. Every so often, they would band together to harass the three great nations, while the rest of the time, they roamed the desert in search of prey.

Sand bandits weren't picky, and whether their targets were rich or poor, they treated them all the same, never leaving survivors. Some even enjoyed drinking human blood, making them a hated scourge in the eyes of the three great nations of the Kandhia Desert.

From a distance, these five sand bandits had observed their targets through a monocular telescope: a young man, a fat man, and an elderly woman with one foot on the grave. Their sand sled didn't seem to carry anything valuable, but they decided to attack anyway.

Because even a single Armored Bull was worth their effort. If it was alive, they could lead it back to Red Rock Canyon, or they could slaughter it and cut off its meat, take the water from its stomach, and peel off its hide.

As the distance closed to within 150 meters, the five bandits suddenly fanned out, forming a semicircular formation.

Law flicked his wrist, sending the five poisoned bolts flying back in their directions, each aimed precisely at the sand bandits' chests.

Since the bolts were poisoned, there was no need to aim for vital spots, and just piercing the skin will be enough.

The five crossbow bolts shot through the air, but the sand bandits abruptly ducked, narrowly avoiding the attack despite the bolts' speed.

Law was a little surprised when he saw this. He was certain none of these bandits were Nen users, but he didn't expect their reflexes were sharp enough to dodge his Nen-enhanced bolts.

"Not bad."

Law stopped walking and swung his right arm to the side. Nen surged from his palm and in an instant, it formed an invisible Nen Sword.

Ssshh…!

Where the tip of the Nen Sword touched the sand, the grains scattered as if blown by an unseen force.

"Yahaa!"

The first two sand bandits let out excited cries, swinging their broadswords down at Law with ruthless precision, showing that their killing skills were not weak.

Compared to ordinary people, these sand bandits are already very strong.

Law looked coldly at the two swords coming towards him, and his figure suddenly disappeared. The next moment, he appeared dozens of meters behind the two bandits.

The two sand bandits thought they had succeeded, but the target suddenly disappeared. They immediately looked as if they had seen a ghost.

The sword missed and the Armored Bull ran past the place where Law had just been.

The two sand bandits showed puzzled expressions on their faces. Just as they were about to turn their heads to see what was happening, they realized that although they had given the command, their heads refused to move.

"Huh?"

Their vision suddenly tilted downward, and before they could process it, darkness swallowed their consciousness.

The heads of the two sand bandits slumped forward, and they instantly fell silent.

The remaining three bandits witnessed the scene unfolding before their eyes and immediately halted their Armored Bulls, intending to turn around and flee.

They had only seen Law vanish abruptly before reappearing, and then their two companions had been decapitated without warning. This was several times more horrifying than stopping crossbow bolts midair, so they decided to retreat immediately.

"Leaving them alive would only bring harm to others."

Law muttered to himself coldly, and his Aura suddenly shrank like a tightened spring before explosively expanding outward.

In an instant, his body disappeared from the spot without even stirring a grain of sand.

The next moment, when Law reappeared, the remaining three sand bandits met the same fate as the first two, dying without even comprehending what had happened.

From the way the bandits had dodged Law's Nen-enhanced crossbow bolts, it was clear they had quick reflexes and excellent physical coordination. However, they couldn't even perceive Law's movements before meeting their end.

That was because, when Law killed them, it was practically instantaneous… akin to teleportation.

This was the concept of Emission had proposed back on Demon Island. After Law's proficiency in all six Nen Categories surpassed the 60% threshold, Law had experimented with this idea and finally mastered instant movement with a completion rate of 70%.

With the five bandits dead, the five Armored Bulls they had ridden became irritable and restless.

Law discovered that the eyes of the five Armored Bulls were bloodshot, which was very different from the Armored Bull he was riding.

"Armored Bulls are naturally timid, docile creatures with an acute sense of danger. When they sense danger, they would actively avoid it. Logically, they are not suitable as war mounts, but these five Armored Bulls are obviously different."

Law was confused, but retrieving water was still his priority.

He approached one of the Armored Bulls, but the moment he got close, the Armored Bull charged at him.

Law leaped lightly to the side, dodging the attack, and at the same time, he pressed his hand against the bull's armored head. With a surge of Nen, he instantly killed the creature.

The bandits had only carried two water pouches, along with a few large sacks and some rations.

Originally, Law had intended to slaughter just one Armored Bull. However, as soon as he killed the first, the remaining four immediately turned aggressive and attacked him.

Left with no choice, he had to eliminate them all.

After scavenging the meager supplies left behind by the bandits, he cut away the edible meat from the Armored Bulls and retrieved their water-storing stomachs before leaving the area.

With water secured, the half-dead Buhara miraculously revived.

…

Two days later, Law and his group arrived at the Elba Oasis.

Meanwhile, at the Red Rock Canyon, the sand bandits' hideout…

There are only three oasis nations in the Kandhia Desert, and also only one group of sand bandits, named after the Red Rock Canyon, called the Red Rock Bandits.

Oases were the lifelines for human survival in this region, and there is a small oasis in the Red Rock Canyon, which provided the sand bandits with sustenance. In addition, thanks to the canyon's shade, they could even produce ice under the right conditions.

The sand bandits had made this place their stronghold, numbering in the thousands, all of whom were robust, battle-hardened men.

Within the shaded recesses of the canyon, numerous stone chambers had been carved out, and their entrances are covered with cloth curtains serving as makeshift doors.

In the largest of these chambers, a man with a turban wrapped around his head, thick eyebrows, fierce eyes, and a beard braided into several small sections jumped down from his bed and strode toward a table holding a water jug.

On the bed, there were two women lying with their eyes closed, their curvy bodies exposed to the air, and their bodies were covered with dark bruises.

The braided-beard man was also completely naked on. He grabbed the jug and gulped down the water.

Next to the table was a stone pillar as thick as a man's embrace, on which were nailed several drawings made of fur. Among them, one looked very much like a map and was nailed to the pillar with a dagger.

The map marked the locations of the three great oasis nations, which were spaced far apart in a triangular formation. In the vast expanse at the center of this triangle was a drawing of a skull.

The dagger's tip pierced one of the skull's eye sockets, glinting coldly.

A skull typically symbolized danger, but to the sand bandits, it held a different meaning… it represented more than just peril!

"Boss."

Suddenly, a strong, authoritative voice called from outside the curtain.

"Speak." The braided-beard man grunted, tossing the copper jug aside. The clattering sound made the two women on the bed flinch.

"Yagu and the others still haven't returned." The voice outside reported.

"Oh." The braided-beard man responded indifferently, "Then consider them dead."