Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

The so-called Master Zeras gave an appraisal of one million, but regardless of whether it's genuine or fake, this price isn't necessarily aligned with the market value.

When Law lazily raised the bid, the other bidder followed suit, and the two went back and forth, adding the price by ten thousand each time.

The starting bid for the Pot of Greed is 500,000, and the minimum raise was 10,000, giving Law plenty of room to play around.

"1.06 million."

"1.07 million."

"1.08 million."

"…"

"1.52 million."

"1.53 million."

"Two million."

"2.01 million."

No matter how much the other bidder raised, Law only increased by ten thousand, making him seem like someone deliberately driving up the price in the eyes of the crowd.

The bids crept up slowly, occasionally interrupted by the other bidder suddenly raising by a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand, while Law stubbornly stuck to his ten-thousand increments.

Before anyone realized it, the price for the Pot of Greed had been raised to 3.32 million.

The surrounding guests stared at Law and the other bidder as if they were lunatics. After all, this was an item Master Zeras had already declared a fake, yet the two were fiercely competing over it… what else could they be but crazy?

On the stage, the middle-aged man looked like he was about to faint from happiness. He originally thought that the item would only be worth 650,000, but now, it has become 3.32 million. It was truly a dramatic turn of events.

Master Zeras, who had previously shown no interest in the auction, now seemed a little restless. Although his face remained calm, he was subtly observing Law, suspecting that he was here to cause trouble.

The wheat-skinned woman maintained a breezy, cheerful smile throughout. Even as the bidding reached a stalemate, she showed no signs of impatience.

This was a scam they had set up, but an outsider had stumbled in, leading to the current situation.

Though they didn't know the boy's background, they absolutely had to secure the Pot of Greed.

As the auction price for the Greed Island inched forward at a snail's pace, the audience grew increasingly impatient.

There is one thing that anyone with a discerning eye can see clearly, that is, the two people bidding are determined to get the Pot of Greed.

'For a fake, they're awfully persistent. Do they have an eye for the real deal, or are they just unwilling to let their hard-earned prey slip away?' Law sneered in his heart.

He had no idea how Master Zeras had built his reputation, but this was clearly a scam. That Pot of Greed might not be the genuine article, but its value was certainly far beyond a million.

First, the 'master' gave a detailed appraisal, concluding it was a fake, then lured the owner into an on-the-spot auction, only to have an insider swoop in and buy it at a low price.

The reason why he charged 500,000 Jenny for the appraisal fee is simply to match his status as a master. After all, nothing in life is free, a principle everyone understands. If he charged nothing, his appraisal would seem less credible.

In any case, in order to absorb Nen, Law must get the Pot of Greed, but he wasn't about to waste money unnecessarily.

"Five million."

Law grinned as he called out the price, and the people around him instinctively took a few steps back, clearing a wide space around him.

Five million has already exceeded the estimate of nearly four million. If the bidding continued, it would no longer be worth it.

The wheat-skinned woman kept her smile and said, "This young man has bid five million."

She switched from addressing Law as 'Sir' to 'young man' and turned to the other bidder, "Will this gentleman continue to bid?"

The subtle change in wording carried an implicit message.

The other bidder didn't raise the price. Instead, he questioned: "From your voice, you sound quite young. Do you really have five million?"

The crowd abruptly parted, creating a path between Law and the other bidder.

The on-the-spot auction lacked any formal structure, allowing participants to openly challenge each other.

On stage, the wheat-skinned woman pretended to be flustered, and her previously steady composure crumbled as if she didn't know how to handle the situation do.

The bidder's words immediately caused the guests around to look at Law with suspicion. They were already irritated by the painfully slow bidding process, so if Law turned out to be maliciously driving up the price, public anger would be hard to suppress.

Instead of looking at the bidder, Law shot a deep glance at the woman on stage and Master Zeras before tilting his head back with a haughty scoff: "What do you mean, don't I have five million? I'll have you know… I have eight million!"

The moment those words left his mouth, the expressions of the crowd shifted, and the bidder couldn't help but laugh.

On the stage, Master Zeras subtly withdrew his gaze from Law, while the wheat-skinned woman's fine brows twitched almost imperceptibly. Eight million was still within acceptable limits, but this sudden appearance of Law left her uneasy.

'This guy… what is he trying to pull?' The woman thought to herself.

From the crowd, the bidder coldly countered, "8.01 million."

Law's face twisted into exaggerated disbelief as he pointed at the bidder, seemingly speechless.

But in reality, he was already plotting something devious.

The other party's relentless persistence, even resorting to questioning Law's financial ability to cut losses quickly, made it clear they were determined to secure the Pot of Greed and prevent any interference.

Law saw right through this and didn't want to attract too much attention, so he just dug a small hole and let the other party jump in, allowing the owner of the Pot of Greed to walk away with an extra three million for nothing.

One thing is certain, the Pot of Greed's true value far exceeded eight million.

"Young man, do you wish to continue bidding?" The wheat-skinned woman asked.

Law didn't even look at her. Instead, he put on a pained, conflicted expression, perfectly mimicking the agony of losing the item, with no intention of raising the bid further.

After the wheat-colored woman confirmed the price three times, the Pot of Greed was sold for 8.01 million, much to the relief of the audience. Who knew how long these two fools would've kept bidding on a fake otherwise?

From this, it can be seen that almost everyone present trusted Master Zeras's appraisal results, completely unaware that the Pot of Greed's true worth far surpassed their imagination.

The bidder took out gold worth of eight million Jenny on the spot and paid it to the owner of the Pot of Greed.

Then he tucked the Pot of Greed in his coat, stepped down from the stage and retreated into the crowd.

When the next antique was brought on stage, the attention of the guests in the venue was attracted, and the bidder holding the Pot of Greed quietly slipped away.

As for the middle-aged man who got the gold, he had already run away without a trace.

A short while later, Law pushed through the crowd and emerged with a black cat perched on his shoulder.

"I'm going to check out the stalls. I'll leave the pot to you."

Law glanced back at the stage, where another person had brought an antique for Master Zeras to appraise.

'You should have done this from the start. Why would you need money to buy it? It would be much easier to just rob it." Kuro didn't refuse, and leapt down to the ground.

"If you don't bring me that pot, don't bother coming back."

Law tossed the words over his shoulder as he headed toward the stalls.

"Tsk." Kuro snorted coldly and went in the direction where the bidder had gone to.

The arrival of Master Zeras had drawn most of the crowd to the display stage, but plenty of people still lingered around the stalls.

Law casually browsed around. There were many stalls on Vulture Street, and the things on sale were very diverse. After just a while, the White Smoke Font started to prompt wildly.

'It seems like... I'm going to make a fortune.'

This massive stretch of Vulture Street likely held plenty of hidden treasures. He didn't even need to buy them all. He just needs to pretend to take a look and then touch them when the opportunity arises.

After all, the heritage of the Kandhia Desert is terrifying. Even with all the fakes flooding the market, the real treasures still shone through.

Law was ready to plunder, so he came to a stall first, squatted down and looked at two items on the stall.

Just this one stall already had two genuine antiques!