Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

Seven days later, Law and his group arrived at Goro Kingdom.

The supplies carried by the three armored bulls weren't enough to last them the entire journey, but William was very familiar with the desert.

From subtle clues, he managed to find sources of water in the form of plants and animals, ensuring that Buhara wouldn't die of thirst.

Goro was one of the three major oasis kingdoms, sharing many similarities with the other two. The most crucial water sources were enclosed within the royal palace, and every building had water storage facilities.

In the desert, water is very precious. However, as long as one were in the city, they could buy it if they had money. If they were willing, they could even spend money to build an underground aquarium.

William had an old friend in Goro and took the reluctant Fatima to visit them, seemingly planning to leave Fatima in their care.

Law gave Buhara a few gold beads and told him to go drink water to his heart's content. Meanwhile, wearing a human skin mask, Law casually walked into a tavern.

Taverns had always been good places to gather information. They were filled with idle drunkards, and buying them a couple of drinks could loosen their tongues, though the downside was that the accuracy of the information couldn't be guaranteed.

In addition to drunkards, bartenders and bartenders and waitstaff were also good sources of intel, though the cost was different. Compared with the former, the accuracy of the information provided by the latter is more reliable.

The human skin mask that Fatima gave Law was very ugly, as it had a prominent red nose, sausage-like lips, a large black mole above the right corner of the mouth, and narrow, squinty eyes.

According to Fatima, this was the only male mask that fit his face shape.

Whether Fatima had deliberately messed with him or not, it was impressive that she had the patience to create such an ugly human skin mask.

With no other choice, Law could only accept it. Wearing this awful face, he entered the tavern.

Young waitresses in revealing outfits shuttled between tables carrying trays, while men clinked glasses and shouted, spilling alcohol on the tables and filling the air with the smell of liquor.

Compared to the tavern in the Elba's slums, this one was much better in terms of environment.

Law glanced around at the patrons, but his gaze suddenly froze in one corner. In the next moment, he quickly stopped his Ten, letting his life force dissipate naturally while putting on a lecherous expression.

'Why is she here...?'

In the corner was a square wooden table, where a black-haired woman sat alone, drinking. The seats around her were empty, and the nearby men seemed to keep their distance as if afraid of her.

The woman's skin tone was well-suited to the desert region. She is Gel, one of the Zodiacs. Her sharp senses immediately detected the gaze directed at her, and she turned to look in its direction.

What greeted her was the lustful stare of a middle-aged man. His unkempt hair, covered in sand and sweat, made Gel grimace in disgust.

Before coming to Goro, Law had deliberately left his hair unwashed to better match the middle-aged man's mask. Combined with his squinty eyes, it covered the mask's only flaw, preventing Gel from recognizing him.

Gel glared sharply, and Law played along, pretending to be startled. He hunched his shoulders and averted his gaze, quickly squeezing into a seat at another table. Only when Gel looked away did Law relax his exaggerated act.

He didn't know why Gel was here, nor did he care to find out.

The fact that she hadn't recognized him proved how effective Fatima's flesh mask was. If Fatima refused to hand over the technique, he could at least ask for ten or twenty of these masks.

Law squeezed in at a table with a few burly men. When a waitress came over, he ordered a beer and kept a low profile, quietly listening to the conversations around him.

After a while, he realized that the topics discussed by the men in the tavern were all trivial. After sitting for a bit longer and finishing his beer, he got up and headed to the counter.

The seats at the counter were all taken, so Law stood to the side and knocked on the table to get the bartender's attention.

The bartender was a middle-aged man with a handlebar mustache. Hearing the sound, he quickly walked over and smiled, "What can I get you, sir?"

"I'd like to ask something." Law said, pulling out a bill from his pocket and putting it on the table.

The middle-aged man took the money with a smile, then quickly mixed a drink, and placed it in front of Law, "Ask away."

Law glanced at the drink and went straight to the point: "Any information about [Desert Hawks]."

"100,000 Jenny." The middle-aged man said.

Without hesitation, Law took out 100,000 Jenny and placed it on the table. Their conversation immediately drew the attention of a few men nearby, their eyes gleaming with greed.

The middle-aged man calmly took the money and began spilling everything he knew about Desert Hawks.

Law listened carefully, and when the middle-aged man finished speaking, he left the drink untouched and turned to leave.

He had spent about half an hour in the tavern, and Gel was still sitting in the corner with no intention of leaving.

As Law pushed open the bar door and stepped out, six men at the counter exchanged glances, paid their tabs, and followed him out.

One of them even picked up the drink Law hadn't touched and downed it in one gulp.

The middle-aged bartender had seen plenty in his time. Seeing the actions of the six men, he knew exactly what they were planning.

However, this matter had nothing to do with him, so he smiled politely as he saw them off.

From the bartender, Law had obtained information about Desert Hawks… a local organization disliked by residents. The group had about a hundred members, all of whom were troublemakers, though they did have one redeeming quality: when they worked, they did so diligently and followed the rules.

Every member of the Desert Hawks shared one trait: they were loners, and each of them wanted to venture into the Desert Forbidden Zone.

Their base was located in a cluster of low-rise buildings, about a dozen adjacent houses that belonged to the group. The area was avoided by locals, who would rather take a detour than pass through it.

Though Law now knew the location, he didn't plan to head there immediately. Instead, he went to Goro's antique market first.

Rather than contacting the Desert Hawks right away, he prioritized searching antiques from the market.

'All I did was spend 100,000 on some information...'

Not long after leaving the bar, Law noticed six men tailing him. They were the same ones who had been sitting at the counter. They must have pegged him as an outsider and decided to target him.

For now, Law had no intention of dealing with these fools. He walked to the antique market and began scouring the stalls for antiques, purchasing any with extremely high profits.

After two hours of browsing, he gained 2% in data value, raising his average to 64%, which is equivalent to two years of hard training and double the gains from Vulture Street.

He also acquired three artifacts, which could be resold for a profit of around 150 million Jenny. It was practically free money.

Without the White Smoke Font, finding three artifacts worth 150 million among countless fakes would have been like searching for a needle in a haystack.

'If I go to Wate Oasis later, I wonder how much I can gain. Since I have already bought so many antiques, I have to find a time to go to Yorknew in September.'

Pleased with his haul, Law decided to call it a day and headed toward Desert Hawks' location. The six men following him were surprisingly patient, having stuck with him through the entire antique market without giving up.

They must have seen him buy three artifacts and assumed he was carrying valuable goods, which was why they refused to let him go.

'The bartender said the Desert Hawks' base is pretty remote and rarely visited. I'll knock these guys out there.'

With that thought, Law deliberately led them toward the Desert Hawks' territory.

After walking for about an hour, he entered the cluster of low-rise buildings. As he turned into an alley, Kuro suddenly popped out again, declaring eagerly, "Leave it to me~!"

"Go back."

Without hesitation, Law shoved Kuro back in.

When the six men saw Law walking into Desert Hawks' territory, their faces lit up with joy, and they quickly followed him, cornering him in a dead-end alley where sunlight was mostly blocked by hanging cloth.

Unbeknownst to them, Law had lured them there on purpose.

Crack, crack.

One of the men cracked his knuckles and smirked at Law, "Hand over the money quietly, and you won't get hurt."

Law didn't respond. Instead, he picked up six pebble-sized stones from the ground.

Just then, a neutral female voice rang out from the top of the alley wall: "Brother, give me 500,000, and I'll take care of these guys for you."

Law turned around and looked at the person who was speaking. It was a young woman sitting in the corner with a large wrench on her shoulder.

"No need." He refused.

"Alright then. Hey, you guys up front… just pretend I'm not here." The woman said, spinning the wrench in her hand before resting it on her lap.

The six men's faces darkened, and they didn't want to waste any more time. They rushed at Law, intent on robbing him outright.

With a flick of his wrist, Law sent the six stones flying, each one precisely striking a man's forehead and knocking them out cold.

"Nice!"

The woman on the wall whistled in admiration before saying seriously: "That'll be 500,000 for the toll fee."