Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

The three great oasis kingdoms stood firm in the desert, their locations forming a triangle. At the very center of this triangle lay the Forbidden Zone. No matter which direction one approached from, there were no oases along the way… only scattered rocky areas like the one they had just passed.

In a way, these rocky areas served as oases for desert travelers, providing temporary rest stops and even sources of food… provided one carried enough salt. After all, insect stew was one of Kandhia Desert's specialties.

Among these rocky regions, Red Rock Canyon stood supreme. It was the stronghold of the Sand Bandits, as well as one of the few remaining true oases in the desert.

The three oasis nations despised the Sand Bandits, but Red Rock Canyon was well-supplied and nigh impregnable. Even if the three kingdoms joined forces to attack, they would likely exhaust themselves before ever wiping out the bandits.

The Sand Bandits lived by the creed of 'strength above all', fostering a warped sense of competition. They would accept anyone willing to join, but would never tolerated weakness in their ranks.

As the saying went: 'Not afraid of godlike opponents, only afraid of pig-like teammates.'

Currently, the Red Rock Canyon houses over 5,000 robust men, each a capable fighter. There are also nearly 1,000 young women living in misery, along with around 800 prisoners held in the dungeon… ranging from children as young as seven to elders in their seventies, with a small number of women among them.

A massive boulder is buried deep underground, with its exposed portion towering magnificently. The dungeon is carved into the subterranean rock, forever shrouded in darkness, illuminated only by a few oil-burning lamps that cast faint light.

The construction materials for the dungeon are mostly sourced locally, with little use of wood or steel… most of it is stone. In terms of practicality, it's full of flaws. Yet, despite this, those imprisoned here have no hope of escape.

…

Inside a dimly lit cell, a nauseating stench permeates the air.

A woman leans against the wall near the stone bars, her body smeared with unidentified excrement that has long dried on her skin, yet continues to emit a foul odor.

The cell holds nearly 40 other people, mostly men, all huddled far away from the woman in the opposite corner. These people have sallow complexions and vacant expressions, staring blankly into the darkness without uttering a word or moving a muscle, as if frozen in place.

The woman's face is smeared with excrement in a grotesque 'mask'. Unlike the others in the cell, her mental state remains unbroken. She tilts her head slightly, peering through the narrow gaps between the stone bars at the flickering oil lamp on the wall, never giving up on the thought of escape.

If Law were here, he might barely recognize this woman… she is none other than Millia, who once collaborated with Master Zeras.

'I will escape.'

Millia repeated the words in her mind like a mantra.

More than half a month ago, she followed a caravan and left Elba for Wate. Unfortunately, she encountered sand bandits on the way.

Over half a month ago, she had joined a caravan leaving Elba for Wate, only to have the misfortune of encountering sand bandits along the way. Outnumbered and overpowered, even with her considerable combat skills, she stood no chance of repelling them.

Knowing full well that her looks would doom her to a horrific fate if she fell into the bandits' hands, and that even death wouldn't spare her from defilement, she resorted to an extreme measure.

She gathered excrement and smeared it all over her body, then placed a poison capsule under her tongue, resigning herself to death.

To her surprise, the bandits didn't kill her. Instead, they spared about 30 captives, including her.

As a woman, being spared wasn't unusual, but most of the other survivors were men, with only a handful of women.

She didn't understand why the sand bandits' actions contradicted the rumors, nor did she have time to ponder it before a heavy blow to the back of her head knocked her unconscious.

When she woke up again, it was nighttime. She and three other women from the caravan had been thrown onto a rocky ground surrounded by numerous bonfires. Countless pairs of eyes watched them from the flickering flames, the silhouettes of the figures casting eerie, chilling shadows.

She overheard a brief exchange:

"Boss, should we wash that disgusting bitch off with water?"

Slap!

The sound of a palm striking a forehead echoed, followed by a cold male voice: "Is that woman worth wasting water on?"

Then, she watched as the three women traveling with her were pounced upon by a pack of sand bandits, their screams horrific and inhuman. Meanwhile, she herself was dragged away by two disgusted-looking bandits and thrown into a dungeon cell with over forty men.

This was her first time in the sand bandits' lair, and she witnessed many things that contradicted the rumors.

The sand bandits... for some unknown purpose, had imprisoned countless people, and their targets had no specific criteria, as not even children or the elderly were spared. It was as if they chose their captives on a whim.

Twelve days had passed. She didn't know what had become of the three women who had been with her. She had narrowly avoided their fate but had lost her freedom in exchange.

Scritch… scritch…

A faint, sharp sound echoed rhythmically in the cell… it was the sound of Millia grinding a stone.

Before being imprisoned, all her valuables and weapons had been stripped away, even her hairpins. Only the poison capsule hidden under her tongue remained undiscovered.

The dungeon's crude construction had allowed her to find a suitable rock, and now she was grinding it into a makeshift dagger for self-defense. The poison capsule could later be applied to the blade.

As she worked, Millia remained hyper-vigilant. Even though it wasn't mealtime, her eyes stayed fixed on the corridor's end, her ears straining for any sudden footsteps.

The grinding noise stopped abruptly. In the dead silence of the dungeon, faint but dense footsteps approached.

A flicker of surprise crossed Millia's face. Even during meal deliveries, only a handful of sand bandits ever came. She had never heard such a concentrated march.

'Fifty? Maybe even a hundred?'

Then, she saw an unprecedented swarm of sand bandits flooding into the dungeon. They moved with purpose, systematically opening cell doors and coldly ordering the younger prisoners to step out.

Seizing the moment, Millia swiftly cut off a lock of her hair, wrapped it around the palm-sized flat stone she had been shaping, and concealed it in her cleavage, tightening her clothes to secure it.

Not long after, a sand bandit arrived at her cell, yanked the door open, and growled: "All of you, out."

This cell held only younger prisoners, so no selection was needed.

At the command, the prisoners rose like lifeless husks and shuffled out, forming a disorderly line under the sand bandits' rough direction.

Millia blended into the crowd, enduring several disgusted glances from the sand bandits.

The sand bandits drove all the people out of the cell to the ground as if they were herding cattle.

Those who saw sunlight again squeezed their eyes shut against the glare, only to be shoved or kicked forward onto a vast open space where around six hundred people had been gathered.

Once her eyes adjusted, Millia slowly opened them… only to see a terrifying sight.

Across the rocky plain, bloodthirsty sand bandits sat astride armored bulls, forming an endless, imposing cavalry. At the forefront stood a rugged man with a braided beard, his gaze icy as it swept over them.

"Feed them." He commanded, "Let them eat well before their journey."

The words sent a chill down Millia's spine. Around her, a few others reacted with similar dread.

The sand bandits had prepared for this. They tossed generous portions of food and water onto the ground before the prisoners.

Within moments, the crowd descended into a frenzy, scrambling for the provisions.

Gritting her teeth, Millia lunged forward with the rest-