Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

It's actually easy to guess why there's no increase.

'Because it has been consumed before, the second time it loses its effect?'

This restriction is equivalent to depriving Law of his dream of becoming a Pay-to-Win player. After all, he doesn't know how much time and energy it will take to reach 100% in every Nen Category.

Originally, he thought he could have used money to buy easily available ingredients and then effortlessly reached the peak. But if that wasn't possible, so be it.

If one ingredient can only enhance his power once, then he'll simply seek out hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of unique ingredients.

Exiting the interface displayed by white smoke text in his mindscape, Law did not feel any regrets. At this moment, he only felt the satisfaction brought by the Mapo White Liver.

Ellie was still immersed in the taste of Mapo White Liver, with the strong and overbearing taste remained in her mouth.

Though she wasn't particularly fond of spicy food and initially found the flavor overpowering, she couldn't stop herself from eating the Mapo White Liver.

"This has already exceeded the nine-star level. Not even Zihog could create something like this." Kenda looked at Law with incredulous look, 'Why could such a young boy have such cooking skills?'

Not to mention other industries, being a chef takes time to mature. If Law had come from a family of renowned chefs, Kenda might have grudgingly accepted it, but Law came from that remote Meteor City.

"Zihog is that Gourmet Hunter?" Law asked.

"Yes." Kenda nodded. Zihog was the Gourmet Hunter with a weak presence Law had seen on the airship before. He was not an amateur, but a regular Hunter with a hunter's license.

"That Red Wine White Liver is indeed delicious, but it is far inferior to Mapo White Liver. There is a fundamental difference between the two." Law said with a hint of pride. After all, the recipe of Mapo White Liver comes from his previous life's Earth.

The former does not dare to explore the full potential of its ingredients, while the latter elevated them to new heights.

If Kenda had not tasted Mapo White Liver himself, he would have thought that Law was a lunatic. He had lived for most of his life, but had never tasted this flavor.

"I want to eat this dish again tonight!" Ellie, who was immersed in the taste, came back to her senses at this time. If she wasn't already full, she would've asked for more right away.

Hearing Ellie's request, Law and Kenda looked at each other.

In this world, there are too many things that money cannot buy, and the Spiny Sea Pork's liver, which is a C-level difficulty ingredient, is one of them.

The challenges lay not only in hunting the Spiny Sea Pork, but also in safely removing its venom glands.

If they really want to buy it again, there are Spiny Sea Pork's on the black market, but the quality will be much lower, as those are basically defective products with failed venom gland extractions. Not only did they lack flavor, but they also required antidotes to counteract the remaining venoms.

Even if there is an antidote, there is a risk that the toxins cannot be completely eliminated and the body will be damaged.

If Barney and Zihog did not have a long-term cooperative relationship, how could Zihog sell perfect Spiny Sea Pork's liver as a product to Barney and even cook it himself?

If all the Spiny Sea Pork were handed over to Law to be handled, then there would definitely be no defective Spiny Sea Pork's liver livers on the black market.

After learning how difficult it would be to taste Mapo White Liver again, Ellie felt like she had lost the desire to live. Even Kenda, who had a stronger tolerance, felt extremely powerless and felt every other food they ate would likely taste bland.

…

After five days of flight, the airship landed smoothly at the airport in Spice City.

Thanks to Kenda's explanations, Law had a basic understanding of Spice City.

Spice City covers an area of ​​about 12,000 square kilometers, which is twice the size of the area of Meteor City. It is a coastal city, but its prosperous economy and bustling streets weren't reliant on seafood.

The city's secret nickname was the 'Drug Capital'. As the nickname suggests, it is one of the major regions for drug production. It supplied the drugs via land and sea to other locations.

Despite the complex web of conflicting interests, Spice City's existence and rise had faced little suppression.

If Kenda hadn't told him, Law wouldn't have known that the Spice City's best-selling drugs were quite different from what he'd imagined.

In this world, drugs came in various forms, with their ingredients extracted from animals, plants, and even minerals. However, the drug that is produced in abundance in Spice City is a type of virus.

G1 Virus was a non-active virus. When injected into the body, it can produce hallucinatory effects and intense physiological reactions. Long-term injection will lead to dependence and addiction, and eventually death due to bodily deterioration.

Compared with other drugs, G1 Virus was noted for its relatively mild immediate side effects. People who die from addiction typically lived for at least two decades before the accumulated damage caused their death. However, G1 Virus significantly weakened the body over time, which is the fundamental reason for the high mortality rate.

Of course, Spice City, which is known as the Drug Capital, does not only have one kind of drug. G1 Virus is just the most popular product among them.

Barney has mastered the method of cultivating the G1 Virus and made his fortune from it. His swift rise to prominence as one of the Spice City's underworld moguls was inseparable from G1 Virus.

Currently, the Mafia leaders in various areas of Spice City acted as Barney's distributors. By purchasing G1 Virus and selling it at a markup, they effortlessly secured a 50% profit margin. It is this shared prosperity that maintained a delicate balance within the city's underworld ecosystem.

However, this seemingly harmonious and stable relationship will soon be disturbed with Barney's death, and the key lies in the G1 Virus itself.

…

The group drove towards the mountain road and came to Ellie's mansion built on the mountainside. They passed numerous security checkpoints along the way, and finally drove through the last gate into an expansive front courtyard.

The path ahead stretched straight for a kilometer, before circling a massive fountain and stopping before a palace-like mansion.

After arriving, Law wanted Kenda to take him to see the defensive layout surrounding the property, but he was dragged by Ellie to tour the mansion.

Things have their priorities, but that doesn't apply to Ellie.

Seeing that Ellie was in high spirits, Kenda could only watch Law being taken away by Ellie. With no other choice, he could only issue the highest level of alert order and then went to the underground factory built under the mansion alone.

Walking down the spacious corridor, Kenda's face remained ice-cold and his eyes flashed with bone-chilling coldness.

When Barney was still alive, only a handful of people could enter that place, and Kenda himself was not qualified. But now, it is different.

…

Meanwhile, without Law taking the initiative to ask, Ellie took him to Barney's collection room.

"In the basement?"

Walking down the spiral staircase, Law couldn't help but think to himself, 'Why these collectors all liked to keep their collections in the basement?'

"Yeah, it's huge," Ellie said.

After a while, the two reached the end and saw two steel doors.

Ellie approached the door on the right, entered the password, and scanned her palm. With a metallic clang, the door automatically swung open.

Law glanced at the door on the left and asked, "What's in the other room?"

'If the room behind the right door is where Barney's collectibles are stored, what about the room behind the left door?'

"I don't like that place."

Ellie walked into the room without looking back and turned on the lighting in the room. When the lights turned on, a huge round room was revealed.

Seeing that Ellie didn't want to say more, Law didn't ask any more questions and followed her into the round room.

After entering the room, Law's eyes narrowed slightly.

There's a dazzling array of items... 128 meticulously arranged collectibles.