Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

The old woman took a drag from her brass pipe, exhaled puffs of white smoke, and said lightly: "He's not your target, but you have been exposed to him twice?"

The old woman was well aware of the business the Zoldyck Family conducted and the methods they used to raise their children.

Though her contact with the Zoldyck Family was limited, she knew that Illumi was basically on missions when he was not at Kukuroo Mountain.

The so-called mission is naturally to assassinate the target.

In her opinion, it was almost unheard of for someone of Illumi's age to encounter a peer twice under such circumstances.

Illumi's dark, expressionless eyes betrayed no emotion as he succinctly explained, "The first time I met him, I thought he was dangerous, so I ran away."

Children typically dislike admitting weakness. And if they lose a fight, they often describe their retreat as a 'tactical withdrawal' rather than outright fleeing.

But Illumi is not an ordinary child. His background has shaped his unique character, and he does not think it is shameful to turn around and run away out of fear.

"Dangerous?" The old woman seemed very surprised. When she met Law a few months ago, she had briefly used Gyo to observe him out of idle curiosity. She thought that his level was just okay.

But Illumi actually thought that Law was dangerous?

When she saw Law just now, she hadn't bothered to use Gyo to observe Law again, so she was unaware of Law's explosive growth over the past few months.

"Yes, and what's even more peculiar..." Illumi's dark eyes showed a trace of doubt as he continued seriously: "I think he has become even more dangerous now."

Who is Illumi? As the eldest son of the Zoldyck Family, he had been raised as an assassin from birth.

Although there are not many members in the family, the elders are all powerful Nen Users. In such an environment, Illumi has to undergo inhuman and torturous training since he was a child, and he has been introduced to Nen at a young age.

Physical fitness, knowledge, technique, combat experience, Nen Mastery...

To be frank, he is invincible among people of his age.

But even such an invincible Illumi actually thought that Law was dangerous? He was even scared away.

Knock, knock..

The old woman tapped her pipe against the wall and said, "When I saw that kid a few months ago, his Nen was average at best. It may be pretty good for his age, but it was far worse than you."

"Is that so."

Illumi's face remained stoic. When he first encountered Law, it was the aura and gaze that had unnerved him. But just now, he deliberately used Gyo to observe Law.

Although he couldn't discern much, it was evident that Law had grown significantly stronger since their first meeting. The improvement was so immense that even without Law projecting any Aura, Illumi could keenly sense the gap between them.

But if the old woman's observations from months ago were accurate, then Law's progress over such a short period was nothing short of extraordinary.

"Are you interested in that kid?" The old woman asked upon noticing the contemplative look in Illumi's otherwise blank expression.

"A little." Illumi admitted.

The Zoldyck Family's upbringing had shaped his path in life.

Since he began undertaking missions, Illumi rarely encountered peers, and those he did meet seemed worlds apart from him in terms of experience, skill, and abilities.

This disparity felt natural to him. After all, how many normal children began life-and-death training at the age of three?

But now, there appeared a boy who was only slightly older than him but seemed stronger than him.

After hearing Illumi's answer, the old woman was surprised again.

"Grandma, you don't need to see me off." Illumi said suddenly.

The old woman seemed to sense Illumi's intention and exhaled a long puff of smoke, then asked, "Are you heading home now?"

"No." Ilmi did not hide it and replied directly.

"If you think that kid is dangerous, then you'd best stay away from him." The old woman advised calmly.

Her impression of Law was still based on what she had seen months ago. However, given Illumi's description, she chose to err on the side of caution and offer a warning.

Illumi nodded, but then began walking in the direction Law had gone with the bundle in hand.

"Don't damage the clothes, they are for your mother." Seeing that Illumi nodded but did not heed her warning, the old woman looked helpless and could only give a brief reminder.

Hearing the old woman's reminder, Illumi waved his hand to indicate that he understood.

"Honestly."

The old woman shook her head lightly before turning back into the alley.

She wasn't worried about Illumi at all. After all, even with her rich experience, she could not beat Illumi.

After bidding farewell to the old woman, Illumi walked slowly along the path Law had taken.

When Illumi accidentally spotted Law earlier, he not only used Gyo to confirm that Law had grown stronger but also, with his finely honed instincts from years of training, detected a faint murderous intent emanating from him.

In the language of assassins, it meant one thing, Law was ready to kill.

Having noticed this and wanting to assess Law's current capabilities, Illumi decided to stealthily follow him.

With his mastery in Zetsu and his ability to conceal his presence, Illumi was absolutely confident that Law wouldn't be able to detect him.

…

Law didn't know that Illumi was also in Meteor City, much less that he was being followed.

He took Sanbica to East District, turned into the alley, walked for a while, and finally arrived at the Elder's house.

There were still two people guarding the rusty iron gate, but it was unclear how many people were in the house.

"This is it." Law remarked as he glanced at the two guards inside the iron gate.

Under the watchful eyes of the guards, the two walked to a place not far from the gate.

The two guards scrutinized Law carefully. Their expressions shifted from surprise to a faint murderous intent as they seemed to recognize him.

"Do you need my Nen to assist?" Sanbica asked calmly.

Law responded by casually lifting his hand and flicking his fingers twice toward the guards.

Two marble-sized Nen Bullets flew out from his fingertips and accurately hit the throats of the two guards. With a low 'hissing' sound, a small, bleeding holes were created.

Those two Nen Bullets weren't imbued with the power of God Hand, and they were just low-level applications of the Emission Category. So even if they hurt people, they would not occupy the pages of the book.

The two guards didn't know what was going on. They covered their throats in shock, and blood kept flowing out of their palms.

Moments later, the eyes of the two guards dimmed and they collapsed to the ground without any sign of life.

Seeing Law kill two people so casually, Sanbica remained unfazed. She stretched out her hand and said, "Let me try. It might yield better results."

"Okay." Law nodded.

Sanbica's body suddenly emitted Aura, most of which gathered on her right hand.

She selected one of the many viruses in her body to use, and used her Aura as nutrients to 'breed' a sufficient number at lightning speed.

To be precise, rather than true biological reproduction, the aura simulated and generated a copy of the virus. This is one of the ways she uses [Pandora's Box], which has both advantages and disadvantages.

By using her Aura to replicate a virus, Sanbica essentially applied Conjuration-type Nen, and the replicated virus had effects identical to the original.

The advantage was that it formed quickly, but it was also easier for Nen Users to detect and counter with their own Aura. Additionally, the virus's effect was time-limited.

"Hold out your hand." After producing enough viruses, Sanbica suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Law walked over and stretched out his hand towards Sanbica. Without her reminder, he condensed his Aura on his palm, forming a transparent sphere the size of a basketball.

"I'm going to put it in. Control it carefully." Sanbica said as she placed the virus into Law's transparent sphere.

Law concentrated on receiving the virus that Sanbica handed into the transparent sphere. After Sanbica withdrew her hand, he compressed the sphere slightly to make it easier to control, and then hurled it into the house.

The transparent sphere containing the virus passed through the open window and entered the house.

Law didn't know what effect the virus extracted by Sanbica had. However, since it was virus that could be transmitted through the air, he could just throw it into the house to infect the Elder and his subordinates.

This was the extent of their plan, which can weaken the elder and his men and make the ensuing confrontation easier.