Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

The message was instantaneous.

Fifteen seconds after Law sent the message from Demon Island, Netero received it.

Through the information provided by Law, Netero realized the seriousness of the situation.

Every year, the number of hunters confirmed dead or missing is between 3 and 5. Compared with the number of people who pass the Hunter Exam each year, this number is quite terrifying.

This commission received from the state has most likely killed the nine Pro Hunters from the Association.

A single task claiming so many lives was unprecedented in recorded history.

However, being a Hunter was inherently high-risk, and assessing danger was a fundamental skill all Hunters needed.

Netero would mourn for the fallen Hunters, but he would not react too much. However, after seeing the symbol of Flower of Death in the intelligence, he became uneasy.

That flower had another name, 'The Ghost Lady', which was also the title of the founder of the Seirin Group.

Netero was also a member of the so-called Seirin Group, but later, he withdrew from the Seirin Group and took on the Chairman's position.

Before its disbandment, the Seirin Group had been the Hunter Association's sharpest blade. Every member was elite, specializing in A-rank missions and covert state-ordered operations.

Most of the Hunters with more experience knew about the reputation of the Seirin Group. At that time, some Hunters had even trained relentlessly just for a chance to join the Seirin Group.

The Ghost Lady was the captain of the Seirin Group. And after her death, the style of the Seirin Group has gradually changed, becoming more and more unscrupulous.

It is unknown when it started, but the Seirin Group began to put the mission first, and no matter what the mission was, they would complete it regardless of the cost and consequences.

That unscrupulous, almost pathological approach made Netero begin to wonder whether the squad should even exist.

It was not until an incident twelve years ago that the Seirin Group's unscrupulous approach to completing the mission finally affected the important interests of others.

That incident became the catalyst for their disbandment… sanctioned not just by higher authorities, but also with Netero's silent approval.

The Seirin Group was disbanded, but the members of the team did not have a good ending.

Netero had tried to intervene, but even he couldn't defy the state's will. He could only watch as the squad was destroyed under the guise of justice.

The Seirin Group disappeared, and Netero didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

The state didn't allow him to interfere with the future arrangements of the Seirin Group, so he didn't know what the final outcome of the Seirin Group was.

Until today, twelve years later, the flower had appeared again.

Although Netero didn't know how the state had dealt with Seirin Group's former members, he was very sure that none of the members at that time would be spared, because that incident had really enraged the highest echelons of power.

So… who was behind the flower now?

Also, the combination of the human head and the magical beast's body reminded Netero of the Ghost Lady's Nen Ability… the Surprise Box!

That is a Conjuration-Type Ability, and the Surprise Box is an item conjured by the Ghost Lady, which possesses unique abilities.

The Surprise Box can combine living things and non-living things, and fuse the characteristics of both. For example, if you combine a poison dart frog and a dagger, you may get a venomous dagger.

However, although the power of the Surprise Box is amazing, it also has many limitations. There is also a success rate and a failure rate. Just like enhancing equipment in a game, success cannot be confirmed 100%.

One of the many limitations is that the Surprise Box cannot merge humans and magical beasts.

Netero remembered that the Ghost Lady once spoke to him about a regret of hers… something she had always longed to accomplish.

That is, to throw humans and magical beasts into the Surprise Box and fuse them together, ultimately allowing humans to possess the bodies of magical beasts while still retaining the ability to use Nen.

It was an utterly insane concept, but it was also what the Ghost Lady had always wanted to accomplish. However, her Surprise Box itself had countless limitations, and only because of those limitations did it possess such bizarre powers.

Therefore, her idea was too far-fetched. Even if she was willing to spend hundreds of years to improve her Nen Ability, the Surprise Box would never be capable of such a feat.

What made magical beasts terrifying was their near-human intelligence combined with overwhelming physical prowess.

From the moment of their birth, they were a species that utterly outclassed humans.

And yet, despite their immense power, they were ultimately reduced to a species that could only survive under the permission of humankind.

But if magical beasts were able to use Nen... the very thought was chilling.

From Law's account of the hundred magical beast species that had appeared on Demon Island, Netero couldn't help but recall the Ghost Lady's regret, and also her ability, the Surprise Box.

The connection was there in his mind, but it never turned into a concrete suspicion.

After all, the Ghost Lady was long dead. And even if she were alive, her Surprise Box shouldn't be capable of anything close to this level.

Moreover, the Ghost Lady's original vision was to fuse humans and magical beasts in a way that left only partial beast traits, granting humans a beast's physical strength but keeping a mostly human form.

However, the creatures on Demon Island only retained human heads… nothing more.

Netero threw this idea out of his head. This clearly had nothing to do with the Surprise Box. It was just that Law's report had brought back the memory of the Ghost Ghost.

'It seems that I'll have to step outside the rules for once.'

Netero was thinking about Linne and the others, who had set sail four days ago.

This matter involved the Seirin Group, which had been disbanded for many years. On top of that, someone had deliberately intercepted their application to land on the island.

To Netero, this meant things had escalated beyond what could be tolerated. He had no choice but to head to Demon Island himself. Waiting for approval was no longer an option.

I think that approval will definitely not be given.

What Netero didn't know was that the hundred magical beast species were, in fact, the direct result of the Surprise Box's fusion process… and its results had far exceeded even his imagination.

The body structure of magical beast is different from that of humans. Although they have the intelligence to learn Nen Abilities, their physical limitations made it virtually impossible for them to use it.

However, the Surprise Box allowed magical beasts to break free from this limitation. It was able to do this because the Post-Mortem Nen could enhance the Nen Ability in unimaginable ways.

The Ghost Lady was indeed dead, but her Surprise Box was left behind, and Netero was not aware of this.

The Post-Mortem Nen have reduced many of the restrictions on the Surprise Box, and also fulfilled the Ghost Lady's regrets before her death, giving it unimaginable assembly capabilities.

As for the Surprise Box itself, it held far more secrets than anyone knew. It is a special conjured item that is no less valuable than the national treasure of the Kain Empire.

Both were conjured objects born from Nen, and both were powerful artifacts left behind after the deaths of their conjurers.