Chapter Ninety-Six: Yearning for Food, Promising Prospects, and the Horned Scale Bear

Once again, I must declare that having a technologist by one's side truly brings delightful surprises from time to time. This fire-attribute magitech furnace is remarkably convenient. It is a sheer waste of talent for Hao Ren to repurpose a brain originally designed for researching biological weapons into creating kitchen utensils.

Yusuke ladled a bowl brimming with river-delicacy soup. The slippery smoothness of the rock-armored eel, the refreshing texture of the anglerfish, the richness of the river gall, the sweetness of the knife-fish, and the tenderness of the river star—the blend of these five top-tier aquatic ingredients left Yusuke completely intoxicated. He downed the soup with slurping sounds, followed by an expression of pure, transcendent bliss. Even more astonishing to him was that his Nen reserves, depleted by his previous Spirit Gun shots, had been partially replenished.

Hao Ren scooped up a tentacle of the river star with a spoon and chewed it. The flesh was fresh, smooth, and resilient, thoroughly infused with the scent of fresh herbs, while the pale yellow liquid oozing from the tiny compound eyes made one’s tongue twitch involuntarily.

Kuwabara fished out a translucent, cone-shaped horn. After processing, the toughest and sharpest part of the six-horned anglerfish’s head had become edible. Its crispy, bone-marrow-like texture and refreshing quality made Kuwabara instantly condemn the bento his older sister had packed for him (though Kuwabara would likely be condemned by his sister himself upon returning home).

Sadoth stared in bewilderment at the grey cube in his spoon. It looked like a block of silken tofu just lifted from boiling water, still trembling slightly. After a five-second hesitation, Sadoth brought the spoon to his mouth (?). Without any visible movement from the mouthless man, the grey cube suddenly vanished. It possessed the softness of tofu and the silky smoothness of jelly, sliding down his throat before he knew it. This item was actually a piece of rock shaved from the surface of a rock-armored eel, its original stone fibers broken down by a special gel Hao Ren had concocted, turning the iron-hard rock into soft, slippery tofu.

Hisoka, wearing a sly smile, rolled a mixture of blue rock-armored eel, orange six-horned anglerfish, and black white-paste river gall into a bundle with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth. As the fish hit his tongue, his eyes widened. The flavor was beyond description. Hisoka felt a faint tingling sensation in his skin, eyes, and nerves, followed by a sense of refreshment as if he had just stepped out of a steam room. As a master at Hisoka’s level, he was intimately familiar with every aspect of his body and could detect even the slightest abnormality. His vision had sharpened, his skin felt tougher, and his reflexes were quicker. Everything stemmed from the aquatic feast in the pot. For someone like Hisoka, who was desperate to improve his strength, the allure seemed a bit too great, giving him the sudden urge to finish off the five other people beside the pot.

The notorious "brother-complex," who had been constantly making *click-click* sounds, filled a bowl of fish, but before eating, he plunged one of his signature needles into the meat to test for poison. Only after confirming it was safe did he put the simple white chunk into his mouth. The instant the fish hit his stomach, the needles embedded in Illumi’s head lost control for a moment, causing his face to twitch and distort. Hisoka noticed his friend’s anomaly and gave him a pat, returning Illumi to normal. A flash of surprise shot through Hisoka’s eyes. His old friend, whom he rarely saw like this, had experienced a sudden increase in his total Nen capacity by half a tier. Could it be…

Illumi had good luck; he had triggered the low-probability effect of Nen enhancement.

Except for Yusuke and Kuwabara, the two idiots with no knowledge of Nen, the other three fixed their unblinking gazes on the cold-sweating Hao Ren. Hisoka’s lupine greed and Illumi’s inhuman intensity were the most direct. Hao Ren began to suspect he might be devoured alive in the next second.

A potential Nen user—a young man who could produce "Nen-infused food" before even mastering Nen.

The label of a "blue-chip stock" was effectively stamped onto Hao Ren’s forehead.

"Damn it! I was just hungry and wanted to cook something tasty to reward myself and my brothers. What is this madness?" Hao Ren, sensitive enough to feel the piercing stares, felt like he was about to lose control of his composure. He regretted it; why did he have to show off? Why did he have to make a fish stew? Now, it seemed he had been targeted by two of the most dangerous individuals in the entire plane.

***

"After I finish this bowl of soup, I'm going back to my hometown to get married!" Hao Ren truly wanted to shed tears and flee at once.

Not far away, Gon, the child of the plane, was on the verge of unleashing his primal beastly instincts. If not for Hisoka’s presence, he probably would have pounced already. The dry ground beneath Buhara’s feet turned moist, and Menchi, acting uncharacteristically, walked over with a coy, bashful demeanor.

"Ahem, so... Number 213, is there room for more at this dinner?"

The result went without saying: Menchi and Buhara both succumbed to Hao Ren’s fish stew. Hao Ren even prepared a special, extra-large serving for Buhara. Almost every examinee received a bowl of the fresh soup. As for the meat, which was consumed by Hisoka and the others, the examinees voiced no complaints. Having felt that genuine "kill-you" aura, no one dared to act out of line in front of them.

However, an exam is an exam, and the examiners still had their principles—if you couldn't make sushi, you couldn't pass. In truth, Menchi desperately wanted to let this unremarkable young man pass. If he successfully became a Gourmet Hunter, could she then approach him under the guise of being a colleague, eat more of his delicious Nen-infused food, and embark on a culinary journey together? Menchi’s imagination was running wild, and she was acting quite infatuated.

Of course, if she actually declared Hao Ren the winner, he would likely be beaten to death by the countless other examinees in the next moment. But at this moment, Hao Ren was full of confidence about his escape. Why?

*Roar! Haha!*

A black bear with two horns, drooling profusely and similar in size to Buhara, was currently eyeing the surrounding examinees with predatory intent. Hao Ren was sitting right on its back.

This creature was the Horned-Scale Bear that had appeared in the original story, the one whose scales Menchi had shaved. This "Lord of the Forest" had been lured by the life-force-filled fish stew, which explained why no other creatures had come to plunder the food—they had all been scared off by the bear's aura.

Although the original story didn't provide much detail, the few remaining Horned-Scale Bears in the world were indeed exceptional. First, it was a natural Nen beast with its own Nen ability. The one Hao Ren was riding was an Enhancer-type Horned-Scale Bear, with a physical toughness second only to the walking muscle-bomb, Uvogin. Second, it possessed the intelligence of a ten-year-old child, had its own independent judgment and values, and could understand simple human language. Finally, it absolutely loved eating fish.

Initially, Hao Ren hadn't wanted to tame this glutton; without his spatial abilities, carrying it around would be a nuisance. But the giant beast had crawled onto the ground and nudged Hao Ren’s thigh with its head, sporting an expression that screamed, "Please adopt me, I can keep your bed warm," which filled Hao Ren with such guilt that he relented.

And thus, the scene of man and bear united came to pass.

With a roar of wind, a massive airship appeared above the second examination site. Netero, who had arrived due to the commotion, scratched his smooth scalp as he looked down at the confrontation, which had all the makings of an epic quest.

"It seems this year's exam won't be so boring after all."