Hunter x Hunter: Card Master, the Strongest in the World

The Gourmet Paradise isn't open to just anyone; only a select few are allowed to enter: those with exceptional culinary talent, high-ranking officials of the nation, and powerful Nen users...

The reason why hunters are qualified is because they have passed the Hunter Association's test and proved their worth.

At the same time, the Hunter Association will also send professional Nen users to guide new hunters. Normally, the minimum skill level of hunters is not low.

It's not that wild Nen users are necessarily bad; the existence of invitations is precisely to provide opportunities for these people.

Regardless of the means by which you obtain it, having an invitation letter demonstrates your ability, status, potential, strength, etc. You must possess at least one of these qualities.

When it was Lynn's turn, he took out the invitation. Mencius glanced at it briefly, then focused on smelling the envelope before nodding slightly to signal Lynn to board.

It is clear that the truth is roughly what he expected; the letter itself is not important, but the special fragrance is the key.

The scarred man was just a minor incident; he was also the only one among the thirty-odd people who was not qualified. After everyone boarded the ship, it once again left the port and headed southwest.

Lynn noted down the direction, but at the same time, doubts arose in his mind.

Jeram City is located in the southwest corner of the ancient Ganyu Kingdom, on the edge of the six continents. There is no land to the southwest... at least not on the map.

Either the ship will change course at sea, or the food paradise is a remote island not marked on the map.

The ship was quite spacious, and everyone had a private room to stay in. According to Mencius, the voyage would take a week to reach the Gourmet Paradise.

Finally, after about a week of sailing, the ship passed through a remote sea area full of whirlpools, and several islands appeared before everyone's eyes at the horizon.

On the deck, Mencius pointed to the distant island and introduced it: "Ladies and gentlemen, that is our destination, a holy land in the hearts of every food lover - the Gourmet Paradise."

Then Menqi began to describe the terrain.

The Gourmet Paradise is built on an archipelago, with a large island in the center surrounded by several smaller islands, forming a shape like stars surrounding the moon.

The surrounding small islands are generally used for cultivating food ingredients and conducting experiments.

The central island is the most important, also known as "Food Island," and is the heart of the food paradise.

The food island is exceptionally large; even the other small islands combined are far smaller than it. It is mainly divided into two areas: the ingredient area and the food area.

Soon, the ship docked at the designated port.

Led by Menqi, the group set foot on the land of the food island.

At the same time, a new attribute bar appeared in Lynn's mind. Sure enough, there would be attribute bars in such special places.

I wonder what kind of cards I can generate for him...

Menchi's mission is now complete, and everyone is free to explore this paradise full of delicious food.

The food island is roughly circular, with the outer ring being the food area and the middle being the ingredient area. It is not open to the public normally, except for the triennial food competition.

As they strolled around, Lynn and Chopper came to a street lined with food stalls and vendors, all of which had one thing in common—seafood!

Chapter Seventy-Three: The Serpent Gai Lu! The Special Death God Pufferfish!

The food here is all seafood, including crabs, prawns, squid, and many more.

The aroma of delicious food wafted into my nostrils; it was a complex fragrance, filled with the rich scent of seafood.

The food court at the Gourmet Paradise is divided into several sections, such as dessert, fruit, and meat. They are currently in the seafood section.

"Wow! So much delicious food!" Chopper looked around, his mouth watering at the smell alone. "The food here is even better than Jeram's."

“Indeed.” Lynn nodded slightly. Chopper’s description of its appeal wasn’t just about its delicious taste, but also the striking appearance it gave off.

Crabs the size of calves, tuna the size of cars... just having them there is enough to attract attention.

Unable to resist any longer, Lynn took Chopper to the nearest stall and started eating. If he could, he wanted to try every single dish.

This stall specializes in sashimi, and the most eye-catching items are the large tuna, sea bream, and several other uncommon fish next to the bald owner.

"Boss, what's your signboard here?" Chopper asked, jumping onto the stool in front of the stall with his eyes sparkling.

The boss wasn't too surprised to hear Chopper speak. People who come to Gourmet Paradise are not ordinary people, even the shop owners. Many of them are professional gourmet hunters.

Upon hearing this, the bald boss said with great pride, "Of course it's tuna. My tuna is top-notch even in a gourmet paradise, it looks excellent."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Chopper exclaimed in surprise, while also feeling a surge of anticipation.

Of course, whether it's really as good as the boss says remains to be seen.

"I'll make you a portion to try first. If it's not good, I won't charge you," the bald boss declared confidently. He then selected a good piece of meat and began making sashimi.

The owner has excellent knife skills; he quickly sliced ​​the fish into appropriately sized pieces with clearly visible marbling.

He pressed the sliced ​​fish onto the chilled ceramic plate, spreading them out slightly to allow each slice to breathe.

A layer of cool steam floats on top of the plate, locking the fish at the perfect temperature. Then the owner pours on a special dark brown sauce.

"This is our restaurant's exclusive recipe, a sauce made from a variety of precious Grade C seafood ingredients."

Filled with curiosity, Lynn picked up a slice of sashimi, dipped it lightly in the sauce, and then put it in her mouth.

The two seemed to have some kind of wonderful reaction.

The fish releases its last bit of firmness as you chew, then melts completely, sliding down your throat along with the sauce.

All that's left is the lingering, delicious flavor that makes you want to take another slice.

Sashimi uses high-end ingredients, but its only drawback is that the flavor is relatively simple and bland. However, with the addition of sauce, this shortcoming is instantly compensated for, and the deliciousness is elevated to several levels!

This is the food at Gourmet Paradise!

Even if it's just a random stall, the food would be top-notch elsewhere.

Lynn and Chopper devoured the two plates of sashimi in no time, and the owner smiled knowingly.

The shop owners here aren't just in it for the money; they're also there to enjoy themselves and the pleasure of sharing delicious food with others.

For a chef, a guest's genuine smile is the greatest compliment.

A plate of sashimi costs five million jenny, and in no time, the man and the deer had eaten ten million jenny. Lynn felt a little scared; this place was simply a huge money pit.

He'd only just arrived and already spent ten million on nuns. He couldn't even imagine how much it would cost if he stayed any longer. Luckily, he still had some savings.

Wanting to try more different kinds of food, Lynn didn't stay at the stall any longer and instead continued exploring with Chopper.

This led them to discover another peculiar stall.

A crowd had gathered in front of the stall, but strangely, despite the large number of people, almost no sound could be heard.

Lynn went closer and saw three incredibly white pufferfish on the stall, with a description written on a wooden sign in front of the stall.

It turns out this stall specializes in selling pufferfish.

This is the only ingredient available at the entire stall.

The Death God Pufferfish is a Grade B ingredient, and it is a well-known high-end ingredient across the six continents.

Not only because of its delicious meat, but also because of how difficult it is to obtain.

The flesh of the Death Pufferfish is extremely tender, but it contains highly toxic venom sacs.

The Death Pufferfish will swell from a small size to a large size if it is startled, and its venom sacs will likely spread the toxins throughout its body. Anyone who touches it will die.

Hence the name "Death Pufferfish".

Even Nen users wouldn't dare to come into contact with this poison casually.

If you're lucky enough to catch a dead pufferfish in its normal state, cooking it becomes a problem, as even the slightest touch can cause the toxins to spread throughout its body.

Only a few people with master-level knife skills can successfully remove the poison sac, allowing the Grim Reaper pufferfish to be consumed normally.

Because of its rarity, the edible pufferfish is worth a fortune, and very few people have the opportunity to taste it.

The stall owner is taking on a challenge to see who can transform a live, deadly pufferfish into something edible.

Untreated Reaper pufferfish are worth at least 5 million jenny and are often hard to find.

If the challenge fails, 10 billion jenny will be required.

If he succeeds in the challenge, the Death River pufferfish will be given to him. A properly processed Death River pufferfish is worth approximately 20 billion jenny.

Lynn turned his gaze to the person who was taking on the challenge, blinked, and suddenly realized that the person looked somewhat familiar.

The woman was tall with dark skin, long black hair, and a wide forehead. Notably, her eyes had vertical pupils like a snake.

One of the twelve Earthly Branches of the Hunter Association... the Snake Gai Lu!

As far as I remember, her professions were coroner and pharmacist, as well as poison hunter. She was particularly skilled at using poison and was an expert in its application.

In fact, as a poison hunter, Gail naturally had the venom of the Death Pufferfish as one of her targets.

Therefore, her main motivation for this challenge was to combat the venom of the Reaper pufferfish.

Lynn clearly saw Gail's left hand transform into the shape of a snake, constantly groping around the pufferfish's belly.

This is a demonstration of Gal's Nen ability; she can mimic the shape of a snake with her hands and perform intricate maneuvers.

The venom sac of the pufferfish is located near its belly. The flesh is very soft and tender. With just a slight movement, the belly shakes like white tofu, as if it would break apart if you exerted any more force.

Gai Lu held her breath, her snake-like eyes fixed on the smallest details, trying her best to do every single thing right.

She has removed the venom sac from the Grim Reaper pufferfish, but she cannot guarantee success every time.

So even with utmost care, the venom sac inevitably ruptured, and the toxins quickly spread throughout the body, turning the originally white pufferfish into a dangerous purple hue.

Chapter 74 Challenge Successful! Is Lynn a Culinary Master?

"It failed..."

Chopper murmured, expressing what everyone else was thinking.

The shop owner was a middle-aged man with a full beard. He scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat helpless.

Was it really too difficult?

Although he was the seller and the one who issued the challenge, he also longed to see more and more talented people emerge.

He organized this challenge primarily to find "unsung experts" so that he could entrust them with handling the subsequent deadly pufferfish in the future.

Despite the rustling sounds around her, Gail remained unmoved and stood in front of the pufferfish without leaving.

Lynn's eyes narrowed as he watched intently.

Suddenly, streams of spiritual energy gathered from Gai Lu's body to her left hand, and the snake-shaped left hand revealed its sharp fangs!

Then it suddenly bit down on the venomous pufferfish.

Gail's sudden action once again drew the attention of the other viewers.

Is it because they're so angry that they want to try anything, even if it seems hopeless?

"Is this a concrete manifestation of Nen ability...?"

Lynn stared at Gail's left hand, a hint of curiosity flashing in her eyes.

Gal's Nen ability can be roughly divided into two aspects: absorption and creation.

Gail can transform her hands into a snake shape, in which she can absorb most of the toxins without being affected.

Toxins can remain in the body for a period of time, but not for too long; they need to be removed.

Gail can also analyze toxins. If multiple toxins are temporarily present in the body and can fuse together, combined with her expertise, she can create unique and highly toxic substances for various purposes.

It is evident that Gail had a very high interest in poisons, and it was an experimental kind of interest.

By constantly coming into contact with novel and highly toxic substances, they then develop their own various types of highly toxic substances.

In the blink of an eye, the pufferfish's color gradually changed from dark purple to lighter, and then slowly returned to its original white.

"The Death God Pufferfish? The toxins have been cleared away... No wonder it's one of the Twelve Earthly Branches!"

The shopkeeper stared at the Deathly Pufferfish incoherently, and after a brief moment of surprise, exclaimed in a tone of amazement.

The Twelve Earthly Branches are quite well-known, second only to the Hunter Association Chairman Netero in the Hunter Association, so most of the people present recognized the Snake, Gai Lu.

After confirming that all the toxins had been absorbed, Gail's left hand returned to normal, and her Nen ability was deactivated.