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

The culinary competition is held every three years, starting on May 1st and lasting for a week, and is divided into two parts: [hunting] and [cooking].

First, participants need to hunt for ingredients in the [Ingredient Area], and then reach the finish line within a week.

At the finish line, professional kitchen utensils will be available for candidates to use in the second half of the cooking competition, where three judges will score the participants.

The three judges are Lin Nie, the founder of Gourmet Paradise; the second-in-command of Gourmet Paradise; and Netero, the president of the Hunter Association.

The competition only considers the final cooked dish. The scores from the three judges will determine each person's ranking, and the top ten will receive special prizes.

Once the food is prepared, you only need to give a portion to the judges for their scores; the rest is yours to keep.

A significant number of candidates weren't even aiming for a high ranking; they were simply there to get the ingredients they wanted from the ingredient area. They planned to just throw together whatever they could in the second half of the competition and leave with the ingredients.

His idea was similar; the goal of this competition was simply to get ingredients.

This manual is not only detailed, but also includes a general map of the ingredients section.

The food preparation area features diverse terrains, including forests, plains, sand dunes, glaciers, and more. Three areas are marked with red circles to indicate that they are dangerous zones.

It is said that those three places contain ingredients that Lin Nie brought back from the Dark Continent.

After numerous competitions, many people have tried their best, but the disappearance rate remains high, and there has never been any news of anyone successfully obtaining it.

Perhaps someone got it, but didn't let the word out.

It's also possible that no one has ever actually received it.

He chose one of the dangerous areas called "Swamp Forest" and planned to try his luck there. The manual said that the depths of the Swamp Forest were filled with an aura that seemed to be the spirit of death, so ordinary people could not go deep into it.

This was exactly the "best ingredient" for him, as Gastly hadn't eaten meat for a while.

Hopefully, this competition will allow him to obtain good ingredients, whether for his own consumption or to trade with Toriko.

Meanwhile, the characteristic bar for Gourmet Paradise is also nearing its end. Judging from the speed, it will reach the finish line in less than half a month, at which time another card will be added to the bag.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

On the morning of May 1st, Lynn left the hotel empty-handed.

Having a spatial item is great; all his things are stored in the [Seamless Expansion Box], which is then stored away in the form of cards, allowing him to move around with extreme freedom.

Along the way, he could also see many people going in the same direction as him, who were obviously also contestants.

Upon arriving at the venue, the first thing Lynn saw was a large crowd and the host standing on the stage.

The host then announced the detailed competition rules again to ensure that no one was still unaware of them.

Lynn also learned from the host that there were more than 500 participants in this competition, most of whom were Nen users.

After a quick glance, he spotted several obviously unusually strong individuals, most of whom were at the A-level.

It's clear that the Gourmet Paradise's triennial culinary competition is a popular event among Nen users.

After the host explained the relevant rules, it was almost noon.

At the host's command, the contestants filed in one after another.

There were quite a few contestants, and naturally, many of them were dressed in strange and unusual ways. Looking around, many of them were carrying their own weapons.

At first glance, it looks like an upgraded version of the Hunter Exam.

Players can act alone or in teams; there are no strict requirements. Lynn naturally chose to act alone.

Upon entering the food area, the first thing that appears before you is a vast desert area, with forests and hills faintly visible in the distance.

To reach the destination, one must first cross this desert.

If viewed from above, the crowd would appear as scattered like sesame seeds across the desert, moving forward in droves.

However, the food preparation area is not a docile sheep area. Every inch of this place may hide dangers. Once you step into this area, the roles of hunter and prey may be reversed in an instant.

During the journey, some Nen users with considerable strength in the crowd changed their expressions slightly and suddenly fled to either side.

A few steps behind, many people realized something was wrong and tried to escape with the first group, but it was too late.

In an instant, small dots appeared on the desert beneath people's feet, and then expanded outwards at an extremely fast speed.

The surrounding sand dunes began to sway, and then the yellow sand flowed at an extremely fast speed, forming a constantly expanding quicksand hell!

In just a moment, the quicksand vortex expanded to tens of meters, each vortex capable of encompassing multiple people, creating a large depression in the surrounding sand.

In just a short while, seven or eight vortexes had appeared on the field, affecting quite a few people.

Surrounded by quicksand, their legs were pulled by a powerful suction force, requiring them to exert several times the normal amount of effort to move.

Peng!

The yellow sand below burst open.

Monsters emerged from the yellow sand, causing a small sandstorm with their mere appearance. The monsters resembled some kind of insect, but were unusually large.

It has a hideous face on its head and three scarlet eyes.

Apart from its head, it has a large body with dark pits and six arms and legs.

Giant antlions are relatively rare creatures on the six continents. They usually lurk deep in large deserts, using quicksand to catch their prey.

Information flashed through Lynn's mind, and with a wave of his hand, a dense barrage of psychic bullets whistled out, the powerful bullets piercing straight into the antlion's head, blasting out several large holes.

As a B+ level Nen user, he is already a skilled Nen user. With his long-term use of the Air Gun Potion and the Six Styles O-Finger Pistol, the Nen bullets he now unleashes are quite powerful, probably even surpassing Franklin's dual machine guns.

The antlion immediately fell backward, its heavy body crashing onto the desert, sending up a large amount of yellow sand flying into the air.

He rode Chopper, who had transformed into his riding form, and casually walked past him.

To be fair, Chopper is truly a versatile companion; he can be a mascot, a cutie, a doctor, a fighter, a mount... he can do it all.

Chapter 82 Bisge and Gail's Goal! The Space Item is Great!

The sudden attack caused some chaos on the field.

However, the people who appeared here were all elites from the six continents, and the vast majority of them were Nen users, so they quickly organized a counterattack.

A group of relatively weak Nen users could easily defeat the Ant Lion by launching a collective attack, but the most eye-catching were the strong individuals among them.

Bang!

An antlion suddenly collapsed, kicking up a cloud of yellow sand.

Gail's right hand returned to normal, and she followed her companion Bisge's steps expressionlessly.

For their level, the antlion is nothing more than a speed bump.

This is just the beginning. More monsters will appear in the food area, and most of these monsters will also be ingredients.

Giant antlions are an exception; they cannot be eaten.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the direction people are heading indicates their respective goals; for example, Lynn and Bisge are heading in roughly the same direction.

Bisge glanced at the direction the others were heading and casually remarked, "About eighty people, heading in the same direction as us. As for how many of them dare to challenge the swamp forest, we have no idea."

“With their strength, most of them won’t even make it inside,” Gail said calmly. “Our real trouble is still the Death Thoughts.”

They have the same goal, but they are also different.

Bisji wants to obtain an ingredient called the "Black Crystal Mushroom" from the swamp forest. It is said that this mushroom is very rare throughout the six continents and is a rare and high-end ingredient.

Its shape closely resembles a piece of black crystal with sharp edges and corners, and its purity is comparable to that of a top-quality gemstone. This is an irresistible temptation for Bisge, a gem hunter.

In fact, she had participated in the food competition three years ago, but unfortunately, the depths of the swamp forest were affected by an aura similar to death, so she couldn't stay for long. After a brief but fruitless search, she could only wait for the next competition, which was this one.

In order to find the Black Crystal Mushroom more easily, she also asked her friend Gail to join her, who also needed to go to the Swamp Forest in the ingredient area.

However, her target was even rarer than the Black Crystal Mushroom; it was the legendary ingredient from the Dark Continent.

Because of Lin Nie's relationship with Netero, Gail learned some more secretive information: the ingredients from the Dark Continent were indeed real.

However, strictly speaking, it was brought back from Lake Möbius, which lies between the six continents and the Dark Continent.

Of the three, the ingredient from the swamp forest is a strange tree.

The fruit of this tree has miraculous effects; it can not only heal serious injuries but also clear away abnormal states, including suicidal thoughts, which is exactly what she needs.

So the two hit it off and decided to team up to explore the swamp forest. The biggest threat to them was actually the eerie aura that resembled the deathly spirit.

Unfortunately, exorcists are extremely rare, and they are often of low strength, serving as support roles. Places like swamps and forests are too dangerous, and even if an exorcist is found, they are unwilling to travel with the group.

Therefore, they had no choice but to tough it out and try to find their target in a short period of time.

……

On the vast desert, wisps of wind carry sand across the landscape.

At first glance, all you see are the same old scenes.

Lynn soon encountered her first ingredient, which, strictly speaking, was a seasoning.

With a thought from Lynn, Chopper, who was moving in four-wheel drive, stopped. What appeared in front of the man and the deer were several cacti, which were among the few plants in the desert.

However, these cacti are quite unusual.

Lynn took out the [Food Guide] she had purchased and, after comparing it several times, confirmed that this was indeed one of the C-grade ingredients, the [Honey Fruit Cactus].

This cactus grows fruits similar to dragon fruit, emitting a slightly sour floral fragrance. When cut open, it contains an amber-colored, honey-like syrup, making it perfect as a flavoring for desserts.

Lynn used his hand as a knife and casually cut off two fruits, one for himself and one for Chopper.

With a gentle push, the fruit splits in two, revealing a burst of incredibly sweet juice inside. Upon tasting, the juice, sweeter and richer than honey, floods the mouth, making it absolutely delicious.

After a brief taste, Lynn took out the Seamless Stretch Box, picked the fruits one by one, put them inside, and took them away.

This is also a huge advantage he has over others.

Spatial capabilities!

In such situations, spatial storage capacity becomes all the more important.

Although the entrance and exit are not far for Nen users, they can arrive in a few days.

However, the real time and effort required to hunt for your target ingredients is what takes up the majority of the time.

After the successful hunt, new problems arose one after another: how to carry the food.

Many high-quality ingredients are often quite large, making them unsuitable for contestants to carry to the finish line even if they successfully hunt them.

Usually, only the most valuable parts can be cut off and kept, while the rest is somewhat wasted.

Therefore, almost everyone hunts with a pre-determined goal in mind, without considering other ingredients, let alone bringing back any ingredients they find.

Lynn had it much easier in this regard; although three cubic meters of space wasn't much, it did lighten her burden somewhat.

He came purely to source his ingredients for the food competition.

After gathering the fruit, Lynn and Chopper continued in the pre-arranged direction; they were not far from the forest.

Since they needed to collect ingredients along the way, Lynn told Chopper to keep his pace at a normal speed so as not to miss any harvest.

Time passed slowly, and they finally passed through the desert, the most resource-scarce area among the various terrains, and entered the more resource-rich forest region.

The variety and quantity of ingredients here are far greater than in the desert; similarly, the dangers are also on the rise.

From within the tall bushes came rustling sounds, and heavy footsteps grew closer, clearly indicating a large creature.

Chopper, who was carrying Lynn, stopped and calmly observed.

A moment later, a brown bear, about four meters tall, emerged. It exuded a violent aura and had a scar running through its right eye. Upon seeing Lynn, it roared as if it were in a great hurry.

"Roar!"

Immediately, the brown bear charged forward, its millstone-sized paws pressing straight down on Lynn's head. If an ordinary person were hit, their head would explode like a watermelon.

However, a figure was rapidly approaching from behind.

Bang!

The brown bear was suddenly struck to the side, its entire body crashing heavily to the ground, leaving it dazed and disoriented, before being finished off with a final blow.

A man with a buzz cut appeared in front of Lynn, smiling kindly: "Are you alright? I thought this bear was dangerous, so I intervened. I hope I didn't bother you?"

Lynn secretly assessed the buzz-cut man's spiritual energy level and said, "No, you've been a great help. I was just worried about what to do."

"I see. Luckily I arrived in time." Jett laughed heartily. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Jett, and I'm currently working towards my goal of becoming a Gourmet Hunter."