Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

Law's targets were the sword and the strange urn, but he felt it would be better to leave the appreciation of these two things in the middle or the end of his appraisal sequence.

The first item he chose was the monkey stone statue, which was nearly one meter tall. It depicted an upright monkey wearing a sharp-pointed hat. Its appearance and expression were extremely vivid, and the cruelty of human beings was fully expressed through its expression.

The craftsmanship was exceptional, but not remarkable enough to make this monkey stone statue worthy of being collected.

Evil Face (Authentic)

Category: Ancient Artifact

Age: 612

Description: This item was crafted by the renowned sculptor, Verdin, who loved to carve sharp-nosed monkeys that were good at mimicking human expressions. Verdin carved 139 stone statues of sharp-nosed monkeys in his lifetime, but all of them depicted benevolent faces.

Evil Face is the Verdin's 140th and final creation. Its value lies not only in its uniqueness, but also in the craftsmanship and raw materials, which form the foundation of this masterpiece.

…

The details of Evil Face and its creator, Verdin, flooded Law's mind in an instant.

Not only that, a series of slightly blurred scenes flashed through his mind without any warning.

In one scene, a middle-aged man, worn and haggard, sat in a barren room with only a peculiar sculpting chisel in hand. And before him was an unfinished stone pillar.

Although the man's face could not be seen clearly, Law could feel the extreme madness coming from him.

In the scene, the man is holding a stone chisel and persistently doing the same action at the same spot. In addition to this, there are different scenes.

These strange visions swirled in Law's mind, accompanied by a whispering voice, as though a demon lurking in the shadows was urging him: 'Accept it, accept it...'

Law slowly withdrew his hand and frowned slightly. This situation had never happened to him when he touched the Hand of Ominous Signs.

'If this is the intent left by Verdin, then this stone monkey should also have some remaining Nen.'

Fortunately, since Law's back was to the Elder, the Elder did not see Law's strange expression.

After standing still for about a minute, Law suppressed his doubts, then turned to face the Elder, and said, "This is a sharp-snouted monkey statue crafted by the famed sculptor, Verdin. He carved 140 stone statues of sharp-snouted monkeys in his lifetime. He liked to carve a straw hat on the head of each sharp-snouted monkey. Only this stone statue of a sharp-snouted monkey with an evil face is the most special, whether its expression or its pointed hat."

"First of all, Verdin's works primarily featured benevolent faces. The first 139 sharp-snouted monkey stone statues were all carved with kind, smiling, and lively expressions. Only the 140th sharp-snouted monkey stone statue was carved with an evil face."

Law extended his index finger and gently traced the faint bloodstain on the sharp-pointed hat of the statue. With a sigh, he continued, "This is not only Verdin's last work, but also his most painstakingly crafted masterpiece."

"Although the literature records that Verdin's works only consisted of 139 sharp-snouted monkey stone statues, and he has never carved a sharp-snouted monkey stone statue with an evil face, his unique sculpting skill cannot be imitated."

"The material Verdin used for this piece is extraordinary, and even time cannot wear away the edges and corners. This durability often leads to it being misjudged as a counterfeit, but true craftsmanship has no imitations."

"Based on Verdin's time of death, this statue is approximately 600 years old."

"Although this work has not been recorded in the literature, Verdin's first 139 sharp-snouted monkey stone statues were all named Good Faces. So, the name of this collection would logically be Evil Face."

Law organized the information in his mind and turned it into words, trying his best to explain the relevant information of the Evil Face. As for the deeper information he learned from those visions, he would not reveal it at all.

If he leaves Meteor City in the future, Law will definitely go to Verdin's address. The fragmentary information revealed in the vision seems to be an unknown and strange music score called... Sonata of Darkness.

However, given the 600 years that had passed, Verdin's dwelling most likely no longer existed.

Despite this, Law still wanted to go and see.

After all, the allure of the unknown was irresistible.

After listening to Law's explanation, the basement fell silent.

Cook's twin brother and his companion stared at Law with a mix of shock and disbelief. They had not expected such an outcome.

After all, almost half of the pile of bones next to the giant black dog was caused by the monkey stone statue.

Cook's twin brother and his companion witnessed with their own eyes that one self-proclaimed appraisal expert after another meet their demise because they all identified the meet their demise as a fake.

The Elder remained silent, but Law could feel his gaze was filled with astonishment, and judging from the reactions of Cook's twin brother and the other man, Law knew he had likely nailed the details.

If Chrollo had not explained the Hand of Ominous Signs before, Law might have doubted the veracity of the white smoke text that revealed the statue's details. As much as he hated to admit it, Chrollo did help a lot.

"Continue." At this moment, the Elder had decided to spare Law's life and use him to gather rare antiques and artifacts for him.

'Success...'

Law moved on to the next item calmly. He planned to discreetly absorb the Nen from the sword and strange urn under the Elder's nose, using elaborate explanations to divert their attention.

The second item is a silver bowl without any special features. Its value lies in the name etched on the bottom of the silver bowl. It seems to be the name of a very famous martial artist from three hundred years ago, and what made it extraordinary was that the name had been carved by bare fingers.

After Law touched it, he quickly learned all relevant details about the bowl, but no strange visions appeared this time.

Although he lost interest in the bowl, he still described it in as much detail as possible, which shocked the Elder.

By appraising just two artifacts, Law had already demonstrated his remarkable value.

At this moment, the Elder already regarded Law as a genuine appraisal master, and even his young age could not change this opinion.

After all, Meteor City was a place where neither age nor appearance mattered.

The third item is the golden pen with extremely complex hollow carving. Regardless of the year, its appearance alone was enough to give it collection value.

Similar to the silver bowl, this golden pen, which is used by a royal family in the long river of history, did not trigger any memory fragments in Law's mind.

When Law told the Elder the name and year of the golden pen, Cook's twin brother knew that the Elder would overlook Law's earlier transgressions, but the revenge for his twin brother would not be resolved just like that.

As long as the Elder recognize Law's value and send him to work, Cook's twin brother knew he will have plenty of opportunities.

At this moment, the Elder's mood began to improve. The value displayed by Law was beyond his expectations. He felt that Law was truly a rare talent.

The fourth item... is a long sword with a rusty blade, which is also one of the items with trace of Nen remaining in it.

As he approached the sword, Law's heartbeat quickened slightly. He felt like he was stealing under someone else's nose.

It was a risky move, but Law was unwilling to let this opportunity slip away.

This blade is about five feet long and looks very similar to a miaodao. It has a slender blade, and a black and red pattern on the hilt, but no guard. (T/N: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miaodao.)

Under the light, the rust on the blade formed round spots the size of a fingernail, arranged in a dense pattern reminiscent of a snake's scales.

It was a rusted blade, an obsolete weapon that could no longer kill and had ultimately been relegated to an ornamental role.

But... its intent has not been lost.

When Law stretched out his hand, before his fingertips touched the blade, he felt a faint sharpness, like a needle pricking his fingertips.

Law was slightly startled, and when his hand touched the hilt of the sword, his expression subtly changed.

At this moment, only one thought filled his mind:

'I must have this sword.'