Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

Meteor City boasts a population nearing ten million. The city's layout forms a cross, with four wide, straight main streets dividing the city into four sectors.

Here, there is no interference from any government system. Instead, the entire Meteor City is managed by the Council of Elders. There are a total of four elders in the council, who are in charge of the four areas of north, south, east, and west respectively. While factions exist, they do not engage in power struggles.

Machi's residence is located in the West District. As long as they pass through the narrow alleys, they can reach the main street of the West District, and at its far end lies Meteor City's exit.

Beyond the city is nothing but endless trash, and from time to time, ones can see trucks driving in from outside to dump waste indiscriminately.

Law and Machi walked side by side and came to the West District's main street.

The street was bustling with people. Upon seeing Law, they all looked at him with contempt and disdain. Some even spat in his direction, but they did not do anything more outrageous afterwards.

'What's going on?'

Law was puzzled by the hostility shown by the residents along the way, 'Was it because I was an outsider? But Meteor City was known to accept anything, so there shouldn't be any reason to reject me. Was it because I was not a baby when I arrived?'

'Moreover, if they were resisting my arrival, then I wouldn't have experienced such peace during the past twenty days.'

"Machi, what's their deal?" Law was confused and a little angry. He quietly closed the distance between himself and Machi and asked in a low voice.

Machi glanced at him and replied indifferently, "They don't know your situation. Since you've been staying at my place and never go out, they probably think you're a gigolo."

Self-reliance is an essential survival skill in Meteor City. From the moment someone is abandoned here, self-sufficiency becomes ingrained in their bones. Even babies born without limbs manage to find ways to survive by the time they're four or five years old, let alone fully able-bodied individuals. Moreover, age is no excuse for dependency.

In such an environment, it is not surprising that someone like Law, who had been staying in Machi's house without going outside for nearly a month, would earn disdain. If someone with a more volatile personality saw Law, they might not hesitate to rough him up.

"Gigolo..." Law's mouth twitched. To be honest, it felt very strange to hear such word said by a little loli in such a bland tone. And yet, he couldn't refute it.

Law smiled bitterly and habitually rubbed his forehead with his index and middle fingers. He felt an urge to knock some sense into these people, but he knew it wouldn't change anything.

'I was originally planning of improving our diet first, but now, it seems I have to get rid of this 'gigolo' label first.' Law curled his lips. In a few days, he would use his actions to let them know how wise it was for Machi to 'pick him up'… cough cough, not pick him, but invite him.

As his mood gradually calmed down, Law no longer paid attention to the gazes around him.

Machi looked at Law, who had a calm expression, and raised her eyebrows slightly. She had never asked about Law's background since Meteor City accepted everything and cared little about origins.

However, she felt that Law is odd. He was about the same age as her, yet he remained indifferent in the face of so many contemptuous looks, as if he lacked the sharpness that should be possessed by people their age.

How could Machi have imagined that there was an adult's soul stuffed inside Law's ten years old body?

"Aren't you angry?" Machi asked.

"Pfft, why would I bother with these narrow-minded people?" Hearing this, Law replied with a nonchalant shrug. However, just as he finished speaking, he noticed a middle-aged man in a short-sleeved shirt in front of him raised his middle finger at him, and his face immediately darkened.

'It seems international gestures reached this world too.'

Without saying a word, Law returned the middle finger to the other party.

"..." Machi looked at Law's gesture speechlessly, then looked at the middle-aged man and her eyes narrowed slightly.

When the middle-aged man saw Law's response, he grew visibly angry. However, a cunning glint flickered in the depth of his eyes, and he walked towards Law with fierce aura.

"Machi, if he strikes first, it's okay for me to knock him down, right?" Law asked as he looked at the enraged middle-aged man approaching them.

At this moment, he wanted to test the results of his training in the past half month.

'You are not even as strong as me, and you think you can take him down...'

Machi thought silently and did not answer Law's question. Instead, she calmly took a few steps and stood in front of Law, then looked quietly at the middle-aged man.

Seeing Machi's actions, Law was stunned for a moment. Although he was touched by her willingness to shield him from trouble, how could he possibly hide behind a little girl?

The surrounding Meteor City's residents looked at the current situation with expressions of schadenfreude. When they saw Law hiding behind Machi, their opinions and assessment of Law were directly elevated to that of a waste.

What they wanted at this moment was to see the middle-aged man teach Law a lesson. If not for Meteor City's strict rule against harming fellow residents to the point of death, they might have encouraged the man to twist Law's head clean off to spare them the eyesore.

The residents of Meteor City generally had impressive physical strength, and this middle-aged man was no exception. He was tall and brawny, towering over Machi by half a torso.

The middle-aged man squinted his eyes slightly, cracked his knuckles with audible pops, and said coldly: "Machi, this is between me and him."

In response, Machi silently pulled out a thin thread from between her hands.

The middle-aged man's name was Marza, and he had some grudges with Machi. Machi also knew that the person Marza really wanted to cause trouble for was her.

Marza hadn't acted on it during their previous encounters, but it seemed his patience had finally run out now.

'My strength is absolutely inferior to Marza's. I can't afford to let him hit me directly or take his attacks head-on, as the margin for error is too slim. So, I have to find a way to wrap my thread around his lower body to limit his mobility before I can counterattack freely.' Machi thought rapidly.

"You're not stepping aside? That means you're taking responsibility for this matter." Marza said with a cold smirk, his narrowed eyes gradually opening to reveal an icy gleam.

"It has nothing to do with him." Machi said indifferently.

Marza's eyes suddenly turned cold. Then, without warning, he swung his massive fist at Machi, showing no regard for her or any notion of holding back. The punch was also intended as a sneak attack.

Machi's pupils contracted sharply.

Marza's fist was as large as a saucepan. While the speed of the punch wasn't so fast that she couldn't react, but Marza swung his fist so suddenly and the distance between the two was close, so even though Machi was ready for a fight, she was unable to dodge in time.

'I have no choice but to block it head-on!'

The thought raced through Machi's mind. She decisively gave up the idea of ​​dodging hastily, and simply raised her delicate arms and crossed them in front of her chest to brace for impact.

Seeing this, a trace of disdain flickered in Marza's eyes.

However, at this moment, Law suddenly moved, and in an instant, he stepped forward and pushed Machi out of the way.

After being pushed by Law, Machi fell to the right. Her eyes widened as she looked at Law, who has a calm face. At this moment, the thought in her mind was: 'Is this guy tired of living?'

Marza's fist passed Machi and went straight towards Law.

"Courting death!" Marza sneered, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

Bang!

A muffled sound echoed as Marza's saucepan-sized fist came to an abrupt halt. A small hand had stopped it in its tracks, preventing it to advance even an inch further.

"Huh?" Marza was stunned.

The people watching the fun were equally dumbfounded. The gigolo they had scorned had actually stopped Marza's punch with apparent ease right in front of their eyes.

They were all from West District, so everyone watching were familiar with Marza's considerable strength. But now, his punch was blocked so effortlessly?

At this moment, Law's upper body was covered with a thin layer of Aura. After receiving Marza's punch, he not only did not feel any pain, but also did not feel any pressure.

'It seems the training in the past half month was still very useful.'

"Uncle, your punch is really powerful!"

Law chuckled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You little brat!" Marza snarled, grinding his teeth in fury. His eyes blazed with anger, as he had never felt so humiliated in his life!