Chapter 223 The Taste of Fakeness

Perhaps it was because he had grown stronger, but during his battle with Gel, Law didn't feel any pressure. Maybe it was because Gel's trump cards were ineffective against him.

The stone house had simple furniture but a relatively spacious interior, with the only light coming from scattered candles.

Outside, the rain showed no sign of letting up, though the frequency of lightning flashes had noticeably decreased.

Sanbica sat alone in the corner, while Law and the others sat at a table.

Biscuit briefly mentioned Gel's identity, and Gel added a few more details, giving Law a more complete understanding of her.

Law carefully recalled the members of the Zodiacs from his memory. The few female members he remembered didn't resemble Gel at all, 'Could it be that the members of the Zodiacs had changed when the plot began? Or had Gel's appearance changed drastically over the years?'

Whatever the case, Law believed that Zodiac members should all be exceptionally strong. If Gel's level of strength was the standard, then the bar seemed a bit low.

Gel had no idea what Law was thinking. Even if she did, she wouldn't waste her energy arguing with him.

The group sat silently in the stone house. The middle-aged man who had the fortune of joining them to escape the rain behaved cautiously, not daring to utter a single word. He just listened to Law and the others' conversation.

From their conversation, the middle-aged man learned the identities of Gel and Biscuit, so he didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

His name was Baghtiger, which is the name of a wild beast living in the plains. He had no idea what his parents were thinking when they gave him that name.

"This rain might last for a few days, but I'm only letting you stay for one night." Law said.

Gel raised her eyebrows, but she didn't have any objection. She had just fought Law earlier that evening, which drained both her stamina and Aura. She would feel better after a night's rest.

Baghtiger, having shamelessly followed them, was already lucky to be allowed here, so he certainly had no complaints.

"Biscuit."

After settling Gel and Baghtiger, Law looked at Biscuit, who nodded in understanding and then stood up.

The two men went out and walked into the night rain to start their spar.

Once Law and Biscuit left, only three people remained in the house.

Sanbica looked at Gel and Baghtiger in silence, with no desire to talk to them. She had always been indifferent toward strangers, only interacting with those she was familiar with.

Baghtiger, on the other hand, was visibly uneasy. He was unsure of where to place his hands and feet. What was even more frightening was that the intuition he had developed from living in the wilderness for many years reminded him that the other two women in the room were extremely dangerous.

And extremely dangerous means... both Gel and Sanbica can beat him up at will.

In fact, he felt the same way about Law and Biscuit. Compared to them, he was like a little kitten among tigers and wolves.

Gel looked at the tightly closed stone door with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

From their earlier conversation, she had already learned that Law was Biscuit's disciple. That meant he had obtained his Hunter License within the past two years. So she made a mental note to look into Law when she returned.

…

Half an hour later.

Law and Biscuit returned to the stone cabin, soaked from head to toe. Their faces and bodies were covered in mud, making them look quite disheveled, clear evidence of an intense battle.

Gel noticed the look of satisfaction on Law's face and was surprised. She had no idea what had happened in the past thirty minutes. But even if she wanted to know, Law would not tell her.

The half-hour fight had been grueling, but while Law hadn't gained a significant upper hand, he had managed to suppress Biscuit using the terrain, something he hadn't been able to do in months.

Had Biscuit not witnessed his battle with Gel earlier, his strategy of using rock formations and rainwater to set traps would have been even more effective.

Even if he didn't win, managing to gain the slightest advantage over Biscuit was enough to satisfy Law. He had to defeat the untransformed Biscuit first before he could further challenge the transformed Biscuit.

"Let me take care of it."

After Law said this, he walked towards Biscuit, who immediately understood what he meant and gave a slight nod.

He had intentionally conserved some Aura in order to use 'Mr. Muscle' to remove the dirt and rain from their body.

With a light touch on Biscuit's shoulder, Law extracted all the mud and rainwater from her body. Then, using the same technique, he removed the mud and rain from himself.

After finishing the work, Law looked at Gel and Baghtiger, who were still sitting in their seats, and asked, "You two aren't going to rest?"

"Uh... where am I supposed to sleep?" Baghtiger glanced around the room and voiced the question that had been on Gel's mind as well.

Law casually pointed to a spot on the ground and said matter-of-factly: "There."

"…"

…

The next morning, the rain was still falling, though it had weakened significantly compared to last night.

Law got up early, but Gel and Biscuit got up even earlier.

Biscuit ignored the rain and went outside for her morning training, while Gel stood beside the corpse of the Doom Toad with a frown on her face. When she woke up, she found that the Doom Toad's two hind legs were missing.

When Law entered the main hall, he saw the missing legs at a glance. The cuts were clean and precise, as if sliced by an extremely sharp blade.

Seeing those cuts, Law's expression darkened slightly. He immediately guessed that it was done by Black Cat, 'Eating the legs without even neutralizing the poison? That guy really had no fear.'

Moreover, the only edible parts of a Doom Toad were its hind legs, which explained why Black Cat had only taken those.

Gel shifted her gaze from the toad's severed legs to Law and said, "The toad's legs are gone."

"I saw it." Law replied.

"Who did it?" Gel asked tentatively.

Law raised the back of his hand, pointed at the silver flame tattoo on it, and said, "Him."

The confusion on Gel's face deepened, so Law pulled Black Cat out from the tattoo.

The first thing Black Cat said upon emerging was, "Law, those mushrooms were amazing! I can't believe we've been here so long and only just discovered something so delicious."

Law had planned to ask about the toad, but Black Cat had already gone off on a tangent about mushrooms.

Having encountered the Bliss Mushroom the night before, Law had a good idea what Black Cat was talking about. However, he ignored the mushroom topic and went straight to the point.

"Enough nonsense. Did you eat that toad's legs?"

Hearing this, Black Cat glanced at the toad that was missing its hind legs, licked his lips with his tongue, and showed a look of satisfaction. Although he did not say anything, the answer was obvious.

During the night, he had slipped out, devoured the toad's hind legs, then raided Baghtiger's bag for Bliss Mushrooms before contentedly returning to Law's hand.

Gel didn't particularly care about the missing legs. After all, the toad was already a corpse, so losing a couple of limbs wouldn't diminish its research value.

She stared at Black Cat with a surprised look and asked, "Is this your Nen Beast?"

It is extremely rare to find a Nen Beast with such high intelligence and autonomy.

"Yes." Law said, rubbing his forehead.

"So that's how it is. No wonder it's not afraid of the poison of the Doom Toad." Gel said in a low voice. If it was a Nen Beast, that explained everything.

Black Cat showed no remorse for stealing the toad's legs. Completely ignoring Gel, he floated midair in front of Law and urgently declared: "I'm going to pick mushrooms! Breakfast should be mushroom soup!"

Watching Black Cat act like a living, breathing embodiment of gluttony, Law's mouth twitched and he said, "Mushroom? You mean the Bliss Mushrooms?"

Black Cat nodded vigorously. He had found seven of them in Baghtiger's bag the night before and devoured them all. Each one had tasted different, but all were incredibly delicious.

At this time, the Baghtiger was still fast asleep, completely unaware that his freshly gathered mushrooms had been utterly annihilated.

"The taste of Bliss Mushrooms… is an illusion." Law said flatly.

"Illusion?" Black Cat asked doubtfully.

"The taste you experienced wasn't real. It's just an illusion created by the mushrooms affecting your tongue." Law explained calmly. This was the reason why he was not very interested in the Bliss Mushroom after coming into contact with it last night.

The taste wasn't real, it was more like a special type of hallucinogen disguised as food.

Law wasn't interested in such fake taste, but as long as he used his ability to remove the poisons from the mushrooms while preserving its hallucinogenic effect on taste buds, this ingredient would become a top-notch delicacy no matter how it was cooked.

With such an ingredient, even an amateur chef could run a nine-star restaurant. If entered into a gourmet competition, it could easily secure a championship.

Of course, the prerequisite is that one must have an ability like Law's, which can remove the toxicity of mushrooms while preserving its hallucinogenic effect on taste buds.

"A hallucination on the tongue?" Gel was quite knowledgeable about Bliss Mushrooms, but she had never heard of such an effect before.

She turned to Law and was about to ask for details, when suddenly, a loud exclamation rang through the house.

"My mushrooms!" Baghtiger had just woken up and discovered that all the mushrooms in his bag were missing.

His shout not only drew everyone's attention but also woke up Sanbica, who had been sleeping soundly.