White smoke filled the air, the mellow, intoxicating aroma of wine carrying subtle hints of acidity.
Being in the midst of it, one couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.
Especially Tonpa. Even though his heart was sealed within Law's book, he still felt a heart-wrenching sensation.
'That was incredibly delicious Monkey Wine! Even with a steady supply, it shouldn't be wasted like this!'
His heart ached as he watched Law swiftly pick up a second pot after emptying the first.
Just as the stone pot's temperature was slightly alleviated by the wine, Law poured the second pot of Monkey Wine along the edge of the stone pot's lid.
The wine flowed from the spout like a tiny stream, falling vertically onto what seemed like the tightly closed seam of the lid.
Some of the poured Monkey Wine vaporized, while some slowly seeped into the pot through the seams.
Wine is fluid… it always finds cracks to seep through, thus entering the pot.
The first pot's purpose was almost entirely rapid cooling, while the second pot was to enhance the flavor of the Pouch Chicken inside the stone pot.
After two pots of wine, even as the white steam dispersed, the entire tree hole was still dominated by the aroma of Monkey Wine.
Law didn't pick up a third pot immediately. Instead, he focused on the fire's temperature while raising a hand to release a portion of his Nen.
It enveloped the stone pot, forming a sponge-like structure with numerous air holes, preventing it from becoming a pressure cooker environment.
Slow cooking required patience above all.
'This is a true Gourmet Hunter.'
No matter how many times he saw it, Tonpa couldn't help but sigh inwardly, especially after he came into contact with Nen himself and gained a deeper understanding of the various professional Hunters.
Not only using the power of Nen to pursue high-grade ingredients but also utilizing Nen's power to cook gourmet food… this was the true definition of a Gourmet Hunter.
Most Gourmet Hunters essentially used Nen as capital for hunting ingredients. Even if they had culinary skills, they rarely spent the effort to develop Nen Abilities specifically for cooking.
Cooking gourmet food required patience, and waiting for it required patience too.
The closer one was to the stone pot, the more the impatient craving itched annoyingly.
After watching for a while, Biscuit and the others decided it was better to keep their distance and indeed moved away from the fire. Only Kuro remained because Law would need his help later.
The stone pot maintained its high temperature. The chicken inside had high heat resistance, and there was no need to worry about the ingredients in its abdomen.
Even if the heat control wasn't perfect, the failure rate was very low. This was one of the advantages of high-grade ingredients.
In the Hunter x Hunter World, there was a technique for judging heat: placing the middle finger on the center of the pot lid to feel the vibrations from within, thus determining the state of the food inside the pot.
This was Law's first time cooking the chicken. Despite having information from the White Smoke Font, he couldn't avoid the hard limitation of experience. It was difficult to determine exactly when it would be ready.
However, he could fuse and employ the characteristics of En and God Hand. By continuously releasing Nen to envelop the pot, he could gather as much information as possible from inside.
This meant that until this dish was ready to serve, he had to continuously output Nen… perhaps for three hours, maybe six, or even more.
Perhaps because his body had been altered by that fruit from his previous life, ever since his attributes broke through 80%, Law's Potential Aura could sustain Ken) for over eight hours… more than twice Biscuit's capacity.
At this moment, continuously outputting Nen towards the stone pot was a trivial matter.
Time passed.
Ten pots of Monkey Wine were used up, and he had Kuro take out another ten.
The firewood kept burning, and the resulting ashes were taken out by Kuro.
Whenever the wine aroma in the tree hole was about to fade, two more pots of Monkey Wine would be poured, instantly filling the space with the scent again.
Smelling the continuous wine aroma, everyone's bodies seemed to develop a slight tipsy reaction.
After about two hours, a new fragrance began to seep out from the seams of the stone pot, then emerged from the air holes in the Nen covering.
It unexpectedly rose to prominence, directly replacing the status of the wine aroma.
This fragrance, though seemingly faint upon inhalation, caused their pores to slightly open upon entering their noses.
"This smell..."
Biscuit's eyes slowly narrowed. The aroma was very light, yet its presence felt stronger than the rich wine scent, being prioritized by the body's reception.
Tonpa's eyes were glazed over, his mouth slightly agape, his missing heart emitting a whimpering sound of 'I want to eat'.
Kuro stared intently at the stone pot, a large puddle of drool forming beneath him.
It was precisely because of the contrast with the Monkey Wine's aroma that the special quality of this faint fragrance could be highlighted.
Law was closest to the stone pot.
Smelling the fragrance, he couldn't help but get excited.
He was in control of this dish. He knew the chicken had been processed, its seal impeccable, which was why the escaping aroma was so faint.
Thinking along these lines, one could imagine just how intense the aroma inside the chicken's abdomen must be.
'Perhaps, this will be an aroma bomb,' Law thought silently.
Before cooking, he hadn't expected that combining multiple rare ingredients would trigger such an overwhelmingly present aroma. Then, the essence within the chicken's abdomen...
He hardly dared to imagine further. This might be the most top-tier gourmet dish he had created since arriving in the Hunter x Hunter World.
"When can we eat?" Kuro spoke, drool cascading out.
"Still need some time," Law replied.
Kuro sighed mournfully, resisting the impulse to flip the pot lid.
The fire's ashes were cleared out wave after wave. Over forty pots of Monkey Wine were poured. Each pot, if sold to the world's top tycoons, could fetch a significant sum of money.
It was what one might call squandering the family fortune, yet also incredibly worth it.
After waiting another hour or so, Law suddenly withdrew the Nen enveloping the stone pot.
That action made the others immediately stand up.
Law, completely unafraid of the high temperature, directly placed his hand on the pot lid, slowly closed his eyes to calm the anticipation rising within him, then suddenly lifted the stone pot lid.
Whoosh!
Most of the heat trapped inside the stone pot, carrying a slightly stronger version of the aroma, surged out like madness, instantly submerging Law's figure.
The hot steam and smoke were mostly from the sour-sweet dominant Monkey Wine vaporizing, but the aroma from the chicken and the other ingredients occupied the main flavor.
These aromatic vapors had been mostly locked inside the pot.
Now, rushing out all at once, they were mellow and rich while carrying enough heat to scald the body. But Law had his heat resistance from his Nen Ability, so he's completely unafraid. Instead, he thoroughly enjoyed the billowing smoke.
Kuro, seeing this, quite mood-killingly waved his hand to fan the smoke away, then impatiently floated up to peer into the stone pot.
Inside the large stone pot, not a drop of liquid remained. There was only a whole chicken, white with a slight yellow tint, without any scorch marks.
Its abdomen was more than twice as swollen as when it went in, the skin glistening with chicken fat extracted by the high heat.
Law opened his eyes, shining with light.
He didn't put the lid down.
Impatiently, he used his Nen Ability to reshape the stone pot lid into a peculiar plate, then placed it on the stone platform.
Then, under everyone's expectant gaze, he personally used both hands to lift out the entire swollen chicken and place it on the plate.
The plate had a two-layer structure, somewhat resembling a millstone.
The top layer was dish-shaped, its edges curved up a few centimeters high with an opening left. Below was a stone basin whose function was to catch the chicken broth from the chicken's abdomen.
Everyone gathered around, their eyes fixed on the chicken on the plate. The initially faint aroma was now close at hand, smelling even better.
All of Law's thoughts were immersed in this dish. He only wanted to taste it quickly. He didn't warn Biscuit and the others about the potentially explosive aroma hidden within the chicken's abdomen, nor did he consider whether this aroma might attract species from the forest.
Without a word, he condensed an Aura Blade and made a cut across the chicken's abdomen.
A glow, like that of a sunset, radiated from within the chicken's abdomen… it seemed the Fire Pattern Eggs' light had become deeper.
The rosy light emerged, the aroma exploded, and another wave of heat rushed out, as if they had arrived in a fairyland.