"How long will it take before we can finally eat?!"
In the woods near the church, Uvogin, who was starving, couldn't help but utter his deepest longing for food.
Machi said nothing, still quietly watching Luke, who had come to a large tree ahead.
"We'll be able to eat soon."
Luke touched a fairly lush tree in front of him and nodded with satisfaction.
"This one's just right."
"What do you mean by just right?"
Uvogin's head practically drooped with hunger. But the next second, he immediately raised his head and sat up straight.
"This is..."
The familiar scene reappeared before his eyes.
A bright glow began to emanate from Luke's hands again.
And then, a strange object suddenly appeared before him.
"What is this?!"
Inside the church's screening room, Chrollo, watching this scene through the window, suddenly widened his eyes and his pupils shrank sharply.
Next to him, Pakunoda was equally shocked, her mouth gaping in a rather uncontrollable manner.
"Did that just appear out of thin air?"
Chrollo's gaze was fixed on the scene ahead while muttering to himself.
At that moment, his mind raced, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for this miraculous sight.
However, no matter how hard he tried to reflect on his knowledge and learning, he could not come up with any description or description.
It was as though this was something truly unbelievable.
As for Pakunoda, who was standing nearby, she was completely unable to respond after hearing Chrollo's question.
She herself couldn't understand what was happening!
Just as Pakunoda and Chrollo were stunned by the scene before them...
"Tsk, tsk, another invention?"
Uvogin, having already witnessed Luke's extraordinary display, was more receptive.
He was even marveling at it, as if he were witnessing an entertaining trick.
Indeed, for thinkers like Chrollo and Pakunoda, people who studied, learned, and reasoned, the first sight of Luke's Nen ability struck them like a heavy blow.
But for someone like Uvogin, who never bothered to think deeply and left his mind blank, this was nothing more than a magic trick, something fun to see but not worth analyzing.
In a way, this saved Uvogin a lot of trouble.
"Even after seeing it again, it still feels magical."
Amusing as it was, Uvogin's heartfelt feelings were also genuine.
Not to mention Machi, who had been staring at Luke since the light on his hand began to glow.
Compared to Uvogin, Machi had clearly thought more deeply and was still more impressed and moved.
"So if you want to become stronger, you can just beg me for help."
Luke opportunely brought up the previous topic.
"We'll talk about this later."
Uvogin smacked his lips and then looked at the strange invention that had appeared in Luke's hand.
"We want meat and fried rice..."
Uvogin looked at the syringe-like object, raised an eyebrow, and asked suspiciously: "What are these things?"
What appeared in Luke's hand was a syringe and needle combination used for injections.
And…
"These are the meat and fried rice."
Luke tossed a small vial of liquid in his palm while smiling.
"...???"
A series of black question marks appeared on Uvogin's forehead.
These things look like medicine, and you're telling me they're food?!
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something more.
But when he saw Machi remain silent, saying nothing, he thought for a moment and silently closed his mouth.
Then, under their watchful eyes, Luke opened one of the vials, drew all of the liquid into the syringe, and…
"This tree will do."
Luke said, before directly injecting the syringe into the trunk of the tree.
Immediately, under their gaze, one of the tree's branches began to glow faintly.
Then it swelled, sprouted, and slowly blossomed.
"Wait until it blooms and bears fruit..."
With Luke's soft voice, the fresh flower quickly withered, yielding a large fruit resembling a black coconut.
The fruit then dangled into Luke's hand.
"Like this, the food you wanted is done."
Luke handed it directly to Uvogin.
"Is this meat?"
Though the rapid growth and fruiting had stunned him, the idea of meat growing on trees was a little too unbelievable.
Uvogin, hesitant, opened the lid of the fruit.
Click.
The moment the black lid opened, a strong aroma of meat filled the air.
It instantly engulfed everyone present!
"Huh?!"
Even the nearby duo, Phinks and Feitan, preparing to infiltrate the church, paused almost simultaneously.
"Sniff... this is..."
Phinks's nose twitched sharply, and then he turned his head sharply.
His gaze was fixed in a certain direction.
"What's that smell?!"
"What a nice smell!"
It wasn't just Phinks; Feitan had also fixed his gaze early on.
They both stared straight in the direction from which that fragrance came, hardly able to move their eyes away.
Even though Phinks and Feitan's pair were some distance away, they could still smell it.
Not to mention Uvogin and Machi, who were already at the scene.
The moment the fragrance erupted, the two were the first to be directly impacted by it.
Their throats rolled uncontrollably almost simultaneously.
Uvogin, in particular, was drooling over the delicious aroma.
"It's meat!"
He looked at the black, coconut-like fruit, inside which sat pieces of steaming, fragrant meat.
It was cut from the fattest, juiciest, most tender part of a big, plump pig, and after being specially cooked, it became a dish radiating an irresistible aroma.
Piece after piece was nestled inside that black coconut fruit, sending out waves of rich, tempting fragrance.
The tip of his tongue and nose conveyed to Uvogin his desire to get closer to these large pieces of meat.
And under this overwhelming desire…
Crack!
Unable to bear it any longer, Uvogin thrust his hand directly into the black coconut fruit.
Ignoring the steaming hot meat and without caring about the burning sensation on his hand, he took a large piece of meat and stuffed it directly into his mouth.
Slurp.
The rich aroma instantly erupted in Uvogin's mouth.
He chewed the fat, tender meat frantically.
The rich juices splattered all over his body, some even trickling out from the corners of his mouth. "Delicious, so delicious!"
Normally, Uvogin would never let meat juice leak from his mouth like that.
But right now, he couldn't care less.
There was still so much meat inside that black coconut fruit, he wanted nothing more than to cram all of it into his mouth at once.
In fact, Uvogin now felt that his mouth was too small to fit all the meat in immediately.
There was nothing he could do. He was afraid of poverty... Afraid of hunger... Or should I say, afraid of greed?
He had never eaten such delicious food before. The first time he tasted such fragrant, large pieces of meat, he almost fell head over heels.
So much so that while he ate, he subconsciously turned his back to Machi.
Well, Uvogin had learned to protect his food.
Machi: "..."
Really? Was that necessary?
I'm not a glutton!
Machi glanced at Uvogin's back, still looking as calm and composed as ever. But her throat inadvertently rolled again.
There was no way; the aroma of meat was simply too fragrant.
It made Machi slightly regret her choice of fried rice.
She should have chosen some meat and savored it!
But since Luke had produced something so fragrant, and seeing how Uvogin was devouring it with such relish, it was clear that it would taste quite good.
This also gave Machi a slight sense of anticipation.
Let's see what kind of fried rice Luke would produce!
While Machi was anticipating, inside the church's screening room...
"Gulp."
Inside the room, Chrollo and Pakunoda were also swallowing their saliva.
Although they couldn't smell the aroma from their room, the sight of the large pieces of meat radiating heat and their alluring color was enough to captivate them.
And then there was Uvogin chewing frantically, slurping away the juices.
Such scenes truly whetted their appetite.
Especially in Meteor City, where there was little to no food, this was an absolute temptation.
Even Chrollo, a genius since childhood, fell into a momentary daze at the sight of Uvogin feasting.
All those questions, why needles and vials suddenly appeared, why injecting a branch could make it blossom and bear fruit so fast, why the tree produced black coconut-like fruits, why meat appeared inside them, all those mysteries, so far beyond his understanding of the world, completely slipped his mind in the face of that sight.
Yes, in that moment, Uvogin was an absolutely qualified food streamer.
And Chrollo was, after all, just a child born and raised in Meteor City.
He often rummaged through garbage dumps and ruins, searching for useful items. He'd never eaten anything like that big chunk of meat before.
But fortunately, Chrollo was Chrollo.
He forcibly, with immense willpower, shifted his gaze from Uvogin, or more precisely, from the chunk of meat in Uvogin's hand.
He turned his gaze to Luke, who had opened another bottle of medicine, drawn a syringe, and began injecting the tree once more.
He had always been curious about what this thing Luke had produced.
It could change the very nature of a tree, producing fruit related to food.
Then, Chrollo silently watched the tree produce another identical black coconut fruit.