"Appetite of the Anorexic"

Over the span of a thousand years.

This vast world had once encompassed countless nations.

And every nation represented an entirely different civilization.

They were like vividly colored flowers, blooming and competing along the river of history, only to wither one after another in the cruel, protracted selection process, then be buried underground and become unknown ruins and tombs.

Only those who had kissed the earth...

Could understand just how precious these remnants of history were.

Hawk was someone who loved exploring ruins and tombs.

To that end, he had even developed an ability called "Rat's Way," which allowed him to move freely through ruins and tombs.

Because he had visited far too many unknown tombs, Cheadle regarded him as a "tomb raider."

As for Cheadle's label...

Hawk had never refuted it, nor was he qualified to.

He had indeed visited many ruins and tombs, and he had indeed taken things from them.

Although he only took one item each time and had never damaged any ruins or tombs...

That did not change the fact that he was a "tomb raider."

But if Cheadle had been willing to put aside her prejudice, then with her intelligence, she surely could have seen Hawk's character and nature through Rat Treasure's abilities.

Someone willing to accept harsh Restrictions in exchange for the ability to move freely through ruins and tombs might well have done so precisely to avoid damaging them.

Adding the concept of "Red Light Stop Green Light Go" to a Nen Beast's abilities also more or less showed that its user was someone willing to follow rules and uphold principles.

That explained—

Why Hawk only took one item each time he entered a ruin or tomb.

That was his bottom line. He had always adhered to it and had never changed.

But even if he only took one item, he should not have ended up this poor.

The problem was—

When others transported mountain spring water or wild plants, they were affectionately called nature's porters.

But the things Hawk transported out of ruins or tombs were almost always ancient artifacts carrying Grudges.

Those artifacts still had value in themselves, but they had Grudges attached to them. Selling them to ordinary collectors was no different from selling misfortune.

And if he hired a Nen Exorcist to remove the Grudges from the artifacts...

Leaving aside whether he could even find one, the artifacts and their Grudges had coexisted for too long and had long become inseparable.

In other words, if the Grudges were removed, the artifacts would be destroyed along with them.

Even so, Hawk still enjoyed it.

Whenever he went through great effort to find a new ruin or tomb, he would always bring out one ancient artifact with a Grudge attached as a memento.

From that perspective, he truly was a diligent porter in the world of Grudges.

But it was also because of this that he would later meet Elena, a Nen Exorcist.

As for the ancient artifacts with Grudges that he had brought out, their eventual fate went without saying.

Besides, from Moyu's birth until now, Hawk had never entered another ruin or tomb because of his remorse.

It could only be said—

Some people had perfectly good reasons for being poor.

Cheadle and Moyu did not know the full story.

Thus, Cheadle could not understand Hawk's absurd act of fishing coins out of a wishing well, while Moyu did not care how much of Hawk's estate he could inherit. He was merely puzzled by how one of the Hunter world's top tomb raiders had ended up in such a state.

As for the Nen Exorcist Cheadle had invited...

"Cheadle, I only refrained from collecting a deposit first out of respect for you. Now, it is difficult for me not to suspect that this employer may lack the ability to pay my fee."

The Bamboo Pole Man Nen Exorcist wore a zombie-like face devoid of any emotion, and his gaze at Hawk was tinged with doubt.

A pile of coins from a wishing well?

What kind of joke was that?

The payment he charged for Nen Exorcism work was measured in hundreds of millions.

Not to mention work involving Post-Mortem Nen...

One had to know that Nen users in the entire world who possessed Nen Exorcism abilities were already extremely rare, and among them, fewer than ten could remove Post-Mortem Nen.

If Cheadle had not personally asked him, he swore that he would never in his life have any professional dealings with someone like Hawk, who wanted to scrape together his payment using wishing well coins.

"Mr. Arieser."

Cheadle helplessly withdrew her gaze from Hawk and turned to the Bamboo Pole Man Nen Exorcist beside her. She said earnestly, "Please do not worry about the payment. We can pay the deposit for the Nen Exorcism work immediately, and we can sign a Contract on the spot as well."

"I have no objections."

Arieser looked at Cheadle, the esteemed Two-Star Professional Hunter, and tried to force a hint of a smile onto his gaunt, ashen face, but the result was clearly unsatisfactory.

His difficulty with facial expressions, along with his emaciated body, was perhaps a side effect of performing Nen Exorcism work for so long.

Cheadle gestured for Arieser to wait, then walked over to Hawk.

"The deposit."

"Uh, how much was the deposit again?"

"100 million."

"Oh, that is no problem. It is just the remaining fee... Cheadle, can you give me a rough estimate?"

Hawk took out his phone and asked in a lowered voice.

Cheadle frowned slightly and said coolly, "The fee is determined by the intensity of the Nen Exorcism. Given the intensity of that Balance, it would not be surprising for the starting price to be one billion."

"..."

Hawk was immediately left speechless.

Cheadle was not surprised by Hawk's reaction.

From the start, she had not expected Hawk to be capable of paying the Nen Exorcism fee. She had already prepared herself to spend her entire fortune, but...

"A problem that can be solved with money is not a problem at all. I do not expect Mr. Arieser to remove the Post-Mortem Nen from Balance, but as long as he can remove the Price Balance imposed on you, the threat will be eliminated. The premise is... that Mr. Arieser can do it."

"..."

As Hawk listened to Cheadle, his expression gradually turned solemn. He said in a low voice, "What is the bank account number? I will transfer the deposit first."

Cheadle nodded and gave him Arieser's bank account number, then quickly drafted a Contract.

The money arrived, and the Contract was signed.

The entire process was highly efficient.

Moyu watched from the side without saying anything.

Just as Cheadle had said, a problem that could be solved with money was not a problem.

If this Bamboo Pole Man Nen Exorcist could successfully remove the Price on Hawk, Moyu certainly would not use his currently only chance at Nen Exorcism.

It was equivalent to a one-use "purification" skill, something extremely precious.

"Then where is the 'target' I need to exorcise?"

After confirming that the deposit had arrived, Arieser glanced toward the main hall. He could sense the fluctuations of Post-Mortem Nen within, but he was not naïve enough to think Cheadle had invited him here to remove those weak traces of Post-Mortem Nen.

Cheadle looked at Hawk.

Meeting Cheadle's gaze, Hawk hesitated for a moment before saying, "Mr. Arieser, could you please make preparations for Nen Exorcism first?"

"..."

Arieser remained expressionless.

What an ignorant fellow. The most troublesome part of Nen Exorcism work was not preparation, but how to "digest" it...

Still, he did not waste words.

"Appetite of the Anorexic."

A surging aura of Nen burst from Arieser's body.

Everyone present looked at Arieser and saw his mouth visibly shrinking at an alarming speed...