"And I didn't use normal surveillance methods either."
"I just borrowed a little from the local underground natives of this forest."
He shook the TV remote like an object in his hand.
The small, red, round antennae, resembling cockroach antennae, twitched and bounced.
Invention: Cockroach Speaker
Origin: Doraemon World — Future Tech Company
Function: This tool can summon nearby cockroaches. It comes with simultaneous translation, allowing communication and even cooperation contracts with them.
Red shell, green control button, yellow speaker.
From the speaker came occasional squeaks of cockroaches.
With its built-in translator, one could communicate with them and ask for help.
When Luke followed Ginta into this unknown forest environment, he was already prepared.
Well, in this dangerous world, even with someone like Ginta, a future member of the Zodiacs, and somewhat a good guy.
On their first meeting, Luke wasn't about to place blind trust in him.
Especially since they were headed into such a perilous forest.
So, unwilling to put his life entirely in others' hands, Luke quietly took out the Cockroach Speaker.
Thankfully, cockroaches were also present in the Daragas Forest Wildlife Park.
Luke struck a deal with them, promising to provide them with food in exchange for surveillance and alerts of any approaching creatures with clear movement patterns.
So, when the two men, enveloped in a ball of earth, approached Luke, they were already spotted by the swarm of cockroaches, who immediately relayed the information to Luke.
"Another one of your inventions?!"
Ginta gazed at the Cockroach Speaker in Luke's hand with a mixture of curiosity and admiration.
"A tool that can even detect approaching strangers and warn us..."
Ginta was genuinely impressed: "Luke, your Nen ability is truly so powerful and useful!!"
"It's like a wishing well, whatever we need or want, you can bring out the perfect tool to solve the problem!!"
Ginta said sincerely.
He felt more and more that as long as Luke was around, he didn't have to worry about anything.
Whether it was life in the wild or the danger of an incoming enemy, it seemed as if, for Luke, everything was trivial.
He could easily solve any difficult situation and overcome any adversity with his inventions.
Just like now, Luke used his props to easily detect the enemy's movements.
Then… Luke pointed out a direction behind them, drawing Ginta's gaze.
"Hmm?!"
Ginta's gaze instantly locked onto a ball of earth not far away, hidden in a secluded corner of the forest.
Although they were well concealed, the protruding part still gave them away.
And…
"The soil composition doesn't match the fresh soil of this forest at all!!"
Ginta's extensive experience in surviving in the wild also allowed him to immediately spot something amiss: "The climate around the Two-headed Wolf is relatively humid, the soil is generally moist, and there's often greenery and moss."
"But that soil only exists in the drier outskirts of the forest!!"
"And the small green plants on it are drought-resistant species, the kind that grow short and hardy in poor conditions."
"Such plants could never suddenly appear in this area!! Even if creatures carried them in from outside, they wouldn't grow like this!!"
Ginta quickly averted his gaze so as not to alert the enemy.
"That place is definitely not natural. Clearly, a Nen user specializing in soil-based abilities wrapped themselves underground and moved here from the outskirts!!"
"And judging by how poorly it's concealed, it's obvious they couldn't achieve perfect stealth and the most likely reason..."
Ginta whispered: "It's probably not just one person sneaking in. That Nen user must have carried another with them, so they couldn't hide perfectly underground..."
He trailed off, then noticed Luke studying him from head to toe.
"... Did I say something wrong, Luke?"
"No..."
There was a hint of nervousness in his voice. "Then why are you looking at me like that?"
Luke was still looking at him with a slightly strange expression.
"Really...?"
Ginta still felt a little nervous.
He was afraid that his own misjudgment would have a negative impact on Luke.
"Really."
Luke nodded, feeling some deep admiration in his heart.
'No wonder he could be recognized by Chairman Netero in the future and become one of the Zodiac Twelve in the Hunter Association.'
'Just by glancing at that ball of earth, and with such limited information, he deduced a conclusion so accurate and so close to the truth.'
'As expected, hunters who can carve out a name for themselves on the six continents are never ordinary people.'
'Even now, more than ten years earlier, Ginta's professional qualities as a hunter are probably no lower than Kite's.'
Whether it's Ging Freecss or Ginta, Luke is still a bit immature compared to them.
It's precisely because of his inventions that he can seize the initiative and play a significant role.
That's why Ginta has such high trust in him. Moreover, Luke suspected that Ginta's trust was more out of a desire to repay a favor.
It didn't mean Ginta had let down his guard.
If he truly intended to harm him, he would probably notice it immediately.
Unless Ginta himself wasn't a qualified professional hunter.
But the way he had drawn so much useful information from nearly nonexistent clues, and immediately withdrew his gaze from the ball of earth to avoid alerting the enemy, it was clear that Ginta was a very experienced professional hunter.
It's just that when it was with Luke, he acted very friendly and kept himself hidden.
Yes, this was clearly pretending to be a pig... to eat the tiger.
"He appears so harmless, but in reality, if he really got serious, this guy is probably much more ferocious than anyone else."
"Especially with the way he was handling those poachers sneaking in…"
This was clearly Ginta lowering his opponent's vigilance, pretending he wasn't aware of their arrival.
And then waiting for an opportunity to take them down!
This fellow with thick eyebrows and big eyes is quite evil at heart!!
"But I quite like that about him."
Luke laughed.
"With allies, he hides his true edge, protecting himself and maintaining bonds. But with enemies, he's decisive and ruthless."
"You're truly a pretty good hunter, Ginta."
Luke chuckled inwardly.
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