A single example was enough to prove it: even Foxbears adored the Phoenix-Eye Fruit—let alone rhinoceroses.
Lu Ou gave a noncommittal "mm" and watched the rhinos with quiet satisfaction. As the saying goes, once you eat someone's food, your mouth goes soft; once you take something from someone, your hands grow short. Another important factor was the goodwill Gon naturally radiated.
After eating the Phoenix-Eye Fruit, the two rhinos stopped making threatening roars. The female rhino ceased pawing at the ground, canceling her charging stance. The pair quietly leaned against each other, occasionally touching noses and openly showing affection.
Their complete disregard for everyone else was honestly impressive.
Leorio finally let out a sigh of relief and set the metal suitcase he'd been holding down beside him. The danger was temporarily resolved. Matthew collapsed onto the ground, the two batons slipping from his hands and clattering down. He had been scared half to death.
Kurapika, meanwhile, glanced at the large backpack behind Gon. Apples, bread, and now Phoenix-Eye Fruit—all of it had come from that pack.
Don't tell me the entire backpack is just food…?
Lu Ou also exhaled. Two rhinos of that size exerted an immense oppressive presence. And Phoenix-Eye Fruit was a specialty of Whale Island—once you ate one, there was one less forever. If not for Matthew, none of this would have happened.
So Lu Ou decided to do something.
"I didn't tell everyone earlier," Lu Ou said casually as he walked back to the group,
"but I'm a beast tamer. I know beast-taming techniques."
"Beast-taming?"
The term was unfamiliar to Gon, Leorio, and the others. They all looked at Lu Ou in confusion.
"Ou, what's a beast tamer?" Gon asked, true to his habit of asking whenever he didn't understand.
"Simply put," Lu Ou explained,
"it's using certain methods to make wild animals obey complex commands. It's somewhat similar to how you can communicate with animals, Gon—but fundamentally different."
"So I plan to try having these two rhinos help us."
Matthew stood up and tidied himself, still embarrassed by how pathetic he'd looked earlier. Hearing Lu Ou's words, he sneered dismissively.
Using precious fruit to "bribe" rhinos into calming down—what kind of beast-taming was that? If you gave him those Phoenix-Eye Fruits, he could do the same thing.
"Beast-taming? What if it backfires?" Matthew said, as if he'd suddenly developed amnesia, completely forgetting that this entire mess started because he had trespassed into the rhinos' territory.
One couldn't help but wonder where he got the confidence.
Logically speaking, no one in this world should even know who Liang Jingru was.
Lu Ou ignored Matthew and walked forward, stopping just a step away from the rhinos, facing them directly.
"Are you going to use even more valuable fruit?" Leorio guessed.
"White rhinos aren't magical beasts with human-level intelligence," Kurapika analyzed calmly.
"Even fruit more precious than Phoenix-Eye Fruit wouldn't make them cooperate."
Contrary to both Leorio's and Kurapika's expectations, Lu Ou didn't ask Gon for more fruit.
Instead, he began quietly communicating with the rhinos, occasionally letting out low, restrained growls of his own. The method was so strange that even the well-read Kurapika had never heard of anything like it.
"So this is what beast-taming looks like," Gon muttered.
He had been standing near the rhinos, but upon seeing this, he deliberately stepped aside.
Leorio, who had been skeptical and noisy earlier, turned around as well once Lu Ou began using his "ultimate move."
As for Kurapika, he had already politely averted his gaze, eyes half-closed, deep in thought.
Only Matthew tried to eavesdrop.
Whether it worked or not didn't matter—if it was a secret, he wanted to know it. He stood nearby, tiptoeing quietly, but couldn't see anything. Even if he knew how to read lips, it was useless when he couldn't see Lu Ou's mouth at all.
He scratched his head impatiently, desperate to know what this annoying smart guy's mysterious beast-taming technique actually was.
Half a minute later, Lu Ou finished.
"I've got good news for everyone," Lu Ou said casually.
"I've already discussed things with the rhino couple. They've agreed to carry us out of the forest and take us to the town ahead."
"They'll take us to town?" Leorio couldn't help asking.
"Is that real or are you joking?"
"Could beast-taming really exist?" Kurapika asked, half believing, half doubting, because of how mysterious Lu Ou had looked earlier.
"Well, I am a beast tamer," Lu Ou replied calmly.
"The rhino couple still has to give a beast tamer some face."
"As long as you say the command, they'll let you ride."
"There's a command too? What is it? Let's hear it," Leorio said, suddenly interested.
Lu Ou answered,
"'Lu Ou is really handsome.' That's the command."
The moment the words "Lu Ou is really handsome" fell, the rhino couple bent their front legs properly, assuming a posture that clearly invited people to climb on.
At that point, believing or not was no longer optional.
Leorio had been about to make a sarcastic remark, but this scene swallowed all his words whole.
Such an absurd command controlling such ferocious beasts—this wasn't scientific at all.
"So it really was some kind of magical beast-taming technique," Matthew muttered, eyes shining with excitement.
"What a pity I didn't get to see it."
He secretly regretted his stupidity—he should've stood closer.
There are two rhinos. If several people ride one, it'll be slow, and there's more risk. But if I ride one alone, wouldn't it be faster and safer? I already know the command—why should I stick with these kids…
Matthew rehearsed the plan silently, his heart growing restless.
He shifted his feet and slowly moved closer to the rhinos.
Suddenly, Lu Ou spoke up.
"Matthew, come here. I need to tell you something."
Matthew quickly put away his expression and obediently walked over—after all, it was in the same direction as the rhinos.
"You're pretty clumsy," Lu Ou said seriously,
"so I'll emphasize this. You only need to say the command. But when riding the rhino, under absolutely no circumstances should you do 'the Himalayan Mountain Monkey.'"
"Otherwise, the consequences will be very serious. Extremely serious."
"The Himalayan Mountain Monkey?" Matthew asked.
"What kind of mountain is the Himalayas?"
What he really wanted to ask was what those "very serious consequences" were.
"Don't worry about what kind of mountain it is," Lu Ou replied.
"Just remember this—even if someone points a gun at you, you must not do it. Because it's something you absolutely don't want to bear the consequences of."
Matthew carefully memorized this.
"Got it."
With two rhinos available, the group began to divide up.
"Ou, let's ride one together," Gon said.
"I want to ride with Ou too," Leorio suddenly cut in.
While everyone's attention was elsewhere, Matthew shouted at the top of his lungs—
"LU OU IS REALLY HANDSOME!"
—and bolted forward.
He leapt onto the male rhino's back at incredible speed.
The male rhino let out a thunderous roar and, like a truck roaring to life, shot straight into the depths of the forest in the blink of an eye.
Matthew had stolen the rhino and taken off first.