United States of Saherta.
A thin, elderly man sat at the head of the room.
Beside him was a younger man, wearing a crown and sitting with visible restraint.
A single figure stood before them.
"I greet His Majesty the King. I greet Sarona-sama."
Pariston stood tall in a yellow-striped suit, his usual rehearsed smile on display.
The sight of it instinctively irritated the old man.
"Twelve Zodiacs... the Rat?"
"Correct."
"A Hunter Association member showing up in Saherta—what could possibly bring you here?"
Sarona already had a good idea of why Pariston was here.
Before Pariston's arrival, the Fiora Kingdom had sent Saherta some intel—no doubt at the Chairman's request. Otherwise, Sarona, a high-ranking S-Class figure and veteran of the royal family, would not have bothered to show up in person.
But even knowing this, Sarona wasn't pleased.
"The Chairman sent me because there are concerns about a covert parasite research project underway in the United States of Saherta. The royal family of Fiora also expressed serious concern."
Sarona's eyes narrowed.
"Parasites? Funny, I haven't heard anything of the sort. If the Hunter Association had found something, it should've been forwarded to the royal court—not brought here personally."
"Besides, this is an internal matter of Saherta. It's not your place—or Fiora's—to interfere."
She already knew about Oster's involvement.
But in Sarona's eyes, it was a trivial matter.
So a few civilians died—what of it?
To her, the lives of the common people weren't worth a second thought.
Yes, parasite research was banned.
It had been for a long time.
Too dangerous. If a parasite ever escaped containment, it could spark a plague far worse than anything seen before—harder to contain than even the chaos from the Taris nation.
That's why the research had been outlawed.
Taris had become a target of Fiora's not because of parasites, but because they dared provoke Fiora directly.
Parasites were a different story.
Very few people even knew they existed. Even among skilled Nen users, knowledge of them was rare.
Even Zeno didn't know.
Pariston hadn't either—until Netero passed certain files down to him.
And once Pariston read those reports, he became very interested.
Especially after Kaizen handed him more data.
From the investigations conducted by Gogus, Pariston could tell that Oster had made considerable progress in his parasite research.
But Pariston knew—he couldn't obtain the core intel on his own.
So, he didn't come alone.
Sarona had access to even more intelligence than Pariston did.
Her issue wasn't just the parasite research—it was the fact that the Hunter Association dared meddle in Saherta's internal affairs.
Among Nen users, the Hunter Association was widely respected.
But at the V5 level?
They saw it as a messy organization—useful only when taking orders, not issuing them.
Netero had been an exception, powerful enough to make the Association matter. But without him?
Nobody from the Association ranked high in V5's eyes.
To Sarona, Pariston's arrival felt like an underling presuming to sit at the head table.
Unacceptable.
Pariston kept smiling.
"Sarona-sama, I'm not just here on Fiora's behalf. Several other V5 nations also requested we look into this."
"Their envoys have already arrived."
Sarona's expression darkened.
If multiple V5 states were involved, this wasn't just about observation anymore.
They wouldn't send envoys unless they believed the parasite research had yielded something of real value.
In that instant, she realized what had happened.
"So Oster really did make significant progress with the parasites…"
"And I was the last to know?"
"Even after the Hunter Association? After the other V5 members?"
"Oster… you bastard."
Sarona was furious.
This had been Saherta's discovery, its secret—and now it was likely to be carved up and shared by the other V5 states. Maybe even more.
She turned sharply.
"Where's Oster? Bring him to me. Now."
A subordinate quickly rushed out of the room.
...
Elsewhere—
The bunny girl was at her limit.
Under Zeno's relentless assault, she collapsed.
The first blow had shattered her stance. She was sent flying, slamming into the concrete wall of a nearby building.
CRACK!
The impact embedded her body into the wall.
Then came the finishing blow—a dragon-shaped aura burst forward, jaws clamping down.
Her spine snapped.
Her organs compressed and ruptured.
Her life force began to fade.
...
Nearby, the swordsman could no longer hold back.
He launched a direct assault on Silva.
But it was far too rushed.
The strike missed completely, carving a deep gouge into the earth.
Silva was already behind him.
Both of Silva's hands pulsed with dense aura.
A crushing force radiated from his fists.
BOOM!
His punch connected with explosive force.
The air around them detonated.
The swordsman crumpled to the ground.
SPLURT!
Blood gushed from his mouth.
He was dead before he hit the dirt.
...
Larkin, locked in battle with Natsu, felt his body growing heavier.
Each movement became sluggish.
SMACK!
"Position swap!"
Larkin stumbled.
In an instant, Natsu had switched places with him—Sasuke Uchiha now stood in front of Larkin, locking him in a firm embrace.
Natsuz appeared overhead, hands blazing.
Twin spheres of flame ignited.
They spun together—merging into a golden inferno.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The golden fireball descended.
It streaked through the air, heading straight for Sasuke and Larkin...
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (1047 chapters in total)