700 chapter WoWoOOw!!
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Ron didn't look back. He simply shifted a step to the side, and the blade brushed past him. Only then did he turn his head toward the attacker.
It was a young man, ugly in appearance. His brown hair stuck up like a hedgehog's, his cheekbones jutted sharply, his face was sunken, and dark circles lay heavy beneath his eyes—he looked like someone who had stayed up far too many nights.
"So you dodged my sneak attack. Not bad, not bad." The man sneered. "Hand over all your monster cards, and I'll let you live. Otherwise, I'll have to kill you. And you don't want to die here, do you? Oh, I'll even give you a piece of advice. This game isn't some online virtual world—it's real. If you die here, you die in the real world too. One life. That's it."
Ron studied him, his gaze falling on the man's hand—scissors.
Ron recalled. This nen user had appeared near Antokiba in Greed Island. Before becoming a nen user, he had been a barber. For reasons unknown, he had killed someone and become a wanted criminal. After wandering aimlessly, he had ended up in Greed Island. His personal strength was nothing impressive, far below someone like Bisky. Even Gon and Killua, after only a short period of training under Bisky, had been able to give him serious trouble.
Ron raised his hand, extending one finger.
The young man froze, confused at the gesture.
"Nen Bullet!"
A nen bullet shot forward instantly.
The man had no time to react.
"Puchi!"
It pierced straight through his forehead, detonating inside his skull.
"Bang!"
His brain matter burst like shattered tofu. The young man's eyes went wide with disbelief as his body collapsed.
Ron tossed the corpse into Sumas's trial space.
Though weak, the man had a useful ability: after consuming someone's hair, he could obtain detailed information about them. A very practical skill for intelligence gathering. By throwing the corpse into the trial space, Ron hoped to strip that ability for himself or a teammate.
Three days later, Ron returned to Antokiba. A door appeared before him, and he stepped through.
A metal plate materialized in his hand. Ron covered it with his nen, then began engraving it according to the divine characters he had decoded.
Soon, a complex character took shape. Ron poured nen into it.
The divine character glowed. A strange power descended.
Before him, a massive stone shifted—dragged dozens of meters away.
"It worked!" Ron's eyes lit up.
Researching divine characters was only the first step. But with this breakthrough, the path ahead no longer seemed so difficult.
A video game was built on programming. This card system wasn't so different. The divine script acted like a module. Ron could package it, call it when needed, and depending on his input, receive different results.
Elsewhere, Chii had already finished assembling a new computer. She had her own hardware schematics, and with nen, fabricating chips, crystals, CPUs, GPUs, and more was easier than using machines. The addition of liquid ore had significantly boosted the computer's performance.
Ron moved the computer into the ark. He issued an order to the nen entity, and it settled into a fixed position, linking with the computer. In truth, the computer had become the nen entity's container.
Technology and nen—merged into one.
Ron wasn't the first to attempt this. Other nen users outside had done the same, and Greed Island itself was the product of technology fused with nen.
He resolved power and cooling issues, then inserted several metal plates into the container connected to the computer.
Each plate bore a divine character—scripts Ron had mastered:
"Contract"
"Lock"
"Restraint"
"Shift"
Contract he had obtained at the Gourmet Paradise.
Restraint came from the Zoldyck estate.
Shift he had developed here in Greed Island while studying cards.
He had also drawn on the ark's nen entity's designs, since its cards used similar movement functions.
Ron began issuing commands to the ark's nen entity. It was essentially like coding.
Two days later, debugging was complete.
A blank card appeared in Ron's hand.
It now held four abilities.
First, Communication: the holder could send messages to other cardholders. Text-based exchange. But permissions applied. White card users could see all cardholders names but could not initiate contact with Zodiac cardholders unless the Zodiac user reached out first.
Second, Teleportation: the cardholder could teleport to the side of someone they had already contacted. Two cases applied:
– If the card had been replenished with the ark's nen, the cost to the user was minimal.
– If the ark's nen within the card was nearly depleted, it would drain a massive amount of the user's nen.
Unlike Greed Island cards, Ron's cards weren't single-use.
Third, Return: when used, the card would instantly bring the holder back into the ark. Ron wasn't worried about intruders exploiting this. The ark's suppression ability still functioned—anyone who wasn't a Zodiac holder would have their nen and nen tools sealed inside, leaving them drastically weakened.
Fourth, Accompany: an enhanced version of Teleportation, allowing the teleportation of multiple people at once.
There was also one restriction: if a cardholder lost their card and someone else picked it up, that person would not be able to use it.