After the bell rang, a man about forty years old entered the classroom, holding a folder.
"Cough…"
He stood at the podium, skipped attendance, opened the folder, inserted a USB drive, and the projector immediately displayed the teaching materials.
"Beep beep…"
Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Ig took out his phone and, seeing that it was his father calling, hung up.
It was class time, so he couldn't answer the phone. He could call back after class if anything was important.
"Ding-a-ling-a-ling…"
"Class dismissed."
After the bell rang, the teacher promptly announced the end of class, without any delay.
"Ig, let's go."
His classmate next to Ig patted his shoulder and smiled.
But Ig pulled out his phone, looked at the missed call, and dialed back.
"Dad, I was just in class. Don't call me when I'm in class. If it's anything important, you can…"
"Excuse me, are you Dr. Cliff's son?"
Ig paused, his voice faltering. On the other end was a female voice, very unfamiliar. Her tone carried a hint of sadness, which made him feel uncomfortable.
"Yes, where's my dad?"
"Your father, now…"
A moment later, Ig's expression gradually froze, his hand holding the phone trembled slightly, and he said in a low voice:
"Okay, I understand. Thank you for the notification."
Ig pressed the hang-up button, ending the call. He squeezed the phone tightly in his right hand, as if trying to vent something, but held back.
"Ig, what happened?"
His classmate saw his troubled expression and asked worriedly.
"My dad… he might be gone."
As his voice fell, the phone in Ig's hand dropped to the ground with a "snap." He held his head in both hands, his shoulders trembling slightly, and he quietly sobbed.
His classmate remained silent, only patting his shoulder, offering him wordless comfort and companionship.
What Ig needed most at this moment was companionship.
The scene in this classroom was a microcosm of the world, where countless people were experiencing similar things.
Just as the Umbrella Corporation appeared in the eyes of the world, a crisis gradually spread to various countries.
***
Querência, Querência Rainforest.
The Querência tropical rainforest is located one hundred and fifty kilometers south of Sgerlan City, which is one hundred kilometers south of the Umbrella Corporation headquarters, covering an area of nearly three thousand square kilometers.
It is the largest tropical rainforest in Querência and one of the most dangerous forests in the world.
The Querência Rainforest features winding mountains and a complex network of drainage streams.
Over sixty percent of the plants in the rainforest are endemic, with most of them being rare species.
Various wild animals also live there, primarily birds.
At the same time, the reserve is home to mammals, butterflies, insects, reptiles, and amphibians.
Out of 760 endemic plant species in Querência, 417 species of trees and climbing plants can be found here, 26 of which are rare.
Within the Querência Rainforest, approximately 70% of the woody plants surveyed are local specialties, and the same generally applies to lower plant and animal groups. This area is also one of the best environments for studying the origin and evolution of flora and fauna.
"Chirp chirp~"
"Gawk gawk~"
In the forest, various bird calls rose and fell.
"Clang clang clang…"
About ten kilometers from the periphery of the tropical rainforest, a one-square-kilometer clearing had been made, and hundreds of workers were busy in it.
"This is the new training camp you chose?"
Illumi and Ahmed stood on a small hilltop, looking at the clearing ahead. The workers were all soldiers, some of whom had done similar work in the military, and were now putting their skills to use.
They couldn't hire outside workers because the local Querência government would not approve building a camp in the tropical rainforest.
"Yes, I originally planned to build the camp outside."
"But since we're already here, we might as well build the camp directly inside the rainforest. It'll be more hidden that way."
Ahmed stood beside Illumi, arms crossed, and looked at the clearing with a satisfied expression.
Illumi looked around and nodded slightly.
"Indeed, building a camp in such a vast tropical rainforest would be difficult to discover."
"However, transportation might be a bit troublesome."
Ahmed grinned and said,
"That part is naturally up to the boss."
"I'm sure a few helicopters won't be a problem for you."
Illumi glanced at Ahmed. He said it easily, but in the Hunter x Hunter world, various countries have extremely strict regulations on air transport.
Acquiring helicopters from the military would require a significant amount of money.
However, he wasn't without options; there were always some chaotic countries willing to do such business.
For example, the Aztec Republic, where forces were chaotic, drug dealers ran rampant, and even some generals in the military were involved in drug trafficking, being major drug lords themselves.
If they were doing drug trafficking, selling weapons would be even less of a problem.
"I will arrange it as soon as possible."
Illumi said, already having a plan in mind.
"Oh, and Dr. Kipsil's research needs your cooperation."
Illumi turned to Ahmed, a smile playing on his lips.
"He's been in a state of excitement ever since he saw your ability."
"I understand, but this camp…"
Ahmed nodded, glancing at the camp being built.
"Don't worry about the camp.
"I'll personally supervise it. As for you, you'll be Dr. Kipsil's research material for quite a while."
Ahmed nodded, then leaped from the hilltop, landed in front of an armed and modified jeep, opened the door, got in, and set off for the company headquarters.
From here to the edge of the Querência Rainforest was a distance of ten kilometers, and Illumi had used his abilities to clear a forest path through this distance.
Although it was very rugged, with uneven terrain all the way, it was at least passable.
However, if large objects needed to be transported in the future, helicopters would be necessary for air transport, as the forest path would certainly not suffice.
Illumi watched the jeep carrying Ahmed gradually disappear into the forest. After he vanished, Illumi sat cross-legged on the hilltop and closed his eyes to meditate.
"En."
A circular transparent barrier expanded outwards from Illumi.
His current En range was fifteen meters. Due to his busy schedule recently, his training progress had been slow.
Now, he could finally put everything aside for a short time and embrace nature in this peaceful, natural forest.
"Hiss hiss…"
After a long while, a continuous stream of translucent aura emanated from Illumi's body, enveloping him like a thin layer of cling film.
"The growth rate of my En range is too slow."
Illumi frowned slightly. Although he knew his current training speed was already very fast, it wasn't enough compared to his current position.
"Also, is my attack range too small?"
Illumi thought to himself. He possessed Pride's shadow ability, yet he always activated attacks only when he saw someone.
Having such a powerful ability, yet using it so clumsily, wasn't right. He needed to make some improvements, for instance…
"Whoosh!"
A shadow shot out from Illumi's body, transforming into a black arm with five fingers spread open, palm facing outwards.
"Swish!"
A slit appeared in the black palm. The slit rapidly opened with a "swish," revealing a crimson eye.
But this alone wasn't enough. Illumi raised an eyebrow, and another slit appeared below the crimson eye. When it opened, it revealed a mouth full of sharp teeth.
"Heh…"
The corners of the mouth in the palm curved upwards, and at the same time, the crimson eye above the mouth narrowed, revealing a particularly sinister smile.
"Indeed, imagination is the most important growth factor for Nen abilities."
If anyone stood here, they would surely scream in fright, because the mouth in the black palm spoke.
At this moment, Illumi's vision was shared with the eye on that arm. At the same time, he could also use his ability to form human vocal structures within the shadow, controlling the mouth in the palm to produce sounds.
In other words, even if Illumi closed his eyes now, he could see everything around him.
"In that case, let's have a few more, and test my limits."
As Illumi thought, five more arms shot out from his body with a "whoosh whoosh whoosh." After a series of movements, each palm "grew" a crimson eye and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
"Whoosh…"
Suddenly, a seventh arm appeared, and an eye slowly opened in its outstretched palm, but this eye appeared very tired, blinking open and closed.
"Ugh…"
Illumi frowned, and the eye on the seventh arm abruptly vanished.
"Six eyes, that's pretty much my limit for now."
Illumi concluded. He was, after all, human, and adapting to these suddenly added body parts required a long time.
Moreover, being able to share vision was already quite a bug, and if this bug could grow indefinitely, it would be truly overpowered.
By that time, he probably couldn't simply be called human; he should be called a monster.
"However, six eyes are enough for me."
"Next, I should test the maximum distance these arms can reach."
"Swish swish swish…"
With a thought, Illumi sent the six arms shooting out in different directions as black lines.
Sitting cross-legged on the hilltop with his eyes closed, Illumi frowned slightly. He was adapting to the ability to simultaneously receive feedback from six eyes.
Each of the six eyes saw different things, and as they saw more, more information was fed back to Illumi.
This caused a throbbing sensation in his head and optic nerves.
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