Two minutes later, several more corpses had appeared in this sealed-off space.
Bright red blood was streaming across the grass…
Even though the moon above was only a painted illusion, the night still looked beautiful.
A gentle breeze blew… someone was humming a little tune.
It was Xiang Nan.
He was performing a craniotomy.
His patient was the blond man.
The three men had died in different ways; once they were cut down, every trace of life vanished.
By rights, operating on a corpse in that state should have been pointless…
But their sudden appearance had given Xiang Nan an experimental idea: the energy of Altana.
Sure enough, even though they had only just breathed their last, as long as the interval was under five minutes, using Altana to restore life still worked.
Medically, the absolute limit for reviving a human after the heart stops is five minutes.
Xiang Nan injected a mild Altana solution into the blond man's body.
Then, using Nen, he manipulated the man's brain tissue… and before long, sounds came from the "corpse's" mouth.
"Just as I thought…"
Xiang Nan looked excited.
Altana's energy clearly held far greater possibilities!
From now on, even if he performed craniotomies during battle, he wouldn't need to spare his targets—he no longer had to leave them alive.
And because Altana affected each person differently, Xiang Nan would gain a trove of experimental data for his own use.
At once he repeated the procedure on the other two, giving them a shock‑style "life extension."
Then, as usual, he began questioning his patients.
The blond man's eyes stayed shut… but under Xiang Nan's control, his mouth opened and spoke.
Not only did he reveal every detail of his dealings with Pariston, he also named the two accomplices who hadn't fought directly.
One was the Nen user who created this isolated "surface world."
The other was the long‑haired man outside, a Stalin‑family player pulling strings behind the scenes against the Shadow Beasts.
The blond man reported everything about both of them.
He also let slip information about players and the multiverse.
Although these men had already broken free of the system and were no longer "players" in the strict sense, before round nine of the Extinction Game they had cleared several placement matches and learned bits about other worlds—information Xiang Nan found invaluable.
Afterward, he operated on the remaining two in the same way.
Yet even after the fight ended, the surface world didn't disappear.
Xiang Nan still couldn't exit and return to the real world.
The player who used this power called his Nen ability "Invited Guest." Once activated, the player vanished, turning into a standalone special space.
Everything inside mirrored a real‑world location; the ability forcibly dragged targets in—an outright restriction.
Used on foes, it trapped them here with no escape.
Used on allies, at certain moments it offered strong protection and concealment.
Of course, drawbacks existed.
First, the Nen user's consciousness remained clear but, lacking a body, could only perceive—or "see"—what happened inside. The real body couldn't move; it had simply vanished from its spot.
Second, whether friend or foe, anyone entering had to be known in advance—appearance, identity, everything—because the space couldn't form instantly. The caster had to copy a real‑world site ahead of time.
Moreover, invitees had to stand inside that pre‑arranged area in reality.
Thus, once Xiang Nan showed up, knowing his details, he was yanked inside.
These five were exactly the five players in the Hunter Association; four truly meant to kill him.
Outside, the long‑haired Stalin‑family man was only a collaborator—since Xiang Nan, as a Shadow Beast, was already a Stalin target.
The deal: once the blond trio killed Xiang Nan, they would help the long‑haired man escape back in the real world.
They didn't need a life‑and‑death fight with the Shadow Beasts; their quarry was Xiang Nan.
The Stalin family just wanted Beast casualties to force the Ten Dons to yield; there was no conflict.
So the Stalin player only had to stall for enough time—nothing more.
"They might not be the very first wave after the Hunter × Hunter reboot, but they're definitely from the earliest few—thirty‑odd years ago…"
Xiang Nan mused.
He opened his system panel.
The top player level was still 8, but the highest combat‑power value had changed.
Now he was sure the two were linked: after the blond man died, another player clearly took his "Number One" slot, yet the power value barely moved—meaning the newcomer was roughly as strong.
Judging purely by power, Xiang Nan figured the real strongest was probably himself.
The system might give a notice—but so far, none had appeared.
Evidently, level outweighed power; level updated first, then power.
No matter… he never cared much for the "Number One" title.
At least those scum were dead, removing one more threat to high‑level players in Hunter World.
Whooosh…
Just then, a gale swept the distant grass, rustling loudly.
Xiang Nan looked up at the night sky and gave a strange smile.
Though the scenery was fake, it mirrored the caster's emotions in real time.
And he… was terrified!
"The more guests you invite, the shorter your surface world lasts. Let's see…" Xiang Nan chuckled. "Only five minutes have passed—you've got fifty‑five left. Enjoy them."
At his words, the grassland under the night sky roared with wind.
Even dark clouds gathered, smothering the lovely moonlight.
Xiang Nan simply lay back on the ground and closed his eyes to rest.
He pondered.
According to the blond man, they had approached Pariston first—not the other way around—seeking intel on Xiang Nan.
But with Pariston's skill, making it look like none of it led back to him was child's play.
All he had to do was casually leak that a new unknown had joined the Association.
Naturally, the blond trio pried around and took the bait.
As Xiang Nan expected, they'd been completely used by Pariston without realizing it.
"You're becoming someone I truly can't let live…"
Xiang Nan's loathing for Pariston flared into killing intent.
Pariston clearly never counted on these players posing any real threat.
He simply wanted to disgust Xiang Nan—to assert his presence this way?
To provoke Xiang Nan's anger and hatred…
It worked perfectly!
Just imagining someone feeling that way about him probably made Pariston feel… happy.
"It should be soon… another wave of intruders dropping into Hunter World…"
Xiang Nan thought.